Movies
Watch Andy Serkis Acting As Caesar Before ‘Apes’ CGI Is Applied!!!
David Harley and I don’t see eye-to-eye when it comes to Twentieth Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rupert Wyatt’s prequel to the 1968 masterpiece that spawned multiple sequels. Personally, I thought it was one of the best Fox films in nearly a decade, and was blown away by the extermination of CGI “dead eyes”. This was accomplished by sticking star Andy Serkis in a motion-capture suit and thus using his body language and actual eyes in the finished product.
Fox is rightfully campaigning to land Serkis a best supporting actor nomination for his role as Caesar, an ape with extreme intelligence who falls victim to the prejudices and fears of man. As Hitfix notes, if Serkis finds himself among the five nominees announced a week from Tuesday, it will make history as the first motion-capture performance recognized by the Academy (let alone any major awards organization).
There has been major debate as to whether or not Serkis should be recognized, considering you don’t actually see him on screen. The below video should put the argument to rest, unless of course you can’t stop laughing (it’s super weird and uncomfortable). It displays Serkis sans CGI acting as the lead ape. It’s supposed to be an emotional moment when James Franco, who played Caesar’s adoptive human father Will, leaves him behind after a public incident.
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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