‘Hotel Transylvania 3’ Registers $100M+ WW; ‘Skyscraper’ Jumps In Low With $40M Offshore – International Box Office
After starting early offshore rollout Down Under two weeks ago, Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacationchecked into another 42 markets this frame, and topped the studio charts with $46.4M in 44 total hubs. The overseas tally is now $54.8M for a global total of $100.12M. The Genndy Tartakovsky-helmed threequel set a new record as Sony’s biggest animated opening for the same group of 42 new markets and was No. 1 in 33.
Box Office: Is ‘Skyscraper’ Dying Hard Due to Dwayne Johnson Overexposure?
It’s Dwayne Johnson to the rescue again in his latest movie, but it turns out he may be the one in need of rescuing — at least from starring in too many movies. The actor’s newest outing on the big screen, Skyscraper, opened well behind expectations over the July 13-15 weekend, raising concerns that Johnson has become overexposed. At the moment, he’s the busiest actor on the planet, having now starred in five films in the short span of 14 months. And he’s already got four more slotted for 2019, although most of those don’t begin rolling out until fall of next year. Skyscraper — described as Die Hard meets The Towering Inferno — took in an estimated $25.5 million in North America and $40.4 million overseas from its first 57 markets, coming in well behind expectations and losing on both fronts to Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation in an embarrassing upset. Unless Skyscraper scales huge numbers in China, where it opens July 20, the summer event film stands to lose money for Legendary and Universal.
Yvette Nicole Brown will take over AMC’s aftershow for The Walking Dead
In June, AMC pulled Nerdist founder Chris Hardwick’s talk show Talking with Chris Hardwick, and removed him from hosting network’s aftershow, The Talking Dead while it conducted an investigation relating to allegations of emotional and sexual abuse of actress Chloe Dykstra. AMC has revealed that Community star Yvette Nicole Brown will take over his duties on The Talking Dead, at least for now. AMC told Deadline that Brown would “step in as an interim guest host of The Walking Dead Season 9 Preview Special on August 5 and Talking Dead when it returns following the premiere of Fear the Walking Dead on August 12,” while it finishes its investigation into Hardwick’s behavior. Brown will also take over for Hardwick at San Diego Comic-Con this week, and will moderate the network’s Hall H panels for The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.
Zombieland 2 is officially happening
Ruben Fleischer’s 2009 zombie film Zombieland is officially getting a sequel, with the director and original cast set to return, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The movie is expected to begin production in January, and hit theaters in October 2019. Zombieland 2 will reunite Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Abigail Breslin, and will reportedly take the group “from the White House to the American heartland as they face off against new kinds of zombies that have evolved since the first movie, as well as some new human survivors.” The 2009 film was Fleischer’s first, following Columbus (played by Jesse Eisenberg) — the survivors have taken on the names of cities to avoid becoming attached to one another — as he traveled from his college dorm room in Texas to Columbus, Ohio to see if his family was still alive.
Jim Jarmusch Assembles Cast for Zombie Comedy ‘The Dead Don’t Die’
Although the zombie genre has arguably been oversaturated in recent years, there’s always room for more when the contributor is Jim Jarmusch. Focus Features has announced the production has begun on the new feature from the Only Lovers Left Alive filmmaker, and that the project, entitled The Dead Don’t Die, has lined up a cast of past collaborators. The zombie comedy will reunite Jarmusch with Adam Driver (Paterson), Bill Murray (Broken Flowers), Chloë Sevigny (Broken Flowers), Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive and Broken Flowers), and Steve Buscemi (Mystery Train). The film will also welcome a newcomer to Jarmusch’s company with Selena Gomez also on board to co-star. While some reports have claimed that Daniel Craig and Rosie Perez are also attached, those two actors are not mentioned in the press release from Focus Features.
Will Godzilla 2 Set Up Godzilla Vs. Kong? Here’s What The Director Says
Next year, the world’s most famous giant lizard returns for Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Godzilla will have many challengers to the throne in the sequel, but we all know that a showdown with King Kong looms on the horizon in 2020. The two monsters have yet to square off in the modern era, and Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island take place years apart from each other. So the question becomes, will Godzilla: King of the Monsters set up King Kong and the conditions for his eventual clash with Godzilla? Director Michael Dougherty confirmed there will be some hints, saying: It’s not like we’re bending over backwards to introduce Kong, but there’s definitely some bread crumbs.”
Godzilla Vs. Kong Looks To Be Adding A Black Panther Star
If there’s one thing that both studios and audiences love, it’s cinematic universes. The MCU introduced serialized storytelling to the mainstream, and now everyone is trying to get in on the action. In addition to the DCEU and X-Men franchises, Warner Bros. has been slowly building its MonsterVerse. With giant creatures and big budgets, the MonsterVerse has seen success with both Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island. Following the upcoming blockbuster Godzilla: King of Monsters, the behemoth franchise will go full crossover with Godzilla Vs Kong. The cast for that movie has slowly been assembling, and now it looks like none other than Walking Dead and Black Panther actress Danai Gurira may be stepping into the action packed project.
