What Went Wrong with ‘End of Oak Street’ and ‘Amziah King’ Box Office; Antitrust Lawsuit Plot Thickens

11:08Anne Thompson:That's not bad. That's not a bad comparison. I enjoyed it. It basically leans into a sort of Spielberg 80s suburb ethos. And I think that David Robert Mitchell actually does the suburbs really well. We know that already. And this was tongue-in-cheek, but they play it straight, and we enjoy the running and gunning and the way that the characters play. I would say that it's a very familiar story. The screenplay is not brand new, but it's well done. It fits. It hangs together. I mean, J.J. Abrams was involved in producing it. And the secret sauce, the most valuable player, the person that makes that movie work, is Michael Giacchino.

11:57Anne Thompson:There's no question in my mind. It was one of the great, great scores. That's interesting.

12:02Ryan Lattanzio:I thought the score was kind of overbearing. And I've thought that about his work in the past. This is something that we often have a pod to do about is scores in movies. I forget there was one a couple of years ago. I don't even remember. So this movie so far has grossed 58 million domestically. I'm sorry, globally on what is it was considered a disappointing opening.

12:22Anne Thompson:Did you think it was a disappointing opening?

12:24Ryan Lattanzio:I think it actually did better than than it was tracking. This is an 80 million dollar production budget and Warner Brothers really didn't promote the movie at all. Well, they actually did with this horrible interview with the dog from the movie that was created with AI and was basically plopped on Facebook to appeal to dog moms and wine moms. You obviously haven't listened to last week's podcast. Oh, I just outed myself for not listening. So we shall not repeat that. And I promised you I would. So anyway, part of the reason they didn't promote it is that David Robert Mitchell, he's now already in production, deep in production on They Follow, the sequel to It Follow.

13:02Ryan Lattanzio:so he couldn't do press. We all tried. Anne Hathaway showed up very pregnant to the New York premiere and exposed. And I think that got some eyeballs. But honestly, the movie did better than I thought it would. And I actually can see this doing well on PVOD.

13:17Anne Thompson:I think you're right. I think it'll have a longer, it'll have longer legs. It's very entertaining. I went to see it at my local theater, which is a Cinemark theater in Baldwin Hills, which is really close to my house. and it has um the audience was very vocal and responsive and it was fun it was like a call and response thing it was fun to hear them go don't go there don't girl don't go there you know that kind of thing right right it was like they got really involved in the the little boy being really stupid and going out to chase his dog, you know, and, and they got involved in all the twists and turns where people did stupid things and, and got themselves into, into trouble.

14:04Anne Thompson:It was fun. I enjoyed the movie. Um, so let's, then I went to see another movie at a local theater in Culver City.

14:13Ryan Lattanzio:It was called, uh, The Rivals of Amziah King with Matthew McConaughey.

14:19Anne Thompson:And this is the first time this has ever happened to me. It was a 6.45 p.m. screening, and it was empty. I was alone in the theater. I had the whole theater to myself. I ate a thing of popcorn, and that was my dinner.

14:36Ryan Lattanzio:Girl dinner.

14:37Anne Thompson:This happens more than you would care to think.

14:39Ryan Lattanzio:We all do this. Yes, it's my dinner once or twice a week.

14:43Anne Thompson:I'm afraid so. And then, so Matthew McConaughey carries that movie. He's really good in it, actually. It's a very scruffy, meandering little story about chasing bees around the countryside. But the trick here is that he basically passes the baton to a young actress.

15:06Ryan Lattanzio:Angelina Lookingglass.

15:07Anne Thompson:Right. So Angelina Lookingglass is basically tasked with carrying the movie in the second half. and when it becomes a sort of chase down the stolen bees plot. And she's a lovely young woman, but she doesn't replace Matthew McConaughey. She just can't. Nobody could. So the movie just sort of falls flat as a pancake at that point. What did you think?

