THE WEEKEND WARRIOR May 16, 2025
FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES, HURRY UP TOMORROW, THE RUSE, SISTER MIDNIGHT
We’re now three weeks into the summer movie season and after a rather embarrassing second weekend, we have a chance at a new #1 with the release of a new installment in one of the definitive horror franchises of the 21st Century – okay, fine, it shares that title with the Conjuring, Insidious, and Paranormal Activity movies… oh, and I guess Terrifier. Oh, just give this one to me, dammit!!!
But yes, the big movie of the weekend is the latest installment of a franchise that hasn’t had a new movie in 14 years but will try to appease moviegoers’ desire for death and gore in a big way. And then there’s another movie starring Jenna Ortega, who I generally like but who is in danger of joining Pedro Pascal in getting annoying in the fact that she’s everywhere.
FINAL DESTINATION BLOODLINES (New Line/WB)
If you’ve been reading my Substack for the past few years (or just since January), you are likely to already know that this is my second most anticipated movie of the year. That might be the case with horror fans everywhere since the Final Destination movies have been generally popular and successful, even though there hasn’t been a new one in almost 14 years.
Directed by filmmakers Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein of the 2018 indie genre film, Freaks, Final Destination Bloodlines takes a different approach than previous movies by starting out with a catastrophic destruction of the Skyview Restaurant in the early ‘60s, where hundreds of people survive only due to a premonition had by the pregnant Iris (Brec Bassinger), whose boyfriend has just proposed to her. Cut forward 60 years and Stefani (Kaitlyn Santa Juana) has had a nightmare showing the disaster, and as her family reunites for a BBQ, it starts to feel like they’re being plagued by Death’s design. Sure enough, Stefani’s grandmother is the Iris we saw earlier (now played by Gabrielle Rose), and she tells her family that Death has been coming after all of the families of those who survived the Skyview disaster.
As with many horror films, even ones that are long-running franchises, it’s not always about the cast, and honestly, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who knows anyone in this cast. That is, except the late, great Tony Todd, a horror legend who first became known from Candyman and from three of the five previous “Final Destination” movies. Sadly, Todd died last year after filming his scenes, and for diehard horror fans, seeing him on screen one last time will be motivation enough to plop down money to see Final Destination Bloodlines. Although the franchise has had a few breakout stars like Sean William Scott, Ali Larter, and Mary-Elizabeth Winstead, this movie’s breakout star is likely to be Richard Harmon (who played Captain Boomerang on “The Flash” show!) who is featured in the early tease of the guy in the tattoo parlor.
As mentioned, the previous movie was 14 years ago, but the fourth movie, 2009’s The Final Destination, was the biggest movie of the franchise, opening with $27.4 million domestic and making $66.5 million domestic and $187.4 million worldwide, helped by the boom in 3D, even though it was released pre-Avatar, oddly. Two years later, Final Destination 5 opened with $18 million, which was still on the higher side of the franchise and ended up with $155 million worldwide. Both those movies cost $40 million to make, which was already more than the $23 to $25 million production budgets of the earlier installments.
Early reactions to the Final Destination Bloodlines have been great, and reviews are likely to be better than any previous installment, with only Final Destination 5 being in the Fresh range on Rotten Tomatoes. Considering how many younger people are likely to have discovered the franchise on streaming since the last movie, I fully expect Final Destination Bloodlines to take the top spot this weekend with over $30 million, though it’s likely to be frontloaded with many big movies opening in the coming weeks. I think it will end up making around $75 to $80 million domestic, which would still be the highest domestic gross for the franchise, and hopefully, New Line will want another movie soon.
And here is my interview with the directors of Final Destination Bloodlines. I’ll have an interview with producer Craig Perry later this week.
HURRY UP TOMORROW (Lionsgate)
Offered as counterprogramming (of sorts) is the new movie from Trey Edward Schults, the filmmaker behind acclaimed indies Krisha and Waves, and the thriller It Comes At Night, and who co-wrote this film with Abel Tesfaye aka musical star the Weeknd, who is currently on tour. I won’t be seeing the movie until it opens, so I’ll have to borrow the tagline from IMDB, which is ”An insomniac musician encounters a mysterious stranger, leading to a journey that challenges everything he knows about himself.”
The movie co-stars super-hot actors Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, and most people will be shocked that this movie is not being released by either A24 or Neon, since it seems to follow a similar pattern as the type of movies they like to release.
