Matthew Monagle
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Pirates’ Plunders While ‘Baywatch’ Blunders
There was a time not so long ago when Memorial Day weekend was a big deal for Hollywood, but this weekend felt more like a bunch of under-performers gathering together and learning very little about life. Call it the anti-Breakfast Club, if you will. This certainly isn’t what Hollywood had in mind for most of the franchises, and while Johnny Depp’s latest pirate movie did OK, OK seems to be the operative word of the summer if you’re not a movie about superheroes or literate villagers. Here’s the weekend gross through Sunday afternoon:
Check Out the Creepy First Poster for Jennifer Lawrence’s Horror Film ‘mother!’
Now that’s how you celebrate Mother’s Day. Earlier today, filmmaker Darren Aronofsky shared the first poster for mother!, his new horror/thriller featuring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem. With an angelic expression on Lawerence’s face in the above excerpt, you might be forgiven for thinking that this poster is a kind and gentle teaser for a movie that is more creepy than graphic. Well, by all means, don’t let me stop you from scrolling down to reveal the full horrifying artwork on the mother! poster below.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Soars, ‘King Arthur’ Crashes
On Thursday evening, plenty of executives went to bed with dreams of big opening weekend numbers in their head. Could the movie about a magical king unseat the movie about a talking tree? Or would a mother-daughter comedy with just the right release date unseat a pair of battling sisters? Now that we’ve reached the end of the holiday weekend, we finally have the numbers, and it turns out the answer was no and no, respectively. Here’s this past weekend’s grosses as of Sunday afternoon:
Dwayne Johnson Shares a Few BTS Photos From His ‘Mega Monster Movie’ ‘Rampage’
Dwayne Johnson is the gift that keeps on giving. Not only does the actor continue to produce some of the best action movies around, but he also keeps fans entertained between releases by sharing incredible behind-the-scenes footage and images from his movies. This was the case with The Fate of the Furious and the upcoming Jumanji sequel, and now Johnson is at it again with Rampage, his 2018 movie based on the popular video game franchise of the same name.
Josh Gad Says He Was Just ‘Having Fun’ With His ‘The Batman’ Tease
Last week, Josh Gad briefly set the internet on fire by posting, without comment, a photo of Batman nemesis The Penguin. As we noted at the time, this also came on the heels of several DC Films executives following the actor on Twitter. That’s a not-inconsequential amount of smoke for any casting rumor, which led plenty of people (ourselves included) to wonder aloud if Gad would have a role in Ben Affleck and Matt Reeves’ upcoming The Batman movie.
New Study Shows Too Many People Are Naming Their Kids ‘Khaleesi’ and ‘Kylo’
We’ve reached one of my favorite times of the year: the annual announcement by the Social Security Administration of the most popular baby names from the previous year. Why is that such a big deal, you might ask? Because each year we get to shake our heads at the number of parents who jump on the pop culture hype train and name their children after movie and television characters. While this year’s list showed that old-fashioned names such as Liam, Mason, and Olivia are back in style, it also featured a predictable handful of names from popular 2015 franchises. Sorry, kids.
All the Winners at the 2017 MTV Movie and TV Awards
Since Dennis Miller hosted the very first MTV Movie Awards back in 1992, the music channel’s annual award ceremony has been something of a fun dalliance into a world where the artistic merit of a movie is less important than its popular clout. This year marks a couple of big changes for the format: not only did the award show change its official name — it is now known as the MTV Movie & TV Awards — it also has become arguably the most inclusive award show to date, honoring titles like Moonlight, Get Out, and Jane the Virgin alongside its stalwart categories like Best Kiss and Best Villain.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Fate of the Furious’ Wins a Turbulent Weekend
In a week devoid of any major releases, we still saw some major changes at the box office, with familiar faces like Kong: Skull Island, Power Rangers, and Get Out (RIP) all falling from the Top 10 in favor of new releases or aggressively expanding art films. Of course, not everything was different; if you read these box office reports every weekend, I’ll bet you can name the top three movies (in order) with minimal effort. Here’s the weekend box office projections as of Sunday afternoon:
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Fate of the Furious’ Zooms Up the Record Books
Audiences don’t turn their back on family. That’s the lesson to be learned from this past weekend, anyways, when The Fate of the Furious proved that this is one franchise showing no signs of slowing down. It was never a question of whether The Fate of the Furious would take the top spot this weekend, but even the most optimistic of projections couldn’t have expected the global domination that this movie undertook. Here’s the box office estimates as of Sunday afternoon:
Lucasfilm Might Continue the Skywalker Saga Past ‘Star Wars: Episode IX’
Fans are never satisfied. Here we are, finally enjoying the first batch of footage from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and we’re already wondering about Star Wars: Episode 9 and beyond. The resurgence of Luke Skywalker in particular has us wondering a bit about the franchise’s endgame. The Star Wars movies have always been tied to the emotional journeys of one father and one son; can this universe maintain a new Skywalker narrative after the main one is complete? Or will Star Wars: Episode 9 bring this chapter in the Star Wars universe to a close?
Watch the New Cast of ‘MST3K’ Riff on ‘Stranger Things’
Alright, a gold friggin’ star to the person who thought of this one. With the new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 hitting Netflix today, most of the conversation has been dominated by lifelong fans of the show — fans like myself — who are some combination of excited and apprehensive about the return of their favorite television series. But what about the next generation of MST3K fans? How does Netflix introduce them to their service? Why, by riffing on another Netflix property that everyone already knows and loves, of course!
Dwayne Johnson Promises a ‘Far Dirtier’ ‘Baywatch’ Movie Than You’d Expect
What came first, the raunchy beach comedy or the Baywatch movie adaptation? Hollywood seems to have discovered in recent years that it can take an existing license — typically one associated with a semi-popular television series — and give it new life as a profane comedy for adults. Sure, there are probably a handful of Baywatch purists out there who have watched the sophomoric humor in the trailers with horror, but for everyone else? A vague recollection of the Baywatch brand and an appetite for 21 Jump Street-esque humor is all they need to be enticed.