In 2020, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal burst onto the scene in Hulu’s take on Sally Rooney’s bestselling novel, Normal People. Since then, they’ve both become major names, and for Edgar-Jones specifically, she’s gone on to make even more successful book-to-screen adaptations. So, while interviewing her about her new film on the 2025 movie schedule, which is based on the novel On Swift Horses, I had to ask how the Hulu hit impacts her work on other adaptations.

When I watched the book-to-screen adaptation of Shannon Pufahl’s On Swift Horses, I couldn’t help but reminisce on the other projects Edgar-Jones has done that are based on books. From the box office and streaming hit Where the Crawdads Sing to one of the best true crime series of 2022, Under the Banner of Heaven, it’s an impressive list. However, I was mostly thinking about Normal People. So, I asked her if that 2020 show has impacted how she makes adaptations today, and in response, she said:

Well, they got it right, and to this day, people use their Hulu subscription to stream Normal People, and the book is still widely read. So, it makes sense that she felt the pressure. However, they crafted something beautiful and captured the tone of Marianne and Connell’s love story perfectly.

That is the lesson the Twisters actress took with her, too, as she told me:

Clearly, she did this immaculately in Normal People, seeing as people like me still talk about it and are moved by it. It’s so loved, Edgar-Jones has been asked about a potential Season 2, and Paul Mescal has been asked about playing Connell again, too, proving the immense love people have for this adaptation.

At this point, Daisy Edgar-Jones is a pro at capturing a character who originated in a book. She’s also done it again with her newest film, On Swift Horses. Speaking specifically about how Normal People impacted her work on this piece of historical fiction, the actress said:

They certainly did a good job. Like Normal People, On Swift Horses is a deeply emotional story about people coming of age. However, this story is set right after the Korean War, not in the modern day. It explores ideas of sexuality, gambling, luck and love, and it’s a beautiful and sweeping tale.

Overall, I think this movie is another example of a wonderful piece of work from Daisy Edgar-Jones, and it seems like she should keep with her adaptation game, as she said:

Now, if you are looking to see these adaptations for yourself, you can purchase the books these projects are based on wherever you buy your novels. If you want to watch the projects, Normal People is on Hulu, and On Swift Horses is playing in theaters right now.

Even after spending years on the New York Times Bestseller’s List, and getting a movie with a theatrical release, viewers are still being shocked for the first time by Where the Crawdads Sing. Now that the film based on Delia Owens’ book is streaming on Netflix, there are even more new people watching, and now they are posting all sorts of funny reactions on social media. 

The film which hit theaters earlier this summer according to the 2022 film schedule, became available on Netflix on November 12, and even Reese Witherspoon reached out to fans to encourage them to watch the film. And with this influx of viewers, comes a lot of new reactions to the story's shocking plot, as well as interesting characters and setting. 

We’ll kick off the responses with a viewer's overarching reaction to the film: 

Honestly, I get it, between the mysterious, romantic, and dramatic aspects of the film, it lowkey does feel like three Lifetime movies that will rip you apart with emotion by the end. Between, the heartwrenching romance between Kya and Tate, the abusive relationship Kya has with Chase, and the final moments when you finally find out who did it, the film is always pulling at your heartstrings. 

Meanwhile, another person on Twitter was thinking more about the logistics of the film. They explained how they were flustered by the fact that there were no mosquitoes in the marsh. 

Now that I think about it, she’s right. For a movie that takes place in a marsh in the South, mosquitoes should have been in the film. As someone who gets eaten alive by mosquitoes in the summer, especially if I’m in a humid place, I too am bothered by the lack of little evil bugs in this movie that takes place in a marsh. 

Another viewer shared their thoughts on Kya’s ability to capture the hearts of two boys, compared to their ability to get guys. 

Spoilers for the end of Where The Crawdads Sing ahead.

