Did 'Longlegs' Prove Audiences Want Original Horror? Or Should Hollywood Remake the Classics?

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Happy Monday, folks!

Apologies for another late send, but there was a Twisters screening at 6 p.m. in Burbank, and I didn’t want to rush tonight’s edition. Expect a review of that summer blockbuster later this week.

Meanwhile, I didn’t get a chance to write a full review of Greg Berlanti’s Fly Me to the Moon, but on the bright side, my thoughts are now above the fold (i.e. the paywall).

Fly Me to the Moon opened to a tepid $10 million at the domestic box office this weekend, and I have to say, I wasn’t surprised. We’re going to talk about marketing in tonight’s newsletter with regard to Longlegs, but the marketing for Fly Me to the Moon could never settle on a message — much like the film itself, as astutely pointed out by David Poland in his insightful review. Berlanti tried to pull off a wobbly balancing act and do too much at once, and that’s why the marketing was confusing — because it merely reflected a confused, overstuffed movie.

That said… Fly Me to the Moon kind of won me over, and it ultimately worked for me thanks to Scarlett Johansson’s winning performance and the comic relief of Jim Rash. Yes, Channing Tatum is kind of a bore here, but it’s the writing that has him playing such a stick in the mud. The whole script is a little old-fashioned, and the movie as a whole is too long, but it’s a crowdpleaser once you warm up to its nostalgic charms.

In tonight’s newsletter, I’ll examine whether Longlegs proves that audiences want original horror, or whether it’s an anomaly of sorts, and offer my thoughts on the racy red-band trailer for Sean Baker’s Cannes winner Anora. Plus, there are stories on the return of Euphoria, the renewal of Presumed Innocent, Emerald Fennell’s new movie, Halle Berry turning her back on Kim Kardashian, Timothee Chalamet’s ping pong movie, and the hackers who attacked the Magic Kingdom.

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