Monday Movie Report: Winston Duke among actors cast in supernatural drama

Winston Duke, along with Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, David Rysdahl and Bill Skarsgard are attached to the new film project “Nine Days.”

According to Variety, “Nine Days” is a supernatural genre film and will be the feature debut by Director Edson Oda. Mandalay Pictures, Nowhere, Juniper Productions and MACRO are all serving as production companies on the movie, Variety reports.

Variety also reports Oda, who’s also a writer, has earned a Gold Lion and three Bronze Lions at the Cannes International Creativity Festival. He was also a Sundance Screenwriters Lab Fellow in 2017.

In the film, Duke will play a reclusive character in another plane of existence who speaks with human souls. According to Variety, the rest of the cast will play those Duke’s character talks to.

In other casting news, Kevin Hart is teaming up with Paramount Pictures to remake the film “Scrooged.” The original “Scrooged” was released in 1988 and starred Bill Murray in a modern version of “A Christmas Carol.”

According to Variety, the remake is in motion through Hart’s HartBeat Productions, but remains in very early stages, as a script isn’t attached yet.

Outside of this project, Hart is remaining busy with acting gigs, such as a role in the next “Jumanji” picture.

Hart also recently starred in the “Secret Life of Pets” sequel, which earned the No. 1 spot at the box office with $47.1 million. “Dark Phoenix,” meanwhile, had a disappointing weekend, with the lowest opening ever for an “X-Men” film, coming in at $33 million.

The full top five was:
1. The Secret Life of Pets 2 – $47,110,000
2. Dark Phoenix – $33,000,000
3. Aladdin – $24,500,000
4. Godzilla: King of the Monsters – $15,540,000
5. Rocketman – $14,000,000

For the upcoming weekend, meanwhile, new releases are the action comedy “Men In Black: International,” the new “Shaft” and the horror comedy “The Dead Don’t Die.”

As for the smaller screen, home video releases this week include:

• Captain Marvel, my rating: 3.9 out of 5, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 3.72 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 78%.
• Five Feet Apart, my rating: 3 out of 5, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 2.93 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 54%.
• Captive State, my rating: 2 out of 5, Large Association of Movie Blogs rating: 2.90 out of 5, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 45%.
• The Mustang, Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%.