While Venom: The Last Dance will open at number one, it will still open below studio expectations.
The box office doldrums continue. There hasn’t been a huge hit since Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice opened in early September, and Hollywood’s hopes that Venom: The Last Dance would be a blockbuster aren’t amounting to much. According to Deadline, the superhero threequel is set to open in the low $50-million range after a $21 million Friday. That’s below more optimistic box office projections but pretty much right in line with the $50 million we predicted earlier this week.
As expected, Smile 2 should hit second place, with over $10 million, but the 52% drop, while not bad for a horror sequel, is far higher than the mere 18% the original fell on its second weekend in 2022. Its final gross will likely come in far under the $105 million the original made, but it should still turn a profit for Paramount. The Wild Robot and Terrifier 3 are making the race for third place pretty tight, with each grossing in the $5.5 – 6 million range. Focus Features’s Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes (who we interviewed yesterday), should open north of $5 million, which isn’t bad for an adult drama these days.
So, what’s going on with Venom’s box office? One thing studios may need to fess up to is that superhero fatigue is real. The massive success of Deadpool & Wolverine notwithstanding, studios have flooded the market with too many bad (or mediocre) superhero films, and audiences are no longer flocking to them the way they used to. Much is riding on the fate of Marvel’s next phase of films, as well as James Gunn’s Superman. The genre seems tired, as younger audiences seem to be sparking less to them nowadays. Perhaps it’s time for studios to think outside the box a little more and revisit genres they’ve all but abandoned, such as mid-level action movies, comedies and thrillers – all of which used to be the bread and butter of the theatrical experience.
What was the last great theatrical experience you had in theaters? Let us know in the comments.
Some cliche somewhere said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ This has proven to be the case for me and especially when it comes to fan art. I have always sought out great fan art and have wanted to share it with as many people as possible. “Awesome Art We’ve Found Around The Net” is the outlet for that passion. In this column, I will showcase the kick-ass artwork of some great artists, with the hopes that these artists get the attention they deserve. That’s the aim. If you have any questions or comments, or even suggestions of art or other great artists, feel free to contact me at any time at [email protected].
While speaking to Liam Neeson about his new movie, Absolution, the star gave us a hilariously deadpan tease for his Naked Gun reboot.
One of the great things about Liam Neeson is that, despite all his accolades (and massive box office pull), he’s never taken himself too seriously. Recently, we here at JoBlo got to experience that firsthand when discussing his latest movie, Absolution. While the full interview goes up next week, we had to highlight a hilarious chunk of the interview, where the star teased his upcoming Naked Gun reboot.
When we asked him if he could reveal anything to us about the highly anticipated comedy, he leaned forward and, in hilariously deadpan fashion, said, “It’s going to be very funny,” with HEAVY hints of menace. Immediately breaking into a chuckle, Neeson was quick to praise his co-stars, Pamela Anderson and Danny Huston, and looks pretty excited about this potential new direction as he weighs retiring from action flicks.
It has to be said, as far as Hollywood tough guys go, Neeson sits at the top of the heap, and it helps that he’s always come across as a pretty solid, down-to-earth fella offscreen as well. Neeson playing Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun is one of those ideas that will either fall flat or work tremendously well. Given how funny he was in his Ted 2 cameo and the fact that Popstar director Akiva Schaffer is at the helm, I’m banking it on being great. Let’s not forget that before he was cast in Airplane, Leslie Neeson was considered one of Hollywood’s most humourless character actors. Given how sweet a guy Neeson seems to be, I’m really hoping this allows him to have a little fun in his late career and show people a different side of himself.
Stay tuned for more from Neeson. Our interview will air on the Celeb Channel this week. Absolution opens in theaters on November 1st!
The late Ray Stevenson co-stars in this Prime Video original from Taken director Pierre Morel.
