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‘Happy Death Day 2U’: The Horror News Network Review

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Sequels are tough to pull off in any genre, but pulling off a sequel in the horror genre is an even more difficult feat.  Most horror films were not originally intended to be franchises even though they often spiral into them (Halloween, Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and the law of diminishing returns rears its ugly head in the vast majority of these cases.

Finding a more competent sequel than the original proves even harder to locate, but in the case of Happy Death Day 2U, director and co-writer Christopher Landon has accomplished this rare achievement, albeit one that is much less heavy on slasher tropes, instead venturing into the world of science fiction and comedy.  Landon’s follow up to his surprise hit Happy Death Day is a superior film for these reasons, but it may not appeal to horror fans in the same ways that the first one did. read more

‘Happy Death Day 2U’ Trailer Released

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Universal Pictures has just released the first full-length trailer for Christopher Landon’s sequel to the highly successful Happy Death Day, Happy Death Day 2U, which will be released on Valentine’s Day, Thursday, February 14.

The trailer features Tree Gelbman (played by Jessica Rothe) again waking up in Carter Davis’ (Israel Broussard) dorm room, with another case of the Groundhog Day blues.  As expected, Tree is right back in the unbreakable loop, menaced once again by that big baby boy with a knife. read more

Release Date Announced for ‘Happy Death Day 2U’

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Valentine’s Day will be very bloody in 2019 thanks to Universal and Blumhouse as Deadline is reporting that Happy Death Day 2U is set to premiere on February 14, 2019.

Back in May we reported that actors Jessica Rothe and Israel Broussard would reprise their roles in the horror sequel with Christopher Landon returning to the director’s chair.

Happy Death Day was released on October 13, 2017 with a budget of just $4.6 million. The film received generally positive reviews and became known as the horror version of Groundhog Day. Happy Death Day was the ultimate “cherry on top” of 2017 for Blumhouse as it raked in $122.6 million at the box office. Previous hits in 2017 for Blumhouse included the award-winning Get Out and Split. read more

Blumhouse Announces Deal With Tang Media to Produce Horror Films for Chinese Audiences

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In an exclusive report from the Hollywood Reporter, Blumhouse Productions “…will make its foray into China via an ambitious new partnership with Tang Media Partners, the Shanghai- and Los Angeles-based entertainment company founded by Donald Tang in 2015.”

Blum and Tang confirmed the deal at the Shanghai International Film Festival. Both parties “…said they have entered into a collaboration agreement to co-develop and co-finance a slate of Chinese-language horror and thriller films to be distributed by TMP in China. The projects will be jointly produced in both China and the U.S.” and the first film will be American Nightmare, a Chinese-language film that will be shot in California. read more

‘Happy Death Day 2’ Announces Additional Cast Members

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Following the smashing box office success of 2017’s Blumhouse Production Happy Death Day, the inevitable sequel is starting to round into shape.  After raking in close to $115 million on an estimated $4.8 million budget, the sequel will see the main players return to their roles while adding new cast-members around them.  This is welcome news for horror fans, as we now have a chance to relive the ghoulishness of the first movie with all-new details, much like the premise of the original film. read more

Rotten Tomatoes Mistakenly Declared John Carpenter Dead on His Birthday

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Some people thought Rotten Tomatoes’ critic and fan aggregate scores for The Last Jedi were wildly inaccurate… but at least they didn’t accidentally declare anyone dead in the process! The legendary director John Carpenter turned 70 yesterday, and he received a birthday greeting he’ll likely never forget. To celebrate his birthday, Rotten Tomatoes cooked up an article featuring his five favorite films. The only problem is, when they linked to the story on Twitter, they said he “would have been 70 years old today!” Some birthday gift, huh? Here’s what the since-deleted tweet looked like: read more

Buy / Wait / Rent: January 2018 Blu-Ray Releases

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We sift through the new release heap so you don’t have to!

Welcome to Horror News Network’s Buy / Wait / Rent, a monthly article devoted to the most highly-anticipated horror releases on blu-ray. Here you will find the best home video releases of each month, along with our opinion on whether each film is a must-own on the first day of release, something you should wait to buy until it goes on sale, or something you’re better off renting for a one-time watch. And now, on to the notable new releases of January 2018! read more

‘Jigsaw’ Cuts Way Into Top Box Office Spot

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Jigsaw, the 8th entry in the Saw franchise, “cut through the competition” this week to take the top spot at the pre-Halloween box office with an estimated $16.2 million.

It has been eight years since the last Saw film hit theaters, (Saw 3D) so many prognosticators were not sure how this one would fare after attempts to resurrect the Blair Witch and the Ring failed miserably with fans and critics alike.  The $16.2 million dollar take is healthy for a film with a $10 million dollar budget, but Saw 3D did generate a $22.5 million dollar debut in 2010, so this may be another “non-starter” when it comes to Jigsaw unless the film picks up a considerable amount over the next week or so. read more

Tyler Perry’s ‘Boo 2: A Madea Halloween’ Wins Box Office; ‘The Snowman’ Melts

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For the second year in a row, Tyler Perry’s Halloween-themed installment in his popular Madea series topped the box office with $21.6 million in ticket sales. The sequel to Boo: A Madea Halloween easily beat out the CGI-heavy disaster movie Geostorm (which is yet another big budget studio flop that no one asked for) taking in only $13.3 million this weekend, even though Boo 2 played in 858 less theaters.  With this recipe for review-proof success, don’t be surprised to see Boo 3 next year at this time. read more

‘Happy Death Day’ Celebrates Box Office Victory

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Universal’s Happy Death Day “blew out the candles” on their competition this weekend, finishing with the top spot at the box office.

The Pg-13 horror version of Groundhog Day attracted a teen audience drawn in by the young cast and fairly positive reviews (the film scored a 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes) to take the title this weekend with an estimated $26.5 million, and it has the chance to add more next weekend as film-goers search for more scares in the month of October.  The film’s budget came in under $5 million, so it is all gravy at this point forward for Universal. read more