OCT. 5 |
YOU DUG IT
Good 2 Know: Any weekend box office drop of less than 50% is good. Any weekend B.O. drop smaller than 30% of the previous is excellent.
General Rules:
A. Theaters get approximately 50% of the gross in North American B.O. (negotiable).
B. Distributors omitting Production budget figures believe the movie will under perform.
C. Total gross by the 3rd weekend accounts for at least half of movie's total theater ticket sales regardless of length of stay.
D. After the 3rd weekend, as screens drop, theater 50/50 B.O. split rises about 10% each weekend, favoring the theater, until it stops at 80/20 (negotiable).
1. VERITY Is not the kind of Thriller to open at Number 1, let alone surpass its $40 million production budget in its first weekend, yet that's exactly what happened with this Mystery Thriller starring Anne Hathaway (Tim Burton's ALICE IN WONDERLAND), Dakota Johnson (SUSPIRIA - 2018), and Josh Hartnet (30 DAYS OF NIGHT).
2. RESIDENT EVIL holds on to second place for its third weekend in a row, losing a modest 45% in box office against what appears to be an unfair 425 screen cut. Unfair because its $3,871 per screen average is damn good and way above everyone excpet this weekend's #1.
7. AVENGERS: ENDGAME No surprise that this encore showing dropped so far in one week. If anything, its surprising that it remains on the Top Ten for a second week, which rarely happens with old re-releases long available on home video. Such is the power of Stan Lee's final magnum opus.
8. PRACTICAL MAGIC 2 reaches its 4th weekend losing 50% of its box office against another huge cut of 1,115 screens.
10. SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY stumbled from last weekend's #7, but now at 10 in its 10th weekend, its cleared over $2.5 billion world wide. Earth still loves Tom Holland as SPIDER-MAN.
You Buried Nothing
Figures calibrated from reporting by Box Office Mojo and The Numbers. Should there be differences between the two, I err on the side of caution and post the most positive numbers.
VENOM Turns 8
It's a comic book movie from a kid's comic, yet its rated R. That said, my kids were already reading the comic books so, with my adult supervision, we went to see what it was all about.
For an "R-rated, No One Under 17 without Adult Supervision" movie, they loved it. On the other hand, I AM that supervising adult and I was ... whelmed over VENOM.
Finale -
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor Daniel Baldwin (KNIGHT MOVES, DEAD ON SIGHT, BODILY HARM, THE INVADER, THE PANDORA PROJECT, FALLOUT, STEALING CANDY, KING OF THE ANTS, PAPARAZZI, VEGAS VAMPIRES, BORN OF EARTH, THE DEVIL'S DOMINOS, LITTLE RED DEVIL, A DARKER REALITY, NINE DEAD, THE TRUTH, DEATH AND CREMATION, STRIPPERLAND, AFTER EFFECT, CELL COUNT, THE UNBROKEN, LADY PSYCHO KILLER, SICILIAN VAMPIRE, THE GUEST HOUSE, DEADLY SANCTUARY, ANABOLIC LIFE, TWO FACED, CROSSBREED, ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. WOMAN, CHRISANDER, ENCHANTRESS) is 66.
Look for Daniel in the upcoming 2023, 2024, 2025 Horror Thriller, DEVIL'S KNIGHT.
Writer,
Director, and Artist Clive Barker (THE BOOKS OF BLOOD, WEAVEWORLD, IMAGICA, HELLRAISER, NIGHTBREED, CANDYMAN, HELLBOUND: HELLRAISER II, THE THIEF OF ALWAYS, COLD HEART CANYON, ABARAT, HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE, VALERIE ON THE STAIRS, THE MIDNIGHT MEAT TRAIN, DREAD, ABARAT: ABSOLUTE MIDNIGHT, INCARNATE [TV], HELLRAISER: JUDGEMENT, CANDYMAN [2021], HELLRAISER Hulu) who is 74.
Look for the 2022 reboot of Clive's HELLRAISER, coming to Hulu this week.
Short story Horror writer Jack "Jackula" Haringa is 67, maybe?
Singer Brian Johnson (BACK IN BLACK, FOR THOSE ABOUT
TO ROCK, WHO MADE WHO, STIFF UPPER LIP, FLICK OF THE SWITCH, FLY ON THE WALL, POWER UP) is 78.
Actor Guy Pearce (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, RAVENOUS, MEMENTO, THE TIME MACHINE, FIRST SNOW, THE HURT LOCKER, IN HER SKIN, THE ROAD, DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, PROMETHEUS, LOCK OUT, IRON MAN 3, EQUALS, BRIMSTONE, SPINNING MAN, THE INOCENTS [TV], A CHRISTMAS CAROL [TV 2019], BLOODSHOT, THE SEVENTH DAY, ZONE 414, THE INFERNAL MACHINE) is 58.
