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A24 Joins Blockbuster Movie Club With Their Biggest Opening Ever

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Everyone welcome A24 to the big leagues! Their latest film Civil War has broken a few records over the weekend. First, it’s the highest-grossing R-rated film of the year. Second, it’s the highest-grossing opening weekend A24 film ever. 

Although reviews of the action film are polarizing, it certainly captured the curiosity of moviegoers. Even if the ambiguous screenplay didn’t blow them away, they seemed to find it entertaining. Furthermore, a lot of ticket buyers lauded the film’s sound design and IMAX presentation. 

While not a straight-out horror movie, it does weave a thread on the hem of the genre thanks to its disturbing subject matter and graphic violence. 

It’s about time A24 came out of the independent movie trenches and into the blockbuster category. While their features are embraced by a niche group, it was time they swung for the fences to generate a bigger payday to compete with behemoth studios such as Warner Bros. and Universal who have been making money hand over fist over the past few years. 

While Civil War’s $25 million opening isn’t exactly a windfall in blockbuster terms it’s still solid enough in the mainstream movie-going climate to predict further success, if not by word of mouth, then by curiosity. 

A24’s biggest money maker to date is Everything Everywhere All at Once with an over $77 million domestic haul. Then it’s Talk to Me with over $48 million domestically. 

It’s not all good news. The film was made in-house for $50 million so if it tanks by week two, it could turn into a box office failure. That could be a possibility as the guys behind the Scream reboot, Radio Silence, will be on the marquee themselves for their vampire flick Abigail on April 19. That film has already generated some good buzz.

Even worse for Civil War, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone’s own actioneer The Fall Guy is ready to usurp Civil War’s IMAX real estate on May 3. 

Whatever happens, A24 has proven over the weekend that with the right subject matter, an increased budget, and a streamlined ad campaign, they have now entered the blockbuster chat.

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Editorial

Alleged Former Haunted Museum Staff Member Tattles on Zak Bagans

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Zak Bagans has been getting a bum rap lately thanks to some of his former Ghost Adventures teammates. But he’s also getting roasted by one of his alleged former Haunted Museum employees in Las Vegas

The apparent team member took to Reddit in an AMA (Ask Me Anything), inviting subscribers to ask them about their job including juicy details regarding their famous boss. It resulted in a windfall of queries that came with some surprising answers. 

Bagans was one of the first to take his ghost hunting prowess to television creating a successful reality show that featured some of the world’s most haunted places. Coupled with his good looks, reactive histrionics and penchant for building tension Ghost Adventures became a pop culture phenomenon. 

Throughout his travels, Bagans began to collect cursed items enough to fill a vintage house in Nevada which he eventually repurposed and named The Haunted Museum. Guests are able to visit his collection for a fee and are directed through its many rooms by a tour guide.

The YouTube channel TheSneezingMonkey featured the AMA Reddit thread on his channel with an update to follow.

Since the ex-employee cannot, or won’t, be verified, suffice it to say that nothing revealed in the lengthy discussion should be taken as fact. This could be a disgruntled ex-employee with nothing better to do than talk smack about the television icon who has managed to keep his show on the air for 16 years. Or, some of it could be true.

But that is for you to decide.

The Sneezing Monkey

The Sneezing Monkey

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Movies

Stephen King’s ‘The Monkey’ Sells to Neon, James Wan Co-Producing

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Pretty much any piece of writing from Stephen King is ripe for a movie adaptation. The next one is a 1980 short story that appeared in his 1985 anthology Skeleton Crew, specifically The Monkey. The news broke by Deadline says Neon won the bidding war and the film will release in 2025.

Distributors went gaga trying to secure the rights with Neon the victor reportedly paying seven figures for the horror movie.

According to Deadline: “In The Monkey, when twin brothers Hal and Bill discover their father’s old monkey toy in the attic, a series of gruesome deaths starts occurring all around them. The brothers decide to throw the monkey away and move on with their lives, growing apart over the years. But when the mysterious deaths begin again, the brothers must reunite to find a way to destroy the monkey for good before it takes the lives of everyone close to them. Theo James plays the twins in later years. [Christian] Convery plays the younger twins.”

The film is directed by Osgood (Oz) Perkins whose buzz-drunk current project, Longlegs is releasing on July 12.

The film also stars, Tatiana Maslany (She–Hulk: Attorney at Law), Elijah Wood (The Lord Of The Rings), Colin O’Brien (Wonka), Rohan Campbell (The Hardy Boys) and Sarah Levy (Schitt’s Creek).

James Wan and Michael Clear’s banner Atomic Robot have a production credit.

In 2023 a short film directed by Spencer Sherry was adapted from the King story. That film is currently touring the film festival market but you can watch the trailer below.

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Lists

Yay or Nay: What’s Good and Bad in Horror This Week: 5/13 to 5/17

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Yay

Fall is getting not one but two sequels. It’s great news because now we know bad CGI can be consciously ignored when everything else is so great. 

Yay

A man is labeled a time traveler after allegedly entering a garden shed in his 30s and exiting the next day in his 60s. If the magic is true we can finally go back and talk to Jason Blum right after Paranormal Activity and make him promise to never to touch an Exorcist movie. 

Nay

The Coffee Table. This may be the first time we have suggested spoiling a film before actually seeing it. Wait. Maybe we spoiled Old by suggesting you don’t go see it. 

Nay

Prolific B moviemaker Roger Corman passes away at 98. He gave many actors and directors a chance in Hollywood, some would go on to win major awards. His films were outrageous, often gratuitous but always filled with heart. 

Yay

Clown Motel becomes a trilogy. Cheap Indy horror filmmakers aren’t micromanaged by rich and powerful studio execs so they can have fun with their material, and what better place to exercise that freedom than at a creepy desert motel in Nevada lorded over by hundreds of clowns. 

Nay

A Jason Universe is announced which promises many lateral “activations” in the Friday the 13th universe. Although the definition of said “activations” is never fully explained it leads us to believe it was a typo for “transactions” so Fortnite players scan by a Jason skin wearing a non-IP regulation hockey mask. 

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