Month: July 2024

11 Jul

Alien: Romulus featurette focuses on the film’s back to basics approach

By . FilmTV No Comments

Director Fede Álvarez’s contribution to the Alien franchise, Alien: Romulus, is set to reach theatres on August 16th, and with that date just one month away, a featurette has arrived online to hype the “back to basics” approach Álvarez took to this one, which features practical FX and attempts to make the xenomorph truly scary again. You can hear all about it in the video embedded above… and if you want to order your tickets for the movie already, they’re up for sale on Fandango.

When this project was announced near the start of 2022, it was said that Álvarez pitched the idea to Ridley Scott years ago and it stuck with Scott. So in late 2021, he called Álvarez and asked if he still wanted to make an Alien movie. Clearly, the answer was yes. 20th Century Studios division president Steve Asbell told The Hollywood Reporter that they picked up the project “purely off the strength of Fede’s pitch. It was just a really good story with a bunch of characters you haven’t seen before.“

It has also been said that the story Álvarez and co-writer Rodo Sayagues crafted for Alien: Romulus is not connected to the other films in the Alien franchise – but it’s not ignoring any of the other entries, either. Álvarez has been clear about the fact that his story takes place within the established franchise continuity. In fact, it slots right in between the events of Alien and Aliens. It has the following official logline: The sci-fi/horror-thriller takes the phenomenally successful “Alien” franchise back to its roots: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face with the most terrifying life form in the universe.

Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla) stars and is joined in the cast by David Jonsson (Industry), Isabela Merced (Madame Web), Archie Renaux (Shadow and Bone), Spike Fearn (The Batman), and Aileen Wu (Away from Home). Merced has said there’s a scene in the film that’s so disgusting that a lot of viewers will have to look away, so that goes along with the “graphic and gruesome” description. “Graphic and gruesome” is what we expected from this movie as soon as it was announced that it was being made by the director of Evil Dead 2013 and Don’t Breathe. It has received an R rating for bloody violent content and language.

This new Alien movie is coming to us from Momentum and 20th Century Studios, with Ridley Scott producing through his Scott Free banner.

Are you looking forward to Alien: Romulus? Check out the featurette, then let us know by leaving a comment below.

The post Alien: Romulus featurette focuses on the film’s back to basics approach appeared first on JoBlo.

11 Jul

Physical media suffers another blow as Redbox kiosks go the way of the dodo after Chapter 7 liquidation

By . FilmTV No Comments
Redbox, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, closing

Grab a glass of something nice and pour one out for Redbox, as the DVD kiosk rental service is shutting down. The shuttering of Redbox is terrible news for Chicken Soup of the Soul Entertainment employees, as 1,000+ of them become unemployed. Redbox, a staple in the physical media game for more than two decades, is dismantling 24,000 DVD rental kiosks alongside the teardown of its streaming services after the platform’s parent company, Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, transmuted its Chapter 11 bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 liquidation initiative on Wednesday. Worse, the 1,000+ employees who lost their jobs won’t receive severance or extensions to much-needed benefits.

For years, cinephiles have been able to find Redbox kiosks in supermarkets and outside convenience stores such as 7-Eleven. For the low price of $1, customers could rent film titles from Redbox while praying the discs haven’t become scratching posts for housepets or coasters for dear old dad’s room-temperature can of Schlitz beer. The upkeep for Redbox titles could have been better, so more often than not, you’d spend your money on a title that displays an error message part of the way through. It was the Wild West when renting a movie from Redbox. Still, the service was convenient and much more accessible than fighting Friday night crowds at Blockbuster Video.

On June 28, CSSE filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, listing total debts of $970 million and consolidated assets of $414 million as of March 31, 2024. Many of the film industry’s top names in film distribution provided movie titles for Redbox, including Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, and more.

On Wednesday, Judge Thomas M. Horan of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware granted Chicken Soup’s request to move its bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 filing, saying there is no more money to pay its employees or bills. Before closing the book on the matter, Judge Horan said a bankruptcy trustee would investigate the handling of funds to see if any misappropriation occurred before the liquidation. “1,000 people are about to lose their jobs and they’re not even going to be paid for work that they did,” the judge admonished.

