by Emily Nagle
Less than a week into its release, “Godzilla vs. Kong” is shattering box office records for the ongoing pandemic.
This weekend, the movie raked in a monstrous $32 million. That’s nearly twice as much money as Wonder Woman 1984, which previously held the title for the biggest opening weekend during a pandemic, made during Christmas ($16.7 million). After only five days of release, the long-awaited monster brawl has grossed $48.5 million total. Even across the planet, “Godzilla vs. Kong” is excelling in the box office, bringing in $44 million from China over the weekend. In total, the film has grossed $285 million worldwide since its debut.
What do these numbers mean? Media professionals see them as promising, and evidence of recovery from a year of lockdown and dark, deserted movie theaters. Jeff Bock, a media analyst at Exhibitor Relations, explains, “This is a great sign that the release calendar will stabilize and audiences everywhere will have a bonafide summer of blockbusters. With vaccinations being dished out at a record pace and social distancing protocols still in place, we should see a nice ramp up into summer cinema.” Although we still have a ways to go before the pandemic ends and the world goes “back to normal,” we’re already seeing the light at the end of the tunnel after a long year of capacity restrictions and shut-down theaters.
The fourth MonsterVerse film’s successful premiere suggests that the films slated to debut this summer will perform well at the box office, including “Cruella” (May 28), “Fast and Furious 9” (June 25), and “Top Gun: Maverick” (July 2). In other words, it is highly likely that summer 2021 will be financially successful for Hollywood.
by Emily Nagle
[usr 3]
After only a week of release worldwide, Godzilla vs. Kong is already roaring its way into the box office overseas, having grossed $70.3 million in China during its opening weekend. The monster film released in the United States on Wednesday, and according to Deadline had a record-breaking opening day for the pandemic, grossing $9.6 million on its premiere date.
A follow-up to both Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) and Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla vs. Kong takes place five years after the events of the former, with Kong living in a dome on Skull Island that’s monitored by Monarch, a secret scientific government agency established to contain dangerous monsters. Meanwhile, Godzilla unexpectedly attacks an Apex Cybernetics facility in Pensacola, Florida. The two monsters clash when the evil tech corporation formulates a plan to fight against Godzilla, which involves traveling to Hollow Earth with Kong to retrieve an energy source that will save the world from Godzilla’s wrath.
So, how was it? Well…it definitely lives up to its title, because you get to see Godzilla and King Kong beat each other up. Other than that, there’s not much else going on. The human characters don’t get enough development, and their conflicts aren’t really that interesting. They just kinda threw in a couple of new characters along with the preexisting ones to expand the Monsterverse. I will say that I loved Jia (Kaylee Hottle), a deaf orphan native living on Skull Island who – initially unbeknownst to her adoptive mother, scientist Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall) – can communicate with Kong through sign language, and has a special bond with the giant gorilla that ends up being crucial to the story. The scenes with Jia and Kong were really sweet, and brought a sense of humanity to the monster, showing us that Kong just wants to go home (which he does at the end – Monarch moves Kong to an observation post in Hollow Earth, where he has free reign).
What about the two monsters the film is titled for? They’re really what the hype is all about, and it’s absolutely worth the excitement. The shots of them brawling it out underwater and smashing into skyscrapers are a lot of fun. I loved the aesthetic at the climax of the film, when they were in Hong Kong. The neon, futuristic look to the city set against the night sky was the excellent backdrop for this long-anticipated monster battle, creating lighting that was fun to look at, as well a color palette that went well against the monsters as they shot laser beams at each other and stomped around the city. This epic brawl was like the classic scene that comes to mind when I think of monster movies or kaiju: just a couple of monsters beating each other up in a big city.
My final thoughts on Godzilla vs. Kong? If you’re looking for an action-packed monster movie and think it sounds cool to watch King Kong and Godzilla beat each other up, then this movie is for you. Just a disclaimer, I watched the movie at home on HBO Max, which may have affected my viewing experience. Because it’s really about the action rather than human conflict, I’m willing to bet that my experience might’ve been different if I’d watched the movie on the big screen in a theater, as opposed to the TV in my living room.
by Emily Nagle
The release date for “Mortal Kombat,” the cinematic adaptation of the video game of the same name, has been pushed back one week.
After originally being scheduled to premiere on HBO Max and in theaters on April 16, Warner Bros. has now shifted the premiere date for this martial arts fantasy film to April 23.
The reason for the delay? Fans speculate it’s to eliminate competing ticket sales with “Godzilla vs. Kong,” which just released today on theaters and HBO Max. The crossover creature feature is already a smash hit around the world, so it’s understandable that the studio would want to space out the two films more, in case they both end up excelling at the box office.
“Mortal Kombat” is directed by Simon McQuoid as he makes his directorial debut. Based on the fighting video game series created by Midway Games, it will follow a washed-up MMA fighter (played by Lewis Tan) who seeks out a team of fighters led by Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) when he starts being hunted by assassin Sub-Zero (Joe Taslim).
Review by D.S. Foster
SYNOPSIS:
Determined to ensure Superman’s (Henry Cavill) ultimate sacrifice was not in vain, Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) aligns forces with Diana Prince (Gal Gadot) with plans to recruit a team of metahumans to protect the world from an approaching threat of catastrophic proportions. The task proves more difficult than Bruce imagined, as each of the recruits must face the demons of their own pasts, transcending that which has held them back, and allowing them to come together, finally forming an unprecedented league of heroes. The team united, may be too late to save the planet from Steppenwolf, DeSaad and Darkseid and their dreadful intentions.
