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Read our first half review of the Akshay Kumar starrer Kesari Chapter 2(Photo Credit –Instagram)

We are done with the first half of the Akshay Kumar starrer Kesari Chapter 2 and we are immediately taken back to the horrifying Jallianwala Bagh massacre in the beginning which evokes the pain, anger and pathos in our hearts. The movie does not waste any time in introducting the conscience and confusion in C Sankaran Nair’s mind. From receiving the knighthood on the day of the massacre to realising the actual reality of the Britishers’ atrocities, you literally get goosebumps when Nair enters the courtroom as a changed and determined man.

C Sankaran Nair (Akshay Kumar) finds a strong ally in female lawyer Dilpreet Gill (Ananya Panday) while going against the Crown in the case of genocide against the Britishers. However, owing to their ‘divide and rule’ policy, the Britishers put Nair against their trump card,...

MetFilm Distribution has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Silvio Soldini’s Second World War drama The Tastersfrom Italy’s Vision Distribution.

MetFilm will release the film in cinemas later this year.

Based on Rosella Postorino’s 2018 novel At The Wolf’s Table, The Tasters reconstructs the true story of the women coerced into being food tasters for Adolf Hitler towards the end of the Second World War.

Soldini wrote the screenplay with Doriana Leondeff, Cristina Comencini, Giulia Calenda, Ilaria Macchia and Lucio Ricca.

The film is produced by Lionello Cerri, Stefan Jager, Cristiana Mainardi, Katrin Renz and Joseph Rouschop for...

Warning! Spoilers about The Diplomat season 2, episode 6 ahead.

The attack on Hms Courageous has always been at the center of the political drama, and The Diplomat season 2 finally revealed the multiple masterminds behind it. The Diplomat season 1 beginning with the attack against Hms Courageous and Kates new appointment as US Ambassador to the UK indissolubly linked the two events, embroiling Kate in its fallout as a consequence of the US foreign policy because the culprit behind it was originally believed to be Iran. However, if season 1 thinned the herds of potential perpetrators one by one, The Diplomat season 2 needed to generate actual answers.

Enough proof against Russian mercenary Roman Lenkov ensured no doubt remained about who executed the attack, but how opaque everything was regarding the instigators made them virtually impossible to discover, especially after Merritt Groves actions set off the car bomb in The Diplomat season 1s finale. Indeed,...

Two new movies just barely cracked the top 5 in one of the worst weekends of the summer with no movie making more than $19 million. Read on for the weekend box office report.

“Deadpool and Wolverine” returned to #1 with an estimated $18.3 million, down just 39% in its fifth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $577.2 million. That’s not only the second-best showing for the year after Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” but it’s also passed last year’s #2 movie, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” to become the 16th highest-grossing domestic blockbuster ever. Marvel Studios’ only 2024 release has passed $1.2 billion worldwide with another $20.2 million made overseas this weekend.

Disney’s other current release, “Alien: Romulus,” took a massive second weekend plunge, dropping to second place with $16.2 million (down 61%) to bring its North American total to $72.6 million. It’s closing in on 2017’s “Alien: Covenant” to become the fourth-highest movie in the “Alien” franchise,...

This week, the “Dog Days of Summer” will be put to the test, with nothing new on the scale of “Alien: Romulus” or other big franchise movies from earlier in the summer. Read on for Gold Derby’s box office preview.

That term, which also represents the heat and humidity typical of August, comes from the fact that many studios will randomly dump their movies into the latter part of August in hopes of getting them off their roster before the fall. The weekend just before Labor Day has always historically been proof of that fact, with a scant few exceptions.

This weekend offers two new genre movies that may have done better at any other time of the year, but will be struggling against the returning fare, including “Alien: Romulus,” which should win the weekend despite a significant drop, probably to less than $20 million.

Actor Zoë Kravitz makes her...

Mr. Big have announced their 10th studio album, simply titled Ten, which arrives July 12th.

The hard rock vets also offered up lead single “Good Luck Trying.” The song is built around a strutting blues riff from guitarist Paul Gilbert and unfurls at a fast pace. If the verses carry a heavy Led Zeppelin vibe, then the slowed-down chorus is more Bad Company, opening up space for frontman Eric Martin’s strong vocal delivery.

Get Mr. Big Tickets Here

“Overall, it’s about being overwhelmed with life, and realizing that you won’t win many of the battles, but still fighting to the end,” stated Gilbert on the lyrics. “And keeping a sense of humor about it by saying to anyone nearby, ‘Wish me good luck trying!'”

Ten was produced by Jay Ruston and Mr. Big. The band’s lineup features Martin, Gilbert, and Billy Sheehan alongside drummer Nick D’Virgilio,...

