decodedkit-blog

[decodedkit-blog]

Box Office: Friday April 5th, 2019

Stephen King's 'Pet Sematary' scores $2.3 million in previews, while civil rights drama 'The Best of Enemies' starts off with $265,000.

New Line and DC's kid-friendly Shazam! zoomed to a big $5.9 million in Thursday previews at the North American box office, where it's tipped to win the weekend with $45 million to $55 million.

Previews began at 4 p.m., versus the usual 7 p.m. And including previous sneaks, the film has already taken in $9.2 million. Overseas, in 53 markets, Shazam! has grossed $15.7 million over the past two days. 

The seventh title in the DC Extended Universe stars Asher Angel as Billy Batson, a teenager who only has to utter the word "Shazam!" to be transformed into an adult superhero played by Zachary Levi.

Mark Strong, Grace Fulton, Jack Dylan Grazer and Djimon Hounsou co-star in the film, which was directed by David Sandberg, who helmed the horror hits Lights Out and Annabelle: Creation.

Shazam! is expected to play young despite its PG-13 rating, and could pose tough competition for holdover Dumbo, rated PG. It easily topped Thursday's chart ahead of Dumbo, which earned an estimated $2.2 million. Jordan Peele's hit horror pic Us wasn't far behind, with an estimated $2 million.

Pet Sematary, based on the Stephen King novel and a remake of the 1989 pic, should also open to pleasing numbers this weekend for Paramount with $20 million-plus after earning $2.3 million in Thursday previews.

The R-rated horror pic stars Jason Clarke as Dr. Louis Creed in the story of a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the Maine woods near the family’s new home. Amy Seimetz and John Lithgow also star in Pet Sematary, which made its world premiere at SXSW. Kevin Kölsch and Dennis Widmyer directed.

The third new offering of the weekend is STXfilms' civil rights drama The Best of Enemies, a 1971-set drama starring Taraji P. Henson as a civil rights activist and Sam Rockwell as a member of the Ku Klux Klan who face off over school integration in Durham, North Carolina.

Best of Enemies, from first-time writer-director Robin Bissell, is tracking to open in the single digits after earning $265,000 in previews.

[decodedkit-blog]

CinemaCon 2019: Review

LAS VEGAS — The movie industry has returned to their day jobs Friday after four days of schmoozing, deal-making and watching movie studios and stars sell the best of what’s to come to theatres at CinemaCon in Las Vegas.

It’s a time of great change in the movie business. The film distribution landscape has been irrevocably altered with Disney’s still-fresh acquisition of Fox, the competition from streaming is only getting more intense, and, even though last year was a record one at the box office, this year isn’t off to the best start.

Publicly at least, the big Hollywood studios were unwavering in their message: We’re committed to the theatrical experience.

Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the annual gathering of theatre owners and distributors.

THE STREAMING ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

Netflix has never attended CinemaCon, nor has the streaming giant even asked to be part of the splashy product showcase. Yet veiled, and sometimes explicit, references seem to come up in every presentation every year to the looming competitor that’s seen as a threat to the theatre-going experience. Helen Mirren even said, “I love Netflix, but (expletive) Netflix.”

This year was a little different since Netflix recently joined the Motion Picture Association of America.

“We are all stronger advocates for creativity and the entertainment business when we are working together. All of us,” said MPAA chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin .

AMC CEO Adam Aron even said that he’s even open to Netflix playing in his company’s theatres, but only if they play by the same rules as all the other studios in Hollywood.

THE FOOTAGE THAT HIT

Hollywood studios spend a lot of money to bring stars like Charlize Theron, Jim Carrey and Arnold Schwarzenegger , trailers and footage to Las Vegas, but the downside is that no matter how charming or funny they are, only a few really ever manage to break out in a big way. Paramount’s Elton John musical “Rocketman” got everyone jazzed and singing along to his classic hits, while teasing the high-highs and low-lows of rock star life.

Universal’s “Yesterday,” about a struggling musician who wakes up from an accident to find that he’s the only one in the world who knows the music of The Beatles (and uses it to his advantage) also looks like it will be a fun summer charmer.

Disney brought out the classic “everything the light touches” scene from its CG/live-action adaption of “The Lion King.” The stunning landscapes and life-like fur shown of Simba and his father gazing out at the sunrise had many seeing dollar signs in their future. And Lionsgate brought out a late-game charmer in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson’s next film, “Knives Out,” a sharply-written Agatha Christie-style whodunit about a wealthy family whose patriarch turns up dead.

DISNEY SHOWS OFF ITS NEW TOY: FOX

The Disney/Fox deal may have been an arranged marriage, at least for the remaining executives at 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight, but everyone put on a good face for the theatre owners while also referencing the magnitude of the change. It was a little strange to see a montage featuring “Avatar,” “Titanic,” “Hidden Figures,” “Toy Story,” “Frozen” and the “Avengers” all together. But the 2019 Fox releases have been officially blended in with the Disney releases (and some will have to move as they currently occupy the same release date).

“We believe that together we will be more than the sum of our parts,” said Alan Horn, the Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios.

BUSINESS WAS UP, BUT…

Did you hear? 2018 was a record year at the box office with $11.9 billion in ticket sales. (Of course you did, because every studio and trade association chief made sure to mention it over and over again this week.) And yet this year the box office is still down nearly 16%. Privately, some smaller theatre owners grumbled about the lousy first three months of 2019 in movies for their bottom lines, even with hits like “Us” and “Captain Marvel.” “Avengers: Endgame,” is coming after all. But it takes more than one mega-hit to save an entire industry.

DIVERSITY BRINGS AUDIENCES

For an industry propped up by the successes of superhero films, every studio seemed keen to remind theatre owners that they don’t just make those kinds of movies. And indeed, the message remains that diversity sells. Last year, when films like “Black Panther” and “Crazy Rich Asians” became massive hits, ticket-buyers were younger and more diverse than ever.

