“Do your recon,” Brian Cox says to Sinqua Walls in the 2022 film Mending the Line. “More great literature has been written about fly-fishing than any other sport.” So begins a reluctant friendship between two military men that grows while they wade in Montana’s shallow waters waiting for pike to bite.
From director Joshua Caldwell (Infamous), the film centers around a Marine living with trauma (Walls) who learns to face his struggles head-on as he fosters an unlikely friendship with an older veteran (Cox).
Stream it now.
Colter (Walls), a sergeant in the Marines, has just returned from Afghanistan, where he was wounded right before his tour ended. He’s tormented by flashbacks and nightmares about what happened to his fellow Marines and racked with guilt that he was unable to prevent casualties among them. Now, after passing through a few rehab facilities, he’s desperate to return to active...
From director Joshua Caldwell (Infamous), the film centers around a Marine living with trauma (Walls) who learns to face his struggles head-on as he fosters an unlikely friendship with an older veteran (Cox).
Stream it now.
Colter (Walls), a sergeant in the Marines, has just returned from Afghanistan, where he was wounded right before his tour ended. He’s tormented by flashbacks and nightmares about what happened to his fellow Marines and racked with guilt that he was unable to prevent casualties among them. Now, after passing through a few rehab facilities, he’s desperate to return to active...
- 3/26/2024
- by Tara Bitran
- Tudum - Netflix
As random and arbitrary as Netflix's Top 10 can appear, it starts to become more predictable upon closer inspection. Like the media rental stores of ancient times (which were essentially the streaming services of their epoch), new Netflix originals inevitably rank high before dwindling off in the same way that Blockbusters would initially stock their shelves with roughly 10,000 copies of the latest tentpole. Along those same lines, viewers frequently play catchup right before a show returns by marathoning its previous season(s), which is how a cult Syfy comedy series like "Resident Alien" ends up charting seemingly out of the blue.
Then there are the under-the-radar titles that find their way onto Netflix only to be discovered anew by its users, much like a customer perusing the aisles of their local video rental shop and stumbling upon some previously ignored movie featuring one of their favorite actors. So it is...
Then there are the under-the-radar titles that find their way onto Netflix only to be discovered anew by its users, much like a customer perusing the aisles of their local video rental shop and stumbling upon some previously ignored movie featuring one of their favorite actors. So it is...
- 3/26/2024
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Mending the Line, a recent drama starring Brian Cox and Sinqua Walls, just made its Netflix debut, leaving many wondering about where its true story originated from.
Telling a post-war military story, the movie was written by Stephen Camilo. It debuted in various film festivals in 2022, before seeing a theatrical release the next year.
The movie has themes of survivor's guilt and Ptsd directly alongside the power of strong bonds and hope.
Read full article on The Direct.
Telling a post-war military story, the movie was written by Stephen Camilo. It debuted in various film festivals in 2022, before seeing a theatrical release the next year.
The movie has themes of survivor's guilt and Ptsd directly alongside the power of strong bonds and hope.
Read full article on The Direct.
- 3/25/2024
- by Gillian Blum
- The Direct
Netflix kicked off February with news of the streaming service’s 2024 film slate.
The steamer, which landed 18 Oscar nominations this year – including seven for Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” – will debut numerous populist films in 2024, including new projects from Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, Jenifer Lopez, Millie Bobby Brown, Eddie Murphy, and more.
Well-known directors with movies set to premiere on Netflix this year include Tyler Perry (two titles), McG, Richard Linklater, and Lee Daniels. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will also make his directorial debut with “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story.”
On the awards front, while it’s too early to tell which projects might pop – and what movies Netflix might acquire for release this year, similarly to how the studio purchased Todd Haynes’ “May December” at the Cannes Film Festival last year – titles to flag include “The Piano Lesson” from Malcolm Washington with Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington,...
The steamer, which landed 18 Oscar nominations this year – including seven for Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro” – will debut numerous populist films in 2024, including new projects from Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz, Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, Jenifer Lopez, Millie Bobby Brown, Eddie Murphy, and more.
Well-known directors with movies set to premiere on Netflix this year include Tyler Perry (two titles), McG, Richard Linklater, and Lee Daniels. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld will also make his directorial debut with “Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story.”
On the awards front, while it’s too early to tell which projects might pop – and what movies Netflix might acquire for release this year, similarly to how the studio purchased Todd Haynes’ “May December” at the Cannes Film Festival last year – titles to flag include “The Piano Lesson” from Malcolm Washington with Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington,...
- 2/1/2024
- by Christopher Rosen
- Gold Derby
When director Tim Story’s horror comedy The Blackening was released back in June, co-writer and star Dewayne Perkins told Variety that he envisioned the film being the start of a franchise, one that could bring back the “same group, sprinkle in some new people. I feel like we’ve got something good, and I love the dynamic, but fresh blood always turns things up a little bit.” Now Variety has confirmed that a sequel to The Blackening is officially in development!
The Blackening didn’t exactly set the box office of fire, earning just $18.5 million… but since the movie had a budget of $3 million (plus another $2 million for marketing), that’s enough for producer MRC and domestic distributor Lionsgate to feel that it’s worth going back to for a sequel. They’re developing the follow-up with Perkins, co-writer Tracy Oliver, and producer E. Brian Dobbins.
Story directed The...
The Blackening didn’t exactly set the box office of fire, earning just $18.5 million… but since the movie had a budget of $3 million (plus another $2 million for marketing), that’s enough for producer MRC and domestic distributor Lionsgate to feel that it’s worth going back to for a sequel. They’re developing the follow-up with Perkins, co-writer Tracy Oliver, and producer E. Brian Dobbins.
Story directed The...
- 11/21/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
After scaring up $18 million in theaters earlier this year, horror-comedy The Blackening is getting a sequel from Lionsgate, Variety has exclusively announced this afternoon.
Variety notes, “producer MRC and domestic distributor Lionsgate have entered into talks with Dewayne Perkins, Tracy Oliver and producer E. Brian Dobbins to develop a follow-up film.”
The first film was made on a production budget of just $5 million, so there’s needless to say lots of potential for this to become a profitable Scary Movie-type horror franchise.
Stay tuned for more on The Blackening 2 as we learn it.
The Blackening, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along,...
Variety notes, “producer MRC and domestic distributor Lionsgate have entered into talks with Dewayne Perkins, Tracy Oliver and producer E. Brian Dobbins to develop a follow-up film.”
The first film was made on a production budget of just $5 million, so there’s needless to say lots of potential for this to become a profitable Scary Movie-type horror franchise.
Stay tuned for more on The Blackening 2 as we learn it.
The Blackening, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along,...
- 11/20/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
MRC and Lionsgate are developing a sequel to “The Blackening,” the hit horror-comedy from Dewayne Perkins and Tracy Oliver.
After the microbudget production (just $5 million) made more than $18 million at the box office, producer MRC and domestic distributor Lionsgate have entered into talks with Perkins, Oliver and producer E. Brian Dobbins to develop a follow-up film.
