Comic-Con Heroes and Losers; 'Girls Trip' Defies Comedy Curse; Studio Money Crunch; 'Detroit' Early Buzz

What's news: Back from San Diego, here's who made the most of Comic-Con this year. Plus: Girls Trip breaks the R-rated comedy box office curse, Dunkirk cements the Christopher Nolan brand and, after early reviews, is Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit an Oscar contender? — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( July 24, 2017 What's news: Back from San Diego, here's who made the most of Comic-Con this year. Plus: Girls Trip breaks the R-rated comedy box office curse, Dunkirk cements the Christopher Nolan brand and, after early reviews, is Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit an Oscar contender? — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman Comic Con: What mattered this weekend. After a frenetic four days in San Diego, Lesley Goldberg, Borys Kit and Aaron Couch sort through the memorable and not so memorable panels, hype and news and find some winners and losers. A few of the big ones from the [full list:]( Winner: Marvel Studios. Marvel continues to be the studio that puts on the best Comic-Con performance and proves it knows its audience best. Its panel began with a witty, made-for-Hall H clip that looked like Ant-Man stars Paul Rudd and Michael Pena were recapping all of the Marvel films — only to have it revealed they were talking to Michelle Pfeiffer, thus turning the whole endeavor into an announcement that she and Laurence Fishburne were joining Ant-Man and the Wasp as classic comic book heroes. Then came the bring 'em-to-their-feet presentations of Thor: Ragnarok and Black Panther, with sizzle reels that truly sizzled and free posters giveaways, to boot. It ended with studio head Kevin Feige (faux)-reluctantly being forced by his actors to show footage from Marvel’s mega-movie Avengers: Infinity War. This again brought the Hall H crowd to hysterics. For all the thousands in the hall, Marvel movies can’t come fast enough. + Watch: [Thor]([3 trailer]( I [Captain Marvel plot tease](. Loser: 20th Century Fox. 2018 is Fox's biggest X-Men year yet. It has three films (New Mutants, Deadpool 2 and Dark Phoenix) slated to debut, yet the Marvel mutants were MIA in Hall H. The studio spent its presentation on an star-packed Kingsman: A Golden Circle panel, which featured some memorable moments (Halle Berry chugged a glass of what appeared to be whiskey), but fans had been hoping a glimpse of Deadpool 2 or the other X-Men movies. A Deadpool 2 source says that film, which has only been shooting a few weeks, is saving its big debut for New York Comic Con in the fall. Still, trotting out star Ryan Reynolds or director David Leitch (who was in town for his Atomic Blonde) — or the cast of New Mutants or Dark Phoenix — would have gone a long way. Even some concept art or a pre-taped message from set would have been welcome. + Watch: [Kingsman 2 trailer]( I [Halle Berry's bourbon moment](. Winner: Warner Bros. The studio had two big wins outside of its DC movies, bringing back-to-back panels with blockbuster legends Steven Spielberg (Ready Player One) and Harrison Ford (Blade Runner 2049). It doesn’t get much better than those two for the geek brethren in Hall H, with Ford and co-star Ryan Gosling showing off their terrific chemistry. The big winner was the first trailer for Spielberg’s Ready Player One, which was full of '80s Easter eggs, from DeLoreans to Freddy Krueger to the Iron Giant. The highly anticipated feature did not disappoint with its first look that had live-action and CG scenes, both spectacularly realized and featured on the three screens that ran the entirety of Hall H. Spielberg knows how to make a movie, and Warner Bros. knows how to put on a show. + Watch: [Ready Player One trailer]( I[Justice League trailer](. Winner and Loser: Ben Affleck. The star was on the defensive after THR reported that the actor’s future as Batman was in doubt and that Warner Bros. was weighing its options. "Let me be very clear," Affleck said, "I am the luckiest guy in the world. Batman is the coolest part in the universe. I'm so thrilled to do it.” Then he added that he has talked to Warners' heads Kevin Tsujihara, Sue Kroll and Toby Emmerich about the role. But Affleck’s refutal felt akin to an athlete denying he wants to be traded, only to later be traded. [Details.]