Movies
‘Ghostbusters’ Firehouse Being Shut Down, S’more Stay Puft!
The TriBeCa firehouse that played a starring role in Ghostbusters could be headed for the afterlife itself, reports the NY Post. The picturesque station is among 20 that the Bloomberg administration is proposing to close due to budget cuts, according to a list released last night by the Fire Department.
City lawmakers yesterday were fuming over the cuts, and vowed to keep as many of the targeted fire companies open as possible. “To even think about closing two fire companies in lower Manhattan, the No. 1 terror target in our country, is unconscionable,” railed City Councilwoman Margaret Chin, whose district includes Ladder 8. “If the city moves forward with any of these closures, people who could have been saved will die,” warned Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, who chairs the Fire Safety Committee.
Word that Ladder 8 is on the chopping block is a case of fact following fiction. In its role in the 1984 comedy, characters played by Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Harold Ramis moved into the firehouse after it had been closed by the city. You’ll find the full story here.
In more tasty news, check out this super sweet S’more Stay Puft Marshmallow Man made out of clay by Reddit user “SirCreate”.
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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