Plot: A top CIA operative, Avery Graves, is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband. Cut off from her team, she turns to her underworld contacts to help locate the coveted intelligence that the kidnappers want. As she is betrayed at every turn, Avery finds herself in a deadly race to deliver a ransom that could trigger a global crisis.
Review: Thirty years ago, mediocre action movies were populated with mid-level or over-the-hill action stars and had their release relegated to video stores. These same movies were commonly found at your local Redbox a decade ago. Today, the glut of streaming services constantly needs new fodder to entice audiences to choose them over the competition, which means projects that otherwise would not be able to land top talent are now showcases for movie stars slumming it for a paycheck. Canary Black boasts a director and star with experience making action movies starring in a film that, on the surface, looks like it could be good. Dropped onto Prime Video with no fanfare, Canary Black is an instantly forgettable replication of countless other action movies that offers nothing to distinguish itself from every other action movie out there.
Canary Black opens with Agent Avery Graves, donned in a skintight catsuit and blond wig reminiscent of Charlize Theron’s hairstyle in Atomic Blonde. Graves infiltrates a Tokyo skyscraper, where she takes out a bevy of thugs while retrieving a flash drive. The entire sequence is filmed in a way that uses Kate Beckinsale’s experience leading films like Underworld as she kicks and shoots her way through a video game-esque complex of hallways and staircases. It is a competently shot action scene that does not build much energy or excitement as the bodies drop and the blood pools. From there, Graves heads back home to Croatia, a setting not commonly used for top-tier spy homebases. Graves reunites with her husband, David (Rupert Friend), just in time to celebrate their anniversary. David is philanthropic and the opposite of Avery in many ways.
Avery heads to work, where she is greeted by her British boss, Jarvis Hedlund (Ray Stevenson), who is American even though the actor was British. Yeah, this is that kind of movie. Speaking in code, Graves and Hedlund head to their secure inner office, which is a clandestine CIA base. The retrieved device is part of a broader mission to track a terrorist known as Kali, who appears to be escalating. As Avery ponders her next move, David is kidnapped by terrorists who blackmail her into accessing a file known as Canary Black in exchange for her husband’s life. Avery barely thinks twice before she does as she is told and tries to find the file, the setting of the film’s main plot, which sends her on task after task to find the Canary Black file while Jarvis has to hunt her down. Along the way, Director Nathan Evans (Ben Miles) and Agent Maxfield (Jaz Hutchins) join the search as they know the close relationship between Avery and Jarvis has likely compromised his objectivity.
What starts out like a play on a Mission: Impossible plot gradually turns into a full-blown, over-the-top James Bond-style villain story. I never expected this movie to be grounded or feature any semblance of realistic espionage action. Still, the narrative meanders between generic double-life tropes as Avery tries to balance her work and professional worlds with an apocalyptic weapon controlled by a turtleneck-clad villain wearing a Spirit Halloween mask as he asks for Dr. Evil-level ransoms from a global summit. Yeah, Canary Black shares more in common with the plot of Austin Powers than any serious spy movie. By the time the third act twist comes around, you will already be so baffled by the decisions made in this film that it will not surprise you in the least. Some may find that entertaining, but combining overly familiar plot devices with out-of-left-field shifts in tone is more aggravating than enjoyable.
Written by Matthew Kennedy, the scribe of the upcoming Frank Grillo horror film Werewolves, and the Lily Collins and Simon Pegg thriller Inheritance, Canary Black has every conceivable genre cliche. Director Pierre Morel, who has made a career out of European-centric action flicks like Taken and Peppermint, does not even raise the temperature of the action to a point where anyone in the film boasts energy appropriate for the material. The limited scale of this European production delivers a cool yet brief sequence involving Kate Beckinsale hanging from a drone in midair. Still, beyond that, the production is relegated to dark rooms and basements that all look the same after a while. It also doesn’t help that Beckinsale has to spout some truly horrid dialogue that is meant to sound like quippy banter but comes across as wooden and artificial, further giving Canary Black the feel of a cheaper production masked by a famous lead.