( Box Office: 'Dunkirk' For the Win The Christopher Nolan brand won the weekend and nabbed the best opening in recent memory for a World War II film, Pamela McClintock writes: + Dunkirk exceeds expectations. Stateside, the film grossed $50.5M and overseas, the critically acclaimed film also impressed, earning $55.4M from its first 46 markets and placing No. 1 everywhere for a global assault of $105.9M. The title earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences. It skewed heavily male (60 percent), while 76 percent of all ticket buyers were over the age of 25. + Girls Trip is a hit. The Universal title (nabbing a coveted A+ CinemaScore) broke the R-rated comedy curse in debuting to $30.4M from 2,591 theaters. That's the best showing in two years for the genre and helps to make up for summer flops Rough Night and The House. Like Dunkirk, Girls Trip came in ahead of expectations. + Bomb watch: Luc Besson's Valerian, a sci-fi epic costing $180M, crash-landed in the U.S. with a $17M bow from 3,553 theaters. STX Entertainment is releasing the movie domestically via its partnership with Besson's EuropaCorp, but doesn't have any money in the film. Nor did STX pay for marketing, according to insiders. The film, which garnered a B- CinemaScore, hopes to make up ground overseas, where it grossed $6.5M from its first 16 markets. [Full U.S. box office wrap]( I [Girls Trip breaks comedy curse.]( Elsewhere in film... ► New report: Hollywood and film financiers, a torrid love affair hits a rocky road. Tatiana Siegel and Pamela McClintock write: Amid box-office uncertainty, the outside money propping up studios becomes [a question mark]( as Texas-based LStar Capital bails on Sony, Warner Bros.' Village Roadshow suffers several misfires and Paramount's China backer is under pressure. ► China opens movie theater on politically contested island. Some 200 soldiers and "residents" [attended]( a screening at the new 4K cinema on Woody Island in the South China Sea, not far from where a U.S. warship sailed to challenge China's hold on the region. ► How Dunkirk shot with Imax cameras. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema [explains]( how Christopher Nolan's WWII epic was filmed with Imax and 65mm film cameras: "We'd get so close and witness dogfights in the open air." ► Column: "Why any movie about Trump should make us love the man, not hate him." Stephen Galloway's [latest](: "Any filmmaker looking to explore the current president on screen needs to portray him as something more than just a pompadoured pinhead." ^Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit, reviewed. The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty director's latest effort is a docudrama about the 1967 Detroit riots, focusing on a specific incident of police violence against a group of black men at a hotel. Chief critic Todd McCarthy's takeaway: "[Tense and powerful, but one-dimensional.](" + Early takes: [Vanity Fair:]("Benefits from Bigelow’s skill for telling complex stories with propulsive clarity." [Indiewire:]( "a bumpy but bracingly physical portrait of race in America." [Screen:]( "at times inelegant in its rage but nonetheless produces a grim wallop." [Detroit News](: "reopens wounds that fester." + Oscar prospects? Scott Feinberg writes: "most with whom I’ve spoken about Detroit agree that it's not quite as polished as Bigelow’s last two films." [Full column.]( ► Ant-Man sequel rounds out cast. Michelle Pfeiffer and Laurence Fishburne are [joining]( the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actress will play Janet van Dyne, the superhero wife of Hank Pym/original Ant-Man (Michael Douglas) and mother to Hope (Evangeline Lilly). ► Kevin Spacey to play Gore Vidal in Netflix film. Michael Hoffman (One Fine Day, The Last Station) is directing the film about the writer's life for Netflix. The project, [starring]( the Oscar winner, is currently in pre-production in Rome. Andy Paterson is producing. ► Mr. Robot creator plots Bermuda Triangle movie. Sam Esmail [will write](, and is attached to direct, a new take on Universal's Bermuda Triangle project. Earlier drafts of the untitled project were written by Miles Millar & Alfred Gough, and Juliet Snowden & Stiles White. ► Todd McFarlane, Blumhouse plan new Spawn film. Jason Blum is [teaming up](with the comic book creator to develop a new movie based on his creation, Spawn. McFarlane has written the first draft of the script and is set to direct the project, a rare foray for a comic creator. Venice Film Fest names competition jury. Annette Bening will lead this year's international competition jury along with Edgar Wright, Rebecca Hall, Ildiko Enyedi, Michel Franco, Anna Mouglalis, David Stratton, Jasmind Trinca and Yonfan. [Details.]( HBO's 'Insecure' Shines Last night, HBO's gem of a comedy, Insecure, returned — and it deserves more attention than it gets, critic Tim Goodman writes in his [review:]( Issa Rae, who created, executive produces and stars in HBO's superb Insecure, knows how to stand in front of a mirror and invent — also vent — and make that familiar conceit look like the most original thing a TV series has ever done. That takes some talent. You watch her and it's impossible not to think she's one of the brightest comedic actresses on television. Her work makes you wish there were more episodes — and that the spotlight on the show had more wattage. Perhaps that's why any fan of the show must have shaken his or her head sadly side to side after the Emmy nominations were announced and Rae, her co-stars and the series weren't a part of the fun. + Early takes: [LA Times:]( "Bitingly candid and funny." [Vulture:]( "Another razor-sharp season." [EW:]( "radiates confidence." [Washington Post:]( "In a better world, we'd be talking about Insecure as much as we talked about Girls." Elsewhere in TV... ► HBO debuts Westworld season two trailer. The show has only been back in production for a week, but HBO blew the lid off of Comic-Con nonetheless with the second season's first official footage. [Watch here.]