‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Scares Off 'Transformers' for 3rd Week as Box Office No. 1

Michael DeLuca, from top left, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Arthur Conti, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tommy Harper, from bottom left, Justin Theroux, Pamela Abdy, and Willem Dafoe arrive at the premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Michael DeLuca, from top left, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Arthur Conti, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tommy Harper, from bottom left, Justin Theroux, Pamela Abdy, and Willem Dafoe arrive at the premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
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‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Scares Off 'Transformers' for 3rd Week as Box Office No. 1

Michael DeLuca, from top left, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Arthur Conti, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tommy Harper, from bottom left, Justin Theroux, Pamela Abdy, and Willem Dafoe arrive at the premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)
Michael DeLuca, from top left, Catherine O'Hara, Monica Bellucci, Tim Burton, Michael Keaton, Jenna Ortega, Winona Ryder, Arthur Conti, Amy Nuttall, Burn Gorman, Alfred Gough, Miles Millar, Tommy Harper, from bottom left, Justin Theroux, Pamela Abdy, and Willem Dafoe arrive at the premiere of "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024, in London. (Photo by Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP)

It’s a three-peat for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.”
The Tim Burton legacy sequel to his 1988 horror comedy topped the North American box office charts for the third straight weekend with $26 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
It edged out the animated new release “Transformers: One,” which brought in $25 million. The Optimus Prime origin story from Paramount Pictures features the voices of Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry and Scarlett Johansson.
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” a Warner Bros. release with Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder returning as stars, has earned more than $226 million domestically in its three weeks after a monster opening of $110 million — the third best of the year — and a second weekend of $51.6 million, The Associated Press reported.
Third place went to the James McAvoy horror “Speak No Evil,” which came in at $5.9 million in its second week for a total of $21.5 million.
On the whole, the box office was in a quiet phase that is expected to break when “Joker: Folie à Deux” dances its way onto the big screen on Oct. 4.
The year’s second-highest grosser “Deadpool & Wolverine” remained in the top 5 in its ninth weekend with another $3.9 million and a domestic total of $627 million. Only Pixar's “Inside Out 2” has earned more.
The Demi Moore-starring, Coralie Fargeat-directed body horror “The Substance," which made a splash at the Cannes Film Festival, brought in $3.1 million on limited screens in its first weekend for the sixth spot.
The Daily Wire movie “Am I Racist?” — in which conservative columnist Matt Walsh goes undercover as a “DEI trainee” — stayed in the top 10 after a fourth place finish last week, earning $2.9 million for seventh place and a two-week total of $9 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.



‘The Brutalist’ Cast Beams over Breadth of Film’s Story

 This image released by A24 shows Adrien Brody in a scene from "The Brutalist." (Lol Crawley/A24 via AP)
This image released by A24 shows Adrien Brody in a scene from "The Brutalist." (Lol Crawley/A24 via AP)
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‘The Brutalist’ Cast Beams over Breadth of Film’s Story

 This image released by A24 shows Adrien Brody in a scene from "The Brutalist." (Lol Crawley/A24 via AP)
This image released by A24 shows Adrien Brody in a scene from "The Brutalist." (Lol Crawley/A24 via AP)

The cast of the film “The Brutalist” is giving their director Brady Corbet all the credit when it comes to the strong acclaim for the movie.

“He's a special filmmaker because he focuses on psychology and behavior and those things that we as actors are genuinely interested in,” said Guy Pearce, who plays wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren.

“So, it was a real treat from start to finish,” he added.

The movie is an epic tale of a Hungarian immigrant who flees the horrors of World War Two to rebuild his life in the United States, and stars Oscar-winner Adrien Brody in the leading role of the architect Laszlo Toth.

"The Brutalist", which has a three-hour and 35-minute runtime and comes with a 15-minute intermission, was co-written by Corbet's wife, Mona Fastvold.

It was successful at the Venice International Film Festival earlier this year, with Corbet winning the best director prize.

The film, distributed by A24, arrives in movie theaters on Dec. 20 in the United States.

Brody, who had read the script nearly six years ago, expressed his deep connection to the story and his character through both his Hungarian-born mother and grandfather.

“Her [his mother’s] journey as an artist, her pursuits as an artist are deeply profound and linked to this,” he said.

For Brody, the role connected him with his mother’s yearning to leave something of great meaning behind, which was enhanced when contrasted with an understanding of hardship.

He also thought of his own grandfather's struggles with language and assimilation as a foreigner without work opportunities or respect.

“That (respect) was lost and taken from him,” Brody added.

His grandfather, fleeing from home due to the war, largely shaped the actor’s perspective of his role.

For “The Theory of Everything” actress Felicity Jones, who portrays Toth’s wife in the film, Erzsebet Toth, some of the most compelling aspects of the film are its characters and unique storytelling style.

“These characters, particularly Laszlo and Erzsebet, you know, they're doing everything they can to preserve their integrity and their self-worth,” she said.

Brody was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for best performance for a male actor in a motion picture drama and is receiving Oscar buzz for his role.

For “The Pianist” actor, having a strong team was key to the power of the film.

“In order to do work on this level, you need all of those to conspire with you and not against you,” Brody said.