A Quiet Place Part II Once Again Number One
After dropping down from the top in its second week, the horror movie A Quiet Place Part II hopped back to first place last weekend. The sequel to John Krasinski’s 2017 surprise hit grossed around $12 million at the weekend box office, raising its domestic total to an impressive $109,3 million. According to the Box Office Mojo, A Quiet Place Part II is also the first film that earned over $100 million in US cinemas post-COVID.
In second place at the weekend box office is the musical In the Heights. This adaptation of a stage musical by Hamilton’s Lin-Manuel Miranda was helmed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians). In its inaugural weekend, it earned $11,5 million. Horror movie The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It dropped three places since its premiere last weekend, earning a bit over $10,3 million, bringing its domestic box office up to $44 million. In fourth place with $10,1 million is a second newcomer among the top five: CGI-animated/live-action film Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway. This sequel to 2018’s Peter Rabbit was directed by Will Gluck (Easy A). It features late-night talk show host James Corden as the voice of the titular character. And finally, Disney’s Cruella is in fifth place with $6,7 million and a domestic gross of $56 million.
Jeb Stuart to Write Live-Action Assassin’s Creed Series
GeekTyrant reports Netflix is developing a live-action Assassin’s Creed TV series, with Jeb Stuart as the show’s chief writer. He is a Hollywood veteran whose credits include Die Hard, The Fugitive, and Another 48 Hours. Stuart also worked on historical TV shows like Vikings: Valhalla (a sequel to popular TV series Vikings) and the World War 2 miniseries The Liberator. Netflix and Ubisoft first announced plans for the show in October last year.
Assassin’s Creed is an insanely popular series of open-world stealth/adventure games by Ubisoft. The player takes on a role of an Assassin fighting a secret war against the Templars. The games take place in various historical periods – from ancient Egypt to 1850s London. Since the first game came out in 2007, it sold millions of copies, becoming one of the major Ubisoft franchises. In 2016, Justin Kurzel (Macbeth) directed a live-action feature film adaptation. Despite an impressive cast featuring Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises), Michael Fassbender (Alien: Covenant), Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges), Jeremy Irons (Justice League), Charlotte Rampling (Zardoz), and Michael K. Williams (Lovecraft Country) and a box office gross of almost $241 million, the movie fell off the pop culture radar surprisingly fast. But then again, it wasn’t all that good. Hopefully, the TV series will be better.
Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood Join the Cast of The Toxic Avenger Reboot
Legendary’s reboot of the cult horror-comedy classic The Toxic Avenger is rounding up an impressive cast of names. This week, GeekTyrant reported Kevin Bacon and Elijah Wood joined the project. Bacon (Tremors) will portray the movie’s chief villain – an evil CEO of a shady corporation. We still don’t know what role will Wood play. His casting is hardly surprising, though: Elijah Wood already collaborated with the remake’s director Macon Blair on a dark comedy I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore. Blair will also pen the script for the film.
Late last year, we reported that Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) would play the leading role of Melvin Ferd – a bullied janitor who becomes a super-powered mutant after falling into a barrel of toxic waste. Additionally, the cast includes Julia Davis (Fighting with My Family), Taylour Paige (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), and Jacob Tremblay (Room).
First released in 1984, The Toxic Avenger is a horror-comedy produced by Troma Entertainment – purveyors of schlock exploitation fare. The film became a surprise hit, leading to three sequels and the 1991 animated TV series Toxic Crusaders.