Let’s start with Clint Eastwood.
The 94 year old director’s “Juror Number 2” made $5 million over the weekend…in Europe! It’s playing in France, Spain and the UK. So it’s a hit there. And we know that because box office numbers were reported.
But Warner Bros. is not reporting box office for the US, where “Juror Number 2” is playing in just 50 theaters. There’s an unconfirmed number of $300,000 for the US.
“Juror Number 2” is a terrific film and deserves marketing, wider release, and an Oscar campaign. But something screwy is going on. After
“Joker Folie a Deux” drove Warner’s into the ground they should be proud of Eastwood and celebrating him!
Also at the BO: Robert Zemeckis’s “Here” went nowhere. It made $5 million playing on 2,647 screens. It’s one of Tom Hanks’s lowest grossing films in which he stars. No one knows what it’s about, and no one wanted to see it. It’s a movie about technology, apparently. So strange.
“Conclave,” one of the best films of the year, is a hit. After a slow start, the Ralph Fiennes led thriller, directed by Edward Berger, is finding audiences. “Conclave” should be on every top 10 list of the year.
Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” made $60,000 a apiece in four locations, two in LA and two in NY. Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are phenomenal in this funny and emotional story of two cousins who reunite for a trip to see their grandmother’s home in Poland before she was taken to a concentration camp. It’s a satisfying if unnerving adventure, real filmmaking. Lots of awards coming.
Earlier this week I reviewed “The Outrun,” which is now on streaming. Saorise Ronan stars in this gem. By all means, for serious film lovers, check it out. Ronan must be nominated for Best Actress.
Sony Pictures Classics has at least three awards films including “The Outrun.” The great Pedro Almodovar’s “The Room Next Door” is a power punch with Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton. I’ve reviewed that already. But I’ll have more tonight Walter Salles’s “I’m Still Here,” which also gets an Oscar run in November and is a sensational thriller ripped from the headlines, a true story from 1970 Brazil. Fernanda Torres also deserves a Best Actress nod.
Could SPC have three Best Actress noms — Swinton, Ronan, and Torres? And Supporting Actress for Moore? They should. Quite an achievement!
