THE WEEKEND WARRIOR July 2, 2025
Jurassic World Rebirth, 40 Acres, Ice Road: Vengeance, Videoheaven
What a strange summer we’ve had at the box office with some movies doing surprisingly well, some doing about as well as expected, and then some movies just completely tanking like last week’s M3gan 2.0, which is the follow-up to a huge surprise hit from a few years ago. The success of Brad Pitt’s F1: The Movie owl make it seem like moviegoers want original movies, but over the next few weeks, we’re getting upwards of five or six franchise reboots, some following up huge bombs.
JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH (Universal)
It’s hard to believe that it’s only been three years since the last Jurassic World movie, as 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion continued the hot streak of making over a billion worldwide, the same amount as Steven Spielberg’s original 1993 Jurassic Park, but less than the previous two installments.
Universal is changing gears for this reboot, bringing back original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, and having it directed by Gareth Edwards of Godzilla, Rogue One, and The Creator fame. This has a stacked cast beginning with Scarlett Johansson, who is definitely an A-Lister at this point, thanks to her appearances as Black Widow in a number of huge Marvel blockbusters. She’s joined by Jonathan Bailey of “Bridgerton,” coming off of his own blockbuster in Wicked, Rupert Friend, and potentially the next Blade (I’ll believe it when I see it), Mahershala Ali.
Although Rebirth has a great cast, it’s very much going to be about the dinosaurs, and it’s a mix of old favorites and new, plus this feels like a much lighter PG-13 than some of the previous movies allowing for young kid to go see it, at least those who have already seen the other three family films in theaters.
I won’t get too heavy into the box office comparisons between the previous six movies, because the four movies released after 2001 were in different times at the box office than the two ‘90s movies directed by Spielberg. For instance, the original 1993 Jurassic Park opened in just 2,404 theaters but it opened with $50.2 million, which at the time was HUGE. Nowadays, 2,404 theaters is nothing. Its sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park opened with $72.1 million in a more respectable 3,281 theaters over Memorial Day weekend and that held an opening weekend record until the first Harry Potter movie opened in 2001. Less than six months later, Spider-Man cracked the $100 million mark, and in the last ten years, movies opening over $100 million is no longer such a big deal.
Another interesting thing to note is that, other than The Lost World and Rebirth, all other “Jurassic” movies have opened in mid-to-late June, where these movies have thrived by getting away from the big May movies, which often were Marvel or “Star Wars” movies with decent legs. Moving to the 4th of July opens up a different world, because while there have been huge releases over the weekend, many of them starring Will Smith, it’s also an erratic weekend since people go away, have BBQs, etc, and aren’t necessarily racing to the movies except to get out of the unbearable heat. The 4th falling on a Friday means an extra-long weekend for many, which could lead to more travelling than moviegoing, as well.
Reviews for Rebirth have been mixed at best, currently on the cusp of being fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. That isn’t too surprising since critics are probably still annoyed by the previous “Jurassic World” trilogy, but at least this is looking better than the 29% RT score for Dominion. (Not surprisingly, I was one of the few positive reviews for that one.)
The 4th of July tends to be a strange weekend at the box office, especially since many movies open before the fourth as some people get out of work early. But because of those early screenings, that often means there’s less money for the weekend, which means that this one probably won’t achieve anywhere near the $145 million opening for Dominion. In fact, it might not even make that much in the movie’s first five days, which would end up with $28 to 30 million in its first two days and possibly $80 to $85 million for the weekend.
You can also read my interview with director Gareth Edwards over at Cinema Daily US.
THE BOX OFFICE CHART
1. Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal) - $81.6 million N/A
2. F1: The Movie (Apple/Warner Bros.) - $29.4 million -49%
3. How to Train Your Dragon (Universal) - $12.4 million -37%
4. Elio (Disney/Pixar) - $5.8 million -45%
5. 28 Years Later (Sony) - $5.2 million -47%
6. M3gan 2.0 (Universal) - $5 million -51%
7. Lilo & Stitch (Disney) - $4.8 million -30%
8. Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning (Paramount) - $2.7 million -35%
9. Materialists (A24) - $1.6 million -48%
10. From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (Lionsgate) - $1 million -51%
40 ACRES (Magnolia)
Actress Daniel Deadwyler (TIll) stars in R.T. Thorne’s apocalyptic thriller dealing with food scarcity among a Black family of Canadian farmers who are descended from American Civil Rights migrants who must defend their property from cannibals trying to seize their resources.
The movie premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last year and is getting a limited release this weekend but that’s just a few weeks after national free previews of the movie on Juneteenth. Reviews for the movie have been terrific, currently at 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, which makes one wonder whether Magnolia might go wider than usual on this one.
