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‘A Quiet Place’ Prequel Box Office Speaks Volumes as Costner’s Western Gets a Bumpy Start

(L-R) Actors Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Lupita Nyong'o, and Joseph Quinn and attend the New York premiere of Paramount's "A Quiet Place: Day One" at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York on June 26, 2024. (AFP)
(L-R) Actors Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Lupita Nyong'o, and Joseph Quinn and attend the New York premiere of Paramount's "A Quiet Place: Day One" at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York on June 26, 2024. (AFP)
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‘A Quiet Place’ Prequel Box Office Speaks Volumes as Costner’s Western Gets a Bumpy Start

(L-R) Actors Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Lupita Nyong'o, and Joseph Quinn and attend the New York premiere of Paramount's "A Quiet Place: Day One" at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York on June 26, 2024. (AFP)
(L-R) Actors Alex Wolff, Djimon Hounsou, Lupita Nyong'o, and Joseph Quinn and attend the New York premiere of Paramount's "A Quiet Place: Day One" at AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York on June 26, 2024. (AFP)

“A Quiet Place: Day One” is making noise at the box office. The prequel earned an estimated $53 million in its first weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It’s both a franchise best and significantly more than expected. Going into the weekend, prerelease tracking had “Day One” pegged for a $40 million debut, but audiences were clearly more enthusiastic to see the action-horror starring Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn and released by Paramount. The same could not be said for Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga—Chapter 1,” which opened to $11 million.

The “Quiet Place” victory wasn’t quite enough to snag the coveted first place spot on the charts, though. That honor again went to Disney and Pixar’s juggernaut “Inside Out 2,” which added an estimated $57.4 million in its third weekend in theaters, and crossed $1 billion globally.

There’s a distant possibility that the places will shift when actuals are released Monday. But either way it’s good news for movie theaters in a summer season that’s finally heating up but still running far behind last year (down 19%) and pre-pandemic norms (down 36% from 2019).

“Inside Out 2” continues to be a box office phenomenon, the likes of which the industry hasn’t seen since “Barbie” almost a year ago. In just three weeks of release, it’s earned nearly $470 million in North America and $545.5 million internationally, bringing its global total to $1.01 billion. The sequel is the only 2024 release to cross the billion dollar mark and it did it in just 19 days, a record for an animated film.

“A Quiet Place: Day One,” directed by Michael Sarnoski and rated PG-13, is also fast approaching an important threshold out of the gates. Including the $45.5 million from international showings in 59 markets, the $67 million production has already made $98.5 million.

In a rare feat for a third film, it opened higher than both “A Quiet Place” ($50.2 million opening in April 2018) and “A Quiet Place: Part II” ($47.5 million opening in May 2021). John Krasinski, who wrote and directed the first two, continued serving as a producer.

Playing on 3,708 screens in the US and Canada, nearly 40% of its domestic earnings came from “premium screens” including IMAX and other large formats. It entered the marketplace with mostly positive reviews (84% on Rotten Tomatoes); Audiences gave it a B+ CinemaScore and four out of five stars on PostTrak.

The start for “Horizon,” meanwhile, was sluggish. Though older audiences, the ones most likely to support a Western epic, don’t typically rush out to see films on opening weekend the way people often do for horrors and superheroes, the road ahead will not be easy: Reviews have not been great and it got an underwhelming B- CinemaScore.

The stakes are also a little different for “Horizon,” a $100 million production that Costner financed on his own and partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute. It opened in 3,334 locations. A decades-old passion project, he mortgaged property in Santa Barbara, Calif. to finance it and exited “Yellowstone” to see it through. In a bold, unconventional strategy, “Part 2” arrives in theaters later this summer, on Aug. 16. He also has plans for two more movies.

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Berlin Film Festival Rejects Accusation of Censorship on Gaza

Berlinale Festival Director Tricia Tuttle speaks during the Berlinale Camera award ceremony honoring British composer Max Richter during the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, in Berlin, Germany, 18 February 2026. (EPA)
Berlinale Festival Director Tricia Tuttle speaks during the Berlinale Camera award ceremony honoring British composer Max Richter during the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, in Berlin, Germany, 18 February 2026. (EPA)
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Berlin Film Festival Rejects Accusation of Censorship on Gaza

Berlinale Festival Director Tricia Tuttle speaks during the Berlinale Camera award ceremony honoring British composer Max Richter during the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, in Berlin, Germany, 18 February 2026. (EPA)
Berlinale Festival Director Tricia Tuttle speaks during the Berlinale Camera award ceremony honoring British composer Max Richter during the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, in Berlin, Germany, 18 February 2026. (EPA)

The director of the Berlin Film Festival on Wednesday rejected accusations from more than 80 film industry figures that the festival had helped censor artists who oppose Israel's actions in Gaza.

