While there were 14 other films that had a higher domestic gross than in 2017, “Get Out” had by far the biggest return on investment. Produced by Blumhouse with its usual thrifty approach, the film grossed $176 million domestic and $255 million worldwide against a mere $4.5 million production budget. The film also legged out far better than most horror or R-rated movies, as it opened to $33.3 million in February 2017 and more than quintupled that amount by the end of its domestic theatrical run.

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Universal says that any opening higher than what “Get Out” made would be considered a success, but trackers are very optimistic as they project a $45-50 million opening. An opening on the higher end of that range would match the $50.2 million opening of last year’s horror hit “A Quiet Place,” which “Us” is currently outperforming in advance ticket sales on Fandango. The film is also expected to leg out as well as “Get Out,” which could mean a domestic run of more than $200 million against a $20 million production budget.

Even compared to other upcoming horror films like “Pet Sematary,” “Us” is a fiercely unique film that is enjoying immense social buzz and critical acclaim. Since its premiere on the opening night of SXSW, “Us” has earned a 98 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, with 68 reviews logged. And along with lead stars Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke, both of whom are still riding high off of their “Black Panther” fame, “Us” also has something that was once common decades ago but which is now rare: a director with box office draw.

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“In horror, there is a brand recognition with Blumhouse, but there isn’t a single director that has become so popular with audiences as Jordan Peele has,” said Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock. “The closest person I can think of is Eli Roth, but even he didn’t get nearly as big off of just one film the way Peele has with ‘Get Out.'”

Written, directed, and co-produced by Peele, “Us” stars Nyong’o and Duke as an upper-middle class African-American couple on vacation with their two kids. But their vacation is interrupted when they are attacked by clones of themselves known as The Tethered, who have come to claim the family’s lives for themselves. Tim Heidecker and Elisabeth Moss also star in the film, which was produced by Blumhouse’s Jason Blum, QC Productions’ Sean McKittrick and Ian Cooper, who is producing alongside Peele through Monkeypaw Productions

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Originally set for March 25, the vote, which will be conducted online, will now begin March 27 at 9:00 p.m. and end at 10:00 a.m. March 31.

The guild has also scheduled several member meetings to discuss the proposed code. In Los Angeles, meetings are set for March 26, 7:30 p.m. at the Beverly Hilton, March 27, 7:30 p.m. at the Sheraton Universal, and March 30, 10:30 a.m. at the Writers Guild Theater. In New York, a meeting is scheduled March 27, at 7:30 p.m. at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center.

The Code of Conduct, if approved, would be enforced on April 7, with WGA asking its members to leave any agency that doesn’t agree to remove packaging fees.

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The rescheduling comes after another day of talks between WGA and ATA ended with little progress, as both sides are still digging their heels in when it comes to the key dispute preventing a new deal: packaging fees.

The proposed Code of Conduct would require agencies to remove all packaging fees on any deals involving WGA members, switching instead to agents receiving a 10 percent commission from their writer clients.

Individuals with knowledge of the talks told TheWrap that during the Monday meeting, which lasted less than two hours, the ATA presented a series of questions from writer clients to the WGA that were not answered. Among them was a question over whether writers who do not fire their agents over compliance with the new Code would face discipline from the guild.

With little progress made over packaging, the WGA says that it will consider the questions and points presented by the ATA on Monday and will respond when they meet again later this week, though the ATA says that another meeting has not been confirmed.

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In a report released Monday morning, the ATA asserted that without packaging fees, writers would have had to pay $49 million more to agents during the 2017-18 TV season as part of the 10 percent commission model that would replace packaging fees as the agents’ main profit model. The report, which was conducted by LEK Consulting, also claims that the gains won by the WGA last year in the latest film and TV contract with AMPTP would have been erased if writers were to pay commissions.

When actors, directors and producers are added in, that total increases to $111 million, and the report notes that this figure assumes that all money saved by studios by not paying packaging fees is passed directly to talent and not diverted to other production costs like visual effects or on-location shooting.

But the WGA, in their own statement released Monday, attacked packaging fees as a “kickback scheme” that have allowed the four largest agencies in Hollywood — WME, CAA, UTA, and ICM Partners — to gain more profit and influence in the industry, as well as attract more private capital investments. They also argue that those investments in turn have led to WME and CAA to launch their own production studios, creating further conflicts of interest.

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“When our agents are studios – when they employ us – their interests are in direct opposition to ours. These agency/studios generate wealth for their investors (and themselves) by maximizing profits and minimizing costs,” read the statement from WGA’s negotiating committee. “Our salaries are one of those costs. When costs and net profits trade off, net profits wins. When the interests of multibillion-dollar investors and individual writers are at odds, multibillion-dollar investors win.”

“The influx of outside capital into the agency business has completed the transformation of our agencies from businesses dedicated to maximizing our revenue to businesses dedicated to maximizing their own. It is a breach of their fiduciary duty to us and a violation of law.”

The guild and the agencies also face a huge divide over how the two sides view the counterproposals that the ATA presented at talks last week, which promised a new system of transparency that would require agents to completely disclose any relationships between their agency and a studio that it has ownership stake in. The proposal also requires agents to get their writers’ approval to be included in any packaging deals before the agents receives a fee.

The ATA has insisted that such a system would give writers more control over how their work is sold to studios, and said in opening statements on Monday that the WGA’s new Code of Conduct is a “unilateral mandate that assumes writers can’t make good decisions for themselves” and would “rob WGA members of choice and decision-making power.”

The WGA, meanwhile, says that the ATA’s counterproposals are aimed at reducing the guild’s negotiating power on behalf of writers, comparing them to “right to work” laws that undermine collective bargaining with the promise of greater individual autonomy.

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“Choice is only a real choice if an individual writer has the power to exercise it in the face of a powerful company or agency. Very few do. All of your proposals ask individual writers to do things that have already proven mostly impossible, like having a real choice in agency packaging and producing deals,” WGA President David A. Goodman said in a statement last week.

During the Monday meeting, ATA Executive Director Karen Stuart urged the WGA to come to an agreement before the current agreement between the guild and agencies expires on April 6.

“We have three short weeks before a dark cloud of uncertainly will hang over Hollywood, and we can’t allow that to happen,” she said. “If we don’t start breaking this down and finding ways to bridge the divide, we will be putting our writers in an incredibly difficult position on April 6. That simply isn’t fair to your members and our clients, and no one wants that to happen.”

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As part of her emcee role, Roberts will highlight the prospects selected by NFL teams and conduct interviews from an ABC set in Nashville, Tennessee, where this year’s draft will take place. She will be joined on a different set by ESPN host Rece Davis and the “College Gameday” crew.

“As a former college athlete and devoted football fan, I am thrilled to host such an exciting event that honors the hard work and talent of student athletes,” said Roberts, who previously covered the draft during her time at ESPN. “I’m looking forward to working with my ESPN colleagues again and watching dreams come true!”

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This is the first year that ABC will cover all three days of the draft. While coverage on ESPN and NFL Network will focus on team-by-team analysis, ABC’s coverage will focus on top NFL prospects and shine a light on the road they and their families took to the pros.

“The only thing better than broadcasting the NFL Draft on ABC is having Robin Roberts co-host the first of three live installments of this pinnacle event for the upcoming football season,” said Rob Mills, senior vice president, Alternative Series, Specials and Late Night, ABC Entertainment. “She is a master at her craft and will be a resonating voice that brings life to the stories of this year’s crop of talented athletes and the families that support them.”

The 2019 NFL Draft will kick off with the first round at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, April 25. Rounds 2 and 3 will air on Friday starting at 7 p.m. ET, with the remaining rounds airing Saturday starting at noon ET.

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Clay posted a video of Barr’s guest appearance on his Instagram account, along with a photo of the venue’s owner interrupting Clay’s comedy set to tell him that Barr was backstage.

“I’ve got a special treat for everybody,” the “A Star Is Born” actor told the audience. “A close friend of about 33 years. She’s a comedian, and there haven’t been many as controversial, as outspoken, and as f—ing funny…let’s hear it for Roseanne Barr!”

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Last May, Barr was being considered for the Tropicana’s Laugh Factory Present series, but lost the potential gig after ABC fired her over a racially-charged tweet she posted about former Obama White House adviser Valerie Jarrett. The tweet also cost Barr her representation, as ICM Partners dropped her as a client.

Barr has a stand-up tour set for this May, close to the one-year anniversary of her firing. But the comedian has continued to make heated comments, like accusing Louis C.K.’s accusers of wanting to trade sexual favors for money.

“If you didn’t say no, just stayed there to get along, you’re a ho,” she told the Sunday Times. “Men are hos too. There’s a total ho mentality. ‘What am I going to get for trading sexual favours?’ Not that I’ve got anything against hos. Not real hos.”

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She Hadn’t Been On Stage Since She Got Fired From ABC , And last Night Made So Many People Laugh … And They Loved Her! We are The Comedians Of This Crumbling World , But We are Human and Sometimes Screw Up , or Things Taken The Wrong way !!! Our Job Tho , is To Keep you Laughing Amongst The KAOS Of a World going Through Pain !!! She was Nervous and Afraid last Night , But Once the Audience Laughed … She was Right Backvin The Groove and Crushed !!! So Proud Of Her … Love You Roseann

A post shared by Andrew Dice Clay (@andrewdiceclay) on Mar 17, 2019 at 1:47pm PDT

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Reps for Dale didn’t immediately respond to TheWrap for further details.

Born Richard Anthony Monsour in May 1937, Dale revolutionized rock in the early 1960s with two iconic songs: “Let’s Go Trippin,” the song credited with the creation of surf rock; and his version of “Misirlou,” a single-string rattler that became an overnight hit after he performed it on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in 1963. It became part of film history 31 years later when Quentin Tarantino used it during the opening credits of “Pulp Fiction.”

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Dale continued touring until his death and had dates set for later this year. In a 2015 interview with Billboard, Dale said that he suffered from multiple serious health issues, including kidney failure, cancer and damaged vertebrae. He said that because his health insurance refused to pay for ongoing post-cancer treatments, he needed to keep touring to cover his health costs.

“I can’t stop touring because I will die. Physically and literally, I will die. y only income is what comes in when I’m on the road,” he said.

“But I’ve also got to realize I’ve been kept alive for a reason. People are not only coming to a concert, they’re coming to a way of life… where we’re willing to share what our lives are all about and how we make fun of [health issues]. It’s not ‘Oh, I’m suffering down here and you’re having a good time up there.’ I can tell ‘em how much goddam pain I’m going through ‘up there.’ I let them know: I’ve got the same crap you’ve got.”

Dale is survived by his wife Lana and his son James, who was his drummer.

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Film historian Alan K. Rode broke the news on Twitter Saturday, stating simply, “Goodbye pal. Dick Erdman 1925-2019.” No additional information on his passing were given.

Erdman won over a new generation with his debut in “Community”‘s fifth episode “Advanced Criminal Law.” During one of his custom end-of-episode speeches, Joel McHale’s Jeff Winger declared that everyone at Greendale was nuts, to which Leonard yelled from the school’s swimming pool, “Not me!”

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“Oh, come on, Leonard. If you’re gonna argue with me, put on a bathing suit,” said Jeff, to which Leonard only replied “Busted!”

Over the course of the series, Erdman’s performance as Leonard became one of “Community”‘s most beloved gags. He would interrupt a scene with a sarcastic swipe at the main characters, to which one of them — usually Jeff — would shoot him down. Sample line: “Shut up, Leonard! Those teenage girls you play ping-pong with are doing it ironically!”

“Community” cast members have joined with fans in honoring the late actor’s legacy. McHale praised Erdman as “such a good & funny man,” while Ken Jeong posted a highlight reel of some of Leonard’s funniest moments. Check out that reel and more tweets honoring Richard Erdman below.

pic.twitter.com/YxU0uEUYgY

— Ken Jeong (@kenjeong) March 17, 2019

Ugh, awful. I just looked at his IMDb 2 days ago and was reminded about what a legend he was. Sweet, funny and game for anything. Plus great Brando stories. What more was there even left to do? RIP to legend & friend Richard Erdman. #shutupleonard https://t.co/MwuubntCLp

— Charley Koontz (@charley_koontz) March 17, 2019

Thank you Leonard #Community #SixSeasonsandaMovie pic.twitter.com/cqm2SPOm2X

— Blayz (@jusblayz_) March 17, 2019

I guess Leonard did finally shut up ????

