Movies
IFC Goes Blind For ‘Julia’s Eyes’
Having both Kidnapped and the Human Centipede franchise, IFC Films has been doing a pretty decent job of acquiring movies — but the problem is they acquire a bunch of crappy filler.
One such film is the lackluster Julia’s Eyes, the Guillermo Del Toro-produced giallo-esque horror I caught at last year’s TIFF. While it’s not terrible, it’s definitely a bit long and lacks a punch.
IFC has acquired Guillem Morales’ flick for North America and will open theatrically this coming August — wait for DVD or VOD.
The film tells the story of a woman slowly going blind as she investigates the mysterious death of her twin sister. Inside you’ll find the full synopsis and trailer.
“Julia returns to Bellevue with her husband to visit her sister Sarah, who is near blind due to a degenerative illness for which she has unsuccessfully undergone surgery. When they arrive, Julia finds that Sarah has taken her own life and none of her mysterious neighbors seem to be all that surprised. Julia has to confront not only the loss of her sister, but also the loss of all hope halting her own impending blindness, as she suffers from the same illness and would appear to be destined for the same end as her sister. ”
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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