I love this story, because it could’ve been avoided. So, multiple times over the last few days, Blumhouse has taken to social media to remind folks that Brendan Fraser is not in the cast of Lee Cronin’s The Mummy. Why is that? Because Fraser is returning for a fourth film in the blockbuster ‘Mummy’ franchise opening in 2028, and it’s got nothing to do with what Cronin is doing.
The timing is just really unfortunate. Cronin’s movie opens in less than two weeks, but the buzz around it has less to do with the movie than it does with Fraser, Rachel Weisz, and anyone who is coming back for The Mummy 4. What’s funny is that fans are convinced Fraser will appear.
Blumhouse, Atomic Monster, and Universal Pictures could’ve fixed all of this if they had stuck with naming Cronin’s film, The Resurrected, in order to avoid confusion with The Mummy. However, then they wouldn’t have the valuable ‘Mummy’ branding to hook audiences. It still might not work.
Lee Cronin’s The Mummy opens April 17th and stars Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, and Veronica Falcón. Cronin is best known for Evil Dead Rise, so expect the gore factor to be significantly higher than in Fraser’s family-friendly adventure movies.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (review)- $130.9M/$190M
Universal Pictures, Illumination, and Nintendo had a Bowser-Sized Easter holiday, with The Super Mario Galaxy Movie opening with a $130M weekend, $190M if you take into account the whole five days since it opened on Wednesday, to capitalize on kids being out of school for spring break. This is the second biggest debut for Illumination behind 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie which opened this same weekend with $204M. The film, an obvious attempt to grow the Nintendo Cinematic Universe (or whatever they’ll eventually call it) is the year’s first $100M opener, and earned a whopping $30K+ per site average in 4,252 locations. Worldwide, things are hotter than a fireball flower power up, with the film hitting $372M overall. All of this despite pretty terrible critical reviews. It only has 42% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, while audiences loved it at 89% on the Popcornmeter.
2. Project Hail Mary– $30.6M/$217.1M
The third week of Amazon/MGM’s blockbuster Project Hail Mary was nearly as strong as before, adding another $30M to make for $217M domestic and $420M worldwide. The film should soon surpass The Lego Movie ($470M worldwide) to become the highest-earner for directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
A24’s secrecy around the nightmare rom-com The Drama paid off. Of course, it doesn’t hurt having stars Zendaya and Robert Pattinson in on the joke, with fake wedding announcements and the like as part of the marketing strategy. The film, about a soon-to-be-wedded couple thrown into turmoil by one’s horrible admission, opened with a strong $14.3M and solid reviews from critics and audiences on RT. The good news is that the film has become quite the talking point, which should attract curious moviegoers and potentially repeat viewings. Already it has surpassed director Kristoffer Borgli’s previous effort, 2023’s Dream Scenario, which wrapped up its run with just $12M.
4. Hoppers– $5.8M/$149.6M
5. Reminders of Him– $2.2M/$45.3M
6. A Great Awakening– $2.1M
Roadside Attractions released the historical drama A Great Awakening into 1,289 theaters for $2.1M. The film, about the friendship between Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield, founder of the Methodist movement, was released to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing.
I’m happy to offer DC area readers the chance to attend a free early screening of You, Me & Tuscany starring Halle Bailey and Regé-Jean Page!
SYNOPSIS: Halle Bailey (The Little Mermaid, The Color Purple) stars as Anna, a young woman who has abandoned her dreams of becoming a chef and is now drifting through her twenties with a series of bad choices. When Anna loses her house-sitting job (and housing) in one fell swoop, a chance encounter with Matteo—a handsome Italian who happens to have a villa sitting empty in Tuscany—will inspire her to jet off for Italy, against the advice of her always-honest bestie, Claire (Home Before Dark’s Aziza Scott). But Anna’s plan to crash at Matteo’s villa, without permission, just for one night, falls apart when Matteo’s mother, Gabriella (Italian film icon Isabella Ferrari) shows up at the house unexpectedly. In a panic, Anna allows Gabriella to believe that she is Matteo’s fiancée. That little lie becomes a big problem, though, when Matteo’s cousin, Michael (Regé-Jean Page; Bridgerton, Black Bag) shows up, and Anna discovers that the heat between them may ignite a fire that will transform her life.
