brightlight Archives

Dec12024 by cineverseNo Comments

Is Hollywood’s Addiction to Sequels Cannibalizing Its Future?

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By Owen Gleiberman According To The variety The other day, as I was looking up a data point on boxofficemojo.com, I noticed something that shocked me: The top 10 grossing movies of 2024, from “Inside Out 2” to “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” are all sequels. Every goddamn one of them. “Wicked” and “Moana 2” will soon bring break into the top 10 — and though “Wicked” isn’t technically a sequel, when you consider how many people have seen the original Broadway show, the truth is that the movie version, as much as any sequel, is a kind-of-the-same-but-also-different follow-up to a gargantuan known quantity. It’s all part of déjà vu entertainment culture. The reason I was shocked by the fact that I could be shocked by this is that Hollywood has been famously awash in seque...

Dec12024 by cineverseNo Comments

Box Office: ‘Moana 2’ Keeps Making Waves With Biggest Black Friday Ever

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By J. Kim Murphy According To The variety The big splash continues for Disney’s “Moana 2,” which earned a massive $54.5 million on Black Friday from 4,200 locations, shattering the $34.1 million record that was notched by “Frozen II” in 2019. Not only that, but the film has now earned $140 million and already surged past the five-day holiday weekend record by “Frozen II” ($125 million) — and it didn’t even need Saturday or Sunday grosses to do it. It’s a welcome return to the top for Walt Disney Animation, particularly after turning in two box office duds (“Strange World” and “Wish”) over the past two Novembers — and it’s strong evidence that the company’s family fare is still a superlative theatrical draw. “Moana 2” was originally conceived as a Disney+ series, but the studio’s deci...

Nov132024 by cineverseNo Comments

Hot Frosty’ Review: Lacey Chabert Trades Fruitcake for Beefcake in Netflix’s Heartwarming Holiday Romp

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By Courtney Howard According To The variety Shaking up holiday traditions in irreverently welcome ways, director Jerry Ciccoritti and writer Russell Hainline’s “Hot Frosty” redesigns the look and feel of the familiar snow-made showcase. Their story, centered on a wishful widow who magically transforms a snowman into a hunky rube, balances its sillier aspects with a touching sense of sincerity. They do away with the cartoonish character’s corncob pipe, coal eyes and rotund body, replacing these features with beefy biceps, chiseled bone structure and sculpted abs. The narrative delivers some refreshing highlights for the benefit of Netflix’s Holiday Cinematic Universe, specifically acknowledging its target audience’s yearning for a sprinkling of cheeky, wanton lust alongside its...

Nov122024 by cineverseNo Comments

Yellowstone’ Director on John Dutton’s Bloody Crime Scene, Beth’s Primal Wail and More Secrets

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By William Earl According To The variety SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for “Yellowstone” Season 5 Episode 9, “Desire Is All You Need.” Sunday’s episode of “Yellowstone” was a game-changer, as patriarch John Dutton (Kevin Costner) was killed off after the actor decided not to return to the show. As shocking as the event was, the aftermath has reverberations that set the scene for the whole season. Director Christina Alexandra Voros spoke with Variety about the intense emotions conjured while filming the episode, how the crew supports the cast on complicated shooting days and what sequel series “The Madison” will have in common with “Yellowstone.” There was a long time between filming the first and second half of Season 5, and Kevin Costner a...

Nov122024 by cineverseNo Comments

Mission: Impossible 8’ Trailer: Tom Cruise Returns for ‘The Final Reckoning’ in Action-Packed First Footage

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By Andrés Buenahora According To The variety The title for Tom Cruise‘s eighth “Mission: Impossible” movie has finally been revealed, along with the first trailer. “The Final Reckoning” is now the official title for “Mission: Impossible 8,” which was originally slated to be the “Part Two” to 2023’s “Dead Reckoning.” It’s scheduled to be released on May 23, 2025. The film originally was set for 2022, but was delayed multiple times by the pandemic and SAG-AFTRA actors strike. Cruise revealed the title and a poster Monday morning, along with the caption “Every choice has led to this.” In the action-packed trailer, Cruise scuba dives and explores a wrecked submarine, flies and falls out of a biplane and does a lot of running. Angela Bassett is also revealed to be back as CIA D...

Nov112024 by cineverseNo Comments

Venom 3’ Leads Box Office Again, A24’s ‘Heretic’ Scares Up $11 Million Debut in Sleepy Weekend

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By Rebecca Rubin According To The variety “Venom: The Last Dance” is looming over the domestic box office in its third weekend of release. The third and final installment in Sony’s comic book trilogy has added $16.2 million from 3,905 North American theaters, down 37% from the prior frame and enough to lead over two newcomers, A24’s horror thriller “Heretic” and Lionsgate’s family friendly “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” Although those new releases weren’t able to topple “Venom 3” from No. 1, they opened on the higher end of expectations, thanks to word-of-mouth and the otherwise desolate movie theater landscape. Hollywood mostly avoided the post-election weekend out of concern that people wouldn’t be paying attention to anything other than the presidential race. As a result, over...

Nov102024 by cineverseNo Comments

Why Lucasfilm Entrusted Simon Kinberg to Pilot the Next ‘Star Wars’ Movies

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By Adam B. Vary According To The variety When news broke on Thursday that Simon Kinberg — best known for being a writer, producer, director or all of the above on much of the “X-Men” franchise — had been hired by Lucasfilm to write and produce a new “Star Wars” trilogy, it came as a surprise to many executives at Lucasfilm and Disney. The project is considered internally to be in deep development and not nearly ready to be made public. There was also some surprise within the wider industry that Lucasfilm had turned to Kinberg as the newest steward of “Star Wars” on the big screen. According to multiple industry sources with experience working in the franchise space, Kinberg is seen on one level as a sensible and safe choice. Starting with 2005’s “XXX: St...

Tag: brightlight

Is Hollywood’s Addiction to Sequels Cannibalizing Its Future?

Box Office: ‘Moana 2’ Keeps Making Waves With Biggest Black Friday Ever

Hot Frosty’ Review: Lacey Chabert Trades Fruitcake for Beefcake in Netflix’s Heartwarming Holiday Romp

Yellowstone’ Director on John Dutton’s Bloody Crime Scene, Beth’s Primal Wail and More Secrets

Mission: Impossible 8’ Trailer: Tom Cruise Returns for ‘The Final Reckoning’ in Action-Packed First Footage

Venom 3’ Leads Box Office Again, A24’s ‘Heretic’ Scares Up $11 Million Debut in Sleepy Weekend

Why Lucasfilm Entrusted Simon Kinberg to Pilot the Next ‘Star Wars’ Movies

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