Category: Movies

Black Widow Has Reportedly Looked At A Huge Number Of Directors

Ever since she debuted in Iron Man 2, Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, has been one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s key heroes, whether it’s as a supporting character in another hero’s movie or being part of a big ensemble. Eight years after her introduction, it sounds Marvel Studios is finally ready to spotlight the KGB agent-turned-S.H.I.E.L.D. operative-turned-superhero in her own story, as it was reported back in January that a Black Widow movie is in development. While we don’t have a timetable yet on when this movie could come out, evidently Marvel isn’t sparing any effort with finding the right person to helm it, as the studio has reportedly met with more than 65 directors.

This information comes to us from Variety reporter Justin Kroll, and while we don’t know most of the names that are on this list, it was revealed last week that Mustang’s Deniz Gamze Erguven, The Rider’s Chloe Zhao and A United Kingdom’s Amma Asante are among the candidates. Whether the directing job goes to one of those three or someone else we haven’t heard about yet, it sounds like Marvel’s been quite thorough with its search. With a character like Black Widow, who’s both been an important player in the comics and an integral member of the MCU, it’s important to ensure that her standalone movie is the best it can be. If that means chatting with upwards of 65 directors, then by all means, schedule those meetings!

All we know for sure about the Black Widow movie, aside from Scarlett Johansson obviously reprising the heroine, is that it’s being written by Jac Schaffer, who also penned Olaf’s Frozen Adventure and The Hustle. However, it was recently rumored that rather than being set after the events of Avengers 4, it would be a prequel following Natasha Romaoff approximately 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union. That would place the movie around 2006, a couple years before her appearance in Iron Man 2. Assuming this is true, it’s unclear if at this point in time she was still working for Russian intelligence or had already defected to join S.H.I.E.L.D., but since Sebastian Stan has expressed interest in appearing in the Black Widow movie, perhaps the tale could chronicle Natasha’s first encounter with The Winter Soldier.

Assuming that Black Widow is released during Phase Four, that makes it the third movie that’s confirmed for this slate of films, following Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (an Eternals movie is also in consideration). We here at CinemaBlend will keep you updated on how the Black Widow movie is developing as more information becomes available, including who scores the directing gig. In the meantime, Black Widow can currently be seen alongside most of the MCU’s other heroes in Avengers: Infinity War, and you can look through our Marvel movies guide to learn what other projects this franchise has in the works.

Box Office: ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ Passes ‘Star Wars: Force Awakens’ With Record $250M U.S. Bow

The superhero mashup also scores the biggest opening ever globally with $630 million — almost $100 million than the previous record holder.
The galaxy has a new ruler.

Disney and Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War kicked off the summer box office in high style, opening to a record-setting $250 million in North America and $380 million overseas for a global total of $630 million, the top worldwide start of all time. The superhero mashup accomplished the feat without China, where it doesn’t unfurl until May 11.

Fellow Disney title Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million) was the previous record holder for biggest domestic opening, while Universal’s The Fate of the Furious had held the record for biggest global start ($541.9 million). As in North America, Infinity War set a slew of industry records overseas.

Infinity War’s box office victory was aided by the biggest Saturday of all time in North America ($83 million), reflecting a strong family turnout. The tentpole cost close to $300 to produce before a major marketing spend.

Directed by the Russo brothers, Avengers: Infinity War is most ambitious amassing of superheroes in history, and comes as Marvel Studios — led by Kevin Feige — celebrates its 10th anniversary. In 2009, Walt Disney Co. chief Bob Iger paid $4 billion to acquire Marvel Entertainment, even though many of the superhero characters in Marvel’s stable were unproven.

Infinity War is the first film to be shot entirely with IMAX cameras. IMAX theaters in turn delivered $41 million of the total global gross, the biggest showing ever for a Marvel title. The U.S. share was $22.5 million.

Infinity War follows the massive success of Marvel’s Black Panther, a cultural phenomenon and fanboy darling that currently ranks as the top-grossing superhero film of all time in North America with $688 million in ticket sales. The superhero, played by Chadwick Boseman, appears in the Avengers film and was no doubt a boost for Infinity War.

In a surprise twist, interest in Black Panther — now in its 11th weekend — once again spiked as Infinity War debuted. Black Panther moved back up the chart from No. 8 to No. 5, earning $4.4 million.

Marvel Studios is unrivaled in its success, boasting six of the top 10 opening weekends of all time. The Avengers ($207.4 million) previously held the record for the biggest superhero launch, followed by Black Panther ($202 million). They are the only two superhero titles to have crossed $200 million in their first weekend.

