Box Office: 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Digging Up Huge $60M-Plus Opening - Hollywood Reporter

MOVIES

8:02 AM PST 2/15/2020 by Pamela McClintock

Elsewhere, 'The Photograph' and 'Fantasy Island' are battling it out for third place, while 'Downhill' tumbles down the slope and Oscar-winner 'Parasite' shines.

Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog grossed a huge $21 million on Friday for a projected four-day debut of $60 million-plus over Presidents Day weekend, including $50 million or more for the three days.

If traffic holds, the family friendly pic has a strong shot of coming in several million dollars higher and unseating Detective Pikachu ($54.3 million) to boast the biggest domestic opening ever for a video game adaptation, according to Comscore and unadjusted for inflation.

The PG-rated title — nabbing an A CinemaScore — is based on the popular Sega video game and sees the titular character (voiced by Ben Schwartz) team up with a small-town sheriff (James Marsden) to battle the evil genius Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey).

Sonic's better-than-expected debut is a win for Paramount and director Jeff Fowler, who redesigned the titular character after a loud fan outcry last year.

The movie will easily steal the box office crown from holdover Birds of Prey, which debuted to a tepid $33 million last weekend. The female-led superhero pic looks to come in No. 2 over Presidents Day with an okay $20 million.

Sonic is hardly the only new offering on the marquee, thanks to the one-two-punch of Valentine's Day, which fell on a Friday this year, and Presidents Day weekend.

Universal and producer Will Packer's romantic drama The Photograph is in a relatively close race with Sony and Blumhouse's horror pic Fantasy Island for No. 3 behind Sonic and holdover Birds of Prey. Both films are eyeing a four-day gross in the $14 million to $15 million range, with many rivals giving Fantasy Island a slight edge.

The Photograph, starring Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield, was written and directed by Stella Meghie. The $15 million film received a B+ CinemaScore.

Fantasy Island, a horror reimagining of the classic television series of the same name, barely passed with a C- CinemaScore. Directed and written by Jeff Wadlow, the $7 million pic stars Michael Peña, Maggie Q, Lucy Hale, Austin Stowell, Portia Doubleday, Jimmy O. Yang, Ryan Hansen and Michael Rooker.

Searchlight's black comedy Downhill, starring Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, flunked with a D CinemaScore. Premiering last month at the Sundance Film Festival to mixed reviews, the film is looking at a four-day debut of $5.5 million to $6 million.

Downhill could be beat by Bong Joon Ho's and Neon's Parasite, which expanded into more than 2,000 theaters on Friday following its historic Academy Award wins for best picture and director, among other top accolades. The South Korean film is projected to gross $5.5 million to $6.5 million as it nears or crosses the $44 million mark domestically.

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2020-02-15 16:02:08Z
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"Better than him winning the Oscar," Bong Joon-ho made Martin Scorsese a hero of Oscars - KOREA NOW

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1. "Better than him winning the Oscar," Bong Joon-ho made Martin Scorsese a hero of Oscars  KOREA NOW
2. The real star of Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winner Parasite? The house  The Guardian
3. ‘Parasite’ paints a nightmarish picture of Korean inequality. The reality in America is even worse.  The Washington Post
4. Commentary: 'Parasite' became an Oscars success story overnight because of years of Asian American support  The San Diego Union-Tribune
5. ‘Parasite’ Oscar Win Leaves Hollywood Desperate to Work With Bong Joon Ho and Neon  Variety
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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2020-02-15 09:00:06Z
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Justin Bieber's 'Changes': Wifed-Up and No Longer the Swingin' Dick - The Daily Beast

It makes sense that Justin Bieber’s new album, Changes, would come out on Valentine’s Day—another cultural institution contrived by savvy studio marketers, riddled with maxims about love, vaguely Christian, pretty corny, but also sweet and nice, if you like flowers and candy. The 17-track album, Bieber’s first release in five years, sounds a lot like the figure he’s become: subdued, happy, married.

