Movies
TV: Vanessa Williams Latest cast In “666 Park Avenue”
Vanessa Williams (Pictured inside; “Desperate Housewives”) is just the later cast member moving into “666 Park Avenue”, ABC’s supernatural-tinged drama pilot. She joins Rachael Taylor, Dave Annabele and Terry O’Quinn.
Per Deadline, “Wisteria Lane resident Vanessa Williams is moving to a new address — 666 Park Ave. Williams has become the first Desperate Housewives cast member to book a new pilot, ABC’s supernatural drama 666 Park Avenue. The casting stems from the talent holding deal Williams signed with ABC in November.”
The thriller, based on the Gabriella Pierce book series of the same name, “centers on a young couple (Rachael Taylor and Dave Annable) that accepts an offer to manage one of the most historic apartment buildings in New York City. They unwittingly begin to experience supernatural occurrences, which complicate and endanger the lives of everyone in the building.”
The pilot was written by “Fringe” scribe David Wilcox.
Movies
‘Abigail’ on Track for a Better Opening Weekend Than Universal’s Previous Two Vampire Attempts
In the wake of Leigh Whannell’s Invisible Man back in 2020, Universal has been struggling to achieve further box office success with their Universal Monsters brand. Even in the early days of the pandemic, Invisible Man scared up $144 million at the worldwide box office, while last year’s Universal Monsters: Dracula movies The Last Voyage of the Demeter and Renfield didn’t even approach that number when you COMBINE their individual box office hauls.
The horror-comedy Renfield came along first in April 2023, ending its run with just $26 million. The period piece Last Voyage of the Demeter ended its own run with a mere $21 million.
But Universal is trying again with their ballerina vampire movie Abigail this weekend, the latest bloodbath directed by the filmmakers known as Radio Silence (Ready or Not, Scream).
Unlike Demeter and Renfield, the early reviews for Abigail are incredibly strong, with our own Meagan Navarro calling the film “savagely inventive in terms of its vampiric gore,” ultimately “offering a thrill ride with sharp, pointy teeth.” Read her full review here.
That early buzz – coupled with some excellent trailers – should drive Abigail to moderate box office success, the film already scaring up $1 million in Thursday previews last night. Variety notes that Abigail is currently on track to enjoy a $12 million – $15 million opening weekend, which would smash Renfield ($8 million) and Demeter’s ($6 million) opening weekends.
Working to Abigail‘s advantage is the film’s reported $28 million production budget, making it a more affordable box office bet for Universal than the two aforementioned movies.
Stay tuned for more box office reporting in the coming days.
In Abigail, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
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