Movies
Momentum Investigates Death In a ‘Boarding School’
Momentum Pictures announced today that they have acquired Maven Pictures’ horror Boarding School from director Boaz Yakin, reports Deadline.
Boarding School tells the story of an ominous boarding school where children deemed “undesirable” are committed.
“Twelve-year-old Jacob Felson (Luke Prael) is sent away by his stepfather to the mysterious school run by a peculiar couple, Dr. Sherman (Will Patton) and his dominating wife (Tammy Blanchard). When one of the students is found dead, Jacob begins to suspect something much more sinister is going on than education.” The movie also stars Samantha Mathis and Sterling Jerins.
Written and directed by Yakin (Remember the Titans, Safe), the pic is produced by Maven Pictures’ Trudie Styler (Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, Still Alice, American Honey) and Celine Rattray (The Kids Are All Right, Still Alice, American Honey) as well as Scott Lochmus (The Joneses, London Town), and Jason Orans (Goodbye Solo, Night Catches Us).
Momentum Pictures will release the film in theaters, on VOD and digital platforms later this year and Global Road is handling international for the film.
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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