Ever since “The Sixth Sense” was
released in 1999, the movie industry and audience have held its director M.
Night Shyamalan as a filmmaker to look out for, with his penchant for surprising
twists and turns in otherwise ordinary-seeming supernatural thrillers. Then the
admiration began to dim when some of his later movies began bombing critically
and in the box office. There are some reviewers who think his more recent
products are a return to form, though opinions remain divided. It is known however
is that his latest offering “Old,” premiered this past weekend, is off to a
good start.
According to Variety, there is a new box office king in cinemas stateside as of
July 25. That was when M. Night Shyamalan’s newest twisty thriller “Old” was
released by Universal Pictures on July 23. Its initial weekend box office take
of $16.5 million was enough to end the reign of Warner Bros.’ “Space Jam: A New
Legacy” while also foiling fellow first-weekender, the “G.I. Joe” film reboot “Snake
Eyes” from MGM and Paramount. This came in contrast to earlier projections that
“New Legacy” and “Snake Eyes” will be competing for the North American top spot
in theaters. In a twist akin to Shyamalan’s style, “Old” stole the box office.
Then again, $16.5-M is piddling
compared to what Shyamalan’s past productions have raked in. But the general
movie-going situation especially in the US remains a tossup in prospects. The
rise of COVID-19 cases particularly in America’s movie central, Los Angeles,
have forced a reinstatement of the facemask regulation, especially as only have
of the country’s population are fully vaccinated. Another thing that has helped
theater earnings the previous weekend was that both “Old” and “Snake Eyes” did
not follow the example of “Space Jam” or Marvel’s “Black Widow” in simultaneous
cinema-streaming releases, ensuring that the money goes to movie tickets.
“Old” stars Gael Garcia Bernal as
a family man about to divorce his wife, taking her and their son and daughter
to one last family vacation at a resort with a secluded beach. Upon arriving,
he, his family and other vacationers already there discover that they cannot
leave the area, and that they are aging rapidly. The M. Night Shyamalan twist
in this plot is not as epic as his earlier works, but it seems to get the job
done where ticket sales are concerned.
Meanwhile, “Snake Eyes” finished
second in NA’s July 23-25 period with $13.3 million, “Black Widow” is at third
with $11.6 million, “Space Jam: A New Legacy” got fourth earning just $9.5
million that weekend, and “F9” was fifth, $4.7 million.
Image from The New Yorker
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