Movies
TV: Kevin Bacon Hunts Serial Killers For Fox
Kevin Bacon (R.I.P.D., Stir of Echoes) is headed to primetime. In a big casting coup, Deadline reports that the feature actor is set to topline Kevin Williamson’s Fox drama pilot. This marks the first major series role for Bacon who had been heavily pursued by broadcast and cable networks for years.
They hear that Bacon has committed to doing 15 episodes a season vs. the standard 22 for a broadcast series. That lightens the load on the actor who can continue to do multiple features a year and spend time with his family. It also plays into Fox’s strategy of exploring new ways for airing shows, something Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly talked about at TCA last month. The high quality of many cable drama series is being attributed in part to shorter seasons that allows for tighter, more impactful storytelling.
The untitled Kevin Williamson project, from Warner Bros TV and Williamson’s studio-based Outerbanks Entertainment, is described as “an edge-of-the-seat thriller about a diabolical serial killer who uses technology to create a cult of serial killers, and a retired FBI profiler (Bacon) who finds himself in the middle of it.”
Marcos Siega recently signed on to direct the pilot, written and executive produced by Williamson, creator of “Dawson’s Creek,” the hit Scream horror movie franchise and co-creator/executive producer of the CW’s “Vampire Diaries” and “Secret Circle.” 
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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