December is a bear, isn't it? It just keeps on coming at you and more intense as it goes, too. We're so far behind, we're just going to do this with no structure and no editing. Here is a list of lots of news-items or curiousities that are probably worthy of their own articles but they aren't going to get them! We need a big staff (now seeking volunteers!) Okay, here we go...
What did you see over the long holiday weekend? Some of the movies got a two day headstart opening on Wednesday, others on Friday but awards season is most definitely upon us; almost everything has now screened for someone and there's only one month of the year left to get through. We've expanded the two charts to include all 14 films in wide release (over 800 screens) and the corresponding top players in limited release. There's a glut of titles out there at the moment.
Here's how the box office went down for the holidays. There is a lot to ponder after the jump...
Weekend Box Office (ACTUALS) (Nov 23rd-25th)
W I D E 800+ screens
PLATFORM / LIMITED excluding prev. wide
1 🔺 Ralph Breaks the Internet $56.2 on 4017 screens (cum. $84.7) *NEW*
1 🔺 Boy Erased $1.5 on 672 screens (cum. $4.5) Podcast
The National Board of Review will reveal their winners later today. They're much harder to predict than other high profile awards bodies because their organization is secretive and untelevised. That said, there are some patterns that have emerged over the years. Though there are rumors that The Mule did not screen for them, for example, it's otherwise a foregone conclusion that if there is a Clint Eastwood film available to them in any way, they WILL honor it and often in a major way. The last Clint Eastwood film they skipped from honoring in any way was Jersey Boys (2014) but that was an exception to the rule. Since Mystic River they've otherwise always given his movies something, even the ones that don't have significant awards futures like The Hereafter (top ten list) or Gran Torino (Best Actor AND Screenplay) or Flags Of Our Fathers (top ten list), or the ones that nobody is all that passionate about but have awards appeal in some way like Invictus (Best Director AND Best Actor). So I'm expecting The Mule or even The 15:17 to Paris to show up, as absurd as the latter sounds.
Another very safe NBR bet is that they'll choose as Best Picture something that has either just opened in limited release or is yet to open...
• Glamour Amandla Stenberg goes au naturel with the body hair at the Rome premiere of The Hate U Give. Oh and also its their 20th birthday today. Happy birthday to them! • /Film Release date shuffle. Wonder Woman 2 has been pushed back to 2020 so now it's the Terminator reboot (with the original stars) and a reboot of Charlie's Angels facing off in Wonder Woman's old Novemeber 2019 date • Self Styled Siren anecdote of the week involves 1940s and 1950s star Jennifer Jones • MNPP lots of photos of Cory Michael Smith to celebrate his coming out and his new film 1985
• MCN first Gurus of Gold chart of the season with the actressing awards and Best Picture • Orlando Weekly Indiana Jones Land is probably coming to Disney World in the early 2020s with various parks dreaming up pitches • Variety it's going to be a big year for traditional studios at the Oscars • Coming Soon In demand Jean-Marc Vallée attached to a Yoko Ono / John Lennon biopic • Variety Critics Choice nominees for Documentaries. I really can't with the randomness of 6-9 nominees (are there any rules) in 12 different categories. It's like CHOOSE. If you nominate everything there is zero drama and no reason to look at what's been chosen. • THRHow to Build a Girl about a young woman (Beanie Feldstein) becoming a rock critic is building an impressive supporting cast with Emma Thompson, Paddy Considie, and Chris O'Dowd all joining • New Yorker lottery drawings in the age of plutocracy • Next Best Picture a report on 'lone acting nominations' • DeadlineBe More Chill, opening soon on Broadway has already auctioned off its film rights. Meanwhile Hamilton still hasn't ironed out a deal for the film rights but its expected to be a $50 million sale
Exit Video Hey look & listen, it's a brief soundbyte of a Mary Poppins Returns song in this "special look" that's basically pieces of the original trailer recut with a pieces of a song.
We've seen set photos but this is the first official image from Annapurna of Nicole Kidman in Destroyer, her LAPD drama and suspected second Oscar bid. She plays Erin Bell, a woman haunted by her past when she was undercover with a criminal gang...
Friday, December 14, 2018 at 9:00PM 
