September 23, 2018

‘Fahrenheit 11/9’ and ‘Life Itself’ Flop Loudly, While Eli Roth Dominates With ‘The House With a Clock in Its Walls’

Success can come from strange places. Eli Roth, whose name became synonymous with torture porn, will likely see family film “The House With a Clock in the Walls” become his biggest hit. Produced by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin, “House” comes after nearly two months after the last major family release. (That was “Christopher Robin,” which should could cross $100 million with a strong quadrupling of its opening weekend). However, its 47 percent Saturday increase shows initial strong positive reaction as well as successful marketing.

The story combines sorcery, magic, a haunted house, and comedy as an orphan boy is sent to live with his uncle, played by Jack Black. With Cate Blanchett along to give it even more heft, it clicked during a period when original projects have taken over after the siege of summer sequels. Its total — for a film with half the budget — is better than last weekend’s “The Predator.” A sign that fresh material is more appealing than franchise titles?

Case in point: The weekend was down 29 percent from the same one in 2017. That saw two openers at over $20 million, with “Kingsman: The Golden Circle” at nearly $40 million and “The Lego Ninjago Movie” just over $20 million. Those, plus a nearly $30 million third weekend for “It,” couldn’t be matched by this year’s menu, despite some very good holdover titles.

Dog Eat Dog Films

This marked the second weekend of wide openings of titles that premiered at recent film festivals — with results ranging from disappointing to disastrous. These include last weekend’s “The Predator” and “White Boy Rick” and new releases “Fahrenheit 11/9,” “Life Itself,” and “Assassination Nation.”

Of the three, only Michael Moore’s “11/9” even made the top 10 (at #8). Unlike most documentaries, this one comes with a proven brand. Moore has compiled more box office than any documentary director in history. He was omnipresent last week, and the new distributor created to handle the film got him a wide national release in top theaters.

So while the operation was a success, the patient isn’t doing well. It is unusual for documentaries to open wide or even play this many theaters in one week. Both the gross and theater count are greater than “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “RBG,” and “Three Identical Strangers” — the year’s top documentaries — managed in any one weekend.

There is one positive sign: a 12 percent increase from its initial Friday — could give it hope for some life ahead. With most of the gross coming from its 500 best theaters, they have to hold on to these to recover. The Cinemascore was an excellent A.

Amazon Studios

Whatever issues Moore’s films faces pale beyond comparison to “Life Itself” from “This Is Us” creator Dan Fogelman. The multi-layered human drama, which Amazon acquired for $10 million, failed to make the top 10 with $2.1 million in about 900 more theaters after brutal reviews. (Fogelman didn’t help, drawing more attention to them with false claims that they reflected male bias against “emotional films”).

The result was a per-theater average of around $800. That’s about 90 people spread over three-plus days of showings. It did see a four percent increase Saturday, but with its adult appeal that’s not particularly impressive. This one has even less chance of recovery.

Sundance Film Festival

Neon, the biggest story among new distributors since A24, tried and failed to push hot Sundance title “Assassination Nation.” The low-budget comedy targeted to a millennial audience had all the smart marketing Neon has become known for. But it failed to justify its release in 1,403 theaters, where it ended up with an even lower PTA of $703.

The second-weekend holdovers had radically different results. At the top was “A Simple Favor,” which stayed in second spot, with a decent hold down only 35 percent. “The Predator” fell all the way to #4 from #1, dropping a hefty 65 percent. “White Boy Rick” fell in between, with a 44 percent drop. That gives it a shot at more play, but not enough to sustain much more than a week.

And there’s “Crazy Rich Asians.” Projections to get it to $180 million domestic included week-by-week drops of 35 percent. This weekend, its sixth, fell only 25 percent, retaining the #5 spot. Although $200 million still seems a bit of a stretch, but $190 million seems attainable.

The next-best top 10 hold — and beatig two openers — is “Searching.” The Jon Cho starring internet mystery dropped 32 percent, with the lower budget Sony-released title with a shot of getting to $27 million or more.