Obviously, many people also had thoughts on the Where The Crawdads Sing ending. I mean they really do throw you a plot twist in the last couple minutes of the film, so how could it not leave viewers distraught? I certainly didn’t expect to find out it was Kya who killed Chase in the end. I think this fan captured it perfectly when they Tweeted: 

Meanwhile, another fan pointed out that they were kind of on board with what Kya did, and I can’t say I disagree.  

While what happened between Kya and Chase in the movie version of Where the Crawdads Sing differs from the book, Chase being a selfish lover is true in both cases. This makes the payoff at the end work for the film and the book. 

Based on these reactions it seems like the film adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing has managed to capture audiences' like the book has, and has provided us with some entertaining and lighthearted commentary about the story. If you haven’t seen the movie or read the book yet, you can watch the film based on the extremely popular novel with a Netflix subscription.

It may have come as a surprise to you when you saw the film adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing streaming on Netflix. Ever since Saturday, audiences have had the chance to see the Reese Witherspoon-produced film of a girl growing up in the North Carolina marshland and being the prime suspect when the town’s popular quarterback is found murdered. The Legally Blonde actress reached out to fans after finding out Where the Crawdads Sing dominated Netflix’s Top 10 list.

For November’s Daily Top Ten for Netflix, Where the Crawdads Sing has been number one for the past couple of days since its November 12th release. The film’s producer Reese Witherspoon reached out to fans on her Instagram Story about how proud she was of the movie, story, and its team for putting it together. She shared a screenshot of the movie being number one in Top Movies, check it out below:

Before you see the Netflix-released movie Where the Crawdads Sing, Reese Witherspoon believes it’s important to know what a crawdad is. For the record, crawdads are aquatic animals that look like small lobsters living in rivers and streams. It’s basically the main character, Kya, being encouraged by her mother to explore her horizons going far into the marshlands. 

Another thing you should know about the Reese Witherspoon-produced movie is the stellar cast. Fresh actress Daisy Edgar-Jones plays Kya who you may remember from the Emmy-nominated Hulu show Ordinary People and the FX/Hulu series Under the Banner of Heaven. There’s also Sharp Objects actor Taylor John Smith who plays Tate Walker as well as Trust actor Harris Dickinson playing Chase Andrews and Temple Grandin’s David Strathairn featured as well. A talented cast like this is bound to draw in some streaming viewers.

While the release was considered huge for Sony making a million more than estimated at $17.3 million, the critics gave the film mixed reviews, with many commenting that the film failed to grasp the nitty-gritty tone that the book had. But praises were given to Edgar-Jones’ performance and that surprise Where the Crawdads Sing ending. While the Rotten Tomatoes score for critics is at a low 35%, the audience score is exponentially high at 97%. So, this might have to be the type of movie where you accept it as a movie instead of as a book adaptation to prevent getting your hopes up.

Reese Witherspoon is very proud of the Netflix accomplishment that Where the Crawdads Sings made as a number-one movie. Considering this movie was female-led and not part of a franchise, this should be all the inspiration Witherspoon needs to continue producing more intriguing films that will generate a wide audience. You can see for yourself why this film is considered a top movie by watching it on your Netflix subscription.

Sometimes after watching a movie, I will go to Rotten Tomatoes and check to see if the film is certified fresh or rotten in the eyes of critics. Though my own opinions mostly line up with those of the reviewers the website views as experts, there are times where they couldn’t be more opposite. This happened with the Summer 2022 release of The Gray Man, a movie I actually liked, but critics, for the most part, did not. I wasn’t alone in this, as there was nearly a 50-point difference in the critical and audience scores.

This has also been the case for a large number of 2022 movies released so far, including Black Adam, which had a 51-point gap between critics and audiences. But Dwayne Johnson’s massive superhero movie isn’t alone in this regard, as some other big releases feel like critics and audiences were watching two entirely different movies.Let’s get into these differences now…

Black Adam - 39% Critic Score; 90% Audience Score

The long-awaited Black Adam was released in October 2022, and became an immediate hit with audiences despite receiving mixed to negative reviews from critics. Regardless of the poor critical response, Dwayne Johnson’s first superhero movie soared to number one at the box office the weekend of its release, with a weekend domestic gross of $67 million. 

