Page 14 - aruba-today-20220425

A14 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 25 april 2022
'Bad Guys' bests 'The Northman,' Nick Cage at the box office

By JAKE COYLE lion. That's a bad sign for
NEW YORK (AP) — On an the future of the franchise,
unusually crowded week- should it be continued by
end at movie theaters that Warner Bros. (The studio has
featured a pricey Viking thus far held off on green-
epic and Nicolas Cage lighting a fourth film.) Still,
playing himself, Dream- "Secrets of Dumbledore,"
Works Animation's "The Bad last week's top film, is doing
Guys" bested the field, sig- better overseas. Interna-
naling a continued resur- tional sales of $213.2 million
gence for family moviego- account for the lion share
ing after a downturn during of the film's $280.3 million
the pandemic. global haul.
"The Bad Guys," released by Lionsgate's "The Unbear-
Universal Pictures, debuted able Weight of Massive Tal-
with $24 million in U.S. and ent," a gonzo meta com-
Canada ticket sales, ac- edy starring Cage as an
cording to studio estimates exaggerated version of
Sunday. That came despite himself, opened with an
steep competition for fami- estimated $7.2 million. The
lies from Paramount Pic- film, which first launched to
tures' "Sonic The Hedgehog warm reviews out of South
2," which stayed in second by Southwest, will depend
place with $15.2 million its This image released by Focus Features shows Ethan Hawke in a scene from "The Northman." on good word of mouth to
third week of release. It's Associated Press approach netting its $30
grossed $145.8 million do- million budget.
mestically thus far. makes. call it a recovery. I think star in a brutal and bloody That's the kind success that
The apparent health of "The Bad Guys," based on movie theaters are recov- revenge saga. "Everything Everywhere All
family moviegoing is espe- Aaron Blabey's children's ered. We're pretty much "First and foremost, we at Once" has had. The A24
cially good news for Hol- graphic novel series about there," said Paul Derga- wanted to work with Rob- release, a madcap meta-
lywood as it heads into its a gang of crooked animals rabedian, senior media an- ert Eggers," said Lisa Bun- verse fantasy starring Mi-
lucrative summer season with a Quentin Tarantino- alyst for ComScore. "Three nell, head of distribution for chelle Yeoh, has been one
when films like Universal's for-kids tone, fared well with newcomers were all well- Focus, which had handled of the brightest signs for the
own "Minions: Rise of Gru" critics (85% fresh on Rotten received, and all of them international distribution for specialty film business, an-
and Walt Disney Co.'s Tomatoes) and audiences found an audience." Eggers' first two films. "The other sector of the industry
"Lightyear" — the first Pixar (an "A" CinemaScore). With The risks were greatest for key here is that we got to that struggled theatrically
film opening in theaters in little family competition un- Focus Features' "The North- make a film that we want- during the pandemic. In
two years — hope to ap- til the release of "Lightyear" man," which saw its budget ed to make with a filmmak- its fifth week, "Everything
proach pre-pandemic lev- in mid-June, "The Bad Guys" balloon beyond $70 million, er we feel is part of the fu- Everywhere All at Once"
els. should play well for weeks. a major increase in scale ture of American cinema. grossed $5.4 million, a drop
"There's reason for being Having first debuted over- for Eggers, the director of He's got a very distinctive of just 12% from the week
more than cautiously opti- seas, the animated film has previous indie historical hor- voice. He's making film with prior.
mistic," said Jim Orr, head already grossed $63.1 mil- rors "The Witch" and "The original IP, not just going in: But the biggest break-
of distribution for Universal. lion internationally. Lighthouse." The film's path 'Let's make a sequel!'" through in theaters this April
"I think audiences this sum- The weekend's other new to profitability was unlikely Meanwhile, a new install- has been for family movie-
mer are going to be flood- releases — Robert Eggers' even before launching in ment in a once all-powerful going. It's good timing for
ing into theaters." "The Northman" and the theaters, but it opened on brand, the Harry Potter spi- the film industry, which will
While studios have been Cage-starring "The Unbear- the higher side of expec- noff "Fantastic Beasts: The this week convene in Las
hesitant to program many able Weight of Massive Tal- tations with $12 million in Secrets of Dumbledore," Vegas for CinemaCon, the
films against each other ent" — didn't do as well but ticket sales. It added $6.3 fell off a cliff in its second annual convention and
during the pandemic, the still fared reasonably solidly million internationally in 26 weekend in theaters. The trade show for trumpeting
weekend saw a rarity: in their first weekend. territories. Warner Bros. release, the theatrical exhibition. Ex-
three new wide releases, "Every weekend is a build- "The Northman" stars Alex- third "Fantastic Beasts" pect plenty of proclama-
all of them well-received, ing block in the recovery, ander Skarsgard, Anya Tay- movie, dropped 67% in it tions that movie theaters
none of them sequels or re- but I don't even want to lor-Joy and Nicole Kidman second week with $14 mil- are back.q

Jon Stewart to receive Mark Twain Prize for American humor

By ASHRAF KHALIL ored by testimonials and over Comedy Central's challenged the show's en- litical relevance and may
WASHINGTON (AP) — A skits from fellow comedi- "The Daily Show" in 1999. His tire premise of left-wing vs. have sealed the fate of
host of celebrities and ans and previous Mark 16-year run as "Daily Show" right-wing debate. Stewart "Crossfire," which was can-
comedy royalty will gather Twain recipients. Stewart host turned him into a cul- told co-hosts Tucker Carl- celed three months later.
Sunday night at the Ken- himself spoke during Dave tural and political force as son and Paul Begala they Since retiring from "The
nedy Center as comedian, Chappelle's Mark Twain Stewart trained his satirical had a "responsibility to the Daily Show" in 2015, Stew-
talk show host and political ceremony in 2019. eye on both politics and public discourse" that they art has become a vocal
influencer Jon Stewart re- The 59-year-old Stewart an increasingly polarized were cheapening with in- proponent of a number of
ceives the Mark Twain Prize — born Jonathan Stuart national media. sincere political role-play- social causes and one of
for lifetime achievement in Leibowitz — rose to promi- In perhaps his most iconic ing. the most prominent voices
humor. nence as a standup comic moment, Stewart went on Stewart's appearance in support of health care
Stewart, the 23rd recipient and host of multiple failed CNN's popular "Crossfire" rocketed him to new lev- for Sept. 11 first responders
of the prize, will be hon- talk shows before taking debate show in 2004 and els of prominence and po- in New York City. q