 Top Ten

1. The House With a Clock in Its Walls (Universal) NEW – Cinemascore: B+; Metacritic: 59; Est. budget: $40 million

$26,850,000 in 3,592 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $7,475; Cumulative: $26,850.000

2. A Simple Favor (Lionsgate) Week 2; Last weekend #3

$10,400,000 (-35%) in 3,102 theaters (no change); PTA: $3,353; Cumulative: $32,562,000

3. The Nun (Warner Bros.) Week 3; Last weekend #2

$10,250,000 (-44%) in 3,707 theaters (-169); PTA: $2,765; Cumulative: $100,895,000

4. The Predator (20th Century Fox) Week 2; Last weekend #1

$8,700,000 (-65%) in 4,073 theaters (+22); PTA: $2,138; Cumulative: $40,435,000

5. Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros.) Week 6; Last weekend #5

$6,515,000 (-25%) in 2,802 theaters (-583); PTA: $2,325; Cumulative: $159,439,000

6. White Boy Rick (Sony) Week 2; Last weekend #4

$5,000,000 (-44%) in 2,504 theaters (no change); PTA: $1,997; Cumulative: $17,410,000

7. Peppermint (STX) Week 3; Last weekend #6

$3,720,000 (-38%) in 2,680 theaters (-300); PTA: $1,388; Cumulative: $30,333,000

8. Fahrenheit 11/9 (Briarcliff) NEW – Cinemascore: A; Metacritic: 71; Est. budget: $4 million

$3,101,000 in 1,719 theaters; PTA: $1,804; Cumulative: $3,101

9. The Meg (Warner Bros.) Week 7; Last weekend #7

$2,350,000 (-39%) in 2,003 theaters (-808); PTA: $1,173; Cumulative: $140,523,000

10. Searching (Sony) Week 5; Last weekend #8

$2,175,000 (-32%) in 1,787 theaters (-222); PTA: $1,217; Cumulative: $23,115,000

Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.

Source: IndieWire film

September 23, 2018

‘The Joker’: Todd Phillips Offers First Look at Zazie Beetz in Character as Sophie Dumond

After sharing photos of Joaquin Phoenix both in and out of makeup this week, Todd Phillips has offered a similar look at Zazie Beetz from his upcoming Joker movie. Interest in the untitled project has swirled since the first two pictures surfaced, with many speculating that this iteration of Batman’s arch-nemesis is a failed stand-up comic — especially following the casting of Robert De Niro, who’s said to be playing an inversion of his “King of Comedy” character.

Phillips offered the following rationale for releasing the photos more than a year before the film arrives in theaters: “Here’s the issue. We have paparazzi all over our set, at every turn. And it bums me out that they constantly put out their bad shots. So I figure, may as well put out some good ones.” Beetz is said to be playing Sophie Dumond, the love interest of Arthur — Joker’s name before he becomes the Joker. She first came to widespread attention for her role in “Atlanta” and also played Domino in this year’s “Deadpool 2,” another comic-book movie.

Marc Maron, Bill Camp, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, and Shea Whigham also star in the film; Alec Baldwin was cast as well, but had to drop out. Warner Bros. will release the film on October 4, 2019.

Source: IndieWire film

September 23, 2018

Starry ‘Colette’ and ‘The Sisters Brothers’ Ignite Fall Specialty Box Office

The specialized fall season, rife with awards contenders, launched in earnest this weekend. Two limited openings — “Colette” (Bleecker Street) with Keira Knightley as the legendary writer and western “The Sisters Brothers” (Annapurna), the first English-language film from director Jacques Audiard — notched bigger grosses than any platform debuts since early July.

This weekend also saw three recent high-profile festival titles — Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 11/9,” Dan Fogelman’s “Life Itself,” and Sundance’s “Assassination Nation” — go wide nationally. All three found little interest, but provided more competition for specialized viewers who might otherwise have patronized more limited films.

