Movies
Scarlett Johansson As Janet Leigh & James D’Arcy As Anthony Perkins In ‘Making of Psycho’!
Fox Searchlight’s Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho just became one of my most anticipated films of 2013.
Variety reports that Director Sacha Gervasi has tapped the stunning Scarlett Johansson and James D’Arcy to play Psycho stars Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins, respectively!
As previously reported, Anthony Hopkins will play the iconic director, while Helen Mirren will play his wife, Alma.
Gervasi’s pic follows Hitchcock and his struggles during the filmmaking of the horror classic.
John McLaughlin penned the script. Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck and Tom Pollack will produce through their Montecito Picture Company along with Tom Thayer.
Sources tell the mag that Making of Psycho has drawn comparisons to My Week With Marilyn, and that the role of Janet Leigh could lead to the same awards consideration for Johansson that the Marilyn Monroe role did for Michelle Williams.
Though D’Arcy’s role is smaller compared to his co-stars, it’s still considered a major part given how important Perkins is to the Psycho legacy.
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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