#box-office-record

#box-office-record

"Here, you're not the predator. You're the prey." 20th Century Studios' "Predator: Badlands" will soon be available to watch in the comfort of your home. Director Dan Trachtenberg helms the latest movie in the "Predator" franchise, by forcing the classic movie monster "through a gauntlet." "Predator: Badlands" is officially the highest-grossing entry in the franchise's 38-year history, earning $183 million worldwide and beating the previous record holder, 2004's "Alien vs. Predator" ($177.4M).

If you had told me before I went to see Wicked: For Good that Elphaba and Glinda's "For Good" duet was not the most heart-breaking moment of the film, I would have assumed you: a) actually don't understand the story b) have the empathy skills of a slice of raw potato c) hate women or d) all of the above. But no, it's not. The so-called door scene takes that award, and I don't think I will ever recover from it.

But are American moviegoers prepared to embrace heroes who don't remind them of K-pop idols or characters from Marvel and DC comic books? Ne Zha 2's mythological world might feel especially foreign, considering that it is a sequel to a movie that a lot of people in this country haven't seen. (The first film in this fantasy franchise was released in select theaters in the States in 2019, where it grossed $3.7 million - only about 0.5 percent of its worldwide box-office sales.)