Matthew Monagle
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Beauty and the Beast’ Had a LOT of Guests
It might be a tale as old as time, but audiences have proven there’s still a few petals left on that old flower. Despite being projected to open at somewhere between $214–245 million worldwide, Beauty and the Beast knocked the pants off those projections, eclipsing $350 million at the international box office and setting a March record for domestic releases along the way. Let’s take a look at how things shook out this past weekend with some of the expected grosses.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Logan’ Claws Its Way to the Top
With Hugh Jackman’s Logan opening in theaters this weekend, the top spot of this list was never in doubt. The questions were always whether audiences would respond well to the first major R-rated superhero movie. Was the big opening of Deadpool an abberation or a sign of things to come? If today’s numbers are any indication, the answer is, maybe a little bit of both.
Baby Groot Might Just Kill Us All in This International ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ Poster
If I were a Marvel sales rep, I would get down on my knees every day and thank Thanos for the series of events that led to Baby Groot. Baby Groot might just be the pinnacle of Hollywood marketing; not only is his cute visage the perfect thing to slap on every action figure, lunch box, and stuffed animal from here to the moon, it’s also a character that sidesteps typical customer cynicism. If fans felt for one moment that Baby Groot was a thinly veiled attempt to sell them more junk, they would push back on James Gunn and Marvel with all their strength. But instead, we are treated to one of the baddest killing machines in the galaxy who happens to be totally adorable, too.
Marvel Studios Releases Its First Look at ‘Avengers: Infinity War’
When you’re in the business of making movies as large as those in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even the first few days of production are a pretty big deal for fans. This is doubly so when you’re launching Avengers: Infinity War, a superhero crossover event unlike anything audiences have ever seen before on film. So last night, when Marvel released a brand new production video complete with new cast interviews and some key concept art, people rightfully lost their minds. You think you’ve seen movie hype? You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Date Night Takes a Turn for the Steamy in This ‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Clip
For most people, the decision to make a sequel to 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey is probably the punchline to a bad joke. But have you actually stopped and looked at the box office numbers for Fifty Shades of Grey recently? We’re not talking about $100 million at the global box office; we’re not even talking about $200 million. We’re talking about $571 million worldwide, more than Mad Max: Fury Road and Creed combined and the eleventh highest-grossing movie of the year. With those kind of numbers, you pretty much have to make a sequel. I don’t blame them.
Hackers Shut Down the Sundance Film Festival Box Office
Cyberattacks — or, as newly elected President Trump would say, “the Cyber” — are an increasingly common part of the world we live in. With most private information and secure data now available online, one tech-savvy computer user can do more damage to an institution than hundreds of lawyers or corporate spies. And while we might think of cyberattacks as being reserved for the Big Evil Corporations of the world, it turns out that not even film festivals are immune from being targeted.
James Cameron Is Taking Back the Reigns of the ‘Terminator’ Franchise
With James Cameron caught in an endless loop of Avatar rumors and delays, it’s become fashionable for some fans to treat the director like a Hollywood has-been. I don’t get it. Even if you think the original Avatar is a hollow mess of special effects, it’s still a fun entry in Cameron’s ‘Soldiers vs. Monsters’ filmography. Are we so awash in incredible action directors that we can afford to dismiss Cameron’s eye for spectacle and clean action scenes? I think not.
Ben Affleck Explains What Separates His Batman From His Predecessors
After years of watching a certain segment of fans argue over which Enterprise captain was the best, I think it might be time for Star Trek fans to admit that they’re no longer the leader in casting fan arguments. Now all the cool kids want to argue over which Batman actor played the role best. While the obvious answer for most millennials would be Christian Bale, I tend to gravitate towards the early performances of Michael Keaton, a Batman who was a bit more believable as an intellectual than subsequent versions of the character. To each their own, I suppose.
Sony Sets a ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming 2’ Release Date
File this one under ‘Least Surprising News Stories of the Day’: right on the heels of releasing the first trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Sony has announced the release date for Spider-Man: Homecoming 2, proving that no title is so awkward as to prevent Hollywood from slapping the number ‘2’ on it and calling it a day.
Rumor: Did a Copyright Filing Reveal the ‘Star Wars: Episode 8’ Subtitle?
Look, we get it. Even with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story set to hit theaters next week, some of you just prefer your Star Wars stories to be part of the main story. And although we might be as caught up as everyone else in talking about the prospect of prequels and standalone movies, that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten how to give you some good, old-fashioned Star Wars: Episode VIII gossip. Here’s one we know you’ll like: rumors are circulating that the title of the next film popped up in the most unlikely of places.
The Latest ‘Rogue One’ TV Spot Puts the ‘War’ Back in ‘Star Wars’
Even with a little bit of distance from their initial release, there’s not a lot to enjoy about the Star Wars prequels. They’re still poorly acted, overly reliant on CGI, and too bogged down in origin stories instead of developing new characters for us to care about. That being said, give credit to George Lucas for writing a powerful arc for Senator Palpatine. Palpatine’s methodical dissolution of the Old Republic — and our mounting horror as we watch him convince the galaxy to give up freedom in exchange for a false sense of safety — aren’t enough to save the Star Wars prequels entirely, but they do represent some of the smartest writing of Lucas’ career.
After Years of Trouble, ‘The Croods 2’ Is Now Extinct
Hey, you remember The Croods? Maybe not. In 2013, DreamWorks Animation released an animated comedy about a family of cavemen (cavepeople?) who are forced to survive in the wilderness after their home is destroyed. As far as kids’ movies go, The Croods wasn’t terrible, and did come with some A-list voice talent in Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, and Ryan Reynolds. Most importantly, though, it made a tremendous amount of money, earning half a billion dollars worldwide and kicking off immediate plans for a sequel.