It’s that time of the week, when myself, Ryan Scott, Lisa Laman and Jeremy Fuster dig into the weekend box office that only recently was. Honestly, there were only two really big pieces of news, namely the $81 million domestic opening weekend (along with the softer-than-hoped overseas earnings) for Twisters and the ridiculously solid hold for Neon’s Longlegs. Meanwhile, Inside Out 2 is about to become the biggest animated movie ever (if you don’t count The Lion King, which I don’t even if my co-hosts think I’m full of shit) and Horizon is continuing to faceplant accordingly. Along with Lisa’s indie cinema run-down (which morphed into a regular feature, natch) and some brief words of mourning for Kinds of Kindness, we discuss growing optimism for theatrical even as it partially rests on the strength of the kind of “IP for IP’s sake” flicks that (I’d argue) allowed streaming to undercut theatrical in the first place. Oh, and we all played “Showcase Showdown” with Deadpool & Wolverine so we’ll see who ends up with egg on their face this time next week.
In terms of the written word…
Lisa offers up a review of Levan Akin’s Crossing as well as a box office history of the X-Men franchise.
Speaking of X-Men, Ryan’s latest “Tales from the Box Office” tackles the opening of the first Deadpool back in February of 2016.
Jeremy offers a deep dive into why some members of the AITSE union are planning to vote “no” on the newly “agreed upon” contract, citing artificial intelligence as a sticking point.
As always, if you like what you hear, like, share, comment, and smash (using a cartoon mallet) that subscribe button with every justified ounce of strength and passion.
Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap
Lisa Laman - Looper, Cultress and Autostraddle
Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm and Fangoria
Ep. 25: 'Twisters' Soars High, 'Longlegs' Legs Out