- Warner Bros.’s release of New Line’s Shazam! delivered above expectations with $53.4 million for a cumulative total that stands at $56.7 million. Internationally, Shazam! brought in $102 million. The film was well received by critics with 92% on Rotten Tomatoes while audiences gave the film an “A” CinemaScore.
.
. - Paramount’s Pet Sematary remake of the Stephen King tale took in a strong $25 million in North America and $42.5 million worldwide, showing that horror is still a big draw. Jordan Peel’s US, took in another $13 million
. - Marvel Studio’s Captain Marvel hit the $1-billion mark last week, the 7th Marvel title to reach that milestone. It currently stands at $373 million domestically.
.
. - Game of Thrones comes back this week on Sunday, April 14, and according to the U.K.’s Daily Mail, more than one billion viewers in 170 different countries are expected to watch each episode in the eighth and final season.
. - AMC TV formally announced that it has picked up what is now the third series in the Walking Dead’s larger world with a 10-episode order for an untitled drama co-created by Scott Gimple and longtime flagship writer Matt Negrete.it will feature two young female protagonists and focus on the first generation to come of age in the apocalypse as viewers know it. Production will begin in the summer in Virginia for a 2020 premiere on AMC.
. - AVENGERS: ENDGAME went on sale last week and caused widespread crashes to ticketing websites such as Fandango, AMC, Atom, and others. A spokesperson for Atom told CNN Business that “Endgame” sold three times more tickets on its site in the first hour of pre-sale than “Avengers: Infinity War” did. Not only did Avengers: Endgame take only six hours to crush a record for tickets sold within 24 hours, but ticket site Fandango has announced the film set its biggest single-day ticket-sales record in the company’s 19-year history.
.
. - Speaking of Avengers, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige says the studio already has a five-year plan in place to tie its upcoming movies together. His exact quote is as follows: “I will say all of the post [San Diego] Comic-Con, post Spider-Man: Far From Home stuff, we … Here’s an exclusive. We’re gonna keep making movies. We’re gonna still keep making movies after these two. And we will talk about them soon after Spider-Man: Far From Home comes out.”
. - One thing we do know about the next phase of Marvel, however, is that it’s unlikely to include the newly acquired X-Men that Disney secured with their $72 billion purchase of 20th Century Fox. Feige said, “It’ll be a while. It’s all just beginning and the five-year plan that we’ve been working on, we were working on before any of that was set.”
. - Two big geek holidays are hitting on the same day in less than a month…. They are May the 4th—the semi-official Star Wars day—and free comic book day. Both fall on the first Saturday in May this year. And in case you were wondering who would be hosting Saturday Night live on such a momentous day—it’s Adam Sandler, hosting the show for the first time in his career. A great way to kick off the summer.
.
For a deeper conversation about the news of the week, PLUS a roundup of the best Wondercon events and a preview of Star Wars Celebration, check out this week’s CON GUY SHOW, right here, or anywhere you listen to podcasts:
