Month: November 2020

Thanksgiving weekend is traditionally one of the biggest box office weekends of the year, and despite the pandemic, 2020 is no exception. The difference, of course, is the size of the numbers. In past years, movies like Frozen, Moana, and Knives Out have put up huge Thanksgiving weekend numbers, while this year, the top film at the box office almost broke $10 million, which technically makes it the biggest opening of the pandemic.

Tenet opened on Labor Day weekend, and Warner Bros. reported that it earned $20 million, but that figure was wildly misleading because it included a Thursday-to-Monday Labor Day gross plus an entire week’s worth of grosses in Canada. The actual figure for the three-day weekend was closer to $9.4 million.

For this three-day weekend, Croods: A New Age has bested Tenet, scoring $9.7 million. For the five-day Thanksgiving weekend haul, it earned $14.3 million. That would be considered a huge flop on any other Thanksgiving weekend, but by 2020 standards, that’s an actual hit.

In fact, for the weekend, Croods: A New Age has earned $35 million worldwide, which suggests that the film could actually break even with its $65 million budget theatrically once all the grosses are in around the globe. Still, the real revenue for the Croods sequel is not likely to roll in until Christmas, when it’s made available digitally as part of Universal’s new strategy with various theaters — AMC, Cinemark, and Cineplex — to shrink the theatrical window. The window has been shortened so that they can roll it out on PVOD by Christmas Day.

The downside, unfortunately, is that $14 million worth of ticket buyers went to the movies in the midst of the biggest surge of COVID-19 of the year, which — along with Thanksgiving get-togethers — may contribute to an even bigger surge ahead of a vaccine that will roll out in the coming months. Croods: A New Age, however, is likely the biggest release until Wonder Woman 1984, which hits theaters and HBO Max on Christmas Day. Beyond WW, major releases don’t start rolling out again until March with Raya and the Last Dragon, which was supposed to be released this Thanksgiving weekend.

For the record, Croods: A New Age is scoring well with audiences. It received an A Cinemascore and a 95 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, compared to a 72 percent from critics, of which I was one, who gave it a generally good review (I also liked the original).

As for the rest of the weekend’s box office? There’s not much to say, Freaky, the body-swapping horror comedy starring Vince Vaughn, earned $1 million, which was good enough for second place. It’s earned $7 million at the box office, so far. It’s a decent haul for a pandemic, but again, it’s part of a strategy to use the theatrical release to essentially market its PVOD release, which is this Friday, only 17 days after its theatrical release (I’m actually very excited about it).

In at number three is Robert DeNiro’s War with Grandpa, which has quietly earned a respectable $17 million in 7 weeks of release. In fourth place is Kevin Costner’s Let Him Go, which is now out on PVOD, but nevertheless scored $400,000 to bring its three-week total to $8.7 million, which honestly is probably as well as a Kevin Costner and Diane Lane movie would have done in normal times against much stiffer competition.

Speaking of Frozen, the original was released on Thanksgiving weekend in 2013 and earned $93 million over its first five day. It was re-released this weekend by Disney, but came up woefully short of that, earning only $120,000, or $88 per screen. It’s been a long year.

Source: Box Office Mojo, Deadline

The incredible technology that goes into F1 cars makes them fast, nimble and, hopefully, safe. And that effort seems to have paid off on Sunday after a driver walked away from a fiery crash that split his car in half on the very first lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Driver Roman Grosjean caused a red flag almost immediately when his car made contact with the front of one driven by Daniil Kvyat, who had slowed down because of drivers ahead of him doing the same. Grosjean’s car veered right, then barreled straight through the barriers on the side of the track, breaking in two on impact and creating a massive fireball.

This is what the crash looked like initially, with no real sign of the car except the fireball it just created when it made contact with the wall.

According to Racer, the accident happened on the opening lap of the event. Though it’s an extremely harrowing image, Grosjean was shown on camera being helped from the fireball by track officials. And though Grosjean apparently suffered some burns, amazingly no one else on the track was injured amid all the chaos.

“He’s doing OK, he had light burns on his hands and ankles, but he’s conscious,” Haas team director Guenther Steiner told Sky TV.

The team subsequently confirmed that Grosjean has been transferred to a nearby hospital with a possible broken rib in addition to his light burns.

No course marshals are believed to have been injured in the incident.

Drivers tweeted their concern and relief upon hearing that Grosjean was OK.

The race was also suspended 45 minutes so the course’s barriers could be repaired and, you know, the fire was put out. But amazingly, everyone managed to escape in much better shape than it initially looked on Sunday morning.

David Prowse, the man who brought Darth Vader to life in the original Star Wars films, is dead at 85. The actor who first wore Vader’s suit died Saturday, as reported by his management team and later confirmed by multiple outlets. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Prowse died early Sunday morning at age 85.

David Prowse, the champion English weightlifter and bodybuilder who supplied his 6-foot-7 frame — but not the voice or the deep breathing — to portray Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy, died early in the morning on Saturday. He was 85.

