Matthew Monagle
Hollywood Wants to Turn the Mooch’s White House Tenure Into a Movie
They say the flame that burns brightest also burns quickest, which might explain America’s short-lived fascination with Anthony Scaramucci. Scaramucci was a singular political figure: from his methodical recreation of Donald Trump hand gestures to his, ah, poorly conceived late night phone calls, Scaramucci was immediately the most colorful character in an administration that already featured a surplus of memorable individuals. So when Scaramucci was fired from his official position as White House spokesperson, there was a half-ironic sense of loss, a feeling that we’d only begun to scratch the surface of Mooch madness.
Sony Is Slapped With a Lawsuit Over a ‘Baby Driver’ Song
I probably don’t need to tell you that Baby Driver is a good movie; odds are you’ve seen it in theaters - maybe more than once - and might even own have a copy of the soundtrack downloaded on your phone. As good as Baby Driver The Movie might be, Baby Driver The Soundtrack is even better, with a ton of really great songs from artists as diverse as Simon & Garfunkel, Blur, and Martha and the Vandellas. And until now, one of the better production stories has been all the hard work Edgar Wright and company put into securing the rights for each of these tracks.
Weekend Box Office Report: Thankfully, ‘Dunkirk’ Holds Off ‘The Emoji Movie’
Be honest with me: did you really want to see a picture of The Emoji Movie at the top of this article? You had to be hoping that Atomic Blonde or Dunkirk would hang strong enough to keep The Emoji Movie from finishing in the top spot of its opening weekend, right? Well, good news for you: it’s not the highest-grossing movie in America this weekend! Has there ever in the history of Hollywood been a box office one-two as disparate as Dunkirk and The Emoji Movie? Actually, don’t answer that, I don’t want to know. Here’s the projected grosses as of Sunday afternoon:
Paul Thomas Anderson Is Releasing a Short Film With the Band Haim
Even dating back to the beginning of his career, Paul Thomas Anderson has always liked working with musicians. In 1997, while putting the finishing touches on Boogie Nights, Anderson and several of his cast members snuck in an iconic music video for Michael Penn’s Try (and yes, Michael is the older brother of actor-writer-director Sean). Over the next two decades, Anderson would lend his talents to the music videos of a diverse group of artists, including — but not limited to — Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple, Radiohead, and Joanna Newsom. Anderson’s most recent music video, released just this April, was for the song ‘Right Now’ by the band Haim, proving that his film schedule won’t keep him from shooting more music videos going forward.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Transformers: The Last Knight’ Both Bombs and Breaks Records
Another weekend, another Weekend Box Office Report! While it won’t surprise you to find out that Michael Bay’s latest episode of Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots won the weekend, the specifics of that win come with enough asterisks to make even Barry Bonds blush. It was a terrible weekend for Transformers: The Last Knight one on continent and a record-breaking opening on another, which just goes to show how confusing this whole box office thing can be at times. Here’s the projected numbers as of Sunday afternoon:
Judge Declares a Mistrial in the Bill Cosby Rape Case
For years now, America has been struggling with the allegations that Bill Cosby — once a beloved television father and comedian — may have used his position in Hollywood to commit a series of violent sexual assaults. For those unfamiliar with the timeline involved in the Cosby case, I would encourage you to check out ABC’s detailed recap of everything that led up to this past month’s trial, including the civil cases brought against the actor-comedian and the Hannibal Burgess joke that is widely regarded as the instigating event in bringing these accusations to the public. And today, as noted by Deadline, a Norristown, PA jury has forced the judge to declare a mistrial in Andrea Costand’s case against Cosby.
Weekend Box Office Report: Tom Cruise Is No Match for ‘Wonder Woman’
If you only look at the surface numbers, this was a pretty predictable week at the box office. Wonder Woman did well, The Mummy did not, and everything else shook out accordingly. That being said, there’s some pretty interesting narratives emerging in the how and why of this weekend’s box office report. Let’s take a look at the rankings as of Sunday afternoon and dive into some of the specifics:
Weekend Box Office Report: All Hail The Truly Wondrous ‘Wonder Woman’
Based on how this weekend’s box office numbers shaped up, odds are good that you either saw Wonder Woman this weekend or you avoided the theater altogether. It was a record-setting few days for everyone’s favorite warrior princess — sorry, Xena — but things were decidedly less rosy if your movie was… well, literally anything else. Here are the box office estimates as of Sunday afternoon:
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Alien: Covenant’ and ‘Guardians’ Battle for Sci-Fi Supremacy
It’s a battle of the science fiction blockbusters this weekend, with Alien: Covenant and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 giving us a photo finish at the box office. The two movies couldn’t be more different in style, tone, and aesthetics, but they equally captured audiences’ attention and shined a light on what the future has in store for both franchises. Here’s the box office numbers as of Sunday afternoon:
The Losers’ Club Heads Underground in This Creepy New ‘It’ Trailer
After breaking the record for the most trailer views in a single day, expectations couldn’t be higher for Andres Muschietti’s remake of It. It wasn’t long ago that this seemed like a project destined for trouble; the film’s original director — and still credited screenwriter — Cary Fukunaga dropped out of the production after the studio wouldn’t budge on letting him make an ‘unconventional’ horror film, causing fans to worry we were in for another bland adaptation of a Stephen King novel. All was forgiven, of course, when New Lined delivered that amazing first It teaser trailer, but could they keep it up?