Smile 2 managed to (narrowly) outgross its predecessor with a $23 million weekend.

Paramount Pictures’s decision to turn Smile, which was originally meant to be a streaming-only film, into a wide theatrical release has continued to pay handsome dividends for the studio. Smile 2, the critically acclaimed sequel, managed to (narrowly) outgross its predecessor’s opening weekend, making a handsome $23 million this weekend (just slightly ahead of our predictions). With a budget in the $27 million range, that’s a solid result for what could become the studio’s first big horror franchise since the Paranormal Activity series ran out of steam some years back.

For the sequel, director Parker Finn expanded the scope, with star Naomi Scott (in an excellent performance) playing a Taylor Swift-style pop star who winds up cursed. Given the ending, Finn may return for a third film with an even broader scope, but one has to wonder how long he’ll stay committed to the franchise. He’s getting some big directing jobs (including the star-studded Possession remake) and might want to leave the franchise as is – although Paramount likely will make a third with or without him.

According to the Comscore numbers, The Wild Robot pulled ahead of Terrifier 3 for a third-place finish, making $10.1 million for a $101 million North American haul. Terrifier 3 had a good hold in its second weekend, only slipping 51%, with a $9.3 million weekend and an excellent $36 million domestic total. Given the movie cost in the single-digit millions, this franchise (check out our rankings) has been minting cash, and it will likely be one of the year’s most profitable movies. 

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice mania also continued this weekend. Despite being on VOD, it earned $5 million for a $283 million total, with a $300 million domestic total within reach, especially with Halloween coming up. A24’s romantic weepie We Live in Time made a strong $4.5 million despite being open on less than 1000 screens. Younger audiences are embracing this date movie, which is carried by the star power of Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh. 

However, star power isn’t saving Joker: Folie a Deux, which fell another massive 69% this weekend to gross only $2.1 million for an atrocious $56 million total. Rumor has it the movie might lose WB $200 million. The Lego-animated Piece By Piece, which is a documentary about Pharrell, made $2.1 million for a $7.6 million total. Poor Transformers One is winding down its run, with a $1.9 million weekend, for a total of just over $56 million. It’s too bad audiences didn’t embrace this pretty good animated prequel. 

Another good movie struggling to find an audience is Saturday Night, about the early days of SNL. It lost 47% of its audience and only made $1.8 million for a domestic total of just over $7 million. Finally, the Tim Burton re-release, The Nightmare Before Christmas, made a solid $1.13 million for a $4.8 million total (to note, this only reflects the gross of the re-release).

Next weekend, we should see the first $50 million-plus opener in some time, with Sony’s latest addition to the Spider-Verse, Venom: The Last Dance, coming out. Do you think it will end the franchise with a bang? Let us know in the comments! 

Even though season one of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is still filming, a second season has already been announced.

Season one of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy hasn’t even aired yet but has already been renewed for a second, a huge get for the latest expansion of the franchise. Added to this, Tatiana Maslany – who fully broke out in more ways than one with Marvel’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law – has also been named as a cast member.

Fresh out of New York Comic Con comes word that Starfleet Academy will go beyond at least its first season, which is currently filming in Canada. Those episodes aren’t even expected to drop until next year at the earliest, with some pegging them to be released in 2026. Whenever the actual release will be, Starfleet Academy is looking to freshen up the franchise in a way that will hopefully beam in a younger audience.

Starfleet Academy will indeed skew towards the next generation, as it “introduces us to a young group of cadets who come together to pursue a common dream of hope and optimism. Under the watchful and demanding eyes of their instructors, they will discover what it takes to become Starfleet officers as they navigate blossoming friendships, explosive rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.”

But there will still be some veterans in the cast, with Holly Hunter portraying the head of the namesake academy and Paul Giamatti taking on the lead villain role. Maslany’s role has yet to be revealed.

Starfleet Academy was formally announced early last year, with cameras rolling this past August. But this isn’t the only Star Trek project going on, as season three of Strange New Worlds is set to debut next year, with the second season having concluded in August 2023.

