Moviefone Editorial

Tag: hostiles

  • Box Office: ‘Jumanji’ Regains Top Spot for Modest Super Bowl Weekend

    LOS ANGELES, Feb 4, (Variety.com) – Sony’s resilient “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” has returned to the top of the North American box office, leading a modest Super Bowl weekend with $11 million at 3,553 sites.

    The session caps a remarkable run for the Dwayne Johnson-Kevin Hart action comedy, which also won the box office on its third, fourth and fifth weekends. “Jumanji” has become the 42nd highest domestic grosser of all time with $352.6 million, less than $500,000 behind Johnson’s “Furious 7” for the 41st spot.

    “Jumanji,” which declined just 32 percent, is only the 11th title to top $11 million in its seventh weekend. It’s the lowest total for a first-place film since the second weekend of “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” won the final frame of August.

    Fox’s “Maze Runner: The Death Cure,” which won the box office last weekend, finished second with $10.2 million from 3,793 locations. The weekend’s sole opener, Helen Mirren’s horror-thriller “Winchester,” launched in third with $9.3 million at 2,480 venues, topping modest expectations which had been in the $6 million to $8 million range.

    Overall domestic business was typically modest for a Super Bowl weekend with $92 million overall, according to comScore, as studios remain reluctant to open major titles during the frenzy surrounding the pro football championship. The lowest recent Super Bowl weekend came in at $86 million in 2014, when the third weekend of “Ride Along” led with $12 million.

    The 2018 box office has remained close to even with last year thanks to “Jumanji,” with $1.06 billion through Sunday, down 0.5 percent from last year at the same point.

    “‘Jumanji’ gets the MVP box office award for Super Bowl weekend with a stunning late run ascension to the number one spot as ‘Maze Runner’ adds to its total and ‘Winchester’ enjoys a bit of counter programming success amidst a sea of Oscar contenders over what is a typically slow moviegoing weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore.

    “Maze Runner: The Death Cure,” the third and final installment of the “Maze Runner” series, stars Dylan O’Brien as a young man trying to survive in a dystopian universe. It declined by 58 percent from its $24 million opening. The film’s release was delayed for a year due to injuries that O’Brien sustained on the set in 2016.

    “Winchester” centers on a real-life house in San Jose, Calif. built by Sarah Winchester (Mirren), the heiress to the Winchester firearms fortune, over 38 years beginning in 1886. The mansion, which stands seven stories tall, contains hundreds of rooms and is meant to be an asylum for vengeful ghosts.

    Fox’s seventh weekend of “The Greatest Showman” finished fourth with $7.8 million at 2,588 sites, posting the lowest decline among the top 10 films at 18 percent. The Hugh Jackman musical has turned in an impressive $137.5 million in 45 days.

    Entertainment Studios’ Western drama “Hostiles,” starring Christian Bale, followed in fifth with $5.5 million at 2,934 locations, giving it $21.2 million after two weeks in wide release. Fox’s seventh weekend of “The Post” came in sixth with $5.2 million at 2,462 sites for a $67.2 million domestic total.

  • ‘Maze Runner’ Won the Box Office, But So What?

    Who says old-fashioned movie genres are dead?

    Some of the biggest headlines this weekend at the box office came from a western and a musical. Yep, you kids may like your futuristic teenage sci-fi dystopia movies, like the latest “Maze Runner” — and then again, you may not — but the kind of movies that your grandparents like, such as “Hostiles” and “The Greatest Showman,” are giving the box office a run for its money.

    As a result, there were some surprise winners and losers this weekend. Such as:

    Winner: Fox
    The studio claimed the top movie, with “The Maze Runner: The Death Cure” debuting with an estimated $23.5 million. In fact, Fox had three of the top five movies this weekend, including “Showman” (in fourth place, with an estimated $9.5 million) and “The Post” (in fifth with an estimated $8.9 million). Add to that the top two Oscar contenders — “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” — both released by subsidiary Fox Searchlight, and the company can claim five of this weekend’s biggest movies, with a total estimated at $51.2 million among them.

    Anyone still think Disney was unwise to try to buy the studio?

    Loser: Young Adult Fantasy
    Sweet as the “Maze Runner” victory may be, the movie still opened well below the $30-million-plus debuts of the first two installments. You could blame the long delay in the film’s release date, which was caused by star Dylan O’Brien‘s on-set injury.