Writer, Director Ti West (THE ROOST, TRIGGER MAN, THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, CABIN FEVER 2, THE INNKEEPERS, V/H/S [segment], THE ABCs OF DEATH [segment], THE SACRAMENT, IN A VALLEY OF VIOLENCE, X, PEARL) is 46.
SUNDAY -
Actor Christopher Fairbank (THE AWAKENING, MURDER WITH MIRRORS, BATMAN [1989], ALIEN³, THE FIFTH ELEMENT, INVASION: EARTH [TV], THE BUNKER [2001], BELOW, WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, CARGO [2006], HELLGATE: LONDON [VG], MINDFLESH, DEMON'S SOULS [VG], LITTLE DEATHS, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, WRITER'S RETREAT, THE SHOW, ALL MY FRIENDS HATE ME, THE ESSEX SERPENT [TV], GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Vol. 3, ) is 72.
Writer Brian Hodge (THE DARKER SAINTS, PROTOTYPE, WORLD OF HURT, DEATHGRIP, I'LL BRING YOU THE BIRDS FROM OUT OF THE SKY, DARK ADVENT, SKIDDING INTO OBLIVION, OASIS, DEATH GRIP, NIGHT LIFE, LIES & UGLINESS, PICKING THE BONES, FALLING IDOLS) is 65.
Visit him at BrianHodge.net.
Goth Model/Actor Heidi Van Horne (CLEAN, ANGELS DIE SLOWLY) is 48.
Visit her at Heidi Van Horne.
Actor Liev Schreiber (SCREAM [all], PHANTOMS, SPHERE, TWILIGHT [1998], HAMLET, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE [2004], THE OMEN [2006], X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, SALT, REPO MEN, THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST, THE LAST DAYS ON MARS, THE 5TH WAVE, SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, DON'T LOOK UP, COMMAND Z [TV], SPLINTER CELL: DEATHWATCH [TV], NOCTURNE [TV]) is 58.
Liev shares an October birthday with fellow SCREAM alumni, Neve Campbell.
57 Years of the Dead
To his grave George Romero groused over "fast zombies" like the kind we saw in RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD and DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004).
"Zombies cannot run, I say this definitively, as the grandfather of zombies."
George A. Romero, Vice Films
But the facts are, Zombie movies throughout the world as well as the U.S., existed way before Romero. As a kid he sat in the theater watching matinees of Bela Lugosi (WHITE ZOMBIE - 1932) and Bob Hope (THE GHOST BREAKERS - 1940) deal with zombies and those movies were in production before he was born.
George tried many times to re-invent his legacy (which is why his version of events changes in interview after interview throughout the decades), and why the only folks who took his side on this matter were those who never watched his original more than once, if at all.
He began with various undead, slow and fast, and nobody who knows the movie would honestly ever argue any different. But there's more than that to be found in Bram Stoker winning Horror writer Brian Keene's retro review of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
RED DRAGON is 23
In 1991, THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS was a huge hit for Orion. It did boffo box office and a treasure trove of awards. Only problem was, Orion was so busy filing for bankruptcy (you would not believe the cavalcade of crap movies they greenlit back then!), and trying to remain solvent, there was little to nothing they could do with their potential cash cow.
In 1997 - 1999 the revitalized MGM finally, mercifully, bought them out, laid off all but 25 workers, and put HANNIBAL on the fast track. They had to. Anthony Hopkins turned 60 in 1997 and at that age, the human body starts its own fast tracking in aging. The ten years from 50 to 60 are a lot more remarkable than the "slow aging" of 40 to 50.
New problem? Hannibal Lector was the villain but Clarice Starling was the hero and star. That's Jodie Foster's face on the poster and Jodie Foster refused to return to the role that put her on the map. If for no other reason but that she didn't want to be part of the cheaper faster diminishing returns of a Horror movie franchise (which is how big studios treated their cash cows back then).
Despite their new Clarice, HANNIBAL was a hit.
Rock on! Let's finish this trilogy! Wait! What? Another problem? Can't anything go right?
See, the trilogy of books didn't begin with THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, it began with Red Dragon. In that novel there was no Clarice, the movie starts with Hannibal Lector, and it was already made and called MANHUNTER, and with another actor in the role.
Worse, MGM had the rights to Thomas Harris's novel but no rights to the movie MANHUNTER. It was immediately decided that they had to round off their trilogy with the prequel that starts the whole thing. Except Hannibal Lector had to look 20 years younger than Anthony Hopkins and he was looking 20 years older than when he started this.