15:32Ryan Lattanzio:I saw this at South by Southwest almost a year and a half ago. So I actually had to reread my review, and it did take me back to an unhappy time that I had in the theater. This movie is a bit of a mess. This filmmaker, Andrew Patterson, did a movie in 2019, I want to say, out of Slamdance called The Vast of Night, which was...

15:52Anne Thompson:I liked that movie.

15:53Ryan Lattanzio:Very good. A kind of X-Files, Twilight Zone, alien invasion, 1950s B movie that made really good use of what was obviously a shoestring budget. This movie, he obviously had a few more resources and he really kind of over directs it like a music video. It has a lot of swagger. uh mcconaughey is this bluegrass playing bee key keeper so there's a lot of musical asides and owen teague is performing as well but it often just kind of thrown away he's a really good actor so he was having fun but they didn't use him he doesn't even have any dialogue as far as i remember in the movie none so it's a lot of bravera just for the sake of bravera though i do there's a set piece that i really like where this horde of bees attacks a school bus uh and then you have kurt russell as this corrupt cop who really is distracting and feels like stunt casting among many things in this movie that's kind of meant to elicit an audience gasp or reaction.

16:46Ryan Lattanzio:And I think that's what a lot of the movie's function is, including all of these unnecessary scenes of slapstick, bodily harm. So this movie did not work for me.

16:55Anne Thompson:So what's interesting to me from a more business side thing, David Heyman, one of the best producers in Hollywood, has a credit on this movie as a producer. Somebody thought this was a good script at some point. It must have been regarded as a good script, but it doesn't make any sense. And maybe they all fell in love with Matthew McConaughey making a return after six years that somehow he would guarantee some kind of box office. But the trick here is that if you don't market the movie and you don't spend any money telling people that it exists. And if it turns out badly and gets bad reviews, you're screwed.

17:35Anne Thompson:And then, and so Black Bear is unfortunately handling another, you know, dog, I guess.

17:46Ryan Lattanzio:I do think they have a better shot.

17:48Anne Thompson:Tuner. They did very well with Tuner. Give them credit for Tuner. They came through on Tuner.

17:52Ryan Lattanzio:Yes. I do think they have a better shot coming in October with Wicker. I loved Wicker. With Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård, which is this kind of Chaucer-esque body tale that has a quippier high concept premise that I think is easier to market, which is basically what's it like to fuck a wicker basket that's shaped like a human being and who is -

18:14Anne Thompson:And played by Alexander Skarsgård. Hello.

18:17Ryan Lattanzio:Exactly. Who I'd argue is more of a draw than Matthew McConaughey, who his last real hit, I feel, was probably interstellar over 10 years ago in terms of a leading role. You know, he was in that Paul Greengrass movie, The Lost Bus, last year, but that was a streaming play for Apple TV that had a limited release. I actually never saw it, but I think you were kind of a thing. Neither did I,

18:36Anne Thompson:because I saw so many documentaries about Paradise, I never wanted to go into that fire again.

18:41Ryan Lattanzio:No, that's like me and going into the fire of 2020 again. And you're right, I saw some of these docs too, and it seems like every other Paul Greengrass movie I check out. So I suppose I will see that uprising.

18:52Anne Thompson:And I'm looking forward to the next one, which looks really good. The Uprising with Alexander Garfield. Is that his name? Andrew Garfield. Yeah. Andrew Garfield. OK, so we're not dumping on Black Bear. They have interesting movies. They have they have movies that are that are worth seeing. But I can see how this one just did not turn out to be commercial. And if they didn't throw good money after bad, maybe that was smart and it'll go on to another life in other windows, as you suggest, for the end of Oak Street. That's just the way it is.

19:30Ryan Lattanzio:So, Anne, what's going on with the lawsuit right now? Some of the news that broke out this week, we've got theaters, all the major exhibitors are starting to capitulate to the Paramount-Warner merger and its terms. We're calling it Warner Mount. I think that started to—

19:43Anne Thompson:They're basically being bribed by David Ellison or promised certain things, you know, a 45-day window. You know what everybody's worried about? And it really, really comes down to this. They're worried about an interruption of product. Product. Content. Product. There's no good word for it. I'm not allowed to use that word. Forgive me. They are worried about an interruption in production. And they're worried about Warner Brothers not making enough movies. and Paramount not making enough movies during this period when they're on, in effect, in limbo. And the whole town is worried about this. How do you go forward with this or that or the other if you don't know where it's going to be or how it's going to turn out?

