عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Entertainment

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Is No. 1 Again; Conservative Doc ‘Am I Racist’ Cracks Box Office Top 5

US director Tim Burton poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK premiere of the film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", in central London, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
US director Tim Burton poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK premiere of the film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", in central London, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
TT
TT

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Is No. 1 Again; Conservative Doc ‘Am I Racist’ Cracks Box Office Top 5

US director Tim Burton poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK premiere of the film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", in central London, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)
US director Tim Burton poses on the red carpet upon arrival to attend the UK premiere of the film "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice", in central London, on August 29, 2024. (AFP)

Moviegoers said yes to more “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” this weekend.

After its monster opening, the Tim Burton sequel easily topped the domestic box office charts again with $51.6 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Down only 54% from a week earlier, the North American gross for the Warner Bros. release is already at $188 million. Internationally, it added $28.7 million, bringing its worldwide total to a staggering $264.3 million.

“To drop just 54% is really impressive and indicative of a pretty solid word of mouth,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Audiences are enjoying the film.”

While its hold was strong, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” didn’t have much in the way of major new competition. Fresh offerings included the James McAvoy horror “Speak No Evil,” a satirical documentary following right wing podcaster Matt Walsh; and a new Dave Bautista action pic, “The Killer's Game.”

Second place in weekend ticket sales went to “Speak No Evil,” a remake of a 2022 Danish horror film about an unsuspecting family who decides to spend a weekend with new friends in the country. McAvoy stars in it, along with Mackenzie Davis and Scoot McNairy. With positive reviews and a shrewd release date of Friday the 13th, the Blumhouse production released by Universal Pictures made an estimated $11.5 million from 3,375 locations.

“Deadpool & Wolverine ” landed in third place in its eighth weekend with another $5.2 million. The Disney and Marvel blockbuster is now up to $621.5 million in North America and $1.3 billion globally.

The Daily Wire movie “Am I Racist?” placed fourth at the box office, with an estimated $4.7 million from only 1,517 theaters. Described as a mockumentary in the style of “Borat,” the movie has conservative columnist Walsh going undercover as a “DEI trainee.” Walsh had a similar gimmick, pretending to be a gender studies professor, in the 2022 movie “What is a Woman?” Both were directed by Justin Folk.

“Am I Racist?” cost a reported $3 million to make. To release it, the Daily Wire — the Ben Shapiro co-founded company — partnered with SDG Releasing, a distribution company founded by writers Cary Solomon and Chuck Konzelman, who promise the “lowest fees in the business.” Among the trailers playing before “Am I Racist?" is another film targeting conservative audiences: The upcoming Dinesh D'Souza movie “Vindicating Trump.”

Rounding out the top five was “Reagan,” the Showbiz Direct release starring Dennis Quaid as the former president, which added another $3 million in its third weekend, bringing its total domestic total to $23.3 million.

“The Killer's Game," meanwhile, debuted in sixth place with $2.6 million. Bautista stars as a hit man with a terminal illness in the action comedy, which got dismal reviews.

Next weekend, theaters will get the Optimus Prime origin pic “Transformers One,” but it may be a quiet few weeks at the box office until “Joker: Folie à Deux” dances its way onto the big screen on Oct. 4.

Most Viewed

 
 
Entertainment

Q&A: Lily Collins Is ‘Emily in Paris,’ Rome and Barcelona 

British-US actress Lily Collins poses during the photocall of the presentation of the Netflix series "Emily in Paris" season four in Paris, France, 12 September 2024. (EPA)
British-US actress Lily Collins poses during the photocall of the presentation of the Netflix series "Emily in Paris" season four in Paris, France, 12 September 2024. (EPA)
TT
TT

Q&A: Lily Collins Is ‘Emily in Paris,’ Rome and Barcelona 

British-US actress Lily Collins poses during the photocall of the presentation of the Netflix series "Emily in Paris" season four in Paris, France, 12 September 2024. (EPA)
British-US actress Lily Collins poses during the photocall of the presentation of the Netflix series "Emily in Paris" season four in Paris, France, 12 September 2024. (EPA)

First Paris, now Rome and next Barcelona — Lily Collins is taking on two more European cities.

As the star and producer of “Emily in Paris,” she’s been playing the unlucky-in-love marketing executive, breaking hearts (including her own) in France for the past three seasons of the Netflix show.