Prowse’s death was confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter by his agent Thomas Bowington on Saturday night. The company also wrote on Twitter, “It’s with great regret and heart-wrenching sadness for us and million of fans around the world, to announce that our client Dave Prowse M.B.E. has passed away at the age of 85.”

Prowse gave one of the most famous movie characters ever his physical presence, while James Earl Jones famous gave Vader his voice. But Prowse was a fixture of Star Wars fandom even in his later years, often posing with those who made their own Vader costumes to wear to conventions and expos.

Mark Hamill, who played his (spoilers!) on-screen son Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars films, tweeted his condolences early Sunday morning, sharing images of Prowse and calling him a “kind man” and “much more” than Darth Vader.

C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels also commented on the loss, noting that while their characters never quite squared off, Prowse was a pivotal figure in what made the movie villain so powerful.

Prowse had many other acting roles over his career, using his hulking frame to play characters in James Bond’s Casino Royale, Frankenstein in The Horror Of Frankenstein and Monster From Hell. He also played a role in A Clockwork Orange. But his work as Darth Vader will be what he’s remembered for best by millions of fans for whom his on-screen presence is unmistakable.

This was quite the weekend for NBA players stepping off the floor and into other sports, with Stephen Curry teaming with Peyton Manning and losing to Charles Barkley and Phil Mickelson in The Match III on Friday and, on Saturday night, Nate Robinson was in the final undercard fight against Jake Paul on the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. pay-per-view fight.

Robinson’s boxing debut went, well, very poorly as he got knocked down in the first round — which likely should’ve ended the fight but he was allowed to continue — and then, in the second round, was put out cold by an uppercut, short hook combination from Paul that caused Robinson to bounce face first off of the mat.

The former NBA dunk contest champion’s debut drew plenty of eyeballs, including those of his former peers in the league who reacted the same as everyone else. Initially, it was a lot of “DAMN” tweets, followed by everything from concern to jokes to memes.

Paul Pierce’s live video reaction was maybe the best as the disappointment was palpable.

Despite the jokes, a lot of guys also made sure to voice their support for Nate for stepping into the ring and giving it his all, appreciating his effort even if the results of his boxing debut didn’t go as planned.

Halsey was one of the many deserving artists who were completely overlooked for a nomination at the Grammys this year, even though her latest album, Manic, was excellent. What we lose when artists are continually given the message that only a certain kind of music, or a certain kind of artist, can get nominated and win, has been a subject of much discussion this week following the announcement of this year’s nominations.

Outrage over The Weeknd not getting a single nomination for his new album After Hours was further stoked by rumors that his competing performance at the Superbowl might’ve had an impact on his snub. Earlier today, Halsey responded to the situation with The Weeknd, her own snub for Manic, and her thoughts about The Grammys process at large:

“I’ve been thinking and wanted to choose my words carefully because a lot of people have extended sympathy and apology to me since the Grammy nominations,” she began, in an Instagram story post earlier today. “The Grammys are an elusive process. It can often be about behind the scenes private performances, knowing the right people, campaigning through the grapevine, with the right handshakes and “bribes” that can be just ambiguous enough to pass as “not-bribes.” And if you get that far, it’s about committing to exclusive TV performances and making sure you help the Academy make their millions in advertising on the night of the show.

Perhaps sometimes it is (!!) but it’s not always about the music or quality or culture. Just wanted to get that off my chest. @TheWeeknd deserves better, and Manic did too. Perhaps it’s unbecoming of me to say so but I can’t care anymore. While I am THRILLED for my talented friends who were recognized this year, I am hoping for more transparency or reform. But I’m sure this post will blacklist me anyway.”

Well, glad she spoke her truth — and it will be interesting if any other artists weigh in on the “bribes” comment.

Saturday night’s sports lineup was, somehow, headlined by a Roy Jones Jr.-Mike Tyson boxing pay-per-view in the year of our lord 2020. The last fight on the undercard, which featured some actual, sanctioned fights, was another questionable exhibition bout scheduled for six rounds between YouTuber Jake Paul and former NBA dunk contest champion Nate Robinson.

Paul was a pretty healthy betting favorite at -225, as he has previous boxing experience, knocking out fellow YouTuber AnEsonGib on a DAZN card in 2019. Robinson was stepping into a boxing ring for the first time and despite his best efforts to prepare, his discomfort in the ring was evident from the jump and he struggled from the beginning. He was knocked down in the first round on what he seemed to believe was a rabbit punch to the back of the head, but did survive the round.

However, in the second round, there was no doubt as to whether Paul’s second knockdown was legit as he put the former NBA star out cold with a combination that began with a right uppercut and finished with a short right hook that put Robinson face first on the canvas.

It was scary for a minute as Robinson was out cold, but he did come to and was able to leave the ring. He’ll certainly need medical evaluation and, likely, will call it a boxing career after a rather disastrous debut. Paul moves to 2-0 in his strange boxing career with a pair of knockouts.

