Warner Brothers DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is outpacing the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) by about $743, 89 million as their latest entry Suicide Squad hits a major milestone.
Warner Brothers are the film studio behind the DCEU who have so far defied critics by continually releasing crowd-pulling films with each entry and inching closer to film critic praise.
What helped them outpace MCU was Suicide Squad crossing the $300 million mark in the United States last Tuesday. As of Wednesday, the film sat on a box office haul of $301,31 million while globally it stands at $679,41 million.
Reaching this feat means that the DCEU is already outperforming its rival MCU when the former was around the same period. The MCU is known for its first three films — Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk both from 2008 and Iron Man 2 released in 2010 — which bulked up $1,47 billion in global ticket sales.
Now, DCEU has grossed $2,21 billion, agreeing with what I have been saying for a long time that DCEU know exactly what they are doing.
Figures are based on box office tallies from Box Office Mojo.
Moving on to this weekend, United States has kicked off its “award consideration season” with Sully.
Although any movie released during the year can be considered, in the United States the award considerations season is from September to December.
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On Friday, the film Sully was released and stars Hollywood veteran and two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks.
The reason why this movie will prove to be a significant contender is also due to the film being directed by Oscar winner and Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood. The story chronicles the real life story of Chesley Sullenberger, who successfully landed an Airbus A320 on the Hudson River in New York and saved 155 passengers and crew.
Sully is just the type of film in Hank’s wheelhouse, featuring a unique character that in a split second saved many souls through his actions. Hanks portrays the titular person Sullenberger in the film, with him making the emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River after US Airways Flight 1 549 strikes a flock of geese.
After miraculously saving all of the 155 passengers and crew, Sullenberger becomes a national hero in the eyes of the public and the media. But, despite the accolades, the famed pilot now faces an investigation that threatens to destroy his career and reputation.
All these elements, coupled with the main lead and director, have already poised the film well for some award considerations when the time comes knocking early next year.
Hanks and Eastwood have a proven track record at the box office, with critics continually praising their films.
The intense trailer for Sully does well to take viewers into the mind of Sully when he had to land the film and the high stakes that were involved. If trailers are anything to go by, the film will deliver what already is shaping up to be an intense well-scripted drama.
To sum up the premise of the film, I want to take you back to season one of the cancelled television series Heroes where the character Peter Petrelli, played by Milo Ventimiglia said, “Do you ever feel that you are meant to do something, to save the world?”
Rotten Tomatoes has already awarded the film an 80% rating, which might go up by the end of this weekend.
Most of the award-winning films are known as “indie films” or low-budget films, which have exceptional acting.
Rarely do you find award-winning movies in the mainstream film industry. Those that do succeed in getting nominations are quite exceptional, of which Sully is right up there.
As a counter programming, this weekend also saw the release of When the Bough Breaks — a psychological thriller starring Morris Chestnut and Regina Hall.
The story is about the couple John and Laura Taylor played by Chestnut and Hall who desperately want to have a baby, but are unable to conceive. After exhausting all other options, the couple hires Anna, played by Jaz Sinclair, a beautiful young woman who agrees to become a surrogate mother for the Taylors.
Everything seems fine until Anna starts to develop a dangerous fixation with John as the pregnancy moves further along, wanting him to be “more” to her. This leads the Taylors to play a deadly game with a psychopath who holds their baby.
With a unique premise, the film looks set to perform somewhat at the box office, something which will no doubt add a bit of sting in weeks to come.
The tone of the film was apparent from the trailers which really show the predicament of the situation the Taylors find themselves in.
Psychological thrillers are finding an audience nowadays as the movie trends are looking for another genre besides the growing popularity of the superhero genre.
In a round-up of other movies, the latest box office flop Ben-Hur is quickly disappearing from sight with a measly $24,84 million as of last Wednesday in the United States. Globally, the film was beyond redemption, with $54,24 million, a far cry from the $100 million invested in it.