Ortega has gotten pretty hot thanks to her starring role on Netflix’s “Wednesday” series from Tim Burton, and of course, she co-starred in Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, which was one of the bigger blockbusters of 2024, grossing $451 million worldwide. Other movies of hers haven’t done as well with A24’s Death of a Unicorn, co-starring Paul Rudd, making just $12.5 million domestically, and I won’t get into last year’s unfortunate Miller’s Girl. Oh, and Ortega was also the star of the last two Scream movies and appeared in Ti West’s X, so she’s definitely a modern-day genre Queen if there is one.
Besides appearing in Chloe Zhao’s Eternals for Marvel, Keoghan had a tiny role at the end of Matt Reeves’ The Batman, cameoing as the new Joker, though who knows whether or when a sequel will be released with Reeves presumably exiting the franchise. Other than that, Keoghan has had small roles in movies like The Banshees of Inisherin and The Green Knight and starred in Saltburn, all smaller movies that didn’t even reach $20 million domestic. Abel Tesfaye’s own acting career and entry into genre was the controversial HBO series “The Idol,” although he’s a big enough star in the music world that people might be interested in anything he does.
Since this is not being released by A24 or Neon, who knows if Lionsgate can do what’s necessary to get people out to theaters to see this? It certainly won’t help that, like last week’s Shadow Force, this is being hidden from critics, so yeah, it’s probably not a good movie. And yet, Lionsgate is releasing the movie into 2,000 theaters and maybe the film’s enigmatic marketing might get people interested, but it’s going to lose a lot of its younger genre audience to Final Destination Bloodlines this weekend.
Since not even the real A24 and Neon releases like this are bringing in big bucks, I have a hard time seeing this one open with more than $4 million. It might just sneak into the top 5, but if it’s as bad as Shadow Force, expect it to quickly get bumped from the top 10.
Then we have two smaller movies, which I doubt will get into the top 10, since they both are being released quite moderately.
THE RUSE (Seismic Films/Mena Films)
Stevan Mena’s thriller is opening into over 400 theaters this weekend. It’s about an in-home caregiver to an elderly patient (Veronica Cartwright) who vanishes and is replaced by Madelyn Dundon’s Dale, who discovered all sorts of chaos around the patient’s seaside home, including supernatural happenings.
NEXT SOHEE (Zurty Studios)
I know next to nothing about this movie or the distributor, but apparently, it, too, is getting a wide or widish release. Digging around, it seems to be a Korean film that premiered at Cannes in 2022, which is finally being released. Written and directed by July Jung, the film is about a high school student (Kim Si-eun) who is training for a job at a call center when she dies. It then follows Detective Oh Yu-jin (Doona Bae from The Host, Cloud Atlans and more), who is investigating the girl’s death. I’m a little mystified why this Korean film might get a wide release when so few do, unless they’re directed by Bong Joon-ho or Park Chanwook, and knowing nothing about this distributor makes it hard to think this will make more than a few hundred thousand this week, if that. It all depends on that theater count.
THE BOX OFFICE CHART 5/16/25 (Updated!)
Not a lot else to say about this weekend’s box office, but one thing that might be of interest is that A24’s Friendship will expand into 60 theaters after setting a per-theater average record for the year opening in six theaters last weekend. This weekend will be the mid-point before it’s released wide over Memorial Day weekend, and it does stand a good chance at breaking into the bottom of the Top 10.
1. Final Destination Bloodlines (New Line/WB) - $36.3 million N/A (up $4.9 million)
2. The New Avengers (Marvel/Disney) - $17.5 million -46%
3. Sinners (Warner Bros) - $15.5 million -30%
4. A Minecraft Movie (Warner Bros) - $4.6 million -40%
5. Hurry Up Tomorrow (Lionsgate) - $4.3 million N/A (up .4 million)
6. The Accountant 2 (MGM Amazon) - $3.7 million -45%
7. Clown in the Cornfield (RLJEfilms/Shudder) - $1.6 million -56%
8. Fight or Flight (Vertical) - $1.1 million -53%
9. Friendship (A24) - $1 million
10. Shadow Force (Lionsgate) - $800,000 -66%
SISTER MIDNIGHT (Magnet)
Opening in New York on Friday and then in L.A. and other cities on May 23 is this strange genre film from India, written and directed by Karan Kandhari. It stars Radhika Apte as Uma, a recent newlywed who is immediately unhappy with her husband and her arranged marriage, and we follow her as she tries to find meaning in her life, getting a job as a cleaner, and… eating birds. This is a very strange movie, and I was going to try to review it, but honestly, I just couldn’t get through it, because for every aspect that I was enjoying, there was other bits that just made me think, “What the fuck!?” And since I didn’t actually finish the movie, I can’t review it, but yeah, this just wasn’t for me.
