Summer is almost officially here, and showbiz news is getting hotter. Time for a round up!
The Memorial Day weekend domestic box office totals were “disastrous,” Variety declared, with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga grossing an underwhelming $32 million for the four-day weekend, only narrowly ahead of The Garfield Movie at $31.1 million. Excluding the weekend in 2020, when most theaters were closed, the total box office was the worst in nearly three decades. Year-to-date ticket sales are running 22% behind 2023, and 41% behind 2019, according to the report.
Disney is developing an as-yet-untitled Marvel series that will feature Vision, according to Variety. They have attached Star Trek: Picard’s Terry Matalas to executive produce the series and Paul Bettany to reprise his role as Vision, which he last played in 2021’s WandaVision (see “‘Wandavision’“).
Marvel Studios has rebranded its TV shows, according to Variety. The streaming series have been split into Marvel Television for the live-action TV series and Marvel Animation for the animated shows. The goal of the rebrand is to remove the obligation audiences feel to watch everything within the overarching Marvel narrative and allow them to pick and choose series based on their TV-watching palate. The first rebranded series to hit streaming will be Agatha All Along, which will arrive in September. This series was previously titled Agatha: House of Harkness (see “‘Agatha: House of Harkness’“).
Pixar has recently laid off about 14% of its workforce, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The layoffs are a part of returning CEO Bob Iger’s broader mandate to return to quality content via general restructuring. This restructuring also included a recent reduction to the Marvel slate (see “Marvel Cuts Slate“).
Warner Bros. Pictures released a new trailer for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (see below). This movie will head to theaters on September 6, 2024 (see “‘Beetlejuice 2’“).
Netflix unveiled a first look trailer for Stranger Things: The First Shadow (see below). The fifth season of the series expands on the story of Henry Creel, aka “001,” and the Upside Down dimension, which was touched on in Season 4 (see “‘Season 4 Finale“).
Netflix also released a trailer for the final season of Sweet Tooth (see below). It will begin streaming on June 6, 2024 (see “Netflix Unveils 2024 Slate“).
For more information on geek movie releases, check out ICv2’s Best in Shows Index page. Currently, our calendars show releases running through 2027.
Source: ICv2
