While certain terms over the use of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry have been settled, there is still a serious concern over it – and rightly so. It seems like every couple of weeks there is a fresh issue related to AI in Hollywood. The main issue generally revolves around job replacement but there is also the genuine concern over creativity itself being shut down. One movie that has been of particular focus is the forthcoming Beyond the Spider-Verse, the third movie in the Spider-Verse series. But according to Chris Miller, there’s no need to get your spiderweb in a twist, as there will be no AI whatsoever.
Chris Miller took to X to address a fan concern that there could be use of artificial intelligence in future Spider-Verse movies. In his response, he wrote, “There is no generative AI in Beyond the Spider-Verse and there never will be. One of the main goals of the films is to create new visual styles that have never been seen in a studio CG film, not steal the generic plagiarized average of other artists’ work.”
The Spider-Verse movies so far have been some of the most visually stunning of any animated films ever – but that’s far from AI that the filmmakers are employing. The animation here is as authentic as it gets and far superior to anything that computers alone could create…or at least we hope. Artificial intelligence will of course only get better as time – and really not much time at all – goes by. Thankfully, Miller’s words about the Spider-Verse are comforting in his assurance that there will be no reliance on it to complete the film…which is more than can be said of far too many other works.
While we all know the concerns of AI in Hollywood, this news that Beyond the Spider-Verse won’t being sullied by it shows the true love for film and animation that those behind the scenes have. As Miller previously stated on both the dedication and release window, “We’re going to take the time necessary to make Beyond the Spider-Verse great…And we won’t back into a release date that doesn’t fit.”
Do Chris Miller’s words make you more excited for Beyond the Spider-Verse? Does the use of artificial intelligence in animation concern you? Let us know below.
This past Memorial Day Weekend – the unofficial start to summer – was a dismal one at the box office, with reports putting it as the worst turnout in decades. Topping the chart was Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga with around $32 million, just barely edging out Garfield. So what can be expected from the summer box office if this is how it’s going to kick off?
The month of May is when things tend to start picking up at the box office, with tentpole releases and franchise sequels flooding the screens in seemingly rapid succession. But The Fall Guy – which came out on May 3rd – didn’t land the way the studio wanted it and so now it’s available on streaming services, officially yanking its chances to grow at the box office. As it stands, Dune: Part Two – which arrived in March – is the highest-grossing movie of the year, which, surprisingly enough, its director is pretty displeased about. As Denis Villeneuve recently put it, “I’m disappointed to still be number one…I hope soon that there will be other successes at the box office. I hope, sooner or later, that this summer box office will be much better.”
But this may not be the case, with predictions indicating that this could be a historically low summer at the box office, with few movies expected to hit the $100 million mark. But Villeneuve thinks there could be a solution. “I think we need movies that are theatrical experiences, that will fully embrace the power of the theatre, and I’m not just talking about Dune 2. Of course I’m talking about many movies. A movie like Civil War, for instance, is a strong example of a movie that absolutely used the power of the theatre…I was lucky that Part 2 did reach the audience, I wish it would happen more often, honestly.”
The first Dune cracked the top 15 of the 2021 box office with its October release, hitting just under $110 million domestically, whereas Dune: Part Two has taken in $282 million in North America.
What do you expect to be the highest-grossing movies at the box office this summer? How many will hit that opening weekend mark of $100 million? Give us your predictions below.
Feeny! Feeny! Fee-hee-hee-hee-ny! William Daniels, who played one of the most beloved teachers in all of media, shared a new photo with some of his old Boy Meets World students, calling them some of his favorites.
In his Instagram post – and how amazing is it that William Daniels is active on social media at the age of 97? – the actor shared a pic in which he, Danielle Fishel (Topanga Lawrence), Rider Strong (Shawn Hunter) and Will Friedle (Eric Matthews) reunited, along with the caption, “Just a little reunion with my favorite students!!” He also had a photo with just Fishel, showing an even more special bond between the two. Notably absent, of course, was Ben Savage (Cory Matthews), who has distanced himself from Boy Meets World, showing a disinterest in reunions or media appearances.