Infinity War also continues Disney’s domination at the box office. The studio has bragging rights to nine of the 10 biggest domestic openings, including the top three; Infinity War, Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi ($220 million). Universal’s Jurassic World ($208.8 million) is No. 4.

Nabbing an A CinemaScore, Infinity War reunites the Avengers gang and friends, including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Black Panther (Boseman), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), as they join forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy crew to stop the evil intergalactic despot Thanos (Josh Brolin).

Black Panther stars Danai Gurira, Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright and Winston Duke also appear in Infinity War, the third outing in the Avengers series. Other characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe making a play include Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista and Bradley Cooper are some of the stars from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise appearing in Infinity War.

No other wide release dared open opposite Infinity War. Save for Black Panther, most holdovers felt the pinch, although Paramount’s hit horror film, A Quiet Place, still made noise, grossing $10.7 million for a domestic total of $148.2 million. Overseas, the film earned another $6.6 million for a foreign total of $87.2 million and $235.4 globally.

A Quiet Place easily came in No. 2 domestically, followed by Amy Schumer comedy I Feel Pretty, which tumbled 49 percent in its second weekend to $8.1 million for a total $29.6 million. STX and Voltage are partners on the film.

Dwayne Johnson’s action-adventure appeared to be the hardest hit by Infinity War, falling 65 percent to $7.1 million for a domestic total of $77.9 million at the end of its third weekend.

In a smart counter-programming move, Bleecker Street opened LGBT drama Disobedience in five theaters. The film, starring Rachel Weisz and Rachel McAdams, grossed $241,246 for a strong per screen average of $48,255, the second best of the year to date for a specialty pic behind Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs. The film made its world premiere at the 2017 Toronto Film Festival, and also stars Alessandro Nivola.

Disobedience played to a predominantly female audience with a strong LGBT base, according to Bleecker Street. It also played well in art houses.

Weekend Box Office 4/29/18
3-Day Weekend Box Office Estimates
WEEKEND CUME THEATERS WEEK
1. Avengers: Infinity War $250M $250M 4,474 1
2. A Quiet Place $10.7M $148.2M 3,565 4
3. I Feel Pretty $8.1M $29.6M 3,440 2
4. Rampage $7.1M $77.9M 3,508 3
5. Black Panther $4.4M $688M 1,650 11

Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige on the future of the Avengers

LOS ANGELES — Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has a lot to smile about.

The 44-year-old producer is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Marvel Studios and the release of Avengers: Infinity War — the 19th film in an interconnected series that has included such heroes as Iron Man, Captain America and, more recently, Black Panther.

Over the last decade, Feige has essentially built up Hollywood’s most bankable brand that has fetched over $14.8 billion in worldwide box office with every new release branded an “event.”

“I would say we dreamed of this,” Feige tells Sun Media in a Beverly Hills hotel.

“I would say while we were doing the first Iron Man film, there were two thoughts in our heads. One was, ‘Get it done and get it in theatres.’ The other goal was, ‘Make Tony Stark a household name. We wanted to get people who didn’t read the comics or see him in the cartoon series to realize he’s one of the coolest superheroes that’s ever existed.”

To play the role of Tony Stark/Iron Man, the studio tapped Robert Downey Jr., who a decade ago was only a few years removed from two drug arrests in 2000 and 2001.

But Downey and Feige succeeded in making Iron Man a hit, giving birth to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“The secondary goals that we dreamed about was to bring the interconnected universe from the comic books up on to the big screen,” he continues.

“At that point, Avengers 1 was a far-off distant dream, but this has always been in the back of our heads.

“When we were casting Guardians of the Galaxy and looking for Star-Lord, we were saying things like, ‘You know, if things go right, we have to find a great actor to play Peter Quill because someday that actor might have to do scenes with the Avengers.’

“We sat around and said things like that. And now, here it is.”

Feige, whose comic book chops helped land him an associate producer credit on 2000’s X-Men movie, is now eyeing a Marvel movie slate that goes well into the 2020s.

And thanks to Disney’s acquisition of Fox (which owns Marvel characters like X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool), he might just be making superhero movies until the day he dies.

This summer, Marvel will release Ant-Man and The Wasp and next year it will release Captain Marvel (with Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/ Captain Marvel) before Avengers 4 closes out what he calls a “22-film narrative arc.”

A sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming with Tom Holland will kick off a whole new slate of Marvel stories in July 2019.

With Infinity War eyeing a record haul at the global box office this weekend, Feige talked about making the biggest superhero movie of all time and what’s next for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Q – The MCU kicked off 10 years ago with Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man. What made him the perfect actor to front Marvel’s superhero franchise?

