IS SCREAM VII Falling apart?

After two terrific entries into the SCREAM franchise the last couple of years word has come out this week Melissa Barrera was fired from ‘Scream VII’ after social media posts amid Israel-Hamas war. Also now comes word that Jenna Ortega will also not be involved due to her commitment to the hit streaming show "Wednesday" based on the "Adams Family" character. 

These two have become the main core of the franchise when the last film Scream movie part 6 didn't have Neve Campbell as Sidney Prescott involved in the film. Up until this movie she had been involved in all the previous 5 movies, and her not coming back saw the movie take a twist as it was not set in Woodsboro anymore but now followed the Carpenter sisters to New York.

The change in location and the new direction worked as the movie was a smash hit at the box office taking in more money then the previous films at the US DOMESTIC box office. So a part 7 was greenlite without hesitation. But while the just ended strike it held back the 7th enough for bad things to happen and now the film stands on shaky ground as it's now known that Melissa Barrera has been fired from “Scream VII” over her controversial comments on social media about the Israel-Hamas war.

As reported Barrera, 33, was let go from the Spyglass Media production due to “her Instagram stories which have been perceived as anti-Semitic.” The actress started posting about the conflict last month, writing in one Instagram story, “I too come from a colonized country” beside a Mexican flag logo. “Palestine WILL be free,” she added in her caption, also writing that “they tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.”

Barrera shared further posts about the war more recently, with one on Monday reading, “At the end of the day, I’d rather be excluded for who I include, than be included for who I exclude.” In another post, Barrera wrote, “Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have learnt nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING.”

Barrera portrayed Sam Carpenter in 2022’s “Scream,” alongside Jenna Ortega, Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, and in this year’s “Scream VI.” Barrera’s first outing in the horror series earned $137.7 million globally, while her “Scream” encore, which was released in March 2023, topped its predecessor by grossing $168.9 million worldwide. “Scream VII” is expected to be released in 2025, as it was pushed back due to this year’s actors’ and writers’ strikes.

Now the studio is looking to bring back Neve Campbell, and Courtney Cox to replace the loss off Janna Ortega & Melissa Barrera but is this the right move? While I loved the last two films, and I'm a die hard fan of the franchise should they continue with this movie so soon? I think after part 6 the ending of the Carpenter sisters story arc can be seen as done since a sequel would be not needed. So while the fans think this means the franchise is falling apart it's not.

What this franchise needs now is a good 5 year gap between this and part 6 than start a new series trilogy... What I think would be a cool idea would be to center the new trilogy on Gail Weathers as she's reporting and investigating another crime dealing with people going missing at first in the movie. The start will start with something like the death of the main suspect she was going after in her investigation. 

As this happens the law looks at her as the killer, and in comes Sidney and her husband Mark Kincaid played by Patrick Dempsey who is a detective to help Gail find who is framing her while trying to kill her. The bodies start to pile up now that Sidney is back to help they can set up a brand new trilogy and since the last movie was able to be done in New York I'd set this one up in Texas were Sidney and Mark live.

Like I said I'm a fan of the franchise, and thinking outside the box that's a story which could work and bring in a whole new cast, and move on from the previous storyline, and two lead actresses. Also this would make for a heck of reload with them bring back NEVE for another trilogy. This time pay her what she's worth... She's the ultimate SCREAM QUEEN!

Sound Of Freedom opens to a whopping $40M taking INDY 5 down!

For me one of the best actors alive is Jim Caviezel and while he doesn't often make movies that "mainstream" leftist America loves! He's true to his faith, love of film, and craft. His latest movie a faith-based action film called "Sound Of Freedom" is expected to gross a whopping $40M in opening this weekend after July 4 debut beat mega movie Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

This is major folks as this movie was waiting to come out since last year until they got enough attention behind it and now the movie is paying off. From all I've seen and heard this another example of a great movie coming from somewhere other than your typical big studio.

The movie looks like a movie you will hear more from come academy award season and if you don't than you might want to question how respectable they really are. The film again is a Faith-based action movie is now expected to top $40M final domestic numbers which means at the US box office in it's opening weekend. The low-budget thriller about the global child-trafficking, which earned $14million on it's opening day, beat the latest big-budget Indiana Jones instalment. Conservative movie makers behind the surprise hit film by Angel Studios have now released a statement to document the movie's continued success. 

Brandon Purdie, Head of Theatrical Distribution said: 'As with our July 4th numbers, today's numbers exceed our expectations, and we're going to continue this momentum. SOUND of FREEDOM has taken on a life of its own'. 

