Transcription
What's up everybody? It's Ali, and it's time for your daily dose of entertainment news. Director Danny Bole had the best opening of his career so far with 28 Years Later, but fans are divided over one key part of the film, and Disney Pixar's newest sci-fi adventure, Elio, isn't doing so well at the box office. So, let's jump in.
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28 Years Later kicked off the weekend at the box office with a total of $60 million globally, making it director Danny Bole's best premiere in his career. But fans of the original 28 Days Later movie series are split on whether they like it or not. Spoiler warning—cover your ears if you haven't seen it. But I'll try not to spoil too much. The addition of a few characters has shifted the tone of what would have otherwise been a realistic, dark, grim exploration of a collapsed society surrounded by zombies, with the introduction of a bizarre gang of survivors that fight with insane acrobatics straight out of what feels like a zombie parody movie. And fans have been reacting online. One fan said, quote, "I really enjoyed the movie. I've never seen such insane cinematography and editing. However, I did feel like that scene with the things kind of took me out."
The Power Rangers gang members are not the only ones drawing attention. A new type of terrifying zombies called alphas was also introduced. These berserk monsters now roam the quarantined UK wasteland along with other fast zombies, naked. One of these monsters is played by 6'8" actor and former MMA fighter Chi Lewis Perry, who in an interview with Variety confirmed that everything you saw was prosthetics. These grotesque new zombies point at the evolution of the virus in the story. The sequel to 28 Years Later, titled 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is already in development and is expected to release January 2026. Critics are loving it, but are you? Let us know in the comments.
While some might be having a great weekend, others not so much. Disney Pixar's latest movie, Elio, also released this weekend. But despite opening in over 3,700 theaters, it only took in about $21 million. That's the worst opening in years for a theatrically released Pixar movie. Even Onward, which opened at the start of the CO-VID-19 pandemic, brought in about $39 million in its first weekend. The news isn't any better overseas. The animated film took in $14 million for a worldwide total of just $35 million so far.
Speaking to Variety, David A. Gross from movie consulting firm Franchise Ree said, quote, "These would be solid numbers for another original animation film, but this is Pixar." And by Pixar's remarkable standard, the opening is well below average. In contrast, How to Train Your Dragon has been holding strong in first place with $37 million domestic over the weekend, bringing that movie's total to more than $350 million worldwide. It's possible Elio will find its legs, which is what happened with Pixar's Elemental back in 2023. That movie opened to a relatively soft $29 million, but had staying power in theaters, ending its run with $155 million domestic and a worldwide gross of nearly half a billion dollars. I didn't even know this movie was coming out, so maybe that's part of the problem. Did you know it was coming out? Let us know.
And those are your stories for today, Monday, June 23rd. If you're looking for something else to watch, why don't you check out our latest reviews of Elio and 28 Years Later? Spoilers—we actually kind of like them both quite a bit. I'm Alec, and I'll see you guys on the next one.
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