Susanne Bier’s BirdBox, based on a 2014 novel by Josh Malerman, imagines a post apocalyptic world where we all must develop a blind side. How fitting, I suppose, that Sandra Bullock is the headliner. It is she and some of her cast mates that holds this concoction together, at least for a while.
We first meet Bullock’s Malorie as she instructs two young children that they are about to embark on a dangerous trip with her. She is soon rowing and rowing and rowing a boat not so gently down a choppy stream to an unknown destination. They’re all blindfolded.
A flashback to five years earlier finds the pregnant Malorie getting a checkup with her sister (Sarah Paulson). She seems none too excited about her impending delivery. Different complications arise as people start committing suicide suddenly all over the globe. It’s soon discovered opening your eyes and looking at some never seen creatures brings on the self violence.
Our soon to be parent manages to hole up with a group of strangers that includes the home’s boozy owner (John Malkovich), another expectant mom (Danielle Macdonald), and a war vet (Trevante Rhodes) who connects with Malorie. It’s in these initial scenes where BirdBox is at its most engrossing. There’s nothing terribly fresh here as the group figures out how to survive, but there’s some interesting characters and actors playing them to make it worthwhile. Jacki Weaver, Lil Rel Howery, and rapper Machine Gun Kelly are part of the eclectic mix as well.
This gets about an hour’s worth of mileage from its premise and the wrinkle of the sighted having to go blind is a newish twist once they venture out (thank goodness for GPS). Eric Heisserer’s screenplay never concerns itself with what the heck really happened to cause this anyway. We do know birds can sense the monsters. The unexplained phenomena of what did happen isn’t all that important, but total ignorance is a tad surprising. Heisserer did significantly superior work with his adapted script for Arrival.
The picture is as much an allegory about motherhood than it is a science fiction horror thriller. There’s also elements of M. Night Shyamalan’s unfortunate TheHappening. It had more unintentional laughs than this, but it also found cooler ways for spellbound victims to off themselves.
Bullock’s performance is committed and she certainly makes this watchable. The Oscar winner has played maternal instinct impressively before (the already mentioned TheBlindSide, Gravity) and we see it here. Yet the true gravity of this whole situation never feels as suspenseful as it quite should. Maybe it’s the details left unseen or maybe it’s the familiar themes we’ve seen plenty of times already.
He’s been an Oscar nominee for Milk, the star of Best Picture winner NoCountryforOldMen, a Man in Black for the third entry of that franchise, and (of course) the big brother in TheGoonies. And in 2018, Josh Brolin was unquestionably the king of the summer sequel, setting up roles that will continue for some time.
It all started with the summer season’s biggest blockbuster – Avengers: InfinityWar. As villainous Thanos, Brolin pretty much stole the show against the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe. A few weeks later, the actor starred alongside Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool2, which stands as the year’s fifth top earner. Sicario: DayoftheSoldado followed shortly after that with Brolin reprising his role as a CIA agent barking orders to Benicio del Toro. That follow-up managed to top the gross of its 2015 predecessor.
We can expect to see him in all three of these parts again. In summer 2019, Thanos will be back in Avengers: Endgame. He’s signed a four picture deal to be Cable in that cinematic universe. A third Sicario feature is planned.
In a career that kicked off over three decades ago alongside One-Eyed Willy and Sloth, Brolin established a trio of characters that we’ll likely see onscreen for the foreseeable future.
Emily Blunt has had a decade filled with acclaimed performances in high-profile features including Looper, EdgeofTomorrow, Sicario (she sat out its sequel this summer), and TheGirlontheTrain. In 2018, this rose to an even greater level with a pair of very different titles.
In April, Blunt headlined the horror pic of the year with AQuietPlace directed by her husband John Krasinski. Her role as an expectant mother trying to protect her unborn baby and other children from monsters drew critical raves. The film debuted to a stunning $50 million and took in $188 million domestically.
This month, she took on the iconic role made famous over 50 years ago by Julie Andrews in the Disney sequel MaryPoppinsReturns. Reviews were mostly strong for it as well, especially for Blunt’s take on the British nanny. It, too, should leg out to a stateside gross approaching $200 million.
2019 is expected to be a quiet one for the actress while she’ll star alongside Dwayne Johnson in the summer of 2020 with the Mouse Factory’s JungleCruise. As for this year, it was anything but quiet for Ms. Blunt.
