Movies
Lizzy Caplan To Learn A Thing Or Two About ‘Warm Bodies’
As time goes by it’s becoming evident that Jonathan Levine is one of the brighter emerging talents in Hollywood. I loved The Wackness, have heard great things about 50/50 and am eagerly awaiting a world where All The Boys Love Mandy Lane is widely, and legally, available.
So even though I’m sick of zombies it’s hard not to be excited about his take on the genre, Warm Bodies. Yesterday we heard that John Malkovich had joined the already impressive cast of Nicholas Hoult, Rob Corddry and Theresa Palmer.
And now we’re told that Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls, Cloverfield, “Party Down” and 127 Hours) is now in “final talks” to join the cast as well. I’ve always liked her work and am stoked to see all of these people under Levine’s wing.
Based on the book by Isaac Marion the story “follows an existentially tormented zombie named “R” who begins an unlikely friendship with the girlfriend of one of his victims. It starts a chain reaction that will transform him, his fellow zombies, and maybe the whole undead world.”
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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