‘28 Years Later' $5.8M, ‘Elio' $3M Previews – Friday AM Box Office
UPDATED FRIDAY AM AFTER EXCLUSIVE: Sony's 28 Years Later gobbled up $5.8M in previews Thursday night. That's an excellent preview number for a horror movie, especially in these times, besting the Thursday nights of Final Destination Bloodlines ($5.5M), Sinners ($4.7M), pre-Covid's A Quiet Place ($4.3M) and even post-Covid's Scream VI ($5.7M).
The question is whether moviegoers, like the undead themselves, will continue to run to 28 Years Later.
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As we saw with the Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 68% last night, PostTrak audiences were also a hard crowd for this Danny Boyle movie giving it 3 stars and a 54% definite recommend. Men over 25 showed up at 52% and gave the zombie third chapter its best grades at 75%. Women over 25 were next at 27% (72% grade), followed by women under 25 at 13% (65%) and men under 25 at 9% (74%).
Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar's Elio in total Wednesday and Thursday previews did $3M. The animated feature is booked in 3,750 theatres including 725 premium large format screens, 2,500+ 3D Screens and 175 D-Box/Motion screens. Elio, 28 Years Later and How to Train Your Dragon are sharing the PLFs, while Imax auditoriums will be held by the latter title.
Those who watched Elio, are loving it with a 60% definite recommend from the general audience and 4 1/2 stars. Kids under 12, a near even split between boys and girls at 51%/49%, also think it's 4 1/2 stars. Parents, mostly Dads yesterday at 56%, gave it 4 stars.
With yesterday being Juneteenth, a young federal holiday, distribution sources are always mixed on whether it's a big moviegoing day or not. Kids are already off from school. Yeah, but adults are off from work. While not massive, the day did have a pulse, check it out: Eight of the movies in the top 10 saw spikes in their daily grosses over Wednesday including How to Train Your Dragon (+15%), Materialists (+7%), Lilo & Stitch (+16%), Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (+22%), Ballerina (+10%), Phoenician Scheme (+6%), and The Life of Chuck (+3%).
Top 5 from yesterday:
1.) How to Train Your Dragon (Uni) 4,356 theaters, Thu $9.7M, Wk $123.4M/Wk 1
2.) Lilo & Stitch (Dis) 3,675 (-510) theaters, Thu $2.7M Wk $26M (-45%), Total $376.8M/Wk 4
3.) Materialists (A24) 2,844 theaters, Thu $1.6M, Wk $17.5M/Wk 1
4.) Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (Par) 2,942 theaters, Thu $1.5M, Wk $15.8M (-27%), Total $171.8M/Wk 4
5.) Ballerina (LG) 3,409 theaters, Thu $1.1M, $14.1M (-56%), Total $46.5M/Wk 2
EXCLUSIVE: Sony's 28 Years Later is coming in with a preview gross tonight that's well north of $5M, we are hearing from sources.
But don't start comping it yet to New Line's box office surprise sequel, Final Destination: Bloodlines which did $5.5M in previews for a franchise best opening of $51.6M.
Horror films are frontloaded, duh. Rotten Tomatoes audiences are being pretty hard on this Danny Boyle zombie movie at 67% despite critics giving the installment the best reviews the 23-year old franchise has ever seen at 92%. Final Destination: Bloodlines earned both great reviews and audience exits on Rotten Tomatoes respectively with 92% and 87%. Previews began at noon for 28 Years Later. Tracking spotted this viral infected undead post-apocalyptic movie at an opening between $28M-$30M. The movie reps a return for Boyle as director and Alex Garland as screenwriter after 2002's 28 Days Later. That movie opened to $10M back in the day at 1,261 theaters, while 28 Weeks Later, which was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, opened to $9.8M back in 2007 at 2,303 theaters.
Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar's Elio after two nights of previews is looking to be around $2.5M-$3M. That's the amount of preview cash that Pixar's summer 2023 movie, Elemental, banked before an $11.7M Friday and $29.6M opening. Elio is hoping to clear a 3-day between $20M-$25M. No RT audience scores yet, but critics enjoyed it at 86% certified fresh. Those reviews are stronger than Elemental at 73% fresh which wind up with an audience score of 93% and a solid A CinemaScore. As we mentioned, the best advertisement for Elio is the movie itself. In a marketplace where it's hard to launch original animation, the hope is that the Adrian Molina-Madeline Sharafian-Domee Shi directed movie pulls an Elemental and posts some wild multiple of 5x or more (that pic ended its stateside run at $154.4M).
As we reported previously, Universal/DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon is expected to hold the fort at No. 1 with a second weekend of $40M-plus. Through Wednesday, the Dean DeBlois directed live action take of his animated movie is up to $113.7M.