Committing the ultimate sin of being forgettable, Canary Black is too inoffensive to even distinguish itself from every other movie available at the press of a button. Kate Beckinsale still has the chops to handle a lead role in an action movie, but she deserves better than this. Pierre Morel, as a director, has no opportunity to put any sort of a stamp on Canary Black, which leaves the movie looking bland. Do yourself a favor and skip this one unless you are looking for a movie that reuses the same insult of calling a strong female protagonist a bitch over and over again as she tries to save the world.
The first reviews for Robert Zemeckis’ latest, Here, offer praise for the de-aging effects but the film might not be a complete success.
If there’s one topic in Hollywood right now that gets the most discussion, it’s probably the use of AI. And if there’s one film right now that is taking full advantage of it, it’s Robert Zemeckis’ Here. Now, ahead of the movie’s November 1st release, the first reactions are coming out of AFI Fest.
By and large, it seems like Robert Zemeckis pulled off an incredible feat with Here, which has the bonus gimmick of being shot from the same angle for the movie’s duration. Check out some of the reactions below:
#HereMovie Nice to see Tom Hanks & Robin Wright back on the screen together 30 years after #ForrestGump. The de-aging tech in the movie was pretty expressive. It’s interesting to see the entire movie from one camera angle about decades stories in one house.For me the stories of… pic.twitter.com/8mp0KJAoKD
Inspired by its graphic novel source material, #HereMovie is high concept filmmaking that takes big swings. The scrambled narrative structure might be too much for some but it finds its feet. Gump alums Hanks and Wright are great together. The de-aging is impressive, not jarring. pic.twitter.com/0eHhE3nhUx
We all sort of figured that getting Tom Hanks and Robin Wright back together on the big screen for the first time since Forrest Gump would be a win, but it’s great to see that the de-aging effects work and actually enhance the film (finally!), which relies so much on them.
However, it hasn’t been all praise for Here, with some pointing out that Robert Zemeckis and Eric Roth (his Oscar-winning Forrest Gump partner) haven’t delivered a faithful adaptation of the source, actually a graphic novel. There, too, have been criticisms against the tone and performances.
Robert Zemeckis’ #Here/ #HereMovie did NOT work for me. The graphic novel is surely inventive and creative. This adaptation stinks, not honoring source material with proper imternal life. He & Eric Roth would rather give Robin Wright Alzheimer’s than agency. #AFIFestpic.twitter.com/by31VMuapc
Zemeckis’ #Here is, by default, his best effort since Allied, but that doesn’t say much. An interesting exploration of spatial limitations isn’t done much favor by the highly theatrical performances and an over-the-top Silvestri score to make up for its emotional shortcomings. pic.twitter.com/u4Glq5eQjd
HERE presents an intriguing and ambitious concept: depicting the passage of time from the age of dinosaurs to the present, all within a single location using a fixed, static camera angle. However, in this “Forrest Gump” reunion with Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, and screenwriter Eric… pic.twitter.com/ep9oN0Zsh7
While the reactions right now to Robert Zemeckis’ latest are a mixed bag, even the more negatively skewed reviews of Here make me want to see it even more just to see how he handles the concept. Zemeckis has always been one on the cutting edge of technology, and there’s something to admire even with duds like his mo-cap experiments The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol. And when he’s on, he is on, as the visual effects in films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Back to the Future are stunning and still remain prime examples of how to do it all without flaw.
On the perspective of Here, Robert Zemeckis said, “The single perspective never changes, but everything around it does. It’s actually never been done before. There are similar scenes in very early silent movies, before the language of montage was invented. But other than that, yeah, it was a risky venture. That’s the excitement of it. What passes by this view of the universe? I think it’s an interesting way to do a meditation on mortality. It taps into the universal theme that everything passes.”
What do you make of the first reaction to Robert Zemeckis’ Here? Are you more intrigued or will you be passing on this one?
