Materialists Archives - LemonFire

Celine Song knows you might not be happy about how ‘Materialists’ ends

admin — Sat, 14 Jun 2025 12:58:24 +0000

Celine Song “can’t write anything” until she knows how it’s going to end.

With Materialists, the tender follow-up to her directorial feature debut Past Lives, the ending — namely, who gets the girl — came early on. But to get there, she first imagined another scene: Chris Evans’ introduction as John, a struggling actor and part-time cater-waiter who reconnects with ex-girlfriend Lucy (Dakota Johnson), a successful matchmaker, while working her client’s wedding. As wealthy groomsman Harry, a charming financier played by Pedro Pascal, puts the moves on Lucy, John delivers her drink of choice to the table: Coca-Cola and a beer.

“That really helped me crack it,” Song tells Entertainment Weekly of the scene. “This is a situation that I’m in sometimes, where you’re in the room talking to the person who is a multimillionaire, and then you also know the guy who is the cater-waiter. You have different parts of New York City sitting in that room. I wrote that scene, and then I knew how to write the whole movie.”

Dakota Johnson as Lucy and Chris Evans as John in ‘Materialists’.

Atsushi Nishijima/A24

A meditation on love and money, Materialists (in theaters now) follows Lucy, a dedicated matchmaker at a glossy dating firm who has a pragmatic view of romance. The bachelorette perceives marriage as more of a lucrative business deal, helping her clients with otherwise surface-level specifications — like net worth, age, and height — when it comes to finding love.

But love and what it means to love is not merely an equation, which Lucy comes to learn after a match she orchestrates goes horribly awry despite appearing perfect on paper. That lesson leads to the realization that she is, in fact, in love with the imperfect John (sorry, Pedro Pascal die-hards!) and the two wed at a New York courthouse bustling with future spouses.

In the months leading up to the film’s highly anticipated release, social media has lit up with humorous reaction videos from Pascal obsessives declaring that he better get the girl. What does Song have to say to those who may be broken-hearted over Lucy’s choice?

“Oh my God,” she responds with a laugh. “I think it’s amazing that people feel so passionate about the actors behind the characters. But it’s a movie. I would say it’s a movie. I feel so lucky and happy that these actors showed up to do this movie. We love it, and we believe in it.”

Dakota Johnson as Lucy and Pedro Pascal as Harry in ‘Materialists’.

Atsushi Nishijima/A24

Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.

Plus, sorry to the folks who aspire to that Jane Austen type of love, but life doesn’t always work out that way, okay? “What’s amazing about Pride and Prejudice is that the person who is going to pay off your debt and your family’s debt is also going to be the love of your life,” Song says. “What an amazing fantasy, but we know in life, that’s not necessarily true. I think it’s so much easier to be somebody who is cynical and materialistic about what we’re looking for. I totally understand it. It’s fun to be like, ‘Well, who cares about love?’ But what I believe more than anything is that the fantasy of true love, the hope of it, the thing that’s really hard and humiliating and embarrassing — it’s the bravest thing you can do.”

At the core of the film is Lucy’s, and by extension, John’s, transformation, and the way the two find their way back to each other. “Lucy, in the beginning of the film, is somebody who is quote unquote very smart about the dating market; she’s somebody who’s very cynical,” Song says. “But because of what she goes through, she becomes somebody who makes a decision that Lucy, from the beginning of the film, would think is really stupid. But the truth is that she’s making the only smart decision that she can, which is, when there is an offer of true love, all you can do is accept it.”

John, meanwhile, has “completely surrendered to love,” Song adds. “He was a bit more hung up when they were together on the way that he’s not able to materially provide for her. He really sabotaged it. Because she walked away, he basically was able to then say, well, here’s the thing. You will probably reject this offer, but I’m going to offer you everything I have, and the only thing I have. You would be really stupid to take it, but here it is. I’m just going to offer it because love is surrender.”

Source link

The post Celine Song knows you might not be happy about how ‘Materialists’ ends appeared first on LemonFire.

‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Flying To Franchise Best Opening With $82M+; ‘Materialists’ Eyeing $12M – Friday Afternoon Update

admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 23:27:30 +0000

Updated Friday Midday: The live-action take of How to Train Your Dragon is coming in ahead of projections with $82.5M at 4,356 theaters. The weekend is still young, and Saturday could fly this dragon to a higher atmosphere and Sunday looks to get a lift too as this is the quintessential father-son story for Father’s Day. Friday is $35.5M which includes $11.1M in previews.

