‘One Battle After Another’ was the biggest winner of the night, with Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest taking Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Supporting Actor (for no-show Sean Penn), Editing and, handed out for the first time this year, Casting.
‘Sinners’ was also successful, as Michael B. Jordan nabbed the top male acting award out from ‘Marty Supreme’s Timothée Chalamet (who had been the favorite for a while, but whose momentum had slowed of late), while its director Ryan Coogler scored Adapted Screenplay, composer Ludwig Göransson landed Best Original Score and Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw made more history as the first woman to win her category at the Oscars.
Elsewhere, ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ continued its successful run with two awards (Animated Feature and Original Song for “Golden”), while ‘Weapons’Amy Madigan got a rapturous reception as she took Supporting Actress for her creepy, wild turn as Aunt Gladys.
While ‘One Battle After Another’ has been the presumed winner the entire awards season, having taken home Best Picture at every major award show including Critics Choice, Golden Globes, and BAFTA, ‘Sinners’ won Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the Actor Awards, building some momentum for the Ryan Coogler helmed film.
It’s also been assumed that Paul Thomas Anderson would finally receive Best Director from the Oscars, especially after winning Outstanding Directorial Achievement from the DGA, but don’t count out a surprise win from Coogler just yet.
Speaking of ‘Sinners’, although Timothée Chalamet won Best Actor for ‘Marty Supreme’ from Critic’s Choice and the Golden Globes, he failed to win at BAFTA, and lost to Michael B Jordan at the Actors Awards, which signals trouble for Chalamet’s Oscar run.
On the other hand, ‘Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley has had virtually no competition in her race to the Best Actress Oscar and after winning every other major award, I don’t think anything can stop her from taking home gold on Oscar night.
Best Supporting Actress seems like a two-way race between Golden Globe winner Teyana Taylor for ‘One Battle’ and Actor Awards winner Amy Madigan for ‘Weapons‘, however, ‘Sinners’ Wunmi Mosaku is still in the mix.
Finally, the Best Supporting Actor category is fairly wide open, with BAFTA and Actor Awards winner Sean Penn currently the frontrunner fighting off Golden Globe winner Stellan Skarsgård for ‘Sentimental Value’. But the Oscars love a surprise, so if ‘Sinners’ has a big night, Delroy Lindo could end up having a surprise win.
Below are our predictions for who will win Oscars on Sunday at the 98th Academy Awards. We are only breaking down our predictions for the six major categories, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.
Leonardo Di Caprio as Bob Ferguson in ‘One Battle After Another.’ A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Well, now we finally have a real race!
Since the start of this awards season it has seemed preordained that director Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘One Battle After Another’ would finally earn the filmmaker a long overdue win for Best Picture. The film has won almost every precursor needed to be the frontrunner, including wins at Critics Choice, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and the all important Producers Guild of America Awards.
However, don’t count ‘Sinners’ out just yet! After grabbing an Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture win at the Actor Awards, as well as Michael B. Jordan’s win for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role, the vampire epic now has real momentum.
It also did better at the box office than ‘One Battle’, which sometimes but not always is a factor. But keep in mind that Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the Actor Awards is basically a recognition of ensemble acting and not necessarily a film award. And while ‘One Battle’ was also in that category, I don’t buy into the narrative that ‘Sinners’ “beat” ‘One Battle’ for Best Picture at SAG.
It now seems like we have a two-way race but ‘Hamnet’ is still in the mix after winning a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and remember it was produced by Oscar favorite Steven Spielberg.
Keep in mind that the Academy uses a preferential ballot for Best Picture, meaning the winner isn’t simply the film with the most No. 1 votes. Instead, voters rank the nominees, and if no film receives more than 50% of the first-place votes, the movie with the fewest No. 1 votes is eliminated and its ballots are redistributed to the next highest-ranked film on those ballots. That process continues until one film crosses the 50% threshold. In other words, it’s not just about passion at the top — it’s about broad support.
The real question isn’t only who voters rank No. 1, but which film consistently appears in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots and can accumulate support as other contenders fall away. My guess is that many voters may not rank ‘Sinners’ first, but could place it second or third, giving it a plausible path in later rounds. Still, the safer bet remains ‘One Battle’, which feels more likely to build the majority coalition needed to win.
