Movies
‘Monster Hunter’ Made $8 Million Internationally Over the Weekend; Pulled from Release in China
Paul W.S. Anderson‘s video game adaptation Monster Hunter isn’t being released here in the US until December 25, but the film was unleashed over the weekend in several international markets. According to a report from Deadline, it made “about $5.3 million” in China on Thursday/Friday, and a combined $2.65 million in five other markets this weekend.
Deadline breaks down the other five markets, “Each came in No. 1 including Taiwan ($1.5M), Saudi Arabia ($550K), UAE ($305K) and Netherlands ($180K).”
How much did Monster Hunter make in China beyond Friday, you ask? Well, that’s where things get interesting. The Milla Jovovich-starring monster movie was actually pulled from release in China over the weekend amid complaints about a brief dialogue exchange that was deemed racist and offensive; the exchange in question will be removed from the movie.
Variety reports, “Cinemas around the country began to pull the movie from their line-ups when what was intended as a lighthearted moment in the film was taken by local viewers as a gloating insult. Though around a quarter of all film screenings in China were allotted to Monster Hunter on Friday, by Saturday that had fallen to only 0.7%.”
The site’s report continues, “By around midnight the same day, many cinemas received an urgent notice to cancel all upcoming screenings and issue refunds for shows already sold, according to numerous screenshots of such directives posted online.”
They also break down the scene in question: “In the scene, a white male character and an Asian character played by Jin Au-Yeung are driving together at high speed. “What?” says the former. “Look at my knees!” shouts Jin. “What kind of knees are these?” asks his companion. “Chi-nese!” jokes Jin, punning on the word’s last syllable.”
As Deadline reports, Constantin Film has apologized for the offending dialogue, and they have agreed to remove the line of dialogue completely from the movie going forward.
Constantin “sincerely apologizes to Chinese audiences for a line of dialogue contained in an early scene of Monster Hunter.” Their statement today continues, “There was absolutely no intent to discriminate, insult or otherwise offend anyone of Chinese heritage. Constantin Film has listened to the concerns expressed by Chinese audiences and removed the line that has led to this inadvertent misunderstanding.”
At this time, it’s unclear if Monster Hunter will be returning to theaters in China.
Movies
‘The Exorcism’ Trailer – Russell Crowe Gets Possessed in Meta Horror Movie from Producer Kevin Williamson
Russell Crowe (The Pope’s Exorcist) is starring in a brand new meta possession horror movie titled The Exorcism, and Vertical has unleashed the official trailer this afternoon.
Vertical has picked up the North American rights to The Exorcism, which they’ll be bringing to theaters on June 7. Shudder is also on board to bring the film home later this year.
Joshua John Miller, who wrote 2015’s The Final Girls and also starred in films including Near Dark and And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird, directed The Exorcism.
Joshua John Miller also wrote the script with M.A. Fortin (The Final Girls). This one is personal for Miller, as his late father was the star of the best possession movie ever made.
Miller said in a statement this week, “The origins of the film stem from my childhood spent watching my father, Jason Miller, playing the doomed Father Karras flinging himself out a window at the climax of The Exorcist. If that wasn’t haunting enough on its own, my dad never shied away from telling me stories of just how “cursed” the movie was: the mysterious fires that plagued the production, the strange deaths, the lifelong injuries— the list went on and on. The lore of any “cursed film” has captivated me ever since.”
“With The Exorcism, we wanted to update the possession movie formula (“Heroic man rescues woman from forces she’s too weak and simple to battle herself!”) for a world where no one group owns goodness and decency over another,” he adds. “We were gifted with an extraordinary cast and creative team to tell a story about how we’re all vulnerable to darkness, to perpetuating it, if we fail to face our demons. The devil may retaliate, but what other choice do we have?”
The film had previously been announced under the title The Georgetown Project.
“The Exorcism follows Anthony Miller (Crowe), a troubled actor who begins to unravel while shooting a supernatural horror film. His estranged daughter (Ryan Simpkins) wonders if he’s slipping back into his past addictions or if there’s something more sinister at play.”
Sam Worthington (Avatar: The Way of Water), Chloe Bailey (Praise This), Adam Goldberg (The Equalizer) and David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) also star.
Of particular note, Kevin Williamson (Scream, Sick) produced The Exorcism.
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