R.I.P Richard Erdman#community #greendale #sixseasonsandamovie #shutupLeonard pic.twitter.com/XWubQrLMSO

— Goose is my Spirit Animal (@goatboyuk) March 17, 2019

A proud moment in the history of the AV Club's Community comments section: this photo of Richard Erdman holding up a copy of @tvoti's 2012 article on the "Regional Holiday Music" recap hitting 30,000 comments.

R.I.P. Leonard. pic.twitter.com/jHj8WkHWzi

— Greendale AV Club (@AVClubCZ) March 17, 2019

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Released on five screens in Los Angeles and New York, the film grossed $94,750 for an average of $18,950. Critics have hailed the performances of Schoenaerts and co-star Bruce Dern, as well as the direction of Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, giving the film a 95 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

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Less impressive was Fox Searchlight’s “The Aftermath,” which also released this weekend on five screens in L.A. and New York and grossed $57,000 for a per screen average of $11,500. Set after the end of World War II, the film stars Keira Knightley and Jason Clarke as a British couple who move into a home in Hamburg that has been recommissioned by the British but is still inhabited by a German widower (Alexander Skarsgard) and his troubled daughter. Circumstances lead to a secret tryst between the woman and the widower, as tensions between Britain and Germany remain high.

Directed by James Kent, the film will expand to 28 theaters next weekend but faces poor critical reviews, as it earned a 27 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

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Among holdovers, A24’s “Gloria Bell” expanded to 39 screens in its second weekend and grossed $378,000 for a total of $568,000, while NEON/CNN Films’ “Apollo 11” expanded to 588 screens and added $1.22 million for a total of $5.5 million after three weekends.

Finally, Magnolia and Shorts.TV’s annual screening of the Oscar short film nominees is reaching the end of its theatrical run, adding $14,500 this weekend to bring its total to $3.5 million, a record for the Oscar screening series.

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While the domestic total was a 56 percent drop from the film’s $153.4 million opening weekend — larger than the 43-44 percent drop for “Black Panther” and “Wonder Woman” — it still sits only behind 2017’s “Beauty and the Beast” ($90 million) on the all-time list of second weekend totals in March. With $189 million grossed worldwide this weekend, including $12.5 million from IMAX screens, the film now has a global total of $760 million, surpassing the $623 million global run of “Ant-Man & The Wasp” in less than two weeks.

In second is Paramount’s “Wonder Park,” which is opening to $16 million from 3,838 screens. That’s higher than the $10-14 million start projected by trackers, but with a budget reported to be as high as $100 million, this animated film faces a long road to profitability. Still, Paramount is hoping for a strong hold as kids head out of school for spring break in the coming weeks. The film has a weak 30 percent Rotten Tomatoes score but has a B+ from audiences on CinemaScore.

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In third is CBS Films/Lionsgate’s “Five Feet Apart,” which is opening to $13.1 million from 2,803 screens. Made on a $7 million budget, the film was projected for a $7-10 million opening but has performed well with female audiences, who comprised 82 percent of the total audience and gave it an A on CinemaScore. Critics were more lukewarm with a 53 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” is in fourth with $9.3 million, bringing its total to $135 million after four weekends, while Lionsgate’s “A Madea Family Funeral” is in fifth with $7.8 million and a $58.8 million total after three weekends.

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Outside the top five, Lionsgate/Pantelion’s “No Manches Frida 2” hit theaters with a targeted release of 472 screens, grossing $3.7 million and matching the opening of the first “No Manches Frida” in 2016. In seventh is Focus Features/Participant Media/Amblin’s “Captive State,” which opened to $3.1 million from 2,548 screens but has been received poorly with a C- on CinemaScore and a 46 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

Lastly, Warner Bros.’ “The Lego Movie 2” finally crossed the $100 million mark in its sixth weekend in theaters, grossing $2.1 million to take eighth on this weekend’s charts and bring its domestic total to $101.3 million. By comparison, the first “Lego Movie” grossed $236.9 million after six weekends, putting the sequel 57 percent behind the original’s pace.

Next weekend will likely see “Captain Marvel” cede the No. 1 spot to Universal/Monkeypaw’s “Us,” Jordan Peele’s follow-up to his Oscar-winning “Get Out.” The film’s release was pushed back a week to allow buzz to grow from its world premiere at SXSW, where it received a standing ovation and unanimous praise from the critics in attendance. “Us” is currently projected for a $40-42 million opening, which would be an improvement on the $33.3 million opening of “Get Out” in February 2017.

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While that weekend total would signify a higher drop-off than “Black Panther” — 54 percent compared to 44 percent for the 2018 hit — a $70 million result would be the second-highest second weekend total in March box office history, sitting only behind the “Beauty and the Beast” remake’s $90 million take in 2017.

With this result, the 10-day domestic total for “Captain Marvel” will rise to $266 million.

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In second and third are this weekend’s new releases, Paramount’s “Wonder Park” and CBS Films/Lionsgate’s “Five Feet Apart,” respectively. “Wonder Park” has an estimated $17 million opening from 3,838 screens, slightly better than the $10-14 million start expected by trackers. The animated film, which cost as much as $100 million, faced a tumultuous production that included the firing of director Dylan Brown in January 2018 following sexual misconduct accusations. Now that it’s in theaters, critics panned it with a 28 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, while audiences gave the film a B+ on CinemaScore.

“Five Feet Apart” is also beating tracker expectations with an estimated $13 million opening from 2,803 screens, higher than projections of a $7-10 million launch. Made on a $7 million budget, the romance story received mixed review with a 54 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, but won over female audiences with an A on CinemaScore.

Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” is in fourth with $9.4 million, bringing its total to $135 million after four weekends. Lionsgate’s “A Madea Family Funeral” completes the top five with $8 million and a $59 million total after three weekends.

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Lionsgate is also releasing the Pantelion film “No Manches Frida 2” on 472 screens this weekend, and is estimated to match the opening of the first “No Manches Frida” with a $4 million start and an A on CinemaScore. Also opening outside the Top 5 is the Participant Media/Amblin sci-fi production “Captive State,” which is opening to $3 million from 2,548 screens and got a C- from CinemaScore polls.

The coming week should see “Captain Marvel” reach $1 billion worldwide while Universal/Monkeypaw’s “Us” hits theaters after earning critical acclaim at SXSW. Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” follow-up is projected to earn an opening weekend of at least $40 million.

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The WGA and ATA met twice this week to discuss a series of counterproposals presented by the agencies to end the impasse between the two groups over packaging deals. The meetings came after weeks of tense exchanges — and two previous meetings in February that did not lead to any progress.

The ATA counterproposals promise to codify rules requiring agents to disclose to their writer clients when they are including their work in a package deal and receive their approval before receiving any sort of packaging fee. Agents must also disclose when the deal would involve a studio created or partly owned by the agency they represent, and remind writers that they can seek deals with a competing studio. The two largest agencies, WME and CAA, have separately managed but affiliated production studios that have been created in recent years, creating concerns over conflicts of interest.

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But the ATA has not bent to the WGA’s demand to outright remove packaging fees, which the guild says is a conflict of interest that damages writers’ wages.

In a new statement released Thursday, WGA President David A. Goodman said that the ATA counteroffers did not address the conflicts of interests that remain at the core of the guild’s complaints. Goodman also compared the ATA’s emphasis on individual writers’ choice to “right to work” laws, claiming that they threaten to undermine the guild’s role in representing writers.

“Choice is only a real choice if an individual writer has the power to exercise it in the face of a powerful company or agency.  Very few do.  All of your proposals ask individual writers to do things that have already proven mostly impossible, like having a real choice in agency packaging and producing deals,” said Goodman.

“Even something as simple as our proposal that you provide the Guild with the necessary information to enforce the MBA is unacceptable to you without the burdensome and unnecessary requirement of individualized client consent. Let’s be clear: This is not an individual negotiation.  It is a negotiation about how the Guild will delegate its exclusive right to represent all writers as a whole.  This committee is empowered to represent all writers in a collective fashion, and we will not accept proposals that allow you to avoid providing all information and transparency to our Guild.”

In a separate statement, ATA executive director Karen Stuart said: “Unfortunately, it appears at this time that the WGA really doesn’t want to make a deal. While we appreciate their overtures in tone, they didn’t present any meaningful counter proposals today – instead presenting their original “code of conduct” with a different title.”

“Based on our conversations with hundreds of film and television writers, we’re hearing that they want to have choice and options. This is reflected in the counterproposals and the Statement of Choice the ATA presented this week, all of which are grounded in expanding transparency and enforcement,” the ATA statement continues. “The Guild is pushing a unilateral mandate that questions writers’ own decision-making ability and will destabilize the entire industry, affecting writers, directors and actors alike. The Guild’s proposals will only weaken our collective ability to continue advancing artists careers and confront the power imbalance created by the dramatic changes in the media landscape.”

“ATA member agencies remain committed to finding a pathway and will meet again next week with the WGA to try to come to an agreement.”

The WGA is scheduled to hold a membership vote on March 25 to authorize the guild to enforce a new Code of Conduct requiring agencies to remove all package fees from their deals in order to represent writers. If the vote is approved, the Code will be enforced on April 7, with the WGA calling on its members to leave any agency that refuses to comply.

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While that would be a drop from the $72.5 million launch “Aquaman” had in December en route to a $334 million domestic/$1.14 billion global gross, there’s still plenty of reason for optimism for this lighter, sillier DC film.

For starters, it was made on a smaller budget. While “Aquaman” was reported to have a budget well north of $150 million, individuals with knowledge of the production tell TheWrap that the budget for “Shazam” was closer to $100 million, similar to what Sony spent on its 2018 comic book hit “Venom.”

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Along with the lower price tag, “Shazam” has enjoyed very positive social media buzz ever since its first trailer debuted at San Diego Comic-Con last year. Telling the story of a teenage boy who gains the ability to transform into an adult superhero, “Shazam” has won over fans with marketing that has promised a more humorous and lower-stakes movie than many of DC’s recent films.

“Shazam” follows foster child Billy Batson (Asher Angel), who is chosen as “Champion of Eternity” by an ancient wizard (Djimon Hounsou) and granted the ability to transform into the superhero Shazam (Zachary Levi). With the help of his disabled foster brother and superhero fanatic Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer), Billy learns to master his powers and takes them out for a joyride but is forced to get serious when his powers attract the interest of the twisted industrialist Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Mark Strong).

“Shazam” is directed by David F. Sandberg from a script by Henry Gayden, with Peter Safran producing. It hits theaters April 5

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While both of those films had very different openings than “Captain Marvel” — “Wonder Woman” opened to $103 million while “Black Panther” opened to $202 million — both notably kept their second weekend drop-offs below 50 percent. Strong word of mouth, combined with the cultural weight those films had, resulting in  Marvel and DC fans returning to theaters to see again and again, making them both huge hits.

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“This is the movie that ended the sluggish stretch we’ve gone through at the box office,” said comScore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Basically, once you’ve gotten past $1 billion worldwide, everything is just gravy. But ‘Captain Marvel’ not only could show the legs to go well beyond that, it should also be able to do well alongside a very diverse March slate with big titles from other genres like ‘Us.'”

After less than a week in theaters, “Captain Marvel” blew by the half-billion global mark after adding $33.3 million worldwide on Monday, including $10.9 million domestically. The film already stands as the sixth-highest global opening of all time; and on the premium format side, it became the first non-sequel to crack the top five highest IMAX global openings ever with $36.1 million ($14.1 million domestic), adding another $2.4 million on Monday.

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Then, on Tuesday, “Captain Marvel” added $34 million worldwide with $14.1 million domestic, the 2nd largest total ever recorded on a March Tuesday in box office history. That nearly matches the $14.3 million that “Wonder Woman” made on its first Tuesday in the middle of summer 2017, while “Black Panther” grossed $20.8 million on its first Tuesday. It’s a sign that the hunger for diverse superheroes is as strong as ever, and makes it likely that “Captain Marvel” will see a 2nd weekend total of $75 million.