(L to R) Leonardo Di Caprio and Director/Writer/Producer Paul Thomas Anderson on the set of ‘One Battle After Another.’ A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
Just like the Best Picture race, since the start of this current awards season it has seemed like this was “Paul Thomas Anderson’s Year”, and that the ‘Boogie Nights’ director would finally win his long-awaited Best Director Oscar. With directorial wins at every other award show including Critics Choice, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and the all important Directors Guild Awards, it does look like Anderson will finally win Best Director at the Oscars.
But what about Ryan Coogler? While he has yet to win a director’s award this season, he is definitely Anderson’s biggest competition, especially now that the film is surging late. Typically, Best Picture and Best Director go hand in hand, but not always, and much like when Damien Chazelle won best director for ‘La La Land‘ but ‘Moonlight‘ went on to win Best Picture, we could see a similar spilt this year. But if we do, I think it is more likely that Anderson still wins Best Director, and the surprise win comes for ‘Sinners’ in Best Picture.
Let’s be honest, the Academy usually don’t get it right! They could be thinking that Coogler will return with another film in the near future, and want to finally reward Anderson now for ‘One Battle’ as well as his overall career, assuming that Coogler’s time will come sooner than later. While I would love to see an upset and have Coogler win, I would also like to see the Academy finally reward Anderson for his body of work, which I think will be the final result on Oscar night.
This is the race to really keep an eye on! The Oscars love a surprise, and if there is going to be a big surprise on Oscar night, it will be in this category.
Timothée Chalamet began the awards season with wins from Critics Choice and Golden Globes, making it look like he was a lock for a Best Actor win at the Oscars. But, when he lost the BAFTA to Robert Aramayo for ‘I Swear‘, who is not even in the Oscar race, it left the young actor’s Oscar chances vulnerable.
That brings us to Michael B. Jordan, who in my opinion gave the best performance of the year, and recently beat Chalamet at the all important Actor Awards. Historically, one Actor Award win is not enough to ensure an Oscar win, as demonstrated by Chalamet last year when he won Best Actor from SAG for ‘A Complete Unknown‘ but then lost the Oscar race to Adrien Brody for ‘The Brutalist‘. But Jordan has the surging momentum of ‘Sinners’ behind him and a lot of goodwill from Academy voters, while Chalamet seems to be cooling off and has fueled criticism for his unusual Oscar campaign style and recent comments on “ballet and opera.”
There is also a theory that Chalamet is really being rewarded for his performance last year in ‘A Complete Unknown’, when he should have won, and not his performance this year in ‘Marty Supreme’. The Academy tends to do that and often tries to make up for their past mistakes. For example, after not nominating Paul Giamatti for ‘Sideways‘, which he should have been nominated for, the following year he was nominated for ‘Cinderella Man‘. So, if Chalamet does win, it will be for playing Bob Dylan and not for playing Marty Mauser!
Also working against Chalamet is the fact that the Academy typically does not give young actors the Best Actor trophy. They love giving the Best Actress award to young actresses, examples including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, and recently Mikey Madison. But, if Chalamet were to win, he would be just a few months shy of breaking Adrien Brody’s record as the youngest Best Actor recipient ever for his first win in ‘The Pianist‘. Jordan is just reaching his prime as an actor, and with a long body of work to his credit, voters could see him as a strong alternative, especially with his recent win and the ‘Sinners’ surging.
While Chalamet is statistically the frontrunner, I feel like there will be a big surprise on Oscar night and I’m betting on Jordan for the win.
There really is not much to say here. If there is any locked category this year, it is this one.
‘Hamnet’s Jessie Buckley is one win away from a “perfect award season’. After winning Best Actress at Critics Choice, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and the Actor Awards, she is almost guaranteed a win on Oscar night.
Does she have any competition? A little, but not much. Rose Byrne won a Golden Globe for ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You‘, but that’s because the Globes split the Best Actress race into two different categories, Drama and Musical or Comedy. So, Byrne did not compete in the same category as Buckley. When she has, she has lost to the ‘Hamnet’ star, and I see no reason that will not continue to take place.
Kate Hudson has been campaigning hard, but this is the only nomination ‘Song Sung Blue‘ received, and I don’t think that is enough to compete with Buckley and ‘Hamnet’, which received 8 overall nominations. ‘Sentimental Value’ does not seem to have the same momentum it did earlier in the season, leaving actress Renate Reinsve without a real path to the gold. And with two Oscars already on her shelf, Emma Stone’s nomination was more or less given just to round out the five nominees, not unlike some of Meryl Streep‘s past nominations.
The safe money is clearly on Jessie Buckley to win Best Actress, and at this point it would take a miracle for anyone else to beat her and win.