Mini-Review: There have been so many apocalyptic movies over the past decade, including the very recent 28 Years Later, and it’s easy to see why, especially with COVID, but R.T. Thorne’s film at least comes at it from a very different and original angle.
Essentially, we’re informed by the title card that there was another Civil War that led to farmland and its products being very much in demand. We’re introduced to the Freeman family led by Hailey (Deadwyler) and her First Nation husband Galen (Michael Greyeyes), just as their farm is being invaded by a group, who they fight off and kill with a battery of armament, the kids even getting in on the act. The Freemans have effectively fenced themselves off from the other world, which has gotten exceedingly bad with actual cannibals travelling around the country taking out entire families. On a mission taking him off the farm, their son Manny (Kateem O’Connor) encounters a pretty young woman (Milcania Diaz-Rojas), who will play a pivotal part in the family’s future.
I was intrigued by the film’s concept, although the farmland setting doesn’t exactly allow for the type of post-apocalyptic world-building and production design we’re accustomed to, from the likes of The Last of Us, 28 Years Later, etc. It’s just not the best setting, but Thorne spends much of the first hour letting us get to know the characters and their familial relationship.
As much as 40 Acres offers an intriguing premise and take on the apocalyptic thriller, it takes a long time before much becomes of it. When there are stronger movies like The Quiet Place movies, one really has to step up, and the amount of time Thorne spends just having people sitting around talking doesn’t help this film’s case.
Similarly, Danielle Deadwyler is a fine actress, but she tends to do the same thing here as she does in every other movie, generally shouting and overemoting, and I didn’t see this performance being better than some of her previous roles. Milcania Diaz-Rojas offers an interesting dynamic as Dawn, the nurse that Manny falls for, but again, it takes so long before we learn of why she ends up infiltrating the Freeman family circle.
Thorne is a decent director with a solid background directing television, and he does interesting things with his first foray into feature films. Fortunately, the last half hour is all about the action that many might be expecting after that opening, and that’s definitely where Thorne’s film thrives, leaving audiences in a far more emotional place than they might be expecting.
Rating: 6.5/10
ICE ROAD VENGEANCE (Vertical)
As mentioned last week, Liam Neeson returns as Mike McCann in Jonathan Henseigh’s sequel to his 2022 Netflix movie, The Ice Road, this time taking Mike to Nepal where he teams with Bingbing Fan’s mountain guide Dhani, for his trip to scatter his late brother’s ashes on Mt.Everest. On their tour bus, they encounter mercenaries who Mike has to fight to protect the passengers and the local villagers. So essentially, this is Die Hard on a bus, without the Speed, but hopefully some actual ice eventually, since there isn’t much in the trailer. Still hoping to get to this one, which is now available on VOD. I have watched about half of this one so far, but I might just have to add my review to Letterboxd once I finish watching. (You’re following me on there, right?)
VIDEOHEAVEN (Cinema Conservatory)
Opening at the IFC Center this weekend is the second documentary from Alex Ross Perry this year, following his great Pavements movie. This one premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and it looks at the popularity of VHS and the video store, particularly in the ‘80s, and the role they played in film culture. Narrated by Maya Hawke, the movie is three hours long, and I haven’t found time to watch it yet. I might try to go see it on Wednesday tonight since it will be followed by a QnA with Perry, or I’ll just stay home and watch it on my screener and maybe add some notes about it on my Letterboxd. This will also open at Vidiots in L.A. on August 6.
THE OLD GUARD 2 (Netflix)
Hitting Netflix this week is the sequel to Charlize Theron’s action movie, based on the comics by Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández. This one is directed by Victoria Mahoney, as opposed to Gina Prince-Bythewood, so I’m not quite as optimistic, but it co-stars Uma Thurman and Henry Golding, as well as returning cast Chiwetel Ejiofor, KiKi Layne, and Matthias Schoenarts. I just don’t think I liked the first movie enough to care about watching a sequel.
KILL THE JOCKEY (Music Box)
Opening at New York’s Film Forum on Friday is Argentine filmmaker Luis (El Angel) Ortega’s multi-cultural romantic comedy, starring Nahuel Pérez Biscayart (BPM Beats Per Minute) as Remo, a drunk jockey “whose gangster patrons and identity crisis drive him to near self-destruction.” So he is “reborn and revitalized, mysteriously, as mink-wearing, handbag-toting Dolores.” Oh, those South Americans, they just love making movies that no one wants to see. Reviews have been good, mostly out of last year’s TIFF< but this is one of those movies that I might have tried to catch the press screening, but having missed it, I’ll probably never see this.
REPERTORY
A big repertory release this weekend is a remastered version of Rob Reiner’s comedy classic, This is Spinal Tap, which is getting a 41st Anniversary 4k restoration released nationwide from July 5 through July 7 via Fathom Events ahead of the long-awaited sequel in early September.