Directed by Tim Story and co-written by Perkins and Oliver, “The Blackening” follows a group of college friends who reunite for Juneteenth weekend and are hunted by a killer who asks them to determine who is the Blackest among them — lampooning the common horror movie trope that sees the Black character die first. Perkins initially conceived the story as a sketch for his comedy troupe 3Peat, which developed into a short for Comedy Central, before Oliver reached out to develop it into a feature.
The project premiered in 2022 as a TIFF Midnight Madness selection,...
After the microbudget production (just $5 million) made more than $18 million at the box office, producer MRC and domestic distributor Lionsgate have entered into talks with Perkins, Oliver and producer E. Brian Dobbins to develop a follow-up film.
Directed by Tim Story and co-written by Perkins and Oliver, “The Blackening” follows a group of college friends who reunite for Juneteenth weekend and are hunted by a killer who asks them to determine who is the Blackest among them — lampooning the common horror movie trope that sees the Black character die first. Perkins initially conceived the story as a sketch for his comedy troupe 3Peat, which developed into a short for Comedy Central, before Oliver reached out to develop it into a feature.
The project premiered in 2022 as a TIFF Midnight Madness selection,...
- 11/20/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
An anguished update of, and response to, Ousmane Sembène’s 1965 anti-colonialist classic Black Girl, writer-director Nikyatu Jusu’s Nanny grapples with the psychic pain of cultural alienation and familial disconnection. Though it contains elements of supernatural horror—including trickster spiders and murderous mermaids—it’s at heart a deeply felt immigration story, one that finds hope not in the empty promises of the American dream but in the strength and resilience of oppressed peoples.
The film opens on Aisha’s (Anna Diop) first day of work at the luxe Manhattan apartment of a businesswoman, Amy (Michelle Monaghan), who’s hired her to care for her young daughter, Rose (Rose Decker). Aisha, a teacher in her native Senegal, has no trouble caring for the girl, helping her with her French lessons and making food that she’ll actually eat, but she does have issues with Amy, whose festering anxieties make her...
The film opens on Aisha’s (Anna Diop) first day of work at the luxe Manhattan apartment of a businesswoman, Amy (Michelle Monaghan), who’s hired her to care for her young daughter, Rose (Rose Decker). Aisha, a teacher in her native Senegal, has no trouble caring for the girl, helping her with her French lessons and making food that she’ll actually eat, but she does have issues with Amy, whose festering anxieties make her...
- 11/8/2023
- by Keith Watson
- Slant Magazine
Spoiler Alert: This interview contains spoilers from “The Blackening,” now streaming on Starz and available on VOD.
Tracy Oliver is best-known as the co-writer of “Girls Trip” and the creator of “Harlem” and “First Wives Club,” but she’s also quite proficient with numbers. And in terms of the success of her latest film, “The Blackening,” the numbers tell an important tale.
“I don’t think people understand the math of it all,” Oliver says, settling into a plush beige armchair in the lobby of the 1 Hotel South Beach in Miami Beach on a sweltering day in June. “Even my family thought I made more on “Girls Trip” than I actually did.”
Despite the 2017 comedy becoming a massive box office hit — earning more than $140 million worldwide — Oliver didn’t have any backend on the film. “It was considered such a risk when we made it that they weren’t going...
Tracy Oliver is best-known as the co-writer of “Girls Trip” and the creator of “Harlem” and “First Wives Club,” but she’s also quite proficient with numbers. And in terms of the success of her latest film, “The Blackening,” the numbers tell an important tale.
“I don’t think people understand the math of it all,” Oliver says, settling into a plush beige armchair in the lobby of the 1 Hotel South Beach in Miami Beach on a sweltering day in June. “Even my family thought I made more on “Girls Trip” than I actually did.”
Despite the 2017 comedy becoming a massive box office hit — earning more than $140 million worldwide — Oliver didn’t have any backend on the film. “It was considered such a risk when we made it that they weren’t going...
- 10/4/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: A new take on the classic Hollywood Squares game show is headed to VH1. The network has teamed with Jesse Collins Entertainment and Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat on Celebrity Squares, a modern twist on the classic format featuring Black pop culture trivia.
Hosted by actor and comedian DC Young Fly, “the series will bring cultural icons together for 20 fun and spontaneous half-hour episodes,” per VH1. Celebrity guests include Babyface, Bobby Brown, Tiffany Haddish, Kirk Franklin, Bresha Webb, Luenell, Taye Diggs and more. Celebrity Squares premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 17, on VH1.
Celebrity Squares will bring two contestants together to play Tic-Tac-Toe, banking cash and prizes along the way. The player with the most money in their bank at the end of the game will move on to the bonus round for a chance to win a $10,000 cash prize.
“We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Hartbeat and...
Hosted by actor and comedian DC Young Fly, “the series will bring cultural icons together for 20 fun and spontaneous half-hour episodes,” per VH1. Celebrity guests include Babyface, Bobby Brown, Tiffany Haddish, Kirk Franklin, Bresha Webb, Luenell, Taye Diggs and more. Celebrity Squares premieres at 8 p.m. Tuesday, October 17, on VH1.
Celebrity Squares will bring two contestants together to play Tic-Tac-Toe, banking cash and prizes along the way. The player with the most money in their bank at the end of the game will move on to the bonus round for a chance to win a $10,000 cash prize.
“We’re thrilled to announce our partnership with Hartbeat and...
- 9/25/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Ordinarily, curling up for a night of games, laughter, (optional stimulants) and fun with old friends is a perfect recipe for a catch-up. Real friends can always pick up where they left off – no matter how long they’ve been apart – and adding a pack of cards, a super sweet cocktail and some random board games into the mix should guarantee a good time.
Another good way to find out who your real friends are is for a crazed killer to force you to choose which one should die.
Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharoah) are excited to set up for their annual Juneteenth celebration with college friends. The cabin in the woods they’ve rented for the occasion is super cute and Morgan’s trusty group bonding activity – her games night set-up – is good to go. Unfortunately so is The Blackening; the offensively ‘retro’ game the couple stumble...
Another good way to find out who your real friends are is for a crazed killer to force you to choose which one should die.
Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharoah) are excited to set up for their annual Juneteenth celebration with college friends. The cabin in the woods they’ve rented for the occasion is super cute and Morgan’s trusty group bonding activity – her games night set-up – is good to go. Unfortunately so is The Blackening; the offensively ‘retro’ game the couple stumble...
- 8/23/2023
- by Emily Breen
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Blackening is a riotous new comedy horror that excels in both of the genres it’s mashing together. With a huge ensemble cast, full of talented comedic performers, we had the pleasure to speak to, well, pretty much all of them, in the global junket.
Below you can watch our entertaining interviews in their entirety, beginning with Dewayne Perkins, X Mayo & Jermaine Fowler. Following that is a second grouped interview, this time consisting of Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls & Grace Byers, We then speak to Jay Pharoah and Melvin Gregg, before ending on the talent behind the lens, speaking to both Tracy Oliver and Tim Story. Enjoy!
