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.
All Six ‘Star Wars’ Movies May be Headed to Netflix Very Soon
With Star Wars: The Force Awakens only three months away from release, Disney and Lucasfilm are waist-deep in their plan to ensure that every human being on the planet with access to a movie theater will go see their new movie. Now, the next phase is upon us: put all six films on Netflix, to remind any doubters that they like Star Wars.
‘The Divergent Series: Allegiant’ Trailer: Go Beyond the Wall
The Divergent series has never reached the culture-saturating heights of the Hunger Games movies, but it’s done well for itself. Divergent and its awkwardly titled sequel, The Divergent Series: Insurgent, left fans satisfied and made their fare share of cash at the box office. The first trailer for The Divergent Series: Allegiant (ugh, that title) is preaching to the choir. No one put off by the first two films will be won over by this footage and no one who skipped the first two will be able to follow any of this, but this movie doesn’t need your approval. It just needs the approval of the faithful.
Justin Timberlake to Voice a Singing Troll Doll in DreamWorks’ ‘Trolls’
There are few performers as easy to watch as Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick. Both are blessed with that most uncommon superpower – they walk on screen and you instantly like them, no strings attached. So any movie that casts them side-by-side deserves your attention. If that movie is a musical, that movie becomes an instant must-see. But now Hollywood have decided to test your devotion by making them the leads in the upcoming Trolls, an animated musical based on those creepy Troll dolls.
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.
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.
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.
The ‘Hobbit’ Extended Editions May be Rated R For Some Reason
All of Peter Jackson’s Middle-Earth movies have pushed the boundaries of the PG-13 rating, but it looks like the extended edition of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies may be the Halfling that breaks the Oliphaunt’s back. It seems that the longer version of the trilogy capper, which is returning to theaters this October, has been slapped with an R-rating by the MPAA.
‘Star Wars’ Limited Edition Steelbook Blu-rays Arrive This Fall, No Theatrical Cuts to be Found
It should come as no surprise that fancy new limited editions of the original six Star Wars movies are hitting Blu-ray later this year. Did you think Disney and Lucasfilm weren’t going to do everything in their power to wring every last penny out of this devoted fan base? After all, everything about Star Wars: The Force Awakens has us weak in the knees. We have never been more vulnerable to large corporations exploiting our love. And now we know what love looks like: a series of very cool steelbook Blu-rays, complete with new art.
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.