Of course, the original Star Trek series first debuted nearly 60 years ago in 1966. But the franchise has had no problem (well, for the most part) adapting with the times or building its fanbase, even switching exclusively to streaming programming last decade with Discovery. Like its predecessors in the streaming age, Starfleet Academy will be available on Paramount+.

What are your expectations for Starfleet Academy? Do you think it has a shot to live long and prosper?

Tom Holland is notorious for accidentally spoiling MCU secrets and so was surprised himself when he kept RDJ’s Doctor Doom casting secret.

If there’s one thing Tom Holland is known for in the MCU, it’s Spider-Man. But if there’s another, it’s his utter inability not to spoil its movies. Despite some serious gaffes in the PR department, Tom Holland did hold one major secret in regarding the MCU: Robert Downey Jr.’s role as Doctor Doom, one of the biggest surprise casting announcements in recent memory.

Appearing on the Rick Roll podcast (via Variety), Tom Holland said he had a tremendously hard time keeping that particular MCU spoiler to himself. “I’ve been speaking to [Robert Downey Jr.] a lot, especially about him making his [Marvel] return, which is super exciting…That was a tough secret to sit on because I have a reputation for ruining things and I strategically have done no press.” Downey was announced as Doctor Doom this last summer, an incredibly bold move considering we all knew RDJ as Tony Stark/Iron Man for so long. Had he spilled the beans, no doubt we would all have all had an Aunt May moment, screaming our own version of “WTF?!” until we could get ourselves back in order.

As for what Tom Holland is referring to with his MCU spoilers, the kid probably could have taken a few lessons from Peter Parker on how to keep a secret. Seriously, the dude has spoiled plot points in the MCU and the existence of sequels to the point where even his fellow Marvel cast members are on edge during joint interviews that he’ll do it again. (Hey, it would at least take pressure off of Owen Wilson!) With years of this kind of experience to his name, it really is something of a miracle that Downey Jr.’s future wasn’t blown.

Tom Holland spoilers or not, Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU is one of the more intriguing and controversial casting decisions that the studio has ever dropped…Now we’ll just have to wait until 2026 to see if it pays off, as Avengers: Doomsday is set for May 1st of that year. The follow-up, Avengers: Secret Wars, is set for a May 7th, 2027 release.

In addition to its Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD releases, Alien: Romulus will also be made available on VHS, complete with new box art.

Just last week it was announced that Alien: Romulus would be getting its physical media – more specifically, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD – release in December. You can now add one more type of physical media to that collection, as Alien: Romulus will also be getting the VHS treatment, complete with artwork by the great Matt Ferguson.

This Romulus VHS is marketed as a tie-in to the original Alien’s 45th anniversary, although we can’t ignore the fact that Romulus director Fede Álvarez worked in several references to and took plenty of inspiration from past installments of the Alien franchise.

The official trailer for the second season of the Goosebumps anthology series, The Vanishing, has arrived just in time for Halloween.

If Goosebumps is going to have a revival, we are all in for it. So many of us grew up on R.L. Stine’s spooky spines, collecting haunted masks and staying out of the basement. The live-action movies may have run their course, but the series is thriving on the small screen. With strong enough ratings and reviews, word came a few months after the first season’s conclusion that a sophomore season would officially mark it as an anthology. Now, we have the official trailer for what has been dubbed Goosebumps: The Vanishing.

As per Disney, Goosebumps: The Vanishing “begins when twins Cece and Devin Brewer are sent to spend a summer in Gravesend, Brooklyn, with their divorced dad. A threat is stirring, and they quickly realize that dark secrets are among them, triggering a chain of events that unravel a profound mystery. As they delve into the unknown, Cece, Devin and their friends — Alex, CJ and Frankie — find themselves entangled in the chilling tale of four teenagers who mysteriously vanished in 1994.”

Jayden Bartels plays Cece, while Sam McCarthy is Devin. Meanwhile, Alex, CJ and Frankie are played by Francesca Noel, Elijah M. Cooper and Galilea La Salvia, respectively. Most of these may not be household names, but David Schwimmer’s presence will bring a bit of star power (and maybe some willingness to watch from parents), just as Jack Black did for the 2015 Goosebumps movie and Justin Long’s familiarity did for season one.

