Kids love this stuff. Don’t be surprised if, as the comic book adaptations start to slow down / fade out, video game adaptations becomes increasingly popular.

Will there be a bunch of Rockstar-produced games? I wouldn’t be surprised if there were. One thing we already know for certain is that there will be more Sonic the Hedgehog films, because this one is going to make a whole lot of money during this year’s slow Dump Season. Get used to the little blue guy.

Also at the Box

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is a movie with such a bad name that the studio switched it out for Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey after a less-than-stellar opening weekend. Harley Quinn took the No. 2 spot at last weekend’s box office, selling another $17 million, upping the flick’s 10-day worldwide sales total to just over $145 million.

So Quinn/Birds isn’t quite the flop it’s being written up to be, but it’s also not setting the world on fire as DC had hoped it would following the billion-dollar-success saw. The cast, which includes Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rosie Perez, Ali Wong, and Ewan McGregor, is pretty great, and so I’ll probably check it out eventually (if mostly to bask in those Robbie vibes).

Jeff Wadlow’s horror adaptation of the popular 1970s TV series, Fantasy Island, took the No. 3 spot at the domestic box office over its first three days of release, selling a decent $12.4 million. The flick stars Lucy Hale, Maggie Q, Charlotte McKinney, Michael Pena, Jimmy O. Yang, and ScreenTime favorite Michael Rooker. Looks like a great late night watch to me.

Valentine’s Day flick The Photograph took the No. 4 spot at the box, selling a decent $12.3 million over its first three days of release. The film stars Issa Rae, Chelsea Peretti, and cutest-guy-alive LaKeith Stanfield.

It looks kind of cheesy to me, but it was written and directed by a black woman named Stella Meghie, and we don’t get a lot of films from people who aren’t white men, so I’m all for supporting this one. It goes without saying that diversity in our arts can only be a good thing. New voices, new stories, that whole thing.

And then, of course, rounding out last weekend’s Top 5 at the U.S. Box Office, we have Bad Boys for Life, which sold another $11 million. So far BBfL has sold $182 million in the U.S. and $369 million worldwide. Bad Boys 4, coming in 2022.

Also of note

Sam Mendes’ 1917 sold another $8 million last weekend while Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning Parasite brought in another $5.4 million. Parasite has now sold $44 million in the U.S. and $175 million worldwide, making it one of the best-selling foreign language films of all-time. Can’t wait to see what director Bong does next, now that he has all this juice. Prediction: It’ll be good.

New this Week

This is it, friendly readers, the worst time of the year if you like going to the movies to see new releases.

We are in Dump Season.

This weekend will see the release of several indie films (mostly just in NYC and LA) and two wide films, the first being family adventure flick The Call of the Wild, starring Harrison Ford with a beard and a St. Bernard named Buck. The movie cost $109 million to produce and was shot by the brilliant Janusz Kaminski, so it might actually be worth seeing. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this one ends up being something of a break out hit (if only a minor one).

Also out everywhere is mystery thriller Brahms: The Boy II, starring Katie Holmes, Ralph Ineson, and Owain Yeoman. This is a sequel to William Brent Bell’s minor 2016 hit, The Boy, and it doesn’t look very good. In fact, I think it’s safe to suggest that, unless you’re a huge horror fan, you skip this one.

Film to tv

Hulu just released a 10-episode reimagining of the 1999 film High Fidelity, which was directed by Stephen Frears and based on a novel by Nick Hornby. It’s the film I’ve probably seen the most in my life, and so I was very nervous about the series, which was developed by Veronica West and Sarah Kucserka.

The series is set in New York City (rather than London or Chicago) and stars Zoe Kravitz as Rob(in), in what will almost certainly be the big breakout role Kravitz has been looking for.

It works. In fact, I can easily say that season one of High Fidelity is the best television I’ve seen in ages. It’s about as funny, smart, and cool as TV gets these days, and it’s full of brilliant nods to both the book and original film.

Prediction: We get a John Cusack cameo in season two.