Tubi, Fox’s free streaming service, has announced its list of April titles. The April 2024 slate features new Tubi Originals as well as numerous action, Black cinema, comedy, documentary, drama, horror, kids and family, romance, sci-fi and fantasy, thriller, and Western titles.

As a leading ad-supported video-on-demand service, Tubi engages diverse audiences through a personalized experience and the world’s largest content library, which includes over 200,000 movies and TV episodes, a growing collection of Tubi Originals, and nearly 250 Fast channels.

You can watch the Tubi April 2024 lineup for free on Android and iOS mobile devices, Amazon Echo Show, Google Nest Hub Max, Comcast Xfinity X1, and Cox Contour.

You can also watch the service on connected television devices such as Amazon Fire TV, Vizio TVs, Sony TVs, Samsung TVs, Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, Android TV, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and on the web at Tubi.tv.

Tubi Originals

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Behind...

After a season of spending, Freevee knows you don't have to break the bank for quality. The free Amazon streamer has already added several titles to its platform to start the month, including the Tom Hanks-starred "Captain Phillips" and Ryan Coogler's directorial debut "Fruitvale Station," but more great titles will be coming throughout the rest of the month.

Find out The Streamable's top picks for what's here now and what's coming to the streamer throughout January!

Watch Now Free amazonfreevee.com What are the 5 Best Shows and Movies Coming to Freevee in January 2024? “Baby Driver” | Monday, Jan. 1

Edgar Wright helms the action thriller starring Ansel Elgort as Baby, a prodigal heist getaway driver and music-loving orphan in for one last job before riding off into the sunset with his girlfriend Debora (Lily James). Eiza Gonzalez, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal, and Kevin Spacey make up the supporting...

Zorro and Expats are the big shows coming to Prime Video in January. The former is what Amazon are calling a “bold reinterpretation” of the classic hero El Zorro for 2024. Starring Miguel Bernardeau as Diego de la Vega and Renata Notni as Lolita Marquez, it’s definitely an intriguing-sounding action-adventure series, with a ten-episode first season based on the iconic character originally created by Johnston McCulley all the way back in 1919.

Meanwhile, upcoming drama series Expats is based on the bestselling 2016 novel The Expatriates by Janice Y. K. Lee, and follows “the vibrant lives of a close-knit expatriate community” in Hong Kong. Nicole Kidman has been known for picking the right kind of shows to lead in the past, so let’s hope this is another banger for the actress, who is also on board as an executive producer here.

Here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month.

While the Lgtbq rights movement has made tremendous strides since that first rock was thrown at the Stonewall Inn in New York City in 1969, there are still many areas of the U.S. where the queer community doesn’t feel safe.

In the new Hulu documentary, “We Live Here: The Midwest,” director Melina Maerker and producer David Clayton Miller chronicle queer families living in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota and Ohio. “It took a long time,” Maerker told me at the recent Los Angeles “We Live Here” premiere of finding people to participate in the film. “It was really hard.”

“First it was a lot of interviewing families and seeing if they were willing to tell their stories,” Miller said. “But many of them were concerned about their jobs, let alone what their neighbors would feel about them. It was very difficult.”

Maerker added, “They feared a lot of discrimination within their community,...

Prime Video has a fair amount in store for subscribers in November, as the uber-violent hit animated show Invincible returns for its highly anticipated second season. Based on the iconic comic book by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley, season two will find super-powered protagonist Mark attempting to rebuild his life after finding out the truth about his father Nolan.

Elsewhere on the streamer, the producing team behind the James Bond movies are out to spin the franchise in a completely different direction by debuting their curious new globe-trotting adventure series, pitched somewhere between a quiz show and a treasure hunt. 007: Road To A Million features Brian Cox as the game’s “mastermind”, watching over the contestants as they try to win a million quid.

Here’s everything coming to Amazon Prime Video and Freevee this month. Amazon Originals are accompanied by an asterisk!

New on Amazon Prime...

Cobalt Pictures has acquired foreign distribution rights to the human trafficking thriller Pursuit Of Freedom starring Jessica Koloian, Stelio Savante, Robia Scott, Sharonne Lanier, Brayden Eaton, Tenley Kellog, Elias Kemuel, Mark Lowry and Robert Amaya.

Pursuit Of Freedom is the true story of a Ukrainian woman (Koloian) who was separated from her three children and sold into trafficking by Russian gangsters. After years of struggle, she defied all odds with the help and kindness of a Dutch nurse (Lanier), an Armenian missionary (Savante), and an American pastor (Amaya). Though countries, miles, and time kept them apart, she held onto her faith and with the help of the church and strangers, survived to be reunited with her children. Written and directed by NATAS Lgl Emmy® Award-Winning director George A. Johnson, executive produced by Lonnie Norris and Connie Norris, and produced by George A. Johnson, Karen Johnson and Stelio Savante.