'We're getting messages from all over the country telling us about packed theaters, sold-out theaters, and spontaneous standing ovations for the film in numerous locations. Seeing this film has become a must thanks to incredible word-of-mouth,'  Going on to say: 'We're deeply grateful to AMC, Cinemark, Regal, and all our theater partners and their hard-working theater staff members for working with us to accommodate the surging demand for this film and having the courage to release SOUND OF FREEDOM during the busiest movie season of the year,'

Dailymail.com spoke to two of the Angel executives behind the successful release, which was in part crowdfunded by a group of studio loyalists. 'We're so excited about the box office success, but what that number actually represents is awareness,' said Jordan Harmon, who co-founded Angel Studios along with his three brothers. 

The film is based on the true story of former government agent Tim Ballard, who quits his job working for the feds in order to skirt the bureaucracy that comes along with going overseas to rescue children from human traffickers. The studio had a goal of selling two million tickets in its opening week to represent the number of kidnapped children across the globe.

On July 4, Sound of Freedom brought in $14million, while the newest Indiana Jones film earned only $11.5million, according to the Post Millennial. The film, also starring Mira Sorvino, is playing at 2,600 theaters across the country, and has earned largely positive reviews, even from critics who are not fully on board with the studio's apparent cultural alignment. The movie currently holds an 88 percent fresh score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, and 100 percent audience score with no UK release date announced.

'Let’s assume that, like me, you’re not a right-wing fundamentalist conspiracy theorist looking for a dark, faith-based suspense film to see over the holiday weekend,' wrote Variety's Owen Gleiberman. 'Even then, you needn’t hold extreme beliefs to experience Sound of Freedom as a compelling movie that shines an authentic light on one of the crucial criminal horrors of our time, one that Hollywood has mostly shied away from.'

Part of the early success of the film is owed to the studio's proprietary pay-it-forward technology, which allows moviegoers to purchase tickets for others who may not otherwise be able to see the film. 

Sound of Freedom racked up more than $10million in presales, according to Variety.

WAKANDA FOREVER OPENS BIG! But was it worth the hype?

Ok so we're all caught up here friends! 

Wakanda is a fictional country appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Wakanda has been depicted as being in East Africa. It is located in sub-Saharan Africa, and is home to the superhero "Black Panther". Wakanda first appeared in Fantastic Four #52, and was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

Now with that said the first movie was ok but nothing special, and this was my feeling pre the passing of it's star actor "Chadwick Boseman" who played the role of T'Challa aka the "Black Panther" himselff.

The overall box office last weekend was $209 million, with 87% of that coming from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s $181 million opening. This weekend will be dominated once again by the MCU film, which has a good shot of topping the charts until Avatar: The Way of Water opens on December 16. The main question is how well it will hold and how much it can prop up an otherwise weak box office, which saw no other film even make it to the double digits last weekend, an unfortunate stat that is likely to be repeated this weekend (in better times, the second weekend on the first Black Panther had three other films above $10 million). This weekend’s overall box office has a chance of staying above $100 million, but that would require a “better than the usual blockbuster” hold from Wakanda Forever. A 60% drop for the sequel would put it at $72.5 million this weekend, which is reasonable to expect, and in that scenario the rest of the box office would have a hard time lifting the overall numbers up into the nine digits, barring any surprises from the newcomers.

The hope is that Wakanda Forever holds much better than this year’s previous MCU films Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Thor: Love and Thunder (which both dropped 67-68% in their second weekends), even if it doesn’t prove as durable as the first Black Panther (down just 45% in its second weekend, which is good for any film and especially great for such a huge opener, ranking as the second best weekend two hold ever for a film to open above $150 million and the fourth best grossing second weekend). A drop of 53% would be enough to give Wakanda Forever the tenth best second weekend gross ever with roughly $85.2 million, but as great as that would be, it seems like a long shot.

If it drops akin to recent MCU offerings, that would be a roughly $60 million second weekend which feels like a worst case scenario, but that would still give it a 10 day cume in the high $200s which is a great spread, even if it’s not enough to save the overall box office. As of Tuesday Wakanda Forever has a gross of $205 million, and there’s a small chance that by Sunday it will become the year’s sixth film to cross $300 million, which would make it the fastest to do so of any film this year (so far Top Gun: Maverick holds that claim with 11 days) and tie it for 12th on the all time fastest list (the first Black Panther is tied for fifth, getting there in just eight days). It’s more likely that it will get there during the week, but it could tie Maverick for the year’s fastest or tie for second along with Multiverse of Madness if it gets there in 12 days.

Joining the fray this weekend are some smaller titles, though don’t expect much from the counter-programming. Searchlight has the most potential with their fine dining genre film The Menu, which marks the widest release ever for the label with 3,100 theaters. The film stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult as diners at a high end restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has something more sinister in mind than simply feeding his customers. A comp here is Searchlight’s 2019 release Ready or Not, which opened to $8 million and stretched out to $28.7 million.

