Secret Life of Pets 2 Defeats Dark Phoenix
Even though X-Men defeated Dark Phoenix, they proved no match against cutesy CGI animals. The latest installment in the long-running X-Men movie series by Fox came out last weekend and was welcomed with a thundering “meh”. A directorial début by the screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past), Dark Phoenix earned $32,8 million in its opening weekend – by far the worst result for any X-Men film ever. Meanwhile, Universal’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 earned a bit over $46,6 million, according to the Box Office Mojo.
Disney’s Aladdin grossed $24,7 million, dropping to the third place at the box office. However, this live-action remake is, nevertheless, a colossal success: in its first three weeks in cinemas, Aladdin earned $232,5 million domestically and an extra $375 million abroad. Such is the power of the Mouse House. If you want a picture of the future, imagine live-action remakes of famous cartoons… forever. After an auspicious start, Godzilla: King of the Monsters plummeted straight from number one to number four, grossing $15,4 million in its second weekend in cinemas. With its domestic total now standing at mere $78,5 million, it will take a huge foreign audience to save this $200 million production. And finally, the musical biopic Rocketman closes off the top five winners at the weekend box office with $13,8 million.
Lobo Goes to TV!
Even though Lobo has just appeared on Syfy’s superhero TV series Krypton, Variety reports that network is already working on a spinoff show about this intergalactic anti-hero. Lobo is played on Krypton by Emmett J. Scanlan, an Irish TV actor who also appeared on shows like Atlantis and Constantine. Scanlan will most probably reprise his performance in an as-yet-untitled Lobo TV show. Cameron Welsh, producer of Krypton, will help create this series as well.
A poster child for the 1980s edginess, Lobo is an alien warrior dressed like a rock star riding a space motorcycle while chomping on space cigars. He was created in 1983 by the comic book writer Roger Slifer and the artist Keith Giffen. Initially, Lobo was a villain who parodied edgy Marvel characters like Cable and the Punisher. However, the satire proved far too subtle for DC Comics fans who instead eagerly embraced the character. Ten years later, there was a Lobo comic book. Instead of a straightforward bad guy, he became a bounty hunter fighting some of the most dangerous criminals in this or any other galaxy.
For years, Warner Bros has worked on a live-action Lobo feature film. Michael Bay was interested in this project because of course he was. In light of this news, however, it is doubtful this movie will now ever get off the ground.
Nickelodeon Reveals the Cast of Are You Afraid of the Dark? Remake
This week, Nickelodeon revealed the cast of their upcoming Are You Afraid of the Dark? miniseries. According to Deadline, the cast includes Sam Ashe Arnold (Best. Worst. Weekend. Ever.), Miya Cech (Rim of the World), Tamara Smart (The Worst Witch), Jeremy Taylor (It: Chapter 1) and Lyliana Wray (Black-ish). Additionally, Rafael Casal (Blindspotting) will portray the show’s main villain – ringmaster of the sinister Carnival Of Doom. Dean Israelite (Power Rangers) will serve as the showrunner while BenDavid Grabinski will write the script.
Aired throughout the 1990s, Are You Afraid of the Dark? was a Canadian anthology horror series aimed at children. It aired for seven seasons – first on YTV and then on Nickelodeon. In February, Nickelodeon announced its plans for a remake consisting of three hour-long episodes. Meanwhile, Paramount was working on a feature film based on the same show. Both the miniseries and the movie were to come out this October. Since then, the movie’s scriptwriter Gary Dauberman (Annabelle movies, Swamp Thing) left the project and the studio postponed the release of the film. The miniseries, however, remains on schedule.