A – He’s an unparalleled talent. He’s an amazing actor. He has an amazing personality and an amazing persona that we thought could be tapped into in an amazing way.

We knew he was a great actor and we knew he was unbelievably charismatic and he’d be able to bring Tony Stark to life in an unbelievable way.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the MCU would not exist without Robert Downey Jr.

Q – You’ve been building up this world for 10 years. What does Infinity War and next year’s Avengers 4 represent to fans?

A – I think with Infinity War and Untitled Avengers 4 next year, certainly for us, we have two of the biggest and most unique adventure films that have ever been made. We’re certainly working with the biggest canvas that we’ve ever painted on. At the same time, I think it’s an amazing honour to have so many characters that so many people care so deeply about.

And while the spectacle and action is fun and is required, it’s seeing these characters and seeing them change and seeing them grow and seeing them interact with heroes they’ve never met before that’s the real fun of these movies. I hope people will watch Infinity War and then perhaps watch the next Avengers film next year and realize that what they’ve seen over 10-plus years is an unprecedented character arc, at least for film. Unprecedented character arcs for these heroes, whether they’ve been around for three years, five years or all 10 years.

Q – You’ve talked to me about Spider-Man: Homecoming 2 kicking off something new. I know on our visit to the set of Infinity War last year, Robert Downey talked about tapping out. Are the changes that are about to happen in Infinity War and Avengers 4 finite?

A – I would say that almost all of them are permanent changes. We pull examples from comics all the time and I would say in the comics sometimes characters come back to life the next day, and sometimes characters that they swore would never come back — Bucky Barnes will never come back to life — come back and it’s awesome like in the Winter Soldier. I don’t know what’s going to happen in five years or 10 years, but in terms of the more immediate future that we’re building and creating now, they will be finite.

Q – How different will Infinity War and Avengers 4 be from one another and is Thanos the main villain in both?

I don’t want to be that specific about it. I will say that tonally, in ways that people will not be able to tell until they see Avengers 4, tonally they are very different movies by design. But they connect very directly; as directly as any of our films have been connected. So Infinity War is a complete story, but people are going to want to know what happens next right away.

A – How do Ant-Man and The Wasp and Captain Marvel connect Infinity War and Avengers 4?

You’ll see. For the most part they are very much their own adventures, they’re very much their own standalone stories, but they will connect in ways that will be apparent when you see them and will be very apparent in Avengers 4.

Q – Why did you choose to set Captain Marvel in the ’90s?

A – The answer is, you’ll see in the storytelling of the movie (laughs). But it allows us to play in an area that we have never played in before and tapping into a ’90s action genre was fun for us and being able to see an earlier part of the MCU before Nick Fury knew anything about aliens or anything about super-powered people and also tapping into the Kree-Skrull War, which in the comics was a huge part of the comic mythology, seemed like a fun thing to try and a fun way to give Carol Danvers her own standalone origin story.

Q – Black Panther was a massive hit, both with comic book movie fans and casual moviegoers alike. Are you constantly looking for ways to bring new people into the MCU?

A – Absolutely. We’re trying to appeal to people who just want to go see a movie on a weekend and we want to appeal to people like us who want to delve deeper. The movies need to work for both, and since Iron Man 1 that’s what we’ve wanted to do. Really, it was only comic book fans that knew who Iron Man was back in 2008. Even a lot of comic book fans didn’t know who the Guardians of the Galaxy were in 2014. So we always want to tell stories as if no one knows who they are. We approach it as if there’s no fan base. Let’s make a movie that’s going to build that fan base. At the same time, we’re fans, so we’re not going to do anything that betrays what the core elements of character are in the books.

But certainly Panther is a wonderful example of attracting people who not only aren’t fans of comic book movies, they’re people who hadn’t been to a movie in a long time, period! Selfishly, as the producer, I love that, and I hope all those people come out to see Infinity War and get invested in the MCU going forward and then look back and say, ‘What have I missed?’

Q – I always ask you about the blueprint. Going forward, the movies that Marvel has coming five, 10 years from now, are they always going to be threaded back to the beginning? Is the MCU a world with no real end?

A – Yes. … It’s a world I hope continues far into the future in the same way all of these storylines have continued in the comics. We’re one decade in. In the comics, some of these heroes are five, six, seven decades in. So I do hope they continue for a long time.

