Month: June 2024

d.e.b.s.

Discipline, Energy, Beauty and Strength are all you need to create D.E.B.S. And that’s everything stars Sara Foster and Meagan Good brought to fans at a recent anniversary screening of the 2004 LGBT fav.

At the D.E.B.S. screening – which not only coincides with the 20th anniversary of the movie but also Pride Month – Meagan Good, who played leader Max, said, “This film, for me, was an opportunity to do something different. And then it became something where, now when people come up to me and they say, ‘Oh, I loved this movie’ or ‘this movie really inspired me’ or ‘made me feel seen,’ it wasn’t just an opportunity to do something different. It was an opportunity to be a part of something that’s important and fantastic.”

Sara Foster, who played fellow squad gal Amy, also noted just how special D.E.B.S. is not only to fans but her own life. “I will say that in 20 years, a lot of good things have happened to me in my life. And to this day, one of the best things is people coming up to me and saying, ‘D.E.B.S. made me feel comfortable being who I am. D.E.B.S. made me realize who I am, who I want to be.’” Foster admitted her career has been far from stellar — she did land the relaunch of 90210 but has mostly stayed out of sight — but that D.E.B.S. is just the sort of movie she wants to be remembered for.

And that will only hold stronger if another D.E.B.S. star gets a say. While it would have been awesome to get the entire D.E.B.S. cast completely reunited, Jordan’s Brewster did at least send a video for attendees, urging writer/director Angela Robinson – whose own short inspired the movie – to get moving on a sequel.

D.E.B.S. had a dismal box office outing, taking in under $100,000 during its short run. But the continued support from fans, as well as its cast and director, shows that there could be enough legs for a follow-up.

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Breakfast Club

Anthony Michael Hall may have played the “brain” in The Breakfast Club but he has an idea that isn’t going to sound too smart to fans of the coming-of-age movie: a remake. Hall, who co-starred as Brian Johnson, says the 1985 movie could be ripe for an update.

As Hall told Inverse, a small selection of movies from the Brat Pack era have been brought up as potential remake material. The Breakfast Club is another one that comes up. I think that’s really interesting because there’s a real strong anti-bullying message to the film, which became clear to me over these decades, and I think is powerful. So that’s another one that might be remade in the future…I think that one could be right for a remake.”

Anthony Michael Hall does have a point that the themes and subjects the movie tackles do make The Breakfast Club prescient…but that’s probably why some would argue that it shouldn’t be remade. If The Breakfast Club still works nearly 40 years on, why bother trying to do another? One might also consider its legacy, too, as one of the quintessential teen movies ever made and a true classic overall, even being included in the National Film Registry for its historical significance.

But let’s consider if a remake of The Breakfast Club ever did happen. High schools are still cluttered with stereotypes like the jock, the degenerate, the beauty queen, the freak, and the nerd, but a lot could be done with what today’s teens do. Maybe one stereotype is the social media influencer in detention for recording people without their consent while another is the stressed out try-hard who snapped under pressure in class. There is a lot of potential to be plucked from the modern classroom, so is there actually more of an argument in support of a remake?

Anthony Michael Hall also made the case that that same year’s Weird Science might also be ready for a remake.

What do you think? Could a new version of The Breakfast Club be a hit or does the original still work? Give us your take on the matter below.

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Chinatown prequel

For a while there, we thought they really did forget it, Jake. But now Chinatown screenwriter Robert Towne has provided an update on the prequel series he has developed alongside David Fincher, confirming that the blinds haven’t been closed on the endeavor after all.

Towne — who won an Oscar for his original screenplay — recently told Variety that all episodes of the planned Chinatown prequel have been written. “All I’m likely to say is yes, all the episodes have been written for Netflix.” On collaborating with Fincher, he added, “Working with a force of nature like David Fincher, tho’ occasionally humbling, is never less than enlightening.”

Expanding the seedy world of noir classic Chinatown has been done before, with Towne and Jack Nicholson reuniting for 1990’s The Two Jakes, which we’ll just say is no Chinatown…But a prequel to the 1974 film exploring the origins of Jake Gittes sounds promising — so long as Towne and Fincher don’t try too hard to rip from it. “When David and I first started talking we agreed we wouldn’t try to replicate Noah Cross [the villain played by John Huston]. But we did want to keep in mind that the crimes that history considers monstrous are those that will not remain in the past but insist on visiting the future, and I think we managed that.”

The Chinatown prequel will also explore Lieutenant Lou Escobar, played by Perry Lopez. “Chinatown, with all its implications for an evolving Los Angeles, is central to understanding the evolving Jake Gittes, as is his friendship with and dependence on his partner Lou Escobar. It was enlightening to delve into their backstory, Escobar’s in particular. Small details that are touched on in the film are given life and breadth in a way that surprised even me.”

So when will we see the Chinatown prequel hit Netflix? That’s as big of a mystery as any one Towne could come up with, as overall news has been relatively quiet since the project was first announced back in 2019. Netflix has also remained hush on Towne’s recent comments as of now, but hopefully they give an update and the series can move forward.

Would you check out a Chinatown prequel? Do you hope it moves forward as planned? 

The post Robert Towne says all Chinatown prequel episodes are written…So where is it? appeared first on JoBlo.