This weekend’s new releases will also provide little competition. The top new release of the weekend is projected to be Paramount’s animated movie “Wonder Park,” which is projected to open to $10-14 million from 3,800 screens this weekend. On the lower end, that would match the opening of “Sherlock Gnomes,” which opened to $10.6 million in this release slot last year.

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Also releasing this weekend is Lionsgate/CBS Films’ “Five Feet Apart,” which is projected for an opening of $8-10 million, with CBS Films projecting a smaller opening of $6-9 million. Focus Features will also release the Amblin/Participant Media sci-fi film “Captive State,” which is projected for a $3 million opening.

“Wonder Park” tells the story of an inventive young girl who discovers a magical theme park deep in the forest that matches the one she once imagined but later put aside. Jennifer Garner, Matthew Broderick, John Oliver, Mila Kunis, Kenan Thompson, and Ken Jeong star in the film. The film has no credited director after original director Dylan Brown was fired close to the end of production back in January 2018 following investigation into sexual misconduct accusations made by multiple women.

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“Five Feet Apart” follows the story of two teenage hospital patients (Haley Lu Richardson and Cole Sprouse) who fall in love even though their intensive medical treatment forces them to remain physically apart. Justin Baldoni directed from a script by Mikki Daughtry and Tobias Iaconis.

“Captive State” takes place in a dystopian future where mankind is enslaved by an alien race under the pretense of peace. With humanity split over whether or not to fight back, a Chicago police officer (John Goodman), is tasked with building an uprising with the help of a young man whose father was killed by the occupying force (Ashton Sanders). Rupert Wyatt directed from a script he co-wrote with Erica Beeney.

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Washington would play Deke, a jaded Kern County police officer with the uncanny ability to spot the “little things” in an investigation and a willingness to break the rules. That unstable combination comes to a head when he must team up with an LASD detective named Baxter to track down a serial killer.

Washington was most recently seen in the first sequel of his career, “The Equalizer 2,” which grossed $102 million domestically at the box office last summer and $190 million worldwide. He is also currently attached to direct Michael B. Jordan in the true-story military drama “Journal For Jordan” for Sony, which would be his fourth project as director.

Washington is repped by WME. The talks were first reported by Variety.

The talks came after a series of acrimonious exchanges between the leaders of the two organizations, with the ATA questioning whether the WGA was negotiating in good faith and the WGA in turn saying that the agencies had not provided a set of counterproposals. The ATA came to a Tuesday meeting with such a set, saying that the proposals came after meetings with hundreds of writers.

“If we are to come up with a joint agreement, which I know our clients desperately want us to have, then we need to roll up our sleeves and get to work on a constructive process that will result in an agreement that works for everyone,” said ATA President Jim Gosnell in an opening statement.

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“We need to avoid the name calling and divisiveness that get us nowhere and will only set us back. Your agents are not your enemies, and they do not want to take advantage of you. If that were true, we wouldn’t be here today, and you would not be represented by us.”

The ATA’s proposals include a promise for more transparency between writers and agents in the packaging process and clamping down on deals that involve packaging without the writers’ consent. The offer promises that agencies will not engage in independent film/TV packaging or sales services, or request packaging fees for such services, until the writer is informed of the process and gives it their approval.

The proposals also promise that a similar approach of transparency will be given when handling projects associated with “affiliated entities,” or production companies either created or partially owned by agencies but which operate as separate businesses. As part of the new system, agents will be required to disclose their agencies’ relationships to those affiliates and inform writers that they have the option to ask their agents to make offers to competitors of those affiliates.

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The counterproposals also include provisions to improve working conditions for writers and an enforcement system with streamlined arbitration whenever writers wish to file a complaint. What the counterproposals don’t include is an agreement to completely eliminate the packaging fee system, something that the ATA has for weeks said none of its member agencies will agree to and which the WGA is threatening to eliminate by enforcing a new Code of Conduct that would require such packaging fees to be removed in order for an agency to represent WGA Membership.

In a statement released shortly after the end of negotiations, the WGA called Tueday’s talks “a small step forward,” but cautioned that “all major issues are still on the table.”

“Today the ATA responded to our opening proposals. Today’s session was a small step forward for the parties,” the WGA said. “There is another negotiating session scheduled with the ATA on Thursday, at which time the Guild will make a counterproposal in specific contract language.”

“The response from the ATA is what we expected in a first proposal.  All major issues are still on the table,” the Guild continued. “The agencies couched their proposals as all about an individual writer’s ‘choice.’  However, theoretically writers already have that ‘choice.’  Their proposals require each individual to respond to a powerful agency – that is virtually no choice at all.  The solutions in the new agreement need to be collective through the Guild, not individual.”

The guild will hold a vote on March 25 where members will decide whether to authorize leadership to enforce the new Code of Conduct. If authorized, the Code of Conduct would go into effect on April 7.

In the report released on Tuesday morning, the WGA cited specific examples of TV shows, including “The Walking Dead,” as proof of how packaging fees have harmed writers and showrunners. It includes emails sent between the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and AMC over packaging fees for “The Walking Dead” when its first season was in development in 2010.

The WGA says that the packaging fees were being negotiated before a contract was finalized with the show’s former executive producer Frank Darabont, who was represented by the agency. The agency also negotiated packaging fees for potential spinoffs such as “Fear The Walking Dead,” which premiered in 2015.

“The emails lay bare the conflict inherent in packaging. Not only does CAA get to benefit from a profit definition that is based on its client’s MAGR [modified adjusted gross receipts] definition, but the agency’s share of profits is actually paid before its client’s as an ‘off-the-top deduction,'” reads the report.

“This means that CAA’s share of profits reduces the pool of profit available to its client. Further, CAA’s client receives no benefit if the agency negotiates a packaging fee on a spinoff of the series,” it continued.

As of writing, the WGA and ATA have yet to release official statements on the results of the latest negotiations.

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The report cites lawsuits surrounding specific TV shows, including AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” and the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” as examples of how the agencies’ packaging fee system harms writers and showrunners.

The report also argues that private equity investments from outside of Hollywood have shifted the major agencies’ top priority away from client representation and toward expanding into content creation and ownership.

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“The result of this outside investment and expansion is a representation business dominated by talent agencies that are focused on increasing agency and affiliated operations’ revenue and profit for the benefit of private equity owners, a pursuit that is far afield from the fiduciary duty owed to agency clients,” the report read.

Much of the report repeats the arguments made by WGA leadership in recent weeks in favor of a restructuring of the Hollywood agency system, eliminating packaging fees for agencies and returning to a system where agents receive a commission from their clients for deals.

The guild will hold a vote on March 25 where members will decide whether to authorize leadership to enforce a new Code of Conduct mandating the removal of packaging fees from any agency that represents writers. If authorized, the Code of Conduct would go into effect on April 7.

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The report includes emails sent between the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and AMC over packaging fees for “The Walking Dead” when its first season was in development in 2010. The WGA says that the packaging fees were being negotiated before a contract was finalized with show creator Frank Darabont, who was represented by the agency. The agency also negotiated packaging fees for potential spinoffs such as “Fear The Walking Dead,” which premiered in 2015.

“The emails lay bare the conflict inherent in packaging. Not only does CAA get to benefit from a profit definition that is based on its client’s MAGR [modified adjusted gross receipts] definition, but the agency’s share of profits is actually paid before its client’s as an ‘off-the-top deduction,'” reads the report.

“This means that CAA’s share of profits reduces the pool of profit available to its client. Further, CAA’s client receives no benefit if the agency negotiates a packaging fee on a spinoff of the series,” it continued.

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The report also outlines concerns over the major agencies’ recent foray into content production, which the guild says could create even more conflicts of interest as major agencies’ production outlets compete against each other and against the studios it makes packaging deals with to grant access to talent.

“Talent agencies launching production companies that employ their own clients creates an indefensible conflict of interest,” the report adds. “Acting as an employer and representing a client in salary negotiations are fundamentally at odds: an employer’s incentive is to maximize its profits and keep labor costs low, while the agency is duty-bound to get the best deal it can for its client.”

The WGA held a conference call with reporters ahead of the release of the report on Tuesday. WGA leadership was vague about the actual status of negotiations and what they hope to accomplish at today’s meeting with the ATA.

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WGAW president Chris Keyser said he was confident the guild would succeed in changing “the world in which writers operate so that it’s fair for writers.

TheWrap has reached out to the ATA for comment to the new report.

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In an interview with the fansite TheArnoldFans, Schwarzenegger says there’s very little he can talk about when it comes to “Terminator 6,” which comes out this fall. But what he can say is that in his role as producer, Cameron made sure to stay heavily involved in the making of the film, working closely with director Tim Miller of “Deadpool” fame.

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“Jim Cameron is right now directing ‘Avatar’ films, so he’s taken on this enormous challenge and he’s very busy with that, BUT he’s a control freak,” Schwarzenegger said.

“As you know, ‘Terminator’ is kind of his baby; so he does get involved in the filming. There were interesting discussions about which direction to go with a certain scene or how the dialogue should finish or what the certain look should be of an individual and all that stuff, so there was a big collaboration between Jim and Tim Miller. I feel it was in good hands with both of them.”

“Terminator 6” will see the long-awaited reunion of Schwarzenegger with Sarah Connor herself, Linda Hamilton. It will be the first film the two actors and Cameron have worked on together since “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” 28 years ago, and will be a direct sequel to that film. It will arrive in theaters Nov. 1.

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This weekend, A24 released Sebastian Lelio’s new romance film “Gloria Bell,” which stars Julianne Moore as a recent divorcee who flings herself into a new romance while enjoying Los Angeles’ nightlife. This is Lelio’s follow-up to his Best Foreign Language Oscar-winning film “A Fantastic Woman” and is a remake of his 2013 film “Gloria.” It has a 98 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Released on five screens this weekend, “Gloria Bell” had a strong launch of $154,775 and a per screen average of $30,955. It’s the highest PSA of the weekend for limited releases, and the second-highest overall behind the $35,499 average for “Captain Marvel.”

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Elsewhere, NEON/CNN Films’ “Apollo 11” expanded to 405 screens in its second weekend and grossed $1.3 million, ranking tenth among all films and earning a per screen average of $3,212. The acclaimed documentary now has a total of $3.7 million.

Roadside Attractions’ faith-based film “Run the Race” reached the $5 million mark in its third weekend, adding $607,745 from 753 screens for a total of $5.2 million. A24’s LSD nightmare “Climax” added $110,786 from 28 screens in its second weekend, averaging just under $4,000 and bringing its total to $280,672.

Finally, Best Picture winner “Green Book” added just under $2.5 million in its 17th weekend in theaters, bringing its domestic total to $80 million after passing $200 million worldwide earlier this past week.

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That result puts the Brie Larson blockbuster third on the all-time list of March opening weekends, sitting only behind the 2017 “Beauty and the Beast” remake ($174 million) and 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” ($166 million). It’s also the second-highest opening for a film with a solo female lead, after 2013’s “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” with $158 million.

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Overseas, “Captain Marvel” earned an estimated $89.3 million, just behind “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Captain America: Civil War” as the third highest MCU opening. The film opened wide in all global territories except Japan — which gets the film next weekend — and grossed more than $10 million in seven markets, including $24 million in Korea.

With a $302 million international gross, “Captain Marvel” has earned $455 million overall to date, the largest ever global opening for a March release and the sixth highest of all time.

Directed by “Half Nelson” filmmakers Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck — making this the first Marvel Studios film directed by a woman — “Captain Marvel” wasn’t quite as well received by critics as more recent entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a 79 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. But the MCU’s enormous fan base gave it their seal of approval with an A on CinemaScore, making it the 15th MCU film to receive an A or A+ from the audience poll.

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In second place was Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” which is still staying ahead of its two predecessors despite the tough competition. The film dropped 51 percent for a $14.7 million third weekend total, putting its domestic cume at $119.6 million. Worldwide, the film has now made $435 million.

Lionsgate’s “A Madea Family Funeral” finished third with $12 million grossed in its second weekend, giving the final “Madea” film a 10-day total of $45.8 million. That puts it in position to eclipse the entire $47.3 million domestic run of 2017’s “Boo 2! A Madea Halloween” in the coming week.