Delroy Lindo at the New York Premiere of ‘Sinners’. Photo: Warner Bros.
This is another very interesting category and one to keep an eye on for big surprises on Oscar night!
With no real frontrunner, Best Supporting Actor is wide-open and really anybody’s for the taking.
The season began with Benicio del Toro positioned as the frontrunner for ‘One Battle’, but the actor has yet to win for that performance, putting his chances of winning the Oscar in doubt.
His co-star, Sean Penn, could be considered a slight frontrunner after winning BAFTA and the Actor Award, but with two Oscars already to his name, I’m not sure the Academy is ready to hand him his third just yet. I also think that having both actors from ‘One Battle’ in the same category will split the vote, leaving them both empty handed on Oscar night.
Jacob Elordi received a surprise win for ‘Frankenstein‘ at the Critics Choice Awards, but the young actor was unable to capitalize on it and has yet to win a second award.
Veteran actor Stellan Skarsgård won the Golden Globe, but also was not able to capitalize with a second win, and with ‘Sentimental Value’s momentum cooling off, I’m not sure it will be enough to earn him the trophy.
Enter Delroy Lindo. Keep in mind that this is his first nomination this entire awards season, meaning that he has not had the opportunity to compete with his fellow nominees yet. It’s not unheard of for an actor to suddenly enter the Oscar race and win. Marcia Gay Harden successfully pulled that off when she won Best Supporting Actress for ‘Pollock‘ over Kate Hudson, the presumed frontrunner for ‘Almost Famous‘.
With ‘Sinners’ surging, Michael B. Jordan’s possible win, no real front runner in this category, and Lindo’s overall likability in the industry, I do think that he will pull off the win on Oscar night.
While its not as wide-open as Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress is really between two, maybe three actresses at this point.
Let’s just get this out of the way. Much like the two ‘One Battle’ actors in the Supporting Male category, I think ‘Sentimental Value’s Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas will cancel each other out. Neither has won any major award this season, and with the film’s lack of momentum, I doubt either actress has a real shot to win.
While Wunmi Mosaku did win BAFTA, I’m not sure that will be enough to win an Oscar. ‘Sinners’ popularity could give her a boost, and if Lindo and Jordan fail to win, this could be where ‘Sinners’ gets an acting award. But since I do think Jordan and Lindo will be triumphant, I’m thinking this award will be given to someone else.
Teyana Taylor won a Golden Globe, and her film is the frontrunner for Best Picture. It would be odd for ‘One Battle’ to win Best Picture with no wins in the actor categories, so if it were to win an acting Oscar, it will be here. But Taylor has some real competition from veteran actress Amy Madigan.
The ‘Weapons’ actress began the season winning Critics Choice, but bounced around a bit before recently winning the all important Actor Award. That doesn’t make her the frontrunner, but puts her on par with Taylor. Working against Madigan is that she is ‘Weapons’ only nomination, but it’s not unheard of for an actor to win for a movie that received no other nominations. It happened when Kathy Bates won Best Actress for ‘Misery‘.
So while it’s a tight race, I think that Madigan’s long career and versatile body of work will in the end give her an edge over Taylor.
Deon Cole hosts the 57th NAACP Image Awards on February 28th. Photo: Paramount+.
Preview:
‘Sinners’ took home the big prizes at the 2026 NAACP Image Awards.
‘Paradise’ and Cynthia Erivo were also among the winners.
The event took place Saturday night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.
Following the difficult, insulting moments of this year’s BAFTA Awards, the NAACP Image Awards, hosted by Deon Cole, which took place Saturday night at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, were a chance to balance things out.
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And Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ proved to be the big winner, going home with 13 awards following a nomination count of 18. Star Michael B. Jordan himself won both a Best Actor award and was honored with Entertainer of the Year.
The ceremony also paid tribute to the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, with NAACP CEO Derrick Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson honoring the late civil rights activist, whose family was in attendance at the ceremony.
(L to R) Leonardo Di Caprio and Director/Writer/Producer Paul Thomas Anderson on the set of ‘One Battle After Another.’ A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
It will start on January 22nd when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announce the Oscar nominees, with the 98th Oscars Ceremony scheduled for March 15th.
At this point, we do have a confirmed frontrunner in the Best Picture race with ‘One Battle After Another‘, but don’t count out ‘Hamnet‘ or ‘Sinners‘ just yet.