We last heard from Bieber in 2015, with the apologetic playboy dance-pop of Purpose. That album—which emerged from his unraveling relationship with Selena Gomez and a series of legal scrapes, including but not limited to a vandalism arrest in Brazil, a D.U.I., and an egg-throwing incident—felt monumental and statement-making, packed with alt-EDM bangers and hints of tropical house. For a months-long stretch that year, it was impossible to go anywhere without hearing snippets of “What Do You Mean?,” “Sorry,” or “Where Are Ü Now,” and I didn’t mind. There were softer, acoustic tracks on Purpose, like “Love Yourself,” but its strengths came from the undercurrent of remorse under its playful pop beats (a motif producer A.G. Cooke later made explicit in his dark, retro remix “Whaaat 85”).

Fans who wanted more of that Bieber, myself included, might be disappointed by Changes. As Vulture’s Craig Jenkins observed in his review of the first single, “Yummy,” the new album is much more in the spirit of Journals, Bieber’s 2013 compilation of cool and melancholic R&B tracks. While the album got mixed reviews upon release, it became a cult favorite, heralding the moment Bieber emerged from the kiddie-pop of his YouTube days and staked a claim for himself as a serious musician.

Changes isn’t quite in the same mode—the subtle sadness of “Bad Day” or “Change Me” have been swapped out for earnest and committed love songs, many of them inspired by Bieber’s new wife, the model Hailey Baldwin. But Changes does present Bieber on a similar course: toward emotional growth and restraint—a theme the criminally-literal singer nods to in the name: “Changes.” This isn’t the wild guy hocking loogies from his hotel window. He’s wifed-up, got a mustache, vibing.

The two advance singles, ”Yummy” and “Intentions,” previewed some of the motifs the album teases out. Bieber was never a lyrics guy (let’s not forget: “What about the children? Look at all the children we can change.”), and “Yummy” is almost comically nonverbal, with a lightly catchy hook of erotic babytalk. The lyrics were packed with innuendo, a recurring theme across Changes, and fair enough for the newlywed who recently told E! News, “When I’m with my wife, we like to…You guys can guess what we do. It gets pretty crazy…that’s pretty much all we do.” For all the intentional undertones, Bieber might have cut the sexual subtext for a song like “Intentions,” which he dedicated to a women’s shelter in Los Angeles, rather than crooning about his lack of ulterior motives. Then again, this is the same guy who posted a very long photo series of babies on Instagram and captioned them all “Yummy.”

There are a few moments on Changes when the hand of Scooter Braun and his vast marketing apparatus make themselves known. When I first watched the “Yummy” music video, for example, I thought immediately of scrolling through TikTok. The high-production montage follows a pink-haired Bieber in a room of well-dressed boomers, bopping (arguably with more enthusiasm than the low-key song affords) and disrobing in the mode of TikTok’s mute and self-consciously handsome stars, nodding to hooks with their shirts off. That, it turns out, was intentional—Bieber later teamed up with Chipotle to run a Super Bowl ad campaign on the app in an explicit bid to get the song to go viral (it did—the #yummy hashtag has 4.6 billion views). Likewise, after the album dropped last night, Complex reported that the pleasantly upbeat track “Running Over” had originally featured a verse from Ski Mask the Slump God, the South Florida rapper behind the hilariously sly 2017 track “Catch Me Outside.” In the weeks before the release, however, Ski Mask’s verse was switched out for a perfectly fine riff from Lil Dicky, the one-note joke rapper who has an upcoming TV show.

But what both “Yummy” and “Intentions” did well was remind listeners that Bieber has a nice voice, and Changes underscores that on nearly every song. Over the spare, pulled-back beats of tracks like “Available,” “Take It Out On Me,” or “Habitual” (some of which sound, as a friend put it, “like he searched ‘Justin Bieber-Type Beat’ on Youtube”), the 25-year-old’s delicate range becomes the focus. The end result is something like a box of Valentine’s chocolates: they all taste pretty much the same, but it’s still sweet.