20:28Anne Thompson:And so it's like the whole town is on hold, you know? And our new editor, Brent Lang, he did a story about a study commissioned by Los Angeles County that argues that David Ellison's plans to unite Paramount and Warners could be an economic calamity, devastating for California and the industry, costing the state 4 ,500 films and television jobs and putting at risk$1.26 billion in wages. So everybody, it seems to be rallying now. This was from the CVL economics outfit. They're really worried that I don't agree with this. I actually think that... What do I think? I think that we need to get this resolved.

21:18Anne Thompson:I think everybody's trying to get a settlement going. And this is part of the process of getting a settlement going. It is in Paramount's interest to get this deal closed way before next year. The trial doesn't even happen until March. And they could be caught with that$7 billion price tag, the ticking clock price tag. And so it starts to look to a lot of people like it's better for the deal to go through than to put this whole thing on hold. What do you think?

21:52Ryan Lattanzio:Well, yeah. I mean, these theaters are kind of, they're like, well, we better get in line with everybody else. We don't want to be left out in the cold. But you're right. I mean, aren't they supposed to fear that this merger is going to leave them with fewer movies to show. Paramount's promising. We've gone over this many times, 30 movies a year, this$30 billion spend on production. But you look at 2025, Warner Brothers spent$20 billion, about$20 billion, with Paramount at$15. So when you do the math there, there's going to be attrition. So yeah, there's going to be a reduction and there are going to be a loss of jobs.

22:23Ryan Lattanzio:And that's just going to further empower this exodus of productions that are going abroad and we're going to other states and seeking these

22:29Anne Thompson:cushy tax incentives but we also have the situation where where ellison is threatening to leave and you know now he's looking at nashville now he's looking at texas you know he's i still don't understand how he thinks this this threat does him any good at all because if he were to make the deal and continue to be in L.A., which I assume he plans to do, he really has to get along with everyone here and make friends with the creative community and the agencies and everybody else. And this is not how you do it, not when this industry is under threat anyway, even without this whole situation.

23:18Ryan Lattanzio:And he doesn't have many friends right now except maybe our president. So you're right. To relocate would be to turn everyone that you should be currying favor with against you. So I do, that threat is smoke and mirrors, no question, but you never know. The other interesting thing to come out of the study was how it might impact the indie sector, which of course is, you know, interest to us. And just illustrating things that we're always talking about. Acquisitions are down almost 50 % year over year, or rather 2019 compared to last year with Sundance. And you've got to imagine that's on par with all the other major festivals, if not even worse situation, then you have fewer companies that are acquiring movies.

23:56Ryan Lattanzio:So that's what happens when you get like a black bear that self-releases their movie. We're increasingly seeing that. So obviously, I think the indie community is going to scapegoat David Ellison for this. But the writing has been on the walls and it's not necessarily his fault for the collapse of what's going on here.

24:14Anne Thompson:Yeah, it's it's it's it is an interesting thing to continue to watch. And it's disturbing, to say the least, because it doesn't look, no matter what happens, it just doesn't look like it's going to be a good outcome. So, Ryan, what are you recommending this week?

24:32Ryan Lattanzio:I'm going to zig where you zag and actually not. I'm going to recommend something that you don't see, which is Insidious Out of the Further, which is the latest Blumhouse Atomic Monster production. Sony's releasing it. We had those guys, James Wan and Jason Blum on the podcast. This is the sixth entry in these insidious movies that I've sort of come and gone from. Have you seen? Where are you at with these movies? Never went to one of them. I wouldn't worry about it. And I know that you are defying, trying to say that, not to listen to me about me saying, don't see this. But I think actually. This is safe.