Okay, we can do this! We'll just get a little make-up, the right lighting, and - Oh, I know! We'll get some music video guy to direct it!
Brilliant, they're the cheapest and you can't go wrong with cheap!
Hey! Brett Ratner directs music videos and he's available!
This then, is how it all played out in 2002's RED DRAGON.
BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR is 24
Three movies deep! Brian Yuzna had his trilogy and he never let us down! This is one of the rare movie trilogies that is great from start to finish and this is how Brian Yuzna won the day with BEYOND RE-ANIMATOR.
SATURDAY -
Actor Neve Campbell (THE DARK, THE CANTERVILLE GHOST, THE CRAFT, SCREAM [all], WILD THINGS, BLIND HORIZON, THE GLASS MAN, AN AMISH MURDER) is 52.
Look for Neve in another SCREAM sequel
in 2027. Maybe this time she'll be the killer or something.
Actor Seth Gabel (THE Da VINCI CODE, FRINGE [TV], JONAH HEX, ALLEGIANCE [2012], ARROW [TV], GOTHICA [2013], AMERICAN HORROR STORY [TV], SALEM [TV], BIG SKY) is 44.
Actor Lena Headey (WATERLAND, GOSSIP, RIPLEY'S GAME, THE BROTHERS GRIMM, THE CAVE, 300, THE BROKEN, LAID TO REST, TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, GAME OF THRONES, DREDD, THE PURGE, THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS, 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES, THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE [TV], RISE OF THE TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES [TV], INFINITY TRAIN [TV], GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION [TV], 9 BULLETS, BEACON 23 [TV], BALLISTIC) is 53.
Actor Clive Owen (PRIVATEER 2: THE DARKENING [VG], SECOND SIGHT, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD, SIN CITY, DERAILED, INSIDE MAN, CHILDREN OF MEN, THE INTERNATIONAL, DUPLICITY, TRUST, INTRUDERS, SHADOW DANCER, VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS, GEMINI MAN, LISEY'S STORY [TV], LUI, A MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD [TV], MONSIEUR SPADE [TV]) is 62.
Actor Noah Schnapp (STRANGER THINGS [TV], LEGEND OF HALLOWAIIAN, HUBIE HALLOWEEN, THE TUTOR) is 22.
Actor Tessa Thompson (WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, VERONICA MARS [TV], THE INITIATION OF SARAH, HIDDEN PALMS, EXQUISITE CORPSE, RED AND BLUE MARBLES, MURDER ON THE 13TH FLOOR, 666 PARK AVENUE, THOR: RAGNAROK, ANNIHILATION, WESTWORLD [TV], AVENGERS: ENDGAME, MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL, THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER, HIS & HERS [TV]) is 42.
Director Denis Villeneuve (INCENDIES, PRISONERS, ENEMY, ARRIVAL, BLADE RUNNER 2049, DUNE [2022], DUNE Part 2) is 59.
Look for Denis upcoming Thriller for December 18, 2026, DUNE 3.
Your Scary October Ride continues with the 2014 short movie, THRESHER
I guess I'm not the only one who has woke up to see a strange naked black man smiling at me from the corner of my room. Yeah, it's always awkward, and This short movie is always THRESHER.
Plus -
TERROR TRAIN Turns 46
It was 1980 and Jamie Lee Curtis had a great Horror movie run with 1978's surprise hit, John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN. There she play innocent and naive Laurie who, since she didn't have pre-marital sex, substantially increased her odds of survival. But that became the only script she was offered. In 1980 Jamie was in three different Slasher movies at the age of 22 and it was time to stop playing an under-age naif. You know, like she did in John Carpenter's THE FOG. So when Canadian producers came around Jamie Lee decided it was time to show some cleavage. For the rest of the 1980s Jamie was going to be sexy and desirable, like Kimberly in PROM NIGHT and Alana in TERROR TRAIN.
My Latest Book, GRIM GRINS & MORBID MIRTH is Released
Today in kindle on Amazon, soon in print and audio book everywhere.
|
OCT. 2 |
An October Month of Scary Short movies!
October 2 is Common Shiner's SOCIAL MEDIASOCHIST
From 2013 this music video went nowhere for years. But all along word of mouth kept building. Now over 10 years later, Common Shiner's SOCIAL MEDIASOCHIST clocks in at an impressive 86 million views!
If you're one of the few who still hasn't seen it, wait no more.
And -
STRANGELAND Turns 28
It's the first and only feature film Dee Snider ever Wrote. It's the last movie Director John Pieplow ever made, as of this writing. 1998's STRANGELAND wasn't a good movie, but it could have been a great start.
