Tweets are flowing, hot takes abound and there are “news” stories about how long audiences clapped their hands (not from this outlet!). That’s right, fall film festival season is here.
So what does the reaction to films at Venice, Telluride and Toronto tell us about the moviegoing season to come? Here are a few takeaways:
“Primetime” Could Be Big
- There was already heavy buzz for A24’s movie about Chris Hansen’s quest for ratings glory — and the moral quandaries it created — with “To Catch a Predator,” but reviews for Robert Pattinson’s performance in “Primetime” out of Venice were absolutely glowing. Add in the fact that Hansen is threatening a legal battle that keeps bumping this to the top of headlines, and Lance Oppenheim’s film could be a sizeable box office hit when it opens on Sept. 25. Especially given how well the Pattinson-starrer “The Drama” did this spring.
Docs Are Hot
- Is there an appetite for documentaries in the theater? Three super buzzy docs will put that to the test. First, there’s “You Can See Everything,” Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim’s filmed-in-secret documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, with unfettered access to her and her new partner in the month before she went to prison for fraud. Reviews were rapturous out of Telluride, and Fielder is tremendously popular with Gen Z, so this could very well break containment when A24 unleashes it in October. There’s also Alex Gibney’s four-hour Elon Musk doc “Musk,” which already has the richest man in the world threatening to sue, and “NAZA” from the filmmakers behind “No Other Land” about the killing of Palestinians in Gaza. Bleecker Street releases “Musk” in October, while “NAZA” is seeking distribution.
Is Peter Farrelly Back in the Awards Race?
- “Green Book” still stands as one of the most divisive Best Picture winners in Oscar history, but director Peter Farrelly could very well be back in the awards race with “I Play Rocky,” which elicited a standing ovation and throngs of tweets about it being a “crowdpleaser” upon its premiere at TIFF. The movie charts the making of “Rocky,” and Amazon has staked out a pre-Thanksgiving Nov. 6 release date, hoping to build buzz in time for the holidays.
Now, on to the rest of this week’s Reel to Real column as we tackle how “Practical Magic 2” fared at the box office, a report on the ground on TIFF so far, Netflix’s big box office change and more in this week’s installment.
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Box Office: ‘Practical Magic 2’ Kicks Off Fall With $30 Million Opening
With the summer momentum from “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” and “The Odyssey” wearing off, the box office will hope to build it back up again over the course of September with several new films starting with Warner Bros./Alcon’s “Practical Magic 2,” which opened to $30 million from 4,146 locations and $46 million worldwide.
It’s a domestic start on the lower end of pre-release projections that leaves the legacyquel of the 1998 fantasy dramedy starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman with some work to do to turn a theatrical profit against its reported $75 million theatrical budget.
Like the first “Practical Magic,” critics were mostly negative with a 37% Rotten Tomatoes score. But the primarily millennial and Gen X female fanbase that turned it into a cult hit has given “Practical Magic 2” strong audience scores including a B+ on CinemaScore, 92% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4.5/5 on PostTrak.
Next weekend will provide more info on whether those scores will translate to wider interest or will stay largely confined to pre-existing fans. If it can find that wider female audience, “Practical Magic 2” will have a lane to leg out against films like “Resident Evil” and “Forgotten Island,” which have different primary demos.
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is in second with $8.4 million in its seventh weekend, bringing its domestic total to $935.1 million. It is likely on Monday that the Sony/Marvel Studios film will pass “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” to take the unadjusted record for the highest-grossing film in the history of the U.S. box office.
“The Odyssey” is in third with $7.4 million in its ninth weekend to bring its domestic total to $600 million, making it the 18th film in history to cross that milestone before inflation adjustment. With $1.68 billion worldwide, it now also stands as Universal’s unadjusted highest-grossing film in studio history.
In fourth is Angel’s “Runner,” a new action film starring Alan Ritchson and Owen Willson that has earned a $6.4 million opening from 2,568 U.S. locations. The film about a former soldier tasked with defending a liver needed for a child’s life-saving transplant from black market criminals has been well-received with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 71% critics and 89% audience to go with an A- on CinemaScore.
Ketchup’s “Coyote vs. Acme” completes the top 5 with $6.2 million in its third weekend as the Warner Bros. cast-off now stands with a domestic total of $47.7 million. At its current pace, the live-action/animated hybrid, which Ketchup spent $50 million to acquire, could break even theatrically when foreign presales are accounted for.
– Jeremy Fuster
The Spotlight
This was the highest-grossing summer at the box office ever, with a tally of $4.76 billion over the summer months, thanks to hits like “The Odyssey,” “Spider-Man,” “Toy Story 5,” “Obsession” and “Backrooms.” But while there’s plenty to celebrate, overall attendance is actually down and theater owners are wondering if this momentum can carry through the fall corridor. Jeremy Fuster has the full story on how this mammoth box office happened and the caveat hanging over it all. Read the full story here.
New Releases
TIFF So Far: Steve Pond writes on why, despite movies that are being received well, the buzz at TIFF is all about a movie that’s not playing there.
From the Ashes of ‘Blade’: “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” director Bassam Tariq explains to Drew Taylor how his acclaimed action thriller was born out of his and Mahershala Ali’s scrapped Marvel movie.
Big ‘Buddy’: The Sundance indie horror film “Buddy” is Roadside’s first film since COVID to gross more than $20 million. Jeremy Fuster has the inside story on yet another Gen Z-fueled hit.
Lessons From Denise Di Novi: I spoke to legendary producer Denise Di Novi about the keys to great producing, her take on Paramount-WBD and how she got “Practical Magic 2” off the ground.
TIFF Reviews and Interviews: Catch up on all of our coverage here.
Venice Reviews, Interviews and News: And catch up on our Venice Film Festival coverage here.
Concession Stand
The first trailer for Paramount’s “Mr. Irrelevant” will make you understand why Tom Cruise picked Jonathan Levine to direct “Days of Thunder 2.”
How’s this for a surprise? Searchlight is mounting a “Family Stone” sequel with the full original cast and writer/director Tom Bezucha all onboard.
Drew Taylor did a great interview with “Mayday” filmmakers Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley about making comedies look cinematic.
Michael Mann will unveil yet another director’s cut of “Miami Vice.”
Spencer Lackey, whose social media horror shorts have gone viral, is teaming with Neon and Blumhouse Atomic Monster for his first feature.
Paul Feig is in talks to direct an “Italian Job” sequel for Paramount.
Streaming Corner
- Remember when Sharon Waxman and I wrote, last November, about how Netflix’s relationship with theaters was thawing? Well this week, the streamer revealed it will report box office numbers for the first time on six upcoming releases, including the 45-day window of Oscar contender “La Bola Negra,” their first-ever IMAX release with “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” and the wide release of Greta Gerwig’s “Narnia” next spring.
- In other Netflix news, the “Seven”-esque serial killer thriller “The Whisper Man,” starring Adam Scott and Robert De Niro, is a streaming hit. It racked up 33.4 million views in its second week of release.
What I’m Watching
I checked out the Netflix documentary “Turning Point: Generation 9/11” this weekend, and it’s a fascinating look at the horrific terrorist attack through the eyes of the generation that never or barely remembers a pre-9/11 world. The film does a great job of drawing parallels from the immediate aftermath of the attacks to issues facing American policy today, and the perspective from millennials and older Gen Z-ers is fascinating as the attacks become less a recent event and more a moment in history.
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