William Daniels’ post is just the latest mini Boy Meets World reunion. At 90s Con earlier this year, the aforementioned stars, as well as Trina McGee (Angela Moore), William Russ (Alan Matthews), Betsy Randle (Amy Matthews), and Anthony Tyler Quinn (Jonathan Turner) got together with the announcement that there is a trove of behind-the-scenes footage that could one day be made available.
William Daniels had an extensive career on TV and in movies dating back to the 1950s. I still remember seeing The Graduate for the first time in high school and immediately identifying Daniels’ voice as that of Mr. Feeny, somewhat shocked to see him outside of a classroom. There, too, was an Emmy-winning run on St. Elsewhere and voicing KITT on Knight Rider. Daniels also had a nice run on the stage, most notably in 1776, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (essentially a supporting category)…which he turned down over a disagreement with his category, believing he should have been eligible for Best Actor. Stand your ground, Feeny!
So crucial to Boy Meets World was Mr. Feeny that he even got the final line on the series when it ended in 2000: “I love you all. Class dismissed.”
What is your favorite Mr. Feeny moment from Boy Meets World? Do you have any other favorite William Daniels performances?
Feeny! Feeny! Fee-hee-hee-hee-ny! William Daniels, who played one of the most beloved teachers in all of media, shared a new photo with some of his old Boy Meets World students, calling them some of his favorites.
In his Instagram post – and how amazing is it that William Daniels is active on social media at the age of 97? – the actor shared a pic in which he, Danielle Fishel (Topanga Lawrence), Rider Strong (Shawn Hunter) and Will Friedle (Eric Matthews) reunited, along with the caption, “Just a little reunion with my favorite students!!” He also had a photo with just Fishel, showing an even more special bond between the two. Notably absent, of course, was Ben Savage (Cory Matthews), who has distanced himself from Boy Meets World, showing a disinterest in reunions or media appearances.
William Daniels’ post is just the latest mini Boy Meets World reunion. At 90s Con earlier this year, the aforementioned stars, as well as Trina McGee (Angela Moore), William Russ (Alan Matthews), Betsy Randle (Amy Matthews), and Anthony Tyler Quinn (Jonathan Turner) got together with the announcement that there is a trove of behind-the-scenes footage that could one day be made available.
William Daniels had an extensive career on TV and in movies dating back to the 1950s. I still remember seeing The Graduate for the first time in high school and immediately identifying Daniels’ voice as that of Mr. Feeny, somewhat shocked to see him outside of a classroom. There, too, was an Emmy-winning run on St. Elsewhere and voicing KITT on Knight Rider. Daniels also had a nice run on the stage, most notably in 1776, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical (essentially a supporting category)…which he turned down over a disagreement with his category, believing he should have been eligible for Best Actor. Stand your ground, Feeny!
So crucial to Boy Meets World was Mr. Feeny that he even got the final line on the series when it ended in 2000: “I love you all. Class dismissed.”
What is your favorite Mr. Feeny moment from Boy Meets World? Do you have any other favorite William Daniels performances?
The box office outlook for George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga looks pretty bleak. In my box office predictions, I anticipated the film being beaten by The Garfield Movie in its second weekend, but I didn’t think John Krasinski’s IF, in week 3, would manage to overtake it at the box office. But, according to early box office numbers released by Comscore, that’s exactly what happened. According to their stats, The Garfield Movie made $14 million this weekend, compared to IF, which made $10.8 million, edging out Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga by a very thin margin, with Miller’s film earning $10.75. Granted, that’s a very close race, so it’s possible that when the final figures come out later today, Miller’s movie might eke out a second-place finish. Yet, with a 59% decline in its second weekend, hopes that the movie might turn into a word-of-mouth sleeper, like Mad Max: Fury Road did, seem truly dashed. That movie never fell above 48% until later in its run. With a domestic total of just $49.6 million, it seems unlikely the movie will even make $80 million domestically, which is just over half what its predecessor made. Ouch.
