In this Moment In History article we will give a list of what we feel to be some of the best historical films, not only for their educational value, but also due to their ability to portray the raw emotional power of the moment.
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Live From Hollywood...
Dec8
Box Office: 'Moana 2' Sails to Record $52M Second Weekend, Hits $600M Globally
Publicity stills from "Moana 2" [left] and "Wicked" (images courtesy Everett Collection)
by Pamela McClintock
Walt Disney Animation's blockbuster Moana 2 continues to smash records in its second weekend as it hit an early global haul of $600 million, already ahead of the first film’s global take of $582 million at current exchange rates.
The sequel remained safely ensconced at No. 1 with an estimated three-day gross in of $52 million from 4,300 theaters in North America - the top gross of all time for the weekend following Thanksgiving by a mile. The previous record-holder was fellow Disney pic Frozen II at $35.1 million, not adjusted for inflation. And on Friday - in yet another milestone - Moana 2 earned a hefty $11.7 million on Friday to pass up the entire lifetime domestic gross of Moana ($248.7 million) after only 10 days in release. The pic fell 63 percent from the three-day Thanksgiving weekend.
Overseas, the animated blockbuster took in another $103.4 million for a foreign tally of $300 million and $600 million worldwide, already making it the fifth-biggest film of the year and giving Disney three of the top five titles (Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine are the other two).
Universal's Wicked also remained a powerhouse with another $34.9 million from 3,885 locations in its third weekend as it likewise crossed the $300 mark in North America to finish Sunday with a domestic total of $320.5 million. The film has also made history over Thanksgiving in becoming the top-grossing Broadway musical adaptation of all time (Grease was the previous record-holder at $188 million, not adjusted for inflation).
Overseas, Wicked took in $26.9 million for a foreign total of $135 million and $455.5 million globally.
The strength of the two titles, along with Paramount's Gladiator II, resulted in overall domestic revenue being more than 90 percent over the same frame in 2023. A few weeks ago, Hollywood was worried that revenue for the full year might not even hit $8 billion, compared to $9 billion in 2023. Now, it's looking like revenue could come in at $8.5 billion to $8.6 billion, a deficit of 4 percent. (Before Thanksgiving, the gap was more than 11 percent.)
Gladiator II stayed at third place with an estimated with $12.4 million from 3,440 locations for a domestic total of $133.7 million through Sunday.
'The Gorge' Trailer: Anya Taylor-Joy & Miles Teller Flirt While Guarding A Mysterious Evil
by Glenn Garner
Sparks fly between Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller in their new survival action movie, which is sure to get hearts racing.
On Saturday, Apple Original Films debuted the thrilling first trailer for The Gorge, which premieres Feb. 14 on Apple TV+, taking the duo to a remote corner of the world to protect a highly-guarded secret threat.
Written by Zach Dean and directed by Scott Derrickson, The Gorge stars Taylor-Joy and Teller as Drasa and Levi, two elite snipers appointed to guard posts on opposite sides of a deep, highly-classified gorge that protects the world from the mysterious evil lurking below.
"You need to stop what's in the gorge from coming out," Levi's comrade tells him. "The gorge is the door to Hell, and we're standing guard at the gate."
Forbidden from communicating with the outside or even with each other, it doesn't take long before he and Drasa get bored and start flirting with binoculars and notepads like a Taylor Swift video.
When their security is breached, Levi falls into the gorge and Drasa goes after him. Now, they must work together to keep the secret of the gorge buried. "This place is evil," she says.
The movie also stars Sigourney Weaver as the Miranda Priestly-looking government official who sends Levi on his year-long mission
Moana 2 And The Wild Robot Are Hits - But Animation Is On The Brink Of Disaster
by Rafael Motamayor
The 2024 box office has been a bit of a disaster, in no small part due to ripples from last year's strikes, the economy, and just disappointing summer blockbusters. Still, there have been silver linings, particularly within the animation medium. Yet again, animation has done a lot to keep Hollywood afloat, with juggernaut hits like "Inside Out 2" not only surpassing its predecessor commercially, but even breaking into the top 10 highest-grossing films of all time.
