Guilty pleasures
By NewsPress Now
‘The Fall Guy’ gives Hollywood a muted summer kickoff
NEW YORK | “The Fall Guy,” the Ryan Gosling-led, action-comedy ode to stunt performers, opened below expectations with $28.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, providing a lukewarm start to a summer movie season that’s very much to be determined for Hollywood.
The Universal Pictures release opened on a weekend that Marvel has regularly dominated with $100 million-plus launches. (In 2023, that was “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” with a $118 million debut. ) But last year’s strikes jumbled this year’s movie calendar; “Deadpool & Wolverine,” originally slated to open this weekend, is instead debuting in July.
So in place of a superhero kickoff, the summer launch went to a movie about the stunt performers who anonymously sacrifice their bodies for the kind of action sequences blockbusters are built on. Going into the weekend, forecasts had the film opening $30 million to $40 million.
“The Fall Guy,” directed by former stuntman and “Deadpool 2” helmer David Leitch, rode into the weekend with the momentum of glowing reviews and the buzz of a SXSW premiere. But it will need sustained interest to merit its $130 million production budget. It added $25.4 million in overseas markets.
Working in its favor for a long run: strong audience scores (an “A-” CinemaScore) and good reviews (83% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal, believes things line up well for “The Fall Guy” in the coming weeks.
“We had a very solid opening,” said Orr. “We’re looking forward to a very long, very robust, very successful run throughout the domestic box office for literally weeks if not months to come.”
But the modest start for “The Fall Guy” hints at larger concerns for the film industry. Superhero films haven’t been quite the box-office behemoth they once were, leading studios to search for fresher alternative. “The Fall Guy” seemed to check all the boxes, with extravagant action sequences, one of the hottest stars in the business, a director with a track-record for crowd pleasers and very good reviews.
But instead, the opening for “The Fall Guy,” loosely based on the 1980s TV series, only emphasized that the movie business is likely to struggle to rekindle the fervor of last year’s “Barbenheimer” summer. “The Fall Guy” stars one from each: Gosling, in his first post-Ken role, and Emily Blunt, of “Oppenheimer.” Both were Oscar nominated.
“It’s going to be a very interesting, nontraditional summer this year,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore.
In part due to the effects of last year’s work stoppages, there are fewer big movies hitting theaters. Expectations are that the total summer box office will be closer to $3 billion than the $4 billion that’s historically been generated.
“The summer season is just getting started, so let’s give ‘The Fall Guy’ a chance to build that momentum over time. It’s a different type of summer kickoff film,” said Dergarabedian. “There’s always huge expectations placed on any film that kicks off the summer movie season, but this isn’t your typical summer movie season.”
In a surprise, No. 2 at the box office went to the Walt Disney Co. rerelease of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.” The first episode to George Lucas’ little-loved prequels collected $8.1 million over the weekend, 25 years after “Phantom Menace” grossed $1 billion.
Last week’s top film, the Zendaya tennis drama “Challengers,” slid to third place with $7.6 million in its second week. That was a sold hold for the Amazon MGM release, directed by Luca Guadagnino, dipping 49% from its first weekend.
The Sony Screen Gems supernatural horror film “Tarot” also opened nationwide. It debuted with $6.5 million, a decent enough start for a low-budget release but another example of horror not quite performing this year as it has the last few years.
Kevin Spacey denies new allegations of inappropriate behavior
LONDON | Kevin Spacey, the Oscar-winning actor, has denied new allegations of inappropriate behaviour from men who will feature in a documentary on British television that is due to be released next week.
In an online interview with journalist Dan Wootton, Spacey said he has never done anything illegal and admitted that he has struggled to get back to work after being acquitted last year of criminal charges in a London court.
“I can’t go through this again, allowing myself to be baselessly attacked without defending myself,” he said in the interview entitled “Kevin Spacey: Right Of Reply” which was aired late Friday on Wootton’s YouTube channel.
Last July, a London jury acquitted Spacey on sexual assault charges stemming from allegations by four men dating back 20 years. The court victory was his second since he saw off a $40 million lawsuit in 2022 in New York brought by “Star Trek: Discovery” actor Anthony Rapp.
The documentary “Spacey Unmasked” is set to be aired on May 6 and 7 on Channel 4 in Britain and streamed on Max in the U.S.
The documentary is said to feature testimony from men regarding events between 1976 and 2013, the actor revealed during the interview.
“I take full responsibility for my past behaviour and my actions, but I cannot and will not take responsibility or apologize to anyone who’s made up stuff about me or exaggerated stories about me,” said Spacey, who won Academy Awards for “The Usual Suspects” and “American Beauty”.
“I’ve never told someone that if they give me sexual favors, then I will help them out with their career, never,” he added.