To complete the top five, Warner Bros.’ “Lego Movie 2” earned $3.8 million in its fifth weekend for a $97 million total, while Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel” earned $3.2 million in its fourth weekend for a $78.3 million total.

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Overall, “Captain Marvel” accounted for approximately 75 percent of all domestic box office business this weekend, making a dent in the year-to-date deficit that 2019 has fallen into in the first quarter. After this opening, the 2019 domestic box office has grossed $1.79 billion, down 21 percent from the “Black Panther”-fueled 2018. The YTD deficit had been at 27 percent prior to this weekend.

With “Captain Marvel” now providing a steady stream of ticket sales, the 2019 slate will pick back up in the coming weeks with the release of Universal’s “Us,” which has received critical acclaim after its SXSW premiere, and Warner/New Line’s “Shazam,” which also received a strong reception from early press screenings.

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If that number holds, it would rank third on the all-time March opening weekends list, behind the $174.7 million opening of the 2017 “Beauty and the Beast” remake and the $166 million opening of 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” It would also beat the $152.5 million opening earned by “The Hunger Games” in 2012.

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And if the film continues to overindex on Saturday and Sunday, “Captain Marvel” could set a new record for the highest opening weekend for a film with a solo female lead. That record currently belongs to the “Hunger Games” sequel “Catching Fire,” which opened to $158 million in November 2013.

While internet trolls have besieged the “Captain Marvel” Rotten Tomatoes audience score, opening night audiences loved the new film in CinemaScore polls, giving it an A. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes were somewhat less enthused but still positive with a 79 percent score.

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In second is Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” which is holding up well in its third weekend despite the heavy competition from “Captain Marvel.” The animated threequel’s estimated weekend total of $15 million is higher than the third weekend total “How to Train Your Dragon 2” made in 2014, and will push the film’s domestic total to $120 million.

Lionsgate’s “A Madea Family Funeral” is in third with an estimated $11.7 million second weekend total, which would be a 57 percent drop from its $27 million opening and give it a 10-day total of $45 million.

WB’s “The Lego Movie 2” and Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel” complete the top five, with “Lego” taking $3.7 million in its fifth weekend while “Alita” takes $3.3 million in its fourth weekend.

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But for many women, the reality of military service falls far short of the fantasy in “Captain Marvel.” The first Marvel film centered on a female protagonist arrives on International Women’s Day, but also just days after Sen. Martha McSally testified that she was raped by her superior officer in the Air Force. McSally’s experience reflects a wider, persistent problem.

“The U.S. military is one of the most dangerous places for women to work because of sexual violence,” said Kara Ellerby, author of “No Shortcut to Change: An Unlikely Path to a More Gender Equitable World.”

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She said the military’s problems with sexual misconduct show that greater inclusion doesn’t necessarily lead to gender equality.

“Even though they have been including more women and promoting them into positions of power in different branches and in the Pentagon, that hasn’t really stymied the issue of sexual violence,” said Ellerby, a University of Delaware professor. “There is still something very deep-seated in the culture of the military that’s damaging to women.”

Hollywood’s relationship with the military has lasted decades. When “Top Gun” was released in 1986, for example, some Navy recruiters tried to recruit people as they exited screenings — with apparent success. (The fictional Danvers is almost exactly the same age as the young men and women who might have joined up after watching Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis onscreen.)

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Marvel has kept Hollywood’s relationship with the military going strong: “Iron Man 2,” for example, was filmed at Edwards Air Force Base, with cooperation from the Department of Defense.

To prepare for her role, Larson visited Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada to join simulated dogfights. The film’s red-carpet premiere included testimonials from Air Force men and women and a flyover by the Air Force’s Nellis-based Thunderbirds.

The “Origin Story” ads will play in about 3,600 theaters and, like “Captain Marvel,” feature women in prominent roles in the Air Force. While all combat positions were opened to women in 2016, the USAF has historically been the most female fighting force — it is the only branch to see its percentage of female service members climb above 25 percent.

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But “Captain Marvel” and the ads don’t cover the dismal facts that McSally addressed in her Senate testimony Wednesday, during a hearing on sexual assault in the military.

In 2017, the Defense Department received 6,769 reports of sexual assault involving service members as either victims or subjects of criminal investigation, as well as 146 cases in which accusers reported retaliation for speaking out.

Congress has passed recent laws eliminating the statute of limitations on military sexual assault and making it a crime to retaliate against military members who report such assaults.

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Pentagon spokeswoman and Air Force Capt. Carrie Volpe said the abuses McSally experienced “violate every part of what it means to be an Airman.”

“We are appalled and deeply sorry for what Senator McSally experienced and we stand behind her and all victims of sexual assault. We are steadfast in our commitment to eliminate this reprehensible behavior and breach of trust in our ranks,” Volpe said in a statement.

But significant change still hasn’t come. The reported rate of sexual assault against servicewomen has remained nearly flat from 4.4 percent in 2010 to 4.3 percent in 2016, according to Air Force Col. Don M. Christensen, president of the Washington D.C.-area nonprofit Protect Our Defenders, who spoke at Wednesday’s hearing.

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Those numbers also don’t reflect unreported incidents: In November, a Smithsonian Magazine survey found that two-thirds of women polled said they experienced gender discrimination while serving, and the same proportion also said they were sexually harassed or assaulted.

Christensen said the current system places sexual assault cases in the chain of command, rather than in the hands of military prosecutors. That discourages many women from coming forward, especially when a superior officer assaulted them.

McSally, who was the first female commander of an Air Force combat unit, said the response when she spoke out against her superior was “wholly inadequate.”

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“I was horrified at how my attempt to share generally my experiences was handled,” said McSally, an Arizona Republican. “I almost separated from the Air Force at 18 years of service over my despair. Like many victims, I felt like the system was raping me all over again.”

Cynthia Enloe, a Clark University professor who studies gender and militarism, said there’s a simple reason the Air Force needs to recruit more women.

“In the military, there is the term ‘tooth to tail,’ referring to the ratio of combat roles to supply and support roles,” she said. “And the Air Force, of all the branches, requires the most tail to support the least tooth. While the fighter pilot is the public image, the largest amount of roles are in technical and supply positions.”

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“Most people, men and women, in the Air Force learn how to be good ground mechanics, but those roles regularly require recruits with a college education,” she added. “With women more likely in the United States to graduate from college than men, that’s part of the reason why there’s a higher rate of female enlistment than in the Army.”

But recruiting and promoting more women — through military ads and others means — isn’t enough, Ellerby said. She believes the military needs to re-evaluate its values on a fundamental level.

“Equality could mean 50/50, but it could also mean how we value men and women within institutions. It’s about examining the culture in these institutions and whether it makes it easier or harder for people, not just women, to succeed,” she said.

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“ATA, on behalf of each and every member agency, remains ready, willing, and able to meet with WGA leadership and members at any time, and is prepared to engage with a full set of responses and counter proposals,” wrote ATA Executive Director Karen Stuart in a statement Wednesday night. “All we require is the WGA’s commitment that we are working toward the same goal.”

The statement comes in response to a letter earlier Wednesday in which WGA West president David A. Goodman told guild members that talks had reached an impasse, and that “I now expect [ATA] to break off talks.”

In response to ATA’s new statement disputing that assertion, WGA Presidents David A. Goodman and David Young sent a joint reply also expressing their willingness to negotiate, while emphasizing that a set of counter-proposals is necessary for talks to move forward.

“Although ours is not technically a labor negotiation, we intend and promise to continue to negotiate in good faith, as that term is defined in American labor law: ‘To meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to . . . the negotiation of an agreement . . . but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession,'”read the reply.

WGA continues to push for the complete removal of packaging fees from the Hollywood agency system, arguing that it has the right to enforce a new Code of Conduct requiring agencies to remove those fees in order to represent guild members.

“Our agents work for us. Every dollar they make must be generated as a percentage of the money we make,” read a recent WGA statement.

“Agency-based studios and packaging fees make a mockery of that and are in violation of the agencies’ ethical and legal obligations to writers. We have taken too long to demand that these practices end. But the persistence of a corrupt system does not make it right.”

The WGA plans to hold a member vote on March 25 on whether the guild should be authorized to enforce the new Code of Conduct. If it passes, the WGA plans to enforce it on April 7 and is asking its members to fire their agents if their agencies will not comply with removing packaging fees.

Guild members who spoke with TheWrap anonymously say they are skeptical that writers will actually be willing to stage such a mass exodus from agencies, but the WGA has compiled accounts from other members who are disgruntled with the packaging fee system and want change.

The ATA, meanwhile, insists that it is ready at any time to negotiate in good faith with the WGA, but that its member agencies will not agree to remove packaging fees under any circumstance.

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Right now, independent trackers have the latest MCU film earning an opening weekend of as much as $145 million. But between the overwhelming interest in seeing the first Marvel solo female superhero movie and its connection to the even more anticipated “Avengers: Endgame,” analysts who spoke to TheWrap say there’s a chance that “Captain Marvel” could beat the female lead opening record of $158 million, which was set by “Catching Fire” in November 2013.

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And if “Captain Marvel” really overindexes, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that it could break the March opening weekend record of $174.7 million, set by the 2017 remake of “Beauty and the Beast.” Already, Fandango notes that “Captain Marvel” has had the most ticket presales on their site of any film since “Avengers: Infinity War.”

Disney, as usual, is keeping its projections conservative at a $125 million-plus opening. But even if “Captain Marvel” falls short of the “Hunger Games” record and ends up closer to Disney’s expected range, it would still be significantly higher than other recent Marvel films that debuted a new superhero. While the $202 million opening of “Black Panther” was a cultural outlier, a $125 million opening for “Captain Marvel” would beat the openings of “Doctor Strange” ($85 million) “Guardians of the Galaxy” ($94 million) and even “Spider-Man: Homecoming” ($117 million).

“The connection to ‘Endgame’ is going to be a real boost to this movie,” said Boxoffice’s Daniel Loria. “Thanks to that post-credits scene in ‘Infinity War’ and the fact that we’re so close to the next ‘Avengers’ film, it’s going to make that usual anticipation for a Marvel movie even bigger.”

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On the long term side, “Captain Marvel” will face little four-quadrant competition this month, as the animated family film “Wonder Park” isn’t projected for an opening higher than $13 million while Jordan Peele’s horror film “Us” is looking at a solid $40 million opening but is aimed at a far narrower audience than what Marvel goes for.

That means that “Captain” has a chance to leg out over the next four weekends and possibly challenge the $412.5 million domestic total earned by the last major female superhero film, “Wonder Woman.”

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“Captain Marvel” tells the story of Carol Danvers, a member of the Kree empire’s elite intergalactic military unit Starforce. When she crash lands on Earth in the 1990s, she stop an invasion of shapeshifting aliens known as the Skrulls with the help of future SHIELD director Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson). But along the way, she rediscovers memories that were believed to be erased; memories that reveal that she was once a human fighter pilot named Carol Danvers.

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck directed the film from a script they co-wrote with Geneva Robertson-Dworet. The film also stars Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg, and Jude Law.

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The “Fast & Furious” star’s potential role is being kept under wraps. Gibson would be the fourth major star to join the film alongside Jared Leto, Matt Smith and Jared Harris. The film will star Leto as the titular vampire, who debuted in the “Spider-Man” comics as a scientist turned into a bloodthirsty villain after an ill-fated attempt to cure a blood disease. Morbius later became the antihero star of his own comic book series in the 1990s.

Daniel Espinosa will direct from a script by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, with Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach producing with Lucas Foster. Palek Patel will oversee the project on behalf of Sony.

Gibson is represented by APA, Isabella Castro Voltron Management, and John Tishbi of Pearlman & Tishbi, LLP. The talks were first reported by Variety.

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Pretty well, it seems. With more than 100 reviews, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s blockbuster has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 85 percent. In her review for TheWrap, April Wolfe praised Brie Larson’s performance as the film’s titular heroine, selling a balance of warrior intensity and sly mischievousness.

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“Larson’s energy, at first, is powered by a precocious kid-sister vibe, disobeying the rules but charming her way out of trouble. Carol’s arc is defined by shedding those bonds to that identity and to her mentor/father figure, speaking and acting with directness,” Wolfe writes.

“Larson’s quite capable of selling that oscillation of maturity without losing the humor of her character; she may be confident, but she’s still crafty and calculatingly playful. And what really sells this film is that playfulness.”

