You Can’t Keep a Good Joker Down
Last weekend, the arrival of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil forced Joker to the second place at the box office. But that wasn’t the end for the Clown Prince of Crime! In its fourth weekend in cinemas, Todd Phillips’ psychological thriller retook the top by grossing $18,9 million. According to the Box Office Mojo, Joker’s current domestic cum stands at $277,6 million. With an extra overseas total $571,5 million, this officially makes it the most successful R-rated film of all time with a combined gross of nearly $850 million.
In its second weekend in cinemas, Maleficent, Mistress of Evil dropped almost 50% in its earning by grossing $18,5 million. Its current domestic cum stands at $65,4 million. A sequel to 2014 film Maleficent, this live-action re-imaging of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty features a stellar cast that includes Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange), Elle Fanning (Super 8), Angelina Jolie (Salt), Michelle Pfeiffer (Stardust), Ed Skrein (Alita: Battle Angel), Imelda Staunton (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and Juno Temple (The Dark Knight Rises). CGI-animated film The Addams Family is in third place with $11,7 million and a total gross of $72,8 million. Fourth place belongs to the horror-comedy Zombieland 2: Double Tap with $11,6 million. The list of the top five highest-grossing movies of the last weekend closes off with Countdown. This low-budget horror flick about a literal killer app earned $9 million in its first weekend in cinemas.
David Duchovny and Michelle Monaghan Join the Cast of The Craft Remake
According to the Geek Tyrant, Michelle Monaghan (True Detective, Mission: Impossible movies) joined the cast of the upcoming remake of the 1996 horror film The Craft. This news comes only a week after the announcement that David Duchovny (X-Files, Californication) has also signed on with the film. Additionally, Monaghan and Duchovny will be joined by Julian Grey, a young actor who appeared on TV shows like Godless and Wayward Pines.
Sony Pictures first announced its plans to remake The Craft back in May 2016. The project stalled for a while until March 2019 when the studio announced that actress, writer, and director Zoe Lister-Jones will helm the remake. The new version of The Craft will be a co-production between Sony Pictures and Blumhouse, notable purveyors of low-budget horror films. Andrew Fleming, who directed and co-wrote the original 1996 version, is on board as an executive producer. Studio revealed the film’s cast in September: Gideon Adlon (Blockers), Zoey Luna (Pose), Lovie Simone (Greenleaf) and Cailee Spaeny (Pacific Rim: Uprising). They will play a quartet of rebellious teenagers who turn to dark magic to improve their social status in school and strike back at their bullies.
Taylor Kitsch to Star in Neill Blomkamp New Sci-Fi Thriller
Taylor Kitsch, a perfectly decent lead from the TV series Friday Night Lights, hasn’t had much luck in movies. He starred in box office flops like Battleship and John Carter. Now, Bloody Disgusting says that Kitsch signed on to star in Neill Blomkamp’s next film. Titled Inferno, this sci-fi horror thriller takes place in New Mexico where a cop (played by Kitsch) investigates a seemingly ordinary murder. The arrival of the FBI confirms his suspicions that something far stranger is afoot. Soon enough, he finds himself face-to-face with a humanoid beast hunting down a sole witness of the crime.
South African filmmaker Blomkamp first gained fame in 2009 with his science fiction action film District 9. Since then, he went on to write, direct and co-produce Elysium (2013) and Chappie (2015). Both of these films were reasonably successful blockbusters that Blomkamp used to explore the prejudice and class divides in the fictional settings of the near future. Over the last couple of years, there was news about Blomkamp directing sequels to Aliens and RoboCop. However, the studio gave up on his Aliens movie after the fans’ negative reactions to Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant while the production of the new RoboCop film is moving on without Blomkamp’s involvement. Hopefully, Inferno will vindicate both Kitsch and Blomkamp.