In the Best Actor race, Timothée Chalamet seems to be the frontrunner, but will have some competition from Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael B. Jordan and especially Wagner Moura, who recently won a Golden Globe. However, the academy might as well hand the Best Actress Oscar to Jessie Buckley right now, as she is about as solid a lock to win as you can have.
The Academy Awards will air live March 15th on ABC and Hulu.
Moviefone is making its Oscar nomination predictions for the major categories including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress, ahead of the nominee announcements on January 22nd.
(L to R) Leonardo Di Caprio and Director/Writer/Producer Paul Thomas Anderson on the set of ‘One Battle After Another.’ A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
On Netflix on January 16 is ‘The Rip’ a new police thriller that reunites Ben Affleck (‘Argo’) and Matt Damon (‘The Departed’) for the story of Miami law enforcement who stumble on a giant stash of drug cash, and the chaotic moral quandary that opens up between their team.
Following their successful reunion on ‘Air,’ Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have re-teamed on screen for this new cop thriller, handled by veteran director Joe Carnahan.
Looking to fit squarely into the gritty, brutal law enforcement genre, it lets them go full macho –– but has more going on than you might think at first glance.
Carnahan, who wrote the script based on a story by Michael McGrale, has here found a project so ideally in his wheelhouse he might as well have his name written across it.
The story crackles with acronym-heavy police action and plenty of testosterone, but it also finds time for nuance.
And though you might not guess the Miami setting beyond some opening shots (and dialogue drops) given that the scenes are mostly at night in a cul-de-sac, there is plenty of style on display here, particularly as things ramp up in the third act.
Affleck and Damon naturally work well off of each other, finding a dynamic that works as longtime cop friends whose connection is pushed to the limit here.
Around them, the likes of Teyana Taylor (even if she doesn’t get nearly as much to do as in ‘One Battle After Another’), Steven Yeun and Kyle Chandler contribute superb moments.
‘The Rip’ won’t be to everyone’s taste, but if you enjoy your thrillers hard-edged and unexpectedly crafted, it’s certainly got something. And we don’t just mean an unexpected haul of drug money.
A group of Miami cops discovers a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust as outsiders learn about the huge seizure, making them question who to rely on.
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with writer and director Joe Carnahan about his work on ‘The Rip’, bringing the project to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, working with them on set, their characters’ relationship, the supporting cast, building suspense for the twists and turns, the action sequences, working with Netflix, and why he’s not disappointed that the movie isn’t going to be shown in theaters.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Carnahan, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Catalina Sandino Moreno, and Sasha Calle.
Moviefone: To begin with, I understand that you brought this project yourself to Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s company, Artists Equity. Can you talk about that? Also, at a Netflix event last year Affleck told a story about you pitching this project to him as ‘Heat’ meets ‘Training Day’ and his response was, “Kind of like ‘The Town’?” Did that really happen?
Joe Carnahan: That is inaccurate. I don’t know where he got that. No, you know what it was? Matt and Ben and I are all the same age. So, all the films that we loved as kids, ‘Serpico’ and ‘Heat’ and you know, ‘Lethal Weapon’. Like, these types of movies, and I think we wanted to make something like that that was kind of crowd pleasing and in the cop genre, which I love and have had some success with. Someone at Actors Equity got a hold of the script. I had not gone out wide with it. Matt and Ben and I have been friends for many years. The AE executive said, “Let me get it to them”. It got to Matt within 24 hours, and he called me 24 hours later, and then Ben called me. They were like, “What are you thinking for the cast?” I’m like, “What do you mean? Come on, I want you guys.” So, it was just a dream to have guys that were running the studio that could put the wheels in motion here. At the same time, these two are movie stars. They are two guys that grew up together that happened to be movie stars. It doesn’t happen like that. So, it was a joy from start to finish. It really was.
MF: Obviously, Affleck is an accomplished director in his own right, and he and Damon are also Oscar winning screenwriters. What was it like having two veteran actors and experienced filmmakers on your set and working with them to create this movie?
JC: I know. Having them say my lines, these guys who have little gold statues for their writing. It was incredible. Again, they’re both wonderful filmmakers. They understand it. They see it from a 30,000-foot vantage, right? They get what you’re up against. They get what the challenges are, and they get what the obstacles would be. So, I found them to be nothing but lovely and helpful. Especially Ben, who’s coming out of a directorial background. He’s walked the same roads I’ve walked. He’s put in those hours behind a camera. He understands. He’s a world-class filmmaker. He really is. So, to have that level of competency, I could be a fool and still get to the finish line. But they gave me this wonderful grace and room to try things and they were game for stuff. We had a blast, man. We really did.
