Movies
Alicia Vikander in Talks to Battle Monsters in Ben Wheatley’s ‘Freakshift’
We’ve been talking about High Rise director Ben Wheatley’s cops vs. monsters flick Freakshift since way back in 2012, when it looked like it was getting off the ground. Unfortunately, the planned start date came and went without a peep, but today brings an exciting update. It looks like the film is finally happening, and a lead has possibly been found.
Deadline reports that Oscar winner Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) is in talks to star in the action-thriller, which centers on a band of misfits who hunt down and kill underground, nocturnal monsters. If the deal goes through, Vikander will play the lead female protagonist.
The story is set in a world where monsters rise from the ground and terrorize citizens when night falls. The Freakshift is a band of government-organized misfits and lawbreakers who hunt and kill the creatures for civic duty, sport and money.
Wheatley co-wrote the script with Amy Jump.
Filming on Freakshift is set to begin in August.
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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