Critics love The Menu (91% on Rotten Tomatoes) and the other genre fare in theaters has largely run its course, so it could have a solid run. Less is expected from She Said, which Universal is bringing to 2000 theaters. The film stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor who reported on Harvey Weinstein’s history of sexual misconduct. An optimistic comp here would be Bombshell, which grossed $5.1 million in its first wide weekend (from 1,480 theaters) and went on to gross $31.8 million, but that had more star power and perhaps a wider appeal in its content and lighter tone. Reviews are great (86% on Rotten Tomatoes) and there is some awards buzz particularly for its leads, so hopefully this $32 million budgeted drama can find its audience.

Also in the mix is the five theater New York and Los Angeles launch of Luca Guadagnino’s romantic cannibal thriller Bones and All. The United Artists Releasing film stars Taylor Russell, Timothée Chalamet, and Mark Rylance and expands next Wednesday ahead of Thanksgiving.

Tragedy on set of film & "Rust" takes the life of DP Halyna Hutchins REST IN PEACE!

Now this is just off the press folks the same on set mistake which took the life of the son of legendary Bruce Lee Actor Brandon Lee, who died following an accident on the set of the movie The Crow in 1993 has now happened again, and this time it’s none other then his daughter hating, Trump hating, SNL loved and American joke Alec Baldwin who while on New Mexico Set Of the movie ‘Rust’ DP Halyna Hutchins Dies After Prop Gun Misfire. The Alec Baldwin starring Western; Director Joel Souza Also Injured during the accidental shooting.

At least from reports it’s an accident but how does an accident like this happen? as of Oct. 21 when actor Alec Baldwin, 63, “discharged” a prop gun that fatally killed a crew member on his new film Rust. Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins died after the on-set incident while director Joel Souza, 42 was injured, Santa Fe Police confirmed to DEADLINE. Per the outlet, Baldwin was “unaware” of the “type of ammunition in the gun” which ultimately lead to the fateful accident. Which is unlike what happened to Brandon Lee in that he was hit by a “blank” bullet which was jammed in the gun so when they loaded the next blank and shot him from up close the explosion was so big even for a blank it destroyed his intestines, and he died on the spot.

When told he needed to shoot the scene again, Baldwin jokingly said “why don’t I just shoot the two of you” then aimed and began firing the gun. Afterward Baldwin repeatedly asked “why was I handed a hot gun?” while the woman bled out. The Daily Mail reported. #AlecForPrison pic.twitter.com/46mcgTgCys

— J. (@JamieCorridon) October 22, 2021

Police have confirmed the report, although the investigation into the incident is still ongoing. We had tried to reach out to Alec’s rep for comment, but we did not yet receive a response. Further more he’s probably not going to speak about this since he’s a heartless ahole, and he’s a communist so he doesn’t give a crap about anyone but himself.

The Western which is set in 1880s Kansas and it’s written and directed by Souza. Hutchins, a talented DP in the industry, was leading the visuals for the project. On her official website’s “about” section, Halyna described herself as a “Los Angeles based union cinematographer.” She also graduated from the AFI conservatory in 2015 and had since worked on a series of narrative shorts and features. The 42-year-old was also one of the 8 Female Cinematographer’s for the 21st Century Fox DP Lab and was featured as one of the film industry’s “Rising Stars of Cinematography 2019” in American Cinematographer.

Speaking of her time at AFI, Halyna told the magazine that it made her “rethink” who she was as an artist and how she wanted to work in the industry. “One thing I learned is that cinematography is not something you do by yourself. It’s a group [project]. You need to develop your own vision, but the key to a successful film is communication with your director and your team.” Halyna describes herself as originally hailing from Ukraine and then growing up on “a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle” what a unique locale! The late artist also shared that she had a graduate degree in journalism from Kyiv National University in Ukraine and previously dabbled in investigative journalism “with British documentary productions in Europe” before settling in to cinematography. She also spoke both Russian and English, setting her apart for work in the states.

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A post shared by Halyna Hutchins (@halynahutchins)

Taking whatever production assistant jobs she could in America, Halyna also shared with American Cinematographer that she worked in fashion photography as well to learn the “aesthetics of lighting how you create the mood, the feeling.” Across Halyna’s Instagram and website reels are numerous stills and clips from short films and features she’s worked on, ranging in genre and aesthetics. Since finishing her graduate work at AFI in 2015, she completed two features, Snowbound in Colorado and Darlin’. “Right now, I’m just really interested in finding fruitful collaborations,” she told American Cinematographer regarding her quest for continued experience. “To me, it’s the collaborative effort between creative minds that elevate each other’s work.”

She added, “I’m just hoping to find my Wong Kar-wai,” citing her inspiration from the renowned Hong Kong director who specializes in bold, immersive, atmospheric works. So there is no surprise Halyna was employed for a major feature starring a well known actor like Baldwin who has not had a hit film in what a decade or two? But considering her work over the years she was very qualified for the job. In a post from Oct. 2020, the DP shared a poster from a film she photographed, Sunday’s Child, which was accepted to a few film festivals while the horror feature, Darlin’, premiered at the SXSW film festival in 2019. The film, directed by Pollyanna McIntosh (The Walking Dead), also played internationally at the Edinburgh Film Festival, Fantasia, London FrightFest, and more.

