‘Incredibles 2’ crushes animation record with $180 million
The combined powers of superheroes, the Pixar brand and a drought of family-friendly films helped “Incredibles 2” to become the best animated opening of all time, the biggest PG-rated launch ever and the eighth-highest film launch overall. Disney estimated Sunday that the film earned $180 million in its first weekend in North American theaters — far surpassing industry analysts’ loftiest expectations, which had the film pegged for a $120 million to $140 million debut.The previous animation record holder was another Pixar sequel, “Finding Dory,” which had a $135 million launch in 2016. Disney’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast” had held the record for a PG debut, with $174.8 million in 2017.
Strobe light warning accompanies screenings of ‘Incredibles 2’
Disney has asked theater owners to include a warning about scenes featuring strobe and flashing lights in its latest movie “Incredibles 2,” the studio confirmed. AMC Theatres said the studio reached out with the request on Friday, and showings of the film are now accompanied by a sign offering the warning. The request coincides with a viral Twitter thread by blogger Veronica Lewis warning theatergoers of scenes that she said could potentially prove as triggers for people with epilepsy or other conditions.
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ joins an exclusive club of films that top $2 billion
The Marvel Studios blockbuster passed the $2 billion mark at the worldwide box office on Monday — its 48th day in theaters, Disney announced Tuesday. “Infinity War” joins only three other films that crossed the $2 billion mark worldwide: 2009’s “Avatar,” 1997’s “Titanic” and 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” All three of those films were released in December, which makes “Infinity War” the first film released outside of the holiday season to make $2 billion globally, when not accounting for inflation. The film, starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and a cast of superheroes, ranks fourth on the all-time, worldwide list of top grossing movies. Disney has two of the top four biggest films of all time.
Ewan McGregor to Star in Stephen King Adaptation ‘Doctor Sleep’
Ewan McGregor will star in Doctor Sleep, Warner Bros.’ adaptation of the 2013 book by Stephen King. The novel is the author’s follow-up to 1977’s The Shining, which the studio adapted into the classic 1980 horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Jack Nicholson. McGregor will play the grown-up version of Nicholson’s son, who in the original movie had psychic powers and watched his dad descend into a murderous rage, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Doctor Sleep is being directed by Mike Flanagan, who previously adapted the King novel Gerald’s Game for Netflix.
Aeon Flux Live-Action TV Series Reboot Set For MTV
MTV is reviving its 1990s animated classic, Aeon Flux, this time as a live-action series, according to THR. The formerly-music-minded cabler has tapped familiar talent in Jeff Davis to write the script and serve as executive producer. Davis served as showrunner for MTV’s Teen Wolfthroughout the entirety of its 2011-2017 run and is also known as the creator of the long-running CBS procedural, Criminal Minds. He’ll be joined by executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, the veteran film and television producer, who serves as EP for The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead. Hurd was also a producer for the 2005 Aeon Flux film adaptation.
Comcast’s offer to buy Fox out from under Disney has MCU fans freaking out about X-Men
This week, after a federal court greenlit AT&T’s acquisition of Time Warner and effectively signaled a shift toward a more merger-friendly environment in the US legal system, Comcast made good on weeks of hints by making an all-cash bid to buy 21st Century Fox for a whopping $65 billion. It‘s a conspicuous challenge to Disney’s stock-based, months-in-the-making offer of $52.4 billion, and while it’s unclear how the debacle will shake out in the end — following Comcast‘s bid, Disney stock actually went up; it‘s also possible that the two giants might split Fox‘s assets — one thing is certain: a horde of Marvel fans are now actively rallying against Comcast’s bid for attempting to keep the Fox-owned X-Men from joining their fellow superheroes in Disney’s MCU.
People are Asking AT&T Customer Service to Release the Snyder Cut of Justice League
This is what you might call corporate miscommunication.Some context: as of yesterday, AT&T has wrapped up its massive purchase of Time Warner, a move that give sit control of Warner Bros., CNN, and HBO, among others. This means that the entire DC Extended Universe on film, including Justice League, is now ultimately the property of AT&T. For fans who have been lobbying for the release of the mythical “Snyder cut,” a version of Justice League made entirely out of Zack Snyder’s footage which may or may not exist in any watchable form, this means that there’s suddenly someone else to yell at. So, like everyone else ever mad at AT&T, Zack Snyder fans are now stuck in customer service hell.