But, storylines can come to an end. The best stories do come to an end. Return of the Jedi was an ending for a long time and as a 10-year-old in 1983 that carried me through 30 years until there was a sequel. That hasn’t happened before in the superhero genre. A new actor comes in and a new storyline starts right away. We wanted to do it this way because we think that the best stories have a definitive ending to a storyline. That’s certainly what’s going to happen next year with Avengers 4.

The Universe, the world, many of the characters we’ve introduced will continue onward in unexpected ways, some of which I don’t even know yet. But bringing a definitive conclusion at the 22-film mark, and just over 10 years, seemed like the right thing to do.

Avengers: Infinity War is in theatres now.

A Quiet Place reclaims box office crown, besting Rampage and I Feel Pretty

A Quiet Place is still making noise at the box office.

In its third weekend in theaters, Paramount and John Krasinski’s nearly dialogue-free horror movie is on track to earn an estimated $22 million from 3,808 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, reclaiming the No. 1 spot from the Dwayne Johnson-led action movie Rampage and holding off Amy Schumer’s new comedy, I Feel Pretty.

Through Sunday, A Quiet Place will have grossed about $132.4 million in North America, plus $74.8 million overseas, for a worldwide total of about $207.2 million. The film, which cost a modest $17 million to make, is now Paramount’s highest-grossing domestic release in nearly two years, since Star Trek Beyond in July 2016 (which earned $158.8 million).

A Quiet Place tells the story of a family living in silence in order to hide from aliens that hunt their prey by sound. Krasinski directed and costars with his wife, Emily Blunt.

Narrowly missing out on the top spot is Warner Bros’. Rampage, taking in an estimated $21 million (from 4,115 theaters). That works out to a drop of just 41 percent from last week’s debut and brings the movie’s domestic total to $66.6 million after 10 days in theaters.

The movie — which stars Johnson as a primatologist and ex-soldier dealing with mutated mega-animals — will need to perform well overseas to be considered a success, and this weekend it will add about $57 million from 61 foreign markets, lifting its international total to about $216.4 million.

Debuting in third place, STX’s I Feel Pretty will gross about $16.2 million, from 3,440 theaters. While that figure is slightly above industry projections, it’s also lower than the $19.5 million managed by Schumer’s Snatched and the $30 million collected by her hit Trainwreck.

Written and directed by Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, I Feel Pretty stars Schumer as an ordinary woman who struggles with her self-image until she hits her head and wakes up feeling beautiful and confident. The movie has received poor reviews from critics, but moviegoers gave it a decent B-plus CinemaScore.

Another comedy debuting this weekend and garnering a B-plus CinemaScore is Fox’s Super Troopers 2, landing in fourth place with an estimated $14.7 million. The sequel, which hails from the Broken Lizard comedy group and was partially crowdfunded, will far exceed industry projections, which put it in the range of $6 million to $8 million.

Jay Chandrasekhar directed and costars in the movie, which centers on a motley crew of state troopers embroiled in an international border dispute. Reviews have been largely negative.

Blumhouse and Universal’s horror holdover Truth or Dare rounds out the top five with an estimated $7.9 million, while Lionsgate’s crime thriller Traffik, starring Omar Epps and Paula Patton, will open with about $3.9 million — in line with expectations and good for the No. 9 spot.

According to ComScore, overall box office is down 2.2 percent year-to-date. Looking ahead, next week brings the release of Disney and Marvel’s presumptive juggernaut Avengers: Infinity War.

Check out the April 20-22 figures below.

1. A Quiet Place — $22 million
2. Rampage — $21 million
3. I Feel Pretty — $16.2 million
4. Super Troopers 2 — $14.7 million
5. Truth or Dare — $7.9 million
6. Ready Player One — $7.5 million
7. Blockers — $7 million
8. Black Panther — $4.6 million
9. Traffik — $3.9 million
10. Isle of Dogs — $3.4 million

Dwayne Johnson powers Rampage past A Quiet Place at the box office

After a slow start Friday, Dwayne Johnson and a giant gorilla are poised to top the box office this weekend.

The action hero’s new disaster movie Rampage will debut with an estimated $34.5 million from 4,101 theaters in the U.S. and Canada through Sunday, edging out last week’s No. 1 title, A Quiet Place, while the horror flick Truth or Dare opens in third.

Despite taking the crown, Rampage is coming in on the low end of industry projections, which had it pegged in the $35 million-$40 million range. The New Line and Warner Bros. film, which reportedly cost about $120 million to make, is off to a solid start overseas, where it will gross an estimated $114.1 million this weekend.

