It’s Dragons vs. Cyborgs in Cinemas Near You!
After a single week, Alita: Battle Angel lost its place at the top of the weekend box office. Its place was taken by How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. According to the Box Office Mojo, this animated film earned $55,5 million in its opening weekend. The Hidden World continues the saga of the Vikings Hiccup (Jay Baruchel – Tropic Thunder) and Astrid (America Ferrera – Ugly Betty) as they search for the secret world where humanity could live in peace with dragons. Loosely based on Cressida Cowell’s children books, all three How to Train Your Dragon films were either directed or co-directed by the Canadian filmmaker Dean DeBlois.
Alita: Battle Angel dropped to the second place of the weekend box office, grossing $12 million. In the third place is yet another CGI-animated film – The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, with just a bit over $10 million. In the fourth place is Fighting With My Family. This sports comedy/drama debuted last week, earning less than $140, 000 in cinemas. A week later, it grossed over $8 million! Written and directed by Stephen Merchant (Logan, The Extras), Fighting With My Family features, among others, Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead), Lena Headey (Game of Thrones), Florence Pugh (The Commuter) and Vince Vaughn (Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy). Finally, in the fifth place of the weekend box office is the satirical romantic comedy Isn’t It Romantic with $7,5 million.
Winners of the 91st Academy Awards Announced
The 91st Academy Awards took place last weekend. As is traditional, the ceremony took place in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. And while the 91st Academy Awards ceremony went without a host, its viewership was actually a bit bigger than the last year’s.
Superhero movies were surprisingly well-received by the Academy. CGI-animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won the award for the Best Animated Feature. Superhero blockbuster Black Panther won Oscars for the Best Costume Design, the Best Production Design, and the Best Original Score – an unprecedented achievement for a superhero movie.
Rami Malek (Mr. Robot) won the Best Actor Award for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in the musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. Olivia Colman (Hot Fuzz, Broadchurch) won the Best Actress Award for her performance as Queen Anne in Yorgos Lanthimos’s historical black comedy The Favourite. Spike Lee’s crime comedy BlacKkKlansman won the award for the Best Adapted Screenplay. Historical drama Green Book won Oscars for the Best Original Screenplay, the Best Picture and the Best Supporting Actor for Mahershala – his second Academy Award after his performance in the 2015 drama Moonlight. Finally, the award for the Best Director went to Alfonso Cuarón (Children of Men) for his movie Roma.
Full list of both the nominees and winners at the 91st Academy Awards can be seen here.
Aquaman 2 and a Spin-off Movie Announced
James Wan’s Aquaman is the most financially successful DC movie in history. Previously, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises held this record with a total worldwide gross of $1,08 billion. But Jason Momoa’s King of the Seven Seas topped that by earning over $1,13 billion globally, leaving all other DCU movies far behind, as this handy Box Office Mojo chart demonstrates.
It is therefore hardly surprising that Warner Bros announced they’re working on its sequel. Deadline reports the release date of Aquaman 2 for December 16, 2022. Jason Momoa will reprise the leading role. Behind the camera, James Wan will return to direct while David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick – one of Aquaman‘s screenwriters – will write the script.
Warner Bros is also developing a spin-off horror movie focusing on the Trench – fish-like monsters appearing briefly in one of Aquaman’s numerous action scenes. Once denizens of Atlantis, the Trench were banished to the ocean depths where they mutated into ravenous monstrosities. Newcomers Noah Gardner and Aidan Fitzgerald will pen the script.