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A post shared by Halyna Hutchins (@halynahutchins)

In some of Halyna’s last posts on Instagram, she shared photos from the New Mexico desert on the set of Rust. One of the shots perhaps the most touching was a large group pic of the film cast and crew as Halyna shouted out the IATSE, or The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union.

“Standing in #IAsolidarity with our @IATSE crew here in New Mexico on RUST,” Halyna wrote in the caption, reposting from another person working on the production. The historic strike, which honors the needs of the tireless workers in Hollywood who mostly operate behind the scenes, is still putting pressure on Hollywood to negotiate better working conditions and better pay.

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A post shared by Halyna Hutchins (@halynahutchins)

Although we’re heartbroken at the tragedy of Halyna’s passing, her final days of living her passion and supporting her fellow artists to live their dreams with dignity and purpose is something to be acknowledged, remembered and cherished by us all. Rest in Peace…

Mark Wahlberg gets fat for new movie!

Hey he now looks like a member of an aging “Funky Bunch” and not the cut up model rap teen icon brother of a member of a boy band. So Mark Wahlberg looked weirdly unrecognizable while spotted filming his latest project, “Father Stu,” in Los Angeles on Friday.

New pics which I have here you can see the 49-year-old who has gained at least 20 pounds for his latest role as a boxer-turned-priest father Stu. While he is in a fat suit he’s also noticeably heavier, especially around the waist which I’m sure the suit will make that belly pop! The look is amazing I mean the prosthetics and makeup to complete the transformation is on the money and really can’t even tell it’s him unless you look real hard.

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May 1, Mark posted he was up “about 20” pounds so far, adding a side-by-side look at how different his body looked in just three weeks. In order to gain weight quickly, the former Calvin Klein underwear model started eating 7,000 calories a day thanks to a customized meal plan by his personal chef, Lawrence Duran. Now the movie “Father Stu” is a project of love for Wahlberg who has been working on for six years, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Mel Gibson co-stars in the film, while Gibson’s longtime partner, Rosalind Ross, wrote the script and will be making her directorial debut with the biopic.

The film will tell the story of real-life Father Stuart Long who hailed from Helena, Montana. According to Father Long’s 2014 obituary, the priest “excelled” in boxing as a young adult, winning the 1985 Golden Gloves heavyweight title for the state of Montana.

Sadly his professional career in boxing was cut short after Long underwent jaw reconstructive surgery in the late ’80s. In the nearly 20-year road from boxer to man of the cloth, Long did not live an easy life. He faced several struggles, including a brutal near-death motorcycle accident, as explained in his obituary. Looks good so far can’t wait to see more.

DIE HARD WITHOUT A MASK!

Bruce Willis Asked To Leave Store After Refusing To Wear A Mask Report! LOL Well yeah even the star of the DIE HARD franchise needs to wear a mask! I mean “Come on Man” how you gonna help “Build Crack Better” if you can breath normal?

Monday after he failed to wear a face mask while visiting a Rite Aid, Willis, 65, refused to wear a mask despite having a bandanna tied around his neck, which he could have pulled up and used as a face covering, Page Six reported, citing an unnamed source. The eyewitness said the other shoppers were unhappy with Willis going maskless, which was in violation of the Los Angeles County mask mandate.

The “Die Hard” star was asked to wear a mask, but he refused and was subsequently asked to exit, per the report. The source said Willis was photographed at the store without a mask on and was unable to make his purchase before leaving the pharmacy.

Los Angeles County is the epicenter of California’s coronavirus surge and surpassed 10,000 COVID-19 deaths in December, CNN reported.

Willis spent much of the lockdown quarantining with his ex-wife, Demi Moore, and their three daughters, Rumer, 32, Scout, 29, and Tallulah, 26, at the family’s home in Idaho.

Due to their arrangement, there were speculations that Willis’ marriage to wife Emma Hemmings was on the rocks. However, his daughter, Scout, explained why they ended up living in the same house during the lockdown.

“My stepmom was going to come up here with my little sisters. But my younger sister, who is now actually 7 years old, at a park, had never gotten a talk about not [expletive] with hypodermic needles that she found, so she actually tried to poke her shoe with it and poked her foot,” she said at the “Dopey” podcast.

“So my stepmom had to be in L.A. waiting to get the results from taking her to the doctor so my dad came up here early and then travel got crazy so my stepmom stayed in L.A. with my little sisters,” she continued.

As for having both of her parents in the same home where they raised them, Scout said it was “cute.” She was also amused by the public’s interest in her famous mom and dad.