Based on the classic arcade game about giant monsters laying waste to cities, Rampage stars Johnson as a primatologist and former soldier who gets caught up in a rogue experiment that mutates an albino gorilla he saved from poachers — as well as a wolf and a crocodile. The movie failed to impress critics but garnered an A-minus CinemaScore, suggesting decent word-of-mouth prospects.

Rampage will need to demonstrate staying power, like Johnson’s recent hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and/or do big business internationally to be considered a success.

In second place, Paramount’s thriller A Quiet Place will take in about $32.6 million, which represents a very modest 35% decline from its excellent opening last week. That figure brings the movie’s domestic total to about $100 million after 10 days in theaters. The film has added about $51.7 million from foreign markets.

Directed by John Krasinski, who also stars alongside wife Emily Blunt, A Quiet Place follows a family living in silence in order to hide from creatures that hunt their prey by sound.

Also scaring up ticket sales this weekend is Universal and Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare, which will gross about $19.1 million from 3,029 North American figures. That’s an impressive number for a movie that reportedly cost about $3.5 million to make and was shredded by critics. Audiences gave it a B-minus CinemaScore.

Rounding out the top five are Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros’. sci-fi adventure Ready Player One, with about $11.2 million in its third weekend, and Universal’s R-rated comedy Blockers, with about $10.3 million in its second weekend.

Fox Searchlight also expanded Wes Anderson’s stop-motion movie Isle of Dogs to 1,939 theaters (up from 554), collecting an estimated $5 million (good for seventh place) and upping its domestic total to about $18.5 million.

According to ComScore, overall box office is down 2.3 percent year-to-date. Check out the April 13-15 figures below.

1. Rampage — $34.5 million
2. A Quiet Place — $32.6 million
3. Truth or Dare — $19.1 million
4. Ready Player One — $11.2 million
5. Blockers — $10.3 million
6. Black Panther — $5.3 million
7. Isle of Dogs — $5 million
8. I Can Only Imagine — $3.8 million
9. Acrimony — $3.7 million
10. Chappaquiddick — $3 million

Weekend Box Office: ‘Ready Player One’ Wins Easter Egg Hunt With $53M

The sci-fi adventure marks director Steven Spielberg’s biggest opening in a decade; Tyler Perry’s ‘Acrimony’ places No. 2 with $17M, while ‘God’s Not Dead 3′ falters at the alter.

Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One — his self-proclaimed return to popcorn fare — easily won the box-office Easter egg hunt, grossing $41.2 million to score the holiday weekend’s biggest opening ever for a non-sequel.

That brings the movie’s four-day bow to a better-than-expected $53.2 million after launching a day early on Thursday. Still, the verdict is out on whether Ready One Player is a victory, considering its hefty production budget of at least $175 million, before marketing. It fared far better than Pacific Rim Uprising or Tomb Raider, but overall March revenue was still down 24 percent from a year ago, while the first quarter ended down by nearly 4 percent, according to comScore.

Overseas, the male-skewing film opened to $128 million — fueled by $61.7 million from China — for a global debut of $181.2 million. It is the biggest China launch in Warner Bros.’ history, surpassing Batman v. Justice: Dawn of Justice ($57 million).

The sci-fi adventure also marks Spielberg’s biggest domestic bow since Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($100.1 million) a decade ago, helping to ease the sting of his big-budget family film The BFG, which failed to resonate with audiences in summer 2016, opening to only $18.8 million.

Ready Player One secured the second-best opening of the year so far behind Black Panther. It’s also the best number for an original film from Spielberg since Jurassic Park ($47 million) in 1993, not adjusted for inflation.

Eager to be in business with Spielberg and possibly birth a new franchise, Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures partnered on Ready Player One, which was based on Ernest Cline’s pop-culture-laced novel about a teen’s quest to win control over a virtual universe. The pic is infused with references to the 1980s, including numerous nods to popular movies (including a few from Spielberg himself).

“Spielberg is an extraordinary filmmaker and he really geeks out on this stuff. I don’t know anyone else who could have made this movie,” says Warners domestic distribution chief Jeff Goldstein. “Ready Player One’s opening beat expectations and now it’s all about playability. It is definitely eyed as something that could have sequel opportunities. The discussion was always, ‘Let’s see how the first one does.'”

Ready Player One — which had a major presence at the recent SXSW Film Festival –— came in ahead of other comparable films, including the pricey miss Ender’s Game, which opened to $27.1 million in 2013. Between 61 percent and 65 percent of ticket buyers were male. Imax theaters turned in an impressive $6.6 million in North America.

