Movies
Steve Zahn Will Fight in the ‘War of the Planet of the Apes’
Variety is reporting that Steve Zahn has joined Fox’s War of the Planet of the Apes, the third film in the rejuvenated franchise that kicked off with 2011’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes. While details about Zahn’s role are being kept under tight lips, it has been revealed that he will be playing an ape.
Just a month ago, we reported that Woody Harrelson joined the cast as “The Colonel”, a man described as the main villain of the film. The story will also continue the tale of Caesar, who has been the main character of the new generation of films.
While I realize that these films have an incredible serious tone, I can’t help but hope that Zahn will be able to act a bit like his character from Strange Wilderness, which was a dumb movie but the below scene had me laughing so hard that I nearly pissed myself.
War of the Planet of the Apes is set for a July 14th, 2017 release date. Matt Reeves returns to direct after 2014’s Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
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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