Over 16 years ago, MyBigFatGreekWedding unexpectedly became the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time with its focus on culture and love. That chord was struck once again in the summer of 2018 with CrazyRichAsians. Based on the bestseller by Kevin Kwan and directed by Jon M. Chu, Asians received rave reviews and audiences turned out to the tune of a $174 million domestic haul.
The film made a little history along the way by becoming the first major Hollywood studio production to feature a predominantly Asian-American cast since 1993’s TheJoyLuckClub. This allowed for star making roles for leads Henry Golding and Constance Wu, as well as actress/rapper Awkwafina. For veteran Michelle Yeoh, best known to stateside moviegoers for TomorrowNeverDies and CrouchingTiger, HiddenDragon, her potential mother-in-law role garnered awards chatter.
Asians certainly achieved its status as the summer’s giant sleeper and is the largest earning rom com since 2005’s Hitch. It also changed the faces we normally see in the genre (like GreekWedding) and that earns it a place atop the year’s major cinematic stories.
Six strangers attempt to survive a deadly series of the title here in the horror pic EscapeRoom, out next Friday. It’s my first box office prediction for a 2019 feature and it comes from Adam Robitel, best known for directing 2018’s sequel Insidious: TheLastKey (which was my first projection for this current year). Cast members include Logan Miller, Deborah Ann Woll, Taylor Russell, Tyler Labine, Jay Ellis, and Nik Dodani.
The market could certainly be ready for a fright fest, but whether EscapeRoom hits that spot for genre fans is questionable (especially with Glass coming two weeks later). The aforementioned Insidious entry had the benefit of being part of a successful franchise. It opened to just over $29 million almost one year ago.
I’ll estimate that this achieves less than half of that number with the caveat that horror flicks can manage to outdo expectations in January.
EscapeRoom opening weekend prediction: $13.8 million
There are moments in ThePredator where it feels like the franchise went the route of 80s slasher series when Freddy, Jason, and Michael ruled the day. With the alien creatures roaming the suburbs for a brief stretch and with some deliriously gory bits and extreme profanity, I could imagine this is as the fifth installment when the well is running dry. This could maybe be PredatorV following PredatorInHarlem or something. It’s a time in the series when ridiculous and probably offensive characters like an autistic kid who’s actually deemed an enhancement in human evolution is introduced. The main protagonist would be dull and boring, not close to matching Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1987 original or even Danny Glover’s overburdened LAPD officer in the 1990 sequel. And the one-liners would harken back to the rock solid first one but generally be lamer.
Strangely enough, it’s some of that which makes the 2018 edition mindless fun in the first half. This isn’t anything of quality, but it serves as an occasional guilty pleasure VHS throwback that would have filled the shelves of those defunct rental institutions. I think director Shane Black and co-writer Fred Dekker know that. Black has turned into a fine filmmaker with action comedies like Kiss KissBang Bang and TheNiceGuys. He’s known mostly for his behind the scenes work, but he memorably played the role of Hawkins in Predator’s big screen debut 31 years ago.
The screenplay makes some downright bizarre choices. Jacob Tremblay’s aforementioned autistic kid is one of them. His Special Forces dad Quinn (Boyd Holbrook) is that forgettable head alien battler. Holbrook discovers a title character on a mission and ships some evidence of its existence to his boy. That leads the extraterrestrial to the ‘burbs to retrieve his property. Quinn finds himself detained by the government led by shady Sterling K. Brown and in the company of a motley crew of PTSD soldiers. They include Trevante Rhodes (whose primary character trait is that he smokes), Thomas Jane (he has Tourette’s), and Keegan-Michael Key (yo mama jokes). They’re the guys, along with Olivia Munn’s biologist, who fight not only two Predators, but the space dogs that accompany them. That’s another odd visual choice.
I couldn’t help but be fascinated by Black and Dekker’s outright nuttiness with their take on ThePredator. However, it doesn’t last. By the third act, the pic moves to a jungle looking setting with some dodgy effects. We’re hammered with familiarity. That’s what made famous predators like Freddy and Jason and Michael grow stale, but their countless sequels were punctuated with an inspired sequence here and there. We see that early in this reboot and then not really again.