The cast...

Warning: The following contains Spoliers for The Diplomat

The season 1 ending of the new political Netflix series The Diplomat culminated in a major twist about the attack on the Hms Courageous, but not without proper setup. Although the reveal was shocking, in retrospect there were several key pieces of information that pointed to the truth that US Ambassador Kate Wyler discovered in the final moments of The Diplomat season 1. With The Diplomat season 2 already getting picked up by Netflix after the success of season 1, one of the biggest questions left unanswered is how Prime Minister Nicol Trowbridge can be stopped.

Trowbridge (Rory Kinnear) appears to be the person behind the attack on his own Royal Naval vessel. Several of the biggest curveballs The Diplomat has in season 1 hint at Trowbridge's hidden agenda to reestablish his prominence as prime minister of the United Kingdom. Ostensibly, Trowbridge is a prideful and stubborn...

The powerful and moving award winning Christian thriller Pursuit of Freedom (fka Pulled From Darkness) is now streaming nationwide on Pureflix . Pursuit of Freedom stars Jessica Koloian, SAG Award Nominee Stelio Savante, Robia Scott, and Sharonne Lanier, with Robert Amaya and special appearances by The Voice’s Season One winner, Javier Colon, and singer, songwriter, Mark Lowry. Also including Pete Berwick, Dylan Bostic, Nate Burkhalter, Bobby Easley, Brayden Eaton, Elias Kemuel, Tenley Kellogg, Mike Markoff, Garry Nation, Gigi Orsillo, Steve Shermett, Mimi Sagadin, Anna Terry, Todd Terry, and Brett Varvel.

Pursuit of Freedom

Pursuit Of Freedom is the true story of a Ukrainian woman who was separated from her three children and sold into trafficking by Russian gangsters. After years of struggle, she defied all odds with the help and kindness of a Dutch nurse, an Armenian missionary, and an American pastor. Though countries, miles, and time kept them apart,...

Amazon Prime Video has popped off with plenty of new content for March 2023 with original shows and some great catches for films to stream. “Top Gun: Maverick” will arrive March 24, and Jordan Peele’s “Nope” before that on March 21. For those anticipating “Creed III,” the first two films starring and directed by Michael B. Jordan will become available at the beginning of March along with all of the “Rocky” films as well as “Cinderella Man” for the broader boxing buff community. A theatrical release from 2022, “The Silent Twins,” starring Letitia Wright and Tamara Lawrence arrives March 7.

Friday March 3 will see “Daisy Jones & The Six” rock the world when the band’s epic limited series comes out. Riley Keough, Sam Claflin, Suki Waterhouse, and more will bring Taylor Jenkins Reid’s best-selling novel to life. Other shows to look forward to on the streamer are Donald Glover’s horror series...

With its list of new releases for March 2023, Amazon Prime Video might be rolling out its most impressive monthly lineup yet.

We know that sounds like something straight out of a press release but in this case, it’s actually true! Prime Video, bless it, has some excellent original titles like The Boys and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but its monthly release updates have often been less inspiring than its TV peers. That’s certainly not the case with March 2023 though.

Prime Video gets its streaming party started early by premiering the first three episodes of Daisy Jones & The Six on March 3. This series, based on a book of the same name, tells the fictional Behind the Music-esque story of an equally fictional band. Then, on March 17, Amazon’s partnership with Donald Glover bears its first fruit with the series about obsessive fandom called Swarm. Reggie Jackson documentary Reggie premieres...

Get ready to have a rockin’ good time with Prime Video and Amazon Freevee as they welcome a batch of fresh titles to their libraries this March. Among the must-see titles are Donald Glover‘s Swarm featuring Dominique Fishback and Chloe Bailey, along with the highly anticipated adaptation of Daisy Jones & The Six led by Riley Keough and Sam Claflin. Other featured shows include The Power, Dom, and Class of ’07 among others. Scroll down for the full listing of what’s coming to Prime Video and Amazon Freevee in March 2023. Available for Streaming on Prime Video: March 1 Def Comedy Jam – S1-S7 12 Angry Men A Fish Called Wanda Akeelah and The Bee American Gangster Barbershop Barefoot in the Park Being John Malkovich Big Daddy Capote Carrie (1976) Carrie (2013) Cinderella Man Cloverfield Contraband Courageous Creed Creed II Creed (Credit: Barry Wetcher/©Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection) Dazed and Confused Detroit Duck...