While we dug the first season of Goosebumps enough to give it a 7/10 review, the trailer for The Vanishing does look a lot better in numerous aspects. Unfortunately, it will only consist of eight episodes, whereas the first had 10. There, too, is a bit of disappointment that it won’t come out until January 10th on Disney+ and Hulu, as October would have obviously been the premiere choice for release.

What do you think of the trailer for Goosebumps: The Vanishing? Were you a fan of the first season? Do you think it will improve on it? Say “cheese” and let us know in the comments below!

After 27 years and more than 360 issues, Total Film has released its final print edition, this one devoted to Gladiator II.

Last Updated on October 14, 2024

One of the great movie magazines of our time, Total Film has officially released its final issue, #356. Modestly, the publication is not devoting this final edition to themselves but rather an anticipated movie, Gladiator II, making it the cover story.

While the magazine did put “Total Film’s Last Ever Issue” at the top of the cover, the rest puts the contents of the issue itself at the forefront. Inside is complete coverage of next month’s Gladiator II, an interview with Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage, a look at Steve McQueen’s upcoming World War II film Blitz, a sitdown with Jeff Goldblum, and much more.

In a statement, Total Film wrote, in part: “It’s with a heavy heart that we announce that this will be the final issue of the print magazine.  We like to think that this final print edition is a showcase of everything that Total Film magazine strived for, with a thrilling blockbuster on the cover, A-list interviews, fair and impartial reviews, smaller interesting movies nestled alongside the more mainstream fare, and above all else a passion for cinema radiating out of every page. So for now, it only leaves us to say a huge thank you to all the staff, writers, designers and photographers who made Total Film print magazine what it was over the past 27 years. And we’d also like to express our endless gratitude to everyone who has read, subscribed to or otherwise supported the magazine.” As has been the case, content will be available on GamesRadar.

Unlike other publications of its kind, Total Film found itself coming about at the dawn of the internet age, launching in 1997, a time when we were starting to have computers in our homes (hell, entire rooms were devoted to them!). With that, they always felt cutting edge, quickly becoming a must-subscribed magazine. Backed by exclusive material that found them delivering behind-the-scenes stories and interviews, as well as exploring films that ranged from the mainstream to the margins, they were near the pinnacle of cinema periodicals.

Sure, content both archival and new will be available online, but the end of the physical version of Total Film is undoubtedly a loss for movie fans all over the world.

How do you feel about Total Film shutting down their print edition? Were you a subscriber? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.

Before he gets to work on Lanterns, Kyle Chandler has a role in the Joe Carnahan crime thriller RIP alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck

Earlier this week, it was officially confirmed that Kyle Chandler of Super 8 will be playing the DC Comics character Hal Jordan in the upcoming HBO series Lanterns – but before Chandler gets to work on that show, he’ll be working with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on RIP, a crime thriller that’s written and directed by Joe Carnahan and is set up at the Netflix streaming service. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chandler will be playing a DEA agent in the film.

RIP will follow a group of Miami cops whose trust begins to fray after they discover millions in cash in a derelict stash house. As outside forces learn about the size of the seizure, everything is called into question — including who they can rely on.

Damon, Affleck, and Chandler are joined in the cast by Sasha Calle, who played Supergirl in The Flash, singer/songwriter Teyana Taylor, who starred in the drama A Thousand and One, Catalina Sandino Moreno of the MGM+ series From, and Néstor Carbonell, who was recently seen on the FX / Hulu series Shōgun. Details on the specific characters being played by Damon, Affleck, Calle, and Taylor have not been revealed, but The Hollywood Reporter was able to learn that Moreno and Carbonell are playing members of the police force.

Damon and Affleck are producing the film alongside Luciana Damon and Dani Bernfeld for Artists Equity. Michael Joe and Kevin Halloran of Artists Equity serve as executive producers. Filming is expected to begin later this month and will take place in Miami and Los Angeles.

Joe Carnahan has previously directed Blood, Guts, Bullets & Octane; Narc, Smokin’ Aces, The A-Team, The Grey, Stretch, Boss Level, and Copshop. He also worked on the screenplays for Pride and Glory, the Death Wish remake, El Chicano, and Bad Boys for Life. He was also attached to direct the Death Wish remake and Bad Boys for Life during the development of those films, but dropped out over creative differences – which is something he also did when he was attached to direct Mission: Impossible 3.