Plus -
FLIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD is 20
Every so often you see a big budget movie with an actor or three who have made their mark in some of the worst, dullest low-budget garbage you wasted valuable minutes of your life watching before turning it off.
Big Budget Directors from Robert Rodriguez to Quentin Tarantino to Christopher Nolan are well-known for recognizing solid dependable actors who can deliver despite their track record of crap.
What is rare though, is when a low-budget Horror indie fills its call sheet with such actors and actually makes a fun and enjoyable movie. Yet in 2006, that's exactly what Co-Writer, Producer, and Director Scott Thomas did with the last movie he ever made: FLIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD.
Also -
ZOMBIELAND Turns 17
I had a friend who used to love Zombie Horror movies. Then came the onscreen "fast Zombies" of Zack Snyder and James Gunn's DAWN OF THE DEAD 2004. He loved that too. He doesn't like ZOMBIELAND, though. ZOMBIELAND took fast zombies to their logical conclusion regarding survivability (Survival Rule #1: CARDIO). If you were out of shape and didn't get in shape real quick, you were on the menu.
Well, the beeg boi didn't like that. He felt he was smart enough to outwit any brain dead zombie. And yah, in the movies pretty much everyone is smart enough to outwit a zombie. But sooner or later you're going to wind up in a situation that requires physical exertion, not sitting in a La-Z-Boy and firing a gun at whatever revenant busts down your door and interrupts Minecraft. My old friend found exercise boring. That's puzzling to me, as a writer, because I can really get into the Movie-In-My-Head experience of the story I'm formulating whenever I'm exercising. It's one of the few times in urban life when people will leave you TFA.
Soon THE WALKING DEAD came along and, once again he loved it. Right up until the moment the show made it clear that obesity wasn't a survival skill in a Zombie Apocalypse. And this came from showrunner Robert Kirkman, who is quite the teddy bear himself!
His loss. Personally I have a great time with ZOMBIELAND ever since the first day I saw it on the huge theater screen.
Wassmor -
SAVE YOURSELVES! Turns 6
Awww! An adorable little 6 years old for an adorable little movie. And you can tell a movie doesn't take itself too seriously when the title ends with an exclamation mark. This comedy would be too cute to be mentioned here if not for, tucked warmly away in all of the sweetness, there were showstopping Holy Shit moments of Horror and Terror. Yes, made all the more WTF! by being so out of place to the tone of the movie while being so necessary to the story.
Heh! Heh! Heh!
It's a shame it went DtV in the U.S., but I'm here to tell you about the creepy cuddly charm of SAVE YOURSELVES!
Finale -
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor, Director Camilla Belle (DECONSTRUCTING SARAH, POISON IVY II, THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, THE QUIET, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, PUSH, THE AMERICAN SIDE, THE MAD WHALE, PHOBIAS, CARTER) is 40.
Actor Krisondra Daigneault (SILENT NIGHT, ZOMBIE NIGHT, HORRORWEEN, THE OATMEAL MAN) is 31.
Actor Lew Temple (SIN: THE MOVIE, PARASITE DOLLS, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS, THE VISITATION, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: THE BEGINNING, DEJA VU, Rob Zombie's HALLOWEEN, HOUSE [2008], TRAILER PARK OF TERROR, NO MAN'S LAND: THE RISE OF REEKER, SOMEONE'S KNOCKING AT THE DOOR, SILENT NIGHT, ZOMBIE NIGHT, THE KILLING JAR, UNSTOPPABLE, THE WALKING DEAD [TV], MoniKa, HOUSE OF FORBIDDEN SECRETS, ZOMBEX, WICKED BLOOD, DESIERTO, WICKED CITY [TV], HOME, 31, THE ENDLESS, FERAL, SELLING ISOBEL, BEHIND THE WALLS, LIMBO, BETWEEN THE DARKNESS, SAME DIFFERENCE, BECOMING, THE STEP DADDY, HACKED, NIGHT CALLER, SHADOWMARSH, MONSTROUS, THE THIRD SATURDAY IN OCTOBER, IMPURATUS, PIG KILLER, LIFELINES) is 59.
Look for Lew's upcoming 2023, 2024, 2025 Horror Thriller from Writer Director John Gulager (FEAST) and Writer Producer Joel Soisson (THE PROPHECY), SEVEN CEMETERIES.