Not everyone was impressed, though. Associated Press’ Lindsey Bahr felt that the film did a poor job of establishing Captain Marvel’s personality and character arc.

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“She is told at least 10 times in the first 10 minutes of the film that she needs to control her emotions,” she writes.

“This is a charged thing to say to a woman, but also confusing because ‘emotional’ is the last word I would use to describe the character as she’s presented. She’s more impulsive and bullheaded than anything else. Emotions and heart don’t seem to have anything to do with her decisions. At times it even seems like she’s channeling the Terminator.”

Check out some more reviews below.

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Anne Cohen, Refinery29

Larson carries a difficult role with a grin and a swagger that matches Tom Cruise’s in ‘Top Gun.’ She’s perfectly cast in this nod to the ’80s and ’90s — and would make a great pairing with Ripley from ‘Alien’ and Sarah Connor in the ‘Terminator’ franchise. But her confidence is especially striking in that it does feel so alien. Like ‘Wonder Woman’ (and this is the only comparison you’ll get from me), she’s an outsider who doesn’t feel burdened by the constraints of normal women — she doesn’t even know to be concerned with them.

Rosie Knight, Nerdist

“The film struggles to truly break any new ground when it comes to representation. The film falls into the trope of introducing diversity through villainy, failing to build on some of the great cast. It’s also hard to ignore that the first woman to hold the mantle of Captain Marvel was a black woman named Monica Rambeau and though they pay homage and introduce the character played by the wonderful Akira Akbar–far too briefly–narratively there’s no reason that Monica couldn’t have been at the center of this story.”

Esther Zuckerman, Thrillist

“The raw material is all there, but filmmaking itself does not yield any truly thrilling, resonant moments. The action sequences are rote, at times almost muddled. A CGI set piece toward the end looks downright retro, and not in a cool, ’90s way. But, hey, there have been plenty of male Marvel stars have gotten totally serviceable vehicles — why can’t that be acceptable for a woman?”

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Kayti Burt, Den of Geek

“‘Captain Marvel’ continues to prove just how good the MCU is at expanding its universe in new ways that still feel integral to the larger world. Experiencing the film’s final moments is not unlike the experience of watching the final moments of ‘Rogue One,’ so cleverly does the film weave its way into existing canon, informing what has already happened in the franchise (and what will eventually happen in the world of the MCU) in emotionally-resonant ways. After ‘Captain Marvel,’ the MCU feels more complete.”

Todd Gilchrist, Birth.Movies.Death.

“Where the twenty-first entry in this expanding cinematic universe feels likely to make history is precisely in its lack of innovation: it is, and thankfully can be, just another superhero movie. It’s also better than that, but with Captain Marvel, directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have managed to meet expectations driven by the films that preceded theirs and still create a rousing, fun superhero saga that earns the right to be viewed without needing conditions, asterisks or equivocation to evaluate its artistic worthiness – both alone and as a part of the MCU.”

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club

The all-too-familiar MCU background palette of secret bases, spaceships, hangars, and underground complexes (but this time with crappier computers) contributes to the impression of anonymity. But at least the film has a sense of humor–admittedly faint praise, given how many of its predecessors in the MCU have been funny enough to qualify as ensemble comedies. Here, two characters strike up an unlikely partnership, whup alien ass, make some corny jokes, uncover secrets, and come to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, superheroes are something the Earth needs. It’s everything you might expect a sci-fi superhero movie to be, if you hadn’t seen one in a long time.

Emma Simmonds, The List

“‘Captain Marvel’ lacks the heart of DC’s ‘Wonder Woman’ but makes up for it in sheer likeability. Its fight scenes could have benefited from more character and punch, yet are pleasingly trim – a world away from some of the franchise’s more elongated action. If the film’s feminist credentials are fairly subtly imparted throughout, then it builds to a furiously empowered ending which unleashes its heroine in a way that should surely place her at the forefront of the Avengers’ fightback. It’ll be interesting to see what comes next.”

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Stephanie Zacharek, Time

“‘Captain Marvel’ isn’t a terrible movie. And Larson, a perceptive, low-key actor, carries the whole affair capably; she smiles just the right amount, which is not a lot. But she’s best in the quieter scenes […] the ones where she’s watching and listening to the performers around her, her face registering all kinds of emotional shifts. This brings us to the central problem of presenting superhero role models for girls on such a loud, booming canvas: These women are powerful (great!) but they’re rarely shown just being good at the ordinary things–like listening, or rendering thoughtful advice, or admitting they made a mistake–which are the things that make the real-life humans around us truly great.”

Yolanda Machado, io9

“The fact that the film takes place in the ’90s is a genius choice. The decade was a time where feminism was re-defining itself. It no longer reflected the bra-burning activism of our mothers; rather, ’90s feminism was about defining strength in womanhood, whether it be physically (à la Sarah Connor in ‘Terminator 2’) or tossing out the idea of an ‘emotional’ female (see: ‘Daria’) or simply, defining who you are (like Lelaina Pierce in ‘Reality Bites’). The multifaceted nature of womanhood is what sets Carol apart from all the heroes that came before her and it’s what makes her the strongest hero the MCU has ever seen.”

Peter Sobczynski, eFilmCritic

At first glance, the notion of a gifted young performer who is already in possession of a Best Actress Oscar turning up in the kind of jumbo-sized spectacle where demonstrations of nuanced acting chops usually don’t factor too heavily as part of the creative process may seem either patently absurd or slightly depressing. And yet, she is entirely winning and supremely entertaining throughout, bringing to this film roughly the same shot of pure personality that Robert Downey Jr. brought to the first “Iron Man” and that Gal Gadot lent to “Wonder Woman.”

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“Ultimately the Oscars are meant to promote the theatrical experience,” video director Joseph Kahn argued on Twitter, supporting Spielberg’s move.”Netflix releasing in one theater and claiming they should be celebrated the same way as ‘BlacKkKlansman’ or even yes, ‘Green Book,’ is not remotely fair.”

“Real talk, has Spielberg been to a normal people movie theater lately?” Fangoria editor-in-chief Phil Nobile, Jr. asked on Twitter. “Last month I had the absolute pleasure of watching a film I exec-produced play to a sold-out crowd at the Egyptian on Hollywood. So I get where Spielberg is coming from. But the next week I was just a regular person again. And the theaters I go to are trash fires.”

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IndieWire reported on Thursday that Spielberg is expected to propose a rule change at next month’s Academy Board of Governors’ meeting to restrict eligibility for films that do not have a significant theatrical run, a reaction to the strong showing by the Netflix release of Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” at this year’s Oscars. In a statement sent to IndieWire, the Academy said that “awards rules discussions are ongoing with the branches. And the Board will likely consider the topic at the April meeting.”

Representatives for Spielberg and the Academy did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for further comment.

The exact rules that Spielberg is planning to propose have not been disclosed, but one idea Academy insiders tell TheWrap may be on the table is to restrict eligibility to films that were exclusively in theaters for four to six weeks before being released on streaming.

That would prevent a film like “Roma,” which was on just over 100 screens for less than a month before hitting Netflix, from getting nominated. But getting support from the Academy for such a change would be difficult, as this would affect non-streaming indie studios as well, not to mention that the Academy already granted eligibility to films that open in theaters and streaming simultaneously back in 2012.

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One Academy board member told TheWrap this weekend that they will oppose Spielberg’s proposals if they come forward. Outside the board, Ava DuVernay, a member of the Academy’s directors branch who has released films on Netflix, has also said she opposes such changes. 

The Black List founder Franklin Leonard said such a rule change would disadvantage filmmakers of color: “I think we can all agree that the theatrical experience is worth protecting. I, for one, do,” Leonard tweeted. “I also think we can all agree that it is more difficult for films by and about women, people of color, and myriad other communities to access the resources necessary to secure an exclusive four week theatrical window.”

But Spielberg has insisted that such changes are necessary to protect the value of seeing a movie in theaters, something that he vowed to protect during a speech at the Cinema Audio Society Awards last month.

“I love television. I love the opportunity,” he said. “The sound is better in homes more than it ever has been in history but there’s nothing like going to a big dark theater with people you’ve never met before and having the experience wash over you. That’s something we all truly believe in.”

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And some writers and filmmakers are publicly backing the director in his stand against streaming.

“Streaming is television. Quality television that has elevated the standards for made-for-TV and direct-to-video movies, but still television. Either do a theatrical release correctly or enjoy your Emmys,” tweeted writer David Cornelius. “All [Spielberg] is asking is for a slight window between theatrical availability and home video availability, to help underscore a film’s status as a big screen event.”

But not everyone feels like movie theaters provide that “big event” feel anymore. Repertory theaters like Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre and the Quentin Tarantino-owned New Beverly Cinema go the extra mile to make going to the movies feel special. National chains like AMC and Cinemark have also made efforts in recent years to woo back moviegoers with upgraded food, alcohol availability and recliner seats. But despite these efforts, movie theaters still have a stigma of inconvenience and poor quality that is proving difficult to shake.

“At my home, I’ve invested in a home theater setup,” Tedone said on Twitter. “When it’s time to watch a film, no phones, no talking. We are watching the film. That’s it. The picture is calibrated, the sound is too. The picture in my room is better than most of the times I see something at the theater.”

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But there’s also a debate over just how much the communal and large-format nature of the movie theater adds to movies as an art form. Spielberg sees it as absolutely essential, to the point that he has openly said he doesn’t think Netflix films should be eligible for Oscars at all.

“Once you commit to a television format, you’re a TV movie,” he told ITV News. “You certainly, if it’s a good show, deserve an Emmy, but not an Oscar. I don’t believe films that are just given token qualifications in a couple of theaters for less than a week should qualify for the Academy Award nomination.”

Films like “Roma,” which were not produced by Netflix and premiered at the prestigious Venice Film Festival, are blurring the line, especially as streamers take a bigger presence as buyers at Sundance and other festivals. On top of that, there’s another awards campaign practice that leads to many Academy members seeing Oscar contenders out of the theater: screeners.

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“Here’s how we’ll know if Spielberg has the courage of his convictions: When he calls for abolishing screeners,” tweeted “The Daily Show” writer/producer Daniel Radosh. “After all, shouldn’t the people who actually vote for the Oscars be the ones required to see the films in their ideal form?”

The trend is actually going in the other direction. In an effort to encourage wider viewing of all nominees among voters and to consolidate the screening process, the Academy has encouraged its members in recent years to watch screeners through its member website. While studios and trade news outlets (like this one) still host FYC screenings during awards season, even the Academy is recognizing that streaming makes it easier for all the nominees to get in front of their entire membership.

“Roma” may have failed to become the first film released by a streamer to win Best Picture, but with three Oscars from 10 nominations, it has definitely forced the issue. Along with the battle to come at the Board of Governors meeting, April will also see movie theater owners convene at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, where the National Association of Theater Owners will certainly be faced with questions on how it will deal with Netflix’s steadfast refusal to disclose its box office numbers.

And Netflix won’t be stopping with its plans to deal out big films, as it will release Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” next fall. With an all-star cast led by Robert De Niro and a blockbuster budget to de-age the stars in flashback scenes, Netflix will almost assuredly be back in the Oscar conversation next year…provided that Spielberg’s crusade isn’t successful.

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Universal expanded the DreamWorks/Participant Media production to 2,641 screens this week, close to the widest count in its theatrical run. The result was a $4.5 million total, which was only beaten by its $5.5 million on opening weekend and the $5.4 million it earned on the weekend following Oscar nominations.

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Made on a $23 million budget, “Green Book” had a disappointing start on Thanksgiving weekend in the face of films like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Creed II.” But with an A+ from CinemaScore polls, the film steadily legged out over the winter, never grossing below $1 million in a single weekend. The film’s domestic total now sits at just under $76 million.

“Green Book” also opened in China, where interest in the Hollywood import led to a strong box office of $17.1 million. While it wasn’t the top film of the weekend in that market — “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” nearly doubled that total with $33.4 million — “Green Book” now has the second-highest opening of any Best Picture winner in China, sitting only behind “Titanic.” Amblin and Lionsgate are handling distribution of the film overseas, as its global total now hits $188 million.

