Movies
Darren Aronofsky Evokes Cronenberg for ‘Machine Man’
Darren Aronofsky could be the next Steven Spielberg or James Cameron if he continues down this insane path of anti-Hollywood filmmaking. Only someone of his caliber can take something new and unique, and break it through the walls of Hollywood that is insistent on remaking films and sticking to their franchise guns. With his Oscar-worthy Black Swan transforming theaters this coming December, instead of taking the reigns on Superman, Aronofsky has instead opted to take the David Cronenberg route with Machine Man. Can I get a holy f*ck?
Darren Aronofsky is set to direct amped-up thriller “Machine Man'” for Mandalay Pictures, based on Max Barry’s serialized online story and upcoming tome.
In the pop thriller, a gadget geek and engineer working at a forward-thinking tech firm decides to systematically replace his weaker fleshy parts with high-end titanium performance upgrades of his own design. But he isn’t the only one with plans for his superior parts.
Mark Heyman is penning the adapted screenplay, collaborating with Aronofsky and Mandalay. Project reteams Heyman and Aronofsky, who worked on “Black Swan.”
Cathy Schulman will produce “Machine Man” for Mandalay. Barry will exec produce.
Mandalay secured the rights to Barry’s partial manuscript in November 2009. As part of an ongoing interactive literary experiment, Barry’s story is being crafted and published one page per day in real time as an online serial. It will be published as a novel by Vintage Books in Spring 2011.
Aronofsky is currently prepping for the release of “Black Swan,” which Fox Searchlight opens Dec. 5. He was last in theaters with the critically acclaimed “The Wrestler.”
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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