Actor Maribel Verdú (LA ESTANQUERAS DE VALLECAS, EL BESO DEL SUEÑO, TUNO NEGRO, TIEMPO DE TORMENTA, JERICHO MANSIONS, EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO, EL NIÑO DE BARRO, LA ZONA, TETRO, FIN, BLANCANIEVES, THE YEAR OF FURY, ANA TRAMEL. EL JUEGO [TV], DEATH'S ROULETTE, A DEADLY INVITATION [TV]) is 56.
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OCT. 1 |
It's Wednesday! October 1!
Welcome to the 33 Days of HALLOWEEN!
It all began with a Charles Addams comic, HOMEBODIES, but it didn't take root until the short-lived television show, THE ADDAMS FAMILY. Far more popular in syndication than it ever was on network television (a lot of groundbreaking TV shows of the 1960s can say that. If it wasn't a shitkicker, the expert network executives were lost. By the 1970s they could not give those Westerns away).
When Barry Sonnenfeld's insanely hilarious THE ADDAMS FAMILY motion picture exploded onto the scene in 1991, all the magic was back. That is, until the expert network executives got hold of it and proved beyond all doubt that they had no idea what they were doing.
It took a string of theatrical box office flops for Tim Burton to look back to his early inspirations and bring us a hit television spin-off of THE ADDAMS FAMILY. In retrospect, it feels obvious that he's the only one who could.
And -
Start your scary ride with the original Internet short film, 405
The one! The only! The original Internet movie that wowed everyone on the 'Net in 2000!
What is it? It's an adrenalin rush in 3 minutes!
Jeremy Hunt and Bruce Branit's Suspense Thriller, 405: THE MOVIE
Plus -
What else happened on October 1?
THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS Is 67
You fans of cheesy SciFi Horror movies know exactly who you are and you may even know that actor John Agar threw himself into these movies with gusto. And who can blame him? The 1950s Hollywood money machine churned out daily gangster & shitkicker movies all considered high-falutin' by the major and poverty row studios. While, at the same time, looking down their noses at Science Fiction and Horror creature feature audiences with unbridled contempt.
Yeah? And who's watching those dusty old Shoot-em-Ups now, see? Nyah! It's all looking to the future now, see? Nyah! And if that 1950s future never happened, why, that's just an alternate history! Yeah! Or maybe a multi-universe! So in 1957 the alien brain, Gor, was a hyper-sexualized futuristic threat in THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS.
Finale -
HAPPY HORROR THRILLER BIRTHDAYS TO -
By E.C. McMullen Jr.
Actor Michelle Bauer (aka Pia Snow aka Kim Bittner aka Michelle McClellan in THE TOMB [1986], ROLLER BLADE [1986], ARMED RESPONSE, TERROR NIGHT, BEVERLY HILLS VAMP, JIGSAW MURDERS, NIGHT OF THE LIVING BABES, OVERKILL, WARLORDS, SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA, DEATH ROW DINER, HOLLYWOOD CHAINSAW HOOKERS, DEMONWARP, NIGHTMARE SISTERS, THE PHANTOM EMPIRE, CAMP FEAR, PUPPET MASTER III: TOULON'S REVENGE, THE SUMMONED, HELLROLLER, EVIL TOONS, THE FLESH MERCHANT, THE DWELLING, DEMENTED, VAMPIRE VIXENS FROM VENUS, RED LIPS, WITCH ACADEMY, BLONDE HEAVEN, MARI-COOKIIE AND THE KILLER TARANTULA, LUST FOR FRANKENSTEIN, TIMEGATE: TALES OF THE SADDLETRAMPS, DR. ALIEN, TOMB OF THE WEREWOLF, THE NAKED MONSTER, WHISPERS FROM A SHALLOW GRAVE, GINGERDEAD MAN 2, VOODOO DOLLZ, 1313: WICKED STEPBROTHER, THE TROUBLE WITH BARRY, MONSTER MASH, and more) is 68.
Actor Danielle Bisutti (AUTOMATIC, TROPIX, VENICE UNDERGROUND, CURSE OF CHUCKY, INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 2, INSIDIOUS: THE LAST KEY, NANNY KILLER, GREENLIGHT, DWIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR [TV], GOD OF WAR: RAGNAROK [VG], THE BLUE ROSE) is 50.
Actor Holly Elissa (SPOOK, ALIEN INCURSION, WHISTLER [TV], POLAR STORM, SOMETHING EVIL COMES, ICE QUAKE, COLLISION EARTH, THE 12 DISASTERS OF CHRISTMAS, VAN HELSING [TV]) is 47.
Writer Gary Frank (FOREVER WILL YOU SUFFER, INSTITUTIONAL MEMORY, THE THING IN THE WOODS) is 62.
Coronavirus Mortality Updates: 2020 - 2023 CDC ARCHIVE |
