'Annabelle: Creation' leads N. American box offices

Los Angeles, United States - Horror, war or animal-centered comedy -- take your pick. This weekend, horror prevailed on North American movie screens, with "scary as hell" film "Annabelle: Creation" pulling in $35 million in its first week out, more than paying off the $15 million Warner Bros. spent on it, analysts said.

The estimated three-day opening take for "Annabelle," the fourth installment in the popular "Conjuring" franchise, was considered healthy for a supernatural horror flic. The film stars Stephanie Sigman, Talitha Bateman, Miranda Otto, Lulu Wilson and Anthony LaPaglia.

While this has been a weak summer overall for film, it was a good weekend for Warner Bros., which saw another of its productions, war movie "Dunkirk," hold steady at second in the box-office race, with ticket sales of $11.4 million, industry site Exhibitor Relations reported.

That movie, starring One Direction singer Harry Styles, depicts the heroic 1940 evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops from northern France. The film has a global take of $363.6 million so far, and has yet to be released in China, Japan or Italy, according to boxofficemojo.com.

In third spot is the Open Road film "Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature," at $8.9 million, less than half the opening weekend take of the first "Nut Job" movie. The animated adventure tells the story of a group of animals trying to save their home from the bulldozer.

Sony's "The Dark Tower" placed fourth, at $7.9 million, slipping from the No. 1 spot a week earlier. The sci-fi production, based on best-selling novels by horror/fantasy master Stephen King and starring Tom Taylor and Idris Elba, tells about a boy trying to save the world from enemies including bad guy Matthew McConaughey.

In fifth place, also from Sony, was "The Emoji Movie," with $6.6 million in ticket sales. The computer-animated comedy, based on the expressive little symbols on cell phones, has an all-star voicing cast including James Corden, Anna Faris, Maya Rudolph, Christina Aguilera and Sofia Vergara.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Girls Trip" ($6.5 million)

"Spider-Man: Homecoming" ($6.1 million)

"Kidnap" ($5.2 million)

"The Glass Castle" ($4.9 million)

"Atomic Blonde" ($4.6 million)

bbk/jm

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Evil doll has new target in trailer of new 'Annabelle' film

MANILA -- The creepy official trailer of "Annabelle: Creation" has just been revealed by New Line Cinema.

The follow up to 2014’s hugely successful "Annabelle," which scared up nearly $257 million at the worldwide box office, "Annabelle: Creation" is directed by David F. Sandberg, who also did "Lights Out" and is once again being produced by Peter Safran and James Wan, who also partnered so effectively on "The Conjuring" movies.

Several years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, who soon become the target of the dollmaker’s possessed creation, Annabelle.

"Annabelle: Creation" will open in local theaters on August 10.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'Annabelle' breaks box office record in PH

MANILA - The low-budget horror prequel "Annabelle" is now the highest-grossing foreign horror film in the Philippines.

The fright flick pulled in more than P121 million in ticket sales in its first two weeks, according to Francis Soliven, general manager of local movie distributor Warner Bros. Philippines.

The number surpassed the previous record holder "Insidious: Chapter 2," which scored P113 million for the whole of its run in local cinemas.

The current worldwide box office gross of "Annabelle," as reported by film website Deadline, stood at more than $122.4 million (around P5.4 billion) as of Sunday.

Directed by John R. Leonetti, the film revisits the doll possessed by an evil spirit seen in last year's "The Conjuring," which took in an estimated P60 million in the country.

As of Tuesday, "Annabelle" had a "fresh" rating of just 31 percent on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.

"We expect to continue excellent box-office performance for 'Annabelle' as the Halloween season ushers in," said Soliven.

"The combination of an engrossing story, great filmmaking and reliable association with last year's hit horror film 'The Conjuring' propelled 'Annabelle' to succeed. The film delivered in a huge way," he added.

Read our review of "Annabelle" here.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Review: 'Annabelle' is distressingly diabolical

We have met the creepy-looking vintage doll Annabelle before in last year's excellent and very memorable horror film "The Conjuring." She was just the front act there, showing up only at the pre-opening credits sequence. This year, she gets a film all her own. We now get to know Annabelle more and learn how she became demonically possessed.

The setting of this film is in the 1960s in a California suburb. Young couple John and Mia are expecting their first child. One day, John surprises Mia, who was a vintage doll collector, with a huge antique doll with painted ivory face and wearing a white satin dress adorned by a red bow. It just so happened that same night, crazy satanic cultists attack their home and there was resulting bloodshed. Since that night, there was no more peace in John and Mia's household, especially after she gives birth to their daughter, Leah.


A big part of why "Annabelle" worked as a horror film is the effective lead performance of coincidentally-named actress Annabelle Wallis as Mia. The character's name Mia, I am guessing, is a tribute to Mia Farrow, who was the star of a horror classic of the 1960s, "Rosemary's Baby." The stroller Mia uses for Leah looked very much like Rosemary's stroller, which is seen in posters of that old film. Ms. Wallis has an elegant beauty and her acting was sympathetic without becoming cheesy.

Ward Horton did well as Mia's husband John. He is a medical student, which gives him a convenient excuse to be a skeptic and always away during the night, leaving Mia alone in the house. Veteran actress Alfre Woodard is the only familiar face in the cast, and she plays their helpful neighbor Evelyn. Her story arc though was disappointing, and may be the only really negative thing I can say about this film.

John R. Leonetti, the cinematographer of "Insidious 1 & 2" and "The Conjuring," makes a respectable directorial debut with "Annabelle." He learned very well from his previous director James Wan, who sits as producer of this film. You can see that Leonetti has the eye for the perfect views to create the most effective suspense and surprise.

I liked the throwback look of this film, with its faded color palette and meticulous production design. The architecture, interior design, fashion, hairstyles, television shows, pop music all captured the era so well. Even the look of the cute baby Leah looked vintage, like the Gerber Baby. The limitation of technology also contributed to the helplessness factor.

I liked the camera angles that give you a point of view such that you too do not know what will happen next. The suspense could be so intense with the excellent editing and splicing of scenes accompanied by a swelling crescendo of music. There was that tense sequence with the popcorn, the sewing machine and the tv. There was also that thrilling sequence with the elevator. The timing for the jump scares was effective most of the time, even if you were sort of predicting it to happen already.

This is a film which may divide audiences as to whether it could match the audacity of "Insidious" or "The Conjuring." Frankly, it does not. But as it is, I liked "Annabelle" more than I thought I would. I was expecting the worst, since I hated how the Annabelle doll looked and I can't imagine anyone wanting a doll like it in their house. However, the film managed to transcend that limitation and actually create genuine scares that worked. 7/10.


This review was originally published in the author's blog, "Fred Said."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com