November 26, 2017

Rose McGowan, Annabella Sciorra, and Asia Argento Had a Home-Cooked Meal Courtesy of Anthony Bourdain

If any good is to come from the ongoing sexual-harassment scandal emanating out of Hollywood and reaching seemingly every other corner of the country, it’ll be thanks to those who have come come forward with their stories. At the top of that list would likely be Rose McGowan, who’s been leading the charge against Harvey Weinstein and others for months now. As seen online, the actress and activist was joined by Asia Argento and Annabella Sciorra — both of whom have also accused Weinstein of rape — for a “meeting of the minds.”

Making the gathering even better is the fact that Anthony Bourdain, who’s dating Argento and has been a vocal critic of Weinstein and others, cooked for the three women; he called it “an honor” to do so. McGowan linked Ronan Farrow in her Instagram post documenting the evening, as he has written several New Yorker articles about Weinstein.

Bourdain was asked what he cooked, and Argento responded: “He cooked us food filled with love and strength.” No word on whether they’re saving revenge — which is best served cold, natch — for later.

Source: IndieWire film

November 26, 2017

‘Call Me by Your Name’ Is Best Opener of 2017; ‘Darkest Hour’ Launches Well

Two year-end Oscar contenders, “Call Me by Your Name” (Sony Pictures Classics) and “Darkest Hour” (Focus Features), opened well over the Thanksgiving holiday. “Call Me by Your Name” is now the top initial weekend platform grosser of the year, at a level often seen by films that end up as Oscar leaders. While Wednesday opener “Darkest Hour” didn’t perform at the same level, Focus launched the World War drama at a level consistent with its favorable reviews and strong media positioning.

“Bombshell: The Heddy Lamarr Story” (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber) enjoyed an excellent initial New York single theater showing, as yet another documentary about creative world figure drew unexpected interest.

Two robust recent openers, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Fox Searchlight) and “Lady Bird” (A24), showed continued strength, pulling crossover interest that positions them both for further expansion and much higher ultimate returns.

Opening

Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) –  Metacritic: 95; Festivals include: Sundance, Berlin, Toronto 2017

$404,874 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $101,219

Luca Guadagnino’s acclaimed romantic drama (from a script by director James Ivory) looks to best “Lady Bird” as the top platform opener of the year, helped by a holiday Friday and strong results throughout the weekend. It is also a milestone as the best-performing gay romance since “Brokeback Mountain” 12 years ago (which performed better during a much stronger period for specialized film).

For Sony Pictures Classics, “Call Me” represents a return to form as their best opening since their two smash Woody Allen titles (“Midnight in Paris” and “Blue Jasmine”) and four times as big as any of their debut weekends over the last two years.

This combined with superb reviews and inevitable awards attention should propel this into a strong position. Weinstein a year ago was able to push the $30,000 three-day PTA opening of “Lion” into a well-hyped mainstream $51-million Best Picture nominee. SPC will give “Call Me” a more calibrated slow release aimed at paralleling nominations and national exposure closer to the Oscar nominations in January.

What comes next: The next cities don’t open until December 15, with most major markets due by Christmas.

Jack English

Darkest Hour (Focus) –  Metacritic: 73; Festivals include: Telluride, Toronto, Hamptons 2017

$176,000 in 4 theaters; PTA: $44,000; Cumulative: $247,000

Joe Wright’s rendition of a crucial month in world history opened well. The telling of Winston Churchill’s takeover as Prime Minister just as Britain faced an existential crisis from Hitler is primed as a significant awards contender, particularly for Gary Oldman’s performance. It opened on Wednesday, taking some gross from the weekend, but in any case this marks a robust initial start.

What comes next: The next big city dates come on December 8, with a nationwide release on December 22.

