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Penélope Cruz On Working With Javier Bardem In ‘Bunker’

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Florian Zeller and Penélope Cruz stepped into Deadline’s Contenders event in London where the duo discussed their upcoming psychological thriller, Bunker. The film, which Zeller wrote, produced and directed, sees Cruz star as the wife of her real-life husband Javier Bardem as their characters face emotional and moral challenges in an increasingly uncertain world.

Bardem plays Miguel, a successful London architect, who considers a prestigious offer to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire. The project causes his wife Sofia (Cruz) to question their relationship of 17 years as they are drawn deeper into a life of extreme wealth, paranoia and fear. The intrusion of an unsettling neighbor becomes another source of anxiety.

Zeller says that it was “a dream” of his to work with Bardem and Cruz. “I was interested in working with them together because I thought it would be an opportunity to explore something unique as a couple in life and also, to question what it is to be together and to explore love, to explore forgiveness in a long-term relationship through these extraordinary talents.”

Cruz admitted that making the step to play a fictional couple in a feature film was a big one for her and Bardem, as the pair had made the decision “not to work together very often.”

“We thought about it a little bit because, of course, the temptation was huge because we both love Florian,” said Cruz. “We love his work so much, but we always said we were not going to work together very often because it is a way to protect the relationship. I think it would be too risky to work together to often. But when we read it, and when we spoke to him, we looked at each other and really didn’t see any reason to say no. We both wanted to do it, and we knew that Florian was never going to manipulate anything or try to force anything from our real relationship into the movie.”

Cruz added that a week before their “big fight” scene in the film, which was shot across three days, “things started to happen and I started to feel weird.”

“Of course, it was because that scene was coming,” she said. “But I always said to myself, ‘that’s not possible, it cannot be because that scene is coming.’ We are old enough to not let that affect us, but it did affect us.”

Cruz added: “But it’s just a natural process to find some truth.”

Zeller noted that the fight scene, which is an almost 11-minute scene, is somewhat “the core of the film.”

“It encapsulates thematically and emotionally everything the film is about. For a long period of time during the film, Penelope’s character is going through a crisis, but you don’t really know exactly what it is. Something is missing but she cannot exactly know what it is until that moment comes when she starts to become very vocal about it. So that’s a moment that is very key emotionally in the film.”

Additional cast in Bunker include Stephen Graham, Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger. The French-Spanish co-production is produced by Federica Sainte-Rose and Zeller for Blue Morning Pictures, Fernando Bovaria and Simon de Santiago of MOD Producciones and Alice Dawson. Pathé’s Ardavan Safaee and Mediawan’s Pierre-Antoine Capton serve as co-producers.

Check back on Monday for the panel video.

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James Stewart’s Daughter Praises KJ Apa’s ‘Jimmy’ Performance

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As KJ Apa brings the life of James Stewart to the big screen in Jimmy, he’s earned the approval of the late actor and military aviator’s daughter.

Kelly Stewart-Harcourt praised Apa’s portrayal and recalled “it was eerie” seeing him in character while filming the movie in Ireland, where she made a cameo in the Aaron Burns-helmed biopic, which premieres Nov. 6.

“But I was thrilled because the problem with somebody playing Dad… was that you don’t want to sit there and listen to a Jimmy Stewart impersonation for two hours,” she explained to Entertainment Weekly. “And Dad has such a distinctive way of speaking. It’s hard not to do an impersonation, but KJ channels him and brings him to life without doing a Jimmy Stewart impersonation. So I don’t see how they could have found anybody better.”

While discussing his process for getting into character as the It’s a Wonderful Life star, Apa admitted that the 1946 Christmas movie served as a big source of inspiration for his performance.

“I’d never really sat down and focused on it, but right after I read [the script], I had immediately put the movie on and focused on the movie,” he noted. “It’s such a great movie. It was a little ahead of its time, I think.”

Apa added, “The goal is to give an honest performance while not being impressionistic. I think when you’re doing an impression or an impersonation, there isn’t as much happening behind the impression, and I think that’s where, when you interpret something, it’s more of an interpretation.”

Written by Justin Strawhand, Jimmy tells the story of when Stewart, fresh off his Oscar win for The Philadelphia Story, enlisted as a combat pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force at the beginning of World War II. The film traces his experience through the war before returning home and playing George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life.

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Box Office Global: ‘Resident Evil’ No. 1, Zach Cregger Record; ‘Other Mommy’ $45M)+ WW No 2

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The China release of Sony/Constantin’s Resident Evil propelled the move not only to the top of the global weekend box office in its fourth frame with an overall $62.7M WW , but the pic also became Zach Cregger’s highest grossing movie ever (as we first told) with $320.2M. That beats the previous high of his Oscar winning Weapons ($270M WW) last year.