( + Adds to season two cast. Neil Jackson and Jonathan Tucker [have joined]( the sci-fi drama from Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, just as the show has started up production for its next installment. The pair join Katja Herbers as new season two castmembers. ► Netflix unveils Stranger Things season two trailer. The Duffer Brothers and Netflix unleashed the Upside Down on Comic-Con attendees Saturday with a brand-new look at the second season of the 1980s-set thriller, debuting just in time for Halloween. [Watch here.]( ► CBS shows off new Star Trek: Discovery trailer. With the series set to debut on CBS All Access in September, this weekend's Con panel served as the first real chance Star Trek diehards had to see anything from the show. [Watch here.]( ^About HBO's Game of Thrones last night. Enemies waged war and new alliances moved into place in the latest episode of Thrones, called "Stormborn." [Spoiler chat here.]( ► Fox News bashed by Simpsons creator. At a Comic-Con panel, a chat turned to politics when Matt Groening revealed that the series had been asked by 21st Century Fox to take it easy on Fox News after a joke that dubbed Fox News "not racist, but [No. 1 with racists.](" ► Netflix's Iron Fist changes showrunners. Raven Metzner has been tapped to replace Scott Buck as showrunner for season two. It is also bringing in an entirely [new writers room]( for season two that will be more grounded than the first season. ► The CW pilot watch: Dynasty. Critic Daniel Fienberg takes [a closer look]( at the upcoming series: "I'm curious, but as somebody who watched every episode of The OC, Chuck, Gossip Girl and even (or 'especially') Hart of Dixie, I should probably be much more curious." ► Syfy renews Wynonna Earp. The channel has [reupped]( the supernatural drama for a third season, which will premiere in 2018. ► R.I.P., Danny Daniels. The Emmy- and Tony-winning dancer, choreographer and director whose career spanned seven decades, has died. He was 92. [Full obit.]( Rep Sheet Roundup: The Arrangement star Christine Evangelista and rapper Jeezy sign with UTA … Digital star iJustine and Musical.ly duo Lisa and Lena sign with WME. … ICM Partners hires former Paradigm spokesman Brad Turell for its top PR post. … CAA China hires exec Mary Gu as CEO. … 42West has added DKC publicist Joe Quenqua as managing director. [More.]( R.I.P., John Heard John Heard, who had memorable turns in The Sopranos, Home Alone films and many others, died on Friday at the age of 71. [Full obit.]( What else we're reading... — "What’s fact and what’s fiction in Dunkirk." John Broich writes: "In terms of accuracy, it rates pretty highly. There are no big, glaring historical whoppers. The characters whom Nolan invents to serve his narrative purposes are realistic." [[Slate](] — "Why vinyl’s boom is over." Slowing of a trend? Neil Shah writes: "as purists complain about low quality and high prices, vinyl sales taper off." [[The Wall Street Journal](] — "Leader who rebuilt Time Warner empire prepares an exit." Emily Steel interviews Jeffrey Bewkes, "a quiet defender of CNN who has delivered Time Warner high returns, plans to leave the company if a merger with AT&T is approved." [[The New York Times](] — "The TV That created Donald Trump." Critic Emily Nussbaum rewatches The Apprentice: it "is also 'classy,' in Trumpian terms: no one eats bugs or gets too drunk. It's a fun, upscale fantasy, a voguing competition in executive realness." [[The New Yorker](] — "Joe & Mika (& Donald)." Olivia Nuzzi's profile of the Morning Joe hosts: "It wasn’t until last summer that their relationship became public — when Trump, against their wishes, took it upon himself to make the announcement." [[New York](] — "The troubling return of Al Gore." Emily Atkin writes: An Inconvenient Truth turned the former vice president into a climate hero. Will he reclaim the mantle with An Inconvenient Sequel? Many activists in the environmental movement hope not." [[The New Republic](] Ahead this week... Monday: NBC premieres vampire series Midnight, Texas. Tuesday: Television Critics Association's Summer press tour kicks off in L.A. Friday: Focus Features' Atomic Blonde, Sony's Emoji Movie hit theaters in wide release ... Amazon's The Last Tycoon premieres ... HBO's Room 104 premieres. Today's Birthdays: Elisabeth Moss, 35, Anna Paquin, 35, Rose Byrne, 38, Patty Jenkins, 46, Jennifer Lopez, 48, Kristin Chenoweth, 49, Lynda Carter, 66. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2017 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( July 24, 2017