Continuing the box office uptick for documentaries, three biodocs about creative figures found some initial response, with star-driven “Tea With the Dames” (IFC) showing particular strength in its New York exclusive. “Love, Gilda” (Magnolia) made a national big- city showing, while “Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable” (Greenwich) also saw significant opening interest in New York.

Opening

Colette (Bleecker Street) – Metacritic: 75; Festivals include: Sundance, Toronto 2018

$156,788 in 4 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $39,197

Keira Knightley carried this period portrait of the bestselling French 20th-century novelist. With the right formula biopics can still perform. Though it debuted at Sundance months ago, Bleecker Street launched the literary bodice-ripper at the start of the fall awards season with placement at four ideal New York/Los Angeles theaters. The result is the best two-city limited opening since “The Eighth Grade” in early July, about 50 percent better than “The Wife,” a few weeks ago which is now thriving in wider release.

What comes next: This expands to about 12 cities this Friday as the first stage of its national release.

The Sisters Brothers (Annapurna) – Metacritic: 79; Festivals include: Venice, Toronto 2018

$122,028 in 4 theaters; PTA: $30,507

Three high-profile films — “A Prophet,” “Rust and Bone,” and “Dheepan” — have established auteur Jacques Audiard at the top of France’s filmmaker heirarchy. His first American project was backed by Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Productions, with Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly as gunmen in the 1850s Northwest. This is not typical specialized fare these days. Decent reviews, prime festival attention, strong four New York/Los Angeles theaters, and a sizeable ad buy propelled this to a decent initial result. This is the first Western of the year.

What comes next: The expansion rollout starts with several top cities added this Friday.

Tea With the Dames (IFC)  – Metacritic: 89

$15,031 in 1 theater; PTA: $15,031

Starpower rules as four longtime friends, leading British actresses including Oscar-winners Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, were filmed during an afternoon together sharing their experiences. This opened with a strong result in Manhattan in advance of its wider release.

What comes next: Next up is Los Angeles and Chicago this Friday as well as expansion in New York.

Tribeca Film Festival

Love, Gilda (Magnolia) – Metacritic: 73; Festivals include: Tribeca 2018

$(est.) 170,000 in 85 theaters; PTA: $(est.) 2,000

This documentary about Gilda Radner hit a wide array of major cities to mixed results but considerable press in advance of its home availability.

What comes next: Streaming starts on Tuesday

Garry Winogrand: All Things Are Photographable (Greenwich)  – Metacritic: 76; Festivals include: South by Southwest 2018

$9,538 in 1 theater; PTA: $9,538; Cumulative: $13,782

The three-decade career of acclaimed photographer Garry Winogrand (whose work from from the 1950s to his death in 1984 mostly focused on street life and other everyday activities) is the focus of this documentary. It opened at New York’s Film Forum to a decent five-day gross of nearly $14,000.

What comes next: Landmark’s Nuart in Los Angeles opens this Friday.

Week Two

Lizzie (Roadside Attractions)

$256,510 in 240 theaters (+236); PTA: $1,068; Cumulative: $325,239

Chloë Sevigny and Kristen Stewart’s portrayal of an infamous Massachusetts ax murder expanded quickly nationwide. The results were minor with only a little over $1,000 average per theater.

The Dawn Wall (The Orchard)

$14,193 in 3 theaters (+1); PTA: $4,731; Cumulative: $774,179

Since its credible two theater opening last weekend, this documentary about a perilous climb at Yosemite played as a Fathom event on Tuesday, grossing about $720,000 in one single night showing in 600 theaters. Meanwhile it is playing limited full-week dates, and will return for another one day showing in 250 theaters on October 8.  Next week brings higher-profile festival hit “Free Solo” (September 28, NatGeo), about another El Capitan climber, Alex Honnold.

Science Fair (National Geographic)

$18,170 in 5 theaters (+4); PTA: $3,634; Cumulative: $41,423

This documentary about an international gathering of fledgling science students expanded to Los Angeles and elsewhere to overall modest results.