While Miller’s film is struggling to find an audience before its inevitable VOD release (which will likely be sooner rather than later), The Garfield Movie showed hefty staying power, with only a 42% decline in week 2. If family audiences continue to prop the movie up, a domestic total in the $100 million range isn’t out of the question.
Of all the movies here, the weekend’s bragging points have to go to John Krasinski, whose film IF overcame a dismal first weekend and bad reviews to become a word-of-mouth hit. It fell only 33% this week, and with an $80 million total, it will easily end its domestic run north of $110 million. Quite the coup for a movie everyone was calling a flop a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes continued to do well, with an $8.8 million weekend and a $139 million domestic total. It will likely outgross the last movie in the franchise, War for the Planet of the Apes. The Fall Guy, despite being launched on VOD, also showed a bit of staying power, with a $4.2 million weekend. Its run has been similar to that of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, where word of mouth has been good. With an $80 million total so far, is there a chance it could crack $100 million domestically?
The first film in Renny Harlin’s The Strangers Trilogy also continued to do well, with $3.6 million and a total that’s just shy of $30 million. Clearly, horror fans are digging his reboot of the franchise, and with a little less competition in theaters, his two sequels even have a chance at outgrossing the first movie.
Crunchyroll and Sony’s Haikyu! The Dumpster Battle also did well this weekend, with a $3.5 million finish, proving once again that the Anime audience loves to see these movies on the big screen. Shudder, and IFC also had another word-of-mouth hit, with In a Violent Nature making $2.1 million, which puts it below Late Night With The Devil but is still a huge win for a movie set for a streaming release within a few weeks.
Sadly, the well-reviewed dramedyEzra, despite its stellar cast, crashed and burned at the box office this weekend, with a $1.18 million total and a per-theater average of only $897. OUCH. Meanwhile, Angel Studios’ Sight wasn’t able to follow in the footsteps of their smash hit Sound of Freedom, with the movie losing 61% of its audience (rare for a Christian film) to finish at just over $1 million dollars.
Overall, this was a pretty quiet weekend at the box office, although Bad Boys: Ride Or Die should give it a hefty dose of adrenaline next weekend. Will you be going to see it? And what do you make of Furiosa’s box office performance? Let us know in the comments.
The box office outlook for George Miller’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga looks pretty bleak. In my box office predictions, I anticipated the film being beaten by The Garfield Movie in its second weekend, but I didn’t think John Krasinski’s IF, in week 3, would manage to overtake it at the box office. But, according to early box office numbers released by Comscore, that’s exactly what happened.
According to their stats, The Garfield Movie made $14 million this weekend, compared to IF, which made $10.8 million, edging out Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga by a very thin margin, with Miller’s film earning $10.75. Granted, that’s a very close race, so it’s possible that when the final figures come out later today, Miller’s movie might eke out a second-place finish. Yet, with a 59% decline in its second weekend, hopes that the movie might turn into a word-of-mouth sleeper, like Mad Max: Fury Road did, seem truly dashed. That movie never fell above 48% until later in its run. With a domestic total of just $49.6 million, it seems unlikely the movie will even make $80 million domestically, which is just over half what its predecessor made.
Ouch.
While Miller’s film is struggling to find an audience before its inevitable VOD release (which will likely be sooner rather than later), The Garfield Movie showed hefty staying power, with only a 42% decline in week 2. If family audiences continue to prop the movie up, a domestic total in the $100 million range isn’t out of the question.
Of all the movies here, the weekend’s bragging points have to go to John Krasinski, whose film IF overcame a dismal first weekend and bad reviews to become a word-of-mouth hit. It fell only 33% this week, and with an $80 million total, it will easily end its domestic run north of $110 million. Quite the coup for a movie everyone was calling a flop a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes continued to do well, with an $8.8 million weekend and a $139 million domestic total. It will likely outgross the last movie in the franchise, War for the Planet of the Apes. The Fall Guy, despite being launched on VOD, also showed a bit of staying power, with a $4.2 million weekend. Its run has been similar to that of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, where word of mouth has been good. With an $80 million total so far, is there a chance it could crack $100 million domestically?
