Box Office: 'Sonic' Outraces 'Call Of The Wild', Passes $200M Worldwide

1. Sonic the Hedgehog- $26.3M/$106.6M
Sonic the Hedgehog remains at the top of the leaderboard for a second week, falling 55% for $26M and $106M domestic. That number puts it fourth all-time in terms of video game flicks, behind The Angry Birds Movie ($107M), 2001's Tomb Raider ($131M), last year's Detective Pikachu ($144M). On top of that, it has earned another $95M overseas for $203M worldwide, enough to guarantee we'll get that Sonic vs. Tails showdown in a sequel.
2. The Call of the Wild (review)- $24.8M
Audiences chose a CGI hedgehog over a CGI canine this weekend, but it was still a very strong debut for Disney/Fox's adaptation of The Call of the Wild. The Harrison Ford-led film about a domesticated dog who gets in touch with his wild side while in the Yukon, opened with $24M. Reviews have been generally favorable, with audiences giving it an A- Cinemascore and critics a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. I was surprised at Ford's commitment to the movie, he bonds with his canine companion quite well. But the big problem we see reflected in the oversized $125M budget, and that's how much of it is done in CGI, which is weird for a movie about untamed Mother Nature. Currently, it has $40M worldwide and has a long ways to go before having a chance at earning a profit.
3. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey- $7M/$72.5M
4. Brahms: The Boy II- $5.9M
Of all the low-budget horrors to get a sequel lately, 2016's The Boy is the most unassuming. It did well enough, finishing up with $74M worldwide on a $10M budget, without the benefit of the buzz something like The Witch was getting around the same time. So now we have Brahms: The Boy II, which finds the creepy doll flick underperforming with just $5.9M. That's with a bigger cast, led by Katie Holmes, roughly the same budget, and a promo campaign targeted solely at fans of the first film. But this one isn't catching anybody unawares, and it will likely be wiped out by The Invisible Man next week.
5. Bad Boys for Life- $5.8M/$191.1M
6. 1917- $4.4M/$151.9M
7. Fantasy Island- $4.1M/$20.1M
8. Parasite- $3.1M/$48.9M
9. Jumanji: The Next Level- $3M/$310.9M
10. The Photograph- $2.8M/$17.6M

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Box Office: 'Sonic The Hedgehog' Sprints To A Record-Breaking $57M Debut, 'Parasite' Has Epic Oscars Boost

1. Sonic the Hedgehog (review)- $57M
Sonic the Hedgehog zoomed past Detective Pikachu ($54M) to have the highest-grossing opening weekend ever for a video game movie.The film based on the Sega mascot opened with $57M Fri-Sun, with an estimated $68M lasting through the Monday holiday. This is huge for Paramount and the folks at Blur Studios who delayed the film a few months following Internet uproar over Sonic's initial designs, which nobody liked. It seems to have worked out for the better. The film features Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic, with Jim Carrey's mad performance as Dr. Robotnik a true highlight and, I believe, a big reason people are turning out in droves.
2. Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey- $17.1M/$59.2M
The Birds of Prey haven't soared quite as high as Warner Bros. hoped, but the movie is still shaping up to be a modest hit. Margot Robbie-led Suicide Squad spinoff fell 48% for $17.1M, reaching $59M domestic. That's not great, but hardly a disaster for the estimated $100M movie, especially since it has done very well overseas and has $145M worldwide. WB has been tweaking their marketing plan to fix where they went wrong, and I think it's too early to say what effect that'll have. The well-reviewed movie could stick around for a while now that it's survived Sonic's opening weekend blitz.
3. Fantasy Island- $12.4M
Blumhouse's Fantasy Island opened with $12M, which is on the low end for the horror studio. It's based on the iconic TV series in which guests arrive at a mysterious island to have their fantasies fulfilled, only this is Blumhouse and everything turns into a nightmare.  A really fun idea that, as I can attest having endured it yesterday, really doesn't amount to much at all It's pretty damn terrible, as the C- Cinemascore confirms. Nobody's hurt over this one, though, not with an estimated $7M and probably a healthy post-theatrical run on Bluray and digital.
4. The Photograph (review)- $12.2M
The romantic offering for Valentine's Day was The Photograph, which stars Lakeith Stanfield and Issa Rae as a New York couple who fall in love while researching her deceased mother. I expected more considering the cast, the timing, and the strength of producer Will Packer's brand. Reviews have been solid if unremarkable, but I feel like this was its moment and it'll be downhill from here.
5. Bad Bads for Life- $11.3M/$181.3M
6. 1917- $8M/$144.4M
7. Jumanji: The Next Level- $5.7M/$305.7M
8. Parasite- $5.5M/$43.1M
The Oscars boost is real, and in the case of Parasite it's record-breaking. The historic Best Picture winner jumped 234% and expanded to 2001 theaters in the 19th-week of release, earning $5.5M. That's the biggest post-Oscars jumps ever for a Best Picture winner since Gladiator in 2000.
9. Dolittle- $5M/$70.5M
10. Downhill (review)- $4.6M
The days of Will Ferrell fronting comedy blockbusters are long over, but a $4.6M debut for Downhill is still pretty surprising. The American remake of 2014 Swedish hit Force Majeure follows a married couple dealing with the aftermath of the husband's cowardly retreat from an apparent avalanche. The film, which co-stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus and is written/directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, premiered at Sundance weeks ago where the reviews were modestly positive. That hasn't carried over, however, with a "D" Cinemascore pretty much guaranteeing a short stay in theaters.

