Little Things Earns a Lot of Money
In its inaugural weekend, crime thriller The Little Things managed to collect 4,7 million in US cinemas, reports Box Office Mojo. This is even more impressive not only because most cinemas remain closed due to the pandemic, but also since WarnerMedia simultaneously released the movie on its streaming platform, HBO Max. Featuring Jared Leto (Suicide Squad), Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), and Denzel Washington (The Magnificent Seven) in leading roles, The Little Things tells a story about two law enforcement officers hunting a serial killer in the 1990s Los Angeles.
In second place at the last weekend’s box office is the family adventure film The Croods: A New Age with $1,8 million. Even after ten weeks in cinemas, this indomitable CGI-animated film is still among the top five highest-grossing movies of the weekend. Superhero blockbuster Wonder Woman 1984, starring Gal Gadot, Pedro Pascal, Chris Pine, and Kristen Wiig, is in third place with $1,3 million. In the fourth place is a Liam Neeson actioner The Marksman. Still going strong after three weeks in theaters, last weekend it grossed $1,2 million. And finally, in fifth place at the last weekend’s box office is the sci-fi action movie, Monster Hunter, with a bit over $735,000.
The CW Renews Pretty Much Everything
Over the years, The CW proved quite lenient when it comes to renewing its TV shows. But this year, the network may have outdone itself, renewing twelve of them. According to the AVClub, these include All American, Batwoman, Charmed, Legends of Tomorrow, Dynasty, The Flash, In the Dark, Legacies, Nancy Drew, Riverdale, Walker and Roswell, New Mexico.
The pandemic threw a huge wrench into the production schedules. The threat of COVID-19 halted numerous TV and film productions all over the world. During the shoot of the most recent season of The CW’s The Flash, several people caught the coronavirus on the set. This forced producers to temporarily suspend the production.
Even as the audiences seek more diversions than ever, the production has been erratic, to say at least. Networks had to either cut down the number of episodes or stretch out the schedule. But at least their fans will get to see them again! Netflix axed a number of its shows last year: I Am Not Okay With This, GLOW, and The Society. Showtime canceled On Becoming a God in Central Florida; ABC dropped Stumptown, and Comedy Central canceled Drunk History. All these shows were well-received by the audiences. Initially, networks wanted to renew them. However, with the pandemic showing no signs of stopping, the executives decided they didn’t want to wait anymore and pulled the plug on them.
Zack Synder’s Justice League Gets a Release Date; R-Rating
Since last May, HBO Max has been steadily stoking up fans with the Snyder Cut of the 2017 superhero blockbuster Justice League. There have been plenty of speculations over the last seven months. The internet discussed the movie’s running time and format as well as the possibility that Synder would film new scenes with the original cast.
This week we learned two things. In its article, GeekTyrant confirms the new version of the Justice League is arriving to HBO Max on March 18th, 2021. In any other year, releasing – or even re-releasing – a superhero movie on a streaming platform instead of in cinemas would have seemed underwhelming. But we are living in a COVID-19 world now. In 2021, Warner Bros. is releasing everything on HBO Max.
Furthermore, SlashFilm says Justice League will be rated R “for violence and some language.” To be sure, this is hardly the first R-rated superhero movie ever, but not all of them are created equal. There’s a world of difference between James Mangold’s Logan and Tim Miller’s Deadpool, even though both of them use Marvel Comics characters. Judging by Synder’s movies like Watchmen, Man of Steel, and Batman v Superman, you can probably guess where will Justice League fit in tonally.
So, there you go: this March, we’re getting four hours long version of Justice League, as envisioned by its original director Zack Snyder. But frankly? We are a bit more interested in Snyder’s other movie coming out this year – Army of the Dead.