It’s my final Oscar predictions of 2018 as the nominations draw closer (with the Golden Globes airing next Sunday)! And, yes, we’re seeing some changes:
First Man is back in my predicted nine with Mary Poppins Returns out. Bohemian Rhapsody continues to rise and is inching closer to possible inclusion.
In Best Director, Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) is in with Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk) out.
In Best Actress, Yalitza Aparicio returns to my top 5 with Emily Blunt’s title role in Mary Poppins Returns falling.
Let’s get to it!
Best Picture
1. A Star Is Born (Previous Ranking: 1)
2. Roma (PR: 2)
3. The Favourite (PR: 3)
4. Green Book (PR: 5)
5. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 4)
6. Black Panther (PR: 6)
7. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 7)
8. Vice (PR: 8)
9. First Man (PR: 10)
Other Possibilities:
10. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 11)
11. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 9)
12. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: 12)
13. A Quiet Place (PR: 14)
14. Eighth Grade (PR: 13)
15. First Reformed (PR: 15)
Best Director
1. Alfonso Cuaron, Roma (PR: 1)
2. Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (PR: 2)
3. Spike Lee, BlacKkKlansman (PR: 3)
4. Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite (PR: 4)
5. Ryan Coogler, Black Panther (PR: 6)
Other Possibilities:
6. Peter Farrelly, Green Book (PR: 7)
7. Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 5)
8. Adam McKay, Vice (PR: 8)
9. Damien Chazelle, First Man (PR: 9)
10. Marielle Heller, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Rob Marshall, Mary Poppins Returns
Best Actor
1. Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (PR: 1)
2. Christian Bale, Vice (PR: 2)
3. Rami Malek, Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 3)
4. Viggo Mortensen, Green Book (PR: 4)
5. Ethan Hawke, First Reformed (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. John David Washington, BlacKkKlansman (PR: 6)
7. Ryan Gosling, First Man (PR: 9)
8. Willem Dafoe, At Eternity’s Gate (PR: 7)
9. Robert Redford, The Old Man & The Gun (PR: 8)
10. Lucas Hedges, Boy Erased (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Ben Foster, Leave No Trace
Best Actress
1. Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born (PR: 1)
2. Olivia Colman, The Favourite (PR: 2)
3. Glenn Close, The Wife (PR: 3)
4. Melissa McCarthy, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: 4)
5. Yalitza Aparicio, Roma (PR: 6)
Other Possibilities:
6. Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 5)
7. Toni Collette, Hereditary (PR: 8)
8. Nicole Kidman, Destroyer (PR: 7)
9. Viola Davis, Widows (PR: 10)
10. Julia Roberts, Ben Is Back (PR: 9)
Best Supporting Actor
1. Mahershala Ali, Green Book (PR: 1)
2. Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: 2)
3. Sam Elliot, A Star Is Born (PR: 3)
4. Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman (PR: 4)
5. Timothee Chalamet, Beautiful Boy (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Michael B. Jordan, Black Panther (PR: 6)
7. Sam Rockwell, Vice (PR: 7)
8. Nicholas Hoult, The Favourite (PR: 9)
9. Russell Hornsby, The Hate U Give (PR: 8)
10. Brian Tyree Henry, If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Daniel Kaluuya, Widows
Best Supporting Actress
1. Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 1)
2. Amy Adams, Vice (PR: 2)
3. Emma Stone, The Favourite (PR: 3)
4. Rachel Weisz, The Favourite (PR: 4)
5. Claire Foy, First Man (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Margot Robbie, Mary Queen of Scots (PR: 6)
7. Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place (PR: 7)
8. Nicole Kidman, Boy Erased (PR: 8)
9. Thomasin McKenzie, Leave No Trace (PR: 9)
10. Marina De Tavira, Roma (PR: 10)
Best Adapted Screenplay
1. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 1)
2. A Star Is Born (PR: 2)
3. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 3)
4. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (PR: 4)
5. Black Panther (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Leave No Trace (PR: 8)
7. First Man (PR: 6)
8. Crazy Rich Asians (PR: 7)
9. The Hate U Give (PR: 9)
10. Widows (PR: 10)
Best Original Screenplay
1. The Favourite (PR: 1)
2. Roma (PR: 2)
3. Green Book (PR: 3)
4. Eighth Grade (PR: 5)
5. First Reformed (PR: 4)