Dewayne Perkins, X Mayo & Jermaine Fowler
Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls & Grace Byers
Jay Pharoah & Melvin Gregg
Tracy Oliver & Tim Story
Synopsis
Seven friends go away for the weekend, only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta.
Below you can watch our entertaining interviews in their entirety, beginning with Dewayne Perkins, X Mayo & Jermaine Fowler. Following that is a second grouped interview, this time consisting of Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls & Grace Byers, We then speak to Jay Pharoah and Melvin Gregg, before ending on the talent behind the lens, speaking to both Tracy Oliver and Tim Story. Enjoy!
Dewayne Perkins, X Mayo & Jermaine Fowler
Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls & Grace Byers
Jay Pharoah & Melvin Gregg
Tracy Oliver & Tim Story
Synopsis
Seven friends go away for the weekend, only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta.
- 8/22/2023
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Director Tim Story‘s The Blackening is now available on PVOD ($19.99), and up next the horror-comedy heads to Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD this month.
The Blackening is available on Digital and On Demand August 15 and 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (+Blu-ray & Digital), Blu-ray (+DVD & Digital) and DVD August 22 from Lionsgate.
Check out an exclusive clip from the film’s featurettes package below, wherein the cast and crew discuss the house that became the central location in this year’s horror-comedy satire.
“We were lucky enough to find… in Brentwood of all places… this old house has been there probably 100 years. We wanted this house that we were gonna be locked into to have a character of itself. A character that looks spooky at times, but also in the daylight is inviting,” Tim Story explains in the featurette for The Blackening, which you can watch down below.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along,...
The Blackening is available on Digital and On Demand August 15 and 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (+Blu-ray & Digital), Blu-ray (+DVD & Digital) and DVD August 22 from Lionsgate.
Check out an exclusive clip from the film’s featurettes package below, wherein the cast and crew discuss the house that became the central location in this year’s horror-comedy satire.
“We were lucky enough to find… in Brentwood of all places… this old house has been there probably 100 years. We wanted this house that we were gonna be locked into to have a character of itself. A character that looks spooky at times, but also in the daylight is inviting,” Tim Story explains in the featurette for The Blackening, which you can watch down below.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along,...
- 8/14/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Ever since the 1975 horror blockbuster Jaws made us afraid to go into the water, America has had an obsession with sharks. While great whites get most of the attention, any aquatic killer with sharp teeth will usually quench our collective thirst for marine menace. In 1988, Discovery Channel launched Shark Week, a seven day block of programming filled with nature documentaries, celebrity cameos, and aquatic reality TV designed to explore the wide world of sharks. This annual event has been going strong for the past 35 years, working its way into the public consciousness to become a household name. Each summer’s horror offerings usually bring with it one or more films of the Shark Horror subgenre. Featuring the underwater predators as their villains, these movies vary widely in quality and usually sink or swim based on the verisimilitude of their special effects.
As sharks–even the fake ones–are notoriously difficult to direct,...
As sharks–even the fake ones–are notoriously difficult to direct,...
- 7/25/2023
- by Jenn Adams
- bloody-disgusting.com
Lionsgate gave director Tim Story’s horror comedy The Blackening a theatrical release on June 16th, with a Premium VOD release following last Friday, July 7th. Now they have announced that a digital release is coming down the line on August 15th, with the 4K, Blu-ray, and DVD release following on August 22nd. The 4K will be released in a combo pack with the Blu-ray, and there will also be a combo pack that contains the Blu-ray, the DVD, and the digital release. Copies are already available for pre-order on Amazon.
Story directed The Blackening from a screenplay by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins. Inspired by a Perkins-scripted 3Peat comedy sketch that aired on Comedy Central in 2018, the film is about a group of Black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who forces them to play a game with life-or-death consequences.
Story directed The Blackening from a screenplay by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins. Inspired by a Perkins-scripted 3Peat comedy sketch that aired on Comedy Central in 2018, the film is about a group of Black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who forces them to play a game with life-or-death consequences.
- 7/11/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
After scaring up an estimated $7 million in theaters over Juneteenth weekend, director Tim Story‘s The Blackening is now available on PVOD. Even better? The horror-comedy heads to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD in August!
The Blackening arrives on Digital August 15 and 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (+Blu-ray & Digital), Blu-ray (+DVD & Digital), and DVD on August 22 from Lionsgate.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
Joe Lipsett wrote in his 4-star TIFF review, “While the film isn’t Scream levels of meta, The Blackening fuses social commentary about the Black experience in contemporary America with slasher conventions in a highly entertaining fashion.”
“The humour is successful,...
The Blackening arrives on Digital August 15 and 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (+Blu-ray & Digital), Blu-ray (+DVD & Digital), and DVD on August 22 from Lionsgate.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
Joe Lipsett wrote in his 4-star TIFF review, “While the film isn’t Scream levels of meta, The Blackening fuses social commentary about the Black experience in contemporary America with slasher conventions in a highly entertaining fashion.”
“The humour is successful,...
- 7/11/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Cruel Angels Past Sundown: "New Mexico Territory, 1882: She comes to the Klein ranch at sunset, a strange naked pregnant woman dragging a cavalry saber. Annette Klein and her husband have built peace between their marriage and secret relations beyond, but their serenity dies in bloodshed tonight through a cannibalistic demon and a mad preacher.
Annette barely escapes the bloodbath to the nearby town of Low’ s Bend, where she might find safety with a shotgun-toting barkeep, two no-nonsense boarding room ladies, and the gunslinging bounty hunter who’ s captured Annette’ s heart.
But hell is at her heels. If she’ s going to survive until dawn, she’ ll have to forget everything she knows about peace and mercy, and face a hollow malevolence more ancient and ruthless than she’ s ever imagined."
Written by Hailey Piper, Cruel Angels Past Sundown will be available on July 25th from Death’s Head Press!
Annette barely escapes the bloodbath to the nearby town of Low’ s Bend, where she might find safety with a shotgun-toting barkeep, two no-nonsense boarding room ladies, and the gunslinging bounty hunter who’ s captured Annette’ s heart.
But hell is at her heels. If she’ s going to survive until dawn, she’ ll have to forget everything she knows about peace and mercy, and face a hollow malevolence more ancient and ruthless than she’ s ever imagined."
Written by Hailey Piper, Cruel Angels Past Sundown will be available on July 25th from Death’s Head Press!
- 7/7/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Lionsgate gave director Tim Story’s horror comedy The Blackening a theatrical release on June 16th – but if you didn’t catch the movie on the big screen or if you did and want to watch it again in the comfort of your home as soon as possible, we have some good news. The Blackening is set to receive a Premium VOD release on July 7th. Yes, tomorrow!