THE DAMNED (Grasshopper Films)
Not to be confused with the Thordur Palsson-directed period thriller released earlier this year, this is a new film from Roberto Minervi, which I wrote about when it premiered at last year’s New York Film Festival, but it’s finally being released. It’s a Civil War drama set in the winter of 1862 when the U.S. Army sends a company of volunteers into uncharted Western territories. I haven’t seen it since last October, and I barely remember it, so you can check out my thoughts from then… or if you want a laugh, read some of the user reviews from IMDB.
HUNG UP ON A DREAM: THE ZOMBIES DOCUMENTARY (Utopia)
I didn’t realize that Robert Schwartzman’s doc about the Zombies was getting a theatrical release this weekend, because I thought this was only doing select cities on Monday, and I didn’t get around to watching it, but this indeed is playing this weekend at the Landmark NuArt in L.A. starting May 15 and New York’s Quad Cinema starting Friday with Schwartzman and Colin Blunstone from the band doing QnAs on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. Sadly, I’m not free either day, but hopefully I’ll get a chance to watch this soon. (It’s good to follow me on Letterboxd since sometimes I’ll review stuff there that I don’t get to in this column.)
DESERT DAWN (Saban Films)
Cam Gigandet and Kellan Lutz star in Marty Murray’s crime action-thriller about a new sheriff of a small town and his deputy who discover a series of lies and corruption involving the cartel and a shady businessman while investigating the murder of a woman.
A BREED APART (Lionsgate)
Hayden Panettiere stars in this action horror film as a rebel seeking abandoned dogs on a remote island finds herself in a harrowing situation filled with terror and adrenaline-fueled chaos.
Other movies out this weekend…
E.1027 – EILEEN GRAY AND THE HOUSE BY THE SEA (First Run Features)
THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE (Well GO USA)
TO LIVE AND DIE AND LIVE (Samuel Goldwyn)
DESERT OF NAMIBIA (Metrograph Press)
REPERTORY
Before we get to our regularly-scheduled New York City arthouse/rep theaters, I should mention that the 1978 musical The Wiz, starring Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, will be getting a nationwide rerelease into theaters on Sunday, May 18, although the Village East in New York will also be screening it on Friday night, May 16, plus it will screen again on Wednesday, May 21. I still can’t remember if I’ve seen it or not, because I missed it when Metrograph played it.
On Saturday, they’re doing “An Afternoon with Mika Rottenberg,” showing the New York-based video artist’s 2022 debut feature, Remote with Rottenberg doing a QnA afterwards.
A couple series beginning this weekend include “Glauber Rocha: Of Hunger & Dreams,” looking at the life and career of exiled Brazilian filmmaker Glauber Rocha with this weekend screening Black God, White Devil (1964) and Barravento (1962), the latter preceded by the experimental short O Pátio.
Another great below-the-line spotlight starts on Friday with “Freddie Francis, Cameraman” looking at the work of the cinematographer both as DP and filmmaker including his return to cinematography in David Lynch’s The Elephant Man (1980) starring the late, great John Hurt, which has a new 4k restoration, and the series will also screen Joseph Losey’s Time Without Pity (1957) on Saturday night.
“Guided by Animals” will screen Vostech Jasný’s The Cassandra Cat (1963) this weekend, and for the kids, you can see the animated Ernest and Celestine (2012). Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar will screen one more time on Wednesday afternoon.
The incredibly downer of a series “The Time That Remains” will screen Ingmar Bergman’s 1972 film Cries and Whispers. No idea why they didn’t include the classic Love Story in this otherwise great series.
“Scenes from the ‘End of History’” screens Krzysztof Kieślowski’s 1994 film Three Colors: White on Thursday night and Arnaud Desplechin’s 1992 espionage film La Sentinelle over the weekend, as well as Elia Suleiman’s 1996 film Chronicle of a Disappearance.
“Syd Mead: Illustrating the Future” will screen the ‘80s classic Tron on Saturday and Monday nights. Bummed I’m going to miss this on the big screen.
The “Candy Clark: The Girl Who Fell to Hollywood” series continues with another screening of American Graffiti on Monday and The Man Who Fell to Earth on Tuesday, and Vincent Gallo’s 1998 film Buffalo ‘66 screens as part of “Louise Giovanelli: Still Moving” this weekend.