It’s fitting, then, that the convention brought out “Crazy Rich Asians” director Jon M. Chu to talk about why when faced with a choice between a streaming release or a theatrical one for his film, he chose the theatre.

“The weekend became a can’t miss cultural event. This story would not have happened without the theatrical experience…we made movie stars,” Chu said. “In a time when we need shared experiences more than other to help see each other, (cinema) can be the most powerful potent tool.”

[decodedkit-blog]

Captain Marvel Joins The Billion Dollar Club

Marvel’s latest superhero flick, Captain Marvel, just crossed a big milestone: it’s earned more than $1 billion at the global box office, according to Variety. The film is the seventh in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to hit that mark, joining the likes of Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War.

After being teased in last year’s Infinity War, fans were eagerly anticipating the film and its titular character to arrive in a standalone spot, given Captain Marvel’s expected role in the forthcoming Avengers: Endgame. The milestone comes as the buildup to Endgame has begun. Marvel released a new teaser yesterday in conjunction with advance tickets going on sale, which broke the record set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. The question isn’t will Endgame hit the billion-dollar mark, but how fast?

That box office haul comes at the end of a decade-long buildup of Marvel’s film franchise, and it should bode well for the next phase, which begins this summer with Spider-Man: Far From Home in July. But Marvel hasn’t revealed what the franchise will look like post-Endgame: Far From Home is the only film that’s been officially revealed, although studio head Kevin Feige has said that the next generation of films will be “completely different.” Presumably, Marvel hopes the box office numbers won’t change any time soon.

[decodedkit-blog]

Marvel's 'The Eternals' Looking to add Agelina Jolie & Kumail Nanjiani

The superhero adventure project is one of two Marvel features prepping to shoot this year.

Kumail Nanjiani is the latest to go Marvel.

The comedian and Oscar nominee is in negotiations to star alongside Angelina Jolie in The Eternals, one of two features that Marvel is prepping to shoot this year.

Chloe Zhao is directing the superhero adventure project, based on the 1976 comic book series created by Jack Kirby. The heroes got a dusting off in the 2000s by author Neil Gaiman. The project features the superpowered and near-immortal beings known as Eternals and a more monstrous offshoot known as the Deviants that were created by cosmic beings known as Celestials.

Jolie is understood to be playing the character named Sersi, a more outgoing Eternal who has not been afraid to move amongst humankind.

Nanjiani’s character details were hidden in the sands of time.

Nanjiani, who earned an Oscar nomination for co-writing The Big Sick with wife Emily Gordon, is hitting a busy time period. On the TV side, he stars in the first Twilight Zone episode from CBS All-Access and exec producer Jordan Peele. On the movie side, he will be seen in Sony’s Men in Black: International, which is set to open June 14, and then stars with Dave Bautista in the action comedy Stuber, which Disney/Fox will open July 12.

Additionally, the actor, repped byUTA, Mosaic and Schreck Rose, recently wrapped Lovebirds, a comedy that also stars Issa Rae that he exec produced.  

Marvel had no comment.

[decodedkit-blog]

Zack Snyder’s Zombie Film ‘Army of the Dead’ adds Dave Bautista

Dave Bautista has closed a deal to star in Zack Snyder’s zombie film “Army of the Dead” for Netflix, an individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap.

Snyder and Shay Hatten wrote the script for the project, which follows a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas and a man assembling a group of mercenaries to pull off the greatest heist.

Snyder and his wife Deborah Snyder are producing, with Ori Marmur and Andrew Norman overseeing for Netflix.

Bautista has a jam-packed schedule. He will next be seen as Drax in “Avengers: Endgame,” as well as opposite Kumail Nanjiani in “Stuber.” He is also attached to “Escape Plan: The Extractors,” “My Spy” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune,” and is likely to reprise his role of Drax in James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.”

“Army of the Dead” is expected to film later this year, with Gunn shooting “The Suicide Squad” in September before he starts production on “Guardians 3” — so Bautista has plenty of time to wrap up Snyder’s heist film before returning to Drax.

His other recent credits include “Hotel Artemis,” “Escape Plan 2: Hades,” “Final Score” and “Blade Runner 2049.”

[decodedkit-blog]

Watch Laura Dern in Trial by Fire

Here is the first trailer for Trial by Fire, director Ed Zwick’s controversial film that premiered at Telluride last year. It’s the true-life Texas story of the unlikely bond between a death row inmate and a mother of two from Houston who, though facing staggering odds, fights mightily for his freedom.

Cameron Todd Willingham (Jack O’Connell), a poor, uneducated heavy metal devotee with a violent streak and a criminal record, is convicted of arson-related triple homicide in 1992. (“Any man can’t save his own kids don’t deserve to live,” he says.) During his 12 years on death row, Elizabeth Gilbert (Laura Dern), an improbable ally, uncovers questionable methods and illogical conclusions in his case, and battles with the state to expose suppressed evidence that could save him. Her efforts ultimately fail, and since Willingham’s execution, the disturbing question remains: Did Texas execute an innocent man?

“I did not kill my own children, Elizabeth,” Willingham says in their initial jailhouse meeting. “I love them more than I love life itself.”

Geoffrey Fletcher wrote the pic based on The New Yorker article “Trial by Fire” by David Grann and the letters of Cameron Todd Willingham. Emily Meade co-stars. It’s produced by Allyn Stewart, Kipp Nelson, Edward Zwick and Alex Soros, with Kathryn Dean and Marshall Herskovitz as exec producers.

Roadside Attractions acquired the pic in February and will release it in theaters May 17, Check out the first trailer and poster below.