March is still winter, no matter which animal you ask, which means it’s still completely acceptable to cancel all plans and curl up under a blanket in front of the TV. Prime Video’s movie library updates throughout the month, with most of its new additions on March 1 — including the “Rocky” saga, multiple “Carrie” adaptations, “12 Angry Men,” and more.

For Prime users who love books and TV, March means the highly-anticipated premiere of “Daisy Jones & the Six,” based on the best-selling novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The eponymous Daisy (Riley Keough) and Billy Dunne’s band (Sam Claflin) make a mean match, starting with a hit single and leading to what seems like endless fame and glory. But where there is success there is peril, and both the band’s rise and an electric connection with Daisy threaten Billy’s marriage and everyone’s personal lives. James Ponsoldt,...

The current state of the box office can best be described as polarized. On one hand, last weekend was the lowest grossing weekend at the box office since June, and if it drops further this weekend it could be the lowest since May. On the other hand, we’re witnessing a dream run for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which opened better than expected and is now holding better than expected. It is on the cusp of passing its fellow Marvel blockbuster Black Widow as the year’s top grosser, and by the end of the weekend should be nearing $200 million. The overall market may be slumping, but individual films are still shining.

The international box office also looks promising, with Dune smashing expectations overseas with its $37 million opening weekend, mostly in Europe. China is back to being a lucrative market for Hollywood as well, with Free Guy...

After its record-shattering Labor Day weekend debut, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is set to rule the box office in its second weekend. The latest Marvel superhero movie has exceeded expectations, and there was a collective sigh of relief for the industry after over a month of disappointing box office returns. With confirmation that a blockbuster is still possible in the current environment, as well as the appearance that the current Covid-19 wave may be turning around, the future of the box office is finally looking brighter, even though the month of September is light on major releases. It has certainly given Sony some confidence, as they have moved forward the release date of Venom: Let There Be Carnage by two weeks to October 1.

Shang-Chi is the year’s second best opening weekend after Black Widow, but with its Labor Day holiday gross it was able to pull ahead,...

Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C) has announced more than $143.18 million has been pledged collectively in connection with its seventh biennial roadblock televised fundraising special that aired on Saturday, August 21 in the U.S. and Canada.

Funding raised from the show as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors supports urgently needed research and breakthrough new treatments for cancer and public awareness campaigns.

SU2C’s biennial telecast, which was delayed by one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, was co-executive produced by Academy Award-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth, a media industry entrepreneur and investor, who worked alongside the renowned live-event producing team Done + Dusted and Stand Up To Cancer’s production team. Anthony Anderson, Ken Jeong & Tran Ho, and Sofia Vergara also joined as cohosts, along with SU2C co-founder Katie Couric, who appeared as a special guest.

“We are so appreciative of the generosity of the entertainment community,...

Sony will be opening the Kendrick Brothers’ new documentary Show Me the Father on Sept. 10, while the studio has dated a 10th anniversary re-release of the filmmakers’ Courageous for Oct. 15. Show Me the Father explores the fatherhood of God.

“Everyone has a father story, but not everyone has learned how to redeem it for their own good and the good of others,” said executive producer Stephen Kendrick. “Even though fatherlessness is directly connected to so much brokenness in today’s world, we wanted to go beyond traditional documentaries and show how God is the perfect Father and can amazingly provide the love and healing to anyone at any stage in life.”

“In September 2011, Courageous was estimated to open at the box office with $1.5 million and it ended the weekend the #1 new movie, with $9.4 million in the first frame,” said Rich Peluso, EVP/Head of Affirm Films. “We are thrilled to...

When Bosch first premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2014, the streaming world was in a very different place. Netflix had only House of Cards and Orange is the New Black under its belt. Hulu was still a joint venture owned by multiple conglomerates. Disney+, HBO Max, and Peacock didn’t even exist. Now, in June 2021, Amazon Prime’s list of new releases is highlighted by one last outing for LAPD Detective Harry Bosch.

Bosch season 7 premieres on June 25. This will be the last batch of episodes for the series, before a spinoff gets rolling for IMDb TV. For those who are not caught up on the sprawling procedural, Amazon has some other original TV series this month as well. Brazilian crime drama Dom premieres on June 4. That will be followed by the second season of the Anna Paquin-starring public relations drama Flack on June 25.

The library titles are where...

It still might be a little while before we’re able to go back to the movies again. Thankfully, with its list of new releases for February 2021, Amazon Prime is bringing the theater home. The movies are the real appeal this month.

Amazon’s offerings are highlighted by two original films of note. The first is Bliss, which premieres on Feb. 5. This will star Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek as a couple experiencing some intimacy issues. Presumably this is all just a tune up for when Wilson dons a mustache in Disney+’s Loki later in May. The other film is the sci-fi rom-com The Map of Tiny Perfect Things on Feb. 12.

