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‘Hellboy’ Burned at Weekend Box Office

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Much to the chagrin of Hellboy fans, Neil Marshall, David Harbour, and Mike Mignola (to say nothing about the financial stake holders at Lionsgate and Summit Entertainment), the much-hyped Hellboy reboot failed to deliver at the box office, or in the eyes of critics and fans.

Expectations were gauged as cautiously optimistic for the latest adventures of Dark Horse Comics “Big Red” (especially when it was clear that Hellboy would be entering a crowded scene with the continued success of Shazam, Us, Captain Marvel, and last week’s Pet Sematary remake), but no one involved could have prepared for the anemic box office returns, as the film earned only an estimated $12 million in its first weekend of release. read more

Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ Dominates Weekend Box Office

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Us, Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his breakout hit Get Out, dominated the weekend box office, raking in an estimated $70 million in ticket sales.  Peele’s sophomore effort took in more than twice as much as Get Out (which debuted with a 33 million dollar haul) and with such a healthy start, Us should be able to come close to what Peele’s original foray into the horror genre generated back in 2017.

While Us’s box office is certainly impressive, as it is one of the highest grossing original horror films of all time after only one weekend, it may have a hard time sustaining the momentum and word-of-mouth that Get Out capitalized on.  Us has been an unabashed hit in the eyes of critics (with a 94% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences seem to like, but not love the picture.  When examining the metrics associated with audience reactions,  ticket buyers gave Us a 70% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a lukewarm CinemaScore of B. read more

‘Us’: The Horror News Network Review

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This review contains spoilers.

Get Out was a smash hit on all metrics. The movie earned $255 million on a $4.5 million budget and it wowed casual fans, horror aficionados, and stuffy critics alike due to its expert blend of tried and true horror tropes and an adept level of social commentary that ties the picture together. Get Out also solidified writer/director Jordan Peele as one of the premiere horror storytellers of our time after a long and successful career in comedy. His well-deserved Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay broke barriers for an institution which typically rewards standard drama storytelling over specialized genre fare, and it drew even more attention to his knack for threading symbolism and allegory through a tightly constructed, self-contained horror story. Throughout the pre-release hype for Us, audiences were constantly reminded that this movie would have an even greater emphasis on horror than Peele’s freshman outing, and the film’s trailers expertly presented the terrifying tropes of the home invasion, the fear of the other, and ghastly sharp objects front and center. All of this build up led audiences to believe that Us would contain- above all- a great horror narrative. What we ended up with- however- is a movie that relies much more heavily on allegory than story, and the story suffers as a result… even in spite of phenomenal performances by a stellar ensemble cast.   read more

Jordan Peele Debuts ‘Us’ Super Bowl Trailer Hours Before the Big Game

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According to CNBC, this year’s Super Bowl commercials will cost advertisers $5.25 million for 30 seconds of airtime. This means the new one-minute trailer for Jordan Peele’s Us will set Universal Pictures back $10.5 million (more than half of the film’s production budget!) when it runs during the big game. Such big spending isn’t exactly surprising considering Peele’s previous film, Get Out, earned over $255 million worldwide and netted the auteur an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Given all of the money at stake, Universal likely wants as many eyes on the screen as possible during airtime and lots of feverous anticipation; but Peele himself had a trick up his sleeve for fans who just can’t wait until kickoff to catch another glimpse of this highly-anticipated film. read more

2019 Oscar Nominations Ignore Horror Films After Incredible Wins in 2018

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Did you think that The Shape of Water’s and Get Out’s big wins at the Academy Awards last year meant that horror movies would finally be getting a fair shake during awards season? Think again! The 2019 Oscar nominations are out, and the horror genre is only represented with a single nomination for A Quiet Place in the category of Best Sound Editing.