It’s July, which means that there’s probably a new book at the Metrograph; I believe this is edition #44! That also means that lots of great new series will begin and run over the next few months, and there’s a lot of great excited stuff that I’m excited about, much of which I’d try to see even if I didn’t just live a block away. (The only reason I ever gloat about this is that it’s probably one of the FEW good things in my shitty life right now.)
One of the big events this weekend is “Mubi and Metrograph Present: Twin Peaks Circa 2017,” which will show the entire 2017 Twin Peaks series sequel, which is rarely shown in theaters, but if you’re up for it, you literally can watch the entire ???? episodes
The series that excites me most is “Come As You Are: ‘90s Music on Screen,” which will feature lots of great music docs and movies, this weekend including Madonna: Truth or Dare from 1991 and Penelope Spheeris’ The Decline of Western Civilization III from 1998, this one getting into the punk and heavy metal scene in SoCal in the ‘90s. There’s a LOT more great stuff to come, including a QnA with Steve Shelley and Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth next month that sadly, I’ll be missing.
“In ‘Scope and Color!” is a series about widescreen cinema I think, and this weekend’s selections are Max Ophuls’ 1955 film Lola Montès, a series of Vittorio de Seta shorts from the ‘50s in “‘Scope,” and Vincente Minelli’s Some Came Running (1958), starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley Maclaine. (I’m going to see that on Saturday.)
I literally have no idea what “High Voltage” is supposed to be about, but this weekend, they’re showing Lynne Ramsay’s 2017 movie, You Were Never Really Here, starring Joaquin Phoenix, and Park Chanwook’s action classic, Oldboy.
“Florida Is A Feeling” is a little bit more straightforward with this weekend’s offerings being Michael Mann’s Miami Vice (2006), starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx; Oscar-winner Sean Baker’s earlier film, The Florida Project (2017), starring Willem Dafoe; and Matthew McConaughey in Harmony Korine’s The Beach Bum (2019). There’s a lot of fun stuff ahead in this series, too.
“Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us” continues through the weekend with more screenings of the Japanese filmmaker’s final film, Scattered Clouds, and a few others through the weekend. I haven’t really been a fan of the movies I’ve seen, but them screening anywhere, let alone in 35mm, is quite rare, so maybe you’ll feel differently.
“The Show Must Go On” wraps up with screenings of Francois Ozon’s 8 Women (2002) and Matsumoto’s Funeral Parade of Roses (1969) on Thursday afternoon/night.
Also, a reminder that there’s a lot of great stuff on Metrograph’s digital platform, which comes as part of your membership for just $50 a year or $5 a month, and that also gives you a significant discount on tickets. Trust Metrograph Member #5 – it’s a great deal! Currently, there are movies by Terrence Davies, Werner Herzog, Lynne Ramsay, and a lot of other great stuff.
“Volver A Carmen” will offer one more screening of Almodovar’s Volver and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown over the next week, and Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke will screen one more time on Monday afternoon as part of “Guided by Animals.”
Beginning on Friday is a 4k restoration of Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse, the documentary made about the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. (The “long-unseen 1979 original” print of Coppola’s movie will only be running through Thursday, July 3.) On the other hand, Masayuki Suo’s Shall We Dance? Has been extended again through July 10, so it must be doing well. No “Film Forum Jr.” offering this Sunday but on Monday, you can see John Cassavetes’ Shadows (1959) in 35mm.
Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love continues to play here as a downtown option through next week with the 2001 short of the same name. Ahead of the new Kiyoshi Kurosawa film Cloud, IFC Center is screening two of the Japanese filmmaker’s classics, beginning with Pulse late night on Friday and Saturday. It looks like Richard Linklater’s “Before” movies are starting to drift away but you have Before Sunrise on Thursday and then Before Sunset continues for another week. Apparently, Brian De Palma’s Body Double (1984) is playing a few times over the next week, mostly at 10pm, as part of “Tales from Videoheaven,” which also includes Video Violence (on Saturday night introduced by Alex Ross Perry) and Cronenberg’s Videodrome, which screens on Weds, Friday, Monday, and Wednesday, also at 10pm. Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth continues to screen through the weekend, as does Todd Solonz’s Happiness (But just one screening a day). Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct will play late night on Friday and Saturday, and there are a number of “Staff Picks” screening through the weekend, including Cronenberg’s Escape from New York, Neil Armfield’s Holding the Man, Tombstone, and much more.
NITEHAWK CINEMA PROSPECT PARK & WILLIAMSBURG
Some fun new series starting up at the Nitehawk, including “Summer in the City,” which is pretty self-explanatory, kicking off on Thursday night at Prospect Park with John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. (1996), and then screenings of Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing on Saturday and Sunday, just two miles away from where the classic film was shot. On Tuesday night, you can see Walter Hill’s The Warriors from 1979, another New York City summer classic. As part of the same series, Williamsburg will be showing Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976) on Saturday and Sunday at brunch time.
