LIVE AT 2:30 MT Evacuation order issued for some Fort McMurray neighbourhoods as wildfire nears
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Moviegoing audiences chose the horror movie over the romantic comedy to kick off the month of October. Paramount's "Smile " topped the North American charts with US$22 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, leaving Billy Eichner's rom-com "Bros" in the dust.
Universal's " Bros " launched with an estimated $4.8 million to take fourth place behind "Don't Worry Darling" (US$7.3 million) and "The Woman King" (US$7 million). But opening weekends likely aren't the final word on either "Bros" or "Smile." Horror movie audiences are generally front-loaded, dropping off steeply after the first weekend, while something like "Bros," which got great reviews and an A CinemaScore, suggesting strong word-of-mouth potential, is a movie that could continue finding audiences through the fall. It is not unusual for R-rated comedies to open modestly and catch on later.
"Everyone who sees it absolutely loves it," said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution. "Billy Eichner, (director) Nick Stoller and Judd Apatow have created a movie that's heartwarming and hysterically funny."
"Bros" is significant for being the first gay rom-com given a wide theatrical release by a major studio, as well as the first studio movie starring and co-written by an openly gay man. Since premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival last month, the film has gotten stellar reviews from critics and also been the target of "review bombs" on IMDB. The site last week removed removed hundreds of one-star reviews for "Bros" that were logged before the film was released.
It's also hard to compete with a new horror movie in October. "Smile," written and directed by Parker Finn in his directorial debut, stars Sosie Bacon as a therapist haunted by smiling faces after a traumatic event.
According to exit polls, 52 per cent of the audience was male and 68 per cent were ages 18-34 for the R-rated film. Playing in 3,645 locations, "Smile" started strong with US$2 million from Thursday night previews, too, and had a 4 per cent uptick Saturday, which is almost unheard of for genre films that usually decline after the first night.
"Smile" also cost only US$17 million to produce.
"It's remarkable, particularly when you take the budget into account. It's just a terrific result and validated our thoughts about the movie as a whole," said Chris Aronson, Paramount's president of domestic distribution. "That Saturday uptick bodes well for the long-term playability."
The "Smile" marketing team last weekend planted smiling actors at baseball games around the country as a marketing stunt, which Aronson said helped push the movie over the top.
"'Smile' just shows once again that the horror genre should be put on a pedestal by theater owners," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.
Second place went to "Don't Worry Darling" in its second weekend in theaters, with US$7.3 million, down 64 per cent from its opening. The mid-century-styled psychological thriller starring Florence Pugh and Harry Styles has earned $32.8 million domestically against a US$35 million production budget.
And "The Woman King" was close behind in third place in its third weekend, with an estimated US$7 million, down only 36 per cent from last weekend. The historical war epic directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood stars Viola Davis as an Agojie general and has made US$46.7 million.
Rounding out the top five was the re-release of "Avatar," with US$4.7 million from 1,860 locations.
Notably, the film with the highest per-theater average was the Indian epic "Ponniyin Selvan: I," which earned $4.1 million from just 510 theaters. It's one of several Indian blockbusters to perform well in North America recently, including "RRR" and "Brahmastra Part 1: Shiva."
"It was a solid weekend," Dergarabedian said. "We're not going to get into the US$100 million-plus weekends until 'Black Adam,' but audiences are getting a really diverse slate of movies to see on the big screen."
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
Four Fort McMurray neighbourhoods were ordered to evacuate as a wildfire gets closer to the city.
Canadian LifeLabs customers who filed an application for a class-action settlement began receiving their payments this week, though at a much lower amount than initially expected.
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health is stepping down.
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Saskatchewan RCMP have revealed that a historic sexual assault investigation has led to the discovery of alleged crimes against children dating back to 2005.
An American accused of sexually assaulting a Pennsylvania college student in 2013 and later sending her a Facebook message that said, 'So I raped you,' has been detained in France after a three-year search.
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.
YES Theatre Young Company opened its acclaimed kids’ show, One Small Step, at Sudbury Theatre Centre on Saturday.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.