Ready Player One stars Tye Sheridan as Wade Watts, a young man who gets caught up in the virtual-reality game known as the OASIS, which was created by the brilliant and eccentric James Halliday (Mark Rylance). Watts and his friends are determined to find the Easter egg that will give them control of OASIS. Spielberg directed from an adapted script by Zak Penn and Cline. Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller and Simon Pegg also star.

Tyler Perry and Lionsgate’s latest film together, the marital psychological thriller Acrimony, bowed at No. 2 over the weekend with a solid $17.1 million from 2,006 theaters. Taraji P. Henson stars in the film as a wife determined to exact revenge on her cheating husband. Lyriq Bent, Jazmyn Simon and Crystle Stewart co-star. Nearly three-quarters of ticket buyers were female.

Acrimony, Ready Player One and Easter weekend’s third new movie, God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness, all earned A- CinemaScores.

That grade, however, didn’t appear to help God’s Not Dead 3, which opened at a distant No. 12 with roughly $2.6 million from 1,693 theaters. (It was even topped by Wes Anderson’s Isle of Dogs, which is playing in only 165 locations.) The first God’s Not Dead (2014) debuted to $9.2 million, while its 2016 follow-up started off with $7.6 million.

Instead, faith-based moviegoers continued to embrace I Can Only Imagine, which placed No. 4 in its third weekend with $10.8 million from 2,648 theaters for a domestic total of $55.6 million — surpassing Manchester by the Sea ($47.7 million) to become the top-grossing title in Roadside’s history, not adjusting for inflation. The distributor added 395 theaters to the film’s run over Easter weekend.

Sony’s faith-based title Paul, Apostle of Christ has also faltered in the face of I Can Only Imagine. The former pic came in No. 10 in its second outing with an estimated $3.5 million for a domestic cume of $11.5 million.

Among other holdovers, Disney and Marvel’s Black Panther remained a powerful force in its seventh weekend, coming in No. 3 with an $11.2 million for a domestic cume of $650.7 million and a global tally of $1.273 million. It has passed fellow Disney title Beauty and the Beast ($1.264 million) at the worldwide box office and is on the verge of eclipsing Jurassic World ($652 million) domestically to rank No. 4 on the all-time list, not adjusted for inflation.

Pacific Rim Uprising wasn’t so lucky. The event film tumbled 67 percent in its sophomore weekend to $9.2 million for a 10-day North American cume of $45.7 million. The sequel, from Legendary and Universal, is a far bigger play internationally, where it earned another $31.4 million for a foreign tally of $186.2 million, including $89.6 million from China, and $231.9 million worldwide.

Uprising wasn’t Universal’s only offshore effort, as the studio opened Blockers in five markets a week before the movie’s domestic bow. The comedy earned $5 million abroad, led by the U.K. ($1.9 million).

Sony’s family film Peter Rabbit jumped the $200 million mark globally — in North America, it’s the No. 2 pic of the year behind Black Panther with $110.6 million in ticket sales — as it expanded into additional markets. It continues to do huge business in the U.K., where it came beat Ready Player One to finish Sunday with $30.9 million in ticket sales.

At the U.S. specialty box office, Isle of Dogs earned $2.8 million for a theater average of $17,030, the best average of the weekend. The Fox Searchlight film added more than 144 runs in its second weekend.

And Aaron Katz’s Gemini opened in four theaters, earning $34,184 for a theater average of $8,546. Zoe Kravitz stars in the mystery, which had its world premiere at SXSW.

Steven Spielberg’s ‘Ready Player One’ Gears Up for $42 Million in Four-Day Opening Weekend

“Ready Player One” looks to come out victorious at the box office over the Easter holiday weekend.

Steven Spielberg’s latest film is eyeing $38 million to $42 million over its four-day opening weekend. Given a light weekend of new releases, that number would likely be enough for “Ready Player One” to dominate the domestic box office.

Warner Bros.’ nostalgic fantasy adventure, which currently holds an 82% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, gets an early start on Easter weekend by debuting with Wednesday night previews at 3,500 locations. Starting Thursday, it then expands to 4,200 locations, while launching day and date internationally in 62 markets. Tracking on the film, with a reported budget between $150 million and $175 million, is down slightly from initial estimates of $45 million to $55 million over its four-day opening.

Based on Ernest Cline’s 2011 novel, “Ready Player One” is set in an elaborate virtual reality world full of pop culture totems from the ’80s. The film, written by Cline and Zak Penn, stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, T.J. Miller, Simon Pegg, and Mark Rylance. In the year 2045, virtual reality software OASIS is used to engage in work and play. Sheridan’s character, Wade Watts, discovers clues to a hidden game within the program that promises the winner full ownership of the OASIS.