Other Possibilities:
6. Vice (PR: 6)
7. A Quiet Place (PR: 7)
8. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: Not Ranked)
9. Private Life (PR: 8)
10. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (PR: 9)
Dropped Out:
Sorry to Bother You
Best Foreign Language Film
1. Roma (PR: 1)
2. Cold War (PR: 2)
3. Shoplifters (PR: 3)
4. Burning (PR: 5)
5. Capernaum (PR: 4)
Other Possibilities:
6. The Guilty (PR: 8)
7. Never Look Away (PR: 6)
8. Birds of Passage (PR: 7)
9. Ayka (PR: 9)
Best Animated Feature
1. Incredibles 2 (PR: 1)
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (PR: 2)
3. Ralph Breaks the Internet (PR: 4)
4. Isle of Dogs (PR: 3)
5. Mirai (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Early Man (PR: 6)
7. Smallfoot (PR: 7)
8. Lu Over the Wall (PR: 10)
9. Ruben Brandt, Collector (PR: 9)
10. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (PR: 8)
Best Documentary Feature
1. Won’t You Be My Neighbor (PR: 1)
2. Free Solo (PR: 2)
3. Three Identical Strangers (PR: 3)
4. Minding the Gap (PR: 5)
5. RBG (PR: 4)
Other Possibilities:
6. Hale County This Morning, This Evening (PR: 7)
7. Shirkers (PR: 8)
8. Crime + Punishment (PR: 6)
9. Of Fathers and Sons (PR: 10)
10. Dark Money (PR: 9)
Best Film Editing
1. A Star Is Born (PR: 2)
2. Roma (PR: 1)
3. First Man (PR: 3)
4. The Favourite (PR: 4)
5. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Vice (PR: 6)
7. Black Panther (PR: 7)
8. Green Book (PR: 10)
9. A Quiet Place (PR: 8)
10. Widows (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Mary Poppins Returns
Best Cinematography
1. Roma (PR: 1)
2. First Man (PR: 2)
3. A Star Is Born (PR: 3)
4. The Favourite (PR: 4)
5. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 7)
Other Possibilities:
6. Cold War (PR: 5)
7. Black Panther (PR: 6)
8. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (PR: 9)
9. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 8)
10. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Green Book
Best Production Design
1. The Favourite (PR: 1)
2. Black Panther (PR: 2)
3. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 3)
4. First Man (PR: 5)
5. Roma (PR: 6)
Other Possibilities:
6. A Star Is Born (PR: 9)
7. Mary Queen of Scots (PR: 4)
8. Crazy Rich Asians (PR: 7)
9. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (PR: 8)
10. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 10)
Dropped Out:
If Beale Street Could Talk
Best Costume Design
1. The Favourite (PR: 1)
2. Black Panther (PR: 2)
3. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 4)
4. Mary Queen of Scots (PR: 3)
5. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Crazy Rich Asians (PR: 9)
7. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 6)
8. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: Not Ranked)
9. A Star Is Born (PR: 7)
10. Colette (PR: 8)
Dropped Out:
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
1. Black Panther (PR: 1)
2. Vice (PR: 2)
3. Mary Queen of Scots (PR: 3)
Other Possibilities:
4. Border (PR: 5)
5. Stan & Ollie (PR: 6)
6. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 4)
7. Suspiria (PR: 7)
Best Sound Editing
1. First Man (PR: 1)
2. A Quiet Place (PR: 3)
3. Black Panther (PR: 2)
4. Roma (PR: 4)
5. A Star Is Born (PR: 6)
Other Possibilities:
6. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (PR: 8)
7. Ready Player One (PR: 5)
8. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 9)
9. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: Not Ranked)
10. Incredibles 2 (PR: 7)
Dropped Out:
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Best Sound Mixing
1. A Star Is Born (PR: 1)
2. First Man (PR: 2)
3. A Quiet Place (PR: 5)
4. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 4)
5. Black Panther (PR: 3)
Other Possibilities:
6. Roma (PR: 7)
7. Bohemian Rhapsody (PR: 6)
8. Incredibles 2 (PR: 9)
9. Ready Player One (PR: 8)
10. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Best Visual Effects
1. Avengers: Infinity War (PR: 1)
2. Black Panther (PR: 4)
3. Ready Player One (PR: 3)
4. First Man (PR: 2)
5. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. Solo: A Star Wars Story (PR: 6)
7. Welcome to Marwen (PR: 8)
8. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (PR: 9)
9. Ant-Man and the Wasp (PR: 7)
10. Christopher Robin (PR: 10)
Best Original Score
1. If Beale Street Could Talk (PR: 2)
2. First Man (PR: 1)
3. Black Panther (PR: 6)