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The Verge
an hour ago
- The Verge
28 Years Later is a bleak fever dream with rage pumping through its veins
While it wasn't the first film to feature fast-moving ghouls, there is no denying how much of an impact 28 Days Later had on modern zombie movies. It was a gripping and nauseating wonder, whose action felt uniquely visceral thanks, in part, to director Danny Boyle's inspired use of a digital video camera. And there was a gut-wrenching sense of hopelessness baked into writer Alex Garland's script that made 28 Days Later feel far more grounded than most of the zombie films that inspired it. Boyle and Garland stepped back from the franchise as it continued with a graphic novel and director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's 28 Weeks Later in 2007, but they are back together again for 28 Years Later. Though it's set in the same world and calls back to the original, the new film hits very differently because of how much more overrun pop culture is with zombie-themed horror. You can feel Boyle and Garland trying not to echo other big pieces of zombie IP as they weave a new tale about how the world has changed almost three decades after the outbreak of a deadly virus. And in a couple of the movie's pivotal moments, the filmmakers manage to avoid being too derivative. Many of this story's smaller beats feel overly familiar, though — so much so that it almost seems intentional. That wouldn't be a huge knock against 28 Years Later if it could conjure the same kind of pulse-quickening scares that made the first film such an instant classic. But the most terrifying thing about the franchise's latest chapter is how oddly conservative and, at times, nationalistic its story winds up becoming. Though 28 Years Later opens with an arresting reminder of how people had no idea how to defend themselves against those infected with the rage virus in the outbreak's early days, it revolves around a community that has learned what it takes to survive. Like everyone else holed up on a tiny island in northern England, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) knows how dangerous the infected are and how easily their virus is spread. He also understands that, were it not for the island's unique geography — it connects to the mainland with a causeway that vanishes with the tides — his life of relative comfort wouldn't be possible. Jamie and his sickly wife Isla (Jodie Comer) work hard to impress upon their son Spike (Alfie Williams) how important it is to adhere to their community's rules. People can leave the island to collect wood or hunt for whatever food they can find. But they do so knowing that no one will come to save them if they can't make it back to the island on their own. Everyone also knows that, while Great Britain is still quarantined, the rage virus has been all but eradicated everywhere else in the world. And because other countries have essentially left the British to fend for themselves, there's a current of resentment (particularly toward the French) coursing through Jamie's community. One of the first things that jumps out about 28 Years Later is its overwhelmingly white cast. Some of that can be attributed to the idea that these are all people who just happened to already live on the island when the virus first got out. But Boyle also makes a point of emphasizing how capital B British all of the film's characters are, with closeups of photos of Queen Elizabeth II and moments where people remind each other that it's time for tea. The film frequently cuts to archival black-and-white footage of British soldiers marching during World War I and scenes from Laurence Olivier's Henry V in a way that makes British identity feel like it's meant to be understood as a crucial part of the story. This is also true of the way 28 Years Later prominently features a recording of 'Boots,' Rudyard Kipling's famous poem about a British soldier's participation in the Second Boer War. But all of that imagery becomes charged with a very pointed, Brexit-y energy when 28 Years Later juxtaposes it with shots of the writhing, naked infected who have become the mainland's dominant population. The racial homogeneity of Jamie's community is that last thing on anyone's mind as he prepares Spike to go on his first trip to the mainland — an experience that's supposed to help them bond and show the boy what it's like to kill an infected. Isla's terrified at the idea of her son leaving, but it excites Jamie, who almost seems to enjoy his forays into danger. Spike, too, is thrilled to finally get a chance to see parts of the world that he's never had access to. But it's not long before they encounter the infected and are forced to spend the night hiding rather than returning home. Especially once Jamie and Spike have ventured out, 28 Days Later starts to feel a lot like The Last of Us in the sense that its story is — at least initially — about a man working through his feelings about fatherhood in a world plagued by flesh-eating monsters. And the film's focus on manhood (as well as its parallels to other, more recent zombie fiction) becomes that much more pronounced when Jamie and Spike first encounter an alpha, one of the new types of infected. The way 28 Years Later evolves its monsters is one of the more interesting aspects of the film. There are still jerky, sprinting infected who present the most immediate risk, but after decades of mutation, the virus has also given rise to corpulent 'slow-lows' who crawl on the ground, and infected who seem able to form social connections. Boyle showcases the film's new types of monsters brilliantly in a number of action sequences that make heavy use of a unique iPhone camera array that creates shots that pivot around scenes in a very Matrix -y, bullet time fashion. Those shots — of arrows being shot into infecteds' necks and groins — are exhilarating and impactful, but deployed so frequently that it quickly grows tiresome. What's even more exhausting is how, despite the fact that we're told how these survivors have adapted to life with the infected, the film's characters repeatedly make decisions that feel wholly unmoored from reason. This becomes very apparent in the movie's second half as Comer — who delivers a tremendous, if restrained performance — takes on a much more prominent role. Columbia Pictures That said, 28 Years Later is absolutely gorgeous more often than not. Boyle's shots of the English countryside are majestic, but they become alarming as the infected shamble into view. There's one chase scene on the causeway that stands out for having some of the most beautiful visuals ever featured in a zombie film. But the story's rote-ness keeps 28 Years Later from feeling like the product of Boyle and Garland working at the height of their powers. As questionable as some of its messaging is, 28 Years Later is just the first installment of a new trilogy. It's possible that its off-putting qualities are being propped up for the subsequent two films to knock down -- which means that, like the infected, the series will have to evolve.
