Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
‘Venom: The Last Dance’ misses projections
NEW YORK | “Venom: The Last Dance” showed less bite than expected at the box office, collecting $51 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, significantly down from the alien symbiote franchise’s previous entries.
Projections for the third “Venom” film from Sony Pictures had been closer to $65 million. More concerning, though, was the drop off from the first two “Venom” films. The 2018 original debuted with $80.2 million, while the 2021 follow-up, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” opened with $90 million even as theaters were still in recovery mode during the pandemic.
“The Last Dance,” starring Tom Hardy as a journalist who shares his body with an alien entity also voiced by Hardy, could still turn a profit for Sony. Its production budget, not accounting for promotion and marketing, was about $120 million — significantly less than most comic-book films.
But “The Last Dance” is also performing better overseas. Internationally, “Venom: The Last Dance” collected $124 million over the weekend, including $46 million over five days of release in China. That’s good enough for one of the best international weekends of the year for a Hollywood release.
Still, neither reviews (36% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) nor audience scores (a franchise-low “B-” CinemaScore) have been good for the film scripted by Kelly Marcel and Hardy, and directed by Marcel.
The low weekend for “Venom: The Last Dance” also likely insures that superhero films will see their lowest-grossing year in a dozen years, not counting the pandemic year of 2020, according to David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment.
Following on the heels of the “Joker: Folie à Deux” flop, Gross estimates that 2024 superhero films will gross about $2.25 billion worldwide. The only upcoming entry is Marvel’s “Kraven the Hunter,” due out Dec. 13. Even with the $1.3 billion of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the genre hasn’t, overall, been dominating the way it once did. In 2018, for example, superhero films accounted for more than $7 billion in global ticket sales.
Last week’s top film, the Paramount Pictures horror sequel “Smile 2,” dropped to second place with $9.4 million. That brings its two-week total to $83.7 million worldwide.
The weekend’s biggest success story might have been “Conclave,” the papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes and directed by Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”). The Focus Features release, a major Oscar contender, launched with $6.5 million in 1,753 theaters.
That put “Conclave” into third place, making it the rare adult-oriented drama to make a mark theatrically. Some 77% of ticket buyers were over the age of 35, Focus said. With a strong opening and stellar reviews, “Conclave” could continue to gather momentum both with moviegoers and Oscar voters.
Beyoncé endorses Kamala Harris in joyful speech at Houston rally
“I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother,” Beyoncé said at a campaign rally for Kamala Harris.
“A mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we’re not divided,” she said Friday night in Houston.
“Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations,” she continued. “We must vote, and we need you.”
At the end, Beyoncé, who was joined onstage by her Destiny’s Child bandmate Kelly Rowland, introduced Harris. “Ladies and gentlemen, please give a big, loud, Texas welcome to the next president of the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris,” she said.
She did not perform — unlike in 2016, when she performed at a presidential campaign rally for Hilary Clinton in Cleveland.
Houston is Beyoncé’s hometown, and Harris’ presidential campaign has taken on Beyonce’s 2016 track “Freedom,” a cut from her landmark 2016 album “Lemonade,” as its anthem.
Harris first used the song in July during her first official public appearance as a presidential candidate at her campaign headquarters in Delaware. That same month, Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, publicly endorsed Harris for president.
Beyoncé gave permission to Harris to use the song, a campaign official who was granted anonymity to discuss private campaign operations confirmed to The Associated Press.
Arriving in the back-half of “Lemonade,” “Freedom” samples two John and Alan Lomax field recordings, which document Jim Crow-era folk spirituals of Southern Black churches and the work songs of Black prisoners from 1959 and 1948, respectively. It also features Pulitzer Prize winner Kendrick Lamar.
Kinitra D. Brooks, an academic and author of “The Lemonade Reader,” says the song “’Freedom” is so important because it shows that freedom isn’t free. The freedom to be yourself, the political freedom … it’s the idea that you must fight for freedom, and that it is winnable.”
The Harris rally in Houston highlighted the perilous medical fallout from the state’s strict abortion ban and putting the blame squarely on Donald Trump.
Since abortion was restricted in Texas, the state’s infant death rate has increased, more babies have died of birth defects and maternal mortality has risen.
Frankie Muniz’s first race spoiled by truck’s mechanical problems
HOMESTEAD, Fla. | Frankie Muniz finished 33rd on Saturday in his first Truck Series race since the “Malcolm in the Middle” star announced he will become a full-time NASCAR racer next season.
Muniz, who is 38, recently made the jump from part-time racer to a full slate in the No. 33 Ford for Reaume Brothers Racing. He made two starts for Reaume Brothers this season in the Truck Series.
Muniz has said he is confident his team could be successful in this series, but Saturday’s race was marred by mechanical issues for his Toyota. He qualified 31st out of 34 cars.
He competed twice this season in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series, including the opener at Daytona International Speedway, and has also participated in the ARCA Series, one of the lower rungs on the NASCAR feeder system.
Muniz said Friday that his ultimate goal as a full-time driver is to win races.
“I want to be the best,” he said, “but realistically, the series is tough. There are a lot of good drivers and a lot of good teams, but I think if we could consistently be in the top 20 that would be a huge achievement for us.”
The former actor has been a race enthusiast for decades. Muniz drove the pace car for the 2001 Daytona 500 — a race in which seven-time Cup Series champion Dale Earnhardt was killed on the final lap.
Grant Enfinger of CR7 Motorsports won the race — his second straight win.
—From AP reports