Story directed The Blackening from a screenplay by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins. Inspired by a Perkins-scripted 3Peat comedy sketch that aired on Comedy Central in 2018, the film is about a group of Black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who forces them to play a game with life-or-death consequences. The idea asks a reasonable question: since it seems that Black characters are usually the earliest victims in horror films,...
Story directed The Blackening from a screenplay by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins. Inspired by a Perkins-scripted 3Peat comedy sketch that aired on Comedy Central in 2018, the film is about a group of Black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who forces them to play a game with life-or-death consequences. The idea asks a reasonable question: since it seems that Black characters are usually the earliest victims in horror films,...
- 7/6/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Prepare to head back into the Further this week. The long Fourth of July Weekend means a lighter week ahead for new horror releases, but there’s still plenty to keep you busy. That includes a highly anticipated horror sequel arriving in theaters this week and a home release for one of the year’s funniest horror comedies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing July 3– July 7, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
Alice Maio Mackay’s acclaimed slasher film Bad Girl Boogey released on digital platforms July 4 with a DVD release on July 11.
“Bad Girl Boogey follows Angel, whose mother was brutally murdered one Halloween night when blood was shed by a deranged killer wearing a parasitic mask cursed with black magic and bigotry. Sixteen years later, when Angel’s best friend is slaughtered by a killer with the same mask, they must overcome their personal struggles,...
Here’s all the new horror releasing July 3– July 7, 2023!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
Alice Maio Mackay’s acclaimed slasher film Bad Girl Boogey released on digital platforms July 4 with a DVD release on July 11.
“Bad Girl Boogey follows Angel, whose mother was brutally murdered one Halloween night when blood was shed by a deranged killer wearing a parasitic mask cursed with black magic and bigotry. Sixteen years later, when Angel’s best friend is slaughtered by a killer with the same mask, they must overcome their personal struggles,...
- 7/5/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
After scaring up an estimated $7 million in theaters over Juneteenth weekend, director Tim Story‘s The Blackening is now headed home to Premium Video On Demand outlets this Friday, July 7, Bloody Disgusting has learned.
The Blackening, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
Joe Lipsett wrote in his 4-star TIFF review, “While the film isn’t Scream levels of meta,...
The Blackening, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
Joe Lipsett wrote in his 4-star TIFF review, “While the film isn’t Scream levels of meta,...
- 7/5/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Spoiler Alert: This interview contains spoilers from “The Blackening,” now playing in theaters.
Dewayne Perkins is living his dream — though the $8 million box office tally for “The Blackening” wasn’t something he actually dreamed was possible.
The microbudget (just $5 million) horror-comedy, co-written by and starring Perkins, follows a group of college friends who reunite to celebrate Juneteenth at a cabin in the woods, only to be hunted by a killer. But in a genre where the Black character usually dies first, what happens when all the characters are Black?
Perkins conceived the idea in 2016 as a sketch for his Chicago-based comedy troupe 3Peat. When it aired as a short on Comedy Central in 2018, the clip went viral and got the attention of Tracy Oliver, who — hot off the $140 million box office success of 2017’s “Girls Trip” — called with the idea that they could expand “The Blackening” into a feature film.
Dewayne Perkins is living his dream — though the $8 million box office tally for “The Blackening” wasn’t something he actually dreamed was possible.
The microbudget (just $5 million) horror-comedy, co-written by and starring Perkins, follows a group of college friends who reunite to celebrate Juneteenth at a cabin in the woods, only to be hunted by a killer. But in a genre where the Black character usually dies first, what happens when all the characters are Black?
Perkins conceived the idea in 2016 as a sketch for his Chicago-based comedy troupe 3Peat. When it aired as a short on Comedy Central in 2018, the clip went viral and got the attention of Tracy Oliver, who — hot off the $140 million box office success of 2017’s “Girls Trip” — called with the idea that they could expand “The Blackening” into a feature film.
- 6/24/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
The Blackening is a potent blend of comedy, and thrills that parodies and challenges the genre’s tropes, specifically those around a mostly Black cast. Under the direction of Tim Story and script by Tracy Oliver, and Dewayne Perkins, the film pays homage to some iconic horror franchises like Scream, Friday the 13th, and Saw with a bit of Cabin In The Woods sprinkled in for some extra razzle dazzle. In the midst of the chaotic hijinks, the narrative centers Black American culture and all of its complexities. The film also stars Perkins, Jermaine Fowler, Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, with Yvonne Orji, and Jay Pharoah.
Things start at a cabin in the woods like most horror movies these days. Morgan (Orji) and Shawn (Pharoah), a couple who are a part of a group of college friends reuniting after 10 years. The plan is...
Things start at a cabin in the woods like most horror movies these days. Morgan (Orji) and Shawn (Pharoah), a couple who are a part of a group of college friends reuniting after 10 years. The plan is...
- 6/21/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
The Blackening star Grace Byers didn’t just take on the tired trope of Black characters dying prematurely in horror movies. Her no-nonsense character, Allison, also challenged the idea that Blackness can be measured.
The Tim Story-directed horror-comedy revolves around a group of college friends who reunite for some fun at a remote cabin, but things quickly go awry when they become the target of a masked killer and his menacing board game, The Blackening. Eventually, Byers’ character suggests that the group split up, and this approach is yet another horror trope that rarely works out well for everyone. Recognizing this pattern, the college friends immediately criticize Allison’s judgment, attributing it to the white side of her biracial identity. (The friend group ultimately heeded Allison’s advice.)
The Pennsylvania-born, Cayman Islands-raised Byers is also biracial, so she understands exactly what her character is going through when her identity is constantly called into question.
The Tim Story-directed horror-comedy revolves around a group of college friends who reunite for some fun at a remote cabin, but things quickly go awry when they become the target of a masked killer and his menacing board game, The Blackening. Eventually, Byers’ character suggests that the group split up, and this approach is yet another horror trope that rarely works out well for everyone. Recognizing this pattern, the college friends immediately criticize Allison’s judgment, attributing it to the white side of her biracial identity. (The friend group ultimately heeded Allison’s advice.)
The Pennsylvania-born, Cayman Islands-raised Byers is also biracial, so she understands exactly what her character is going through when her identity is constantly called into question.
- 6/21/2023
- by Brian Davids
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
While the comparison is inevitable, it is certainly a bit unfair to compare Tim Story‘s The Blackening to Jordan Peele‘s Get Out. Both are horror comedies starring black characters and attempt to be both entertaining while also providing social commentary on black identity.
While both films obviously have different goals and approaches, it makes sense as to why the two films are being compared. However, while the comparison may be a bit unfair, it is also not unjustifiable either because in terms of being both a horror film and a comedy, Get Out is the superior film that manages to be both more entertaining and socially purposeful in a way that The Blackening fails to achieve.
Everything about The Blackening is incredibly surface level from its comedy to the social commentary about black identity to its obvious satire on the tropes pertaining to black characters in horror films and everything in between.
