Video game movies are an often-maligned genre, but Dwayne Johnson's "Rampage" squeaked out a box office win this weekend. Surprising? Sort of.
Here's how it did: $34.5 million in North America on opening weekend, barely overtaking "A Quiet Place." It did much better overseas, where it raked in $114 million -- $55 million of which came in from China.
"For a movie that cost $120 million to make and starred the Rock and was based on a 1980s video game, I'd say that's just OK," said Vanity Fair's Rebecca Keegan.
But the movie still surpassed expectations. "It's safe to say that he is definitely one of the last real stars capable of getting people out to the movie theater," Keegan said.
One reason for this could be the wrestling background that prepared him for showmanship. The guy just gets marketing and social media, Keegan explained.
His prodigious social media feeds are doing half the marketing department's job for them. He does seem to be able to engage with his fans and get them out there. Should be interesting to see if it lasts.
PLUS:
- Emmy season is underway. How Amazon and Netflix have upped the for-your-consideration game with museum-like experiences that are open to the general public.
- More on the Netflix-Cannes debacle, Keegan obtained an email Orson Welles’ daughter sent Netflix executive Ted Sarandos begging him to reconsider pulling her father’s movie from the festival.
- Remembering filmmaker Milos Forman, the filmmaker behind classics like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus."
On The Lot, Take Two's weekly segment about the business of entertainment and Hollywood, airs every Monday.