With Venom: The Last Dance wrapping up the Tom Hardy trilogy, we look back and try to figure out which of the three films is the best.
I won’t lie, I do get a strange enjoyment out of the Venom films but I would hesitate to call them “good.” I’ve been a big fan of the character since its inception and so, like many, I was very disappointed when the first film came out. The design was too alien and he didn’t act like how I like my Venom to act. See, I’m a 90’s Spider-man guy and the primary motivating factor for Eddie Brock is his hatred of Peter Parker/Spider-man. We don’t have any Spider-man in the Tom Hardy-starring Venom movies. So we’re already off to a massive disadvantage. And with every film having some kind of Symbiote bad guy, they can feel very samey. I mean, imagine Iron Man taking on three Robot Men, three films in a row. It would get pretty old and tired.
But there’s one thing about these Venom movies that work: the relationship between Eddie Brock and Venom. It’s a strange sentence to even type out but it’s true. Their interactions are absolute gold and are a highlight in each film. And with Tom Hardy having a pretty serious career outside of Venom, it’s entertaining to get to see Hardy put himself in sillier situations. Where else would we see Hardy, always looking like he has a bad hangover, having a couples spat with an alien creature? Or riding a massive horse-symbiote through the desert? Sometimes Venom gives us more than we even know what to do with. And depending on your tolerance for schlock, this could be good or bad.
Even the bottom of the barrel deserves to be ranked and there’s still a lot of dumb fun to be had with the Venom Franchise. So now that the final (for now) entry Venom: The Last Dance is out in theaters, it’s time to take a look at the trilogy and see how they rank. And sadly no, we will not be talking about the schlocky horror movie from 2005. Though it’s about the same level of quality as some of these films. Let’s get into the rankings!
Venom (2018)
The first film is pretty basic and features the least amount of symbiote Venom. Given that he’s the best character in the trilogy, this is a massive strike against it. There’s also a really stereotypical love story with Michelle Williams that thankfully gets dropped in later films. Then add in Riz Ahmed’s villainous Carlton Drake/Riot and it just feels very tired, despite being the first film. Like the first season of a long-running TV show, they didn’t quite know what Venom was going to be at this point, so he’s much more serious here. There are inklings of the fun banter between Brock and Venom, but it’s not nearly as pronounced as the other two films. They clearly saw what worked here and decided to go hard with those elements in the sequels.
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Carnage is a hard character to pull off as he’s really more of a visual spectacle and potential threat versus being a character who’s well executed from story to story. So I won’t complain about what they did to my boy Cletus with his strange love story, but at least his design is great. They certainly got rid of him way too fast, but with Tom Hardy being such a massive star, you’re pretty much forced to speedrun the greatest hits. Woody Harrelson appears to have been given the direction: “chew on every bit of scenery possible” which results in every scene practically having bite marks all over it. Cut a few really bad scenes and this would have been the best in the trilogy but it’s hampered by a pretty uneven narrative.
Venom: The Last Dance (2024)
At this point, the series seems to know exactly what it is: silly buddy cop moments between Eddie and Venom and massive Symbiote fighting set pieces. Unlike the other films that feel bogged down by trying to us give us some serious moments, this is practically all schlock all the time and better for it. Venom dances with Mrs. Chen, they meet a family of alien conspiracy theorists, Venom has a gambling problem, etc. This movie takes nothing seriously and is just trying to have a good time. This is funny given the entire plot is about trying to kill Eddie and Venom while they’re on the run both from the law and Knull’s forces. There’s such a juxtaposition between the world-altering stakes and the more singular focus on the lives of Eddie and Venom, but it works reasonably well.
How would YOU rank the Venom franchise? Do you think they should make more? Will we see Tom Hardy’s Venom and Tom Holland’s Spider-man ever cross paths? I’m hopeful but what do you think? Let us know in the comments below!
Lorne Michaels is pinning the blame on Shane Gillis’ firing from SNL on the network, saying the situation was overblown.