While both films obviously have different goals and approaches, it makes sense as to why the two films are being compared. However, while the comparison may be a bit unfair, it is also not unjustifiable either because in terms of being both a horror film and a comedy, Get Out is the superior film that manages to be both more entertaining and socially purposeful in a way that The Blackening fails to achieve.
Everything about The Blackening is incredibly surface level from its comedy to the social commentary about black identity to its obvious satire on the tropes pertaining to black characters in horror films and everything in between.
- 6/20/2023
- by Timothy Lee
- Uinterview
Lionsgate’s horror-comedy The Blackening was released into theaters for the long Juneteenth weekend, and Lionsgate is surely celebrating the film’s box office performance today.
Playing in 1,775 theaters across the country, The Blackening‘s 5-day total thus far is an estimated $7 million, which includes nearly $1 million from Thursday night previews.
The Blackening opened in sixth place at the crowded box office in its debut weekend, behind much larger studio blockbusters including The Flash, Elemental, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and The Little Mermaid. The good news for The Blackening is that the film’s production budget was just $5 million, which should allow for Lionsgate to start making box office profits real soon. The low budget horror-comedy was set up for success, whereas a mega budget film like DC’s The Flash was set up to fail.
That’s the beauty of the horror genre, as...
Playing in 1,775 theaters across the country, The Blackening‘s 5-day total thus far is an estimated $7 million, which includes nearly $1 million from Thursday night previews.
The Blackening opened in sixth place at the crowded box office in its debut weekend, behind much larger studio blockbusters including The Flash, Elemental, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and The Little Mermaid. The good news for The Blackening is that the film’s production budget was just $5 million, which should allow for Lionsgate to start making box office profits real soon. The low budget horror-comedy was set up for success, whereas a mega budget film like DC’s The Flash was set up to fail.
That’s the beauty of the horror genre, as...
- 6/20/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film reviews for the new releases “The Blackening,” a tart horror/comedy directed by Tim Story and the mystery comedy/romance “Maggie Moores(s), directed by John Slattery. Both In theaters since June 16th.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
“The Blackening” makes fun of the trope that the African-American character is often the first to die in horror movies by placing an all-Black group of friends in the proverbial cabin in the woods, during the Juneteenth weekend. There are confronted by a masked killer who demands that they rank their “degree of blackness” so that he can determine the correct order in which to kill them, and the cabin dwellers must rely on a combination of street smarts and their own knowledge of black history and horror films to survive.
”The Blackening” is in theaters since June 16th. Featuring Dewayne Perkins, Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg,...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
“The Blackening” makes fun of the trope that the African-American character is often the first to die in horror movies by placing an all-Black group of friends in the proverbial cabin in the woods, during the Juneteenth weekend. There are confronted by a masked killer who demands that they rank their “degree of blackness” so that he can determine the correct order in which to kill them, and the cabin dwellers must rely on a combination of street smarts and their own knowledge of black history and horror films to survive.
”The Blackening” is in theaters since June 16th. Featuring Dewayne Perkins, Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg,...
- 6/19/2023
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Spider-Man: Across The Spider Verse nearing $300m; Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts crossing $100m.
Updated: There was a lot riding on Warner Bros/DC’s The Flash and Disney/Pixar’s Elemental at the North American holiday weekend box office although the fact that both disappointed will not come as great surprise to Hollywood.
Both tentpoles were challenged. In the case of The Flash, a $200m-plus Ezra Miller headliner, it opened top of the charts on an estimated $55.1m over three days and earned $64.2m through Monday over the four-day Juneteenth federal holiday weekend.
The film had been tracking to...
Updated: There was a lot riding on Warner Bros/DC’s The Flash and Disney/Pixar’s Elemental at the North American holiday weekend box office although the fact that both disappointed will not come as great surprise to Hollywood.
Both tentpoles were challenged. In the case of The Flash, a $200m-plus Ezra Miller headliner, it opened top of the charts on an estimated $55.1m over three days and earned $64.2m through Monday over the four-day Juneteenth federal holiday weekend.
The film had been tracking to...
- 6/18/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
As a child, The Blackening star Antoinette Robertson was easily scared by horror movies, but it wasn’t until she got older that she realized the genre was scaring her off for a whole different reason.
Written by Dewayne Perkins and Tracy Oliver, the Tim Story-directed The Blackening is a horror-comedy that expands on Perkins’ 2018 short, parodying the age-old trope that Black characters are the first to die in horror films. Robertson plays Lisa, an ambitious lawyer who reunites with her college friends for a weekend getaway at a remote cabin. And despite some personal drama involving her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls), Lisa must step up to help save her friends from a masked killer, who’s ensnared them into playing a dangerous board game called The Blackening.
For Robertson, The Blackening was especially meaningful because she and her fellow collaborators were able to bring a bit...
Written by Dewayne Perkins and Tracy Oliver, the Tim Story-directed The Blackening is a horror-comedy that expands on Perkins’ 2018 short, parodying the age-old trope that Black characters are the first to die in horror films. Robertson plays Lisa, an ambitious lawyer who reunites with her college friends for a weekend getaway at a remote cabin. And despite some personal drama involving her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Nnamdi (Sinqua Walls), Lisa must step up to help save her friends from a masked killer, who’s ensnared them into playing a dangerous board game called The Blackening.
For Robertson, The Blackening was especially meaningful because she and her fellow collaborators were able to bring a bit...
- 6/18/2023
- by Brian Davids
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Blackening will go on. A California judge today denied a request for a temporary restraining order to delay the horror comedy’s release after saying the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Lionsgate failed to make their case.
In her ruling (read it here), United States District Court for the Central District of California, Judge Dale S. Fischer of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said Zahara Ariel and Jaryah Bobo “have not demonstrated any substantial likelihood of success on the merits.” They were trying to block today’s release of the pic, claiming that it infringes on their copyrights a screenplay, Southern Education, and a card game called Black Card Revoked.
“Plaintiffs present little to no detail regarding either the game or the screenplay, and there is no reason to believe that the expression of ideas in either has been copied in the making of the film,...
In her ruling (read it here), United States District Court for the Central District of California, Judge Dale S. Fischer of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said Zahara Ariel and Jaryah Bobo “have not demonstrated any substantial likelihood of success on the merits.” They were trying to block today’s release of the pic, claiming that it infringes on their copyrights a screenplay, Southern Education, and a card game called Black Card Revoked.
“Plaintiffs present little to no detail regarding either the game or the screenplay, and there is no reason to believe that the expression of ideas in either has been copied in the making of the film,...
- 6/16/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Asteroid City, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, The Flash and Secret Invasion.
The Flash premiere
Ezra Miller made their long-anticipated return on Monday at The Flash premiere in Los Angeles, joined by director Andy Muschietti and co-stars Ben Affleck, Sasha Calle, Kiersey Clemons and Michael Shannon.
Andy Muschietti and Ezra Miller Antje Traue, Michael Shannon and Sasha Calle Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
Extraction 2 premiere
Chris Hemsworth joined director Sam Hargrave and producer Anthony Russo at the New York premiere of their Netflix action film sequel.