The first film in Renny Harlin’s The Strangers Trilogy also continued to do well, with $3.6 million and a total that’s just shy of $30 million. Clearly, horror fans are digging his reboot of the franchise, and with a little less competition in theaters, his two sequels even have a chance at outgrossing the first movie.
Crunchyroll and Sony’s Haikyu! The Dumpster Battle also did well this weekend, with a $3.5 million finish, proving once again that the Anime audience loves to see these movies on the big screen. Shudder, and IFC also had another word-of-mouth hit, with In a Violent Nature making $2.1 million, which puts it below Late Night With The Devil but is still a huge win for a movie set for a streaming release within a few weeks.
Sadly, the well-reviewed dramedyEzra, despite its stellar cast, crashed and burned at the box office this weekend, with a $1.18 million total and a per-theater average of only $897. OUCH. Meanwhile, Angel Studios’ Sight wasn’t able to follow in the footsteps of their smash hit Sound of Freedom, with the movie losing 61% of its audience (rare for a Christian film) to finish at just over $1 million dollars.
Overall, this was a pretty quiet weekend at the box office, although Bad Boys: Ride Or Die should give it a hefty dose of adrenaline next weekend. Will you be going to see it? And what do you make of Furiosa’s box office performance? Let us know in the comments.
Cinematic powerhouse actor Robert De Niro has given us some truly memorable performances for the ages, going all the way back to the 70s starting with Martin Scorsese’s’ Mean Streets. And let’s be honest, the guy clearly understands bat-shit crazy. Mr. DeNiro has some insane range, especially in the nutjob department. We’re talking great films such as Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Cape Fear, The Untouchables, Mean Streets, and This Boy’s Life. But there is one film particularly overlooked in his filmography. A film that creeps along the uncharted path of unseen territory to most. This is 1996’s The Fan (a Best Movie You Never Saw fave of ours here), directed by the late Tony Scott and stars not just De Niro, but Wesley Snipes, Benicio Del Toro, Ellen Barkin, and John Leguizamo. The Fan centers around one man’s downfall and downward spiral into psychotic obsession toward San Francisco Giants outfielder Bobby Rayburn, played by Wesley Snipes. While we truly appreciate De Niro’s acting roles such as Max Cady, Travis Bickle, and Chicago gangster Al Capone, does Gil Renard belong alongside these other all-time great movie foils?
TONY SCOTT’S OVERLOOKED THRILLER
The Fan was adapted from the book of the same name, written by Peter Abrahams. The book was intriguing enough that Mandalay Entertainment and Tri-Star Pictures developed a script and directorial duties were given to Ridley Scott’s brother, Tony Scott. Tony Scott created some great films such as Enemy of the State, Man on Fire, Top Gun, and Crimson Tide. Unfortunately, Tony Scott died in 2012 due to suicide. His family revealed he was battling cancer and underwent lengthy treatments to subdue the disease. The Fan is a great addition to Scott’s filmography, even if you need to suspend disbelief in certain situations in the movie. Even so, it’s Scott’s directing that makes De Niro’s unhinged performance have some serious legs throughout the film’s runtime.
GIL’S DOWNWARD SPIRAL
Knife Salesman, Gil Renard, resides in San Francisco, currently in a custody battle with his wife over their son Richie. Gil is also an avid Giants fan, and even more excited that his favorite baseball player, Bobby Rayburn, has been traded to the team with a 40-million contract attached to his name. Pretty lucrative in 1996, but pure peanuts by today’s contract standards in Major League Baseball. Gil travels around the San Francisco area in his beat-up van, trying to get some sales and diverting unwanted attention from his boss, Garrity, due to Gil’s sales being soft. Gil also tries to make the most of his time with his son Ritchie, only being allowed limited visitation rights by his ex-wife. I like how the film portrays his wife as a total bitch, seeing Gil as a normal person at the start of the film, but let’s just say my judgements were completely wrong. It also seems he’s a caring father who just wants to spend time with his son. The beginning few scenes assert our comfortability with Gil, a pretty standard blue-collar guy looking to make ends meet, trying to make up for lost time with his son, and attending his favorite player’s baseball games. But we couldn’t be more wrong, as things start to fracture.
