How the Grinch Stole Box Office
Christmas is early this year: CGI-animated film Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch successfully stole the box office by grossing over $67,5 million in its opening weekend, says the Box Office Mojo. Featuring voices of Benedict Cumberbatch (Dr. Strange), Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation), Angela Lansbury (Murder, She Wrote), Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live) and Pharrell Williams (Despicable Me 2), this is a third adaptation of the classic 1958 children’s story How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Theodor Seuss Geisel aka Dr. Seuss.
In the second place of last weekend’s box office is Bohemian Rhapsody. This musical biopic about the legendary British rock band Queen earned $31,2 million in its second weekend. In the third place is yet another newcomer: war movie/horror Overlord produced by J. J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, directed by Australian director Julius Avery (Son of a Gun). CGI-animated children’s fantasy The Nutcracker and the Four Realms dropped two places since its debut, earning a bit over $10 million in its second week in cinemas. Finally, in the fifth place is musical drama A Star Is Born with $8,1 million.
The Mandalorian Is Coming!
While Disney has put some of its Star Wars movie spinoffs on hold, the same cannot be said about their TV shows. Recently, Variety reported that Chilean-American actor Pablo Pascal, best known for his roles in shows such as Narcos and Game of Thrones, will portray the main character in the upcoming Star Wars TV series The Mandalorian. He will be joined by the former MMA star Gina Carano, who appeared in movies such as Haywire and Deadpool.
Judging by the way the show’s creator and executive producer Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Cowboys & Aliens) describes the show, The Mandalorian sounds like a crossover between a western and a space opera. Set after the events in the original Star Wars trilogy, The Mandalorian follows a lone bounty hunter/gunslinger who totally isn’t Boba Fett in his adventures at the edge of the galaxy. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the series features a surprisingly solid list of directors that include Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), Deborah Chow (Marvel’s Jessica Jones), Dave Filoni (Star Wars: Rebels) and the actress Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World). Disney will invest around $100 million in the show’s first season. The Mandalorian arrives on Disney’s streaming service Disney+ in 2019.
Game of Thrones To Return In April 2019
We already reported on some of the more interesting details about the upcoming last season of the epic fantasy series Game of Thrones. This week, HBO released a teaser trailer for the eight season of this pop culture behemoth, announcing its release date for April 2019.
Every battle.
Every betrayal.
Every risk.
Every fight.
Every sacrifice.
Every death.
All #ForTheThrone. pic.twitter.com/WReVt473SH— Game of Thrones (@GameOfThrones) November 13, 2018
This teaser trailer doesn’t really contain any new footage from the upcoming season, being merely content to remind viewers of the many, many crowning moments of awesome witnessed throughout the previous seven seasons. What we do know is that the show’s eighth season will consist of only six episodes, with each of them having a running time of an average feature film. And while Game of Thrones will most definitely and climatically end next spring, HBO is already working on at least one prequel series. Recently, Variety announced that Naomi Watts, twice nominated for Academy Award for her performances in the movies 21 Grams and The Impossible, will play a lead role in this Game of Thrones prequel.
