Brad Pitt’s decades of stardom haven’t seen many missteps. He took that break-out bit part in “Thelma & Louise” all those years agoand made romances (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith”), thrillers (“Se7en”), boundary-pushing fight films (“Fight Club”), sports dramas (“Moneyball”), sci fi (“12 Monkeys”), combat movies (“Fury) and fun “Oceans 11” ensemble pieces.
He made cool cameos — in Guy Ritchie movies and Sandra Bullock’s comedies.
Looking at his filmography, we see he’s made solid acting choices, rarely picks a loser, and never let himself be over-exposed, despite tabloid attention to his relationships, rumored relationships, marriage and a messy divorce.
And if Brad Pitt, at 62, finally wants to get around to making a racing driver movie, Apple Films and Warner Brothers were smart to indulge that whim. “F1” is a long, race-heavy and fun, built around the rest of the world’s favorite racing, Formula 1. The film earned $25 million a Thursday night and Friday.
It earned $55.6 million in North America and $140 million worldwide, per Deadline.com.
That’s a record for Apple Films, and even if they spent $250 million, maybe as much as $300 million to modify and run and race and film F2 cars and film all over the world, to get Oscar winner Javier Bardem in a supporting role, and Jodie Comer on through to Shea Whigham, to film in Daytona and deploy a whole other class of race cars just for the OPENING SCENES, that’s safe money.
As I said in my review, it’s an old fashioned “star vehicle,” and this guy has maintained that stardom, through “Babylon” and “Bullet Train” and “Allied” and beyond He’s got five announced projects in development and may still be in whatever Tarantino tries to make as his “final” film.
Again, “smart money” backs those gambles. The guy’s still big box office.
You’d think a quick-turn-around sequel to the surprise smash “M3GAN” would be a financial no-brainer, too. That winter of 2022 release produced plans for a sequel in the first day or three of release. But here is “M3GAN 2.0,” three years later, and even the horror audience isn’t showing up. A $10 million opening?
The original film earned $30 million on a single weekend, and $95 million all-in for North America. The cynical sequel won’t manage more than a small fraction of that.
It doesn’t help that it sucks.
Another big weekend for the “How to Train Your Dragon” live action remake means it’ll add $19.7 million, putting it over the $200 million mark, all in.
Third place is cold consolation for Pixar’s “Elio,” which had the worst opening weekend ever for a Pixar animated movie. It’s dropping half that opening weekend audience and did not clear $11 million, putting it just ahead of “M3GAN 2.0.”
Then again, even with “28 Years Later” losing most of its $30 million opening weekend audience and not clearing $10, it didn’t drop the “new” horror sequel to fifth place. I’m not surprised Danny Boyle’s return to British Zombieland has shot its wad. Zombies are way overexposed at this point, even if you’re trying to send a message with your take on a “rage virus” among the braindead.
The two new releases push “Lilo & Stitch” out of the top five, which doesn’t matter because it will cross the $400 million mark by midnight Sunday.
Tom Cruise’s last “Impossible” “Mission” also loses its spot in the top five, and “Final Reckoning” probably won’t be around long enough to reach the $200 million mark. People are finally over that franchise, with Paramount contenting itself with somewhere around $190 million in North American tickets sold when it’s all over and done with.
Watch them try to finesse that final take with a re-release at the end of the summer. Just a guess.
Movie Nation 