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“Green Book” wasn’t the only film that enjoyed an Oscar bump. Best Animated Feature winner “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was reissued in 2,404 screens domestically and grossed $2.1 million in its 12th weekend. The Oscar winner stands as Sony Animation’s highest grossing domestic release with $187.3 million.

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The film opened exclusively on 120 IMAX screens this weekend and earned $1.65 million, scoring a strong per screen average of $13,750. By comparison, that is a higher PSA than what “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” earned last year after its first expansion to 96 screens, earning an average of $10,445. The documentary will expand nationwide next weekend, and will do so with a rare 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

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But the biggest per screen average went to A24’s “Climax,” Gaspar Noe’s subversive, nightmarish film about a French dance troupe that turns on each other after unknowingly drinking LSD-laced sangria at a party. Released on five screens, the film grossed $121,655 for a PSA of $24,331. The film will expand next weekend prior to a nationwide release on March 15, and currently holds an 87 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

Elsewhere, Fathom Events’ broadcast of the Met Opera’s “La Fille du Regiment” made $1.07 million on Saturday from 732 theaters. Among holdovers, Focus Features’ “Everybody Knows” crossed the $1 million mark in its fourth weekend, earning $481,000 from 206 screens.

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Saturday matinees were robust for the “HTTYD” trilogy finale, as the film made $14 million on its second Saturday to raise weekend totals to an estimated $30 million. That’s just a 45 percent drop from the film’s $52.5 million opening, and a higher second weekend total than that of the past two installments in the “HTTYD” saga. The film now has a 1o-day total of $97.6 million.

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“Hidden World” also held on to the top spot on the international charts, earning $52 million from 61 markets, including a $33.4 million opening in China. That’s the second-best ever start for a DreamWorks Animation or Universal animated release, and pushes the film’s global total to $375 million.

“A Madea Family Funeral” is in second with a higher-than-expected $27 million opening. The film was projected for an $18-20 million start, which would have ranked among the lowest in the Tyler Perry franchise. Instead, the film signifies a rebound from the $21.2 million opening made by the previous film in the franchise, “Boo 2!: A Madea Halloween.”

As usual, critics have panned this “Madea” film with a 25 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, while the devout franchise fans that show up on opening weekend have given the film an A- on CinemaScore. Audiences for the film were 67 percent female and 78 percent over 25.

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Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel” is third with $7.2 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $72.5 million. WB’s “Lego Movie 2” is in fourth with $6.6 million, for a total of $91.7 million after four weekends.

Completing the top five is Universal/DreamWorks/Participant Media’s “Green Book,” which returned to 2,641 screens after winning Best Picture at the Oscars and earned $4.5 million in its 16th weekend in theaters. After opening to $5.5 million on Thanksgiving weekend, the film has legged out incredibly well and now has a domestic total of $75 million against a $23 million budget.

“Green Book” took the No. 5 spot from new Focus release “Greta,” which opened below tracker expectations with $4.5 million from 2,411 screens. The film has a 58 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and a C+ on CinemaScore.

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“As part of an extended podcast recently, I suggested that if closeted people were instead open about their sexuality they wouldn’t abuse others. That, of course, is wrong,” read a statement posted by McKellen on his Twitter page.

“My intention was to encourage the LGBT audience I was addressing to be proud and open about their sexuality. In doing so, my point was clumsily expressed. I would never, ever trivialise or condone abuse of any kind. I deeply regret my careless remarks and apologise unreservedly for any distress I caused.”

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McKellen’s remarks came during an interview on the podcast #QueerAF while discussing sexual misconduct accusations made by underage males about Singer and Spacey.

“Most of them were in the closet. Hence, all their problems as people and their relationship with other people,” McKellen said. “If they had been able to be open about themselves and their desires, they wouldn’t have started abusing people in the way they’ve been accused.”

McKellen also joked about possibly being a #MeToo target in the future.

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“Frankly, I’m waiting for someone to accuse me of something,” McKellen said. “And me wondering if they’re not telling the truth and me having forgotten.”

Spacey has been arraigned in a Massachusetts court on a charge of indecent assault and battery related to an incident in which he reportedly inappropriately touched a teenage boy at a Nantucket bar. This past January, The Atlantic published an investigative report in which four men accused Singer of sexually assaulting them when they were underage. The report led to GLAAD withdrawing Singer’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” as a nominee for their Media Award for Outstanding Film, while the BAFTAs removed Singer’s name from the film’s nomination for Best Film.

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IndieWire reported Thursday that Spielberg wants to propose changes to Oscar eligibility rules to exclude films that debut on a streaming service or get a short theatrical release just for the sake of qualifying.

DuVernay has an upcoming limited series about the Central Park Five, “When They See Us,” coming out on the streaming service in May.

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“This is a Board of Governors meeting. And regular branch members can’t be there,” DuVernay said in a tweet addressed to the Academy. “But I hope if this is true, that you’ll have filmmakers in the room or read statements from directors like me who feel differently.”

Franklin Leonard, founder of The Black List, said that Netflix has boosted filmmakers — including women and people of color — who have struggled to get their films picked up by traditional Hollywood studios.

“I think we can all agree that the theatrical experience is worth protecting. I, for one, do,” Leonard tweeted. “I also think we can all agree that it is more difficult for films by and about women, people of color, and myriad other communities to access the resources necessary to secure an exclusive four week theatrical window.”

“Limiting Academy eligibility to films with a four-week exclusive theatrical window is effectively limiting eligibility to films that the folks who control distribution believe have a viable financial model released that way,” he said.

Though Netflix’s “Roma” missed out on Best Picture this year, it has high 2020 hopes for “The Irishman,” Martin Scorsese’s crime film starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci and Harvey Keitel. The film is set for release in the fall and received a teaser announcement during the Oscars broadcast.

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Evans made the big reveal during an interview Thursday on the baseball podcast The Rain Delay. “I just sold a ‘Sandlot’ television show. We’re about to get an order for the first two seasons,” he told host Cooperstown Kurt, though he says he couldn’t disclose who will be streaming the series just yet.

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Regarded as a ’90s cult classic, “The Sandlot” follows the awkward new kid in the neighborhood, Scotty Smalls, as he befriends a group of baseball loving kids in the San Fernando Valley during the summer of 1962. So what can Evans tell us about the new series?

“I already got all the original cast members back,” Evan said. “It takes place in 1984, when they’re all, like, 33 years old and they all have children of their own. And that’s all I can tell you.”

This isn’t the only “Sandlot” follow-up in the works. During the original film’s 25th anniversary celebration last year, 20th Century Fox announced that a prequel film was in development with Evans attached as a co-writer for the script. A release date has not been set.

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The “American Gods” star has been known to not hold back on voicing his opinions on showbiz and politics, and that proved to be true once again when discussing how the push for diversity in Hollywood has changed the conversation around race and gender.

“When asked about race, white people should shut the f— up,” he told The Telegraph this week. “What are they supposed to say? You just have to zip it.”

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McShane lamented that “there can be no proper discussion of race and gender anymore,” and says part of the reason for that is the #MeToo movement, which he thinks has gone “too far.” He specifically points out Jeffrey Tambor’s ousting from “Transparent” over sexual harassment accusations as an example, though he says the actor was fired because “it all became so political.”

He also had harsh words for network TV dramas — most of which he says are “really the same show every week with a twist” – the BAFTAs, which he calls a “crapshow,” and he’s still amused that “Game of Thrones” fans got mad at him for calling the show “only tits and dragons” after his cameo appearance.

“I couldn’t believe that reaction!” he said “But that’s the problem when you have these cult-like supporters.”
The mudslinging sure hasn’t stopped McShane from getting work. In addition to “American Gods,” which has been renewed by Starz for a third season, McShane is set to star in “John Wick: Chapter 3,” the upcoming reboot of “Hellboy,” and the jazz biopic “Bolden.” He will also return to arguably his most famous role, Al Swearengen, in the TV movie return of “Deadwood” on HBO.

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“I hope work won’t stop,” he says. “I love what I do. There aren’t many jobs where as you get older they pay you better and you get better parts.”

Season 2 of “American Gods” premieres March 10.

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Trackers had estimated an opening of $18-20 million for “Madea Family Funeral,” which would have been one of the lowest openings ever for a “Madea” film. Instead, the final film in Tyler Perry’s comedy series is now looking like it will make an estimated $25.3 million, improving on the $21.2 million made by the last installment in the series, “Boo 2! A Madea Halloween.”

“Funeral” made $9.2 million on Friday from 2,442 screens on Friday, as critics and audiences were once again distant in their reaction to the film. While critics gave it a 33 percent Rotten Tomatoes score, hardcore Tyler Perry fans that made up the film’s opening night audience gave it an A-.

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“How to Train Your Dragon 3” is looking at a solid hold of $25.6 million, currently giving it a narrow lead over “Madea” for the No. 1 spot. That figure would signal a 53 percent drop from its $52.5 million opening and is consistent with second weekend totals for past films in the DreamWorks Animation trilogy. The 10-day total is now estimated at $93.2 million.

In third is Fox’s “Alita: Battle Angel,” which is estimated to make $6.7 million in its third weekend for a $93.2 million total. In China, the sci-fi film is proving to be as front-loaded at the box office as it has been in the rest of the world, as it is estimated to drop 62 percent from its opening weekend for a $24 million second weekend total.

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WB’s “Lego Movie 2” is in fourth with $5.7 million in its fourth weekend for a $90 million running total, while Focus’ “Greta” completes the top five with a lower-than expected $4.7 million opening from 2,411 screens. The Chloe Moretz/Isabelle Huppert thriller was projected for a $6 million start, but has had tepid reception with a C+ on CinemaScore and a 58 percent Rotten Tomatoes score.

“Greta” might even concede its top five spot to newly-minted Best Picture Oscar winner “Green Book,” which has returned to 2,641 screens and is estimated to make $4.5 million this weekend. “Green Book” has been an incredibly leggy film since its $5.5 million opening back in November, never grossing less than $1 million in a single weekend as it reaches a domestic total of $75 million after Oscar Sunday.

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While independent trackers like NRG and MarketCast won’t be putting up their first projections for another month, Boxoffice.com released their long-term projections for several April releases on Friday and is predicting a “titanic” opening of $265 million for the film. They peg the overall, long-term tracking for the three-day opening between $250 and $290 million.

In case you forgot, “Avengers: Infinity War” set a box office record $257.6 million domestic opening last year, clearing the bar set in 2015 by “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

Granted, these are very early numbers and projections are subject to change as we get closer to the date and as we get more details from trailers or from “Captain Marvel,” but “Endgame” is still going to be huge.

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After two months of very slow box office business, it will be largely up to superhero films to restore prosperity to movie theaters worldwide. Before “Endgame” hits theaters, Marvel Studios will send out Brie Larson in “Captain Marvel,” a film that is currently projected by trackers for a $120 million opening but expected by many analysts to earn a much higher total. Boxoffice.com is actually projecting that film to soar as high as $160 million in their same report.

DC will also have a presence this spring through the WB/New Line film “Shazam,” which despite coming out in between the two Marvel blockbusters should find success of its own with its much lighter, comedic tone. Combined, the three films should revitalize a box office that has only seen a domestic gross of $1.42 billion through February, down a whopping 27 percent from this point last year and 17 percent down from January and February 2017.

Boxoffice.com further says in their report that the domestic total for “Endgame” could ultimately reach as high as $695 million, which would surpass “Infinity War’s” domestic total of $678.8 million. They note that the cliffhanger ending of that film will help bolster the anticipation of “Endgame,” which has had barely any marketing aside from a teaser trailer and poster announcing the film’s title and a 30-second Super Bowl ad. 

They also are tracking highly positive social media reaction that is higher than that of “Infinity War” this same time last year, and the company’s Trailer Impact survey says the first trailer for “Endgame” has notched a 94 percent Average Positive Interest score, which is the highest such ranking since they started conducting the survey.

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Sixteen of the 87 studio films slated for release in 2019 have at least one woman credited as director — up from just three last year, when fully half of the majors (Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros.) had zero female directors on their wide-release slates.

Another sign of progress: For the first time in history, all six major studios have at least one film directed by a woman on their slates in 2019.