Most recently, both "The Wild Robot" and now "Moana 2" are proving to be huge hits for DreamWorks Animation and Disney, respectively, with "Moana 2" even breaking box office records. On the surface, this is great for animation and proof that the medium is as popular as ever.
But it could also be a sign of things going from bad to worse for the animation industry. Indeed, the industry is collapsing. Granted, Hollywood has always tried its best to undermine the medium and its workers, but things are particularly bad right now. Layoffs have plagued every studio from Pixar to DreamWorks and Netflix. The streaming bubble has burst and the increase in spending on animation during the pandemic has turned into a cost-cutting mandate everywhere - hence the layoffs and downsizing.
But it's larger than this. "Moana 2" and "The Wild Robot" specifically signal two sides of an important moment in the history of the medium - outsourcing. You see, DreamWorks announced last year that it's planning to shift its production from in-house to outsourcing it to production partners, making "The Wild Robot" the last animated movie produced in the U.S. Meanwhile, "Moana 2," which was initially meant to be a limited series released directly onto Disney+, was mostly produced at Walt Disney Animation Studios' Canadian subsidiary, and with the success of the film, this could be the start of a new trend.
Animation is experiencing unprecedented global growth, and studios all over the planet are getting more attention, with streaming doing a lot of work in exposing audiences to other kinds of animation beyond just big American studio projects.
The downside is that American studios, in an effort to cut costs, are increasingly moving productions overseas, like DreamWorks will. The fear is that with outsourcing comes a move to non-union work. You see, Disney's animation studio in Canada, which produced "Moana 2," is non-union. Meanwhile, Sony Imageworks, DreamWorks' new production partner, is also based in Canada and is non-union. Outsourcing has long been the bane of unions, but at a time when union work is becoming more important than ever in the wake of 2023's dual writers and actors' strikes, the outsourcing of productions to non-union studios is a vital fight for The Animation Guild in their current negotiations.
'Snow White' Trailer: Rachel Zegler Meets the Seven Dwarfs, Defies the Evil Queen and Showcases Her Singing
Rachel Zegler as the titular character in the upcoming "Snow White" live action remake (image courtesy Disney)
by Matt Minton
The new trailer for Disney's live-action remake of "Snow White" has officially released, showcasing more of Rachel Zegler's vocals, the seven dwarfs and Gal Gadot's villainous turn as the evil queen.
The film is directed by Marc Webb ("500 Days of Summer," "The Amazing Spider-Man") and is the latest Disney remake. Following the 1937 animated classic "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," this newest iteration of the story follows Snow White after the jealous wicked queen, who also happens to be her mother, orders her murder. Snow White runs away into a forest and discovers the magic of the seven dwarfs in a cottage.
After her film breakout in Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story," Zegler returns to sing her heart out on the big screen. Gadot stars as the evil queen alongside Andrew Burnap, Martin Klebba and Ansu Kabia. The screenplay is written by Greta Gerwig ("Barbie") and Erin Cressida Wilson ("The Girl on the Train").
Over the past few years, the film has already been the subject of much controversy. In January 2022, Peter Dinklage criticized the way the film depicted dwarfs, to which Disney responded with a statement saying it would be consulting the community. Since then, Zegler has been under fire from many right-wing groups after she criticized the original story for focusing so much on Snow White finding love.
In a profile piece for Variety, Zegler said "The love story is very integral. A lot of people wrote that we weren't doing [that storyline] anymore - we were always doing that; it just wasn't what we were talking about on that day."
The film is set to release in theaters March 21, 2025. Watch the trailer below.
Margot Robbie thought she'd 'go to jail' for slapping Leonardo DiCaprio during 'Wolf of Wall Street' audition
Margot Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from "Wolf Of Wall Street" (image courtesy Paramount / CNN)
by Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
Margot Robbie made a creative decision to slap Leonardo DiCaprio during her "Wolf of Wall Street" audition instead of kissing him, according to the "Barbie" star.
The result, she joked during a recent episode of the "Talking Pictures" podcast, was that slapping her scene partner was actually a form of assault that could lead to her arrest.