Over on the Black Adam Rotten Tomatoes page, the movie, which saw the spectacular return of one of DC’s biggest heroes in the end-credits sequence, currently has a 39% critic score with an audience score of 90%. The site’s critical consensus essentially states that Black Adam points the way to “an exciting future for DC films” but is also “a wildly uneven letdown.”

Don’t Worry Darling - 38% Critic Score; 74% Audience Score

After what seems like years of behind-the-scenes rumors and all sorts of drama leading up to its release, Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling opened in September 2022, and gave audiences a thrilling yet muddled psychological thriller. Upon release, the film received tepid reviews, though Florence Pugh’s lead performance did receive a great deal of praise.

The movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page currently lists the critic score as 38% while the audience score is 74%. The general consensus from the audience is that the cast more than makes up for the Don’t Worry Darling ending, which isn’t for everyone.

Amsterdam - 33% Critic Score; 62% Audience Score

David O. Russell’s star-studded mystery-comedy about three friends navigating post-WWI Europe was another film that didn’t do too hot with critics or at the box office, despite featuring performances by the likes of Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, and John David Washington.

As it stands on Rotten Tomatoes, Amsterdam has a critic score of 33% and an audience score of 62%, but there is some commonality in each group’s response to the movie. The general critics consensus is that the movie is busy, both in terms of the number of A-listers in the cast and the plot. Even the audiences agreed with critics when it came to the movie’s hard-to-follow story that requires a lot from the viewer.

The School For Good And Evil - 36% Critic Score; 68% Audience Score

The 2022 Netflix movie, The School for Good and Evil received largely negative reviews when it was released in October, with some critics calling it an “aggressively convoluted YA movie” with others saying that it was funny in parts despite being neither clever nor original.

The School for Good and Evil, which features a remarkable cast, currently has a decent size gulf between the critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie has a 36% critical response with an audience score of 68%, which isn’t the best or worst but still flunks in terms of storytelling, according to the critical consensus.

Ticket To Paradise - 56% Critic Score; 88% Audience Score

In October 2022, Julia Roberts and George Clooney got back together once again for the romantic comedy, Ticket to Paradise. Upon its release, the film received mixed to good reviews, with critics pointing out the performances by the two leads and the happy nature of its story. 

Ticket to Paradise is only a few percentage points shy of reaching the “Fresh” ranking on Rotten Tomatoes with its critics score of 56%, but moviegoers are almost in full support of the movie, and its audience score sits at 88%. Critics and audiences alike pointed out the pairing of Roberts and Clooney as a positive for the movie.

Where The Crawdads Sing - 33% Critic Score; 96% Audience Score

The 2022 movie with the biggest difference in critic and audiences scores on Rotten Tomatoes (so far) is Where the Crawdads Sing. Although audiences couldn’t get enough of the 2022 book-to-movie adaptation (96% of moviegoers enjoyed it), the same can’t be said for critics, who largely panned the coming-of-age drama.

According to the Where the Crawdads Sing Rotten Tomatoes page, critics felt the movie failed to properly adapt the 2018 best-selling novel of the same name “into a tonally coherent drama,” though professional reviewers did enjoy Daisy Edgar-Jones' portrayal of Kya Clark. 

Jurassic World Dominion - 30% Critic Score; 77% Audience Score

Although it’s true none of the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World movies have been able to reach the heights of Steven Spielberg’s 1993 summer blockbuster in terms of cultural relevancy and critical consensus, the series reached new lows in the eyes of reviewers with Jurassic World Dominion in June 2022. On the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page, it is stated that the “franchise has lumbered a long way down” since starting nearly 30 years ago.