In an open letter published on Tuesday, Oscar-winning actors Javier Bardem and Tilda Swinton were among dozens who criticized the Berlinale's "silence" on the issue and said they were "dismayed" at its "involvement in censoring artists who oppose Israel's ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza".

In an interview with Screen Daily, the Berlinale's director, Tricia Tuttle, said the festival backs "free speech within the bounds of German law".

She said she recognized that the letter came from "the depth of anger and frustration about the suffering of people in Gaza".

However, she rejected accusations of censorship, saying that the letter contained "misinformation" and "inaccurate claims about the Berlinale" made without evidence or anonymously.

The row over Gaza has dogged this year's edition of the festival since jury president Wim Wenders answered a question on the conflict by saying: "We cannot really enter the field of politics."

The comments prompted award-winning novelist Arundhati Roy, who had been due to present a restored version of a film she wrote, to withdraw from the festival.

Tuttle said the festival represents "lots of people who have different views, including lots of people who live in Germany who want a more complex understanding of Israel's positionality than maybe the rest of the world has right now".

German politicians have been largely supportive of Israel as Germany seeks to atone for the legacy of the Holocaust.

However, German public opinion has been more critical of Israeli actions in Gaza.

Commenting on the row to the Welt TV channel, German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer defended Wenders and Tuttle from criticism, saying they were running the festival "in a very balanced way, very sensitively".

"Artists should not be told what to do when it comes to politics. The Berlinale is not an NGO with a camera and directors," Weimer said.

Gaza has frequently been a topic of controversy at the Berlinale in recent years.

In 2024, the festival's documentary award went to "No Other Land", which follows the dispossession of Palestinian communities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

German government officials criticized "one-sided" remarks about Gaza by the directors of that film and others at that year's awards ceremony.

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Over 80 Berlin Film Festival Alumni Sign Open Letter Urging Organizers to Take Stance on Gaza 

12 February 2026, Berlin: President of the Berlinale jury Wim Wenders waves to the audience on the opening night of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, before the premiere of the opening film "No Good Men" at the Berlinale Palast. (dpa)
12 February 2026, Berlin: President of the Berlinale jury Wim Wenders waves to the audience on the opening night of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, before the premiere of the opening film "No Good Men" at the Berlinale Palast. (dpa)
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Over 80 Berlin Film Festival Alumni Sign Open Letter Urging Organizers to Take Stance on Gaza 

12 February 2026, Berlin: President of the Berlinale jury Wim Wenders waves to the audience on the opening night of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, before the premiere of the opening film "No Good Men" at the Berlinale Palast. (dpa)
12 February 2026, Berlin: President of the Berlinale jury Wim Wenders waves to the audience on the opening night of the 76th Berlin International Film Festival, before the premiere of the opening film "No Good Men" at the Berlinale Palast. (dpa)

More than 80 actors, directors and other ‌artists who have taken part in the Berlin Film Festival, including Tilda Swinton and Javier Bardem, signed an open letter to the organizers published on Tuesday calling for them to take a clear stance on Israel's war in Gaza.

"We call on the Berlinale to fulfil its moral duty and clearly state its opposition to Israel's genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes against Palestinians," said the open letter, which was published in full in entertainment industry magazine Variety.

Multiple human rights experts, scholars and a UN inquiry say Israel's assault on Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel calls its actions self-defense after Hamas' October 2023 attack on Israel.

"We are appalled by Berlinale's institutional silence," ‌said the letter, which ‌was also signed by actors Adam McKay, Alia Shawkat and ‌Brian ⁠Cox, and director ⁠Mike Leigh.

It said organizers had not met demands to issue a statement affirming Palestinians' right to life and committing to uphold artists' right to speak out on the issue.

"This is the least it can - and should - do," the letter said.

The festival did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

THE MOST POLITICAL FESTIVAL

The Berlin Film Festival is considered the most political of its peers, Venice and Cannes, and ⁠prides itself on showing cinema from under-represented communities and young ‌talent. However, it has been repeatedly criticized by pro-Palestinian activists ‌for not taking a stand on Gaza, in contrast to the war in Ukraine ‌and the situation in Iran.

Calls have also previously been made for the ‌entertainment industry to take a stance on Gaza.

Last year, over 5,000 actors, entertainers, and producers, including some Hollywood stars, signed a pledge to not work with Israeli film institutions that they saw as being complicit in the abuse of Palestinians by Israel.