The Man Who Invented Christmas (Bleecker Street) –  Metacritic: 61; Festivals include: Cork 2017

$1,343,000 in 626 theaters; PTA: $2,146; Cumulative: $1,797,000

The second biofilm about an English author creating a classic novel loved by children (after “Goodbye Christopher Robin”) had similar mixed results. This biopic about Charles Dickens writing “A Christmas Carol” went wider to maximize the holidays and a potentially larger crossover audience, but family films “Coco” and “Wonder” cut into its potential.

What comes next: This should hold on through some possible holiday dates.

Bombshell: The Heddy Lamarr Story (Zeitgeist/Kino Lorber) –  Metacritic: 56; Festivals include: Toronto 2017

$18,742 in 1 theater; PTA: $18,742

This documentary about this legendary brilliant actress scored an outstanding first weekend at New York’s IFC Center. An upbeat New York Times review (not yet factored into the Metacritic score) boosted this story about the star’s work as an inventor of early wireless technology.

What comes next: Los Angeles opens at the Nuart of Dec. 8, with other dates including calendar bookings starting this Friday.

Week Two

Roman J. Israel, Esq. (Sony)

$4,515,000 in 1,669 theaters (+4); PTA: $2,705; Cumulative: $6,274,000

This Denzel Washington vehicle about a crusading Los Angeles lawyer made a quick expansion after its five-day platform debut, with an individual theater average rank far below other recent major expansions, well under the initial take for the actor’s “Fences” last year.

The Breadwinner (GKids)

$18,064 in 8 theaters (+5); PTA: $2,258; Cumulative: $44,612

Backed by Angelina Jolie, the latest foreign awards-oriented animated release from niche distributor GKids showed a minor response in its second-week expansion to new cities. These numbers don’t include a strong $11,000 opening via another distributor in Toronto.

Ongoing/expanding (Grosses over $50,000)

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Week 3

$4,400,000 in 614 theaters (+541); Cumulative: $7,624,000

Martin McDonagh’s unique take on small-town U.S. life continues to show major initial appeal. Its big third week expansion saw good results despite competition from other older-audience films. It’s one of the top multi-hundred theater specialized results of the year, perfectly timed to maximize its likely awards attention. It will take more weeks to assess its potential crossover appeal (for now “The Big Sick” at $42 million is the top performer among specialized wider films), but so far everything has broken right.

A24

Lady Bird (A24) Week 4

$4,042,000 in 791 theaters (+553); Cumulative: $10,703,000

With a major jump in theaters, Greta Gerwig’s hit comedy doubled its total over the five-day holiday. It’s sharing specialized/upscale attention with “Three Billboards,” which performed better in fewer theaters this weekend. Both are doing well, with the one-week earlier “Lady Bird” bigger so far. Early award nods will help this sustain a lengthy run through the holidays and beyond.

A24

The Florida Project (A24) Week 8

$298,745 in 164 theaters (-53); Cumulative: $4,744,000

The holiday boosted Sean Baker’s acclaimed independent film with a gross nearly equal to last weekend despite a drop in theaters.

Loving Vincent (Good Deed) Week 10

$263,123 in 147 theaters (-65); Cumulative: $5,148,000

The unexpected animated sleeper based on Van Gogh’s work continues to thrive in its tenth week.

Last Flag Flying (Lionsgate) Week 4

$185,000 in 98 theaters (+39); Cumulative: $679,792

Richard Linklater’s latest via Amazon expanded again, though still not wide, with continued modest results.

My Friend Dahmer (FilmRise) Week 4

$155,000 in 75 theaters (no change); Cumulative: $742,113

The gross remained steady for this graphic novel adaptation about the serial killer. That’s a good sign for this still limited release that could find wider interest, particularly among younger audiences.

Victoria & Abdul (Focus) Week 10

$118,000 in 144 theaters (-113); Cumulative: $21,907,000

As Focus puts its spotlight on “Darkest Hour,” their earlier British biopic success is winding up its run with a terrific total.