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Review: 'The Photograph', A Beautiful Snapshot Of Modern Black Love

While there has been a clear rise in studio romances featuring black stars, it speaks to the relative lack of them that we still reach back to 1997's Love Jones as the prime example of black love represented on the big screen. The comparisons came quickly for The Photograph, a soulful, sultry film featuring the gorgeous, dark-skinned duo of Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield. As directed by Stella Meghie (Everything Everything), the film never shies away from the hues of her stars, instead she makes them glow in a mature love story that could've done with turning up the heat a little more.

If you're wondering why such a big deal is being made about the movie's brown-skinned stars, it's because too often black romances have skewed towards the lighter side. That's not a knock against the people in those movies, but Hollywood would rather give you Common and Paula Patton if they can keep getting away with it. So it's definitely a refreshing change to see a cast that leans towards the darker side, and to give us a chance to see Stanfield and Rae in a way we've never had the chance to before.

The Photograph centers on the unlikely romance between Mae (Rae) and Michael (Stanfield), two busy New York professionals having their struggles with commitment. For Michael, a photographer frequently traveling between the city and Louisiana for work, he's just coming out of a long-term, long-distance relationship. For Mae, staying committed is as unfathomable to her as it was to her estranged, recently-deceased mother, Christina (Chante Adams), a Louisiana photographer who fled the bayou for larger aspirations in the big city. Christina left behind at least one broken heart, Isaac (Rob Morgan), which is where Michael first sees her picture, and gets in touch with Mae to learn more about this elusive photog.

The story drifts somewhat clumsily between the 1980s, where Christina and a young Isaac (played by Rae's Insecure co-star Y'lan Noel) grapple with their conflicting ambitions; and the present where Mae and Michael face similar problems. Mae worries that she is just like her mother, incapable of standing still, too committed to her work. But when she's with Michael, those thoughts seem to melt away. Their first actual date actually looks and sounds like an actual date, where people talk about the things that connect us, in this case Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar. The conversation is natural, funny, and revealing. When Michael asks if it's too early for a kiss, we already know that it isn't.

Passion radiates from Rae and Stanfield together, including a steamy encounter during a raging hurricane ("Blame it on the storm", he says.). But for those expecting a bit more sizzle, The Photograph keeps it to a minimum. The woman sitting next to me literally asked on multiple occasions "That's it?", expecting to see a lot more action between the sheets. I couldn't help but agree. Instead, this is as much a movie about Mae's reconciling with her mother, attempting to figure out if they're both so broken as to be incapable of love. To illustrate the differences between the two women, Meghie spends an inordinate amount of time in Christina's past in Louisiana, with the flashbacks given a surreal, Nicholas Sparks-esque quality. Unfortunately, those scenes are as emotionally thin as one of Sparks' many adaptations, and are so somber it has us yearning for someone to spice things up. Lil Rel Howery and Teyonah Parris add a much-needed dose of humor as Michael's married brother and sister-in-law, who try and fail to warn him against falling too quickly in love

The Photograph is a stunningly beautiful movie, with Rae and Stanfield always kept in tight, warm focus by Meghie and DP Mark Schwartzbard. While the central romance is just a snapshot of what it could've been, modern black love has rarely looked so good.

3 out of 5



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Lakeith Stanfield And Issa Rae Get Romantic In New Trailer For 'The Photograph'

This coming Valentine's Day, there are a few options of movies to see with your significant other (or just yourself). There are some horror movies being released during that time, but you may not want to see those with your date. Instead, your safer bet would be Stella Meghie's latest feature film, The Photograph, a romantic drama.

The second trailer, which is now officially available to watch online, is a short one, but promises a ton of emotional moments and a story that could tug at the heartstrings. The chemistry on display from lead actors Issa Rae and Lakeith Stanfield looks exceptional and you can feel a connection  between their two characters the second they are on screen. It truly seems like a perfect date night movie, and you won't have to wait that much longer to see it.

The Photograph is scheduled to be released theatrically on February 14, 2020.