Spielberg most recently helmed political drama “The Post,” which made $165 million worldwide and landed a best picture nod at this year’s Oscars.

Meanwhile, the second weekend of Universal and Legendary’s “Pacific Rim Uprising” will once again battle the tenacious “Black Panther,” as both tentpoles are aiming for $10 million and $15 million at the domestic box office.

Universal and Legendary’s “Pacific Rim Uprising” landed a modest $28 million opening domestically and a much healthier $122.5 million internationally for a worldwide total of $150 million. That’s not to say the seventh weekend of “Black Panther” won’t put up a fair fight. The Marvel film has taken in $631 million to date, making it the fifth highest-grossing movie ever in the U.S. ahead of “The Avengers,” as well as the highest-grossing superhero movie in the U.S., not adjusted for inflation.

Also launching this weekend is Lionsgate’s “Tyler Perry’s Acrimony,” looking to make $7-$11 million in around 2,000 locations. The psychological thriller, produced, written, and directed by Perry, follows Taraji P. Henson as a wife who takes revenge on her unfaithful husband (Lyriq Bent).

The third installment of the “God’s Not Dead” series — “God’s Not Dead: A Light in Darkness” — is estimated to gross around $5 million at 1,675 locations in its opening weekend. David A. R. White, John Corbett, Shane Harper, Ted McGinley, and Tatum O’Neal make up the ensemble cast portraying a congregation displaced after their church burns down. Easter is always a fertile period for faith-based movies, and the past two weeks saw two recent faith-based films, “I Can Only Imagine” and “Paul, Apostle of Christ.”

In its second weekend, Roadside Attraction and Lionsgate’s “I Can Only Imagine” has been a surprisingly strong performer, earning $38 million. Affirm Films’ “Paul, Apostle of Christ” opened last weekend in line with estimates at $5 million.

Three films — “Baaghi 2,” “Finding Your Feet” and “Gemini” — will have a limited release.

“Baaghi 2,” an Indian action thriller, will open in 125 theaters. The film, featuring Tiger Shroff and Disha Patani, is a remake of 2016’s Telugu movie “Kshanam.” Aimed at the same mature audience that turned out for films like “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” Roadside Attractions and Entertainment One’s “Finding Your Feet” stars Imelda Staunton, who seeks refuge in London with her sister when she discovers that her husband of 40 years (John Sessions) is having an affair with her best friend (Josie Lawrence). Neon’s “Gemini” was written and directed by Aaron Katz. The mystery thriller sees Lola Kirke as the assistant of a Hollywood starlet Heather Anderson, played by Zoe Kravitz.

Pacific Rim Uprising dethrones Black Panther at the box office

It took a squad of giant humanoid robots and a few massive monsters to finally topple Black Panther at the box office. Universal Pictures and Legendary Entertainment’s rock ’em, sock ’em sequel Pacific Rim Uprising is on track to earn about $28 million at 3,708 theaters in the U.S. and Canada this weekend, dethroning Disney’s superhero blockbuster after five weeks at the top of the chart.

Although Uprising‘s opening is enough to dislodge Black Panther, the sequel is trailing its 2013 predecessor, which bowed to $37.3 million and went on to gross $411 million worldwide. In foreign territories — where the original Pacific Rim proved more popular than at home — Uprising is poised to earn about $122.5 million this weekend, with $65 million coming from China.

Directed by Steven S. DeKnight and produced by original Pacific Rim director Guillermo Del Toro, Uprising stars John Boyega as Jake Pentecost, a second-generation mech pilot who helps defend the planet from massive interdimensional beasts known as kaiju. The movie, which reportedly cost about $150 million to make, took a pounding from critics, while audiences gave it a so-so B CinemaScore.

Black Panther, meanwhile, continues to show impressive staying power with an estimated $16.7 million in North America and $12.9 million overseas. That brings the film’s worldwide total to nearly $1.24 billion and cements its status as the highest-grossing superhero movie ever in the U.S.

Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman as the titular superhero, a.k.a. T’Challa, who leads and protects the secretive, technologically advanced nation of Wakanda. The cast also features Michael B. Jordan, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Andy Serkis, and Letitia Wright. The film garnered glowing reviews and an A-plus CinemaScore.

Also holding steady is Roadside Attractions’ faith-based film I Can Only Imagine, which is set to gross about $13.8 million at 2,253 theaters in its second weekend. That figure is good for third place and represents a mere 19 percent drop from its debut last week.

