Aquaman still lapping it up at box office
Aquaman is still the champ at the box office three weeks in, but the high-concept thriller Escape Room also drew some substantial crowds in its debut weekend. Warner Bros. on Sunday said Aquaman has added an estimated $30.7 million (U.S.) from over 4,000 North American theatres.
That brings its domestic grosses to nearly $260 million. Worldwide it has made $940.7 million, making it the highestgrossing film in the modern DC Extended Universe slate.
Even with the slew of holiday releases, from blockbusters to awards darlings, Sony’s thriller Escape Roommanaged to sneak into second place in its first weekend in theatres, generating an estimated $18 million in ticket sales — double its production budget.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Comscore: 1. Aquaman, $30.7 million 2. Escape Room, $18 million 3. Mary Poppins Returns, $15.8 million 4. Spider-Man: Into the SpiderVerse, $13 million 5. Bumblebee, $12.8 million 6. The Mule, $9 million 7. Vice, $5.8 million 8. Second Act, $4.9 million 9. Ralph Break the Internet, $4.7 million 10. Holmes and Watson, $3.4 million The Associated Press
U.S. film critics name top movies
The U.S. National Society of Film Critics on Saturday chose Chloé Zhao’s low-budget debut feature, The Rider, as best picture of 2018. Director Alfonso Cuaron’s black-and-white drama Roma won the most awards — for best picture runner-up, best foreign language film, best director and best cinematography.
The society of leading movie critics voted for Olivia Colman as best actress in The Favourite and Ethan Hawke as best actor in First Reformed. Best supporting actor went to Steven Yeun of Burning, while Regina King of If Beale Street Could Talk nabbed best supporting actress.
Best screenplay went to The Death of Stalin, and best nonfiction film to Minding the Gap, a documentary by Bing Liu about the complex friendship among three young skateboarders, including himself.
Justin Chang, the critics society’s chairman, said that 2018 yielded “an embarrassment of riches” among new movies, but The Rider stood out among them — a contemporary western drama shot in the badlands of South Dakota.
The film, directed by a Beijingborn woman who was educated and lives in the U.S., “is a mixture of documentary realism and fiction,” Chang said. “She uses non-professional actors in a way that’s intimate and organic; it’s a heartbreaking movie with a lot of staying power.” The Associated Press
Mini-reunion for Mean Girls stars
Mean Girls fans, two of your favourite co-stars are back together IRL. Lindsay Lohan, who played Cady Heron, took to Instagram Saturday to share a selfie with Jonathan Bennett, who played love interest Aaron Samuels. The caption was simple, tagging her upcoming MTV reality show, Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club, along with the hashtag #meangirls. The photo was also shared on the show’s Instagram account, with an explanation for their reunion. “@lindsaylohan + @jonathandbennett are talking all things #LohanBeachClub after the series premiere Tuesday, January 8th at 8/7c on @mtv!” USA Today
Death Wish author dies at 79
Death Wish novelist Brian Garfield, whose murderous classic about a right-wing vigilante launched a film franchise starring Charles Bronson, has died at age 79. Garfield died “peacefully” on Dec. 29 at his home in Pasadena, Calif., liter- ary agent Judy Coppage said. He is survived by his wife, Bina.
A New York City native who grew up in Arizona, Garfield wrote dozens of books, in a variety of genres, from thrillers to war stories, and his worldwide sales topped 20 million copies. Many of his works were adapted into feature films and television movies, including Hopscotch, which he helped produce and write; Wild Times; and the acclaimed The Stepfather, which starred Terry O’Quinn as a serial killer.
He was best known for Death Wish (1972), the story of a liberal New Yorker who becomes a right-wing vigilante after his family is viciously assaulted. The Associated Press
Ex-Idol host hits back at TMZ
Amid a divorce and custody battle, former American Idol co-host Brian Dunkleman defended now being an Uber driver after TMZ published some of his financial information and job status.
Dunkleman, who co-hosted the first season of Idol with Ryan Seacrest, listed his occupation as an Uber driver in financial documents as part of his divorce, TMZ reported. The TV personality then took to Twitter to explain and push back on any perceived job shaming.
“I chose to stop doing standup comedy and started driving an Uber so I could be there for my son as much as he needed after our life as we knew it was destroyed,” he tweeted, tagging TMZ and its founder, Harvey Levin. “Print that.” USA Today