MF: Can you talk about how their long friendship together and how that really plays into these characters, and was there ever any talk of them flipping roles? Because they both could have easily played the other part.
JC: You know what they asked me, “Who do you want us to play?” I always had in mind that Matt would play Dumars. That is the slightly senior guy. But they absolutely could have gone the other way, which is an interesting role reversal. I’m sure AI will be capable of flipping Matt and Ben’s roles next month. But again, I’m trading on a 40-year plus friendship. The sense of that and the gravitational pull of that is something you could feel when you’re watching them. You know what I mean? You can’t say that about everybody. Not only do they have natural chemistry, but these are two people who love each other. Then once you get in there, now you’re messing with not only that personal history, but you’re messing with who they are as movie stars. You’re messing with their cinematic presence, which is very different. But it was the moving between one and the other, and then sometimes coexisting at the same time, which was fantastic. Again, I think that’s what gives all their scenes this real authentic sense because they do care deeply for each other. Then there are moments where you feel like one of them is betraying the other one, and that lands with that much more presence and weight. So, that was great.
MF: Without giving anything away, the film keeps you guessing the whole time as to who the good guys are and who are the bad guys. Can you talk about creating that suspense and building to the twists and turns?
JC: Yeah, it was a lot of Mike McGrale and I really sitting down and structuring this in the outline stage, which can be tedious and time consuming. But ultimately, it’ll give you the greatest dividends because you’ve really leaned into the technical aspects of screenwriting, which can be tricky. But I think once we did that groundwork, and once the script was done, I wrote it fast. It was like five weeks to write the script. But all of this was rigorously thought out and planned and machined in that outline stage. Then once you knew that it’s like a Rube Goldberg device, like this trip trips that and drops some mouse traps. So, it’s a lot of fun because once you know it’s working on the page, then it just becomes execution on the day. I always say this, it’s like there’s three films. There’s a film you write. There’s a film you shoot and there’s a film you cut, and oftentimes they’re wildly different. This was consistent throughout, I think if anything, it got leaner. We cut down information as we went on because we felt like we understand. I don’t want to pander to the audience. If I feel like we’re condescending, then let’s keep it moving.
MF: Can you talk about executing the action sequences?
JC: I had a second unit director, Scott Rogers, who I just adore, who’s talented and did a lot of work with me and the DP and are a really great group of guys who understood. It’s like, “Here are the boards, here’s what we want, here’s the shots we want, and then anything after that you get, knock yourself out.” Of course, they always give you fantastic stuff on top of that. So, it was a lot of planning. We use this Libra Head, which is this expensive stabilized head for our shots. If we shot sticks or handheld, we’d use the Libra Head. To do that kind percussive seismic thing when the gunfight starts to make you feel like, “Oh, my God.” I wanted to just feel it in your chest. We would destabilize those things. We did what’s called seizure wheels. We just did these kinds of wild shots, but it created this unsettling effect. That’s always what you’re trying to do. You don’t want to feel like you’re treading over the same ground repeatedly and the familiar. You want to mess with it and see what you can do. I think we did some interesting kind of innovative things in that and the action.
MF: We’ve talked about Ben and Matt, but can you talk about putting together the rest of the supporting cast including Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun, Kyle Chandler, and Scott Adkins?
JC:Sharon Bialy and Sherry Thomas cast us, and they just did a phenomenal job. I think casting is sometimes 90% of your work. Like, who do you put in this movie? Everyone from Catalina Sandino Moreno to Steve, to Scott, to Néstor Carbonell, who I’ve worked with before. I have a history with a lot of these people. Again, you just get these people working at such a high level. Scott Atkins, who’s not seen the film yet, he will see it tonight. I think he’s just going to be blown away because I didn’t require him to blade kick anyone in the head, which is kind of his stock and trade. So, it’s exciting. When you, when you have this collection of talented people and you get good material, it’s hard to screw that up. You’ve got to work extra hard to screw that up.
MF: Finally, what was your experience like working with Netflix and are you disappointed that the film will not have a theatrical release?
