Mel Gibson’s ‘Flight Risk’ is No. 1 at Box Office, ‘The Brutalist’ Expands

FILE - Mel Gibson, right, interacts with crowd members as he leaves a Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony for actor Vince Vaughn, on Aug. 12, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - Mel Gibson, right, interacts with crowd members as he leaves a Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony for actor Vince Vaughn, on Aug. 12, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
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Mel Gibson’s ‘Flight Risk’ is No. 1 at Box Office, ‘The Brutalist’ Expands

FILE - Mel Gibson, right, interacts with crowd members as he leaves a Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony for actor Vince Vaughn, on Aug. 12, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - Mel Gibson, right, interacts with crowd members as he leaves a Hollywood Walk of Fame star ceremony for actor Vince Vaughn, on Aug. 12, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Critics lambasted it and audiences didn’t grade it much better. But despite the turbulence, Mel Gibson’s “Flight Risk” managed to open No. 1 at the box office with a modest $12 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
On a quiet weekend, even for the typically frigid movie-going month of January, the top spot went to the Lionsgate thriller starring Mark Wahlberg as a pilot flying an Air Marshal (Michelle Dockery) and fugitive (Topher Grace) across Alaska. But it wasn’t a particularly triumphant result for Gibson’s directorial follow-up to 2016’s “Hacksaw Ridge.” Reviews (21% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and audience scores (a “C” CinemaScore) were terrible.
President Donald Trump recently named Gibson a “special ambassador” to Hollywood, along with Jon Voight and Sylvester Stallone.
Going into the weekend, Hollywood’s attention was more focused on the Sundance Film Festival and on Thursday’s Oscar nominations, which were twice postponed by the wildfires in the Los Angeles region, The Associated Press reported.
The weekend was also a small test as to whether the once more common Oscar “bump” that can sometimes follow nominations still exists. Most contenders have by now completed the bulk of their theatrical runs and are more likely to see an uptick on VOD or streaming.
But the weekend’s most daring gambit was A24 pushing Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist” a three–and-a-half-hour epic nominated for 10 Academy Awards, into wide release. Though some executives initially greeted “The Brutalist,” which is running with an intermission, as “un-distributable,” Corbet has said, A24 acquired the film out of the Venice Film Festival and it’s managed solid business, collecting $6 million in limited release.
In wide release, it earned $2.9 million — a far from blockbuster sum but the best weekend yet for “The Brutalist.”
The audience was downright miniscule for another best-picture nominee: RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys.” Innovatively shot almost entirely in first-person POV, the Amazon MGM Studios release gathered just $340,171 in 540 locations after expanding by 300 theaters.
Coming off one of the lowest Martin Luther King Jr. weekends in years, no new releases made a major impact.
Steven Soderbergh’s “Presence,” a well-reviewed horror film shot from the perspective of a ghost inside a suburban home, debuted with $3.4 million in 1,750 locations. The film, released by Neon and acquired out of last year’s Sundance, was made for just $2 million.
The top spots otherwise went to holdovers. The Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” in its sixth weekend of release, scored $8.7 million to hold second place. After starting slow, the Barry Jenkins-directed film has amassed $626.7 million globally.
“One of Them Days,” the Keke Palmer and SZA led comedy from Sony Pictures, held well in its second weekend, dropping just 32% with $8 million in ticket sales. In recent years, few comedies have found success on the big screen, but “One of Them Days” has proven an exception.



‘Conclave’ Wins Best Picture at BAFTAs as ‘The Brutalist’ Takes Directing and Acting Prizes 

British actor Ralph Fiennes poses on the red carpet at the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Britain, 16 February 2025. (EPA)
British actor Ralph Fiennes poses on the red carpet at the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Britain, 16 February 2025. (EPA)
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‘Conclave’ Wins Best Picture at BAFTAs as ‘The Brutalist’ Takes Directing and Acting Prizes 

British actor Ralph Fiennes poses on the red carpet at the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Britain, 16 February 2025. (EPA)
British actor Ralph Fiennes poses on the red carpet at the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards at the Royal Festival Hall in London, Britain, 16 February 2025. (EPA)

Papal thriller “Conclave” won four prizes including best picture on Sunday at the 78th British Academy Film Awards, where genre-bending musical “Emilia Pérez” proved that it’s still an awards contender despite a multipronged backlash that looked to have dented its chances.

