John Wick Ends Endgame
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum burst into cinemas, capturing the first place at the weekend box office. A second sequel in the saga about the semi-retired super-assassin (Keanu Reeves – Speed, Matrix, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) grossed $56,8 million in its inaugural weekend. Parabellum was so successful its producers already announced plans for the fourth installment in the John Wick franchise. Besides Reeves, Parabellum features Halle Berry (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Laurence Fishburne (Man of Steel), Mark Dacascos (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Anjelica Huston (The Addams Family), Lance Reddick (The Wire) and Ian McShane (Deadwood).
After three weeks at the top, Avengers: Endgame fell to the second place at the weekend box office, earning $29,9 million. Despite that, executives at the Mouse House have nothing to cry about. So far, Endgame has earned almost $800 million domestically and over $1,8 billion globally, bringing its total worldwide gross to over $2,6 billion. Similarly, Pokémon Detective Pikachu also dropped by one place since its début. Now in its second week in cinemas, this CGI/live-action children’s adventure earned almost $30 million. Its domestic gross is almost $100 million while its foreign gross now stands at $196 million. In the fourth place with $8 million is the comedy-drama A Dog’s Journey, a sequel to a 2017 film A Dog’s Purpose. And finally, in the fifth place at the weekend box office is the crime comedy The Hustle with $6,1 million. All of this data comes courtesy of the Box Office Mojo.
Robert Pattison to Become Next Batman?
According to a news article by Deadline, Robert Pattison is in talks with Warner Bros to star in their new Batman film, creatively titled The Batman. Pattison rose to global stardom as an Emo vampire Edward Cullen in Twilight movies. Since then he has proven his acting chops in movies like Cosmopolis, Maps to the Stars and The Lost City of Z. However, Pattison isn’t the sole actor courted by the studio as Nicholas Hoult (X-Men: First Class, Mad Max: Fury Road) is reportedly also in talks for the same role. Additionally, Collider reports that in the new film, the as-yet-uncast Batman will be facing Catwoman and the Penguin, thus echoing the roles portrayed by Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito in Tim Burton’s delightfully macabre 1992 Batman Returns.
This latest film project featuring Gotham’s Caped Crusader originated in 2015 with Ben Affleck, who portrayed the World’s Greatest Detective in three DC Extended Universe movies. Affleck wanted to direct and star in a Batman solo film. However, due to both personal and professional reasons, Affleck dropped out of the project by 2017. Matt Reeves, who directed Cloverfield and Let Me In replaced Affleck as the new director and co-producer. Despite that, the project was put on hold while Reeves was working on War for the Planet of the Apes. It seems that the project is once again underway.
Even More Stephen King Adaptations in the Work
Stephen King is going through a bit of a renaissance lately. But then again, was he ever truly away? Regardless, this week saw announcements for two new projects based on the writings of America’s best-selling horror writer.
First of them is an adaptation of King’s 1979 dystopian novel The Long Walk. According to the AVClub, the movie’s director will be André Øvredal. This Norwegian filmmaker is best known for his 2010 mockumentary Trollhunter as well as for his critically acclaimed horror film The Autopsy of Jane Doe. James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Truth) is penning the script. Initially published under a pen name Richard Bachman, The Long Walk is a dystopian story about a group of teenagers forced to endlessly walk in a televised event, with stragglers being shot. Currently, Øvredal is working on a movie based on Alvin Schwartz’s children’s book Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
Furthermore, streaming service Hulu ordered a pilot for a TV show based on King’s 1984 novel The Eyes Of The Dragon. This fantasy novel follows two princes as they face machinations of a court wizard named Flagg – a name familiar to fans of King’s work. Deadline reports that Seth Grahame-Smith (It, The Lego Batman Movie) is developing the project. Grahame-Smith will also serve as its show runner should Hulu choose to turn the pilot into a series. Presently, Hulu has a decent record with Stephen King adaptations: they produced TV series Castle Rock and the miniseries 11/22/63.