While we may have sided with Gil and appreciated his knowledge of the game during his phone call with Ellen Barkin’s radio personality, Jewel, it’s when his potential sales meetings with clients go south. When one of his clients asks for kayaks instead of knives, this causes Gil to have an unhinged outburst. The other inadvertently causes him to leave his son at the Giants baseball game, so he can close a deal in between innings. The receptionist informs Gil that his client left so he too can be at Giants opening day. Not only does Gil eventually lose the sale, but he technically just lost his son for good in the process due to having him open to being kidnapped. He also loses his job, forcing him to lose his apartment in the process. Not a good week for Gil, that’s for sure. While Gil may have some ill-tempered behavior shouting at baseball fans or pushing his ex-wife down to the floor or even stabbing his boss’ car hood with one long-ass blade, we truly didn’t scratch the surface of Gil’s deranged behavior.
I GOT MY EYE ON YOU
With De Niro, he can manage to switch demeanours at the crack of a whip and that’s a testament to his talents. Now that Gil is unemployed and learning to take up bug extermination via knife throws; he turns his true sights to stalking and obsessing over his favorite player Bobby Rayburn. Rayburn came from the Atlanta Braves and is now sharing Giants fandom with another outfielder Juan Primo, who is played by Benicio Del Toro. Del Toro who at the time, was just starting to get his legs in the Hollywood circuit, and has now become an A-lister himself. Del Toro does a wonderful job playing Primo. The problem between these two men is the number 11, which Rayburn represented throughout his career, and is considered his lucky number. Think of MJ’s 23, or Shaq’s 34, or Derek Jeter’s 2. These numbers represent a player’s aura within the sport and the player’s legacy that came with it. Primo is the current holder of number 11, which results in a power struggle of sorts between these two men. You have some arguments, which then lead to a battle royale inside a club bathroom. Gil is hiding in a bathroom stall viewing the ceiling’s reflective mirror, kind of odd there is one in a men’s bathroom, but ok. Well, leave it to Gil to dispatch Primo with a well-placed knife to Primo’s artery inside a hotel sauna when he asks Primo to give up the number for the best interests of the team. Problem solved Mr. Rayburn; you got your number back thanks to your good ol’ pal Gil.
While Mr. Rayburn enjoys his time playing for the Giants, he doesn’t know who’s obsessing and watching him every game. Crazy to believe, this movie hits hard on those celebrities, musicians, and athletes who have dealt with crazed fan incidents all around the world, or on their own properties. The Fan gives a good insight into this real-life component. Gil stalks Bobby not just from the stands every game, the bars, or from the arena gates, but also from a hill overlooking his beach house. It’s only when the family dog throws Bobby’s son, Sean, off balance, that the multiple waves cause him to submerge to the ocean floor below. This leaves Gil to take advantage of the situation. Gil dives in and saves Bobby’s son before he can get to him. Once Gil and Shawn make it to the beach, Bobby takes Gil in, but Gil calls himself Curly to throw him off due to prior phone calls they shared during a live radio exchange through Jewel. Bobby knows the voice sounds familiar but can’t put a finger on it until his son is kidnapped, along with the family dog.