China delivered $40.6M, which repped the best opening for a horror film in the last two years.

Resident Evil invaded its native country of Japan with a $3.6M opening. Other top per performing market cumes are UK $17.0M, Mexico $11.8M, Australia $8.5M, France $8.5M, Germany $7.3M, Spain $7.1M.

Overall international cume on Resident Evil is $181.7M on 38,150+ screens in 67 offshore markets.

Jessica Chastain in ‘Other Mommy‘

Universal Pictures/Everett Collection

And, wow, Universal/Blumhouse Atomic Monster’s Other Mommy with a $45.1M global opening from 51 territories with $27.5M domestic and $17.6M abroad.

Why wow? For a horror movie with a D+ CinemaScore and awful reviews (Uni held critics at bay) to over perform in a marketplace where many are precious about what they want to see, is quite commendable and this Rob Savage directed matriarch doppelgänger film only cost $19 net before global P&A. It just speaks to the continued staying power of genre. The weekend result is above M3GAN, Evil Dead Rise, The Black Phone, Smile, and Evil Dead Burn, in the same markets.

Stateside that’s Jessica Chastain’s sixth highest opening after It:Chapter Two ($91M), The Martian ($54.3M), Interstellar ($47.5M), X-Men Dark Phoenix ($32.8M) and Mama ($28.4M), which was another solo horror vehicle for here. You want to be technical about it, most of these films were ensembles, hence, Other Mommy can be argued as her second highest solo start stateside. Point is audiences clearly flocked to see Chastain in a spooky movie.

Other Mommy was No. 1 in UK/Ireland, Italy, Mexico, U.A.E., Other Middle East, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Argentina, Central America, Chile, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Norway, Singapore, Ecuador, Venezuela, Uruguay, Lebanon, Trinidad, Pakistan and Iceland. The spiritual scary nature of the film is the reason for its rally in Catholic countries, specifically Latin America.

Chastain counted $2.6M at 625 screens in UK & Ireland, surpassing the lifetime box office of The Boogeyman to become Rob Savage’s highest-grossing theatrical release. The weekend result is above Exorcist: Believer, Evil Dead Rise, Smile, Speak No Evil, and more than double Black Phone.

Italy was molto bene with $2.2M at 315 screens, repping 31% of the weekend’s marketshare. The weekend result is above Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, Backrooms, Resident Evil, Scream 7, Exorcist: Believer, more than double Evil Dead Rise, M3GAN, and Insidious: Out of the Further, more than 5x Smile, and more than 8x The Black Phone.

Other Mommy counted $1.9M in Mexico for 24% of the weekend marketshare, a result that’s above Evil Dead Rise, M3GAN, and Smile.

Australia’s $1.1M for the Savage pic ranked No. 2 at 246 screens, with a healthy 14% market share. The weekend result is above Black Phone, Exorcist: Believer, Insidious: Out of the Further, Smile, and Evil Dead Rise.

Spain opened to a near $1M, ranking No. 2 behind local hit La Bola Negra. The weekend result is in line with Exorcist: Believer and Evil Dead Rise, above M3GAN, Black Phone, and Smile.

Brazil’s $800K at 726 screens ranked 3rd in the country behind Verity and local film Minha Amiga, with a healthy 13% share of business. The weekend result is in line with Black Phone, and above Smile.

U.A.E.’s great $700K No.1 was above Black Phone, Exorcist: Believer, Smile, Evil Dead Rise, and more than double M3GAN.

Saudi Arabia had an excellent start with $600K, above Evil Dead Burn, Exorcist: Believer, Evil Dead Rise, Insidious: Out of the Further, and M3GAN. Others Middle East was strong at $500K, taking the total for the Middle East region to an excellent $1.7M. Great starts in Southeast Asia with the region counting $2.2M from openings in Indonesia ($476K), Taiwan (+$424K), Malaysia ($416K), India ($327K), Philippines ($248K), and Vietnam ($217K). The opening result across the region is above M3GAN, more than double Black Phone and Smile.

Dakota Johnson stars as Lowen Ashleigh in VERITY

Dakota Johnson stars as Lowen Ashleigh in VERITY

Alisha Wetherill

Amazon/MGM Studio’s Verity is third with $30.1M second global weekend ($11.5M domestic, $18.6M int’l at 76 territories). Domestic of $53.9M and international B.O. of $60.1M put this Dakota Johnson, Anne Hathaway, Josh Hartnett thriller at $114M WW.

