Good lord, the box office is terrible again this week. It’s gotten so bad that we’ve started to wonder if studios and movie theater chains are actually trying to ruin the theater industry. The one salvation this week (we suppose) would be the anniversary screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. You know things are bad when a 40-year-old movie is the only film to rise above the 50 percent line on Rotten Tomatoes. Hell, The Layover, which stars Kate Upton and Alexandria Daddario in what must be an acting tour de force, is still bucking for a single favorable critique, sitting at an illustrious zero percent with a 2.4 average. Yikes.
But enough wallowing in what just may be the worst end to a summer box office season we’ve seen in modern times. After all, we’re getting a good movie next week: The It reboot featuring Bill Skarsgård’s creepy-looking turn as Pennywise the clown. The film, which apparently also boasts a great performance form Finn Wolfhard (i.e., Mikey from Stranger Things), is getting almost universal praise from critics for its mix of sharp scares and real heart. And for that, I suppose, we should all be grateful.
Apart from the dreadful box office, we did get a few morsels of interesting news this week, with perhaps the most intriguing rumor leading back to Warner Bros.’ plans for a stand-alone Joker origin story that doesn’t (repeat doesn’t) connect to the studio’s DC Extended Universe. As odd as that sounds, Friday’s rumor mill brings with it a proposed star for the Scorsese-produced vehicle that’s even stranger: One Leonardo DiCaprio. Yes, really. It’s rumored that the Cap (nickname trademarked) could actually stand in as the “young” Joker. You know, the one younger than Jared Leto’s DCEU interpretation, even though DiCaprio is only 3 years younger than Leto — and looks 10 years older. All that being said, we’re not complaining. A Joker gangster movie with a re-teaming of the biggest players from The Departed? Yes, please.
Unfortunately, these are nothing more than whispers right now, and even Scorsese isn’t officially attached to produce. But we can dream, can’t we?
Of course, there’s much more to talk about from the entertainment headlines this week, including new vehicles for Star Wars’ First Order, a new short set 10 years before Blade Runner 2049 that’s directed by Ridley Scott’s progeny, a Super Troopers 2 trailer that actually packs some laughs, news about the J.R.R. Tolkien biopic, a look at Guillermo Del Toro’s (apparent) best film since Pan’s Labyrinth, and more.
So tune in and hit us up live at 2 p.m. PT today, or take us along for the ride with our podcast version by following the links at the top.