Anthony Russo, Chris Hemsworth and Sam Hargrave
Chanel Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner
Chanel hosted the 16th annual Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner at Balthazar on Monday, honoring the artists who have contributed original artwork to the festival’s award-winning filmmakers.
The Flash premiere
Ezra Miller made their long-anticipated return on Monday at The Flash premiere in Los Angeles, joined by director Andy Muschietti and co-stars Ben Affleck, Sasha Calle, Kiersey Clemons and Michael Shannon.
Andy Muschietti and Ezra Miller Antje Traue, Michael Shannon and Sasha Calle Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck
Extraction 2 premiere
Chris Hemsworth joined director Sam Hargrave and producer Anthony Russo at the New York premiere of their Netflix action film sequel.
Anthony Russo, Chris Hemsworth and Sam Hargrave
Chanel Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner
Chanel hosted the 16th annual Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner at Balthazar on Monday, honoring the artists who have contributed original artwork to the festival’s award-winning filmmakers.
- 6/16/2023
- by Kirsten Chuba
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"The Blackening" is finally changing the narrative for Black characters in the horror space - and it's about damn time.
The Tim Story-directed horror-comedy mashup, cowritten by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins, reunites a group of friends - portrayed by Perkins, Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, and Yvonne Orji - for a Juneteenth cabin trip gone horribly (and gorily) wrong, as they all find themselves trapped playing a deadly game with a deranged killer on the loose. While the scenario may sound familiar, it's unlike anything audiences - especially Black audiences - have ever seen before.
With its comedic moments, satirical elements, and hero-esque endgame, "The Blackening" is rare compared to traditional horror stories where Black characters don't get to control their own fate, much less survive until the end of a movie. So the cast consider it an honor...
The Tim Story-directed horror-comedy mashup, cowritten by Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins, reunites a group of friends - portrayed by Perkins, Grace Byers, Jermaine Fowler, Melvin Gregg, X Mayo, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jay Pharoah, and Yvonne Orji - for a Juneteenth cabin trip gone horribly (and gorily) wrong, as they all find themselves trapped playing a deadly game with a deranged killer on the loose. While the scenario may sound familiar, it's unlike anything audiences - especially Black audiences - have ever seen before.
With its comedic moments, satirical elements, and hero-esque endgame, "The Blackening" is rare compared to traditional horror stories where Black characters don't get to control their own fate, much less survive until the end of a movie. So the cast consider it an honor...
- 6/16/2023
- by Njera Perkins
- Popsugar.com
“Elemental,” an opposites-attract love story set in a world of, well, elements, began its domestic box office jaunt with $2.4 million in Thursday previews. With merely decent reviews (75% fresh and 6.5/10 on Rotten Tomatoes) and little being sold beyond “Hey, it’s the next Pixar film!”), the Peter Sohn-directed flick could struggle to match the $29 million Fri-Sun debut (amid a $39 million Wed-Sun launch) of “Toy Story” back in 1995, let alone the over/under $39 million Fri-Sun debuts of “The Good Dinosaur” in 2015 and “Onward” (which opened a week before Covid shut down the world) in 2020.
Just running the numbers, if “Elemental” legs over the weekend like “Lightyear” ($51 million from a $5.2 million Thursday), it’ll open with just $23.5 million by Sunday night. Being more optimistic, however unlikely, if “Elemental” legs like “Cars 3” ($53 million/$2.6 million), well, then it opens with $49 million and you can ignore the next few paragraphs of doom-n-gloom.
Elemental trailer
Generally speaking,...
Just running the numbers, if “Elemental” legs over the weekend like “Lightyear” ($51 million from a $5.2 million Thursday), it’ll open with just $23.5 million by Sunday night. Being more optimistic, however unlikely, if “Elemental” legs like “Cars 3” ($53 million/$2.6 million), well, then it opens with $49 million and you can ignore the next few paragraphs of doom-n-gloom.
Elemental trailer
Generally speaking,...
- 6/16/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Antoinette Robertson as Lisa, Grace Byers as Allison, Jermaine Fowler as Clifton and Dewayne Perkins as Dewayne in The Blackening. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson. Courtesy of Lionsgate
A group of college friends gather at a cabin in the woods, for a weekend reunion of sorts. What could go wrong? Well, we know what could go wrong, but the twist in the comedy-horror film The Blackening is the all-black cast and the comedy-horror film’s determined satiric skewering of that old horror film knack for killing off the Black character first. But like the film’s tagline says, they can’t all die first.
In fact, The Blackening leans much more into satiric comedy than horror, having fun with every little horror trope, not just the racist ones. But it does whittle down the group of friends as it goes and provides some jump scares. On one level, the humor is...
A group of college friends gather at a cabin in the woods, for a weekend reunion of sorts. What could go wrong? Well, we know what could go wrong, but the twist in the comedy-horror film The Blackening is the all-black cast and the comedy-horror film’s determined satiric skewering of that old horror film knack for killing off the Black character first. But like the film’s tagline says, they can’t all die first.
In fact, The Blackening leans much more into satiric comedy than horror, having fun with every little horror trope, not just the racist ones. But it does whittle down the group of friends as it goes and provides some jump scares. On one level, the humor is...
- 6/16/2023
- by Cate Marquis
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Blackening is a Horror Movie directed by Tim Story, starring Antoinette Robertson and Sinqua Walls
Seven black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.
Release date
June 16
Where to Watch The Blackening
Theaters
The Cast Antoinette Robertson Sinqua Walls
Dewayne Perkins
X Mayo
The post ‘The Blackening’ (2023) Release on June 16 appeared first on Martin Cid Magazine.
Seven black friends who go away for the weekend only to find themselves trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.
Release date
June 16
Where to Watch The Blackening
Theaters
The Cast Antoinette Robertson Sinqua Walls
Dewayne Perkins
X Mayo
The post ‘The Blackening’ (2023) Release on June 16 appeared first on Martin Cid Magazine.
- 6/16/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
One of the most offensive tropes in horror movies is that the Black characters die first. Tim Story's upcoming horror comedy, "The Blackening," sets out to find out what happens when all the characters are Black. "We can't all die first," the film's tagline reads. The movie, which hits theaters on June 16, focuses on a group of Black friends staying at a remote cabin in the woods who are targeted by a masked killer on Juneteenth weekend. In order to stay alive, the group must play a game called "The Blackening" that makes them question their own and each other's Blackness. As part of their first task, the group must sacrifice who they think is the "Blackest," which leads to chaos as the friends argue over who's deserving of the title.
The premise of the film was based on a 2018 short film of the same name by 3Peat. In a 2022 interview with Collider,...
The premise of the film was based on a 2018 short film of the same name by 3Peat. In a 2022 interview with Collider,...
