Tag: Spike Fearn

Oscar Predictions: Ella McCay

When your movie is opening December 12th and the review embargo lifts December 10th, consider that a sign that the studio (20th Century in this instance) doesn’t consider it an awards contender. Such is the case with Ella McCay which marks the first feature from James L. Brooks in 15 years. The 2008 set political dramedy stars Emma Mackey in the title role with a supporting cast including Jamie Lee Curtis, Jack Lowden, Kumail Nanjiani, Ayo Edebiri, Julie Kavner, Spike Fearn, Rebecca Hall, Albert Brooks, and Woody Harrelson.

Brooks is, of course, a legendary figure in TV and motion pictures. In addition to co-creating The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, and The Simpsons, his cinematic debut as writer/director Terms of Endearment is 1983’s Best Picture winner. Subsequent efforts Broadcast News (1988) and As Good As It Gets (1997) also scored BP mentions and numerous other nods.

The auteur’s output in the 21st century has been limited to Spanglish (2004) and How Do You Know (2010), neither of which were Oscar players. McKay is saddled with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 29% and 41 on Metacritic. That’s why it’s no surprise it didn’t show up anywhere in the Critics Choice or Golden Globe ballots and the same will hold true with the Academy. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Oscar Predictions – Alien: Romulus

The six Alien features that preceded Alien: Romulus in the last four and a half decades have yielded an impressive 11 Oscar nominations and 3 victories. Fede Àlvarez, best known for 2013’s Evil Dead remake and Don’t Breathe, directs the first entry in seven years as Romulus attacks theaters this weekend. Cailee Spaeny (who probably came fairly close to an Academy nom last year for Priscilla), David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, and Spike Fearn star.

Reviews are doling out praise for its vibe that many critics say closely resemble the classic first two tales (1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens). On the other hand, some write-ups say it relies too much on nostalgia. The RT score is 82% and that tops the scores of its four immediate predecessors and places it third behind the aforementioned genre landmarks.

Let’s take a quick trip through awards history with the series. The original Alien from Ridley Scott won Best Visual Effects and was nominated for Art Direction (losing to All That Jazz). James Cameron’s 1986 follow-up Aliens landed a whopping seven nods and took Visual Effects and Sound Effects Editing. The other handful of mentions were for Sigourney Weaver in Actress (who fell short to Marlee Matlin from Children of a Lesser God), Art Direction (A Room with a View won), Original Score (which went to Round Midnight), and Film Editing and Sound (both of which that year’s BP victor Platoon picked up). 1992’s Alien 3 was a Visual Effects nominee with Death Becomes Her grabbing the prize. Five years later, Alien: Resurrection went empty-handed in terms of mentions. 2012’s Prometheus returned Ridley Scott to the director’s chair and a Visual Effects nom occurred with Life of Pi victorious. Finally, 2017’s Alien Covenant did not factor into any race.

So where does that leave Romulus? The production design and visual effects are being noted. The latter is where it is likeliest to contend. That said it would be behind Dune: Part Two, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and probably Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga already. There’s plenty of other contenders already out or scheduled for fall. Don’t be surprised if this is the second Alien saga to be left off the Academy’s ballots, but VE is feasible. My Oscar Prediction posts will continue…

Alien: Romulus Box Office Prediction

Fede Álvarez, best known for his Evil Dead remake and Don’t Breathe, takes over a classic 45-year-old franchise when Alien: Romulus touches down on August 16th. Set between the events of Alien and Aliens, the seventh entry in the series (not counting those two battles with Predator) features Civil War‘s Cailee Spaeny, David Jonsson, Archie Renaux, Isabela Merced, and Spike Fearn.

Originally conceived as a Hulu streaming release, 20th Century Studios rethought their strategy to allow a summer theatrical bow. This is the first Alien feature in seven years since Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant and the first since Disney acquired the property.

If Romulus matched the $36 million that Covenant started off with, that should be considered a win. I say that because the predecessor plummeted after its first weekend and grossed an underwhelming $74 million overall domestically.

I’ll project that this gets a bit under that starting Covenant figure as it’ll hope to have sturdier legs in subsequent weekends.

Alien: Romulus opening weekend prediction: $35.2 million

For my Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure prediction, click here:

Ryan’s World the Movie: Titan Universe Adventure Box Office Prediction