4. BlacKkKlansman (PR: 4)
5. Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 3)
Other Possibilities:
6. Isle of Dogs (PR: 5)
7. A Quiet Place (PR: 7)
8. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (PR: 8)
9. Vice (PR: 10)
10. Ready Player One (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
Annihilation
Best Original Song
1. “Shallow” from A Star Is Born (PR: 1)
2. “All the Stars” from Black Panther (PR: 2)
3. “I’ll Fight” from RBG (PR: 4)
4. “Trip a Little Light Fantastic” from Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 3)
5. “Girl in the Movies” from Dumplin (PR: 5)
Other Possibilities:
6. “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from Mary Poppins Returns (PR: 6)
7. “Revelation” from Boy Erased (PR: 7)
8. “When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (PR: 10)
9. “We Won’t Move” from The Hate U Give (PR: 8)
10. “OYAHTT” from Sorry to Bother You (PR: Not Ranked)
Dropped Out:
“A Place Called Slaughter Race” from Ralph Breaks the Internet
And that adds up to these pictures getting the following number of nominations:
11 Nominations
A Star Is Born, Black Panther
10 Nominations
The Favourite
9 Nominations
First Man, Roma
6 Nominations
BlacKkKlansman, Mary Poppins Returns
5 Nominations
If Beale Street Could Talk
4 Nominations
Green Book, Vice
3 Nominations
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
2 Nominations
A Quiet Place, First Reformed, Mary Queen of Scots, RBG
1 Nomination
Avengers: Infinity War, Beautiful Boy, Bohemian Rhapsody, Burning, Capernaum, Cold War, Eighth Grade, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Free Solo, Incredibles 2, Isle of Dogs, Minding the Gap, Mirai, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Ready Player One, Shoplifters, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Three Identical Strangers, The Wife, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
The buzz got loud in late summer when AStarIsBorn held its first screenings across the ocean at the Venice Film Festival. The third remake of the rags to riches Hollywood story that began in 1937, the musical drama marked the directorial debut of Bradley Cooper and the first headlining acting role for pop superstar Lady Gaga (after a smaller part in MacheteKills). It soon became clear that audiences and critics found the tragic romance between the pair as anything but shallow.
Star now shines with a domestic gross of $200 million and the status as a front-runner for Best Picture at the Oscars. If Mr. Cooper’s inaugural behind the camera effort manages to do that, he would follow in the footsteps of well-known actors like Robert Redford (1980’s OrdinaryPeople) and Kevin Costner (1990’s DanceswithWolves) whose debuts won the Academy’s biggest prize. Theoretically Cooper coukd win as many as four gold statues – Picture for producing, directing, lead Actor, and Adapted Screenplay. And while he technically wouldn’t be nominated for his duet “Shallow” with Gaga since he doesn’t share writing credit, the tune will probably emerge victorious in that race. To add even more to Cooper’s dynamic year, he costars with his American Sniper director Clint Eastwood in TheMule, which is performing well.
As for Gaga, her splashy foray on the silver screen certainly rivals others such as Prince and Whitney Houston to name a couple. She stands a real shot at winning Best Actress in a competitive category. Cooper likely has an even stronger chance for his performance.
In 2018, Cooper and Gaga are responsible for creating perhaps the year’s most memorable couple. They could be generously rewarded for it.
It’s Christmas Week at the box office as the merrily confusing week officially gets underway tomorrow! We have two newbies debuting on Christmas Day with the Will Ferrell/John C. Reilly comedy Holmes&Watson and Adam McKay biopic Vice starring Christian Bale as Dick Cheney. You can peruse my detailed prediction posts on both of them here:
As I see it, both risk not making the top five as I deduce Watson will premiere with low double digits over the traditional three-day portion of the frame with Vice under that. Returning holiday offerings often see increases in their grosses from the previous weekend. I expect that to benefit titles such as MaryPoppinsReturns, Bumblebee, Spider–Man: IntotheSpider–Verse, and TheMule as well as SecondAct and TheGrinch further down the chart.