Even moviegoers were lukewarm on Jurassic World Dominion, which has an audience score of 77%. However, this is still an improvement over Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which had an audience score of 48% upon release in 2018.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 - 69% Critic Score; 96% Audience Score

In April 2022, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and its lovable titular character voiced by Ben Schwartz, warmed the hearts of audiences of all ages with its humor, action, and surprising amount of emotion. According to its Rotten Tomatoes page, 96% of audiences liked Sonic 2, which is a great deal higher than the critical reaction.

It should be pointed out that the 69% critic score for the second confrontation between Sonic and Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik isn’t the lowest of the year, but there’s still nearly a 30-point difference between general moviegoers and reviewers who called it a “generally acceptable sequel.”

The Gray Man - 46% Critic Score; 91% Audience Score

Joe and Anthony Russo directed some of the best Marvel movies that were equally loved by critics and audiences, but the same can’t be said about their 2022 Netflix movie The Gray Man, which has a gap between the two categories that is about as big as the spy thriller’s massive budget.

According to The Gray Man's Rotten Tomatoes page, only 46% of critics liked the movie while 91% of audiences enjoyed watching Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, and the rest of The Gray Man cast. The only movie directed by the Russos to have a higher audience score is Captain America: The Winter Soldier at 92%.

Purple Hearts - 40% Critic Score; 67% Audience Score

The romantic drama, Purple Hearts, has been a hit with audiences ever since taking up residence on the Netflix Top 10 list in August 2022, and it still has a 67% approval rating with fans on Rotten Tomatoes. The same, however, can’t be said about the critical response to the emotionally-wrecking affair.

According to the Purple Hearts Rotten Tomatoes page, the movie has a 38% approval rating with critics in the weeks following its release.

Uncharted - 40% Critic Score; 90% Audience Score

The Tom Holland-led Uncharted seemed like it was never actually going to be released, but it became an instant hit with audiences when it finally did enter theaters in February 2022. Currently, it has a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 90%, which is Holland’s third highest non-Marvel movie (Onward and Spies in Disguise barely beat it). 

The critical response is a different story though, and the critic score sits at 41% with the official consensus being that it’s a “disappointing echo of superior adventure films.”

Persuasion - 32% Critic Score; 67% Audience Score

Despite being on the receiving end of backlash over its dialogue, the 2022 adaptation of Persuasion has been a hit with Netflix subscribers since it arrived on the scene. And, that popularity has translated to a 67% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

The critical response hasn’t been nearly as favorable, and according to the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page, only 32% of critics liked the movie, with the consensus being that Persuasion “fails to convince as a worthwhile [Jane] Austen adaptation.”

Death On The Nile - 62% Critic Score; 82% Audience Score

Kenneth Branagh’s Death on the Nile, in which he also appears as legendary detective Hercule Poirot, is another 2022 movie that wasn’t necessarily hated by critics but still one that has a gulf between the critical and audience responses.

According to the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page, the star-studded murder mystery has a 62% critic score and an 82% audience score, with the latter group declaring it an “all-star mystery” with “plenty of entertaining twists.”

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore - 46% Critic Score; 83% Audience Score

Though an improvement from its predecessor, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore doesn’t come close to some of the better Harry Potter movies, at least in the eyes of critics. Following its release, the Rotten Tomatoes critic score for the third movie in the Wizarding World prequel series had a 46% approval rating.

Audiences were actually quite fond of the third Fantastic Beasts movie, specifically pointing out the special effects that were on full display throughout.

Moonfall - 36% Critic Score; 70% Audience Score

Roland Emmerich’s disaster sci-fi adventure, Moonfall, failed to find a big audience when it was released in February 2022, but the people who did end up seeing it on the big screen liked what they saw from the large ensemble cast. 

The movie currently has a 70% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is nearly double that of critics (36% score). And, despite the poor marks, the critical consensus was it was an “Emmerich disaster thriller through and through.”

With so many movies still slated to come out before 2022 draws to an end, expect to see more titles added to this list in the months to come. And then we’ll have to start paying attention to all those 2023 new releases.