- 6/15/2023
- by Michele Mendez
- Popsugar.com
So much has happened in mainstream horror since Jordan Peele released Get Out that it would be understandable if you felt uneasy about The Blackening, a slasher thriller directed by Tim Story (Barbershop). Peele’s feature debut subjected us to a wave — or maybe a better word is tsunami — of copycats and derivatives. They were labeled “social horror,” written furiously about, sometimes critically praised, commercially erratic and left to collect dust.
They quickly became their own kind of joke, a sign of desperate times. These films aspired to Peele’s Get Out but lacked its humor and its smarts. Their narratives were a Mad Libs-esque exercise of transgressions against Black Americans: They were about racist legal codes, police brutality, microaggressions on campus and macroaggressions everywhere. In a frantic rush to tell us something about ourselves, these flicks rarely said anything at all.
The Blackening is not like those other...
They quickly became their own kind of joke, a sign of desperate times. These films aspired to Peele’s Get Out but lacked its humor and its smarts. Their narratives were a Mad Libs-esque exercise of transgressions against Black Americans: They were about racist legal codes, police brutality, microaggressions on campus and macroaggressions everywhere. In a frantic rush to tell us something about ourselves, these flicks rarely said anything at all.
The Blackening is not like those other...
- 6/15/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
One of the year’s most infectious horror comedies, The Blackening, arrives in theaters this Friday, June 16, 2023.
The Blackening centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sarcastic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
The Blackening stars Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler, Yvonne Orji, and Jay Pharoah.
Melvin Gregg as King, Grace Byers as Allison, Antoinette Robertson as Lisa, Sinqua Walls as Nnamdi,...
The Blackening centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sarcastic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
The Blackening stars Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler, Yvonne Orji, and Jay Pharoah.
Melvin Gregg as King, Grace Byers as Allison, Antoinette Robertson as Lisa, Sinqua Walls as Nnamdi,...
- 6/14/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Box office preview: ‘The Flash,’ ‘Elemental,’ ‘The Blackening’ will keep the summer movie love going
After strong releases to kick off the month of June, three more wide releases will try to split up any potential business to give the summer box office a boost. This weekend should also benefit from Father’s Day on Sunday and the Juneteenth government holiday on Monday. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.
The widest release of the weekend is Warner Bros’ “The Flash,” starring Ezra Miller and more, which ties some of Zack Snyder‘s Dceu movies into the upcoming plans by James Gunn, or so it’s been said. The movie has been plagued with problems almost going back to Miller’s casting for Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in 2016, which includes various writers and directors coming on board and then leaving. The movie was also delayed a few times due to Covid, and then last year, Miller (who uses they...
The widest release of the weekend is Warner Bros’ “The Flash,” starring Ezra Miller and more, which ties some of Zack Snyder‘s Dceu movies into the upcoming plans by James Gunn, or so it’s been said. The movie has been plagued with problems almost going back to Miller’s casting for Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” in 2016, which includes various writers and directors coming on board and then leaving. The movie was also delayed a few times due to Covid, and then last year, Miller (who uses they...
- 6/14/2023
- by Edward Douglas
- Gold Derby
Unlike the character he wrote and plays in the horror spoof The Blackening, comedian Dewayne Perkins will not be staying at a cabin in the woods anytime soon. “I went camping once and it was one of those moments where I was like, ‘This is what this is? We’re really sleeping on the ground … outside?’ ” he says with a quizzical eyebrow during a video interview a few weeks before The Blackening opens in theaters June 16. “I never went back.”
However, as onscreen Dewayne (yes, he and his character share the same name, and they are both openly gay), he joins nine college besties at a cabin deep, deep in the woods over Juneteenth weekend. What was supposed to be a much-needed get-together among friends drinking highly sweetened drinks and indulging in trash-talking hijinks turns into them playing a bloody trivia game called The Blackening, which determines who’s Black enough and who isn’t.
However, as onscreen Dewayne (yes, he and his character share the same name, and they are both openly gay), he joins nine college besties at a cabin deep, deep in the woods over Juneteenth weekend. What was supposed to be a much-needed get-together among friends drinking highly sweetened drinks and indulging in trash-talking hijinks turns into them playing a bloody trivia game called The Blackening, which determines who’s Black enough and who isn’t.
- 6/14/2023
- by Cori Murray
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
From left: Melvin Gregg, Grace Byers, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jermaine Fowler, Dewayne Perkins, Xochitl Mayo in The BlackeningPhoto: Lionsgate
A satire that begins with its title, The Blackening relentlessly “uses humor, irony, exaggeration, to expose and criticize stupidity.” That is, of course, the Oxford dictionary definition of the word...
A satire that begins with its title, The Blackening relentlessly “uses humor, irony, exaggeration, to expose and criticize stupidity.” That is, of course, the Oxford dictionary definition of the word...
- 6/14/2023
- by Timothy Cogshell
- avclub.com
“The Blackening” is a slasher movie that’s also a slapdash enjoyable social satire. That the satire turns out to be sharper than the scares isn’t a problem — it’s all part of the film’s slovenly demonic party atmosphere. The set-up, which feels like a “Friday the 13th” sequel by way of “Bodies Bodies Bodies,” reunites nine old college chums to celebrate Juneteenth weekend in a big roomy house they’ve rented near the woods.
As Tina Turner’s cover of “I Can’t Stand the Rain” spins on the turntable, the first two to arrive, Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharaoh), find their way to the basement game room, which has shelves of old board games, an ancient TV set, a Ouija board, and a prominently displayed game called The Blackening. Taking the box cover off, they discover, to their horror, that there’s a plastic...
As Tina Turner’s cover of “I Can’t Stand the Rain” spins on the turntable, the first two to arrive, Morgan (Yvonne Orji) and Shawn (Jay Pharaoh), find their way to the basement game room, which has shelves of old board games, an ancient TV set, a Ouija board, and a prominently displayed game called The Blackening. Taking the box cover off, they discover, to their horror, that there’s a plastic...
- 6/14/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Lionsgate’s horror-comedy The Blackening is releasing in theaters on June 16, 2023, for Juneteenth weekend, and tickets for the witty film are available now.
The Blackening, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sarcastic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
The Blackening stars Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler, Yvonne Orji, and Jay Pharoah.
Ahead of the film’s release,...
The Blackening, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sarcastic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
The Blackening stars Antoinette Robertson, Dewayne Perkins, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, X Mayo, Melvin Gregg, Jermaine Fowler, Yvonne Orji, and Jay Pharoah.
Ahead of the film’s release,...
- 6/13/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Chicago – The poster says, “We Can’t All Die First,” referring of course to the killer/slasher film that regularly murders the black member of friend group first. The film is “The Blackening” and it came from the mind of co-writer and featured actor Dewayne Perkins, who conceived of the idea initially as a sketch.
The film interrogates the trope that the African-American character is often the first to die in horror movies by placing an all-Black group of friends at a cabin in the woods, where they are confronted with a masked killer who demands that they rank their degrees of blackness so that he can determine the correct order in which to kill them, and must rely on a combination of street smarts and their own knowledge of horror film tropes to survive.