The screening takes place on Tuesday, April 7th at 7:00pm at Regal Majestic in Silver Spring. If you’d like to attend, RSVP at the Gofobo site here. Please remember, all screenings are first come first served and you’ll need to arrive early to ensure seating. Enjoy the show!
You, Me & Tuscany opens in theaters on April 10th.
There’s little chance that anyone is going to confuse James Gunn’s Superman with Craig Gillespie’s Supergirl. Sure, they are both based on iconic DC Comics characters and Kryptonian cousins. But where the Man of Steel is pure and good and always tries to do the right thing, Kara Zor-El is a hard-partying, hot-tempered mess. And it’s that difference which should help this film stand on its own, and not in the shadow of its predecessor.
Supergirl has a lot on her emotional plate. She is 23-years-old, and is still dealing with the trauma of losing her entire planet, her family, everything. The film is based on the Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic by Tom King, and finds her joining with Ruthye Marye Knoll, a young girl on a quest for revenge after witnessing a tragedy.
Matthias Schoenaerts plays the villain, Krem of the Yellow Hills, with Eve Ridley as Ruthye Marye Knoll, David Krumholtz as Kara’s father Zor-El, Emily Beecham as her mother, Alura In-Ze, and Jason Momoa as Lobo. You’re going to hate Krem, trust me, because he puts Krypto through Hell. We see a lot more of Momoa’s Lobo this time, too.
The film is directed by Craig Gillespie (Cruella) from a script by Ana Nogueira, who is also writing DC’s Wonder Woman movie. Gillespie is a solid choice. While he’s not the most exciting filmmaker, his best work has been the films I, Tonya and Cruella, both of which explore the moral grey areas of women who most would see as villains.
Supergirl looks like a blast. I love the attitude, the punk rock vibe, and Alcock more than looks the part. This is an important film for the future of the DCU,
Parasite director Bong Joon Ho’s directorial debut in the world of animation was first announced in 2018, following the release of that Best Picture Oscar winner. Now we have the first look at the new film, titled Ally, which is expected to open in 2027.
Directed by Bong and co-written with Jason Yu, Ally centers on a piglet squid from the uncharted depths of the South Pacific, who dreams of reaching the surface and starring in a wildlife documentary. Her world changes when a plane crashes into the ocean, sparking an unlikely journey upward with a quirky band of companions.
The Ally voice cast includes director Werner Herzog, but that’s all we know so far . Bong has recruited cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, who he knows well after working together on Mother, Snowpiercer, and Parasite. Marco Beltrami will compose the score.
This is easily the most family-friendly work of Bong’s career. His most recent film was the oddball sci-fi comedy Mickey 17, released last year.
It was a Hail Mary pass, but sadly the ball was dropped. Just days after we learned Ryan Gosling was to star in the secret untitled project from the Everything Everywhere All At Once duo known as Daniels, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Deadline reports the actor has exited the role.
The reason given is purely about scheduling, as the anticipated film is expected to shoot this summer in L.A., and Gosling couldn’t make that work. It’s unclear what project is keeping Gosling so busy. That said, he’s currently in the #1 movie in the country, Project Hail Mary, and has Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter coming up. Perhaps he just needs a break after two huge studio productions in a row?
There’s also the upcoming crime comedy Tough Guys, that Gosling is expected to star in alongside his Barbie co-star, Will Ferrell. It’s unclear when or if that project is coming along any time soon, as it still does not have a director as far as I’m aware.
So with Gosling out, the Daniels will need to get on the ball to find a new lead. This mysterious film has been delayed multiple times already, but is currently set to hit theaters on November 19th 2027.
Project Hail Mary might have some competition on its hands for the biggest movie of 2026 so far. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie survived some pretty harsh reviews (I dug it well enough) to have the biggest Wednesday debut in April with $34.5M. That’s also the biggest day for any movie so far this year. Sorry, Ryan Gosling, but your acclaimed astronaut flick only managed $33M on its best day.
