‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ sneak previews snag $7 million, around half of original’s
Joker: Folie à Deuxis expected to top the box office this weekend, but comparisons to the original, which grossed more than $1 billion, are already haunting the sequel.
The movie, which stars Joaquin Phoenix reprising his Oscar-winning title role, has him teaming up with Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. It took in $7 million from Thursday night sneak preview showings, according to Variety.
While those are respectable numbers, the 2019 original had $13 million in the bank by Friday morning, on its way to a $96.2 million opening weekend.
Also weighing on the sequel’s box office future are reviews much weaker than its predecessor and a budget that was way higher — $200 million versus $65 million for the first one, according to the trade.
Netflix has officially greenlit a series adaptation of author John Steinbeck’s East of Eden. As previously announced, Florence Pugh will lead the cast, which also includes Poor Things‘ Christopher Abbott, Challengers’Mike Faist and Warrior‘s Hoon Lee. Zoe Kazan, the granddaughter of director Elia Kazan, who previously adapted the novel into a 1955 film that launched James Dean‘s career, will executive produce and write for the seven-episode limited series …
Variety reports Jennifer Hudson and comedian Fortune Feimster have been added to the voice cast of the third Paw Patrol movie, joining McKenna Grace, who reprises her lead role as Skye. Plot details and specifics on Hudson and Feimster’s characters have not been revealed. The first two Paw Patrol movies have collectively grossed over $345 million worldwide, per the outlet …
The Critics Choice Association has announced the honorees for its fall 2024 Critics Choice Association’s celebration series. Zoe Saldaña will be honored with the Groundbreaker Award at the fourth annual Celebration of Latino Cinema & Television for her starring role in Netflix’s Emilia Pérez. The third annual Celebration of AAPI Cinema & Television will recognize actress Joan Chen with the Career Achievement Award for her performance in Dìdi; and filmmaker Tyler Perry will receive the seventh annual Celebration of Black Cinema & Television’s Icon Award for his incredible body of work and achievements throughout the years …
In a lengthy interview with Vanity Fair, JoelSouza, the director of the Western Rust, went into detail about the fatal 2021 on-set shooting that left him injured and took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Of the many details in the piece, Souza says it’s “glaring” that the Western is about “a boy who accidentally shoots someone. That is inescapable. When people hear that, they are very taken aback.”
Souza explained the live round that was fired from the weapon aimed by Alec Baldwin fatally struck Hutchins in the chest and lodged in his shoulder, penetrating so deep it nearly hit his spine.
He said they were rehearsing a shot with Baldwin when the gun discharged. “I got in behind [Halyna]. When I tried to get a look, that’s when the gun fired. And then … yeah, all hell broke loose.”
He said, “It felt like a horse kicked me in the shoulder or someone hit me with a bat. The whole right side of my body went … completely numb, but it also hurt excruciatingly at the same time.”
He also recalled being “furious at that moment. I remember looking up and they were lowering Halyna … and there was blood coming through her white shirt.”
He found out Hutchins had died when he was in the emergency room. He called that “crushing in a way that is difficult to put into words” and “absolute devastation.”
Souza said the incident “ruined” him. “[I]nternally, the person I was just went away.”
When asked if he was grateful to be alive after the shooting, he said, “Not really.”
The 51-year-old director, who reluctantly returned to finish the film, said he “didn’t want to wake up” after the incident and he’s been plagued with nightmares since.
Lupita Nyong’ois remembering her friend and former Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman Wednesday, on the fourth anniversary of his death.
Boseman was just 43 when he lost his private battle with colon cancer on Aug. 28, 2020.
“Remembering Chadwick Boseman. Forever,” Lupita captioned a black-and-white photo of the actor she posted to Instagram.
She added a quote from an unknown writer, reading, “Grief never ends. But it changes. It is a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It’s the price of love.”
Boseman was secretly fighting the disease while logging memorable performances spanning from Black Panther and other installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to heralded turns in films like Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Just a handful of people knew of his condition before his death.