Celine Song’s romantic dramedy “Materialists” opens from A24 in what we hear are about 2,800 theaters in the U.S. this weekend — majorly more screens than Song’s debut “Past Lives,” which opened two years ago in four theaters. Strong social sentiment and positive reviews initially set the stage for a possible $7 million opening, but A24 could be looking at another fast-rising hit on its hands if the movie opens above $10 million, which is entirely possible.
On this week’s episode of IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast, co-hosts Anne Thompson and Ryan Lattanzio dish on what needs to happen for “Materialists” to sustain potential early success — especially as Dakota Johnson, with co-stars Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal at her side, delivers another viral press tour with candid thoughts on “Materialists,” plus “Madame Web” and Hollywood’s drive for repetition and remakes.
Related Stories
Elsewhere on the podcast, we make some early Emmy predictions and share hopes (and hope-nots). Anne recently binged four seasons of Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses” and has great things to say about the Gary Oldman-starring spy series, but major drama contenders this year are “The Pitt,” the HBO Max medical drama packaged as the kind of old-fashioned, true-television series rarely made these days. Particularly as so many series are structured, written, and cut as basically 10-hour movies or longer. “Severance” also wrapped an unforgettable Season 2 this year, and Emmy voters are paying attention.
As the summer movie season rolls on but with more tentpoles and major studio releases to come, we also took a beat to make some early bids for potential Governors Awards recipients. The honorary Academy Awards — if AMPAS is paying attention to Scott Feinberg’s massive Hollywood Reporter list of 100 worthy contenders — could award folks like Mike Leigh, Glenn Close, Jack Fisk, Werner Herzog, Harrison Ford, Isabelle Huppert, Eddie Murphy, or many more.
We also dish on last weekend’s Tony Awards and what stage shows would make for the best movies, or not. Glenn Close has been trying to get “Sunset Blvd.,” a film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, off the ground for nearly a decade. Blockbuster ticket sales and Tony wins for Nicole Scherzinger’s ongoing Broadway iteration, directed by Jamie Lloyd, could embolden Hollywood to expedite development and production on a screen version.
Listen to the podcast below or watch in the video above.