    But it could also be that the genre that peaked with “Twilight” and “The Hunger Games” is simply played out; witness the way the “Divergent” movies fizzled out, or the industry’s failure to launch a similar new franchise since “Maze Runner.” The film had a strong social media campaign (including a viral trailer made with LEGOs), and there wasn’t much else for young adult viewers this weekend (except the still-strong “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle“). Even so, there still wasn’t enough incentive to draw a bigger audience.

    Winner: “Hostiles.”
    No one expected much from this western, released by the relatively new Entertainment Studios (it’s just their fourth film). It was hoping for a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Christian Bale, but after “Hostiles” was absent from Tuesday’s nominations list, pundits predicted an opening as low as $5 million.

    Nonetheless, the movie scored an estimated $10.2 million, good for third place. That speaks to Bale’s star power, to the film’s appeal among older audiences, and to the fact that the western genre isn’t quite dead yet, even though the industry has been saying last rites over it for more than three decades.

    Loser: The Oscar Bounce
    The success of “Hostiles” carries an extra sting, in that, despite the lack of Academy love, it still did better than any of the movies that did get nominated. Traditionally, the nominees, especially for Best Picture, see a solid boost in business the weekend after the nomination announcement. Some did; “Shape of Water,” “Three Billboards,” and “Lady Bird” all did at least 61 percent better than last weekend. But other movies were still losing viewers, including “The Post,” “Phantom Thread,” and “Darkest Hour.”

    All of these movies have already been playing for at least five weeks, so it’s no wonder they’re petering out. So far, among the nominees still in current release, “The Post” has been the most successful, with $58.5 million earned to date. The rest have yet to top $46 million, and it’s unlikely that any of them will still have enough gas to outrace “The Post” before the Oscars are handed out on March 4.

    By the way, “Get Out,” which earned more than $175 million last winter but left theaters long before it picked up a Best Picture nod and three other nominations, returned to 468 theaters this weekend to capitalize on its Oscar success. It needn’t have bothered; it added just an estimated $170,000 to its take, or a measly $363 per screen.

    Clearly, everyone who wants to see “Get Out” already has, either at the multiplex or at home. Some movies have an apparent saturation point, and most of this year’s Oscar contenders seem to have reached theirs.

    Winner: Long Legs
    After three weeks on top, “Jumanji” was finally pushed down to second place, but weep no tears for The Rock.

    For one thing, it’s no small feat for a movie in its sixth week of release to still be bringing in an estimated $16.4 million. For another, it’s earned a total of $338.1 million to date, making it the third most successful release in Sony history, behind only the first two Tobey Maguire “Spider-Man” movies. (Watch your back, “Spider-Man 2,” “Jumanji” is coming for ya.)

    It shows little sign of slowing down, having lost just 16 percent of last weekend’s business. Remember what we just said about saturation points? “Jumanji” still has a long way to go before that happens.

    So does “The Greatest Showman.” The family-friendly musical, down just 11 percent from a week ago, has earned $126.5 million in six weeks. This despite a relative lack of hype and just one Oscar nomination (Best Song for “This Is Me”). There’s no reason to think it won’t cross $150 million, which would put it in the neighborhood of “La La Land” and “Les Miserables” and make it one of the five most lucrative musicals of all time.

    Winner: “Padmaavat.”
    The lavish Hindi-language costume epic opened on just 324 screens but earned $4.3 million, good enough to debut in tenth place. Its per-screen average of $13,188 was far and away the biggest of any movie playing this weekend. Which just proves that there are always underserved audiences that can make a surprising splash at the box office if someone actually makes a movie they want to see.

  • Box Office: ‘Maze Runner: The Death Cure’ Overtakes ‘Jumanji’ With $22 Million

    LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Fox’s “Maze Runner: The Death Cure” is set to knock “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” out of its first place slot at the box office, with $22 million from 3,787 North American locations.

    The last installment in the “Maze Runner” series, “The Death Cure” stars Dylan O’Brien as a young man fighting for survival in a dystopian world. The film’s opening was delayed for a year after O’Brien sustained injuries on the set two years ago. Kaya Scodelario and Thomas Brodie-Sangster also star. Wes Ball has directed all three films.

    Sony’s “Jumanji,” starring Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson, had maintained the top spot at the box office for the past three weekends after opening in second place behind “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in December. The sixth weekend of “Jumanji” will likely finish at around $15 million at 3,553 sites, giving it $337 million domestically after 40 days — topping Sony’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” for 49th place on the all-time list.