And perhaps as a reflection of public outcry about gender parity in Hollywood from organizations like Women in Film, the female-directed projects reflect a wide gamut of genres and budgets, from Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck’s big-budget superhero movie “Captain Marvel” for Disney to Greta Gerwig’s starry literary adaptation of “Little Women” for Sony to Gurinder Chadha’s Sundance darling “Blinded by the Light” for Warner Bros.’ New Line division.

It’s a notable change from a 2018 where one would be hard pressed to find any film directed by a woman. Last month, studies conducted by USC and San Diego State found that just four of the top 100 highest-grossing films in 2018 and 15 percent of the top 500 were directed by women, both counts signifying a drop from the year before. But this year’s slate of studio releases may be a sign that diversity efforts in Hollywood are starting to bear fruit.

“It’s what we have known for a long time. Movies about and by women are showing they can be successful at the box office, and the industry is following,” Women in Film Executive Director Kirsten Schaffer told TheWrap. She notes that diversity initiatives like WiF’s Reframe program are finding success because they are challenging studios to look at every stage of how they make their movies.

“When people start the work of examining that unconscious bias, that’s when we see the systemic changes necessary. They start thinking about who makes the decisions, which directors and producers are the first considered for hiring. And it goes down from there for every aspect of a film’s production.”

Also Read: Female Protagonists in Top-Grossing Films Hit All-Time High in 2018 - Yet Men Still Dominated

Indeed, some studios are trying to send the message that they are asking such questions about themselves. Last week, Paramount CEO Jim Gianopulos announced in a company-wide memo that the studio would establish a “Content Creation Council” with the goal of making Paramount’s greenlight and development process more inclusive at all levels of production.

“Special attention will be paid to our storylines, our talent in front of and behind the camera, our vendors and our shooting locations,” Gianopulos wrote.

Reps for all six studios declined to comment for this story, though all confirmed their current release slates.

For this survey, TheWrap did not consider releases from art-house divisions like Fox Searchlight and Sony Pictures Classics, which often rely on acquisitions as opposed to developing projects in-house and hiring the filmmakers involved.

Here is the 2019 outlook at each studio, as well as major projects slated for 2020 or currently in development.

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DISNEY

As usual, the current box office kings have the smallest number of 2019 releases, with just 10 films (at least until the studio completes its expected acquisition of Fox’s film and TV assets). Of those 10, two with $100 million-plus budgets have women sharing a director credit. First is next month’s “Captain Marvel” (pictured above), which Anna Boden directed with “Mississippi Grind” partner Ryan Fleck, making her the first woman to direct a Marvel Studios release.

Then, in November, “Frozen” director Jennifer Lee returns with the film’s sequel, “Frozen II,” which is co-directed by Chris Buck. Lee was also named chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation following the departure of John Lasseter amid sexual misconduct accusations.

Disney has announced several female-directed films beyond this year, including Niki Caro’s live-action remake of “Mulan,” set for 2020.

Pixar’s Domee Shi, who won the Best Animated Short Oscar on Sunday for “Bao,” is in the early stages of developing her feature debut. Meanwhile, at Marvel Studios, Australian director Cate Shortland is reportedly attached to direct “Black Widow” while “The Rider” director Chloe Zhao is attached to direct “The Eternals,” though neither project has been officially announced by Disney, who declined to comment for this story.

See the full Disney 2019 slate below:

“Captain Marvel” 3/8 (Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck)
“Dumbo” 3/29 (Tim Burton)
“Penguins” 4/17 (Alastair Fothergill and Jeff Wilson)
“Avengers: Endgame” 4/26 (Anthony and Joe Russo)
“Aladdin” 5/24 (Guy Ritchie)
“Toy Story 4” 6/21 (Josh Cooley)
“The Lion King” 7/19 (Jon Favreau)
“Artemis Fowl” 8/9 (Kenneth Branagh)
“Frozen II” 11/22 (Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck)
“Star Wars: Episode IX” 12/20 (J.J. Abrams)

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UNIVERSAL

Four of the 16 films on Universal’s slate — not counting two still-unspecified placeholders — are directed by women. First up is Tina Gordon Chism’s April comedy “Little,” (above) starring “black-ish” standout Marsai Martin alongside Regina Hall and Issa Rae, followed a month later by Gail Mancuso’s “A Dog’s Journey,” the sequel to the 2017 family film “A Dog’s Purpose.”

Later in the year, the studio will release DreamWorks Animation’s “Abominable,” which is co-directed by Jill Culton, who became the first woman to direct a CGI animated feature with “Open Season” in 2006. And on Thanksgiving, Melina Matsoukas’ thriller “Queen & Slim” will be released, starring Jodie Turner-Smith and Daniel Kaluuya in the titular roles.

One title that was removed from the 2019 slate was “Cowboy Ninja Viking,” which was supposed to be the feature directorial debut of Emmy winner Michelle MacLaren. A Universal spokesman tells TheWrap that the film is still in development. Meanwhile Universal’s 2020 slate includes the Jordan Peele-produced remake of “Candyman,” which Nia DaCosta will direct.

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Universal’s indie wing, Focus Features, has three films directed by women coming this year: Laure de Clermont-Tonnerr’s “The Mustang,” due March 15, Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet Tubman biopic “Harriet” and Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of the thriller novel “Promising Young Women.” The latter two films do not have a specific date but are set to release by year’s end.

Here is the full slate:

“Glass” 1/18 (M. Night Shyamalan)
“Happy Death Day 2U” 2/13 (Christopher B. Landon)
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” 2/22 (Dean DeBlois)
“Us” 3/22 (Jordan Peele)
“Little” 4/12 (Tina Gordon-Chism)
“A Dog’s Journey” 5/17 (Gail Mancuso)
“Ma” 5/31 (Tate Taylor)
“The Secret Life of Pets 2” 6/7 (Chris Renaud)
“Yesterday” 6/28 (Danny Boyle)
“Hobbs & Shaw” 8/2 (David Leitch)
“Good Boys” 8/16 (Lee Eisenberg)
“Abominable” 9/27 (Jill Culton and Todd Wilderman)
“The Hunt” 9/27 (Craig Zobel)
“Last Christmas” 11/15 (Paul Feig)
“Queen & Slim” 11/27 (Melina Matsoukas)
“Cats” 12/20 (Tom Hooper)

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SONY

Sony has already released the first of its four female-directed titles this year, Catherine Hardwicke’s remake of “Miss Bala.” The film has flopped at the box office, grossing $14.7 million after a month in theaters against a $15 million budget.

Later this year, three films directed by women will be a part of Sony’s holiday slate, starting on November 1 with Elizabeth Banks’ revival of “Charlie’s Angels.”

Then, two potential awards contenders will be released on Thanksgiving and Christmas: “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” starring Tom Hanks as Mister Rogers and directed by “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” filmmaker Marielle Heller (pictured above), and Oscar nominee Greta Gerwig’s directorial follow-up to “Lady Bird,” an adaptation of “Little Women” starring Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson and Meryl Streep.

Beyond 2019, Sony has at least two more films by women in development: Clea DuVall’s “Happiest Season” and Paloma Baeza’s “Toymakers Secret.” The studio also has acquired overseas distribution rights for seven films by women through its Stage 6 Films label, including global rights for Heidi Ewing’s “Arrivals” and Camille Stochitch’s “Adventures of Dally and Spanky.”

A Sony spokesperson noted that in a recent study conducted by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the studio had more films with women and/or people of color in lead roles than any other studio in 2018.

Sony’s 2019 slate is as follows:

“Escape Room” 1/4 (Adam Robitel)
“A Dog’s Way Home” 1/11 (Charles Martin Smith)
“Miss Bala” 2/1 (Catherine Hardwicke)
“The Intruder” 5/3 (Deon Taylor)
“Brightburn”5/24 (David Yarovesky)
“Men in Black: International” 6/14 (F. Gary Gray)
“Spider-Man: Far From Home” 7/5 (Jon Watts)
“Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood” 7/26 (Quentin Tarantino)
“The Angry Birds Movie 2” 8/16 (Thurop Van Orman)
“Overcomer” 8/23 (Alex Kendrick)
“Black and Blue” 9/20 (Deon Taylor)
“Zombieland: Double Tap” 10/11 (Ruben Fleischer)
“Charlie’s Angels” 11/1 (Elizabeth Banks)
“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” 11/22 (Marielle Heller)
“Jumanji 3” 12/13 (Jake Kasdan)
“Masters of the Universe” 12/18 (Adam and Aaron Nee)
“Little Women” 12/25 (Greta Gerwig)

Also Read: Female Directors Dropped to Just 8 Percent of the Top 250 Films in 2018, Study Finds

WARNER BROS.

Like Sony, Warner Bros. has a larger slate than most of the rest of Hollywood thanks to the presence of New Line and Village Roadshow and partnerships with companies like Legendary Pictures. Warner has four films from women this year — even after Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman 1984” was bumped from November 2019 to June 2020.

The first of WB’s female-led slate is Katt Shea’s adaptation of the classic YA novel “Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase,” due March 15. May will bring another YA adaptation with Ry Russo-Young’s “The Sun Is Also a Star.” August will see the release of Gurinder Chadha’s New Line-produced drama “Blinded by the Light” (above); and in September, Warner will release “The Kitchen,” Andrea Berloff’s tale of a group of widows who take over their husbands’ criminal empire after their death.

Along with “Wonder Woman 1984,” Warner’s 2020 DC movie slate also includes Cathy Yan’s “Birds of Prey,” starring Margot Robbie, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and Rosie Perez. A third DC film, “The New Gods,” has Ava DuVernay attached as director and is in development.

Here is Warner Bros.’ slate:

“The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part” 2/8 (Mike Mitchell)
“Isn’t It Romantic” 2/14 (Todd Strauss-Schulson)
“Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase” 3/15 (Katt Shea)
“Shazam” 4/5 (David F. Sandberg)
“The Curse of La Llorona” 4/19 (Michael Chaves)
“Detective Pikachu” 5/10 (Rob Letterman)
“The Sun is Also a Star” 5/17 (Ry Russo-Young)
“Godzilla: King of the Monsters” 5/31 (Michael Dougherty)
“Shaft” 6/14 (Tim Story)
“Annabelle 3” 7/3 (Gary Dauberman)
“Minecraft” 7/10 (Peter Sollett)
“Blinded by the Light” 8/14 (Gurinder Chadha)
“It: Chapter Two” 9/6 (Andy Muschietti)
“The Kitchen” 9/20 (Andrea Berloff)
“Joker” 10/4 (Todd Phillips)
“The Goldfinch” 10/11 (John Crowley)
“Motherless Brooklyn 11/1 (Edward Norton)
“Doctor Sleep” 11/8 (Mike Flanagan)
“The Good Liar” 11/15 (Bill Condon)
“Superintelligence” 12/25 (Ben Falcone)

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PARAMOUNT

Of the 12 films on Paramount’s slate, only one is directed by a woman: Reed Morano’s “The Rhythm Section,” which had its release date pushed to November 2019 after lead star Blake Lively suffered an on-set injury.

While no films by female directors are currently slated after “The Rhythm Section,” a studio rep said that six woman-led films are in active development — including Ry Russo-Young’s “Nightlife” and Lisa Cholodenko’s remake of the Oscar-nominated German film “Toni Erdmann.”

Here is Paramount’s slate this year:

“What Men Want” 2/11 (Adam Shankman)
“Wonder Park” 3/15 (No credited director)
“Pet Sematary” 4/5 (Kevin Kolsch and Dennis Widmyer)
“Rocketman” 5/31 (Dexter Fletcher)
“Limited Partners” 6/28 (Miguel Arteta)
“Dora the Explorer” 8/2 (James Bobin)
“Crawl” 8/23 (Alexandre Aja)
“Gemini Man” 10/4 (Ang Lee)
“Are You Afraid of the Dark?” 10/11 (D.J. Caruso)
“Terminator: Dark Fate” 11/1 (Tim Miller)
“Sonic the Hedgehog” 11/8 (Jeff Fowler)
“The Rhythm Section” 11/22 (Reed Morano)

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20th CENTURY FOX

Finally, there’s Fox, whose 2019 slate is complicated by its impending acquisition by Disney. It’s difficult to say how many of Fox’s films and developing projects will see release after the merge is finalized later this year. But for now, Fox does have one film with a female director on this year’s slate: Roxann Dawson’s faith-based film “Breakthrough,” which is set for release in April (pictured above).

