Jacob Hall
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Black Mass’ and ‘Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials’ Battle It Out
After a slow start, September 2015 is shaping up to be a pretty solid month for the box office. After last week’s solid numbers, Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials and Black Mass picked up the baton and ran with it, leading another strong weekend.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Perfect Guy’ and ‘The Visit’ Come Out Swinging
After September opened with a whimper, we were prepared for a dull couple of weeks. It looks like we shouldn’t have been so quick to judge. The one-two punch of The Perfect Guy and The Visit have suddenly made the least interesting month of the year interesting, opening big and opening close enough to one another to make for an interesting race. In the slower movie months, weekends like these are rare treats.
J.K. Rowling Says Today Is Harry Potter’s Son’s First Day at Hogwarts
The final Harry Potter novel was full of grand battles and grander revelations, but it also featured a tiny detail that radically changed the saga’s timeline. Although J.K. Rowling’s first book in the beloved series was published in 1997 and the final book in 2007, a date on a gravestone revealed that the events of the final novel take place in 1997. That means that Harry Potter himself was born in 1980. Which means that he’s 35 in 2015. And according to Rowling herself, that makes today, September 1, 2015, the first day of school at Hogwarts for Harry’s eldest son.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Takes the Lead for the Third Weekend in a Row
All summer movie seasons end with a whimper and 2015 was no different. The final weekend of August was a pretty sad display across the board, with Straight Outta Compton nabbing the number one spot by default while just about every new release faltered. You know it’s a slow weekend when a movie promoted exclusively to faith-based audiences nabs the number two spot.
This Video Suggests Daniel is the Real Bad Guy in ‘The Karate Kid’
The original The Karate Kid is one of those seemingly untouchable slices of ‘80s nostalgia. Everyone above a certain age has a soft spot for it. It has effortlessly merged with general pop culture, with characters like Mr. Miyagi and lines like “Wax on, wax off” existing outside of the film that created them. It’s a touchstone … but what if it’s a touchstone that we have been misunderstanding for the past 31 years? What if Ralph Macchio’s Daniel isn’t the hero of the film, but actually – dun dun DUN – the real bad guy?
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Shuts Down All Newcomers
Straight Outta Compton dominated the box office for the second weekend in a row, ensuring that every other movie in the top 10 that doesn’t feature Tom Cruise trembled in its mighty wake. Anyone with their finger on the cultural pulse foresaw the N.W.A. biopic doing well, but it’s performing above and beyond all expectations.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Dominates ‘The Man From U.N.C.L.E.’
Every time a movie about and for audiences who aren’t white and male does well, everyone acts like it’s a big surprise. “Black people and women like movies? Who’da thunk it?” It’s actually not surprising at all that Straight Outta Compton had a massive opening, handily defeating its more standard competition. Because all kinds of people like movies and when you make movies for all kinds of people, you end up with huge weekends at the box office.
‘Inside Out’ Blu-ray Will Feature a Sequel Short, ‘Riley’s First Date’
Hey, did you know there was going to be an Inside Out sequel short included in the film’s Blu-ray and DVD release? We didn’t either! But there’s going to one and the first clip from the short, titled “Riley’s First Date,” is online and everything.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Pixels’ Can’t Catch ‘Ant-Man’
At the time of this writing, early estimates for the weekend box office have Ant-Man edging out Pixels for the top spot in this week’s top 10. That could change. With less than $1 million separating the films, Pixels may very well slide into first place tomorrow, winning one very close competition. But even if it does claim ultimate victory, it doesn’t change the fact that Pixels’ opening weekend is a massive disappointment and another nail in the coffin of Adam Sandler’s career.
‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2’ Trailer: The Game Is Coming to an End
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 is going to be one the highest grossing films of 2015 no matter what, so every trailer and poster can’t help but feel ever-so-slightly redundant. Oh, remember that movie that you and everyone you know is already going to see anyway? Here’s an unnecessary reminder that it exists! And yet Lionsgate has been playing fans like a fiddle with their marketing campaign, and the latest trailer is one seriously impressive advertisement.
The ‘Back to the Future’ Trilogy is Getting a 30th Anniversary Blu-Ray This October
Everyone knows that 2015 is the year that Marty McFly and Doc Brown journey to in Back to the Future Part II. While we may not have hoverboards or Jaws 19, we are getting a new 30th anniversary Blu-ray and DVD release of the Back to the Future trilogy, which isn’t a bad consolation prize. In fact, the slightly more obsessive fans have even more reason to celebrate, as the Back to the Future animated series from the early ‘90s is coming to DVD for the first time.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Minions’ Takes Over the World
Universal was already bathing in its Furious 7 and Jurassic World money Scrooge McDuck-style before Minions opened this week. Now the studio is looking at its third truly massive hit of the year, a run that feels nearly unprecedented. Universal already released two of the biggest movies of all time within the past four months, and now it’s looking like it may have three.