Also, this is “Shark Weekend” apparently, so Prospect Park will be showing the greatest shark movie ever made… Renny Harlin’s 1999 Deep Blue Sea on Saturday and Sunday! At Williamsburg, you can see another great underrated shark movie that isn’t Jaws with Jaume Collet-Sera’s The Shallows (2016), starring Blake Lively, on Saturday and Sunday for brunch.
On Monday night, Prospect Park will screen Wim Wender’s Buena Vista Social Club (1999) with a QnA with a member of the Broadway company, as part of the “Stage and Screen” series.
Another series kicking off this week is “Music by Harold Faltmeyer,” focusing on one of the most prolific composers of the ‘80s, beginning next Monday with a Prospect Park screening of Tony Scott’s Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise. A restoration of Haydn Keenan’s 1982 film Going Down will screen Monday night at Williamsburg.
Next Wednesday (July 9), Williamsburg will be showing Clive Barker’s early experimental shorts, so that’s something you get to see that often.
On Wednesday and Thursday, you can see Michael Roemer’s The Plot Against Harry (1971) in 35mm, or you can watch a couple Wachowski movies like The Matrix Reloaded (also in 35mm) on Wednesday or Jupiter Ascending on Thursday. On Thursday, you can also watch “a long lost masterpiece in gay cinema” with 1980’s Equation to An Unknown, also in 35mm. The Roxy will be closed on the 4th of July but on Sunday, you’ll have another chance to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan in 35mm or 1984’s Vengeance is Mine. I don’t know anything about Andrzej Zulawski’s 1988 sci-fi film, On the Silver Globe, but that will screen on Monday and Tuesday. The Oscar-winning Amadeus will be screening on Tuesday with a QnA with none other than Oscar winner F. Murray Abraham! (Yeah, I thought he was cancelled, too.)
Next week, Village East is screening Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets on Tuesday and Howl’s Moving Castle on Wednesday, because it’s summer, it’s hot, and gotta get the kids out of the house and off the streets.
FilmLinc will continue to show Wong Kar-wai’s classic In the Mood for Love through the weekend, and also will be screening Uli Edel’s Christiane F., plus they’ll also be screening P.T. Anderson’s Inherent Vice – in my opinion, the WORST MOVIE OF HIS ENTIRE CAREER – in 70mm starting on Friday, so you can waste your money on that or go see the far superior Wong Kar-wai movie.
Beginning on Saturday, the Paris is switching gears with “Knockout: A Cinematic Celebration of the Sweet Science” aka BOXING MOVIES! (And boy, there are some great ones). This weekend, we get David O. Russell’s The Boxer, Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-winning Best Picture Million Dollar Baby, and Scorsese’s Raging Bull. Sunday, they’re showing the original Rocky, the original Creed, and Robert Wise’s The Set-Up, and Monday is The Hurricane, When We Were Kings, and Girlfight, and on Tuesday, a relatively newer offering in Catch the Fair One.
This week, we get the start of a series called “The Wonders of Technology,” screening The Wizard of Oz on Wednesday night, and the classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on Saturday and next Tuesday, two movies that are great on the big screen. Sunday, they’re screening Disney’s brilliant animated classic Fantasia
For some reason, I thought “Hitch! The Original Cinema Influencer” was over, but nope, it’s still going strong with lots of great stuff through the weekend, including Rear Window, North by Northwest, Strangers on a Train, and lots more.
Been a couple weeks since I’ve checked to see what’s going on in Astoria, but quite appropriately, they’re still showing the “Tom Cruise, Above and Beyond” series with this weekend having screenings of Born on the Fourth of July on Saturday, and Rain Man and A Few Good Men on Sunday. MoMI’s “Sunday Saturdays with Dolby Atmos” will screen James Cameron’s Titanic this Saturday, and that’s about it for this holiday weekend.
Haven’t really been paying much attention to MOMA, but they’re doing a series called “A Theater Near You,” based around David Schartz’s essay of the same name, so let’s see what it offers. On Thursday afternoon, you can see Claire Denis’ great 35 Shots of Rum (2008) and Perry Henzell’s 1972 film, The Harder They Come, and then on Friday, the 4th of July, they’ll screen Raoul Walsh’s The Big Trail (1930) and Raoul Peck’s I Am Not Your Negro (2016). Other movies in the series include Jim Jarmusch’s Permanent Vacation (1980) and a Jean-Luc Godard film. I guess I could read the description to see how these movies are connected, but I provided a link so you can do that yourself.
Next week, it’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a flying dinosaur with a name that’s hard to spell and pronounce! But it actually looks a lot like James Gunn’s Superman, who looks nothing like any of those other things mentioned.