Box Office: Here "Mamma Mia!" goes again, to #2 on the charts

by Nathaniel R

In a surprising turn of events Mamma Mia! 2 couldn't inch past Equalizer 2 despite a much higher-grossing preceding film. The absence of Meryl versus the presence of Denzel musta tipped it because it was super close with a 34/35 million battle! Much closer than last time around when Mamma Mia! faced off with The Dark Knight on its own opening weekend back in 2008 for a 27/158 million opening weekend.

In limited release theaters were packed for two new films, the fashion doc McQueen, and the new police brutality drama Blindspotting, while A24's deeply felt and delightfully awkward Eighth Grade had a great second weekend.  What did you see this weekend?

Weekend Box Office Estimates (July 20th-22nd)
W I D E 800+ screens	L I M I T E D excluding prev. wide
Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again	Eighth Grade
1.🔺 THE EQUALIZER 2 $35.8 *NEW*	1. 🔺 THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS $1.4 on 332 screens (cum. $4.5) REVIEW
2. 🔺MAMMA MIA: HERE WE GO AGAIN $34.3 *NEW* REVIEW	2. 🔺 LEAVE NO TRACE  $895k on 361 screens (cum. $3.6) TRAILER DISCUSSION
3.  HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 $23.1 (cum. $91)	3.  🔺EIGHTH GRADE $794k on 33 screens (cum. $1.1)
4. ANT-MAN AND THE WASP $16.1 (cum. $164.6)	4.  🔺 BLINDSPOTTING $332k on 14 screens *NEW*
5. THE INCREDIBLES 2 $11.5 (cum. $557.3)	5. 🔺 DON'T WORRY HE WON'T GET FAR ON FOOT $265k on 62 screens (cum. $380k)

Sorry to Bother You	McQueen
6. JURASSIC WORLD FALLEN KINGDOM  $11 (cum. $383.9)  REVIEW	6. 🔺 SANJU $220k on 112 screens (cum. $7.6)
7. SKYSCRAPER $10.9 (cum. $46.7)	7. RBG  $168k on 116 screens  (cum. $13.1)
8. THE FIRST PURGE $4.9 (cum. $60.1)	8. WHITNEY  $118k on 117 screens (cum. $2.7)
9. 🔺 UNFRIENDED DARK WEB  $3.4 *NEW*	9. 🔺 MCQUEEN $96k on 4 screens *NEW* REVIEW
10. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU  $2.8 (cum. $10.2)  REVIEW	10. SOORMA $78k on 50 screens (cum. $328K)
🔺 = new or expanding its theater count numbers (in millions unless otherwise noted) from box office mojo

Yes No Maybe So: "Aquaman"

by Ilich Mejía

After being announced four years ago, DC's Aquaman is finally showing some promising signs of life. Director James Wan was joined by the film's cast at Comic-Con this weekend where they presented members of the press and fans with the film's first official trailer. The film's stars Jason Momoa (Aquaman) and Amber Heard (Mera) promised big action and a sci-fi fantasy, but more importantly Nicole Kidman was also there. 

Wonder Woman started turning some of us DC agnostics into intrigued believers. Will Aquaman uphold its predecessor's efforts? Before (or after) we get ahead of ourselves, let's pick its trailer apart after the cut...

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Fantasia 2018: Chained For Life

by Jason Adams

Somewhere between Francois Truffaut's Day For Night and Tod Browning's Freaks falls Chained For Life - a rag-tag group of actors (including the ever and always welcome Jess Weixler of Teeth fame) and crew assemble at a hotel turned plastic-surgery spa to shoot a strange little movie, and on the second day a gathering of differently abled persons of the sort that might have long ago populated a circus tent (a little person, a so-called "bearded lady," a giant, some conjoined twins, and most importantly Adam Pearson, the disfigured actor you oughta recognize from Under the Skin) show up to add surreality to the proceedings. 

Writer-director Aaron Schimberg is aware that in 2018 you can't get away with othering these people the way you once might have been able to though, so he goes meta about it. The film-within-the-film reveals itself as a Nazi-tinged rip-off of Browning's Freaks early on, while the day-to-day movie-shooting is all paper plates at the catering tent and make-up chair confessionals. Only slowly do the two halves begin to bleed together, and in the most unexpected ways at that...

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Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (Review)

by Jorge Molina

Almost ten years ago to the date, Mamma Mia! opened in theaters. The jukebox musical based on the theater phenomenon that at the same time was based on the biggest hits of Europop sensation ABBA went on to gross almost 600 million dollars globally, and became the highest grossing live action musical ever. That movie seems to be divisive among fans of the genre because of the fluffy, silly and often nonsensical joy that poured out of the screens (you can read about the emotional connection I personally have with the movie here). 

Ten years and a Cher later, Donna and her Dynamos make a return to the island of Kalokairi with a sequel that doubles down on everything that made adamant fans of the first one fell in love with it, and made the skeptics roll their eyes...

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Vintage '43

Let's soak in some 1943 since the Smackdown is but one week ago. Here's a look into what was hot hot hot that year in many fields and categories for context...

This is the Army (1943)

Great Big Box Office Hits 

1. For Whom the Bell Tolls
2. This is the Army
3. The Song of Bernadette
4. Thousands Cheer
5. Star Spangled Rhythm
6. Casablanca
7. Air Force
8. Destination Tokyo
9. A Guy Named Joe
10. Coney Island

Oscar's Best Picture List  

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