That changes in part two of the fourth season when, in her usual dramatic fashion, Emily heads to Italy. The cast, including Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Lucas Bravo, Ashley Park and Camille Razat, were all in Rome this week to premiere the new episodes releasing Thursday. Getting away from Paris is something there might be more of in future seasons, as writer and creator Darren Star says he’s happy to take this show on the road.

Although he rules out changing the title.

“No, it’s ‘Emily in Paris,’” says Star. “But Emily can have experiences in other cities and I think Rome is a part of the show now. It really is.”

Barcelona comes into play this October when Collins makes her West End debut opposite Álvaro Morte of “Money Heist” in a stage thriller named after the Spanish city.

Luckily, filming “Emily in Paris” in public places has helped give the actor the boost to become a leading lady on the stage.

“It did give me a bit more confidence, an understanding of performing in front of a large crowd this year,” Collins says. “It just ironically happened to be the year that I would then be doing theater right after.”

In a recent interview with The Associated Press in Rome, Collins explains why it’s the right time for her London stage debut and how filming in Rome allowed her to channel Audrey Hepburn’s on-screen Italian adventure in “Roman Holiday.” It has been edited for brevity and clarity.

AP: Would you ever play Audrey Hepburn?

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, I love her. There is no ever replicating her, but she is someone that I’ve grown up admiring.

AP: There were two distinct nods to her (in part two) — “Roman Holiday” and “Charade” — did I miss anything?

COLLINS: No, I think those were (the) two. “Roman Holiday” — there’s an essence of her the whole time. Because if you’re here — how can you not, you know?

AP: What was it like filming those scenes around Rome with the Vespa...

COLLINS: Stunning.

AP: I imagine you had to go round quite a few times?

COLLINS: We went around so many times, which was funny because then tourists, of course, are noticing that there’s this massive machine and then a car with a Vespa attached to it. And then we are going on an actual Vespa. But then there’s also the transport vehicle. So like, what are they filming? And then once they figured out it was our show, it was fun.

It was also surreal because you’re going around the Colosseum and everything in Rome is beautiful and ancient. And I was pinching myself, but it was amazing to be able to explore another city. I’d been to Paris before the show, so playing (Emily) who was coming to it fresh, was a character. Whereas this time, I’d been to Rome but never fully explored or been here for a long period of time. So it was a whole new adventure, but genuinely for me as well. And it was more of a vacation mode for Emily, which I was happy for her. I was like, “You go, girl. You get a little vacay.”

AP: Do you think this could continue?

COLLINS: I definitely hope so. We’re just, you know, waiting (crosses her fingers). But it would be really nice to explore more of Italy. I think there’s so much here. But I don’t know.

AP: I want to ask you about moving from the TV show to theater.

COLLINS: I’m very excited. But of course, I’m also nervous. And it’s a whole new world for me. I did theater as a kid, but this is something I’ve been dreaming of my whole life. And the West End is the West End. But it really feels just surreal and I love my team that we’re working with. I think it’s a beautiful, beautiful script. And the theater is one of a kind, I love the Duke of York (Theatre) and our director (Lynette Linton). It’s a wonderful, wonderful group.

AP: So that’s Lily in Barcelona.

COLLINS: Yes exactly (laughing). All the different cities around Europe.

AP: How does it fit in around your TV work and the show?

COLLINS: It’s all about timing as well because ... doing theater is something I’ve always wanted to do. But it is a time commitment that when you’re doing something like “Emily in Paris,” that is also the biggest time commitment. It’s making sure that it fits in at the right time. But it also isn’t just about that. It’s the project. When I read “Barcelona,” I went, “This is it.” And, “How do I make this happen? What time do we have? How do we make it happen with the theater?” You know? So it was a bit of a Tetris-type of thing, but to me it’s a different medium, it’s a different skill set, it’s a different experience.

This season, because “Emily in Paris” is more known, when you’re out and about in the streets, it does become a bit of live theater because you can’t control people watching all the time. And so sometimes there are scenes, when you’re near (Emily’s) apartment building or you’re in Rome or you’re in the mountains skiing, where there’s hundreds of people that just show up to watch. And so it is a bit like theater. You are performing for an audience that weirdly doesn’t know the storyline, though, so it’s a little bit the same and a little bit different. It’s like, “But you won’t see this for a few months, so please don’t spoil it!” Whereas with theater, it’s in the moment.