Mother's Day Weekend Box Office

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY y'all. Are you taking your mom to the movies? Does your mom even go to movies? (My mom does not unless I'm visiting her so it happens about once a year).

In its second week Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2 dipped below 50% but that's par for the course for blockbusters which are super frontloaded now. It still handily took the weekend making more than the two new wide releases combined (Snatched and King Arthur). In limited release the top new films were Lowriders (starring Demian Bichir and Eva Longoria) with a good per screen average and the sniper drama The Wall which risked a nearly wide opening to uncertain results. We'll see how word of mouth goes. 

Weekend Box Office (Date)
W I D E	L I M I T E D
1. GUARDIANS VOL. 2 $63 (cum. $246.1) REVIEW	1. 🔺 LOWRIDERS $2.4 NEW (295 screens)
2.🔺 SNATCHED $17.5 NEW REVIEW	2. BAAHUBALI 2 $1.5 (374 screens) (cum. $18.9)
3.🔺 KING ARTHUR $14.7 NEW REVIEW	3. 🔺 THE WALL $891k NEW (541 screens)
4. FATE OF FURIOUS $5.3 (cum. $215) FRANCHISE RANK	4. NORMAN $409k (153 screens) (cum. $1.6)
5. BOSS BABY $4.6 (cum. $162.3) REVIEW	5. THEIR FINEST $290k (258 screens | cum. $2.9)
6. BEAUTY & THE BEAST $3.8 (cum. $493.1) REVIEW | SCORE	6. SLEIGHT $285k (364 screens) (cum. $3.6)
7. HOW TO BE A LATIN LOVER  $3.7 (cum. $26.1)	7. THE DINNER $245k (429 screens) (cum. $1.1)
8. THE CIRCLE $1.7 (cum. $18.9) REVIEW	8. 🔺  A QUIET PASSION $199k (116 screens | cum. $766k)
9. GIFTED $1.3 (cum. $21.4)	9. 🔺 THE LOVERS $140k (23 screens) (cum. $229k) REVIEW
10. SMURFS: LOST VILLAGE $1.1 (cum. $42.1)	10. COLOSSAL $115k (160 screens) (cum. $2.7) REVIEW
11. GOING IN STYLE $1.0 (cum. $42.3)	11.🔺 PARIS CAN WAIT $101k NEW (4 screens)
12. BORN IN CHINA $820k (cum. $12.3)	12. 🔺 CHUCK $79k (39 screens) (cum. $121k) REVIEW
🔺 = new or added screens numbers from box office mojo

The Lovers and Chuck, two Tribeca debuts which went immediately to theaters last weekend after the festival, charted after adding theaters this weekend. Check out the reviews in case you missed 'em linked in the chart above.

What did you see this weekend? 

Review: Amy & Goldie get "Snatched"

This review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad

You bring stuff into the movie theater with you. I’m not talking about snacks though that’s a frugal and smart thing to do given concession prices and the inherent tastiness of things you aren’t supposed to be eating. My point is this: we come into each movie with our own baggage, nothing existing in a vacuum.

Angry internet types like to call this “bias” when they disagree with anything but it’s just human nature. We all have our predilections. I share this because I walked into Snatched, Amy Schumer’s latest with Goldie Hawn in her first movie in 15 years (!!!) wanting to love it...

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Jack Linker

TIFF on the need for female film critics
The Guardian The Rock reveals he was turned down for the role of Jack Reacher in favor of Tom Cruise. Which puts that original quote that they couldn't find a tall enough actor to play the 6'5" fictional character to shame! (It's like when producers say "we couldn't find someone who can sing and dance for this musical"... it's just code for: 'we didn't really try because we liked Star A even though they were wrong for it' 
The Retro Set a look at Fred Astaire defying gravity in Royal Wedding for director Stanley Donen's birthday

Coming Soon after terrific 3rd season Grace & Frankie is renewed, will add Lisa Kudrow for a guest arc
/Film another disruption from Netflix. They're planning to focus more on Los Angeles as home for their productions. Might Hollywood follow suit and return home?
EW does a big promo push for Snatched with Amy Schumer and Goldie Hawn
The New Yorker a profile of "the prophet of dystopia," Margaret Atwood as The Handmaid's Tale gets the miniseries treatment
Esquire 50 quote movie buff quiz. Listen and guess. I thought I'd get 100% but I missed a few toward the end. I especially liked the multiple choice quiz being difficult for once, like a Scarlett Johansson's elsewhere voice over a choice of three ScarJo movies and a fourth choice of a bunch of hazy blondes
MNPP Jude Law for Young Dumbledore. This opens up so many dirty thoughts 
Mother Jones a brief history of men getting credit for women's accomplishments
Variety The Magicians renewed for a third season at Syfy
Tracking Board has a series called "The Runway" in which they review all the pilot scripts and make bets as to what will make it to series. But first, a look back on what last year's winners were and what the hot trends look to be like this year
Tracking Board Aquaman's cast keeps growing Dolph Lundgren joins as the villainous King Nereus 

Trailer Leftovers: "Alien", "Snatched", and "Apes"

Chris here, still nursing our holiday hangover. To go with the massive amount of films descending upon the multiplexes at the holiday season, there is always an equally large amount of trailers to catch up to. Let's revisit the gluttony by reheating some trailer leftovers we've yet to discuss here, including Goldie Hawn's comeback vehicle Snatched, the hyperviolent & NSFW first look at Alien: Covenant, and the next installment of those damn dirty Apes!

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