JC: You know what? No, because I think what’s happened is, you know, we used to live and die by Friday night and the weekend box office. It’s like, “My movie didn’t work, and it is dead in the water.” I like that we’ve eliminated that undue tension of, “what if I’m not number one?”. I never liked the box office stakes. Unless you win, then you’re happy. But I think that so many homes now have mini theaters. They have very sophisticated televisions that aren’t that expensive. They have very sophisticated sound systems that aren’t that expensive. I know in my house; I’ve got this great room that is all blacked out with bean bags, and that’s where you watch movies. That movie in that room would play just as well as anything else. Like, that communal experience of being in a dark room with strangers and sharing something, that’s never going away. I certainly love it. I don’t ever want theaters to go, and we’re going to see it tonight in theater. So, we get the best of both worlds. I do think it’s strong, but it’s strong regardless. Netflix has been a dream. Honest to God, I can’t say enough good things about those guys. From the marketing to the publicity, they have been top of the top, and just amazing.
A group of Miami cops discovers a stash of millions in cash, leading to distrust as outsiders learn about the huge seizure, making them question who to rely on.
Leonardo Di Caprio as Bob Ferguson in ‘One Battle After Another.’ A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures.
Preview:
‘One Battle After Another’ is the latest Warner Bros. movie to top the box office.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s ambitious latest stars Leonardo DiCaprio.
‘Gabby’s Dollhouse’ opened second.
It was certainly a gamble for Warner Bros. to back Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film –– for all the acclaim the filmmaker has accrued, he rarely opens to giant box office figures. And even with a bankable star such as Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead, a budget in excess of $130 million was always going to be tough to turn into profit.
Still, a launch of $22.4 million, enough to top the box office this weekend is certainly healthier for ‘One Battle After Another’ than some might have predicted.
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With plenty of positive reviews and good reactions from cinemagoers, it’s probably about as solid as an original, long movie with controversial themes (social justice, political violence) might have expected.
It opened to $26.1 million across 74 markets, making for a $48.5 million global start.
Of course, it has a long road to travel to get to profitability, but it has premium format screenings and plenty of buzz to help it build legs.
And it represents another good result for Warner Bros., which has already enjoyed success with the likes of ‘Sinners’ and ‘A Minecraft Movie’ this year.
What else happened at the box office this weekend?
Madelaine Petsch as Maya in ‘The Strangers — Chapter 2’. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate.
Second place this weekend went to the kid-friendly blend of live-action and animation that is show adaptation ‘Gabby’s Dollhouse’. The Universal movie opened to $13.5 million, and $19 million worldwide.
Horror title ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ clung on to third, adding $6.8 million, ahead of misfiring Renny Harlin sequel effort ‘The Strangers: Chapter 2’, which landed in fourth with $5.9 million. That one at least has the advantage of only costing $8.5 million to make.
Fifth was ‘Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle’, which topped the box office last weekend, and fell, but is still earning money. It made $4.8 million, and is currently sitting at $115.9 million domestically.
Coming up next week is awards-buzzed ‘The Smashing Machine’ starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, but ‘One Battle’ faces no real challenge to its premium screen formats until ‘Tron: Ares’ lands on October 10th and starts gobbling up IMAX locations.
(L to R) Leonardo Di Caprio and Director/Writer/Producer Paul Thomas Anderson on the set of ‘One Battle After Another.’ A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
Coming off the success of the fantastic ‘The Harder They Fall,’ director Jeymes Samuel’s has crafted another epic and entertaining movie, which boasts commanding performances from LaKeith Stanfield and Anna Diop. While the film will no doubt spark controversy in the fundamental bible community for its depiction of the “historical Jesus” versus the “real Jesus,” the filmmaker’s original vision and execution is hypnotic for those religiously openminded and results in a fun and though-provoking theatrical experience.
Script and Direction
Jeymes Samuel attends a Special Screening of ‘The Book of Clarence’ at Pacific Design Center on December 11, 2023 in West Hollywood, California. Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Sony Pictures.
‘The Book of Clarence’ is a reimagining of the biblical story of Jesus. We are first introduced to Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield), a hustler living in A.D. 33 Jerusalem whose identical twin brother is Thomas (also played by Stanfield), who is one of the twelve apostles. Down on his luck, and owing money to Jedediah the Terrible (Eric Kofi-Abrefa), Clarence believes if he can become an apostle, Jesus (Nicholas Pinnock) can protect him from Jedediah. But when Clarence is denied membership in the apostles because of his lack of faith in Jesus, he decides to create his own following and along with his best friend Elijah (RJ Cyler), claims to be the Messiah himself.