At a ceremony where no film dominated, “The Brutalist” equaled the awards tally of “Conclave," scooping four trophies, including best director for Brady Corbet and best actor for Adrien Brody. Mikey Madison won the best actress prize for Brooklyn tragicomedy “Anora.”

“Conclave,” which stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal corralling conniving clergy as they elect a new pope, beat “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Emilia Pérez” and Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” to the top prize. “Conclave” was also named outstanding British film and took trophies for editing and adapted screenplay.

Supporting performer prizes went to Kieran Culkin for “A Real Pain” and Zoe Saldaña for “Emilia Pérez,” which also won the award for best film not in the English language.

From the BAFTAs to the Oscars

Stars including Cynthia Erivo, Hugh Grant, Ariana Grande, Lupita Nyong’o, Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan walked the red carpet at London’s Royal Festival Hall for the awards, known as BAFTAs. The British prizes often provide clues about who will triumph at Hollywood’s Academy Awards on March 2, in an unusually hard-to-call awards season.

They also have a distinctly British accent. The ceremony kicked off with its kilt-wearing host, Scottish actor David Tennant, leading the audience in a rousing singalong of The Proclaimers’ anthem “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles).”

Madison won the female acting trophy for her powerhouse performance as an exotic dancer entangled with a Russian oligarch's son in “Anora.” She beat Karla Sofía Gascón, Demi Moore for body-horror film “The Substance,” Ronan for “The Outrun,” Erivo for “Wicked” and Marianne Jean-Baptiste for “Hard Truths.”

Brody beat competition from Fiennes, Chalamet, who plays the young Dylan in “A Complete Unknown,” Grant for the horror film “Heretic,” Colman Domingo for prison drama “Sing Sing” and Sebastian Stan for his portrayal of a young Donald Trump in “The Apprentice.”

Brody, who plays a Hungarian-Jewish architect in the postwar United States, said “The Brutalist” carried a powerful message for our divided times.

“It speaks to the need for all of us to share in the responsibility of how we want others to be treated and how we want to be treated by others,” he said. “There's no place any more for antisemitism. There's no place for racism.”

“The Brutalist” also won prizes for its cinematography and musical score.

“A Real Pain,” about mismatched cousins on a trip to explore their roots, won the BAFTA for best original screenplay, as well as Culkin's acting award.

“I’d like to share this with my wife, who didn’t come because she didn’t think I’d win,” quipped writer-director Jesse Eisenberg, who also co-starred in the film.

Claymation caper “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” won awards for best animated feature and best family and children’s film.

Sci-fi epic “Dune: Part Two” won prizes for sound and visual effects, while blockbuster musical “Wicked” took the costume and production design trophies.

Rising stars and lifetime honors

Most BAFTA winners are chosen by 8,000 members of the UK academy of industry professionals, with one — the Rising Star Award — selected by public vote from a shortlist of nominees. This year's winner was David Jonsson, star of high finance TV drama series “Industry” and London rom-com “Rye Lane.”

“Star, I don’t know,” he said. “But rising, I guess.”

The prize for best British debut went to Rich Peppiatt, writer-director of Irish-language hip-hop drama “Kneecap.”

“Willow” and “Return of the Jedi” actor Warwick Davis received the academy’s top honor, the BAFTA Fellowship, for his screen career and work to create a more inclusive film industry.

The 3-foot, 6-inch (1.1-meter) actor founded a talent agency for actors under 5 feet tall, because, he said, “short actors weren’t known for their talent, just their height.”

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me — and I’ve been in ‘Star Wars,’” Davis said as he accepted his award.

This awards season has been clouded by last month’s devastating Los Angeles wildfires, and BAFTA chairwoman Sara Putt sent a message of strength to everyone affected,

The event was without a dash of royal glamour this year. Neither Prince William, who is honorary president of the British film academy, nor his wife Kate attended the ceremony, which coincided with school holidays for their three children.

William, 42, sent a video message, recorded during a visit to meet students at the London Screen Academy on Wednesday.

During the visit, the heir to the throne discussed his own viewing habits, saying he’d watched World War II drama “Darkest Hour” and had begun postapocalyptic TV drama “The Last of Us.” He said he found it “quite full on” and didn’t make it to the end.