Graeme Hunter Pictures

Ongoing/expanding (grosses over $50,000)

The Wife (Sony Pictures Classics) – Week 6

$975,788 in 468 theaters (-73); Cumulative: $4,977,000

Glenn Close’s possible awards contender continues to dominate the early fall specialized scene. The theater count fell a little, but the per theater take remained about the same.

Juliet, Naked (Roadside Attractions) – Week 6

$118,760 in 102 theaters (-163); Cumulative: $3,247,000

Jesse Peretz’s adaptation of Nick Hornsby’s romantic triangle novel, starring Ethan Hawke and Rose Byrne, is winding up its multi-hundred theater run with an ultimate gross reaching a little under $4 million.

Sundance Selects/Screenshot

Blaze (IFC) – Week 6

$86,214 in 43 theaters (+7); Cumulative: $451,328

Writer-director Hawke’s film about Austin-based musician Blaze Foley continues its circuitous expansion (it started with Texas dates) with continued decent sampling.

The Bookshop (Greenwich) – Week 5

$70,449 in 69 theaters (-67); Cumulative: $1,346,000

Isabel Coixet’s England seatown period piece shows that fledgling Greenwich can reach a wide specialized audience. This wasn’t a breakout, but managed to reach the same level of national audience that more established distributors would have.

Pick of the Litter (IFC) – Week 4; also streaming

$66,137 in 51 theaters (+18); Cumulative: $268,014

With this charming documentary about training service dogs, IFC continues to show the ability to garner theatrical numbers parallel to home viewing venues.

Three Identical Strangers (Neon) – Week 13

$57,783 in 55 theaters (-40); Cumulative: $12,194,000

Like the summer’s other documentary smashes, Neon’s successful entry has sustained a three month run.

Also noted:

Puzzle (Sony Pictures Classics) – $17,240 in 29 theaters; Cumulative: $1,928,000

We the Animals (The Orchard) – $15,639 in 30 theaters; Cumulative: $370,166

Bisbee ’17 (4th Row)- $12,780 in 9 theaters; Cumulative: $60,189

Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.

Source: IndieWire film

September 23, 2018

Joker/Harley Quinn Spinoff Writers Say the Film Will Be a Cross Between ‘Bad Santa’ and ‘This Is Us’

All the Joker-related news has had to do with Joaquin Phoenix this week, but he isn’t the only one donning clown makeup right now. There’s also Jared Leto, whose turn as the Clown Prince of Gotham in “Suicide Squad” wasn’t especially well received but is receiving a standalone project co-starring Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn nevertheless. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, who are writing said spinoff, reveal in a new Metro interview that the film lies somewhere in between “Bad Santa” and “This Is Us.”

“It is great. The whole thing starts with Harley kidnapping Dr. Phil. Played by Dr. Phil hopefully. Because her and the Joker are having problems with their relationship,” Ficarra says. “We had so much fun, I don’t know if we have had more fun writing a script in our career.”

“It was sort of like, we wrote ‘Bad Santa’ a couple of years ago, and it was that sensibility mixed with our ‘This Is Us’ sensibility. We kind of meshed them together,” he Ficarra. “We were doing a relationship movie but with the sensibility of a ‘Bad Santa,’ f—ed up, mentally deranged people. It was a lot of fun.”

As for when it might be released, the two know about as much as we do: “I don’t know where it is on the queue of DC movies,” says Requa.

Source: IndieWire film

September 23, 2018

‘Overlord’ Review: J.J. Abrams’ Nazi Monster Movie Is Intense, Ravishing, and Surprisingly Deep — Fantastic Fest

“Overlord” invites low expectations and gleefully rises above them. Yes, this is a B-movie produced with studio resources about American soldiers battling Nazi zombies in WWII. But despite some underdeveloped characters and obvious B-movie tropes, “Overlord” goes beyond the call of duty with a riveting story that digs far deeper than this material usually goes for.