    Christian Bale Civil War era saga “Hostiles” is battling it out for third place with the sixth frame of “The Greatest Showman” — both are set to reel in around $9.5 million from 2,815 and 2,663 locations, respectively. The number represents only a 15% decline for “The Greatest Showman,” which has proven a solid draw for Fox and should finish the weekend with roughly $126 million. The weekend marks an expansion for “Hostiles,” which opened Dec. 20 at three theaters to $22,849.

    In fifth is Steven Spielberg‘s “The Post,” which stars Meryl Streep as Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham alongside Tom Hanks as the editor of the same paper. The film chronicles the exposure of the Pentagon Papers and the outlet’s fight to publish them.

    The Maze Runner franchise has been a reliable performer for Fox since 2014, when it opened the original “Maze Runner” with $32.5 million; the film ended up grossing $102 million in U.S. revenue. The 2015 follow-up, “The Scorch Trials,” opened with $30 million and totaled $82 million at the domestic box office.

    Heist thriller “Den of Thieves,” starring Gerard Butler, and Afghan war drama “12 Strong,” featuring Chris Hemsworth, are both set to take in around $8 million in their second weekends, representing a roughly 45% decline for each.

    Fox Searchlight’s “The Shape of Water,” which led the Oscar nominations with 13, is adding nearly 1,000 sites this weekend and will play at 1,840. The fantasy drama has grossed $31.5 million in two months.

    Universal’s “Get Out” and Warner Bros.’ “Dunkirk” are returning to theaters this weekend after receiving best picture noms. “Get Out” grossed $175 million domestically before leaving multiplexes in July and “Dunkirk” took in $188 million between July and November.

  • ‘Hostiles’ Trailer Takes Christian Bale Into Soul-Searching Journey in Wild West

    “He’s a butcher,” Christian Bale says of a Cheyenne war chief in the trailer for “Hostiles.”

    “Then the two of you should get along just fine,” someone replies.

    Bale plays an Army captain in 1892 who reluctantly accepts the assignment of escorting the dying chief (Wes Studi) and his family back to tribal lands. In their journey from New Mexico to Montana, they run into a young widow (Rosamund Pike) who joins the group. They face brutal terrain and dangerous Comanches, not to mention their dark inner thoughts.

    The movie reunites Bale with director Scott Cooper, with whom he worked on “Out of the Furnace.” Much like Cooper’s other films, “Crazy Heart” and “Black Mass,” “Hostiles” seems to deal in difficult men dealing with their difficult pasts. Bale looks as intensely grim as ever, and is likely to come up in awards talk.

    “Hostiles” also stars Ben Foster, Jesse Plemons, Q’orianka Kilcher, Adam Beach, and Rory Cochrane, and opens in theaters December 22.

  • Christian Bale Gained Weight & Bleached Eyebrows to Play Dick Cheney: See New Look

    US-ENTERTAINMENT-PROMISE-PREMIEREHe’s at it again! Christian Bale‘s body may want a break from all of the weight fluctuating for various roles, but an artist is an artist.

    Bale famously lost 70 pounds for “The Machinist,” and also lost weight to play a heroin addict in “The Fighter,” which earned him an Oscar. He packed on 30 pounds of muscle weight as Batman, and gained enough weight to earn a pot belly for “American Hustle.” Now he’s back on the larger end of the spectrum for “Backseat.” In the film, Bale will play former Vice President Dick Cheney. He’ll also reunite with his “The Fighter” and “American Hustle” co-star Amy Adams, who’ll play his wife Lynne Cheney. Sam Rockwell plays former President George W. Bush, with Steve Carell as Donald Rumsfeld, and Bill Pullman as Nelson Rockefeller.

    “Backseat” is scheduled to begin filming this month. Bale, 43, showed off his new dyed eyebrows and heavier frame at the Telluride Film Festival, where he was premiering another movie, “Hostiles.”

    Here’s a photo from “Hostiles,” showing Bale’s very thin physique, contrasted to his Cheney look for “Backseat”:

    “Backseat”‘ is being written and directed by Adam McKay, who worked with Bale on “The Big Short.” The focus will be on Cheney. “I’ve always found Cheney fascinating,” McKay told Deadline. “Questions of what drove him, what his beliefs were. But once we started digging, I was astounded at how much he had shaped modern America’s place in the world and how shocking the methods were by which he gained his power.”

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