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‘Happy Death Day 2U’ Finishes Fifth at Weekend Box Office

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While many predicted a better showing for Happy Death Day 2U, the film ended up in fifth place at the weekend box office with roughly $10 million in ticket sales ($13.5 since it was released on Wednesday).  This total is $16 million less than the original film made in its opening 3-day weekend frame back in 2017.

Every movie studio ended up being disappointed this weekend, as it was the worst three-day President’s Day weekend for ticket sales since 2004.  Chief among the underachievers was Alita: Battle Angel, whose lofty expectations never materialized (in first place with $36.5 million since Thursday), falling victim to the same inflated tracking numbers that sank The Lego Movie 2 last week (which finished second at the box office with $21.2 million).  While the turnout for all films this weekend was low, there may need to be less emphasis put on tracking and social media awareness for upcoming films, as both measures have proven to be wildly inaccurate in 2019 and have so far created unrealistic expectations for new releases this year. read more

English-Language Remake of ‘Goodnight Mommy’ In The Works

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Underground Austrian hit Goodnight Mommy will soon undergo the English-language treatment.  According to Deadline, the 2014 psychological thriller with the supernatural twist will be remade in English and co-produced by studios Animal Kingdom and Playtime.  Matt Sobel (2015’s critically-acclaimed Take Me To The River) has been attached to direct.

Goodnight Mommy focuses on two twin brothers who must deal with their mother and her heavily-bandaged face as a result of a recent plastic surgery procedure.  As they interact more and more, it becomes clear to one of the twins that underneath the mask of gauze lies someone other than their mother.  The film won critical applause after its North American premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and continued to win over audiences worldwide as distribution spread.  It was directed by the German team of Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, who would go on to work with Universal for another of their projects (entitled The Fortress) shortly afterwards.  Franz and Fiala will be involved in the remake of Goodnight Mommy as executive producers. read more

‘The First Purge’ Earns $31 Million at Box Office

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It was an uphill battle for The First Purge, but Universal’s riotous film was still able to manage fourth place at a very competitive (and profitable) summer box office weekend.  The fourth film in the franchise raked in $17 million this weekend, bringing The First Purge’s total to $31 million for the Independence Day week (the film opened on Wednesday).

How does this entry stack up against the previous films?  The weekend box office is the softest in the franchise’s history, but this is certainly due to the early opening.  The film will most likely pass the original Purge’s worldwide totals ($89.3 million), but the film will be hard pressed to top either The Purge: Anarchy or The Purge: Election Night.  Reaching the fourth film in any franchise is certainly an accomplishment, but it does get more and more difficult to lure ticket buyers back to the theater.  Universal made the smart move to inject some life into the series by hiring new director Gerard McMurray (and you can read an interview with the director right here), but it might not be enough to cement the film’s solvency going forward. read more

Colin Trevorrow to Return to the Director’s Chair for ‘Jurassic World 3’

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Colin Trevorrow may not have directed this summer’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom– the follow-up to his wildly popular 2015 film, Jurassic World– but that doesn’t mean he’s done with dinosaurs just yet! Turns out, after co-writing and producing Fallen Kingdom, Trevorrow will return to the director’s chair for part three.

Executive Producer Steven Spielberg told Entertainment Weekly that, “Colin Trevorrow is going write and direct the third Jurassic World story.” He will write the film’s script with Emily Carmichael (Pacific Rim: Uprising). read more

Netflix Buys Rights For Universal’s ‘Extinction’

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If you are a studio that happens to have a delayed science fiction film with touches of horror that has been delayed multiple times, it looks like you may be in luck!  In what appears to be a new trend for streaming giant Netflix, the company has announced that it has acquired Universal’s M.I.A film Extinction.

Variety is reporting that Netflix just bought the rights to Extinction (starring Michael Pena and Lizzy Caplan) for broadcast sometime later this year.

Extinction was originally scheduled for a November 2017 release, but Universal pulled the film from their schedule, and never updated the status of the project.  The film focuses on Pena’s character, as he begins to have “…a recurring nightmare of losing his family and that bad dream becomes a reality when the planet is invaded by a force bent on destruction. Fighting for their lives, he comes to realize an unknown strength to keep his family safe from harm.” read more

Universal Releases ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Teaser Clip Ahead of Trailer

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There used to be a time when the teaser trailer was the first formal look at an upcoming movie in motion. But in today’s world of short attention spans and opening weekends deciding the ultimate success or failure of a movie, the studios are trying harder than ever before to keep their movies in the forefront of their potential viewership’s minds. Behold: the teaser trailer for the teaser trailer is born!

While Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom certainly isn’t the first film to have a trailer announcement video for its trailer, it definitely has selected one of the most stylish clips for its announcement. The clip features Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard running full-speed from a deluge of prehistoric beasts. If that wasn’t enough, a volcano appears to be erupting in the background, blowing debris into the characters’ paths. You can watch the action-packed teaser below: read more

del Toro’s ‘The Shape of Water’ was Inspired by ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon’

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Every fan knows that Guillermo del Toro is a superfan of horror and science fiction.  Unlike most fans however, del Toro also happens to be one of the best working directors in Hollywood.

del Toro’s current film The Shape of Water has garnered a wealth of praise, and it would be a great surprise if the director’s work was not nominated once again for multiple awards.

What most critics may not know however is that del Toro’s inspiration for his cold war parable was his childhood memories about Universal’s Creature from the Black Lagoon. read more

Universal Removes ‘Extinction’ From Release Schedule

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According to the Hollywood Reporter, Universal Pictures has removed sci-fi/horror film Extinction from their release schedule.

The film was originally scheduled for a January 26th release.  It has not been rescheduled at this time. The move is not a surprising one, as no trailer or poster has ever been released for the film, even though the start date is only two months away.

The film stars Michael Pena and Lizzy Kaplan and is directed by Ben Young.  Extinction has been described by Young as “…nothing I’d ever read before. It’s a sci-fi family drama. It’s about a guy trying to redeem himself within his family in the midst of an alien invasion.” read more

Colin Trevorrow Unveils ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” Footage of Chris Pratt Petting Baby Raptor

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In celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday, Colin Trevorrow took to Twitter to share a brief clip from the upcoming film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Trevorrow directed Jurassic World and he co-wrote Fallen Kingdom. The tweet contains the greeting, “From our Jurassic family to yours” and a six-second clip of Chris Pratt petting a mini version of one of the turkey’s most prehistoric ancestors… the velociraptor! You can watch the clip for yourself below:

From our Jurassic family to yours. @FilmBayona @PrattPrattPratt @BryceDHoward @LeDoctor #FALLENKINGDOM pic.twitter.com/KiR3et9Vx1 read more

Top Producers Depart Universal Monsters ‘Dark Universe’ Franchise as Studio Changes Course

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Dark Universe, we hardly knew ye! After the disappointing performance of Tom Cruise’s The Mummy this summer (the film earned a paltry $80 million at the domestic box office against a production budget of $125 million), there was speculation that Universal’s ambitious Dark Universe franchise would not proceed as planned. Then came the news that the studio had pulled the plug on pre-production of Bill Condon’s Bride of Frankenstein. Now, things have gone from bad to worse! The Hollywood Reporter just broke the news that writers/producers Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan have officially left the project. Kurtzman directed The Mummy, and the duo were initially brought on board to oversee production of the entire cinematic universe, which once promised to feature the likes of Johnny Depp, Javier Bardem, and Anjelina Jolie in future installments. read more