Dumbo Soars at the Box Office
Disney’s live-action Dumbo remake landed at the top of the weekend box office, grossing almost $46 million. Directed by Tim Burton, auteur of such cinematic classics as Dark Shadows and Planet of the Apes, Dumbo features Alan Arkin (Argo), Danny DeVito (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Colin Farrell (Widows), Eva Green (Penny Dreadful), Michael Keaton (Spider-Man: Homecoming) as well as a CGI-animated uncanny valley elephant of the movie’s title.
In the second place at the weekend box office is the horror film Us. According to the Box Office Mojo, Jordan Peele’s new feature film earned $33,2 million in its second weekend, with a total worldwide gross of $180,5 million. Captain Marvel is now in third place with $20,6 million. After a month in cinemas, all around the globe, Marvel’s latest superhero blockbuster has passed the $1 billion mark, demonstrating that the audience is more than eager for the upcoming Avengers: Endgame. Fourth place belongs to Christian drama Unplanned that earned around $6,4 million. Finally, the list of the top five movies at the weekend box office closes off with the romantic drama Five Feet Apart that grossed $6,2 million.
David Harbour Joins the Cast of Marvel’s Black Widow
David Harbour (Stranger Things, upcoming Hellboy reboot) has joined the cast of the Marvel’s Black Widow movie, says the AVClub. Florence Pugh, star of a sport comedy-drama Fighting With My Family, will also appear in the movie in a role of an elite assassin, not unlike Black Widow herself. Academy Award-winning actress Rachel Weisz (The Favourite) is apparently in talks to join the cast as well as André Holland (Castle Rock, The Knick).
A standalone Black Widow movie was first announced in July 2018, almost eight years after Scarlett Johansson first donned the red wig and black catsuit to portray Black Widow in Iron Man 2. Producer Kevin Feige selected Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland as the movie’s director. Apparently, Johansson herself urged for Shortland to be hired after seeing her WW2 drama Lore and being impressed by the performance of the movie’s lead, played by Saskia Rosendahl.
As portrayed by Johansson, Black Widow aka Natasha Romanoff is an elite assassin ruthlessly trained by the Russians in a secret government program established decades ago by Stalin’s secret police. Romanoff decides to change sides and joins S.H.I.E.L.D. under the leadership of Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson).
Mark Hamill to Voice Chucky in the Child’s Play Reboot
Bloody Disgusting reports that Mark Hamill will voice beloved mass murdering doll Chucky in the upcoming reboot of the 1988 cult horror film Child’s Play. Produced by David Katzenberg (It) and Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter), Child’s Play will feature Gabriel Bateman (Annabelle), Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta) and Aubrey Plaza (Legion, Parks and Recreation). Child’s Play will be the first feature film of its director, Norwegian filmmaker Lars Klevberg.
While Hamill is by far most famous for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars movies, over the past several decades he has established a respectable career as a voice actor, gaining praise from critics and fans alike for his performance as Joker in Paul Dini’s Batman: The Animated Series.
Created by Don Mancini and directed by Tom Holland (Fright Night), first Child’s Play film follows a mass murderer (originally played by Brad Dourif, who also voiced Chucky) who avoids death by transferring his soul into a body of a children’s doll. The film proved itself popular enough to result in six sequels filmed over three decades. Child’s Play arrives in cinemas on June 21, 2019, – the same date as Pixar and Disney’s Toy Story 4.
