Rise of the Skywalker Keeps On Rising
In its second weekend in cinemas, Star Wars: Rise of the Skywalker kept soaring above its competition, surprising no one. The final installment in the new Star Wars trilogy earned $72,4 million last weekend, bringing its total domestic gross up to $362,1 million. Jumanji: The Next Level is once again in second place, but its earnings are far behind Star Wars. Now in its third week in cinemas, the third Jumanji movie earned 35,3 million. It’s total domestic gross currently stands at $175,5 million.
Disney’s CGI-animated film Frozen II is in third place with $16,9 million and a total domestic gross of almost $421,7 million. The first newcomer of the weekend is Little Women – a period drama based on Louisa May Alcott’s 1868 classic novel. Written and directed by Greta Gerwig (Ladybird), Little Women features Timothée Chalamet (Interstellar), Laura Dern (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Florence Pugh (Midsommar), Saoirse Ronan (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Meryl Streep (The Post) and Emma Watson (Beauty and the Beast). In its inaugural weekend, Little Women grossed $16,8 million, landing in the fourth place at the box office. The list of five highest-grossing movies of the weekend closes off with yet another newcomer – CGI animated film Spies in Disguise. Featuring voices of Tom Holland (Spiderman: Far from Home), Ben Mendelsohn (Captain Marvel), Rashida Jones (Parks and Recreation) and Will Smith (Gemini Man), Spies in Disguise earned $13,5 million in its opening weekend.
All of this data comes from The Box Office Mojo.
Disney+ Is Looking to Cast Young Luke Skywalker?
Slashfilm reports a casting rumor about the Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series, now developed by Disney+. According to the website, producers are looking to hire an actor who could young Luke Skywalker. For those of you how missed the news, Ewan McGregor will reprise his performance from the prequel trilogy in a limited run Star Wars TV series. That show will follow Kenobi’s life in exile after the fall of the Republic in Revenge of the Sith. This makes sense considering that in The New Hope Luke was already familiar with Kenobi.
Initially, Disney and LucasArts planned to produce this story as a stand-alone Star Wars film. But then in 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story failed to earn billions of dollars, grossing merely hundreds of millions instead. However, with the launching of Disney+ and success of The Mandalorian, Disney is now seeking ways to deliver more content for its streaming platform. A new live-action Star Wars series should begin production this year. Deborah Chow, who directed several episodes of The Mandalorian, will serve as showrunner with Hossein Amini (The Alienist, Drive) providing the script.
Uncharted Movie Loses Yet Another Director
Last time we wrote about the big-budget adaptation of Uncharted video games, director Travis Knight (Bumblebee, Kubo and the Two Strings) was in talks to helm the movie about the adventures of the treasure hunter Nathan Drake. Now Deadline reports that Knight decided to pass the studio’s offer. However, actor Tom Holland (Spider-Man: Far From Home) is still on board to portray a younger version of Drake.
The idea for this movie adaptation exists as long as the Uncharted franchise itself. Sony Interactive Entertainment released the first game in 2007. A year later, film producer Avi Arad already discussed a possible movie adaptation. And yet, while the first game was swiftly followed by sequels, remakes, and spinoffs, the movie remained in development hell. Before Knight, there were speculations that Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane) might direct Uncharted. Before him, Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) also discussed the possibility of him directing the film.
Last year, Sony set the film’s release for December 2020. However, in the light of this news, this looks more and more unlikely.