The Square (Magnolia) Week 5

$(est.) 100,000 in 51 theaters (-12); Cumulative: $(est.) 780,000

The Swedish Cannes Palme D’Or winner continues to show interest ahead of most recent subtitled releases.

Noviatiate (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 5

$76,526 in 118 theaters (+57); Cumulative: $367,707

This Sundance dramatic competition feature hasn’t clicked with audiences, only attracting a handful of ticket buyers in its expansion.

Jane (Abramorama/National Geographic) Week 6

$83,337 in 51 theaters (-33); Cumulative: $1,168,000

This leading Oscar documentary contender continues to do steady business ahead of all but a handful in the genre this year.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (A24) Week 6

$65,278 in 59 theaters (-161); Cumulative: $2,111,000

Yorgos Lathimos’ second English language feature will far short of his earlier “The Lobster,” which totaled a surprising domestic $9 million.

Also noted:

1945 (Menemsha) – $30,110 in 5 theaters; Cumulative: $123,822

Thelma (The Orchard) – $20,993 in 12 theaters; Cumulative: $49,136

Faces/Places (Cohen) – $13,733 in 10 theaters; Cumulative: $494,485

Tom of Finland (Kino Lorber) – $13,300 in 8 theaters; Cumulative: $206,220

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Source: IndieWire film

November 26, 2017

Quentin Tarantino Doesn’t Even Know How Netflix Works, Still Misses Video Stores

The way we watch movies may be changing, but Quentin Tarantino isn’t. The director, who still shoots on film and refuses to screen anything digitally at the New Beverly, is well known for having worked at a video store in his younger years — and, as evidenced by a new interview (below), he still prefers the brick-and-mortar experience to streaming sites like Netflix.

“I’m not on Netflix, so I can’t even tell you exactly how that works,” he says. “But even if you just have all the movie channels in your [TV] package — and that’s something I do have — so you hit the guide and you go down the list, and you hit there and you watch something or you tape something, and maybe you never get around to watching it or you actually do watch it, and then maybe you watch it for 10 minutes or 20 minutes, and maybe you start doing something else, and ‘Nah, I’m not really into this.’ And then that’s kind of where we’ve fallen into.”

Not feeling committed to the movie you’ve chosen was less of a problem at actual stores, the “Hateful Eight” director argues. “There was a different quality to the video store. You went down to the video store, you looked around, you picked up boxes, you read the back of the boxes — you made a choice,” he continues.

“And maybe you talked to the guy behind the counter, and maybe he pointed you toward something. And he didn’t just put something in your hand, he gave you a little bit of a sales pitch on it to some degree or another. And so the point being is, you were kind of invested in a way that you’re not invested with electronic technology when it comes to the movies.” Listen to his full thoughts below.

Source: IndieWire film

November 26, 2017

‘Justice League’ Originally Began on a More Comedic Note, but Warner Bros. Made Joss Whedon Change It

As is tradition in the DC Universe, “Justice League” has opened to mixed reviews and disappointing box-office numbers. The superhero team-up movie, which was finished by Joss Whedon after Zack Snyder had to step down to deal with a family tragedy, begins with Batman defeating an evildoer in a scene that few have singled out as being especially memorable.

According to the actor who played said ruffian, the scene was envisioned as being much funnier by Whedon — but Warner Bros. made him change it.

“I love Joss Whedon. My scene with Batman was originally conceived as a comedic scene. That’s how Joss wrote it, and that’s how we shot it,” Holt McCallany tells Men’s Fitness in a new interview. “I thought it came out great, but the studio felt it would be a mistake to open the film with a completely comedic scene, so it was re-edited a little bit. I was disappointed, but when I got home to New York I found a bottle of my favorite champagne and a note from Joss that said ‘To Battles Lost. Gratefully, Joss.’ I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that he took the time to write to me. Joss Whedon is a class act. I had the letter framed.”

Whedon is known for injecting genre fare with wit and levity, but it would appear that WB wasn’t laughing in this case.

Source: IndieWire film