The NBA is slowly trickling out information on what the upcoming season is going to look like. While there are still tons of unknowns about how the 2020-21 campaign will function, the league did announce its preseason slate, which will commence next month. And on Saturday, the NBA laid out its key dates for the preseason, regular season, and playoffs.

Here’s how things will shake out, per a release from the league:

Dec. 1-5: Individual player workouts, Media “Week”
Dec. 6: Group player workouts begin
Dec. 11-19: Preseason games
Dec. 22, 2020 — Mar. 4, 2021: First Half of Regular season.

At this point, the league will hold an All-Star break from March 5-10. While the NBA has announced that it will move Indianapolis’ turn as the All-Star hosts to 2024, there is word that it plans on doing something during this period. Here is how things will shake out from there:

Mar. 11 — May 16: Second Half of regular season
May 13-15: Class of 2020 Hall of Fame Enshrinement
May 18-21: Play-In Tournament
May 22 — July 22: 2021 NBA Playoffs

This would, of course, let the league achieve its state goal of ending the year in time for the Summer Olympics, which are currently scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021. There are still plenty of outstanding questions even beyond the slate of games, particularly on things like the trade deadline.

In the end, Amazon’s Utopia had a much longer and somewhat more dramatic journey to the screen than it did on it. The fantasy drama about comic book fans stumbling into a world-altering pandemic was originally an HBO project that finally hit streaming in 2020 on Amazon, but it won’t go past a single season.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Utopia was officially canceled at Amazon after mixed reviews and uncertain streaming totals. The show, which was picked up by HBO in 2014, actually had a six-year journey to screen that saw Gillian Flynn lead the show at Amazon.

Originally developed and picked up straight to series in 2014 at HBO with David Fincher reuniting with his Gone Girl collaborator Flynn, the drama about a group of comic book fans who stumble on a deadly pandemic landed at Amazon four years later. Flynn had an overall deal with HBO and moved it to Amazon along with Utopia, though Fincher was no longer attached.

Amazon, like other streamers, does not release traditional viewership data. The drama was not met with warm reviews when it launched Sept. 25. The series has a 51 percent rating among critics on RottenTomatoes.com and, perhaps in a sign of a failure to cut through, does not have an audience score. In her review, THR TV critic Inkoo Kang called Utopia “Too hackneyed to be timely, too grim to be escapist.”

The project marked the first time Flynn, who wrote the novel Gone Girl and helped Fincher make it a movie, served as a TV showrunner. As THR noted, the show was an admittedly tough watch in a reality that has a much more realistic pandemic actually taking place. And despite the star-studded cast that included Rainn Wilson and John Cusack, all American viewers will apparently get is its initial nine episode first season.

[via THR]

The NFL’s attempt to play football throughout a global pandemic has led to a number of games getting moved around and far more players being unable to go. Perhaps the most surreal example of the latter is slated to occur on Sunday afternoon, as the Denver Broncos do not have any quarterbacks who are able to go.

Denver backup Jeff Driskel recently tested positive for COVID-19. While that has unfortunately not been uncommon this season, it has been revealed that every other signal caller on the Broncos’ roster was exposed to Driskel in a high-risk environment. As such, multiple media reports indicate that none of the other QBs on the roster — Drew Lock, Brett Rypien, Blake Bortles — can play.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Denver has no plans to forfeit the game.

His joke aside, the team does not have enough time to sign someone, have them go through the various protocols, and make a spot start. The answer might be in having running back Royce Freeman line up under center.

There is no word on whether the NFL would step in and potentially postpone the game until there is more clarity on whether any of Lock, Rypien, or Bortles will be able to go.

Fans of Selena Gomez took to Twitter to express their disappointment with Saved By The Bell after they learned the reboot of the show recently aired an episode that seemed to make fun of the singer’s kidney transplant which she received due to complications with lupus.

According to fans and Stereogum, one scene of the episode showed graffiti on the wall of the school’s hallway that read, “Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?” Another scene saw some of the show’s characters speculating who donated a kidney to the singer. Names like Justin Bieber’s mom and her “best friend” and Demi Lovato were brought as potential donors of the kidney.

The response was strong from fans as they took to the app to slam the show for the scenes. “The show “saved by the bell reboot” has an extremely disgusting scene where they were mocking the superstar selena gomez’s health, by writing this on the wall,” one fan said. They added, “i don’t know what was the point of it, all i know that it needs to be removed asap, thank you.” Another user called the scenes “disrespectful” and said, “who thought writing in about Selenas personal struggle as a joke would be a good idea?”

Back in September, the singer showed off her kidney transplant scar to “feel confident” in her skin. “When I got my kidney transplant, I remember it being very difficult at first showing my scar,” the singer said in an Instagram post. “Now, more than ever, I feel confident in who I am and what I went through…and I’m proud of that.”

You can check out more reactions from fans below.

(via Stereogum)