At $82.5M, that’s the best opening ever in the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, and it’s the fourth highest opening weekend of the year stateside behind A Minecraft Movie, Lilo & Stich and Captain America: Brave New World.

RelishMix reports that the social media universe for HTTYD stand at 608.3M across Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube which is higher than the SMU reach for Lilo & Stitch before opening (552.2M) and it’s ahead of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (530.1M).

A24’s Materialists is also ahead of projections with $12M in third place at 2,844 theaters after a $5M Friday (that includes $1.5M in previews).

Second is Disney’s Lilo & Stitch with a fourth weekend of $16M, -50%, after a $5M Friday and a running cume of $367M.

Fourth is either Lionsgate’s Ballerina at 3,409 theaters with $2.2M today and an estimated $9M in weekend 2, -63%, and a ten-day of $41.4M, or it’s Paramount’s fourth weekend of Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning which is also looking at $9M+ (-38%). Booked at 2,942 theaters, the Tom Cruise eighthquel is looking at $2.2M today and a running cume by Sunday of $165.2M.

Updated Friday AM: Universal is reporting $8.6M for last night’s previews at 3,200 sites for How to Train Your Dragon and when Wednesday early access screenings are included that number rises to $11.1M. Excellent start. Similar to Lilo & Stitch, there’s a lot of millennial love for How to Train Your Dragon. The Dean DeBlois directed family epic is booked at 4,356 theaters this weekend including all premium upcharge formats.

A24

A24’s Materialists from Celine Song is off to a great start with $1.5M in Thursday previews at 2,844 locations. That figure isn’t that far from Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers ($1.9M previews, $15M opening). The Dakota Johnson-Pedro Pascal-Chris Evans movie stands at 77% with Rotten Tomatoes audiences (audiences may be divided in Johnson’s choice of dudes in the film) with critics making heart eyes with 87% certified fresh. Outlook for Materialists was $7M-$8M. There’s hope especially after last night that it’s bound to be better. Previews for Materialists are also ahead of Universal’s George Clooney-Julia Roberts romcom Ticket to Paradise which did $1.1M on its way to a $16.5M start. Materialists cost around $20M before P&A.

Rest of the week went down as follows:

1.) Lilo & Stitch (Dis) 4,185 theaters, Thu $2.8M (-14% from Wed), Wk $47.5M (-44%), Total $350.8M/Wk 3

2.) Ballerina (LG) 3,409 theaters, Thu $1.3M (-15%), Wk $32.4M/Wk 1
For its Monday through Thursday stretch, Ballerina made $7.9M, which is $1M more than Mission: Impossible 8 over the same frame this past week ($6.9M). On Wednesday, each film made $1.5M.

3.) Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (Par) Thu $1.27M (-16%), Wk $21.7M (-44%), Total $156M/Wk 3

4.) Karate Kid: Legends (Sony) 3,859 theaters, Thu $705K (-14%), Wk $12.3M (-54%), Total $39.1M/Wk 2

5. Final Destination: Bloodlines (NL) 2,867 theaters, Thu $642K (-16%), Wk $9.6M (-40%), Total $126.7M/Wk 4

Universal Pictures

PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE: Universal’s live action take of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon is eyeing around $8M-$9M in Thursday previews. As we always say, these are industry estimates, so they could fluctuate by the time Universal reports in the morning. The studio didn’t return request for comment on what we were spotting.

While early week projections were $65M-$75M, exhibition has been pushing this one in hopes they can wrangle a $100M opening. We could use more of those this summer post Memorial Day weekend.

The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes for this Dean DeBlois directed movie (he did the original animated trilogy) is an epic 99% with critics at 77% certified fresh (that’s a little higher than Lilo & Stitch‘s 72% fresh; that pic’s audience score settling at 93%). Previews began today at 2PM.

How to Train Your Dragon‘s preview money isn’t far from Frozen 2‘s ($8.5M, $130.2M opening), but it’s below Lilo & Stitch‘s $14.5M ($146M opening). It’s also north of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts ($7.6M, $61M opening).

Hands down, How to Trian Your Dragon‘s early money is ahead of the third animated pic, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ($3M previews, $55M opening) and it’s also ahead of How to Train Your Dragon 2‘s $2M in cash (that sequel released by 20th Century Fox when DWA had their distribution deal there) which turned into a $49.4M 3-day opening.

The How to Train Your Dragon trilogy of movies have grossed close to $1.7 billion at the global box office.

We’ll have more updates in the AM.

Source link

The post ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Flying To Franchise Best Opening With $82M+; ‘Materialists’ Eyeing $12M – Friday Afternoon Update appeared first on LemonFire.