Fox’s indie wing, Fox Searchlight, only has two films currently slated for 2019, neither directed by women. This month, however, the studio acquired rights to “Nomadland,” Chloe Zhao’s follow-up to “The Rider” and starring Frances McDormand in her first leading role after winning an Oscar for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

Fox’s current slate is as follows:

“The Kid Who Would Be King” 1/25 (Joe Cornish)
“Alita: Battle Angel” 2/14 (Robert Rodriguez)
“Ad Astra” 3/15 (James Gray)
“Breakthrough” 4/17 (Roxann Dawson)
“Dark Phoenix” 6/7 (Simon Kinberg)
“Ford v. Ferrari” 6/28 (James Mangold)
“Stuber” 7/12 (Michael Dowse)
“The New Mutants” 8/2 (Josh Boone)
“Spies in Disguise” 9/13 (Nick Bruno and Troy Quane)
“The Art of Racing in the Rain” 9/27 (Simon Curtis)
“Kingsman: The Great Game” 11/8 (Matthew Vaughn)
“Call of the Wild” 12/25 (Chris Sanders)

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There are several points of contention between the WGA and ATA, but the main dispute is over the business practice known as packaging. It’s a major source of income for talent agencies, one the WGA wants to end for good.

WGA has scheduled a March 25 vote for members to decide whether to impose tough new rules on agents which could do just that. The proposed rules are strongly opposed by ATA, which is urging WGA members to vote them down.

Here’s where the different sides stand, and what you need to know about where Hollywood’s latest labor dispute may be headed.

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Packaging

Packaging — when an agency starts a film or TV project by bundling talent it represents and bringing them to a studio as, you guessed it, a package — has become a major source of income for top Hollywood agencies. The agency who puts the package together receives fees directly from the studio in lieu of commissions from actors, directors, showrunners and yes, writers, often for the life of the project.

WGA West President David A. Goodman argued in speech to members in late February that the practice creates a “conflict of interest.” With money guaranteed from studios, Goodman says, the agency is more invested in the success of a project than in the success of a client, which reduces the incentive for agents to negotiate better wages for writers.

“There are more writers at WGA scale, more writers whose quotes have atrophied or dropped, more writers trying to make their year on a short-order episodic series, and more screenwriters required to do outrageous amounts of free work than ever before,” Goodman said.

What’s more, according to Goodman, a recent survey of WGA members found that 75 percent of writers didn’t get their latest job through an agent, a problem he attributes to packaging.

But in a rebuttal posted on the ATA’s website, the association says: “An agent’s success is directly tied to the success of the artists he/she represents – agents only earn more when their clients make more.”

The ATA also atrributes decreases in pay “primarily to shorter orders, longer spans, and other industry trends–issues the agencies and the WGA should be working together to address–not any actions by the agencies,” and argues that agents’ interests are in sync with their clients in package deals because “a failed show makes no money for the agency – it’s a loss.”

The organization also asserts that there is no difference in compensation for writers between package and non-package deals.

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WGA Wants a New “Code of Conduct”

Goodman says the guild is preparing to make what he calls a “necessary power grab”: a “code of conduct” for agents that, if approved in the March 25 vote, would go into effect the day after the current WGA-ATA contract expires.

The plan demands that any agency doing business with WGA members ditches packaging and returns to the traditional 10 percent commission model. It also demands that agencies provide the WGA “with all deal memos, all invoices for payment, and open access to the agencies’ books.”

Goodman asserts that the guild “has the legal right to act unilaterally” if no new agreement is reached. ATA rejected that assertion in a statement responding to Goodman’s speech, accusing WGA of “sorely misleading writers in telling them that the Guild has unfettered legal authority to unilaterally impose such restrictions.”

WGA Says Code of Conduct is Not a New Thing

Goodman says that there’s a precedent for this kind of policy in the world of sports.

“All of the major sports unions have similar Codes of Conduct–basketball, baseball, hockey and football,” Goodman argues. “At CAA, which has the biggest sports agency business, all the sports agents must be signed to the Codes of Conduct. We’re not reinventing the wheel here.”

However, ATA says that “the proposed code can be unilaterally changed by the WGA every 60 days,” which it arguess could be easily abused, and calls the code “a sweeping attempt by the WGA to remake the entire industry, restraining not only the business of agencies and their affiliates but also interfering with the livelihoods and businesses of producers, actors, directors, and studios.”

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ATA Warns of Damage to the Whole Industry

The ATA is opposed to any agreement that would force the end of packaging fees, and says that no member of the Association will sign on to the proposed code. In their statement countering Goodman’s speech, the organizaiton also argues that a packaging fee-free system proposed by WGA would be bad for the industry, harming “not only their own members but others throughout the entire industry.”

ATA says the code would affect film financing, both at major studios and in the indies, because they would have to build entire wings to deal with financing and packaging instead of paying a fee to have the agencies do it. ATA also argues that the new rules would make financing and selling harder for independent producers.

Goodman says the guild has spoken with nine independent producers about whether getting rid of packaging fees would damage how they do business, and says that the “overwhelming answer was that agency packaging and producing hurt their business and they’d love to see us stop it.”

In response, ATA says that its practices “help clients’ shows and films get made,” and that “agencies have helped secure financing or distribution for more than 1,000 independent films over the past five years, creating great opportunity for writers and all artists represented at all size agencies.”

TheWrap reached out to SAG-AFTRA and the Directors Guild of America to ask if they are monitoring the WGA-ATA dispute and whether they have contacted the WGA about how enforcing the Code of Conduct would affect their respective members. Representatives from both guilds did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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What’s next?

The next meeting has not been set, but WGA is pushing for another round of negotiations this week. And in a statement provided to TheWrap, Karen Stuart, ATA’s Executive Director said: “We firmly believe there are ways to collaborate together with the WGA in a way that benefits all writers and are ready, willing and waiting for the WGA leadership to commit to good faith negotiations and constructive conversations about all of their proposals.”

If no new agreement is reached, and the code is approved in the March 25 vote, Goodman is calling on all WGA members to leave agencies that refuse to comply. “A membership vote to implement a Code is a vote for all of us to walk away–together–from any agency that will not sign it,” Goodman said.

Will the Writers Actually Buy Into WGA’s Plans?

Goodman acknowledges that asking writers to leave agents isn’t a simple request, especially for those who are on good personal and professional terms with their agents. “There may well be a struggle required and hardship for some of us,” he told members. Goodman insists this is the only way for writers to get paid what they deserve.

One writer who spoke with TheWrap on condition of anonymity said there’s skepticism about whether the code would actually lead to more money in the pockets of all writers, especially after the commission cut that agents will have to take.

“I’m not leaving my agent. I don’t know anyone who is,” the writer said. “The thing is, so few writers ever find themselves in a position where any of this s— matters. You have to create a show that goes the distance for any of it to really matter. And very few of us ever do that.”

Trey Williams and Umberto Gonzalez contributed to this story.

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First imagined by Perry for his 1999 play “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” Madea was brought to the big screen in 2005 with “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” a film made on a $5.5 million budget that grossed $50 million at the box office. Since then, Madea has been a dependable, low-budget moneymaker for Lionsgate, as the character has grossed a combined $547 million at the domestic box office.

But over the past few years, diminishing returns seem to have set in. The series peaked in 2009 with a $41 million opening and $90 million domestic total for “Madea Goes to Jail,” and “A Madea Family Funeral” is projected for an opening weekend tally of $18-20 million from approximately 2,400 screens.

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That would be one of the lowest openings for a “Madea” film, just above the $16 million opening for 2013’s “A Madea Christmas,” but just below the next highest opening of $21.2 million for 2017’s “Boo 2! A Madea Halloween.”

“A Madea Family Funeral” sees Madea return to Georgia for yet another family reunion, which ends up going so bad that she ends up having to plan an unexpected funeral. Along the way, unsavory secrets arise that threaten to split up the family for good. As with all installments in the series, the film is written, directed and co-produced by Perry, with longtime series co-stars Cassi Davis and Patrice Lovely also joining the cast.

Also opening wide this weekend is Focus Features’ “Greta,” a thriller starring Chloë Grace Moretz as a young woman who returns a purse found on a New York City subway to a seemingly kind, but lonely woman named Greta (Isabelle Huppert). But after the two grow close, the woman realizes that Greta is not as nice as she may seem and may be hiding something sinister.

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Directed and co-written by Neil Jordan, “Greta” is projected for a $6 million opening. It currently has a 70 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Meanwhile, some of the winning films from this past Sunday’s Oscars will see their screen count expand as studios look to capitalize on the publicity for one last box office burst. Universal will expand its Best Picture winner “Green Book” back to 2,600 screens, close to the widest screen count of 2,648 screens that the DreamWorks/Participant Media production had a month ago. The film has grossed $144 million worldwide against a $23 million production budget.

Sony is also expanding “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” after an awards season in which it dominated the animation field en route to the Best Animated Feature Oscar. The Marvel movie is returning to 2,350 screens having already grossed $185 million domestic and just under $360 million worldwide.

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Persichetti, a veteran of animation for more than two decades, has worked in various capacities on films with DreamWorks Animation and Disney before making his directorial debut with the acclaimed “Spider-Verse” alongside co-directors Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman.  He served as head of story and voiced a role in the original “Puss in Boots.”

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Latifa Ouaou, who was a producer on the original “Puss in Boots,” will oversee development of this film on behalf of Illumination and Chris Meledandri, working closely with the DWA leadership team.

Voiced by Antonio Banderas, Puss in Boots made his debut in “Shrek 2” in 2004, appearing in the following two “Shrek” sequels before getting his own solo film that grossed $555 million worldwide in 2011. A sequel was once slated for release in 2018 but was removed from DreamWorks’ slate in 2015. This project does not yet have a release date.

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Universal will distribute the film after purchasing DreamWorks in 2016. The first DWA film released by Universal, “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” has so far grossed $277 million worldwide with a $55 million domestic opening this past weekend.

Persichetti is represented by UTA. The signing was first reported by Deadline.

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Created by Todd Durham and directed by “Samurai Jack” creator Genndy Tartakovsky, the “Hotel Transylvania” series has been Sony Animation’s most lucrative franchise with $1.3 billion grossed worldwide. After the first two films were slated for September release in 2012 and 2015, “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” was released in the middle of summer last year and grossed a record $528 million worldwide, including $167.5 million domestically.

Now Sony is taking “Hotel Transylvania” into the holiday season, where the studio has found success recently with hits like “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” and the Oscar-winning “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

While the December 2021 slate has yet to be fully formed, “HT4” is currently set to run against the third installment of James Cameron’s long-gestating “Avatar” series, along with Universal’s adaptation of the hit “Wizard of Oz” musical “Wicked.”

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Since getting nominated for for his work in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Grant has been charming the showbiz world with his candid interviews and unabashed excitement over being a nominee. Among the many tales he’s told was how at the age of 14, he sent a fan letter to Streisand; and after getting nominated, he took a selfie outside of Streisand’s house (after asking for permission, of course).

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In response to a Twitter post, Streisand thanked Grant for the letter and praised his performance in the film — something that Grant would call a “‘message in a bottle’ miracle.”

Fast forward to Oscar Sunday, and Grant could be seen looking absolutely starstruck as Streisand took to the stage to give a speech honoring the Best Picture nominee “BlacKkKlansman.”

Finally after the show, Streisand and Grant came face-to-face for the selfie of a lifetime. 

Suitably blurry-eyed selfie with @BarbraStreisand who was EVERYTHING I’d hoped,expected & dreamt she’d be.????QUEEN BEE???? pic.twitter.com/8hBmvo1h4W

— Richard E. Grant (@RichardEGrant) February 25, 2019

For those who want to see more of Grant onscreen, you won’t have to wait too long. He is set to appear in “Star Wars: Episode IX,” which hits theaters this December.

My unique Night at the #Oscar2019 between @melissamccarthy & @BarbraStreisand that will forever be my personal ????MEMORIES/THE WAY WE WERE????moment!!! pic.twitter.com/z1eNcvQWyO

– Richard E. Grant (@RichardEGrant) February 25, 2019

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