To put it into context, The Super Mario Bros. Movie opened with $31M on Wednesday this same weekend in 2023. It went on to earn a massive $204M over the five-day Easter holiday weekend. Current estimates are that this one will earn somewhere around $185M, but that’s a conservative number, and if fans turn out, it may surpass its predecessor.
On that score, Mario Galaxy’s biggest competition will be from Project Hail Mary’s third week, and the debut weekend for A24’s The Drama starring Zendaya and Robert Pattinson. I don’t expect the latter to eat into the same audience, because we all know that Yoshi fans are die-hard and they are legion.
Movies with talking anthropomorphic animals are kind of a big thing right now. Zootopia 2, GOAT, and Hoppers have all been huge animated hits over the last few months. And now Netflix and Skydance Animation are getting in on the fun with Swapped, a new body-swapping comedy featuring the voices of Oscar winner Michael B. Jordan and Emmy nominee Juno Temple.
Swapped centers on a small sea otter-like creature voiced by Jordan, who magically swaps bodies with a majestic bird voiced by Temple.
The film is directed by Nathan Greno, who scored a massive hit for Disney with Tangled back in 2010. John Whittington and Christian Magalhaes & Robert Snow wrote the screenplay, with longtime ex-Pixar chief John Lasseter among the producers.
Also in the voice cast are Tracy Morgan, Cedric the Entertainer, Justina Machado, Ambika Mod, and Lolly Adefope. With that crew this is sure to be pretty funny.
Here’s the synopsis: A buddy comedy about a small woodland creature (voiced by Academy Award-winning Michael B. Jordan) and a majestic bird (voiced by Juno Temple) — natural sworn enemies of The Valley — who suddenly swap bodies and must team up (while walking in each other’s feathers and fur) to survive the wildest adventure of their lives.
Following the success of Kpop Demon Hunters, nobody is sleeping on Netflix’s animation branch. But I would remind folks that it has actually been putting out awesome animated movies for a while, including The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Nimona, and The Sea Beast.
If you’re going to get away to have a romantic reset, there’s no better place to do it than Malibu. But for Paul and Leah, paradise might not be enough to save what they have. We’re excited to present an exclusive clip from director John Asher’s A Love Like This, a romantic dramedy starring Emmanuelle Chriqui (Entourage) and Hayes MacArthur (Angie Tribeca).
Chriqui and MacArthur play Leah and Paul, a couple tangled in a web of love, lust and lies. During a long weekend in Malibu, they must come to terms with their past and decide if their deep, burning love is enough to stay together.
As seen in this clip, Leah and Paul are forced to make a swift decision when an unexpected guest decides to take a swim in their pool.
Also in the cast are Joel Michaely (The Rules of Attraction), Ray Abruzzo (The Sopranos), and Joyce Bulifant (Airplane!).
Quiver Distribution will release A Love Like This in theaters and digital on April 3rd!
Lee Cronin, the director who earned praise for Evil Dead Rise, isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel with his new take on The Mummy. Instead, he’s taking the classic horror monster and layering the most terrifying aspects with raw human emotions such as grief, loneliness, and the loss of a child. It’s a far cry from the swashbuckling adventure of Brendan Fraser’s upcoming reboot, or even the classic from Universal Pictures.
That said, Cronin’s version promises to be unlike any other version. Described by Cronin as ‘One Part Poltergeist and One Part Seven’, The Mummy leans harder into straight-up horror than previous versions lately. Plus, with the backing of Blumhouse and James Wan’s Atomic Monster, the genre credentials are beyond reproach.
Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, Verónica Falcón, May Calamawy, May Elghety, Natalie Grace, Shylo Molina, Billie Roy, and Hayat Kamille star. Cronin both writes and directs, and I dig that his name has been made so prominent because it tells horror fans exactly what to expect.
Here’s the synopsis: The young daughter of a journalist disappears without a trace in the desert. The shattered family is stunned when the girl suddenly reappears eight years later. But what should have been a joyful reunion quickly turns into a true nightmare.
Warner Bros. will release Lee Cronin’s The Mummy in theaters and IMAX on April 17th.
