Matthew Monagle
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Dark Tower’ Does Not Fall
With two new releases and a third movie switching from a limited to a wide release, this was a weekend of big changes at the box office. Gone are familiar stalwarts like Wonder Woman and Baby Driver, and in its place are (with respect) the also-rans of summer, a few genre-driven films looking to carve out a name for themselves in a time of year devoid of major blockbuster releases. Here are the numbers as of Sunday afternoon:
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Dunkirk’ Wins the Weekend
What did you see this weekend? Was it the dour World War II epic? The raunchy New Orleans sex comedy? Or the movie where Cara Delevingne shoves her head into a telepathic jellyfish’s butt? Truly, with options like this, anyone who complains about the death of cinema has no idea what they’re talking about. Anyways, here’s the box office numbers through Sunday afternoon:
Channing Tatum Says His ‘Gambit’ Movie Is Undergoing a ‘Bit of a Rethink’
Are you familiar with a ‘sunk cost’ concept? That’s when a business allocates resources to get a project or product off the ground only to see it struggle to deliver; instead of treating that seed money as an expense they’ve written off and will never recover - a ‘sunk cost’ - the company continues to throw good money after bad in a vain hope of eventually recouping its financial losses. You see this happen in Hollywood every now and then, where a studio spends millions of dollars to market a movie it knows is probably going to fail. Or, in the case of a film like Gambit, a studio keeps hiring people to write or rewrite the film despite zero evidence it’ll actually get made.
John Heard, Star of ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Big,’ Dies at 72
For many people who grew up in the 1990s, Home Alone is a film that ages alongside them. When you’re a child, you feel an immediate kinship with Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin, sharing in his delight at being able to run around the house entirely rule-free. The older you get, though, the more you find yourself goggling at the actions of John Heard and Catherine O’Hara‘s parents. How on earth could they manage to leave their youngest child behind? Was it really that easy to breeze through airport security in the ‘90s? Why do I still feel so sympathetic towards them even after all that?
Martin Landau, Oscar Winner for ‘Ed Wood,’ Passes Away at Age 89
This just isn’t fair. Only hours after we found out that horror icon George Romero has passed away, we’ve also learned that the world has lost veteran character actor Martin Landau at the age of 89. According to an article in The Hollywood Reporter, Landau passed away unexpectedly after a short illness, leaving behind a legacy of television and film work that any actor would be proud to call their own. From his breakout role in North by Northwest to his regular work with Tim Burton, Landau has been a versatile
Say Hello to the First Female Doctor in ‘Doctor Who’ History
You know those rare moments when everyone on the internet seems to be talking about the same thing? Sports, politics, entertainment, whatever… those are the moments that make social media both a blessing and a curse. Take, for instance, a talented (if not slightly unknown) actress named Jodie Whittaker. If you were to go to Google Trends right now and look up her name, you’d see a sudden spike in searches, indicating that everyone everywhere is suddenly obsessed with learning more about her career. Why on earth could that be?
Kate Upton and Alexandra Daddario Throw Down in NSFW ‘The Layover’ Trailer
If you’re like me, you probably watched the first trailer for The Layover and thought, “Huh, they’re doing comedy?” The movie offers a strange mix of talent both behind and in front of the camera. William H. Macy isn’t exactly the first name that comes to mind when you think of raunchy sex comedy directors, nor are Lance Krall and David Hornsby household names as writers, but when you look at their combined track records the past few years - a whole bunch of Shameless and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia - the pieces for humor are most definitely there.
Rumor: Be Prepared for Hugh Jackman as Scar in Disney’s ‘The Lion King’
Pop quiz, hotshot: what does an actor do after he retires from one of the most iconic superhero roles of all time? Answer: anything he wants! Nobody would fault Hugh Jackman for spending the next several years drinking mojitos on the beach and packing on some of the pounds he was contractually obligated to keep off for the X-Men franchise, but it sounds like Jackman isn’t about to rest on his laurels anytime soon. The actor has been hinting at an upcoming Disney collaboration over the last day, sharing suggestive photos of himself at Disney parks, and now a hot new rumor seems to explain why.
Emily Blunt Gets Animated in the Motion Poster for Disney’s ‘Mary Poppins Returns’
When a Hollywood studio decides to make a sequel to a much-beloved classic decades after its initial release, the overwhelming response is usually skepticism. It’s a testament to the incredible cast that Disney has assembled for Mary Poppins Returns, then, that most of the buzz around the film has been overwhelming excitement. From Emily Blunt’s Julie Andrews doppelgänger to Lin Manuel-Miranda’s chimney sweep - pretty much the part he was born to play, right? - Mary Poppins Returns is the exception that proves the rule, an unnecessary sequel that nevertheless melts away all skepticism.
The Director of ‘Monsters University’ Will Make a Movie About Elves for Pixar
What happens when Disney throws a party for itself and everyone is invited? The answer is D23, this weekend’s trade show-slash-Disney party with new teasers, news, and footage from the company’s expanding lineup of Marvel, Star Wars, and Pixar properties. We’ve already seen a few updates on Wreck-It Ralph 2 and The Incredibles 2, but for the sequel-phobic among you, there was also a pretty high-profile announcement of Pixar’s upcoming original feature.