THE SOCIAL RECKONING, Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg, 2026. ph: Leah Gallo / © Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

If it’s a bomb here, then typically it’s a bomb in the rest of the world, and it was clear going into this weekend that Aaron Sorkin’s sequel to his Oscar winning written The Social Network, The Social Reckoning, would have no friends with a $9M WW opening ($5.5M stateside, $3.5M overseas which is lower than the $6M hoped for ala the start of Lionsgate’s Bombshell in like-for-likes). The Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen White movie was booked in 29 foreign territories on 4,100 screens. Why did it tank? The movie isn’t prescient enough in its recap of the Jan. 6 riots and why Facebook is bad for teens. Everyone nowadays wants to know if A.I. will kill them in a decade, which gives Luca Guadagnino’s upcoming Artificial more of a pulse.

Just a bit higher than Social Reckoning is the second weekend of Tom Cruise’s disastrous, Digger, with $9.6M WW ($3.2M domestic, $6.4M abroad) for a running global cume on the $160M+ net production of $35.3M ($20.9M int’l, $14.4M domestic). At $50M WW, Digger loses $150M. Social Reckoning was much cheaper, around $40M, so the red ink won’t be so bad.

More..not done yet.

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Tubi Releasing The Babysitter Movie from R.L. Stine in 2027

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Tubi’s next Final Girl is here.

The streamer is set to release a live action adaptation of The Babysitter, based on the popular series of R.L. Stine novels first published in 1989, in 2027. The film’s announcement comes just two days after the Oct. 9 release of Pumpkinhead 2, and ahead of the streamer’s New York Comic Con panel, where Stine appeared alongside Tubi’s Chief Content Officer Adam Lewinson, Pumpkinhead writer-director Jem Garrard, and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars’ contestant and Afraid of Clowns star Jimbo.

The film follows a 16-year-old babysitter, Jenny, who is so desperate to earn enough money for a prestigious writing program that she takes the job despite a prowler terrorizing girls across town. But when she starts receiving threatening phone calls and a dangerous fugitive surfaces in town, Jenny’s suspicion of those around her grows. Meanwhile, danger begins closing in.

Produced by Blue Ice, Garrard will write and executive produce the film, which Trevor Calverleya will direct. The Babysitter will be executive produced by Lance Samuels, Joan Waricha, Jane Stine and Garrard. Producers include Dan Bernard, Yvonne Bernard, Tebogo Maila, Darren Cameron and Adam Friedlander.

“R.L. Stine has an incredible ability to tell stories that are scary, fun and endlessly entertaining, and that combination continues to connect with Tubi viewers,” said Adam Lewinson, Chief Content Officer, Tubi. “With The Babysitter, one of R.L. Stine’s most iconic novels, we’re delivering a fresh, fun thrill ride for longtime fans and a whole new generation.”

The Babysitter not only marks the fourth film in an ongoing partnership between the streamer and the prolific children’s horror author, but also the first not based on a short from Stine’s Nightmare Hour or Haunting Hour anthologies. Check out the teaser, which The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively share, below.

First published in 1989, The Babysitter and its three sequels — The Babysitter II (1991), The Babysitter III (1993), and The Babysitter IV (1995) — were pivotal in defining Stine as a preeminent horror and children’s author. The original book followed the same 16-year-old Jenny, who begins receiving threatening calls and notes after taking on a babysitting gig, before she discovers the threat is coming from inside the house.

The second and fourth books follow Jenny as she attempts to recover in the immediate aftermath of the first book’s events, and years later as she faces her disturbing past and another terrorizing babysitting experience. The third installment pivots slightly, focusing more on the experiences of Debra, who is haunted and hunted in the same way as her cousin, Jenny.

Tubi also recently announced a third Stine adaptation, Afraid of Clowns, based on The Nightmare Hour short and previously developed as a Haunting Hour (2010) episode. Written and directed by Garrard, the film, also set to release in 2027, stars Frankie Honey, Ava Ferrer, Azriel Dalman, Joe Moore and RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars winner Jimbo, and is teased at the end of Pumpkinhead 2.

The next entry in the Redhaven saga, Afraid of Clowns, sees the arrival of a mysterious clown troupe led by Ringmaster Rollo. A young resident, Frankie, begins to suspect they’re connected to the disappearance of a child years earlier, and in an effort to protect her brother, works to convince her friends to help stop the clowns before her sibling vanishes forever.

Pumpkinhead 2 is currently streaming on Tubi.

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