Luckily, Robbie said, DiCaprio and the film's director Martin Scorsese loved it and she walked out of that audition not only to eventually land the role, but shackle-free.
"It was not in the script," Robbie said of the slap, referring to the "throwing the water in the face" scene that she was reading with DiCaprio during her audition.
Robbie said that at a certain point after they’d been improvising, DiCaprio had "returned to the script and the last line was 'come over here and kiss me.'"
"In my head I was like, I could totally kiss Leonardo DiCaprio right now. That would be awesome. I can’t wait to tell all my friends this," Robbie recalled. "And then I was like, 'nah.’ I just walloped him in the face,'" she added, with a laugh.
According to Robbie, it was dead silent right after that for what she said felt like an eternity until Scorsese and DiCaprio "burst out laughing" and validated her by saying, "that was great!”
Still, Robbie said, panic set in. She thought to herself, “you’re going to get arrested. I’m pretty sure that this is assault, battery. Not only will you never work again, but actually you will go to jail for this.”
Robbie played DiCaprio’s wife in "The Wolf of Wall Street(opens in a new tab)," a role that went on to become her big break when the film premiered in theaters in 2013. It also earned five Oscar nominations at the time.
Needless to say, Robbie never went to jail for slapping DiCaprio. Instead, she went on to have a still-thriving career in Hollywood as an Oscar-nominated actor(opens in a new tab) and producer.
Box Office: 'Moana 2' Tops Best Thanksgiving Ever, Opens to Record $221M in U.S. and $386M Globally
Dwayne Johnson and Auli'i Cravalho reunited to voice "Moana 2" (image courtesy Disney)
by Pamela McClintock
In a Thanksgiving feast for the ages, movie ticket sales hit an all-time holiday high at the domestic box office, led by Walt Disney Animation's instant mega-hit Moana 2.
Disney's fantasy musical Moana 2 served up a mammoth holiday domestic debut of $221 million. Smashing numerous records, the sequel boasts the biggest five-day debut in history - besting The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($204.6 million) - as well delivering both the top Thanksgiving opening of all time and the biggest Thanksgiving gross of all time by a mile, beating Frozen ($93.6 million) and Frozen II ($125 million). And its three-day weekend haul of $135.5 million is the biggest opening ever for a Walt Disney Animation title.
Overseas, Moana 2 sailed to $165.3 million for a global start of $383.3 million (that's already ahead of Wicked). Across Latin America, it was the top opening of all time for a Walt Disney Animation title. Ditto for Australia. In Europe, it was second only to Frozen II (France was an exception, where it secured the best launch ever).
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Thanks to the potent combination of Moana 2, Universal's Wicked and Paramount's Gladiator II, overall Thanksgiving revenue came in north of $425 million for the five days in an unparalleled post-pandemic victory for the domestic box office. The previous record-holder was Thanksgiving 2018, when domestic revenue reached $316 million. The Moanapocalypse-Glicked phenomenon proves how much the market can expand when there are movies that have broad yet varied appeal, as Barbenheimer did last year. According to the BoxOffice Company, the three films made up 75 percent of all showtimes. And Comscore is reporting that the year-over-year domestic revenue deficit has been slashed from 11 percent to 6 percent as a result of the holiday bounty.
Continuing to bewitch audiences, Wicked alone grossed $117.5 million for the five days after opening to a record-smashing $112 million last weekend, putting its domestic haul at $262.4 million through Sunday and an estimated $359.2 million globally (its foreign cume is $97 million.) In yet another milestone, the movie has passed up Grease ($188.2 million) to become the top Broadway musical adaptation of all time domestically. It also is the third biggest Thanksgiving haul behind Moana 2 and Frozen II. Females, and particularly older females, continue to make up a large swath of the audience. Directed by Jon M. Chu, the musical stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo.
The Ridley Scott-directed Gladiator II, which also opened last weekend, is perched in third place and carved up a pleasing $44 million for the five days for a domestic total of $111.2 million and an impressive $320 million globally. The male-skewing film's high-profile cast includes Denzel Washington and Paul Mescal.
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