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2020-02-15 08:43:00Z
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Pattinson’s Batman costume is made of guns—like in a Kevin Smith comic - Polygon

Director Matt Reeves’ reveal of Robert Pattinson in a new batsuit signals that the beginning of principal photography for Warner Bros.’ The Batman can’t be far away, but it didn’t give many hints about the movie otherwise. Except that the symbol on Batman’s chest looks a lot like pieces of a gun — which may mean The Batman is taking a page from Kevin Smith.

In 2018, Smith — director, actor, and huge nerd — penned a short story in Detective Comics #1000, in honor of Batman’s 80th anniversary. Illustrated by DC Comics co-publisher Jim Lee himself, the comic saw a disguised Bruce Wayne visiting a blackmarket supervillain prop shop in order to recover the gun that was used to kill his parents. The scene is interspersed with panels of Batman battling his rogues’ gallery, and getting shot, stabbed, bashed, or burned right in the bat-symbol every time.

At the end, the story reveals that Bruce took the gun back to the batcave and melted it down into a chestplate.

Image: Kevin Smith, Jim Lee/DC Comics

“The metal that broke my heart as a child?” Bruce’s narration concludes, “That same metal will protect my heart as a man. And that is justice.”

Some fans think that that’s exactly what we saw in the short clip of Pattinson’s Batman costume, including Kevin Smith himself.

The figure on his chest does look like two symmetrical pieces of military hardware. When we quizzed our own military game expert, Charlie Hall, on the anatomy of those pieces, he acknowledged that it could be the grip of a gun, split in half, possibly an AR receiver. But what appears to be a belt clip on the central bases made him skeptical.

It’s possible the symbol is something else entirely — like two batarangs, folded and ready for use, complete with a belt clip for alternative storage. We’ll just have to wait for more info from the set of The Batman, which will hit theaters on June 25, 2021.

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2020-02-14 15:37:13Z
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Harvey Weinstein “Underestimated” The Women That He Sexually Assaulted, A Prosecutor Said - BuzzFeed News

In closing arguments Friday, prosecutor Joan Illuzzi-Orbon said the Harvey Weinstein rape case is not only about “power, manipulation, and abuse” but also a ”wanton lack of human empathy” where people who aren't rich or powerful enough don’t matter.

Weinstein was the “master of his universe,” Illuzzi-Orbon told jurors, one where the women — standing in line to get into his circle — were “merely ants he could step on without consequences.”

And once they were in Weinstein’s world, Illuzzi-Orbon said, the women didn’t get to “complain when they are stepped on, spit on, demoralized, and raped, and abused” by the once-powerful Hollywood mogul.

But Weinstein “underestimated” these women, Illuzzi-Orbon said.

She said he tried to keep them close to make sure that “they wouldn't walk out of the shadows and call him exactly what he was: an abusive rapist.”

During his defense's closing arguments Thursday, attorney Donna Rotunno said that in the “alternate universe” prosecutors had created, “women are not responsible for the parties they attend, the men they flirt with, the choices they made to further their own careers.”

Weinstein, 67, is charged with one count of first-degree rape, one count of third-degree rape, two counts of predatory sexual assault, and one count of first-degree criminal sexual assault in relation to allegations made by two women. If convicted, he could potentially face life in prison.

He has maintained that all the sexual encounters were consensual.

Over the course of five weeks, six women have testified in the trial, providing often harrowing and graphic accounts of how Weinstein allegedly raped or sexually assaulted them.

On Friday, the prosecutor sought to draw parallels between the different encounters with Weinstein that spanned decades to show that he was a “seasoned” sexual predator with a pattern of manipulating and coercing women into nonconsensual and degrading acts.

The charges against Weinstein are based on the allegations of Jessica Mann and Miriam Haley. Mann, an aspiring actor, said Weinstein raped her in a Manhattan hotel in 2013, and Haley alleged that Weinstein forcibly performed oral sex on her in 2006.

Through the trial, Weinstein’s lawyers have sought to discredit Mann and Haley by questioning why they continued to have consensual sex with Weinstein and why they stayed in touch with him after being assaulted.

In her closing argument, Illuzzi-Orbon said the women did not report their alleged assaults and continued to have contact with Weinstein because none of them knew that what was happening to them was also happening to others.

Illuzzi-Orbon described the woman as being “disposables” whom Weinstein isolated from each other.