Dewayne Perkins of ‘The Blackening’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Dewayne Perkins is Chicago born and raised,...
The film interrogates the trope that the African-American character is often the first to die in horror movies by placing an all-Black group of friends at a cabin in the woods, where they are confronted with a masked killer who demands that they rank their degrees of blackness so that he can determine the correct order in which to kill them, and must rely on a combination of street smarts and their own knowledge of horror film tropes to survive.
Dewayne Perkins of ‘The Blackening’
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Dewayne Perkins is Chicago born and raised,...
- 6/12/2023
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Melvin Gregg, Grace Byers, Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Jermaine Fowler, Dewayne Perkins, and Xochitl Mayo in The Blackening.Photo: Glen Wilson/Lionsgate
The thing about sleeper hits is that they’re hard to predict. By definition, they’re supposed to catch us by surprise. But sometimes there are signs that a little movie—like,...
The thing about sleeper hits is that they’re hard to predict. By definition, they’re supposed to catch us by surprise. But sometimes there are signs that a little movie—like,...
- 6/12/2023
- by Cindy White
- avclub.com
Combat veterans, famously, don’t tend to talk much, if at all, about their experiences of war. At least not to civilians, and maybe not even to their closest relatives. Knowing this, those of us who aren’t veterans tend to have ideas about the things they aren’t discussing. Things like violence and fear and the chaos and insanity of battle. That’s surely a part of it, but in a way it’s also the heightened cinematic version, the one we’ve all gotten from war movies. What it leaves out are the torn-up emotions of soldiers, the lifelong imprint left upon them not just by the cataclysm of war but by their relationship with their fellow soldiers — the loyalty and love, the complex code of liberation and guilt at having survived.
“Mending the Line” is a drama about two veterans and their relationship to the combat experience,...
“Mending the Line” is a drama about two veterans and their relationship to the combat experience,...
- 6/9/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Two from Magnolia Pictures, the story of an iconic record album design firm back and a sighting of Brian Cox usher in a specialty weekend with smoke clearing over New York City. Acrid plumes from Canadian wildfires have smothered the key arthouse market over the past few days in an unusual air quality event that had Mayor Eric Adams urging people to home.
Friday the sky was visible and air fresher, a boon for all — including the ongoing Tribeca Festival, which opened Wednesday night and will be unspooling 100+ features and events through June 17.
New openings: From Magnolia, Dalíland by Mary Harron starring Ben Kingsley as the iconic artist in 20 markets (including Quad in NYC and Nuart in LA) and on VOD. Written by John C. Walsh. With Christopher Briney, Barbara Sukowa, Ezra Miller, Andreja Pejic. Premiered as TIFF’s closing night film, see Deadline review here. Follows the later years...
Friday the sky was visible and air fresher, a boon for all — including the ongoing Tribeca Festival, which opened Wednesday night and will be unspooling 100+ features and events through June 17.
New openings: From Magnolia, Dalíland by Mary Harron starring Ben Kingsley as the iconic artist in 20 markets (including Quad in NYC and Nuart in LA) and on VOD. Written by John C. Walsh. With Christopher Briney, Barbara Sukowa, Ezra Miller, Andreja Pejic. Premiered as TIFF’s closing night film, see Deadline review here. Follows the later years...
- 6/9/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
A Juneteenth weekend getway turns into a deadly game for survival in the new horror comedy The Blackening, arriving in theaters on June 16th from Lionsgate, and I had a chance to catch up with director Tim Story, who told me all about his horror influences, casting, and his on-set experience:
The Blackening centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game. Directed by Tim Story and screenplay and screen story by Tracy Oliver & Dewayne Perkins, The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
Lionsgate and MRC present, a Story Company / Tracy Yvonne / Artists First / Catchlight Studios production.
Starring Grace Byers,...
The Blackening centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game. Directed by Tim Story and screenplay and screen story by Tracy Oliver & Dewayne Perkins, The Blackening skewers genre tropes and poses the sardonic question: if the entire cast of a horror movie is Black, who dies first?
Lionsgate and MRC present, a Story Company / Tracy Yvonne / Artists First / Catchlight Studios production.
Starring Grace Byers,...
- 6/8/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
At last year’s TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), one of the most raucous screenings I attended was The Blackening. Directed by Tim Story, the movie is a horror-comedy mashup about a group of black friends who rent a cabin together for the weekend, only to be stalked by a masked killer. While it may sound like standard stuff, the movie actually works as a pretty funny satire about the role of black characters in horror, which, in the eighties and nineties, often saw them killed off first. They have fun with the genre conventions and ultimately craft a movie that works well as a comedy but at the same time isn’t “zany” in the way something like Scary Movie is.
I was happy to get the chance to speak to many of the people involved with the film recently, and the faith they have in the movie is infectious.
I was happy to get the chance to speak to many of the people involved with the film recently, and the faith they have in the movie is infectious.
- 6/8/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Lionsgate’s horror-comedy The Blackening is releasing in theaters on June 16, 2023 for Juneteenth weekend, and tickets for the acclaimed film are available now.
While you wait, preview The Blackening with three new clips below.
On display in these clips, the film looks like a hilarious mix of Saw, The Cabin in the Woods, and Scream, filtering its meta commentary on the horror genre through an all-Black lens.
The Blackening, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening...
While you wait, preview The Blackening with three new clips below.
On display in these clips, the film looks like a hilarious mix of Saw, The Cabin in the Woods, and Scream, filtering its meta commentary on the horror genre through an all-Black lens.
The Blackening, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherf****** game.
Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along, Think Like A Man, Barbershop) and co-written by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip, Harlem) and Dewayne Perkins (“The Amber Ruffin Show,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”), The Blackening...
- 6/5/2023
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Exclusive: Blue Fox Entertainment has taken U.S. rights to the sci-fi comedy Relax, I’m from the Future, starring Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords) and Gabrielle Graham (Possessor), from Wango Films. The film written and directed by Luke Higginson will be released in theaters nationwide this fall.
Based on a same-name 2013 short from Higginson, Relax follows Casper (Darby), a charming, but embarrassingly underprepared time traveler, now trapped in the past. When he befriends Holly (Graham), a jaded drifter, she helps him exploit his trivial knowledge of the future for a series of quick payouts, oblivious to the consequences they have set in motion. When tracked down by a more competent time traveler, Casper and Holly are forced to figure out what they mean to each other and whether the future they’ve threatened is even worth saving. Will they embrace their fate, or do they have the courage to change it?...
Based on a same-name 2013 short from Higginson, Relax follows Casper (Darby), a charming, but embarrassingly underprepared time traveler, now trapped in the past. When he befriends Holly (Graham), a jaded drifter, she helps him exploit his trivial knowledge of the future for a series of quick payouts, oblivious to the consequences they have set in motion. When tracked down by a more competent time traveler, Casper and Holly are forced to figure out what they mean to each other and whether the future they’ve threatened is even worth saving. Will they embrace their fate, or do they have the courage to change it?...
- 6/2/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
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