Poppins came in below expectations this past weekend. If you’d asked me a week ago, I would’ve strongly suspected the Disney sequel would rise to top spot this weekend and knock current champ Aquaman down to second. Now, even though I expect the waterlogged superhero to have a decline in its sophomore frame, I feel it should manage to maintain the #1 position pretty easily.
As I close the box office predicting year out, let’s expand the list to my top 10 projections as I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
1. Aquaman
Predicted Gross: $53.8 million
2. MaryPoppinsReturns
Predicted Gross: $26.5 million
3. Bumblebee
Predicted Gross: $21.4 million
4. Spider–Man: IntotheSpider–Verse
Predicted Gross: $17.3 million
5. TheMule
Predicted Gross: $11.5 million
6. Holmes & Watson
Predicted Gross: $11.3 million (Friday to Sunday); $23 million (Tuesday to Sunday)
7. SecondAct
Predicted Gross: $7.9 million
8. TheGrinch
Predicted Gross: $7.3 million
9. Vice
Predicted Gross: $7.2 million (Friday to Sunday); $14.8 million (Tuesday to Sunday)
10. RalphBreakstheInternet
Predicted Gross: $5.2 million
BoxOfficeResults (December21–23)
The pre-Christmas frame saw a slew of new debuts and they nearly all came in with less than I anticipated. It’s worth noting that most of these holidays numbers are not yet final and I’ll fill in those verified grosses once they occur.
As expected, Aquaman logged the #1 spot with $68 million, under my $77.3 million. I expect the DC effort to dip in the mid 20s this coming weekend. When factoring in early preview numbers, it’s made $72.7 million thus far.
Disney’s MaryPoppinsReturns opened in second with less with anticipated returns grossing $23.5 million over the weekend and $32.3 million since its Wednesday beginning. That’s quite a bit under my respective projections of $34.8 million and $52.2 million. The well-reviewed sequel will hope for leggy earnings as the weeks roll along.
Bumblebee took third with $21.6 million, premiering under my $26.2 million prediction. The Transformers prequel actually had the best critical reaction of the newcomers and also has a shot of playing well in the coming weeks.
Spider–Man: IntotheSpider–Verse fell to fourth in its sophomore outing with $16.6 million (I was higher at $20.1 million). The acclaimed animated hero tale is up to $64 million.
Clint Eastwood’s TheMule rounded out the top five at $9.5 million (I said $10.2 million) for $35 million at press time.
Jennifer Lopez’s romantic comedy SecondAct debuted in seventh place with $6.4 million. I was right there at $6.5 million.
Finally, the poorly reviewed Steve Carell drama WelcometoMarwen was a massive flop in ninth place with $2.3 million, not even matching my $3.8 million take. This is quite the costly bomb for its studio.
To kick off my series on the people that made significant contributions in cinema for 2018, the first post is the easiest to choose from. In a year filled with many successful tales, BlackPanther is undoubtedly THE story. The Marvel Cinematic Universe saga took a superhero not nearly as known as others and the result was a surprising and smashing record breaker.
The man behind it is Ryan Coogler. A 32-year-old Oakland native, Coogler made his directorial debut with 2013’s acclaimed FruitvaleStation. Two years later, he invigorated another franchise with Creed. And in February of this year, Panther was unleashed worldwide. With Chadwick Boseman in the title role, Michael B. Jordan as one of the MCU’s most memorable villains, and Lupita Nyong’o and Letitia Wright providing dynamic support, the film immediately struck a chord with moviegoers and critics. With a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, Panther took in $700 million domestically at the box office.
Let us count the records, shall we? That’s the top hit of the year. It’s the third biggest domestic grosser of all time behind only StarWars: TheForceAwakens and Avatar. Obviously, that designation means it’s Marvel’s #1 earner. One year ago, if anyone had told you this would make more than Avengers: InfinityWar (which followed a few weeks later), you wouldn’t have believed it.
For Coogler, he’s made the biggest comic book adaptation ever in a century filled with them. The sky is the limit for him as he’s likely being offered every tent pole project in sight. He’s already struck a deal to direct the Panther sequel. Additionally, this stands an excellent chance to be the first pic of its genre to receive a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars.
In 2018, Coogler made history by making the #1 picture ever directed by an African-American and introduced a hero already beloved by all. He’s an unquestionable entry in the people that mattered onscreen this year.
All My Life... I Wanted To Be A Blogster 