The other movies that have both Damon and Affleck in the cast are School Ties, Glory Daze, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot, The Last Duel (which they wrote with Nicole Holofcener), Air, and Good Will Hunting (which they won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for writing). They were also extras on the set of Field of Dreams.

Are you glad to hear that Kyle Chandler will be fitting in RIP before he gets to work on Lanterns? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

Mr. Crocket feels like Freddy Krueger’s younger brother and as such, there’s fun to be had with this horror take on a children’s TV host.

Last Updated on October 14, 2024

PLOT: A mother embarks on a perilous quest to rescue her son from a demonic children’s show host who is kidnapping kids.

REVIEW: Hulu has been making a concentrated effort to give the Horror genre it’s due with plenty of low-budget films with interesting concepts releasing every October as part of their Huluween initiative. While not all have landed, I appreciate the fact that they’re trying something different. Shudder can’t do everything for the horror world. And I was intrigued by the idea of a kid’s television host coming out of the television to murder parents and kidnap children. It’s a terrifying idea with so many possibilities to get under your skin. It comes from an episode of Bite Size Halloween which has now been expanded into a full-length feature film. So how exactly does Mr. Crocket fare? Better than you would think.

Mr. Crocket follows a mother (Jerrika Hinton) as she witnesses her son kidnapped by an otherworldly entity. With the cops not believing her, she attempts to find out more about this mysterious kid’s show host that her son was obsessed with prior to his abduction. The idea of someone coming out of our television sets has been done before, with The Ring being the most famous instance. And with nearly every home having its own television, this fear can be universal. The story is set in the year 1993, but that hardly ever really comes into play. It feels like they just really wanted to use CRT televisions and VHS tapes since they’re a great visual. And I can’t blame them.

Jerrika does a fine job but her character is a bit frustrating. She treats her kid poorly and sets the stage for Crocket to take him so it’s hard to find her endearing. But I didn’t mind, as this was one of those films where it was fun to root for the villain. Memorable bad guys are hard to come by but Elvis Nolasco‘s Mr. Crocket scares in just the right way. He’s able to do the Mr. Rogers side well but it’s his evil side that is the most intriguing. There’s a playful almost Freddy Krueger-like quality to him. His smile, happy demeanor, sweater, and bow tie really make for an unsettling image. And there’s just enough that remains unexplained that makes him all the more intriguing. There are times when he switches from good to evil and it’s such a great transition.

Despite the subject matter of children being abducted, the way it’s framed allows the narrative to still be fun. The parents who are being killed are treating their children like crap, so you’re practically rooting Crocket on as he takes them out. And I loved the almost Nightmarescape of Crocket’s world. With plenty of Dutch angles and floaty camera tricks, the visuals really impress. It’s clear that director Brandon Espy wanted to keep things visually interesting, which helps out with some of the stereotypical story beats.

I was a little disappointed that they didn’t fully utilize some of the creative elements throughout the entire runtime. The first set of kills involve Crocket using his Pee Wee’s Playhouse style furniture to murder, yet they seem forgotten about in the second half outside of a moment or two. Because of that, Crocket’s powerset feels a little unbalanced. Why would he not use those in the end when they seem to be the most powerful of his abilities? There’s plenty of sloppiness around the narrative, with coincidence being an all-too-common plot device.

Mr. Crocket feels like a great October movie to watch with friends as its goal is simply to entertain. There are some dumb moments but they weren’t dealbreakers for me as I really loved the concept of Crocket and his world was intriguing. There are plenty of fantastic visuals, fully taking advantage of the Pee Wee’s Playhouse in Hell aesthetic. They leave it open enough that we could get a sequel, which is what I’m most interested in as they could easily build on what works and excise what doesn’t. There’s a lot of potential here and I’m really hoping this isn’t our only run-in with Mr. Crocket.

MR. CROCKET STREAMS TO HULU ON OCTOBER 11TH, 2024.

Great Scott! Doc Brown himself, Christopher Lloyd, is helping DeLorean promote its upcoming EV.

