Weekend Box Office: "Fast X" Starts Slow

By Ben Miller

Surprising absolutely no one, the 10th entry in the Fast and the Furious series Fast X won the box office weekend.  What was surprising was the muted opening box office of only $67.5 million.  That's the lowest opening for that series since Tokyo Drift in 2006 (unless you count Hobbs and Shaw which opened with $60 million in 2019).  Comparatively, these films make the same amount of domestic money, so you can expect anywhere from $170-$200 million total.  Worldwide is where these films really make their paydays, so keep expecting these things to keep being made.  In fact, each film since Fast Five has made over $500 million outside of North America...

Weekend Box Office (actuals) May 19th-21st 🔺 = new or expanding /  ★ = Recommended
WIDE (Over 800 Screens)	LIMITED / PLATFORM
FAST X	SANCTUARY
1 🔺 FAST X $67 *NEW* 4046 screens	1 BLACKBERRY $288k (cum. $1.0) 374 screens

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Movie News x 5: Amsterdam, Avatar 2, Barbie, Bardo, and Fast X

by Nathaniel R

1. Hey look, it's the first image from David O. Russell's next film Amsterdam, which the internet has been calling either Canterbury Glass or Untitled David O. Russell Film for its entire production history. But now we know its true name so we've had to adjust all the Oscar charts accordingly, not that we've predicted it for much at this juncture. Though obviously predictions can and do change throughout the year...

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The Gay Fantasia of the 'Fast' Series

Christopher James has taken over The Film Experience. Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy day (hopefully Nathaniel's flight from Venice is less bumpy)

Is this a Sean Cody video you'd like to watch? Good news, there are nine (technically ten) of these movies.By: Christopher James

The men race cars because they can’t kiss.

They also sleep with the other’s sister, because that’s the only way they can be family (in their minds).

In 2001, The Fast and the Furious had a big climax where a group of street racers heisted DVD players. Twenty years later, Ludacris and Tyrese Gibson go to space IN A CAR and wax on about invincibility. This is punctuated with a joke about their makeshift spacesuits making them look like minions. No franchise has morphed and changed more than the Fast & Furious franchise. Also, no other franchise has been as homoerotic. This isn't a new observation, but it still needs to be shouted from the rooftops. Now that Fast 9 is available to buy - buckle up, grab a bucket of Corona, and have the binge of your life!

Simply put, the Fast & Furious has something for everyone… as long as you are up for the insanity. It is pure drag machismo, and all most are in on the joke. Spoilers ahead, though really they should just make you want to watch them all.

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Link Club

• Variety RIP Piero Tosi one of the great costume designers. His film credits include Death in Venice, La Traviata, La Cage Aux Folles and The Night Porter so he's the one responsible for Charlotte Rampling at her most sexually provocative
• BuzzFeed good piece on Brad Pitt's talent and why he shines in weirder sideline roles as opposed to leads... though we object to any notion that he isn't a leading man in Once Upon a Time... but this battle is already lost since critics keep calling him supporting even before the Oscar campaign does. (sigh)

more after the jump including The Hunt, a fun conversation on Hobbs & Shaw, Tarantino and Almodóvar...

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Hobbs & Shaw: The Daddyness of It All

By Sean Donovan 

The Fast & Furious films have become some of our most trusted purveyors of pure Hollywood excess, concocting outlandish set pieces and barely logical heist plots that deliver thrills in big bold screaming letters, with an automative fetish that has been worth billions of dollars. But this spin-off, focused on two characters who joined mid-franchise, re-prioritizes the car fetish in favor of two male stars (and a third new one) whose bodies and larger-than-life macho personas are fetish objects in and of themselves. I have been affectionally naming this film ‘Daddy Fight’ ever since I first saw the trailer, for indeed that is what it is- gladiatorial combat to see who among Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, or Idris Elba will emerge as Daddy. The result is, quite simply, one of the most triumphant adrenaline-fueled homoerotic explosions in recent memory...

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