Other library movies include Antz, Moulin Rouge, The Prestige, The Village, and Dazed and Confused, all of which arrive on Feb. 1. Sonic the Hedgehog is set to arrive later on Feb. 18.

Amazon is premiering only one new original series this month.

Common has released a new song, “Say Peace,” featuring Black Thought and Pj, that will appear on his new project, A Beautiful Revolution, Pt. 1, out this Friday, October 30th via Loma Vista.

The track boasts a restless groove of shuffling drums and busy bass, cut with a prickly guitar. Common and Black Thought search for a righteous serenity in their characteristically complex and compelling bars, while Pj captures the song’s essence in its hook, “Peace, we don’t really want no trouble/Tell me is you down with the struggle?...

Stelio Savante (Running For Grace), Robia Scott (Unplanned), Jessica Koloian (Courageous Love), Robert Amaya (Mom’s Night Out), and Sharonne Lanier (The Resident) have joined the cast of writer/director George Johnson’s (NATAS Lgl Emmy Award-Winning Director of “Haunted” by The Guess Who) human trafficking thriller Pulled From Darkness. The cast also includes Todd Terry and Mark Lowry.

Executive Produced by Lonnie and Connie Norris, Pulled From Darkness is inspired by the incredible true story of a woman who was abducted in the night, torn from her children, and sold into trafficking after her husband lost her in a night of gambling.

Pulled From Darkness, an expanded version of Johnson’s documentary short of the same name – now told in feature-film form, is scheduled to begin filming in the late fall, in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines.

Stelio Savante

Robia Scott

Jessica Koloian

Robert Amaya

Sharonne Lanier...

Whether or not you recognize the name Phyllis Somerville, chances are that you still know who she was. The veteran actress, who had appeared on the small screen in everything from House of Cards and Elementary to Fringe and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, died on July 16 of natural causes, our sister site Deadline reports.

The 76-year-old native of Iowa City, Ia., is probably most famous for her stints on Showtime’s The Big C and Wgn America’s Outsiders. But her list of television credits runs the gamut from soaps (One Life to Live, Guiding Light) to comedies (Sex and the City,...

No matter the setting or circumstances, the solution to every dilemma found in Christian Evangelical films is getting closer to God. That certainly holds true with regards to “Overcomer,” the latest bit of bigscreen proselytizing by writer-director-star Alex Kendrick. The story of a high school basketball coach who’s forced to take over a cross-country program with only one runner, it’s Its one-note sermonizing should help it appeal to its target audience, but those not already in the fold will likely be left unmoved.

When economic hard times hit his small-town community, compelling many of his star athletes to relocate, coach John Harrison (Kendrick) watches his expectations for a winning basketball season go down the drain. To add insult to injury, he’s ordered by Principal Brooks (Priscilla Shirer) to take over the cross-country squad — an unwanted assignment made more difficult by the fact that only asthmatic new student...

In making his latest work, “Pope Francis: A Man of His Word,” which screens at this year’s Ji.hlava International Documentary Film Festival, German director Wim Wenders was inspired by qualities that seem rare among leaders in today’s world. “He’s an extraordinary man – at this moment one of the few men on the planet, it seems, whom people can trust,” he says. “He’s utterly courageous and fearless and extremely honest.” Francis appeals strongly “not only to Christians but to all people of common sense,” Wenders adds. “He represents the common good like nobody else at this moment.” The filmmaker says he was very excited when Francis was elected Pope “because he’s the first Pope from South America, he’s the first Jesuit and mostly because he picked the name Francis, which I thought was quite promising, because no Pope had dared to take on...

If you aren't familiar with him yet, you're about to be! Jason Duggar is just one month away from turning 18 years old in April 2018, so he's about to become the most eligible bachelor of the Duggar clan. Not only is he a cutie, but he also already has his own home and is building a career for himself... yes, at 17! Jason was born on April 21, 2000, and we met him on the Duggar special 14 Children and Pregnant Again aired on Discovery Health Channel when he was just four years old. He was eight when his family began filming their own show, and he got the most attention when the family visited Atlanta, Ga, and he fell into an orchestra pit. The poor thing broke his teeth, fractured his jaw, sprained his knee, and needed several stitches in his face. Luckily he's grown up to be quite the handsome young man anyway!

Hollywood is still bonkers for metrics — there’s Rotten Tomatoes to freshen up, IMDb stars to earn, Metacritic rankings to top, and the audience-friendly classic CinemaScore, which provides a handy letter grade at the end of opening weekend for each big-screen release. It’s designed to be as easily digested as an elementary school report card, but CinemaScores don’t measure quality. By their own admission, they measure “movie appeal,” and high grades often reflect canny marketing or audiences already primed to enjoy a certain film.

