Grabber, No Grabbing!

The Black Phone 2 was the hit Blumhouse needed, but the brand still has work to do to get folks excited about its not-sequel, non-IP horror offerings. Good Fortune was another miss for live-action theatrical comedies. While Lionsgate made a few marketing mistakes, it shouldn’t require 100% perfection to garner a halfway decent opening for a star-packed, well-reviewed and present-tense topical high-concept comedy. Meanwhile, After the Hunt, Truth & Treason and Petsa on a Train barely made a ripple amid another unpleasantly small weekend box office cume, with Amazon MGM Studios’ (poorly-reviewed) #MeToo drama inspiring PTSD a decade after Secret in Her Eyes flamed out for STX Entertainment. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe