Page 30 - ARUBA TODAY

A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Monday 30 SepteMber 2019
'Abominable' No.1 with $20.9M;

Zellweger's 'Judy' sings out

By JAKE COYLE studio this year, passing made her the best-actress
NEW YORK (AP) — The Disney. Though Disney still Oscar front-runner.
DreamWorks animated commands an overwhelm- Roadside Attractions rolled
adventure "Abominable" ing market share of about out "Judy" with a rare me-
topped the box office with 34%, Universal has had a dium-sized platform re-
$20.9 million in ticket sales strong year with a varied lease that the distributor
over the weekend, ac- slate ("Us," ''Hobbs & Shaw," has found success with
cording to studio estimates ''Yesterday"). The studio ac- before on films like 2012's
Sunday, while the Renee counts for all three of the "Mud" and this summer's
This image released by DreamWorks Animation shows Everest Zellweger-led Judy Gar- year's No.1-debuting origi- "The Peanut Butter Falcon."
the Yeti, left, and Yi, voiced by Chloe Bennet, in a scene from land tale "Judy" got off to a nal releases: "Abominable," The latter is a Mark Twain-
"Abominable," in theaters on Sept. 27.
Associated Press strong start. ''Us" and "Good Boys." inspired adventure starring
"Abominable," the week- "It's not going to be all su- Zack Gottsagen, who has
end's sole new wide re- perheroes all the time. Down syndrome, and Shia
lease, is a co-produc- That's not necessarily go- LaBeouf. This weekend, it
tion between Universal's ing to be everyone's cup became the year's top in-
DreamWorks and the of tea," said Jim Orr, distri- die platform release with
Shanghai-based Pearl Stu- bution chief for Universal. $18.1 million over eight
dios. So the $75 million- "When we have films like weeks, passing A24's "The
film's performance when 'Abominable,' 'Yesterday,' Farewell."
it opens Tuesday in China 'Good Boys,' 'Us,' we're Howard Cohen, co-pres-
will be vital to its worldwide bringing a lot of different ident and co-founder of
success. people into the theaters Roadside, says the 16-year-
The film, written and direct- and that's good for every- old distributor has suc-
ed by Jill Culton, is about a one. That's good for the en- ceeded by seeking popu-
Shanghai teenager (Chloe tire industry." list indies. ("Judy," for which
Bennet) who discovers a It's been a good run for the audience was almost
lost yeti on the roof of her original films lately at the 80% over the age of 35, will
apartment building. She box office. The stripper dra- expand nationwide further
and a pair of friends tra- ma "Hustlers," from STX En- next week.)
verse China to return the tertainment, continued to "It's a very challenging time
creature, whom they name hold strong with $11.5 mil- in film distribution for indies
"Everest," home to the Hi- lion in its third week, drop- and everyone but Disney,
malayas. "Abominable" ping just 32%. It's now made maybe," said Cohen. "We
garnered positive reviews $80.6 million altogether. like movies that can draw
(80% on Rotten Toma- "Hustlers" potentially got an audience, that are
toes) and a warm recep- a boost by having its star crowd-pleasers. In a chal-
tion from audiences (an A — Jennifer Lopez — an- lenging environment, you
CinemaScore) eager for a nounced this week as next have to give people a re-
family friendly option. year's Super Bowl halftime ally strong reason to leave
"Abominable" marks the act, along with Shakira. their house."
seventh No. 1 film this year And one of the weekend's "The movies have to be
for Universal, or eight if biggest successes was properly released and pro-
you count "Downton Ab- "Judy," which opened with moted," he added. "But I
bey," released by the stu- $3.1 million on 461 screens. think the audience is still
dio's specialty label, Focus The film, directed by Rupert there."
Features. "Downton," last Goold, is about the final The two-and-half-month
week's top film, slid to sec- act of Judy Garland's life, break from superheroes
ond with $14.5 million. The when the "Wizard of Oz" atop the box office is ex-
big-screen encore for the star was plagued by drug pected to end next week-
British series has already addiction, health woes end when Warner Bros.'
grossed $107.1 million and financial troubles. The "Joker" hits theaters, along
worldwide. film's main draw is Zellwe- with Fox Searchlight's "Lucy
That gives Universal the ger's lauded performance in the Sky" and Netflix's
most No.1 movies of any as Garland, which has "Dolemite Is My Name."q