Jacob Hall
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Fury’ Rages Into First Place
Brad Pitt's new World War II drama 'Fury' opened at number at the box office and has officially defined what this October has been about: long, R-rated movies featuring huge movie stars bucking the usual trends and out-grossing their family friendly competition. Between this and 'Gone Girl,' it looks like grown adults are heading to their multiplex more than ever these days.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Gone Girl’ Vanquishes the Competition
'Gone Girl' may have barely won its first weekend at the box office over 'Annabelle,' but in its second week of release, it emerged as the real victor. Fighting off tons of new competition, David Fincher's thriller held onto the number one spot and made it look easy.
The ‘SNL’ Jan Hooks Tribute: Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig Present ‘Love Is But a Dream’
The unfortunate and untimely death of the great Jan Hooks this past week sent the comedy world into mourning, with countless writers and comics stepping forward to pay tribute to the late 'SNL' star. It could have been easy for this week's new episode to gloss over the passing of one of their own (it is a comedy show, after all), but 'SNL' has always been a slightly class institution -- it remembers those who came before.
White Girls Be Trippin: A Supercut of Girls Falling in Horror Movies
No genre inspires as many cliches, both beloved and hated, as horror. Put on any random slasher movie while a horror buff is in the room and chances are strong that he'll be able to map out every moment, and every poor decision on the part of the main characters, a half hour in advance. However, that horror buff will also tell you that the predictability of it all can be a lot of fun.
‘Dracula Untold’ Reshoots Tie the Film Into Universal’s Shared Monster Movie Universe
During Universal's horror golden age of the '30s and '40s, the studio's beloved monsters all existed in aesthetically similar movies. When they starting going into decline, they even started showing up in each other's films to team up and/or battle to the death. So it makes perfect sense for the Universal of 2014 to see potential in a shared cinematic universe of their iconic monsters and it looks like the upcoming 'Dracula Untold' will kick it all off.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Equalizer’ Triumphs While ‘The Boxtrolls’ Underperforms
When you put Denzel Washington in an action movie, you've written your meal ticket for the foreseeable future.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Maze Runner’ Outpaces Liam Neeson’s ‘A Walk Among the Tombstones’
Young adult movies are big business. 'The Maze Runner' took over the box office this weekend, proving that the audience for films were young people in science fiction dystopias are forced into violent and terrible predicaments extends beyond the 'Hunger Games' franchise.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘No Good Deed’ Dethrones ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
After a month at the top, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' has finally fallen from the number one spot on the box office charts. All it took was a modestly budgeted thriller starring Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson. But 'No Good Deed' didn't just push Marvel off its throne -- it exceeded all expectations and looks like it may be the rare September release to actually be a hit...
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Reigns Over a Very Slow Weekend
There actually was a new film released this week. It's called 'The Identical' and it's a Christian-themed fable about what would have happened if Elvis Presley's stillborn twin brother had survived. Well, for reasons that should be obvious after reading that sentence, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' held onto the number one spot this weekend while 'The Identical' opened outside of the top 10, never to be heard from again.
Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Trounces All Newcomers
A few weeks ago, this column was skeptical that Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' could reach $300 million. Now, it seems impossible that it won't. Thanks to ecstatic word of mouth, killer marketing and only one genuinely successful box office challenger (that would be 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'), Marvel's oddball space opera has managed to spend three of the past four weekends at the number one spot at the box office, giving it enough momentum to officially become the highest grossing film of 2014.