“They can feel like they’re the only one,” she said. “That’s the whole mark of a predator.”

She said that Weinstein got them into situations that made them feel "stupid" and "belittled."

“And stupid and belittled people do not complain,” Illuzzi-Orbon said. “They don’t stick up for themselves and they sure as hell don't complain about their shame in a public place and in a public setting, say like a courtroom.”

During the trial, Sopranos actor Annabella Sciorra also testified that Weinstein allegedly raped her in the early '90s. Weinstein’s lead lawyer, Rotunno, attacked Sciorra’s testimony Thursday, saying she only did it to “stay relevant” and to revive her acting career.

Illuzzi-Orbon on Friday hit back at Rotunno’s characterization.

“How Hollywood movie star is it for Annabella to have to tell you she was cutting herself,” she said, providing jurors with a graphic retelling of Sciorra's self-harm.

“People with projects and movies are going to want that image connected to the films they put Annabella in? This is a big career move for Annabella Sciorra? Really?” Illuzzi-Orbon said.

Illuzzi-Orbon is expected to finish her closing arguments on Friday, and the jury is likely to begin deliberations early next week.

The verdict in the high-profile case will be viewed as a referendum on the #MeToo movement that was ignited after sexual assault allegations against Weinstein were reported in 2017.

The jury of seven men and five women will now decide whether to believe the women and the prosecutors who have described Weinstein as a predator who sexually exploited women trying to succeed in Hollywood or whether to believe his lawyers who characterized the defendant as an innocent man who has become the “target of a cause and of a movement.”

In her closing arguments on Thursday, Rotunno urged jurors to make the “unpopular” decision to acquit Weinstein despite public perception and an “overzealous” media and prosecution.

“You don’t have to like Mr. Weinstein,” she told the jury. “This is not a popularity contest. We are not here to criminalize morality.”

She also cast doubt on the women’s credibility, claiming that they “relabeled” what were consensual sexual encounters with Weinstein to fit the national narrative that he was a “monster” and a “villain.”

She said all the women made “choices” in how they interacted with Weinstein and how they tried to advance their Hollywood careers.

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2020-02-14 16:50:00Z
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STRANGER THINGS 4 Teaser Trailer (2020) Netflix - JoBlo Movie Trailers

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1. STRANGER THINGS 4 Teaser Trailer (2020) Netflix  JoBlo Movie Trailers
2. 'Stranger Things 4': Hopper returns  CNN
3. Hopper lives! Stranger Things season 4 teaser reveals David Harbour's return  Entertainment Weekly News
4. STRANGER THINGS 4 Trailer Teaser (2020)  ONE Media
5. First Stranger Things season 4 trailer confirms Hopper is alive  GamesRadar
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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2020-02-14 14:09:54Z
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to close office at Buckingham Palace - CNN

CNN understands that the couple no longer needs an office at the Queen's main London residence since stepping back from their roles as senior members of the royal family.

While details are still being finalized, and efforts are being made to redeploy people within the royal household, there will be some redundancies.

British media are interpreting the office's closure as an inevitable step for the couple as they embark on a new life outside the UK.

Last month, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex chose to give up their royal titles, eschew some state funding and return the Sovereign Grant funds they spent to renovate their official residence in Windsor Castle.

The couple, who left for Canada with their son Archie after the royal exit announcement, are also working to become financially independent.

They have a strong connection to the North American country. Meghan lived in there for seven years while she worked as an actress on "Suits."

Harry and Meghan have said they plan to spend more time in North America, but have not provided specifics on where they'll settle.

One of the ways the couple hopes to generate income is through their brand "Sussex Royal."

However an aide to the Queen warned the Duke and Duchess of Sussex against using that title, reported British newspaper The Times.

"I don't think it's satisfactory. One cannot be two things at once. You either are [royal] or you're not," said Thomas Woodcock, Garter King of Arms, in the paper. Woodcock said he was speaking in a personal capacity.

"It is such unusual times that it is a matter of waiting and seeing how things develop," he added.

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2020-02-14 13:08:00Z
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