Directed by Andrew Erwin and Jon Erwin and starring J. Michael Finley, I Can Only Imagine chronicles the story behind the MercyMe song of the same name, the best-selling Christian single of all time. Like Black Panther, the movie received a rare A-plus CinemaScore.

In addition to Pacific Rim Uprising, this weekend’s new releases include Paramount’s animated movie Sherlock Gnomes, which will earn about $10.6 million; Sony’s biblical drama Paul, Apostle of Christ, which will earn about $5 million; Open Road’s teen romance Midnight Sun, which will earn about $4.1 million; and Bleecker Street and Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller Unsane, which will earn about $3.9 million.

Rolling out in limited release is Wes Andseron’s Isle of Dogs. The stop-motion movie, distributed by Fox Searchlight, will take in about $1.6 million at 27 theaters, for an impressive per-screen average of $58,148. Isle will expand in the coming weeks.

According to ComScore, overall box office is down 2.5 percent year-to-date. Check out the March 23-25 figures below.

1. Pacific Rim Uprising — $28 million
2. Black Panther — $16.7 million
3. I Can Only Imagine — $13.8 million
4. Sherlock Gnomes — $10.6 million
5. Tomb Raider — $10.4 million
6. A Wrinkle in Time — $8 million
7. Love, Simon — $7.8 million
8. Paul, Apostle of Christ — $5 million
9. Game Night — $4.2 million
10. Midnight Sun — $4.1 million

Chris Evans Says He’s Done With Marvel After ‘Avengers 4’

Marvel Studios has been incredibly open about the upcoming two ‘Avengers’ films marking the end of an era. While they’re definitely not closing up shop and stopping production of Marvel Cinematic Universe films after the untitled ‘Avengers 4’ hits theaters in 2019, they have been clear that the landscape of the MCU will be different than what fans have seen so far. One of those big changes has been the assumed departure of actor Chris Evans, aka Captain America.

In a new interview with the New York Times, Evans pretty much guarantees that’s the case. “You want to get off the train before they push you off,” he said. The report makes it brutally clear that he is speaking about the MCU, and his role in it, in particular. The article says Evans “expects that planned reshoots in the fall will mark the end of his tenure in the familiar red, white and blue super suit.”

Can’t get much more definitive than that.

As mentioned above, this is something that fans have been expecting, but secretly hoping wasn’t true. Captain America has risen from a silly WWII-era character with a stupid costume to become the heart and soul of the MCU. This is, without a doubt, because of Evans’ performance as Steve Rogers. While Tony Stark gets all the funny lines, and the flashy suit of armor, Captain America, as played by Evans, is the perfect mix of “aw shucks” and badassness. He’s always been the real hero of the Marvel Universe.

Now, the real question is who takes over for Evans as the heart of the MCU? If Marvel Studios follows the comics, both Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie, and The Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan, have picked up the shield and become Captain America. But perhaps that’s not Marvel’s plan at all.

With the emergence of “Black Panther” as a phenomenon, maybe the King from Wakanda will take the reins of the superhero universe. And with Brie Larson in “Captain Marvel” coming in 2019, maybe we don’t need a Captain America anymore. Maybe a Captain Marvel will do just fine.

For Evans, now the only issue is how everyone he meets will think of him as Captain America. For better or worse, this is the role that will no doubt shape his career. But apparently, he’s not worried about being mobbed on the streets for the rest of his life.

“People don’t recognize me at all,” he said. “I can look them right in the eye — it’s like I’m invisible.”

Steven Spielberg Reveals ‘Indiana Jones 5’ Production Start Date

Steven Spielberg has teased the production start date for “Indiana Jones 5,” saying that he will start filming the next adventure next spring.

According to multiple media reports, the director confirmed at the Rakuten TV Empire Awards on Sunday night that he will begin production next April in the United Kingdom.

“It’s always worth the trip when I get to work with this deep bench of talent coming out of the UK,” Spielberg said during his acceptance speech, according to ComicBook.com. “The actors, and the crew, the chippies, the sparks, the drivers — everybody who has helped me make my movies here, and will continue helping me make my movies here when I come back in April 2019 to make the fifth Indiana Jones movie right here.”

Previously dated for July 19, 2019, the film was pushed to open on July 10, 2020. Spielberg is set to return to direct and executive produce star Harrison Ford. The “Star Wars” actor will be 76 when the movie starts shooting, and 77 when it opens. The project was announced in 2016.

Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will return to produce. The films have grossed roughly $2 billion at the global box office.

For now, Spielberg will next release “Ready Player One” on March 30. He most recently directed “The Post,” which was nominated for two Oscars and won the AFI Award for Movie of the Year.