Belfast writer-director-producer Ken Branagh, actor Ciarán Hinds and sound supervisor Simon Chase – all Oscar nominated – spoke with us at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees event about the acclaimed film’s journey to screen.
13.02.2022 - 19:57 / thewrap.com
Of all the nominees that screened this weekend, the highest grossing one was MGM/United Artists’ “Licorice Pizza,” which grossed $922,500 from 1,977 theaters, its widest release yet. The next best result was Focus Features’ “Belfast” with just $285,000 from 928 theaters, though that film is having much better fortunes in the U.K.
and Ireland, where its exploration of family life during The Troubles helped drive it to a $1.4 million weekend and a $15.2 million total in the territory, nearly double its total in the U.S. As we noted in our WrapPRO box office column earlier this week, there are several factors that have led to this big drop in the fortunes of Oscar contenders.
One is that this post-nomination weekend coincides with the Super Bowl, which historically has led to a downtick in business. Another is that with the Golden Globes telecast suspended by NBC and the COVID-19 Omicron surge spiking during the holiday season, studios steered clear of releasing major Oscar contenders during the Christmas period.
By contrast, Universal released Best Picture nominee “1917” in limited release on Christmas Day 2019, with a wide release just after its Golden Globes victory the following January. But the biggest factor, of course, is the one that has plagued theaters ever since they reopened: older audiences are not showing up nearly as much as they used to, whether due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns or simply because spending a year away from theaters has made them kick the moviegoing habit in favor of streaming.
Belfast writer-director-producer Ken Branagh, actor Ciarán Hinds and sound supervisor Simon Chase – all Oscar nominated – spoke with us at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees event about the acclaimed film’s journey to screen.
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Chris Willman Music WriterFamously mercurial rocker Van Morrison has not shown the same enthusiasm for Oscar campaigning that many of this year’s other Academy Awards nominees have. He and the equally press-shy Beyonce have done little or no promotion for their respective nominations for best song, or for anything else that involves interviews.
Well, Irish lads Fontaines D.C. can confidently prance around today informing everybody they're the Best Band in the World.
Fontaines D.C. have reacted to winning Best Band In The World at the BandLab NME Awards 2022: “About time!”The Irish band beat out Amyl & The Sniffers, Ben&Ben, Bring Me The Horizon, CHVRCHES, Glass Animals, HAIM, Måneskin, Nova Twins and Wolf Alice for the trophy.In their acceptance speech, they gave props to CHVRCHES and Robert Smith for their performance of The Cure’s ‘Just Like Heaven’ earlier in the night, and poked fun at the government: “We’re gonna party like Number 10 tonight!”Speaking to NME in the winner’s room at the O2 Academy Brixton on March 2, frontman Grian Chatten had a succinct response to their win: “About time.”He added: “We’ve never really won an award before, so I don’t know, I’ve never seen people so elated in my whole life.”Carlos O’Connell quipped: “We had to keep telling ourselves we were the best band in the world from the moment we started.
Aisling Bea has won Best TV Actor at the BandLab NME Awards 2022 for her portrayal of Áine in the dramedy This Way Up.The Irish comedian, who also wrote the razor-sharp series, beat out Mae Martin, Ncuti Gatwa, Olly Alexander, and Euphoria‘s Zendaya for the prize.“Big shout-out to the small, independent TV show Euphoria! I’m sure we all expected this – I didn’t,” Bea said while collecting the award on stage at the O2 Academy Brixton from Munya Chawawa and Amelia Dimoldenberg.She added: “Ever since I started out acting, I always wanted to win a music award. Genuinely, I will use this [award] tonight in my own special way… Thank you so so much, honestly.“Myself and Sharon Horgan had a moment where we sang ‘Zombie’ by The Cranberries, and it took off.
Naman Ramachandran Sony release “Uncharted” continued its reign atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the third weekend in a row collecting £3.08 million ($4.1 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.
K.J. Yossman Oscar Kennedy (“Ladhood”) and Jack Rowan (“Noughts + Crosses”) have joined new BBC comedy horror series “Wrecked.”Described as a “tense thriller” set aboard a cruise ship, the six-episode series is both comic with a “slice of slasher.” It is currently in production in Northern Ireland. Kennedy stars as Jamie, who infiltrates a cruise ship called The Sacramentum, in a bid to find his sister, who has gone missing after working aboard the ship on a previous tour.As Jamie is initiated into the 3,000-strong crew he meets the different factions it’s comprised of, from the theater workers to the “mafias” and low-paid staff, and their life of partying and excess.
After selling out in just 10 days, the Chicken Big Mac is returning to McDonald's - and you'll be able to get your hands on it this week.
Broadway’s real-life Max Bialystock.After producing “Ragtime” and “Show Boat” in the 1990s, Drabinsky was thrown behind bars in 2009 for keeping two sets of books for his Broadway production company Livent. In doing so, he misled investors into believing that money-losing flops were really big hits, bilking them out of some $500 million. The Canadian crook was only allowed to cross the border into the United States again in 2019 after charges here were dismissed with prejudice because he served time in Canada.
Naman Ramachandran Sony’s “Uncharted” remained atop the U.K. and Ireland box office for the second weekend in a row, while Universal’s “Sing 2” maintained its strong showing.“Uncharted,” featuring a galaxy of stars including Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg and Antonio Banderas, collected £3.7 million ($5.1 million) in its second weekend and now has a total of £12.1 million, according to numbers released by Comscore.In second place, animated sequel “Sing 2,” with an array of voice actors including Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett Johansson also performed strongly during school half-term holidays in the territory and collected £3.1 million.
Matt LeBlanc was pictured publicly for the first time since reports emerged that he has split from his girlfriend, Aurora Mulligan. Over the weekend, it was claimed that the Friends actor, 54, and the 36 year old Top Gear producer parted ways after nearly six years together.
record-breaking Oscar nominee Kenneth Branagh, “Belfast” is a semi-autographical film about a young boy named Buddy who lives in Belfast, Ireland in the late 1960s. His childhood is uprooted when civil war hits, forcing his tight-knit, working-class family to choose whether they should leave their longtime home.
Oscars have been announced, so here’s how you can catch-up on all the nominees for Best Picture.The 94th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, March 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The event will have a host for the first time since 2018, although exactly who is yet to be confirmed.Jane Campion’s The Power Of The Dog is currently the frontrunner for awards success with 12 nominations, followed by Dune with 10, and Belfast and West Side Story with seven each.Among all the categories, the award for Best Picture is the most coveted prize – with last year’s going to Nomadland.
Just as President Biden’s top medical adviser Anthony Fauci is declaring that the U.S. is exiting “the full-blown pandemic phase” of Covid, three studios are hoping to lure out adult audiences, largely women who’ve been slow to return to cinemas.
Where to watch: Amazon Prime VideoDirector: Kenneth Branagh | Starring: Caitriona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie Dornan, Ciaran Hinds, Colin Morgan, and Jude HillA semi-autobiographical film that chronicles the life of a working-class family and their young son's childhood during the tumult of the late 1960s in the Northern Ireland capital. Where to watch: Apple TV+Director: Sian Heder | Starring: Emilia Jones, Eugenio Derbez, Troy Kotsur, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Marlee MatlinRuby is the only hearing member of a deaf family from Gloucester, Massachusetts. At 17, she works mornings before school to help her parents and brother keep their fishing business afloat.