Last Updated on October 14, 2024

You can have your Batmobile and your Ecto-1 and your Mutts Cutts mobile dog groomer but for many of us, there’s only one movie car that matters: the DeLorean from Back to the Future, modded to time travel once that sucker hits 88 mph and 1.21 gigawatts. And we’re not alone – just ask Christopher Lloyd, who has partnered with DeLorean for a special promo of their latest “time capsule.” Run for it, Marty!

The promo is in part meant to hype DeLorean’s electric vehicle and even give one away, with Lloyd stepping in as a fitting face and DeLorean Labs perfectly working in the sort of nostalgia that Back to the Future fans will love. But the real push here is DeLorean’s Time Capsule, which offers people the chance at some pretty cool perks.

Beginning today, October 11th, those who sign up on the DeLorean website can have the chance to mint 1 of 88 limited edition Time Capsules or 1 of 8800 digital collectibles. Inside is everything from a new DeLorean EV, early build slot reservations, F1 experience packages, vintage DeLorean Motor Company swag, and much more. There are other chances to win on October 28th and November 11th.

In a statement, Evan Kuhn, president of DeLorean Labs, said, “With the Time Capsule, we wanted to introduce something fun to our community that can celebrate DeLorean’s introduction to the digital age. Being DeLorean has been about futurism and counterculture. It allows us to get creative and move in such a way that other automotive brands can’t.”

Most of us will never have the chance to actually own a DeLorean, as DMC went bankrupt in 1982 (which is part of why using the car as a mode of time travel in 1984’s Back to the Future was so clever). But with the electric car the Alpha5 poised for a release later this year, no doubt more interest will be put into the long-defunct company. Yet, while the company is now where they want to be in terms of vehicular innovation, it most likely cannot travel through different decades. Evading Libyan terrorists on the other hand…

What is your favorite scene from Back to the Future? Let us know below!

Trailer: Danny Trejo raises the dead in the action thriller Seven Cemeteries, the new film from Feast director John Gulager

Almost twenty years ago, viewers of the Project Greenlight reality TV series got to watch as John Gulager was hired to direct the creature feature Feast for a producing team that included Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, and Wes Craven. Feast went over well enough that Gulager was brought back to helm back-to-back sequels, Feast II: Sloppy Seconds and Feast III: The Happy Finish. Since then, he has gone on to direct Piranha 3DD, Zombie Night, and Children of the Corn: Runaway. His latest movie is the action thriller Seven Cemeteries, which was just given a theatrical and digital release today, October 11th, and on Amazon it’s available to rent for the price of $6.99 or purchase for $14.99. To help you decide whether or not Seven Cemeteries is a movie you’d like to check out, we have the trailer embedded above.

Directed by Gulager from a screenplay he crafted with Joel Soisson, Seven Cemeteries is said to be a loose adaptation of the classics The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven in which a recent parolee named Bravo sets out to round up his old posse to save a woman’s ranch from a ruthless drug lord. Only problem is that all his desperado friends are dead. So, with the help of a Mexican witch, he resurrects them for one last mission – only to find out that wrangling the dead is a lot like herding cats.

Danny Trejo (Machete) plays Bravo and is joined in the cast by Maria Canals-Barrera (Wizards of Waverly Place), Sal Lopez (Return of the Living Dead III), Samantha Ashley (The Curse), Efren Ramirez (Napoleon Dynamite), Vincent M. Ward (The Walking Dead), Lew Temple (The Devil’s Rejects), Sol Rodriguez (Star Trek: Picard), Emma Ramos (New Amsterdam), Terri Hoyos (Cristela), and Richard Esteras (The Bear).

Soisson is a genre regular whose previous writing credits include Trick or Treat, The Prophecy 3: The Ascent, Dracula 2000, Mimic 2, Dracula II: Ascension, The Prophecy: Uprising, Dracula III: Legacy, Hellraiser: Hellworld, The Prophecy: Forsaken, Hollow Man II, Pulse 2: Afterlife, Pulse 3, Children of the Corn: Genesis, Piranha 3DD, and Children of the Corn: Runaway, among others. He produced this film with Talia Bella.

What did you think of the Seven Cemeteries trailer? Will you be watching this movie? Let us know by leaving a comment below.