In the J.J. Abrams-produced genre hybrid, director Julius Avery takes the real-world horrors of Josef Mengele’s WWII Holocaust experiments to a more terrifying extreme: the Nazis have developed a special serum to reanimate their dead. Either by picking up deceased troopers off the side of the road, or simply kidnapping and murdering the locals, the S.S. has weaponized the villagers of an occupied town. This queasy premise sets the stage for a special kind of payoff, as a black man flips the script on these sadistic sociopaths’ final solution with a much better one.

Avery’s movie is a strange genre brew, merging the framework of a war movie with horror and intense action. The result plays like a mashup of “Dead Snow” (a comparatively straightforward zombie-Nazi movie), “Universal Soldier,” and the video game series “Wolfenstein.” It’s an exhilarating ride through the tumultuous life of a WWII soldier, amplified by its boisterous sound design, and grounded by intimate, personal performances by Jovan Adepo and Wyatt Russell. The movie’s gorgeous imagery show the considerable talents of the movie’s two credited cinematographers, Laurie Rose (Ben Wheatley’s “Kill List” and “Free Fire”) and Fabian Wagner (“Game of Thrones”), who capture the scope of a mission into enemy territory with a realistic edge and no shortage of visual effects. The result merges the harshness visceral qualities of wartime with the scope of the battlefield.

Dropped behind enemy lines mere hours before the allied forces storm the beaches of Normandy, Boyce (Adepo) and his Corporal (Russell) have one mission in mind: destroy the German transmitter atop a fortified church in France so American planes can supply air support to the invasion. Nazi scum have been rapidly spreading their control over Europe like a sickness, conquering one nation at a time, with world domination in sight. On June 6, 1944, Hitler’s treacherous trek across the globe is about to be terminated – at least, that was the plan, until the soldiers see what’s lurking underneath this holy sanctuary.

One of the most striking moments arrives after Boyce’s plane is shot down and he parachutes into the ocean. Bound by loose cords and trapped at the bottom of the sea, the terrified combatant cuts himself free and floats to the surface, only to wind up entombed within a blanket of nylon, gasping for air. Watching his face emerge under a coat of suffocating white fabric is akin to a baby bursting from the womb as he slits a hole in the surface and takes his first breath. “Overlord” excels at generating this sort of visual tension even as it careens further into its ludicrous plot.

Admittedly, on the level of character, there’s not much here that we haven’t seen before. Boyce falls into the familiar archetype of a morally sound newcomer to this harsh, war-torn environment; the corporal is the jaded veteran unafraid to get his hands dirty, but commits questionable acts in the name of military orders. They’re not the most developed action heroes, but “Overlord” at least gives them a more developed context. (As a black soldier in WWII, Boyce’s unique placement in this genre is left refreshingly unacknowledged; the movie’s taking enough liberties already, so the historical fiction that ignores America’s history of segregated troops isn’t much of an issue.)

The story juggles a surprising degree of sophistication with playful scares and tense ultra-violence. Screenwriters Billy Ray and Mark L. Smith push for deeper questions throughout. Chief among them: What separates the Allied forces from their enemies when the only way to beat the Nazis is to sink to their level? When the Corporal tortures a captured S.S. soldier Willis for information, nearly beating the man to death, Boyce stands by and begs his superior officer to stop. The violence is disturbing to the point that it flips the moral compass in play to provocative effect.

A subliminal commentary on the science of human behavior through a supernatural lens, “Overlord” manages to satisfy expectations of pure escapism even as it digs deeper, and it’s a welcome alternative to so many movies that don’t even try.

Grade: B+

“Overlord” premiered at the 2108 edition of Fantastic Fest. Paramount releases it November 9, 2018.

Source: IndieWire film

September 22, 2018

4 Tips Every Editor Should Know From Emmy-Nominated ‘Black Mirror’ Editor Selina MacArthur

The first episode of Season 4 was the product of a relationship 20 years in the making.<p>If you’re not already watching, Netflix’s <i>Black Mirror</i> is a …
Source: CW’s Flipboard Feed