According to Variety, Chicken Soup failed to pay employees for an estimated four weeks before its Chapter 11 filing. Redbox’s shuttering joins what feels like a neverending string of closures across the entertainment industry, with video game studios taking a severe hit despite having a year of killer titles on the market. Companies affected by mass layoffs include Playstation, Microsoft Gaming, Snapchat, Riot Games, Take-Two, CNN, Vice Media Group, Rooster Teeth, SiriusXM, Marvel, Buzzfeed, and more.

So long, Redbox, and thanks for all the fish.

The post Physical media suffers another blow as Redbox kiosks go the way of the dodo after Chapter 7 liquidation appeared first on JoBlo.

11 Jul

Box Office Predictions: the star power of Fly Me to the Moon is no match for the horror of Longlegs

By . FilmTV No Comments
fly me to the moon vs longlegs

While this week’s box office battle should have rather easy-to-predict winners for the top two spots, a separate battle between old-fashioned star power and indie horror is being fought further down the chart. Indeed, expect last weekend’s 4th of July champ Despicable Me 4 to easily top the weekend box office with a solid $35 million-ish weekend. Pixar’s highest-grossing movie, Inside Out 2, shouldn’t be too far behind with a gross in the $20 million range.

However, it’s the battle for third place that’s really interesting this weekend. On the one hand, there’s the extremely well-reviewed Neon horror release, Longlegs, starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage. On the other, there’s Sony’s star-packed Fly Me to the Moon, a period rom-com with a $100 million plus budget starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. In the olden days, Fly Me to the Moon would have easily taken first place, but I’m certain it will be utterly dominated by Longlegs, which I think has a shot at grossing $15 million or more. The reviews have been outstanding, and horror audiences will flock to see what many influential horror names say is a new classic.

As for Fly Me to the Moon, it’s actually an Apple Studios movie, and audiences are getting savvier over the fact that a movie like this will be streaming within weeks on Apple TV Plus. Those glorified streaming films don’t always pay off at the box office, with Argylle another recent flop. With middling reviews and unconvincing trailers, I think everyone but die-hard ScarJo and Tatum fans will skip this one in theaters and wait for streaming.

Here are my predictions:

  1. Despicable Me 4: $35 million
  2. Inside Out 2: $20 million
  3. Longlegs: $15 million
  4. A Quiet Place: Day One: $12 million
  5. Fly Me to the Moon: $9 million

Do you think I’m way off in how I think Fly Me to the Moon will play? Let me know in the comments!

The post Box Office Predictions: the star power of Fly Me to the Moon is no match for the horror of Longlegs appeared first on JoBlo.

11 Jul

Box Office Predictions: the star power of Fly Me to the Moon is no match for the horror of Longlegs

By . FilmTV No Comments
fly me to the moon vs longlegs

While this week’s box office battle should have rather easy-to-predict winners for the top two spots, a separate battle between old-fashioned star power and indie horror is being fought further down the chart. Indeed, expect last weekend’s 4th of July champ Despicable Me 4 to easily top the weekend box office with a solid $35 million-ish weekend. Pixar’s highest-grossing movie, Inside Out 2, shouldn’t be too far behind with a gross in the $20 million range.

However, it’s the battle for third place that’s really interesting this weekend. On the one hand, there’s the extremely well-reviewed Neon horror release, Longlegs, starring Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage. On the other, there’s Sony’s star-packed Fly Me to the Moon, a period rom-com with a $100 million plus budget starring Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum. In the olden days, Fly Me to the Moon would have easily taken first place, but I’m certain it will be utterly dominated by Longlegs, which I think has a shot at grossing $15 million or more. The reviews have been outstanding, and horror audiences will flock to see what many influential horror names say is a new classic.

As for Fly Me to the Moon, it’s actually an Apple Studios movie, and audiences are getting savvier over the fact that a movie like this will be streaming within weeks on Apple TV Plus. Those glorified streaming films don’t always pay off at the box office, with Argylle another recent flop. With middling reviews and unconvincing trailers, I think everyone but die-hard ScarJo and Tatum fans will skip this one in theaters and wait for streaming.

Here are my predictions:

  1. Despicable Me 4: $35 million
  2. Inside Out 2: $20 million
  3. Longlegs: $15 million
  4. A Quiet Place: Day One: $12 million
  5. Fly Me to the Moon: $9 million

Do you think I’m way off in how I think Fly Me to the Moon will play? Let me know in the comments!

The post Box Office Predictions: the star power of Fly Me to the Moon is no match for the horror of Longlegs appeared first on JoBlo.

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