The Long Box Office Weekend: Finding Tarzan

How was your holiday weekend? I took a rare break from blogging for a long 4th of July weekend with two friends I hadn't seen in far too long. We didn't hit the movies but for a couple of post meal watches on shared couches (The Intern & 10 Cloverfield Lane). But movies are always big business on this weekend, even without our help. It was a tough opening weekend for The BFG but both the new Tarzan and The Purge did well, Despite three major new films and a big expansion for a others like Swiss Army Man, cinemas were still under the sea. Finding Dory remains at #1 and will soon be the top grossing film of the whole year. Haven't all the fish been found by now?

TOP FIVE WIDE
1000+ screens. arrows indicate gaining or losing screens
▫️01 Finding Dory $50.1 (cum. $380.5) Review
🔺02 The Legend of Tarzan $45.5 NEW Review
🔺03 The Purge: Election Year $34.7 NEW
🔺04 The BFG $22.2 NEW
🔺05 Independence Day: Resurgence $20.2 (cum. $76.3)  Roland Emmerich

TOP FIVE LIMITED
Less than 1000 screens. Excluding previously wide. 
🔺01 Swiss Army Man $1.7 (cum. $1.8) 636 screens 
🔺02 Our Kind of Traitor $1.2 NEW 372 screens 
🔻03 Love & Friendship $512K (cum. $12.6) 185 screens Review, Podcast  
🔻04 The Lobster $425K (cum. $7.6) 151 screens Reviewish, Podcast 
🔺05 Maggie's Plan $400K (cum. $2.7)  Review
 

What did you see/do this weekend?

Review: The Legend of Tarzan (2016)

Editor's Note: This review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad. Our "Swing Tarzan Swing" column, investigating the shifting portrayals and quality of Tarzan films over pop culture history will resume next weekend. We'll circle back to Skarsgård at the end.

You know that antipiracy text that sometimes appears on movie screens now post-credits? "The making and legal distribution of this film supported over X-many thousands of jobs." This message kept bothering me the day after seeing The Legend of Tarzan (2016). Yes, piracy is bad but you know what else is terrible? That none of those jobs were for animal trainers! I swear that not a single real animal appears in the new film, which has to be a first for a Tarzan film. And hopefully a last. It's all computer generated imagery for this jungle adventure...

Click to read more ...

ICYMI: The Furniture

Our new contributor Daniel Walber is taking the 4th of July off but I wanted to take this wee break from his column "The Furniture," to sing its praises. When he first pitched the series I requested only that it be really focused, not solely Oscar-nominated specific (so much brilliant work isn't honored each year, after all), and that we alternate contemporary and classic cinema so there's something for everyone. But the series is all him. It's been a joy to read each week and the exact type of thing I've long wanted to do for my favorite craft category costume design. He beat me to it but I find it inspiring and am looking forward anew to our coverage of the below-the-line Oscar categories this year. 

If you haven't yet read any of these episodes, I think you'll learn something about the cinema and the power of production design to enhance a theme, sell a heightened reality, and underline character arcs.

The episodes to date: The Witch (2016), Hail Caesar! (2016), Deadpool (2016), Lady in the Van (2015), Joy (2015), The Force Awakens (2015), Embrace of the Serpent (2015), Carol and Brooklyn (2015), Orlando (1992), Batman (1989), The Exorcist (1973), Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962), How the West Was Won (1962), A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), Black Narcissus (1947), That Hamilton Woman (1941) 

Happy Fourth of July !

Have fun & stay safe! (We'll be back briefly this afternoon and then back to regular frequent posting tomorrow.) 

Idris Elba is The Gunslinger in "The Dark Tower"

The Dark Tower, based on Stephen King's novel series (though not apparently a direct adaptation of any particular one of them) is currently filming for an early 2017 release. Here's Idris Elba in costume as The Gunslinger. [More Photos here]

Nice to see his face again after all those computer generated pixels or alien prosthetics (Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Star Trek Beyond). Matthew McConaughey is the villain 'the Man in Black' (set photos). The post apocalyptic drama also features Abbey Lee (The Neon Demon) in the principle female role, Whedonite and nerd-hottie Fran Kranz as the villain's henchmen. Plus: Jackie Earle Haley, Katheryn Winnick, and Claudia Kim.

The costumes are by stylish Trish Summerville. Her work is always so pleasingly modern. She previously did David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Have you read this book series?