This is all in part to Bobby trashing the fans calling most of them losers while sharing a beer with Gil in his kitchen. To top it off, Gil asks Bobby if he is happier that Primo is dead. Bobby rejects Gil, and tells him he’s not happy at all, even when Bobby is playing at the top of his game after the death of Primo. Gil feels betrayed, considering he killed Primo for him so he can start playing back to peak performance. Gil leaves a chunk of Primo’s shoulder in the fridge for Bobby, which had the tattoo of number 11 on it. Gil meets up with his old friend, Coupe. Gil would always talk about Coupe to his son about their time of playing baseball together. He considered Coupe a know-it-all of the game and an ambassador to the sport. The funny thing though, Gil’s friendship with Coupe was only during Little League, and they lost touch right after that. When Coupe gets Sean away from Gil and makes him jump a fence to flee out of harm’s way, Gil smashes Coupe’s head in with a bat. Unfortunately for Sean, the chase ends, when a train blocks off his escape route, resulting in a blood-drenched Gil catching up and taking him again.
NOW DO YOU CARE?
Since we got a pretty good taste of Gil’s theatrics in the crazy department, his grand crescendo is one for the ages. Bobby has a baseball game tonight, and Gil’s demands are simple. Hit a home run and dedicate it to Gil for being the ultimate fan. If Bobby doesn’t comply with these demands, Gil will kill his son. Gil makes his way into the stadium, with the cops, and feds on his tail of course. You’d think arena security was better with a killer on the loose, but I digress. Throughout the game, Bobby has either hit some warning track shots, or struck out, and he has one last shot to save his son. Thank some good melodramatic rain to potentially call off the game, or the pitcher walking him, resulting in some good stakes at play. When Bobby hits a dinger off the wall, he decides to run for an inside-the-park home run. What clearly looks like being called safe, results in Bobby being called out by the umpire. The crazy thing, the umpire is actually Gil, who probably disposed of the original umpire during the rain delay. This scene is awesome, albeit hard to believe. Bobby throws a nice haymaker, but Gil gets a knife impalement to Bobby’s shoulder for good measure. Some players are killed, and the cops circle around the suspect near the mound. Gil asks Bobby, ‘Now do you care?” He wants Bobby to confess he’s happy Primo’s dead, but Bobby doesn’t answer. Gil is about to throw a knife at Bobby, but the cops kill him with about ten bullets. De Niro’s acting is unbelievable here, going from nutty, to sympathetic, to sad within a few seconds. Gil hints to Bobby where Sean is, before dying from his wounds. It’s a devastating, intense scene that I can never get out of my head when it comes to De Niro’s greatest hits. You kinda feel for Gil, as he was a man who lost it all by the end of the movie, which led him down a path of inconceivable evil deeds. But let’s make it clear, the guy is clearly nuts.
ENDING
The Fan is a movie I play back every so often due to the way Tony Scott showcases the bad side of fandom. It has some hard-to-believe scenes, that are backed by the performance of De Niro, which gives the film some definite weight. The supporting cast does their best here as well to keep the thriller train going. To me, this goes right along De Niro’s work as Max Cady in Cape Fear, or Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. I would recommend a playback if you haven’t done so, just to analyze DeNiro’s acting skills here. We get a different level of unhinged here, but it’s as if Max Cady and Gil Renard are brothers. Cady is a little more vicious in my eyes though, I mean who can forget that handcuffing scene or the climax on the boat towards the end of the film? For those who haven’t seen The Fan it’s a solid thriller with some incredibly intense moments from a late and talented director that flies under everyone’s radar. Check it out if you haven’t already done so.
Some of the best movies to watch during the Halloween season are the classic Universal Monsters movies. Those awesome black and white movies that were built around characters like Frankenstein’s Monster, Dracula, The Mummy, the Wolf Man, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon, among others. So now that Halloween weekend is upon us, we here at Arrow in the Head have put together a list: Universal Monsters Franchises Ranked! Below you’ll find our rankings of the classic franchises, from least to favorite. Check it out, and let us know how you would rank these franchises by leaving a comment!
Honorable Mention: ABBOTT AND COSTELLO
The comedy duo of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello certainly weren’t Universal monsters (or any other kind of monsters), but they earn an honorable mention on this list because they played an important role in the Universal Monsters saga. After making several straightforward horror movies with their monsters, Universal decided to pair them with Abbott and Costello for a series of horror comedies. The first was the monster mash Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (which also features Dracula and the Wolf Man), which pays great respect to the monsters, who remain in character as we know them, while drawing humor from the reactions Abbott and Costello have to them. That was followed by Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff; Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man; Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (the only Jekyll and Hyde movie made by Universal during their classic Monsters era); and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.