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'The Photograph' Trailer: Issa Rae And Lakeith Stanfield Get Steamy For Valentine's Day

For the longest time representations of black love were all but forbidden on the big screen, which is why films such as Love Jones, Love & Basketball, and Brown Sugar always felt so special. To be honest, it's still extremely rare to find a true romance movie featuring people of color, but it looks like we're getting a good one this Valentine's Day with The Photograph, which features the unbelievable romantic pairing of Lakeith Stanfield and Issa Rae.

Already having made their mark separately in acclaimed movies and TV shows, Stanfield and Rae finally get together for a new film by writer/director Stella Meghie, an up 'n comer who broke out with the teen romance Everything Everything, then followed it up with indie film The Weekend.

The Photograph stars Rae as a woman shattered by the sudden death of her mother. While she tries to come to grips with that loss, she also begins a relationship with a journalist writing a story on her late mother.

Also in the cast are Chanté Adams, Y’lan Noel, and Rob Morgan, Lil Rel Howery, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Teyonah Parris, Chelsea Peretti, and Courtney B. Vance.

SYNOPSIS: On Valentine’s Day, Issa Rae (HBO’s Insecure, Little) and LaKeith Stanfield (FX’s Atlanta, Sorry to Bother You) connect in a romance where a woman must learn from the secrets in her mother’s past if she is to move forward and allow herself to love and be loved. When famed photographer Christina Eames unexpectedly dies, she leaves her estranged daughter Mae Morton (Rae) hurt, angry and full of questions. When a photograph tucked away in a safe-deposit box is found, Mae finds herself on a journey delving into her mother’s early life and ignites a powerful, unexpected romance with a rising-star journalist, Michael Block (Stanfield).

This one's going to be a smash, bank on it. I wouldn't have ever thought of Stanfield and Rae for anything other than comedy, but The Photograph might be the steamiest film to heat up Valentine's Day in years. Check out the trailer below.

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Review: 'Photograph', Ritesh Batra's Subdued Romance Never Fully Develops

We've been taught by thousands of romance movies to believe in love at first sight. That fate and destiny will find a way to bring two people together. The truth is that love tends to take its time, moving at a gradual pace towards something unpredictable and unassured. Photograph is an apt title for Ritesh Batra's latest drama about an likely romance. A snapshot into the past, but set firmly in the present, it's a film that appreciates the deliberate rhythms that come with falling in love. However, this low-wattage drama struggles with the chemistry of its romantic couple, and with a story that keeps us at too far of an emotional distance.

Set in Mumbia, Photograph centers on two people being pulled in opposite directions by familial obligations and antiquated customs. Rafi (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a poor street photograph, taking photographs of tourists with his Polaroid camera along the Gates of India. He's burdened by his family's overwhelming debt, which he has vowed to pay off before ever getting married. It's just a convenient excuse, however, to ward off his grandmother who is pressuring him to find a wife. Rafi's pitch to potential customers is simple but profound: the sun, the wind, and the people around you will be gone when you leave, but you can keep the feeling with a single photograph. Rafi is offering people a window into a world he is unable to enjoy himself.

One of those looking for an escape from reality is Miloni (a luminous Sanya Malhotra), a shy, chartered accountant student whose middle-class parents already have a future mapped out for her. Shocker, it includes marrying a man of their choosing and moving to the United States to be a wife. When she happens upon Rafi, she agrees to have her photo taken, capturing this brief moment of freedom in her life. Later, when Rafi asks her to masquerade as his girlfriend to placate his visiting grandmother, Miloni sees it as a rare chance for excitement and agrees.

Of course, what starts out as a lie grows into something more authentic, but the road to getting there is subtle...perhaps too subtle. Batra fills their encounters with mundane activities: cups of tea, dinner with Rafi's grandmother, and the occasional movie in a rat-infested theater. While Batra's attention to detail makes the most of Mumbai's vibrant, frenetic markets and lush architecture, Rafi and Meloni's connection could've used more coloring in. The affection they come to have for one another is rarely expressed through words, but through modest gesture. While Batra respects the viewer enough to not spell everything out, some scenes could've used more passion.

The film also could've done more to explore the class issues that weigh upon both Rafi and Miloni, but they rarely get around to discussing. Instead, they contend with these issues in separate storyarcs. Rafi must deal with the possibility of having a wife who earns more than him, a disgrace his grandmother is all too eager to remind him of. Miloni, whose life affords her a housemaid who waits on her every need, dreams of a simple life working in a village, but has little idea what a life without comfort is really like. Rafi is a glimpse into that life but Batra could have dug much deeper into Miloni's feelings on what hardship actually looks like.

Batra does get a glowing performance from Sanya Malhotra as the introverted Miloni, but Siddiqui never seems quite right beside her. Part of it is the nearly two-decade age different between them, another is a screenplay that only occasionally lets us into their hearts. Batra's prior films, The Lunchbox and Our Souls at Night, had such easy chemistry and charm it's disappointing Photograph couldn't develop on the same level.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5



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