25:08Ryan Lattanzio:This is safe. I wouldn't bother. So this is a terrible movie. and I am very shocked, actually, at how some of my peers, including in the New York Film Critics Circle, are being really generous toward this movie. We're in such a heightened moment for horror movies, and the comparisons to Backrooms and Obsession are getting really exhausting, but they're not going to stop until this slop stops being poured. And this movie, you have this actress, British actress Amelia Eve from The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan Netflix show. Mike Flanagan is the guy who has made sort of a steely blue filter slathered over everything.

25:47Ryan Lattanzio:The signature palette for horror movies nowadays. And this woman can traffic objects and beings from the land of the dead into the living or something. The story is really difficult to follow. The visuals are muddled. It's over explained with endless exposition, which I really hate. And it really makes the case for maybe it's time for this franchise to die. It's seen decreasing dividends anyway, since the first movie from 2011 had Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne and was kind of fun. These movies need to be better, and I just found this to be very unsatisfying and gunky. It involves a lot of plaque and gingivitis because the main character is a traumatized dental hygienist.

26:27Anne Thompson:Oh, my God. So, Ryan, given all of what you just said, are you willing to suggest that perhaps it's actually going to do business?

26:37Ryan Lattanzio:unfortunately probably so with really young people who are probably going to be on their phones the whole movie and but there's so many jump scares that will get you to look up from said phone especially if you're in an alamo draft house but it's so boring that you might as well

26:51Anne Thompson:just order another drink so i am going to recommend a movie that you mentioned earlier in the podcast it's as we have said anne hathaway had a very very productive year and one of her best performances of all of them is in Mother Mary, David Lowry's latest feature. And it's finally coming to HBO Max. So if you missed it in theaters, which a lot of people did, I highly recommend seeing it. It's It's one of those outrageously crazy, extreme, visually gorgeous movies. And she is well matched by that great British actress.

27:39Ryan Lattanzio:Michaela Cole.

27:40Anne Thompson:Thank you. And she's very good in this. And she gets to perform. You know, we know that Anne Hathaway can sing and she plays like a major pop star and there are a lot of great costume changes. And that's part of the plot is coming up with the right costume for her latest event. So you sort of liked this one, right?

28:03Ryan Lattanzio:No, I really liked this one. Actually, I listened to the soundtrack a lot at the gym. It's a very good soundtrack. Charlie XCX, Jack Antonoff and those guys are all involved. my elevator pitch people for this movie is not going to bring anyone into watching it which is that it's sort of like fassbender's bitter tears of petra von kant for the age of charlie xcx and taylor swift uh and i this performance of van hathaway's i really would notch it just under rachel getting married as one of her absolute best and you can tell and she kind of alluded to this in interviews during uh she came to me the rebecca miller movie that there was a movie she was working on, that she was really struggling with the character.

28:41Ryan Lattanzio:And you don't see that here because her performance is close to flawless, but you can tell that she really internalized it and wrestled with it a lot. And that is what, you know, that's the mark of a great performance. And I, at the year's end, this, yeah, to me, this is some of the best work of the year. The performance, there's some shaky elements to the movie, but it's very mesmerizing.

29:02Anne Thompson:Well, we talked about it when it, when it came out, there's in the second half, if there's some decisions that were made, but she's flawless. But let's talk about Anne Hathaway for one second before we wrap up. It just strikes me that people hire her over and over and over again for a reason. She gives her all. She knows what she's doing. She has matured into one of these great actors who can do anything, and I respect her for that.

29:30Ryan Lattanzio:she's an extremely hard worker and she values auteurs and working with smart directors this is her second time with christopher nolan and she's talked about how she was really kind of hard on herself on set of that movie but you can't argue that other than matt damon that is the best performance in all of the odyssey uh yeah no she really i mean even that movie last year was it last year no two years ago the idea of you the michael show walter rom-com with

29:56Anne Thompson:nicholas galitzin i actually liked that i liked that a lot too and she was fantastic in that it was sexy hello sure was all right on that note uh talk to you next week see you next week