Saturday, June 20, 2026

Movies: Universal Basically Pulls “Blackhat” from Circulation, Johnny Depp’s “Mortdecai” MIA

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So much good news about “American Sniper” — heading to $250 million this weekend at the domestic box office. Biggest hit of Clint Eastwood’s career. A real bonanza for Warner Bros.

But then: Universal has yanked Michael Mann’s “Blackhat” basically from all but 236 theaters. It had been in 2,568. It’s the 6th biggest drop in history for a third week film.

And no one knows where Johnny Depp’s “Mortdecai” is. Lions Gate didn’t give box office results for Friday night. It’s probably being quietly euthanized as we speak.

The “Blackhat” situation is more dire than the “Mortdecai” episode. Mann is a serious filmmaker. He’ll come back in a big way. But this has to be a blow to him.

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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