Last year, The Shape of Water received 13 nominations (the record is 14), and it ended up winning Best Picture, Best Director (Guillermo del Toro), Best Original Score, and Best Production Design. Get Out was nominated for Best Picture, Best Director (Jordan Peele), Best Original Screenplay (Jordan Peele), and Best Actor (Daniel Kaluuya), and Peele took home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Between these two films, the horror genre was represented in many of the Academy’s most prestigious categories. read more

Jordan Peele’s ‘Us’ gets New Poster

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Jordan Peele’s upcoming thriller Us has a new poster straight from Universal Pictures.

Starring Black Panther alumni Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, Us has a growing cast with Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Tim Heidecker (Ant-Man and the Wasp) and newly added members, Shahadi Wright Joseph (Hairspray Live!), Evan Alex (Mani), Madison Curry, Cali Sheldon, Noelle Sheldon (Friends) and Duke Nicholson.

The film’s synopsis is as follows: “A mother (Lupita Nyong’o) and a father (Winston Duke) take their kids to their beach house expecting to unplug and unwind with friends (including Elizabeth Moss). But as night descends, their serenity turns to tension and chaos when some shocking visitors arrive uninvited.” read more

Coming Soon from Jordan Peele – The Horror Bits

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From the latest feature on Variety, many directors in Hollywood have all too great a challenge coming up with something new that audiences will pay to see. For Jordan Peele, director of 2017’s Get Out, he hit a home run with his directorial debut achieving critical acclaim and commercial success that earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Now, Peele has his eyes on all new projects with his production company, Monkeypaw Productions, that includes Lovecraft Country at HBO and The Twilight Zone to be streamed on CBS All Access. read more

Tim Heidecker Cast in Jordan Peele’s Upcoming Horror Film, ‘Us’

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Us, Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his award winning smash hit Get Out– already sports an incredible cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Elisabeth Moss, and Winston Duke… and today’s announcement makes it even more interesting!

Variety reports that Tim Heidecker has been cast in Us in an unspecified role. Mainstream moviegoers may recognize Heidecker from his appearances in big budget films like Ant-Man and the Wasp and Bridesmaids; but legions of die-hard fans love him for his writing, directing, and acting in cult classics such as Tom Goes to the Mayor, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule, and Decker. His works are often known for their dark and disturbing themes and a sense of humor which can only be described as “an acquired taste.” Heidecker and longtime collaborator Eric Wareheim recently ventured into the world of horror with their ongoing series, Tim and Eric’s Bedtime Stories, which explores everything from slapstick hijinks in a haunted house to the terrors of automated exercise equipment in the digitized world. In addition, Heidecker co-hosts a satirical movie review show with Gregg Turkington called On Cinema At the Cinema, which just completed its tenth season. Surely upon its release, Us will deserve the prestigious rating of “5  bags of popcorn” and several additional ceremonial trinkets, which Peele could display with his Best Original Screenplay Academy Award for Get Out! read more

Jordan Peele Bringing ‘Gargoyles’ Back to Life?

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Perhaps Jordan Peele is serious about not acting anymore?  Following the sketch comedy veteran’s wildly successful directorial debut (2017’s box office smash Get Out), Peele apparently now has his sights set on tackling a cult 90’s cartoon.  According to a recent edition of The Ankler newsletter, industry writer Richard Rushfield reveals that Peele is reportedly considering a run at the movie version of the 1990s cult animated series Gargoyles.  This would appear to be an odd choice for a director who is fresh off an Oscar win, but not altogether surprising based on his track record. read more

‘Get Out’ Screenplay Wins Ray Bradbury Nebula Award

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The traditional Hollywood awards season may be over, but Get Out isn’t done scoring prestigious awards yet! The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America organization announced the winners of this years prestigious Nebula Awards this weekend at their conference in Pittsburgh, and it turns out that Get Out is winner of the Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation.

Jordan Peele’s script won over such nominees as the screenplays for The Shape of Water, Logan, and Wonder Woman. Peele previously earned an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in March, and today’s Nebula Award further reinforces the power and impact that his strong script had on his great motion picture. read more