This soon draws the attention of Pontius Pilate (James McAvoy), who will execute anyone claiming to be the Messiah, which also includes a homeless man (Benedict Cumberbatch) with mysterious powers. Also complicating Clarence’s problems is his love for Varinia (Anna Diop), who is the sister of Jedediah. What the film, and director Jeymes Samuel does well is tell us a familiar story from a new point of view. Even though we all know the story of Jesus, we’ve never seen it like this before and that leads to exciting and innovative storytelling.
In my opinion, Samuel had a fantastic directorial debut with ‘The Harder They Fall,’ which was an exciting and entertaining Western. With ‘Clarence,’ Samuel firmly establishes himself as a fresh and competent filmmaker and crafts an epic version of the biblical story. The director has gone on the record saying that he grew up loving classic biblical movies like ‘Ben-Hur’ and ‘The Ten Commandments,’ and his inspiration from those movies is apparent in every scene of ‘Clarence.’
But what is most important is that Samuel has injected the movie with his own personal point-of-view, which is what makes the movie really pop. The use of modern music, fantastic action sequences and a great cast certainly helps, but make no mistakes, Samuel is an auteur director not unlike Quentin Tarantino or Wes Anderson. While some audience members own religious views may be at odds with the ideas of the film, the originality and strength of Samuel’s screenplay cannot be denied.
LaKeith Stanfield is one the finest actors we have working today and is best known for his supporting work in movies like ‘Get Out,’ ‘Knives Out,’ ‘Uncut Gems,’ and ‘Judas and the Black Messiah,’ for which he earned a Best Supporting Oscar nomination. But ‘Clarence’ really marks the actor’s first major starring role, and Stanfield is mesmerizing as both the title role and his brother Thomas. The actor gives not one but two commanding performances, which at times are as comedic as they are emotional and dramatic.
Also excellent in their comedic roles are RJ Cyler as Clarence’s loyal friend, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Benjamin, who eerily looks like the historical representation of Jesus. Alfre Woodard, who plays Mother Mary, and David Oyelowo, who plays John the Baptist, both have fun comedic turns as well. But what really grounds the movie and some of its new ideas about the classic bible story is the romance between Clarence and Varinia, thanks to a lovely performance from Anna Diop. The actress is probably best known for her role as Starfire on Max’s ‘Titans,’ but based on this performance should be appearing in more big screen films very soon.
Unfortunately, the one performance that doesn’t quite work belongs to James McAvoy and his role as Pontius Pilate. McAvoy is a fine actor, but the character is never really fleshed out and ultimately just becomes a generic advisory.
For many, the reimagining of the bible is a taboo subject, and especially in America, people take their Jesus very seriously. We’ve seen many retellings of Jesus’ story met with criticism and controversy over the years such as Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Last Temptation of Christ’ or Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ and I fear the same may happen to ‘The Book of Clarence.’
While I personally have no problem with the idea of a black Jesus, (let’s be honest, if he did exist, he most likely was not white), I’m afraid many people will. Which is another reason I’m so impressed with Samuel’s bold take on the biblical story, it’s a big risk for an up-and-coming filmmaker to make with his sophomore movie.
But another issue some may have, which again I didn’t, is the depiction of the long haired and bearded version of Jesus that many people believe in. Played by Cumberbatch, he is nothing but a false profit, a homeless man who is touched by the “real Jesus,” granting him powers he does not understand. The film reveals Clarence to be the true Jesus talked about in the bible, and Cumberbatch’s character is just the physical representation that history recorded. This is a fascinating idea to explore, which Samuel’s does exceedingly well, but again, it could be very controversial for many religious audience members.
Controversies aside, ‘The Book of Clarence’ is an extremely original, fresh, bold, and exciting reimaging of the story of Jesus. Director Jeymes Samuel firmly establishes himself as one of the most innovative and exciting directors working today, while LaKeith Stanfield giving a commanding lead performance.
‘The Book of Clarence’ receives 8.5 out of 10 stars.
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What is the plot of ‘The Book of Clarence’?
A struggling down-on-his-luck man named Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) living in 29 A.D. Jerusalem looks to capitalize on the rise of Jesus Christ (Babs Olusanmokun) by claiming to be a new Messiah sent by God, in an attempt to free himself of debt and start a life of glory for himself.
(L to R) LaKeith Stanfield and director Jeymes Samuel discuss ‘The Book of Clarence.’
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking in-person with LaKeith Stanfield and director Jeymes Samuel to talk about their work on ‘The Book of Clarence,’ what audiences can expect from the film, writing the screenplay and the themes Samuel wanted to explore, and Stanfield’s approach to playing his dual roles.