There are quite a few famous faces who appeared on Saturday Night Live for a limited number of episodes: Ben Stiller, Gilbert Gottfried, Damon Wayans…Whether they bailed, were let go or decided to try to tank the show mid-air, they all have that distinction of having at least made it to Studio 8H. But few – that is, just two – people were hired but never got the chance to enter the famed studio. One of these sorta-kinda SNL cast members is Shane Gillis, who was hired in 2019 but fired after racist and homophobic statements he made resurfaced. Now, Lorne Michaels is standing by Gillis, pinning the blame on his firing on the network.
Speaking with The Wall Street Journal, Lorne Michaels admitted that Shane Gillis was in the wrong but that it maybe shouldn’t have cost him his spot on SNL. “He said something stupid, but it got blown up into the end of the world. I was angry. I thought, You haven’t seen what we’re going to do, and what I’m going to try to bring out in him, because I thought he was the real thing.” He added, “That was very strong from the people in charge. And obviously I was not on that side, but I understood it.”
Despite what he says now, a spokesperson for Lorne Michaels said at the time of Shane Gillis’ firing, “The language he used is offensive, hurtful and unacceptable. We are sorry that we did not see these clips earlier, and that our vetting process was not up to our standard.” Even still, in the years since the hiring/firing debacle, Michaels has gone on to defend Shane Gillis, who even got a chance to host SNL a few years later.
Paul Bettany was tight on details but confirmed that his Vision series spin-off will begin filming in 2025.
He has been a voice with no body and a memory made real. But who knows what he might be next? How about the star of his own series? News on the Vision series has been fairly quiet since it was first announced, but now star Paul Bettany has revealed that filming will begin next year, which sets it up for its 2026 premiere.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Paul Bettany confirmed the news on the Vision series, adding the team is “cooking up something that I’m really excited about.” That’s not much – or anything, really (Bettany said that “snitches end up in ditches”) – to go on, but that doesn’t mean we’re still not looking forward to the Vision series. After all, while Vision may be one of the more minor characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he has been crucial and developed remarkably well throughout, especially on WandaVision. Bettany would earn Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for his performance.
The Vision series doesn’t have an official title yet, but has been referred to as Vision Quest. It will be the second spin-off of WandaVision, following Agatha All Along, which is currently airing on Disney+, the streamer which will also house the Vision series. Bettany has even been watching Agatha All Along for research, saying, “I love it. I love it and I’m so proud of [showrunner] Jac Schaeffer and I am going to watch again because there’s so much for me to learn moving forward into my contribution.”
Like many of Marvel’s projects, the Vision series also saw some shake-ups as it was being developed. The biggest is that Schaeffer is no longer attached and Star Trek: Picard’s Terry Matalas has taken over. Reception on that move was mixed, but one addition we can all get behind is that of James Spader, who will reprise Ultron – one of the MCU’s best villains, let’s face it – for the first time since 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron.
What do you expect from the upcoming Vision series? What role do you hope it plays in the MCU? Give us your own vision in the comments below.
With Venom: The Last Dance closing out Sony’s trilogy, let us know which of the three Venom movies you think is the best.
With Venom: The Last Dance in theaters now, Sony’s most successful live-action Spider-Verse spin-off series seems to be coming to an end after three movies. Truth be told, the Venom franchise has never been beloved by critics or fans, yet they made a significant amount of money for Sony. In fact, one could argue it was the success of these films which paved the way for misbegotten spin-offs, such as Morbius and Madame Web. Yesterday, we posted our rankings of the Venom series, but now we want your take. What’s the best Venom movie? Take the poll below and let us know!
About the Author
Chris Bumbray began his career with JoBlo as the resident film critic (and James Bond expert) way back in 2007, and he has stuck around ever since, being named editor-in-chief in 2021. A voting member of the CCA and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, you can also catch Chris discussing pop culture regularly on CTV News Channel.
