By Jake Coyle, Film Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" kept the box-office crown for the fourth straight weekend, and the comic holiday thriller "Violent Night" debuted with $13.3 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. But the biggest talking point on the weekend was a movie conspicuously absent from theaters.
Had Netflix kept Rian Johnson's whodunit sequel "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery" in theaters, it would have been one of the weekend's top draws. Last weekend, the streamer — in its first such pact with North America's top chains — released "Glass Onion" in about 600 theaters. While significantly less than the 4,000-plus theaters most big movies open in, the Netflix film reportedly grossed about $15 million — an enviable total for a medium scaled release.
Netflix declined to release ticket sales and pulled "Glass Onion" on Tuesday, preferring to keep its release limited to a one-week sneak-peak theatrical run before debuting on the streaming service Dec. 23. Netflix's focus, its executives have said, is driving subscribers to its streaming service. On Wednesday, Reed Hastings, chief executive of Netflix, acknowledged the company left "lots" of money on the table in the move.
So instead of feasting on "Glass Onion," as ticket buyers did after Thanksgiving in 2019 when Lionsgate released "Knives Out," moviegoers were fed mostly leftovers this weekend.
For four weeks, the Walt Disney Co.'s "Wakanda Forever" has ruled the box office. Ryan Coogler's Marvel movie has totaled $733 million globally, including $339 million in overseas sales.
"Violent Night" was the only new wide release in cinemas. Starring David Harbour as a not-so-saintly Saint Nick, the Universal release got off to a good start. "Violent Night," which earned a B+ CinemaScore from audiences, cost about $20 million to make.
Though "Avatar: The Way of Water" and other holiday releases like "Puss in Boots 2," "Babylon" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" loom in the coming weeks, theaters continue to see fewer films in wide release than they did pre-pandemic. David A. Gross, who publishes the box-office subscription newsletter FranchiseRe, says that while there were 58 franchise films released in 2019, there have been only 32 in 2022.
There's also been a dearth of family releases in theaters. After a muted debut last weekend, Disney's big-budget animated fantasy adventure "Strange World" dipped to third place with a mere $4.9 million in its second week. Some of the season's notable kid-friendly movies are streaming, instead.
The Roald Dahl adaptation "Matilda the Musical," starring Emma Thompson, was made jointly by Netflix, Sony Pictures and Working Title Films. Netflix has worldwide distribution rights to the film except for the United Kingdom and Ireland, where Sony put the film into theaters last weekend. For two weeks, "Matilda" has been the top film at the U.K. box office, grossing $9.7 million over that stretch. In the U.S., "Matilda" begins steaming on Christmas.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Wakanda Forever," $17.6 million.
2. "Violent Night," $13.3 million.
3. "Strange World," $4.9 million.
4. "The Menu," $3.6 million.
5. "Devotion," $2.8 million.
6. "I Heard the Bells," $1.8 million.
7. "Black Adam," $1.7 million.
8. "The Fabelmans," $1.3 million.
9. "Bones and All," $1.2 million.
10. "Ticket to Paradise," $850,000.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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