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Mel Brooks to Write Sequel to 'History of the World'

Actor, comedian and writer Mel Brooks, holds up his 2015 National Medal of Arts awarded to him by ex-President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Carolyn Kaster / AP
Actor, comedian and writer Mel Brooks, holds up his 2015 National Medal of Arts awarded to him by ex-President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Carolyn Kaster / AP
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Mel Brooks to Write Sequel to 'History of the World'

Actor, comedian and writer Mel Brooks, holds up his 2015 National Medal of Arts awarded to him by ex-President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Carolyn Kaster / AP
Actor, comedian and writer Mel Brooks, holds up his 2015 National Medal of Arts awarded to him by ex-President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Carolyn Kaster / AP

Mel Brooks, the 95-year-old US comedy icon, is to help write a sequel for his 1981 classic film "A History of The World Part I" as an eight-part series for Hulu, the streaming service said Monday.

"I can't wait to once more tell the real truth about all the phony baloney stories the world has been conned into believing are History!" the veteran movie-maker and actor said in a statement.

Brooks, one of the few artists to have received awards from across the full spectrum of Emmys, Grammys, Oscars and Tonys, made the original "History of the World Part I" 40 years ago.

According to Hulu, Brooks will be supported in the production and writing of the show by Nick Kroll, Wanda Sykes, Ike Barinholtz, David Stassen and Kevin Salter.

Writing for the series should begin "this month" and filming start in the spring of 2022, said the platform, whose majority shareholder is Disney.

A worldwide success after its release in 1981, "History of the World Part I" is a slapstick comedy that parodied history from the Stone Age to the French Revolution.

Brooks played the parts of Moses and King Louis XVI, among others.

The film ended with the announcement of a sequel featuring a segment called "Hitler on Ice," along with a teaser of an ice-skating German dictator.

Born on June 26, 1926 into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, Brooks always wanted to ridicule Hitler -- as in one of his first musicals, "The Producers", which became one of his greatest hits.

The filmmaker's memoir is expected to come out at the end of November.

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‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Misses Projections as Superhero Films’ Grip on Theaters Loosens

Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
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‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Misses Projections as Superhero Films’ Grip on Theaters Loosens

Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)

“Venom: The Last Dance” showed less bite than expected at the box office, collecting $51 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, significantly down from the alien symbiote franchise’s previous entries.

Projections for the third “Venom” film from Sony Pictures had been closer to $65 million. More concerning, though, was the drop off from the first two “Venom” films. The 2018 original debuted with $80.2 million, while the 2021 follow-up, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” opened with $90 million even as theaters were still in recovery mode during the pandemic.

“The Last Dance,” starring Tom Hardy as a journalist who shares his body with an alien entity also voiced by Hardy, could still turn a profit for Sony. Its production budget, not accounting for promotion and marketing, was about $120 million — significantly less than most comic-book films.

But “The Last Dance” is also performing better overseas. Internationally, “Venom: The Last Dance” collected $124 million over the weekend, including $46 million over five days of release in China. That’s good enough for one of the best international weekends of the year for a Hollywood release.

Still, neither reviews (36% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) nor audience scores (a franchise-low “B-” CinemaScore) have been good for the film scripted by Kelly Marcel and Hardy, and directed by Marcel.

The low weekend for “Venom: The Last Dance” also likely ensures that superhero films will see their lowest-grossing year in a dozen years, not counting the pandemic year of 2020, according to David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment.

Following on the heels of the “Joker: Folie à Deux” flop, Gross estimates that 2024 superhero films will gross about $2.25 billion worldwide. The only upcoming entry is Marvel’s “Kraven the Hunter,” due out Dec. 13.

Even with the $1.3 billion of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the genre hasn’t, overall, been dominating the way it once did. In 2018, for example, superhero films accounted for more than $7 billion in global ticket sales.

Last week’s top film, the Paramount Pictures horror sequel “Smile 2,” dropped to second place with $9.4 million. That brings its two-week total to $83.7 million worldwide.

The weekend’s biggest success story might have been “Conclave,” the papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes and directed by Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”). The Focus Features release, a major Oscar contender, launched with $6.5 million in 1,753 theaters.

That put “Conclave” into third place, making it the rare adult-oriented drama to make a mark theatrically. Some 77% of ticket buyers were over the age of 35, Focus said. With a strong opening and stellar reviews, “Conclave” could continue to gather momentum both with moviegoers and Oscar voters.