This weekend, moviegoers rated two new openers, the gay teen romance “Love, Simon” and the faith-based drama “I Can Only Imagine,” the highest CinemaScore possible: a sterling A+. And while it’s telling that this weekend spawned such high marks for such very different films, it also speaks to what happens when Hollywood churns out the films that certain audiences are so eager to see.

Faith-based films, while lacking the advertising budgets of bigger titles, often overperform at the box office. Last year, the religious sports drama “Slamma Jamma” grossed over $1 million from 502 theaters, and titles like “Fireproof,” “Courageous,” and “War Room” all grossed over $30 million in recent years, according to Box Office Mojo. “God’s Not Dead” even spawned a franchise after the first installment opened to $9 million from 780 theaters and finished its run with $60 million. This year, “I Can Only Imagine” seems poised to carry on the tradition, as a robust ad campaign on television and online is building buzz about the biopic.

“I Can Only Imagine” is based on the story behind the song of the same name by Christian rock band MercyMe. The Texas-based group released the song in 2001 and it became a rare crossover hit, selling 2.5 million copies to become the best-selling Christian single of all time. The film version follows MercyMe’s lead singer,...

The Duggar family has basically taken up residency on our TV for years, but you probably missed when Jim Bob, Jessa, Jill, and the rest made their film debut in Courageous. That's right, the majority of the Duggars ended up in the 2011 movie, and apparently little Joy-Anna was the break-out star. Icmyi, a fraction of their on-set experience was documented in the episode, "Duggars Go Hollywood." And by Hollywood, of course, they mean "Albany, Georgia." Most of the Duggar clan actually got to film their bit parts, with only a few family members absent. Jana and John David were in Indonesia on a mission trip, while Michelle was with newborn Josie. And we all remember how things were tough for little Josie at first, so no movie debut for her and Michelle just yet. (Photo Credit: Tristar Pictures) The general premise of Courageous is that four Christian cops reside in Albany,...

Slick production values cannot overcome a preachy script full of strained metaphors delivered by wooden actors. Like a corporate promo video for God. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing

I’m “biast” (con): do not believe in the power of prayer

(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)

If you’ve ever wondered what a corporate promo video made by God’s marketing department would look like, now we know. Slick production values cannot overcome a literally preachy script full of embarrassingly strained metaphors delivered by wooden actors… and that’s even before we get to the scene in which an old lady disarms a mugger with the power of Jesus; the sincerity of that bit only renders it all the more ludicrous.

Smart and confident real-estate agent Elizabeth (Priscilla C. Shirer) is having trouble at home: her husband, Tony (T.C. Stallings), a pharmaceutical sales rep, is nasty,...

After a dismal outing over the Labor Day holiday weekend, the box office started to show signs of life again, with The Perfect Guy fending off The Visit in a very close race. The Perfect Guy took in $26.7 million over the weekend, with The Visit just behind it in second place with $25.6 million. Since these estimates are so close to each other, it's possible these results could change when the actual box office figures are announced on Monday, but, for now The Perfect Guy has the top spot, according to the estimates at Box Office Mojo.

Both The Perfect Guy ($12 million budget) and The Visit ($5 million) have already turned a profit after just one weekend, but The Perfect Guy's win is more impressive since it opened in far fewer theaters than The Visit. The Perfect Guy opened in 2,221 theaters, earning an robust $12,022 per-screen average. The Visit, on the other hand,...

It's pretty rare for a movie to rise from second place to first at the box office in its second week of release. It's pretty rare for such a movie to defeat a summer smash that's topped the chart for three weeks running. And it's pretty rare for a low-budget, Christian-themed movie with a star-free cast to become the top-grossing film in North America.

And yet, "War Room" did all three of those things this week. After last weekend's impressive $11.4 million debut in the No. 2 slot, the film rose to the top spot this weekend with an estimated $9.4 million from Friday to Sunday (and a projected $12.3 million over the four-day holiday weekend). It dethroned previous three-time champ "Straight Outta Compton" (No. 2, with an estimated $8.9 million from Friday to Sunday and $11.2 million over the Labor Day holiday). It also defeated two new wide releases, one starring the iconic Robert Redford in...

The heavenly $11 million opening for the faith-based drama “War Room” was the latest earthly blessing for Alex Kendrick, who with his brother Stephen has become one of the most successful independent film producers in recent years. The brothers’ first three films — “Courageous,” “Fireproof” and “Facing the Giants” — were financed by Georgia’s Sherwood Baptist Church for a combined $5 million and wound up grossing nearly $80 million. The $3 million “War Room,” which Alex Kendrick co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in, was the first production under the brothers’ new banner, Kendrick Brothers Productions. And it seems poised to follow the...

