Tavern Talk: Video Review - GEMINI MAN

Despte the fact the second weekend of October sported three new, major wide releases there was no chance any would be dethroning Joker as the Clown Prince of the box office given the film not only ended up topping the weekend box office domestically, but also both internationally and worldwide. The $55 million production has already generated $563.6 million globally in its first twelve days and will likely pass $600 million before its third full weekend of release even begins. The film has been holding incredibly well day to day as the film dropped a mere 13% from its first Monday to this past Monday. The film is already the seventh highest grossing movie of the year so far and shows no signs of slowing down even as major studio releases such as the Maleficent and Zombieland sequels hit theaters this weekend alongside a slew of platform releases for Oscar hopefuls in the likes of Jojo Rabbit and The Lighthouse. This week on TAVERN TALK by initial reaction though, we discussed what was presumed would be the biggest of those aforementioned newcomers in Ang Lee's collaboration with Will Smith in Gemini Man and yet it was actually UAR's animated The Addams Family that led the way with a solid second place debut delivering an estimated $30.3 million over the three-day weekend. Meanwhile, Paramount's Gemini Man landed in third as Lee's action-thriller that was more an excuse to play with and explore the limits of this technology that created a younger and fully CGI version of Smith ballooned the budget while not necessarily adding anything to the overall movie-going experience given less than a handful of theaters were able to play the film in 3D and at the higher frame rate as intended. Rather, I assume that the majority of those who saw Gemini Man this weekend saw it as I did-in regular ole 24 FPS and in your standard 2D, 4K theater. This is all to say that had the film been made because it wanted to tell a certain story rather than utilize a certain piece of technology a debut of $20.5 million wouldn't be a big deal, but given the film cost $138 million the story is a little different. Internationally, Gemini Man debuted in five markets earlier this month and expanded to fifty-eight last weekend from which it brought in $31.1 million for an overseas cume that now totals $39 million and a current worldwide sum of $70.1 million. The film has yet to open in Japan or Taiwan, where it will open on October 25, but needless to say-this was not exactly the kind of "Big Willie Weekend" Lee and nor the Fresh Prince were hoping for. As always, be sure to follow the official TAVERN TALK by Initial Reaction YouTube channel as well as on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where you can find a new review (or reviews) each week!