There are some massive retrospectives taking place this weekend at some of the arthouse theaters around town, including…
Film Forum kicks off its latest comprehensive series, with “Jack Lemmon 100” commemorating the 100th birthday of the comic actor that runs from May 16 through May 29. Some of the movies playing this weekend including the Oscar-winning The Apartment, the classic Some LIke It Hot (one of my favorite movies of all time), It Should Happen to You, and much more! Lemmon is just a great actor, so hopefully people will check out some of his lesser-known films… but there’s also a lot of classics in there, like The China Syndrome and Days of Wine and Roses. Federico Fellini’s 8 ½ continues until May 22, and this weekend’s “Film Forum Jr” is The Odd Couple, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
Alfred Hitchcock’s movies tend to play a lot around town but the Paris is offering the most comprehensive Hitchcock retrospective yet, starting this Friday with “Hitch! The Original Cinema Influencer” running from May 16 through June 29. This weekend, there’s Young and Innocent, the doc Hitchcock/Truffaut, The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The Lady Vanishes with Night Train to Munich, The Last Laugh, Sabotage, The 39 Steps, and more. You can even view a cool trailer for the series here. The Academy Museum Branch Selects series continues with David Lynch’s The Elephant Man (presented by the Make Up Artists and Hairstylists Branch) on Saturday afternoon and Scorsese’s Casino (presented by the Actors Branch) on Tuesday night.
Out at MoMI in Astoria, members will be able to catch the entire Mission: Impossible series on the big screen from Friday through Sunday for FREE! YOu do need to reserve seats in advance, and be a member. That’s taken the place of the regular ongoing “See It Big: Stunts!” series.
FilmLinc will begin a program called “Kira Muratova: Scenographies of Chaos,” a retrospective of the Ukrainian filmmaker who died in 2018. I know nothing about her work but there will be a new 4k restoration of her 1989 film, The Asthenic Syndrome, and much more.
Some cool stuff at the Roxy this week, including Sidney Lumet’s 1964 film Fail Safe, starring Henry Fonda and Walter Mathau, on Thursday, as well as Almodovar’s All About My Mother (1999) and Cashiers du Cinema presents a screening of 2007’s Popcorn with a QnA with director Dr. Darren Paul Fisher. On Friday and Saturday, you can see George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road back on the big screen, and then on Saturday and Sunday, you have another chance to see Caligula: The Ultimate Cut back on the big screen. On Tuesday, you can see the original Paranormal Activity in 35mm, then Wednesday is The Grapes of Wrath (1940) in 35mm, and Michael Mann’s Heat.
NITEHAWK CINEMA PROSPECT PARK & WILLIAMSBURG
I wish I could afford to go to the Nitehawk more because their food is quite good (but also quite expensive). On Thursday night, they’re showing a “Recent Restoration” of Joe Dante’s The Howling (1981) at Prospect Park, and on Monday, the “Biopunk” series will play The Abominable Mr. Phibes from 1971. On Saturday and Sunday afternoon, you can watch the classic 1990 doc Paris Is Burning as part of “Dance, Girl, Dance.”
On Friday and Saturday late at Williamsburg, you can see the Lindsay Lohan thriller (which I remember to be a real dog) I Know Who Killed Me (2007), also as part of “Dance, Girl, Dance,” and “All About Their Mothers” continues on Monday night at Williamsburg, you can see Alice Wu’s excellent 2004 drama, Saving Face, which I wish I could catch.
Besides Withnail and I, which will continue to run through the weekend, Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990) will have a 35th anniversary 4k restoration, which starts running there on Friday. Other movies playing this weekend, many of them on Friday and Saturday late night include: Stuart Gordon’s From Beyond (1986), Nagisa Ôshima’s In the Realm of The Senses (1976), and Slava Tsukerman’s Liquid Sky (1982) – a movie I absolutely love.
Besides The Wiz on Friday night and Sunday (as mentioned above), and The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Thursday night (as usual), the Village East is showing Orson Welles’ The Magnificent Ambersons on Monday (two screenings), and on Wednesday, it will show Hong Sangsoo’s fairly recent In Our Day as part of its Korean film series.
BAM (BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC)
Thursday night will be your last chance to see Haydn Keenan’s 1983 film Going Down, which has received its first-ever US release. BAM is also screening Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, starring Denzel Washington on Saturday and Monday as well as a few other Malcolm X-related films over the weekend to celebrate the great Civil Rights activist’s 100th birthday.
Sadly, that is all I can get to this week since I’m trying to work on other things.
Next week is gonna be tough to do a full column with all the repertory stuff, due to other commitments, but it’s Memorial Day weekend and two big movies are being released, Disney’s Lilo & Stitch (a live action remake of the 2025 animated film) and Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible - The Final Recknoning, which I might have my review posted before you read this. Note that I might put next week’s column back behind the paywall… so this is your warning in case you want to take this opportunity to subscribe to paid.
You lured me in with Final Destination (guilty pleasure) and now I want to find The Ruse. Thanks!