You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Stanfield and Samuel, as well as RJ Cyler and Anna Diop.
Jeymes Samuel attends a Special Screening of ‘The Book of Clarence’ at Pacific Design Center on December 11, 2023 in West Hollywood, California. Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Sony Pictures.
Moviefone: To begin with, what would you say to audiences to prepare them for the theatrical experience they are about to have watching this movie?
Jeymes Samuel: Get ready for a singular piece. There’s never been a movie made like this in 135 years of the moving image. You’ve never seen a ‘Book of Clarence’ before. If anything, the movie is singular. If everything, the movie is awesome. Welcome.
LaKeith Stanfield attends a Special Screening of ‘The Book of Clarence’ at Pacific Design Center on December 11, 2023 in West Hollywood, California. Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images for Sony Pictures.
MF: LaKeith, what would you say to audiences to prepare them for ‘The Book of Clarence’ experience?
LaKeith Stanfield: This film is for the open-minded, the person that is interested in gaining some new perspective or seeing something fresh, and that isn’t interested in going into movies with preconceived notions. It’s not woke. It’s not those Hollywood buzzwords that people want to use to have things fit into their ideas of what things are. This, you will not be able to expect or even be able to hold it in your mind what this really is, unless you see it on a big screen, loud, with people you love. That’s the way to enjoy it. It really is something that you don’t want to miss, because I feel like it’s going to exist in the time as something classic. You’re going to hear people talking about it, and you might be like, “Why did I miss that?” Just do yourself a favor and check this movie out, because it’s entertaining, but it also holds some universal truths that are very good to be reminded of. Also, you get to see the beautiful black gods at play, and that’s a beautiful thing to be a part of. We had so much fun making it. But there’s love, there’s action, there’s fighting, there’s family, there’s coming together, there’s self-discovery, there’s miracles, and it’s just a bunch of fun. So yeah, it’ll be dope.
MF: Jeymes, I heard that you grew up loving epic biblical films like ‘Ben-Hur’ and ‘The Ten Commandments.’ Can you talk about writing this screenplay and specifically the themes that you were interested in exploring with this movie?
JS: Writing the screenplay was awesome. ‘The Book of Clarence,’ for whatever reason, it bled out of me, like it wanted to be born. When I sat down to write the screenplay, it was like two weeks. I’d taken notes on it for years, like over a decade. I knew what was where. But when I sat down to write the screen, I couldn’t sleep. It was just literally gushing out of me. The things I wanted to include in this movie was everything. Absolutely everything. Everything, everything, everything, everything, everything, everything. I wanted to include everything. Gladiator fights, chariot races, crucifixions, dance sequences, action pieces. I wanted to put everything into this film, this story, and what better way than to have a protagonist like Clarence. You needed to cast the right person. You needed the right person to hang and clothe all these themes upon. I knew I could not make this movie until I had the right actor, which was the day I met LaKeith Stanfield.
MF: Finally, LaKeith, in addition to playing Clarence, you also play his twin brother, Thomas. Can you talk about the difference between the two characters and your approach to playing each of them?
LS: I just thought it was important to set Clarence up as someone that could learn something. So therefore, someone that thought they had to figure it out. I knew that I wanted him to exude a confidence that gets you to the positions that you want to be in life. You manifest things here that might not have been everything that Clarence knew, but he knew that he had something special, and he carried that with him, and I wanted to show that. I also wanted to show his moments of levity and grace so that when he fell out of grace, we could clearly see the difference. When it came to Thomas, I just wanted to make sure I was able to draw lines in the sand and distinctions between these two brothers who, they came from the same place, they experienced similar things, but they chose different paths and how that can build up resentment in a pair that close. How ultimately there were parts of them that really loved each other deeply but weren’t able to come to the surface and missed a lot of the issues they were dealing with. But eventually they were able to reconcile. There was at least a nod to that idea that they were able to come together, they’re able to see the truth because it transcends all their little issues. So, I want to make sure that that was in there, that love was in there at the end of the day.
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What is the plot of ‘The Book of Clarence’?
A struggling down-on-his-luck man named Clarence (LaKeith Stanfield) living in 29 A.D. Jerusalem looks to capitalize on the rise of Jesus Christ (Babs Olusanmokun) by claiming to be a new Messiah sent by God, in an attempt to free himself of debt and start a life of glory for himself.