APE WOMAN
Introduced in the 1944 film Captive Wild Woman, the Ape Woman is the forgotten member of the Universal Monsters squad – which is a shame, because it would have been nice to have a female icon in the group. The result of an experiment in which a mad scientist transfused the glandular secretions of a human female into the body of the gorilla Cheela, the Ape Woman was given the name Paula Dupree – and she had a tendency to become obsessed with unobtainable men. Mononymous actress Acquanetta played Paula completely silently in Captive Wild Woman, then was given lines in the sequel Jungle Woman. But when Acquanetta’s contract with Universal ended and she was recast with Vicky Lane in the trilogy ender The Jungle Captive, the character became silent again. Universal had considered putting the Ape Woman in the crossover House of Frankenstein, and she’d probably be better remembered if they had. As it is, she got an entertaining first movie and a couple underwhelming sequels before disappearing.
DRACULA
1931’s Dracula is one of the greatest horror movies ever made (and the Spanish version is quite good as well), but we’re ranking the franchises here, not just the first films in those franchises. So the Dracula franchise lands near the bottom of this list. The problem is, Bela Lugosi only officially played Dracula in the first film and the crossover Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein – for the other sequels, he was replaced by his offspring. Gloria Holden as Dracula’s Daughter Countess Marya Zaleska, and Lon Chaney Jr. as Count Alucard, the Son of Dracula. Their movies are decent enough, but they just can’t live up to Lugosi’s movie. Hammer got Christopher Lee to play Dracula seven times, but Universal couldn’t get Lugosi back for a sequel because they didn’t want to pay him. Lugosi wanted a raise from the $500 a week he earned on the first movie, and the studio considered that a deal breaker. Dracula did return in the lackluster crossovers House of Frankenstein and House of Dracula, where he was played by John Carradine.
THE INVISIBLE MAN
The Invisible Man had a shockingly long-lived franchise, especially considering the fact that each installment has a different title character. Movie-goers just kept turning up to see different people turn invisible. There is a fun variety of tones and genres to this series, which starts off in horror thriller territory. Claude Rains gives an incredible performance as the maniacal, homicidal Invisible Man in the first movie. The Invisible Man Returns is a murder mystery about an invisible escaped convict trying to prove his innocence, The Invisible Woman is a slapstick comedy, Invisible Agent is a World War II spy movie, the invisible person was a villain again in The Invisible Man’s Revenge, and then Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man is a comedic murder mystery. There is no consistency or continuity to this franchise at all, but it is entertaining to see so many different styles packed into one series.
WOLF MAN
The Wolf Man, known as Larry Talbot when he’s in human form, only had one solo film, but he did return for four crossover movies – and his franchise is boosted by the consistency of having Lon Chaney Jr. play the character every time. Talbot’s story doesn’t always make sense – he’s killed in one movie, returns for another, gets cured in a movie, is back to being a Wolf Man the next time we see him – but Chaney was always terrific in the role, giving an endearing performance that stirs up a lot of sympathy for his character. Larry Talbot doesn’t want to be a monster, he wants to be rid of this curse in any way possible, even if that means dying. But kept getting brought back for monster action. The Wolf Man was followed by Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein.
THE MUMMY
The Mummy stars Boris Karloff as Imhotep, a man who has been resurrected centuries after his death and uses ancient spells in an attempt to be reunited with his lost love. He’s a great character, and a powerful villain – and as the franchise continued, Universal decided not to bring his Imhotep back. Instead, he was replaced by the bandage-wrapped zombie Kharis, the mummy who fits most people’s vision of what a mummy should look like. Kharis shambled his way across the screen in four different films (and was played by Lon Chaney Jr.) in three of those, terrorizing people across the world and through the decades, trying to wipe out a bloodline, hoping to be reunited with a lost love, and disregarding any continuity issues. For viewers who want to see a shambling, bandaged mummy, The Mummy’s Hand, The Mummy’s Tomb, The Mummy’s Ghost, and The Mummy’s Curse all provide good, simple fun. Kharis was replaced by Klaris for the goofball comedy Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy.