Paramount studio later condemned that ‌pledge and said it did not agree with such efforts.

ROY PULLS OUT

Tuesday's letter also condemned statements by this year's ⁠jury president, German director ⁠Wim Wenders, that filmmakers should stay out of politics, writing: "You cannot separate one from the other."

Wenders' comments prompted Indian novelist Arundhati Roy, winner of the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel "The God of Small Things", to pull out of the festival earlier this week.

Roy, who had been due to present "In Which Annie Gives It Those Ones", a 1989 film which she wrote, in the Berlinale's Classics section, characterized Wenders' comments as "unconscionable."

In response, festival director Tricia Tuttle issued a note on Saturday defending artists' decision not to comment on political issues.

"People have called for free speech at the Berlinale. Free speech is happening at the Berlinale," she said.

"But increasingly, filmmakers are expected to answer any question put to them," she wrote, and are criticized if they do not answer, or answer "and we do not like what they say."

Entertainment

‘Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ Actor Robert Duvall Dead at 95 

Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
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‘Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ Actor Robert Duvall Dead at 95 

Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)
Actor Robert Duvall arrives at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California January 11, 2015. (Reuters)

Robert Duvall, who played the smooth mafia lawyer in "The Godfather" and stole the show with his depiction of a surfing-crazed colonel in "Apocalypse Now," has died at the age of 95, his wife said Monday.

His death Sunday was confirmed by his wife Luciana Duvall.

"Yesterday we said goodbye to my beloved husband, cherished friend, and one of the greatest actors of our time. Bob passed away peacefully at home," she wrote.

Blunt-talking, prolific and glitz-averse, Duvall won an Oscar for best actor and was nominated six other times. Over his six decades-long career, he shone in both lead and supporting roles, and eventually became a director. He kept acting in his 90s.

"To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything," Luciana Duvall said. "His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court."

Duvall won his Academy Award in 1983 for playing a washed-up country singer in "Tender Mercies."

But his most memorable characters also included the soft-spoken, loyal mob consigliere Tom Hagen in the first two installments of "The Godfather" and the maniacal Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore in Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic "Apocalypse Now."

"It was an honor to have worked with Robert Duvall," Oscar winner Al Pacino, who acted alongside Duvall in "The Godfather" films, said in a statement.

"He was a born actor as they say, his connection with it, his understanding and his phenomenal gift will always be remembered. I will miss him."

As Colonel Kilgore, Duvall earned an Oscar nomination and became a bona fide star after years playing lesser roles, in a performance where he utters what is now one of cinema's most famous lines.

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning," his war-loving character -- bare chested, cocky and sporting a big black cowboy hat -- muses as low-flying US warplanes bomb a beachfront tree line where he wants to go surfing.

That character was originally created to be even more over the top -- his name was at first supposed to be Colonel Carnage -- but Duvall had it toned down, demonstrating his meticulous approach to acting.

"I did my homework," Duvall told veteran talk show host Larry King in 2015. "I did my research."

Cinema giant Francis Ford Coppola -- who directed Duvall in "Apocalypse Now" and "The Godfather" -- called his loss "a blow."

"Such a great actor and such an essential part of American Zoetrope from its beginning," Coppola said in a statement on Instagram.

- A 'vast career' -

Duvall was sort of a late bloomer in Hollywood -- he was already 31 when he delivered his breakout performance as the mysterious recluse Boo Radley in the 1962 film adaptation of Harper Lee's novel "To Kill a Mockingbird."

He would go on to play myriad roles -- a bullying corporate executive in "Network" (1976), a Marine officer who treats his family like soldiers in "The Great Santini" (1979), and then his star turn in "Tender Mercies."

Duvall often said his favorite role, however, was one he played in a 1989 TV mini-series -- the grizzled, wise-cracking Texas Ranger-turned-cowboy Augustus McCrae in "Lonesome Dove," based on the novel by Larry McMurtry.

British actress Jane Seymour, who worked with Duvall on the 1995 film "The Stars Fell on Henrietta," took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to the star.

"We were able to share in his love of barbecue and even a little tango," Seymour captioned a photo of herself with Duvall. "Those moments off camera were just as memorable as the work itself."

US actor Alec Baldwin made a short video tribute to Duvall, speaking about the star's "vast career."

"When he did 'To Kill A Mockingbird' he just destroyed you with his performance of Boo Radley, he used not a single word of dialogue, not a single word, and he just shatters you," Baldwin said.

Film critic Elaine Mancini once described Duvall as "the most technically proficient, the most versatile, and the most convincing actor on the screen in the United States."