REVIEW:
Mired in real-life tragedy and arguably poor bets placed by one of Hollywood’s longest-lived studios, “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” offers it’s director and producer a huge win for artistic integrity, and for its intended audience a satisfying franchise mea culpa haunted by the ghosts of an abandoned cinematic universe; ingraining the idea of its impossible sequels to the realm of mythic cinema not at all unlike that of “Jodorowsky’s Dune…”
As a consequence, we’ve been given a visually stunning and intriguingly dark take on the DC comics monomyth. A colossal and ambitious cinematic experience billed as the director’s original vision. A four-hour narrative behemoth, produced exclusively for a streaming audience, divided into acts ostensibly for one’s viewing ease, however, there’s no fat to cut and for much of its epic runtime, pacing is not an issue when style becomes substance within the “Snyder aesthetic.”
While Snyder’s methodical, detail oriented visual language is for some audiences a lot to chew, gourmet cinema like this is in no way filled with empty calories. The action is more visceral and the characters more developed. It’s silly to compare the 2 versions of this film as everything from performance blocking to costumes and CGI have been elevated. Even fan service is of a higher quality in both humor and scope with the addition of fringe characters that only its core audience can appreciate.
The film’s strengths lay in its visual edge and narrative risks. What’s easiest to write off as another comic-book movie is filled with lofty blows of philosophical commentary often trivialized by Snyder’s harshest critics, undervalued as pseudo intellectualism or pretension – all of which have peaked within this latest effort: a bracingly coherent heroic opera with which there is nothing to compare, yet entirely referential to Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey.” A Virgilian poem about the movements of gods among men.
This more adult tone is palpable, boasting a constant sense of legitimate danger in a world still mourning the death of Superman, forcing archetypal heroes to face the demons of their own pasts and transcend that which has held them back on their journey to become the comic book versions of themselves we all know and love. “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is guaranteed to satisfy the audience for whom it was produced, living up to its own hype and surpassing that of the internet hype machine that willed it into existence.
by Emily Nagle
This past weekend was the second biggest this month for the box office, grossing $16.7 million.
Top 5 Highest Grossing Films for Weekend of March 26-28, 2021:
1. Nobody
2. Raya and the Last Dragon
3. Tom and Jerry
4. Chaos Walking
5. The Courier
Nobody just rolled into theaters on Friday, and quickly became number 1 in the box office. This action thriller, which stars Bob Odenkirk, grossed $6.7 million this weekend. It has been met with mostly positive reviews, and follows a man on a mission to save his family from a revenge-seeking drug lord.
The second highest-grossing film of this past weekend was Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon. Currently in its fourth week at the box office, this movie features a predominantly Asian-American cast as it tells the story of Raya, a warrior on a quest to track down the last dragon in her homeland of Kumandra before it gets attacked by evil monsters. Currently available in theaters, as well as on Disney+ for an additional fee, Raya and the Last Dragon grossed $3.5 million over the weekend, and has now grossed $28.3 million in total.
Tom and Jerry, currently in its fifth week of release, came in at number three, having grossed $2.5 million over the weekend. When this live action/CGI hybrid arrived in theaters at the end of February, it had the most successful opening weekend all year. It features the famous animated rivals when they escape to the Big Apple and their long-lasting feud threatens a lavish, high-profile wedding. Since its release last month, Tom and Jerry has grossed $37.1 million.
Chaos Walking, which stars Tom Holland as a boy named Todd who lives on a mysterious planet populated entirely by men, grossed $1.2 million. It has now grossed $11.5 million since its release four weeks ago.
Two weeks into its release, The Courier has grossed $3.4 million in total. This weekend, the Cold War thriller film about a Russian spy (played by Benedict Cumberbatch) on a mission to end the Cuban Missile Crisis raked in $1 million.
by Emily Nagle
Tubi has bought the rights to add the 90’s hit children’s show “Barney and Friends” to their free, ad-supported streaming lineup.
After making a deal with 9 Story Distribution, Tubi has the rights to the first six seasons of the show, and it will become the exclusive home to seasons 7 through 9. Seasons 10 through 12 will be available non-exclusively.
“Everyone’s favorite purple dinosaur is a wonderful addition to our happy family of iconic characters in Tubi Kids,” Adam Lewinson, Tubi’s chief content officer, announced in a statement. “We’re pleased to super serve our audience with six seasons of ‘Barney & Friends’ to delight a new generation of children.”
“Barney & Friends” ran from 1992 to 2009 on PBS Kids. Targeted at preschoolers, the show incorporated musical numbers to teach kids the lifelong skills of friendship and sharing, in addition to various subjects such as colors, shapes, safety, and animals.
Barney will be joining cherished children’s franchises on the platform that features VeggieTales, Transformers, The Wiggles, and Scooby-Doo. Children’s content helps in attracting more users to the free platform that boasts nearly 2,000 children’s series, such as “G.I. Joe,” “Sonic the Hedgehog,” and “Naruto.”
Tubi is accessible online, on Android and iOS devices, OTT platforms such as Amazon Fire or Apple TV, or any smart TV. It hosts more than free 30,000 shows and movies.
Get Some Strange!