FRANKENSTEIN
Frankenstein is one of the greatest horror movies ever made – and it was followed by one of the greatest sequels ever made, Bride of Frankenstein. Those two movies reached a height that none of the other Frankenstein movies would reach again… but the movies are still fun to watch. Following Bride, Frankenstein’s Monster returned for a couple decent sequels that greatly benefited from the presence of the homicidal Ygor (Son of Frankenstein and The Ghost of Frankenstein), then crossed paths with his fellow monsters in multiple crossovers: Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Frankenstein, House of Dracula, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. The stories weren’t always great, the continuity was lacking, some of those crossovers didn’t live up to their potential, but Frankenstein’s Monster was always a great monster to watch – and was played by the likes of Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, and Glenn Strange.
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON
The Creature from the Black Lagoon was embraced as an equal to his fellow Universal Monsters despite the fact that he came along twenty years after his peers. He missed out on the crossovers, he didn’t get to star in a movie alongside Abbott and Costello… but he did get an excellent debut movie. That film tells the story of a scientific expedition to the edge of the Brazilian Amazon, where the scientists cross paths with a half-man / half-fish creature that takes an unhealthy interest in the female member of the ground. In Revenge of the Creature, the Gill Man is captured and taken to an oceanarium in Florida (where Clint Eastwood appears as an absent-minded lab worker), and in the disappointing-but-serviceable trilogy capper The Creature Walks Among Us his gills are damaged and he has to resort to breathing air with his lungs. With this change to the creature, the franchise actually brought about an ending there was no coming back from.
If you didn’t catch it, on Friday night, our own Tyler Nichols, on his Friday Night Frights Live Stream, did an interesting breakdown of the Friday the 13th franchise (embedded below under the poll). He was inspired to do so after watching the recent In a Violent Nature, which is kind of a highbrow take on slasher films, with a very Jason-inspired slasher at the forefront. Here on JoBlo, we’re pretty devoted fans of the original franchise, but which movie is the best? Have your say in our poll, and leave us your thoughts on the franchise as a whole in the comments!
Just as Lydia Deetz is strange and unusual, Winona Ryder found her experience reprising the character for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to be just that. After all, not only has it been more than 35 years since the original Beetlejuice came out but Ryder has actually never starred in a sequel before.
Speaking with Empire, Winona Ryder had a hard time describing just what it was like reprising Lydia Deetz for the Beetlejuice sequel. “I struggle to find the words. It’s just one of the most special experiences that I’ve ever had. The fact that we’re coming back to it, it’s…It’s beyond…I don’t know if I’ve ever felt this way.” Ryder also noted that “this is a first for me. I’ve never revisited a character, ever.”
As such, Winona Ryder had to find a way to approach the character, especially now that she is a mother, with Jenna Ortega playing daughter Astrid. “I went through so many stages of, ‘Who is she now?’, but I always wanted to have it be Lydia. She can’t lose who she was. She can’t be the same person, she can’t be just completely deadpan, she has to have evolved, but she also has to have kept that thing she had when we first met her. So that was the big challenge for me.”
But that’s not necessarily a problem unique to Winona Ryder, as there are major hurdles that the cast and crew of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice have to get over. The original is one of the most cherished comedies of the ‘80s, so it does seem very unlikely that the sequel will completely live up to it. As such, there is a clear responsibility in adding to both the characters and the world that is already established as well as authentically bringing in new elements, which does at least seem to be in line based on footage.
Outside of Winona Ryder, Lydia Deetz was voiced by Alyson Court on the animated Beetlejuice series and played by numerous actresses in musical productions.
Do you think Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will do a good job in expanding on the established world? Will you be checking it out in theaters? Let us know below!