The final box office results are in for the weekend (courtesy of ComScore), and Inside Out 2 officially has the biggest second weekend for an animated film of all time. The mega-blockbuster from Pixar made $100 million this weekend for a mighty $355 million domestic haul in only two weeks. Certainly, it’s proving to naysayers that Pixar’s back at the top of the animated heap after a few flops and not in danger of losing prestige anytime soon. That said, it can’t help but feel like the success of Inside Out 2 may pave the way for more and more “safe” movies, like sequels, making me wonder if the days of them tackling more ambitious fare like WALL-E are behind them. We’ll see.

Second, as we predicted, is Bad Boys: Ride or Die, which is holding up even better than expected, with an $18 million-plus weekend and a domestic total of $146.9 million. Many forecasters believe the film will total short of $200 million domestically, making it the second highest-grossing Bad Boys movie ever (after Bad Boys For Life). However, repeat business and word of mouth have been excellent for the fourth film in the franchise. 

In third place is Jeff Nichols’s The Bikeriders, which managed to crack $10 million this weekend, which is a solid start for an adult-skewing drama. It gave Focus Features their biggest opening of the year, with them smartly positioning it as adult counter-programming, with an emphasis in marketing on the strong cast, which includes Jodie Comer, Austin Butler and Tom Hardy.

Fourth place is too close to call at the moment, with both Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and The Garfield Movie making $3.6 million. Apes now has a $164 million total, making it the fourth highest-grossing film in the franchise, behind Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which made $176 million. As for The Garfield Movie, it will likely end its domestic run well short of $100 million, which is a disappointing result for an animated film. It got stronger than expected competition from John Krasinski’s IF, which ended the weekend in sixth place with $2.775 million and a $106 million domestic total. Despite bad reviews, audiences loved the movie, with it showing strong legs at the box office thanks to its A CinemaScore rating. 

However, one movie that totally tanked with audiences is Vertical’s The Exorcism, starring Russell Crowe, which nabbed an unholy D CinemaScore rating with a weak $2.4 million total. Horror audiences were likely put off by the bait-and-switch marketing, which sold it as an exorcism movie when it’s really about an actor battling his more metaphorical demons. To note, Thelma, an indie charmer, is playing on half the number of screens and has made almost the same amount of money, at $2.2 million.

Another horror flop is Ishana Shyamalan’s The Watchers, which ended the weekend in ninth place with $1.9 million and a $17 million domestic total. Tragically, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga fell out of the top 10 this weekend, with the list rounded out by the concert film GHOST: RITE HERE RITE NOW, which made $1.5 million for a $2.6 million total. Furiosa hits VOD on Tuesday, so hopefully, more people will find it then.

Also notable is the fact that Searchlight’s Kinds of Kindness, the latest from Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos, opened with $350k in only five theatres, which means each location grossed $70K, which is the year’s highest per-screen-average to date (Poor Things started just a tiny bit better, with a $73k per screen average).

Inside Out 2 seems likely to hold onto the top spot for a third weekend next week despite increased competition from A Quiet Place: Day One and Kevin Costner’s passion project, Horizon. Do you think either movie has a prayer of taking down Pixar’s smash? Let us know in the comments!

The post Weekend Box Office: Inside Out nabs a record-breaking $100 million 2nd weekend appeared first on JoBlo.

Earlier this week, we had the sad duty to report that the great Donald Sutherland passed away at 88 years old. One of the finest actors of his generation (and the most acclaimed actor to never even be nominated for an Oscar), Sutherland leaves behind a rich legacy of films, both as a lead and as a character actor. With over 200 roles to his credit, there were too many movies to list in my poll of his best work below, but I tried to cover all the classics. That said, if I missed something, you can write it in the comments below, and I’ll add it as a write-in entry. I’m curious to see what you all think is the best!

Best Donald Sutherland Movie

The post Poll: What’s Your Favorite Donald Sutherland Movie? appeared first on JoBlo.

Quiet Place

The first reactions to A Quiet Place: Day One have tiptoed online just one week before it hits theaters, with many praising it as bringing a new twist to the ever-growing horror franchise. But how does it stack up against its predecessors?

Check out some of the initial reviews of A Quiet Place Day One:

As of now, reviews seem a bit divided on exactly how much action can be anticipated, with a split evident. That might be a bit of a disappointment for those looking for a certain level of thrills, but that director Michael Sarnoski has actively done his part to offer a new direction shows that the series refuses to be put into one mold. Well ahead of the movie’s screening, co-star Alex Wolff did try to tell people just as much, stating, “That’s not a horror movie, not really. I might get in trouble for saying that. It’s from the director of Pig, this film I did, so it’s very…It’s more a drama.”

Indeed, Pig is what helped Sarnoski land directing A Quiet Place: Day One, as John Krasinski was a fan. That aesthetic evidently is crucial to this prequel. “It wasn’t something that we leaned away from. In the first two, family was really important. And with that comes characters that have an established relationship. I wanted to explore what the end of the world looked like for people that didn’t have an established relationship, or a reason to care about each other.”

As you can see, Lupita Nyong’o is earning a lot of praise here, with fans naming her performance as a standout of the movie. Joseph Quinn – who played Eddie Munson on Stranger Things – has also latched on. And of course there is the cat, who potential viewers are already saying better not die!

A Quiet Place: Day One is on track for a $40+ million opening weekend, positioning it to more than double the 2018 original and somewhere in the neighborhood of the 2020 sequel, which opened near the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Quiet Place: Day One will play at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival before going wide on June 28th.

What do you think of the A Quiet Place: Day One reactions? Will you be checking it out in theaters? Let us know below!

The post A Quiet Place: Day One: early reactions praise Nyong’o, franchise progression appeared first on JoBlo.