The hip-hop biopic is the first film to sit atop the Us box office charts for three weekends in a row since Jurassic World

For the third weekend in a row, hip-hop biopic Straight Outta Compton dominated at the Us box office, earning an impressive $13.2m (£8.6m) – pushing its domestic total to a whopping $134.1m (£87.3m), making it the highest-grossing musical biopic of all time, according to Variety. It’s also the first film to top the Us box office for three consecutive weekends since Jurassic World.

Despite Straight Outta Compton’s continued success, the real story at the American box office this weekend was the surprise showing of War Room, a low-budget, religious-themed drama from Alex Kendrick and his brother, writing and producing partner Stephen Kendrick, the pair behind Fireproof and Courageous (Variety dubbed them the Spielbergs of Christian cinema). Made for a mere $3m, the faith-based film shot...

As expected, Universal Pictures' runaway hit Straight Outta Compton secured its third straight win at the box office this weekend, taking in $13.2 million. The big surprise, though, was the over-performing faith-based drama War Room, which earned second place with an estimated $11 million, according to Box Office Mojo, out-grossing major studio new releases No Escape and We Are Your Friends (which didn't even crack the top 10), with far less publicity and advertisement. Neither movie was expected to put up huge numbers, considering the last weekend of the summer movie season is always light on box office returns, but War Room's performance is still impressive, nonetheless.

War Room opened in the least amount of theaters of any movie in the top 10, scoring the best per-screen average of all films this weekend with a $9,692 average from 1,135 theaters. The drama, which centers on a mother who turns to faith to try and save her family,...

With $13.2M in domestic box office Universal's Straight Outta Compton held off the upstart War Room to claim the #1 position on the charts for the third weekend in a row. War Room, which beat Compton in theaters on Friday, made $11M with a robust $9,692 per screen average. The top of the heap was still a pretty low heap, however, as the top 12 made $68.8M, off 22% from last year's $88.2M, which was a weak weekend itself. That $68.8M also gives this frame the dubious distinction of being the lowest grossing weekend of the year, 12% lower than March 6 - 8th's $78.3M. The newcomers that helped achieve that feat included No Escape, the Owen Wilson/Pierce Brosnan military coup flick, which the Weinsteins state came in just a little under their $9M estimate with $8.3M. On 2,470 screens that $3,355 psa is better than the $2,850 that last year's late-August Pierce Brosnan movie offering, The November Man,...

'War Room' movie: The Power of Prayer. The Power of Prayer at the domestic box office: 'War Room' (sort of) beats 'Straight Outta Compton' A miracle was needed for any of this weekend's new entries to beat the sleeper hit of 2015, F. Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton, at the North American box office. As long as studio estimates are on target, that miracle has (sort of) happened. Praise the Power of Prayer and the Power of Expert Targeted Marketing. “If you haven't started already, pray for this movie,” urges an Evangelical Christian website featuring a War Room promotional giveaway, “that the Holy Spirit would be in abundance at each showing of the film, that hearts would be impressed to pray more than ever and that revival will happen as a result!” Directed by Alex Kendrick and co-written by Kendrick and his brother, Stephen Kendrick, the Power of...

Brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick's faith-based empire is determined to convert religious-centric film doubters to believers through consistent box office success, as witnessed by War Room's $11 million debut this weekend. Despite playing in only 1,135 theaters, War Room placed No. 2 behind Straight Outta Compton, which grossed $13.2 million from 3,142 locations. The prayer-themed film marks the highest debut for the siblings, and their fifth collaboration after Courageous (2011), Fireproof (2008) and Facing the Giants (2006). Their first movie, Flywheel, was released on DVD in 2003. All of their projects have gone out

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Another faith based movie came out of "nowhere" to shock Hollywood at the box office on Friday. That's narrative you'll see in most stories about "War Room's" performance, but it may be more about the entertainment media ignoring the consistent performances of faith based movies more than anything else. "War Room," which was distributed by Sony Pictures division TriStar Pictures, took in $3.875 million on its first day to knock "Straight Outta Compton" from the top spot for the first time in 15 days.  "Room" was directed and co-written by Alex Kendrick whose last two films, "Courageous" and "Fireproof," each earned over $33 million during their theatrical runs.  Moreover, "Room" looks like it will slightly exceed the $9.1 million "Courageous" earned over its first three days in 2011.  As with all of Kendrick's productions, the marketing is aimed at churches and religious groups on a grass roots level which flows under the radar for those covering the biz.