Elle
an hour ago
- Elle
‘28 Years Later' Is the Zombie Sequel You Didn't Know You Needed—Here's How to Watch
Every item on this page was chosen by an ELLE editor. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. Over two decades after 28 Days Later redefined zombie horror, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland return to their virus-ravaged world with 28 Years Later—the first in a newly planned trilogy. The $60 million sequel sees the Rage Virus still festering on British soil, while the rest of the world has moved on. Opening in theaters today, the film explores not just the ongoing fight for survival, but also the evolution of both the virus and humanity. Set on the remote Holy Island off England's northeast coast, 28 Years Later centers on 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams). who has never known a world beyond the fortified pathway linking his small community to the quarantined mainland. On his birthday, his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) takes him across the water for a harrowing rite of passage—only to find that the infected have evolved. Some crawl; others, now dubbed Alphas, lead organized hunting packs. The film also stars Jodie Comer as Isla, a housebound mother. 'There are moments that feel incredibly heightened—you're out of breath, facing elements of hysteria—but it's brilliant,' Comer told the BBC, describing the intensity of filming without CGI. While 28 Years Later doesn't revisit the immunity storyline from 28 Weeks Later, it does mark the beginning of a new arc that will stretch across two more films. Garland has already penned the second installment, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, which is directed by Nia DaCosta (Candyman) and due next year. Boyle, who hopes to return for the trilogy's conclusion, confirmed to Collider that Cillian Murphy's Jim—last seen alive in 28 Days Later—will appear in the second and play a major role in the third. Not yet. The film is currently playing in theaters, with a streaming release date to be announced. Given Sony's distribution history, the title is likely to become available via digital purchase first, followed by streaming on one of its affiliated platforms—though no official plan has been confirmed. In the meantime, you can revisit the earlier films in the franchise: 28 Days Later is now available to stream on Pluto TV, and 28 Weeks Later is on Hulu and Tubi. Get Tickets
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Danny Boyle: Slumdog Millionaire was cultural appropriation
Danny Boyle has said his hit film Slumdog Millionaire was cultural appropriation. The British director, who also made the films Trainspotting and 127 Hours, said that he was proud of Slumdog Millionaire, but that 'you wouldn't even contemplate doing something like that today'. The 2008 Oscar-winning movie, which Boyle directed, follows the story of a boy from the slums of Mumbai who is one question away from winning the Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, before being arrested on suspicion of cheating. It was shot in Mumbai, partly in Hindi, and used a local crew, but the award-winning director said he couldn't make it today. He would instead be 'looking for a young Indian filmmaker' to direct the picture, because his directing of the film was 'cultural appropriation'. He told The Guardian on his press tour for the horror film 28 Years Later: 'That kind of cultural appropriation might be sanctioned at certain times, but at other times it cannot be. It wouldn't even get financed. 'We wouldn't be able to make that now. And that's how it should be. It's time to reflect on all that. We have to look at the cultural baggage we carry and the mark that we've left on the world.' He said it was a 'flawed method' because it was filmed by 'outsiders'. 'At the time it felt radical. We made the decision that only a handful of us would go to Mumbai. 'We'd work with a big Indian crew and try to make a film within the culture. But you're still an outsider. It's still a flawed method. Even if I was involved, I'd be looking for a young Indian filmmaker to shoot it.' The film premiered at the 2008 Telluride Film Festival and won eight Oscars at the 2009 Academy Awards, including those for best picture and best director, as well as several BAFTA awards and Golden Globes. It was also a box office hit, making $378 million worldwide on a reported $15 million budget. Speaking about his directorial choices in the interview, Boyle explained: 'I value the popular audience. I believe in popular entertainment. 'I want to push the boat out, but take the popular audience with me.' Elsewhere, he discussed his direction of Isles of Wonder, the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics that featured Daniel Craig as James Bond and the late Queen Elizabeth II. The film, which was a celebration of British culture, also featured the National Health Service, Shakespeare, the Sex Pistols and Windrush migrants. However, Boyle said his 'biggest regret' was not featuring the BBC in it more, saying if he were to do it again he would 'big up' the 'precious' national broadcaster. He said: 'My biggest regret was that we didn't feature the BBC more. I was stopped from doing it because it was the host broadcaster. 'Every other objection, I told them to go f--- themselves. But that one I accepted and I regret that now, especially given the way that technology is moving. 'The idea that we have a broadcaster that is part of our national identity, but is also trusted around the world and that can't be bought, can't be subsumed into Meta or whatever, feels really precious. 'So yeah, if I was doing it again I'd big up the BBC big time. Everything else I'd do exactly the same.' Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