Spacey, who served as artistic director of the Old Vic Theatre in London from 2004 to 2015, again admitted that he was a “flirt” with men in their 20s and that he made “clumsy” passes at times.
“I’ve clearly hooked up with some men, who thought they might get ahead in their careers by having a relationship with me,” he said. “But there was no conversation with me, it was all part of their plan, a plan that was always destined to fail, because I wasn’t in on the deal.”
The actor also claimed on X, formerly Twitter, that he had “repeatedly requested” that Channel 4 give him more than seven days to respond to the allegations made about him in their documentary.
Spacey said the broadcaster refused “on the basis that they feel that asking for a response in 7 days to new, anonymized and non-specific allegations is a ‘fair opportunity’ for me to refute any allegations made against me.”
“Each time I have been given the time and a proper forum to defend myself, the allegations have failed under scrutiny and I have been exonerated,” he added.
Spacey said he has struggled to get back to work after being acquitted of all criminal charges, describing his experience as a “life sentence.”
His acting career has been adversely affected since 2017 when he was first publicly accused of inappropriate behaviour at the beginning of the #MeToo movement. He then lost his lead role as Frank Underwood in the Netflix drama “House of Cards”.
Channel 4 has been contacted for comment.
Actor Bernard Hill, of ‘Titanic’ and ‘Lord of the Rings,’ has died
LONDON | Actor Bernard Hill, who delivered a rousing cry before leading his people into battle in “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” and went down with the ship as the captain in “Titanic,” has died.
Hill, 79, passed away Sunday morning, agent Lou Coulson said.
Hill joined “The Lord Of The Rings” franchise in the second film of the trilogy, 2002’s “The Two Towers,” as Théoden, King of Rohan. The following year, he reprised the role in “Return of the King,” a movie that won 11 Oscars.
In one of the film’s most memorable scenes, Hill’s character fires up his overmatched forces by delivering a battle cry on horseback that sends his troops thundering downhill toward the enemy and his own imminent death.
“Arise, arise, riders of Théoden!” Hill hollers. “Spears shall be shaken, shields shall be splintered! A sword day, a red day, ere the sun rises! Ride now! Ride now! Ride! Ride for ruin and the world’s ending! Death! Death! Death!”
In “Titanic,” Hill played Captain Edward Smith, one of the only characters based on a real person in the 1997 tragic romance starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. The film also won 11 Academy Awards.
As the doomed ship takes on water, Hill’s character silently retreats to the wheelhouse. As the cabin groans under the pressure of the waves, he takes a final breath and grabs the wheel as water bursts through the windows.
Hill first made a name for himself as Yosser Hughes in “Boys From the Blackstuff,” a 1982 British TV miniseries about five unemployed men.
He was nominated for an award in 1983 from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the role, and the show won the BAFTA for best drama series.
His death came the same day the second series of the BBC drama “The Responder” was to air, in which he played the father of the show’s star, Martin Freeman.
“Bernard Hill blazed a trail across the screen, and his long-lasting career filled with iconic and remarkable roles is a testament to his incredible talent, said Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama. “Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this sad time.”
‘Star Wars’ actor Mark Hamill drops by White House for a visit
WASHINGTON | “Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill dropped by the White House on Friday for a visit with President Joe Biden and walked away with a pair of the president’s aviator sunglasses and a greater respect for the office.
“I love the merch,” he said, taking off the glasses during a quick appearance at the White House daily press briefing following his visit with Biden. Hamill, 72, famous for playing Luke Skywalker, kidded with reporters that he’d take a few questions — as long as they weren’t about “Star Wars.”
“I was honored to be asked to come to the White House to meet the president,” he said. He’s been to the White House before, during the Carter and Obama administrations, but he’d never checked out the Oval Office, and that was quite something, he said. Biden showed off photographs and other Oval Office items, Hamill said.
Hamill said Biden told him to call him “Joe,” to which Hamill offered an alternative suggestion: “Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?”
“He liked that,” said Hamill, who also voiced the Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series.”
Both Hamill and the White House were vague about his reason for visiting. But Hamill, a Democrat and Biden supporter with a huge social media following, has been posting about the president’s reelection campaign this week.
“May The First Not Quench Your Thirst For Biden’s Re-election!” he wrote on May 1.
On Friday he posted, “May The Third Be Absurd That The Guy Who Tried To Steal A Fair Election Is Allowed To Run Again,” a reference to Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
May 4th is unofficially “Star Wars” Day, in part because of the famous Jedi phrase “May the force be with you.” The pun goes, “May the fourth be with you.”
Hamill also lent his voice to “Air Alert” — a downloadable app linked to Ukraine’s air defense system. His voice urges people to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment on Ukraine.
—From AP reports