'Straight Outta Compton' poster. Weekend box office: 'Straight Outta Compton' to beat weak competitors, but still far from being top blockbuster directed by black filmmaker If you thought last weekend was bad at the U.S. and Canada box office, you should see what's in store for this weekend, Aug. 28-30, '15. For starters, only one movie, F. Gary Gray's sleeper hit Straight Outta Compton, is expected to earn more than $10 million. The rest – and that includes Zac Efron, Owen Wilson, Pierce Brosnan, and the Power of (Christian) Prayer – will perform quite powerlessly indeed. In case Straight Outta Compton reaches the box office gurus' estimated $15 million, it will get close to the $140 million mark. Bear in mind there's no guarantee that will happen; despite basically no competition, the drop-off rate of Gray's hip hopping film was steeper than expected last weekend. (See updated weekend box office estimates.) Now, some...

The last week in August is not a prime movie release slot, but there’s one new opener on Friday that is primed to exceed expectations: “War Room,” the latest Christian-themed feature by Georgia-based filmmakers Alex and Stephen Kendrick. The brothers have emerged as the most commercially successful independent producers of faith-based films. Their last three previous movies — 2006’s “Facing the Giants,” 2008’s “Fireproof,” which was the highest-grossing indie that year, and 2011’s “Courageous” — have taken in $87 million at the box office on a combined budget of $2.6 million. “War Room,” with a more ambitious $3 million budget, is on track...

Forecast Update: Looks like that headline, "'Compton' Three-peats," should have had a question mark behind it. Sony is reporting that War Room, the faith-based film from the Kendrick brothers, made $3.87M in Friday receipts while Universal reports that Straight Outta Compton made $3.83M. It may not be enough to take the weekend though as Sony is also projecting that War Room makes $10 - $10.5M by Sunday night. Universal places Compton at $12.3M. War Room's per screen average for Friday was $3,414 on 1,135 screens. That's close to the psa that Freestyle Releasing's Christian-themed God's Not Dead made last year in March when its Friday hit $2.8M on 780 screens, an average of $3,592 per. God's Not Dead, which ended the weekend with $9.2M and an eventual $60.8M domestic cume, opened in 4th on the charts but was in a much more crowded and competitive frame. Divergent, for example, was #1 with $54.6M that weekend.

After a successful, four-walling campaign in theaters across the U.S. for their faith-based feature Beyond The Mask through a distribution entity Gathr, producers have just pacted with Freestyle Releasing to distribute the film in more mainstream theaters on June 5 for traditional, weeklong runs. The film stars John Rhys-Davies (Killing Jesus, The Lord Of The Rings). The same writer of the faith-based phenoms Fireproof and Courageous, Stephen Kendrick, also co-wrote this…...

The power of prayer is explored in “War Room,” hailing from the award-winning Kendrick Brothers (“Fireproof,” “Courageous”). The film stars Alex Kendrick, Priscilla Shirer, T.C. Stallings, Beth Moore and Karen Abercrombie and focuses on a family that is being weighed down by an ailing marriage. One of the ways used to bring the family back together is a place dedicated solely for prayer, a “war room.” Here’s more about the film. “Tony and Elizabeth Jordan have it all—great jobs, a beautiful daughter, and their dream house. But appearances can be deceiving. Tony and Elizabeth Jordan’s world is actually crumbling under the strain of a failing marriage. While Tony basks in [ Read More ]

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The Hunger Games wasn’t this weekend’s only box office success story. As Katniss Everdeen fought for her freedom on screens across the country, a humble pro-life film called October Baby quietly opened in just 390 theaters. That modest release, which co-stars Jasmine Guy and John Schneider, ended up earning a cool $1,718,000 — enough to put it among the weekend’s top eight earners.

“Yeah, I was surprised,” October Baby co-director Jon Erwin laughs, speaking to EW via cell phone. He helmed the movie with his brother Andrew. “We didn’t make the film because we wanted some sort of big...

If only October Baby played it straight with no agenda. The advent of the mega-church I believe has led to a mega-church sponsored filmmaking, with Courageous being the last film in this category. The problem is these films fit a melodramatic niche, produced by non-filmmakers the language developed is, shall we say, risk adverse. It’s enough to have a sad scene, but it must be heightened by music that tells you how exactly to feel and the grammar is a bit off. It’s a shame, October Baby tells a highly compelling story with strong performances and excellent cinematography by its co-director Jon Erwin. His brother and co-director Andrew Erwin is perhaps to blame, as he’s the editor.

Questionable sound mix aside (a bit rough for a theatrical release, it could use another polish especially in how sound levels frequently drop out as if they didn’t record enough room tone,...