Birds of Prey Land on Top
Birds of Prey – fully titled Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) – perched itself in the first place at the last weekend’s box office. Latest DC superhero blockbuster landed well short of its expected $45 million, grossing $33 million in its inaugural weekend. In Birds of Prey, Margot Robbie reprises her performance from Suicide Squad as Harley Quinn. Joker’s ex-girlfriend assembles her kick-ass team that includes The Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead – 10 Cloverfield Lane), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell – True Blood) and Detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez – The Dead Don’t Die).
After three weeks at the top, action-comedy Bad Boys for Life dropped to second place, earning $12 million. Nevertheless, the movie proved itself out to be a box office smash, grossing over $336 million worldwide on a production budget of $90 million. Sam Mendes’ epic war drama 1917 is in third place with $9.2 million. Its worldwide gross currently stands at perfectly respectful $287 million. Fantasy adventure Dolittle featuring Robert Downey Jr. and a bunch of CGI-animated talking animals dropped down to the fourth place last weekend. Earning $6.5 million domestically, its current worldwide gross is $158 million, which isn’t nearly enough to cover the film’s $175 million production costs. And finally, in the fifth place at the last weekend’s box office, is once more Jumanji: The Next Level with $5.5 million. After nine weeks in cinemas, the latest Jumanji sequel remains among the five highest-grossing movies of the weekend. At the moment, its worldwide earnings are around $760 million.
All of this data comes from The Box Office Mojo.
Muppets Director in Talks for a New Clue Movie
Variety says 20th Century is in talks with the British filmmaker James Bobin to take over directing the new version of Clue from Jason Bateman. While Bateman was previously attached to direct, he had to depart the project due to scheduling conflicts with Netflix’s crime drama Ozark. Bobin directed two Muppets movies as well as last year’s Dora and the Lost City of Gold. Before that, Bobin worked on shows like Da Ali G Show, Flight of the Conchords, and Enlightened.
Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool himself! – has been developing a remake of this cult classic comedy since 2018, enlisting Deadpool screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick to pen the script. Additionally, Reynolds is interested in performing the leading role and producing the project through his Maximum Effort production company.
First released in 1985, Clue is loosely based on the Parker Brothers board game. A spoof of Agatha Christie crime novels, the film features a stellar cast that includes Eileen Brennan (Private Benjamin), Madeline Kahn (Blazing Saddles), Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future), Michael McKean (This Is Spinal Tap), Lesley Ann Warren (Victor/Victoria), all led by Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show). Directed and co-written by Jonathan Lynn (My Cousin Vinnie), Clue was a commercial flop upon its initial release. However, over time it became a cult classic and is now frequently considered among the best comedies ever filmed.
And if you need more movies based on games…
Ubisoft Rounds Up the Cast for its Werewolves Within Movie
Ubisoft Film & Television is developing a live-action version of its virtual reality game Werewolves Within, reports Deadline. The cast of this horror-comedy includes Sarah Burns (Barry), Michael Chernus (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Catherine Curtin (Orange Is the New Black), Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows), Rebecca Henderson (Russian Doll), Cheyenne Jackson (American Horror Story), Sam Richardson (Veep), Milana Vayntrub (This Is Us), and Saturday Night Live alumni, Michaela Watkins.
Werewolves Within will be directed by Josh Ruben, who, after appearing and making countless CollegeHumor skits, released his first feature film – a dark comedy Scare Me. Based on a script by the writer and humorist Mishna Wolff, Werewolves Within sets the story in a Vermont town during a winter blizzard. As simmering resentments among the eccentric townspeople boil to the surface, they get picked off one by one by a mysterious creature.
Werewolves Within is a multiplayer VR game that came out in 2016. Set in a fictional medieval town, it pits players against one another as they try deducing who among them is a werewolf. It is loosely based on Dimitry Davidoff’s social deduction game Werewolf (also known as Mafia), first released in 1986.
Production of Werewolves Within is presently underway.
