As the summer movie season closes, box office tallies show that North American movies have had their toughest run since 1997. Despite a few promising blockbuster films, the total box office income since May is just under $4 billion, 15% less than last year’s total, The New York Times calculates. You can read their full assessment of the summer movie season here.
But if the box office results show that audiences are getting bored with superhero movies, that hasn’t slowed the onslaught. Warner Bros. made headlines this week after Dwayne Johnson announced his role as the villain Black Adam opposite DC Comics’ next big superhero debut, Shazam. You can read about the role and the franchise here.
The Identical, a faith-based film about identical twins separated at birth, opened this week. The story follows the musical careers of the twins, who bear strong resemblances to Elvis both physically and vocally. You can read our review here and take a look at an interview that our regular contributor Ken Morefield di with lead actor Blake Rayne on his blog here.
The team behind The Fault In Our Stars has been reassembled to adapt another of young adult author John Green’s novels, Paper Towns, and this week Fox 2000 announced that Jake Schreier will direct the film. You can read about the announcement here.
Actress and comedian Joan Rivers passed away on Thursday at age 81 after suffering a heart attack last week. “Vivacious even as a nipped-and-tucked octogenarian . . . Ms. Rivers evolved from a sassy, self-deprecating performer early in her career into a coarser assassin, slashing at celebrities and others with a rapier wit that some critics called comic genius . . . Others called it downright vicious. But if she turned off the scowlers, she left millions in stitches,” writes The New York Times’ Robert D. McFadden. You can read the full piece here.
Jessica Gibson is an intern with Christianity Today Movies and a student at The King’s College in New York City.