Of all the book-to-movie adaptations that have come out this year, Olivia Newman’s adaptation of Delia Owens’ best-selling novel, Where the Crawdads Sing, was near or at the top of the list in terms of anticipation. The coming-of-age movie featuring Daisy Edgar-Jones as a young woman who raised herself in the marshes off the North Carolina coast was a relative box-office success despite mixed reviews upon its theatrical release back in July, and will soon be making its streaming debut.

If you missed the 2022 movie during its initial run for one reason or another, don’t worry, because you will soon be able to watch Where the Crawdads Sing streaming on one of the most popular platforms available today. Let’s break it all down now…

When And Where You Can Watch Where The Crawdads Sing Streaming

Whenever a movie is getting ready to make its streaming debut, there is always someone who wants to know if it will be on Netflix. In the case of this film, the answer is a resounding “Yes.” Starting November 12th, anyone with an active Netflix subscription will be able to watch Where the Crawdads Sing streaming on the popular platform. 

The movie joins other Sony new releases like Uncharted and Morbius, both of which landed on Netflix when making their streaming debuts. This, according to The Wrap, is part of an exclusive multiyear streaming deal between Netflix and Sony that will see the studio’s tentpole movies land on the service before anywhere else.

Stream Where the Crawdads Sing on Netflix starting November 12th.

Are There Other Ways To Watch Where The Crawdads Sing?

If you don’t want to wait to watch Where the Crawdads Sing streaming, the movie is currently available to those with access to a number of different digital retailers like Amazon, iTunes, Vudu, and more.

Rent (or buy) Where the Crawdads Sing on Amazon.

The movie, which features Taylor Swift’s “Carolina," is also available to purchase on DVD and Blu-ray from retailers like Amazon. If you have an Amazon Prime subscription, you can even get Where the Crawdads Sing in as little as 24 hours with one-day delivery.

Buy Where the Crawdads Sing on Blu-ray on Amazon.

If You’ve Already Watched Where The Crawdads Sing…

If you’ve already watched Where the Crawdads Sing, stick around, because CinemaBlend has a whole collection of articles written about the film that cover things like its ending, changes made from the book, and so much more.

First, there’s Sarah El-Mahmoud’s Where the Crawdads Sing review where she pointed out that Daisy Edgar Jones’ Kya received a “beautifully fleshed out (yet flawed) arc” while also drawing attention to how it fell “into a common book adaptation trap.” There’s also a story breaking down seven big differences between the book and movie, as well as a thorough breakdown of the Where the Crawdads Sing ending worth checking out.

Where the Crawdads Sing will be available to stream on Netflix starting November 12th. While you wait, check out some of the other new and recent movies streaming on a variety of platforms.

Back in January of this year, there was a lot of excitement about the success of Jon Watts' Spider-Man: No Way Home, but that excitement was tainted by everything else that was going on at the box office. As the Marvel blockbuster repeatedly claimed the title of "#1 Movie In America," it was hard not to also notice that the victories were attained against almost zero competition.

Now, about eight months later, we are back to being in that exact same place thanks to the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home's "More Fun Stuff" cut. Check out the full Top 10 for this weekend below, and join me after for analysis!

After Earning Over $1 Billion In The Winter, Spider-Man: No Way Home Adds $6 Million To Its Domestic Total

If one rewinds the clocks back to 2019 and takes a look at the box office for the first weekend in September, one rediscovers that the winner of the Friday-to-Sunday battle on the big screen was won by Andy Muschietti's IT Chapter Two – which had one of the most successful openings of any horror movie ever. Hype was at high levels thanks to the popularity of the film's predecessor, and the Stephen King adaptation made $91.1 million in three days.

In 2022, the number one movie at the box office in that same weekend made approximately 6.5 percent of that total. A truly brutal ouch.

Spider-Man: No Way Home – The More Fun Stuff Version is about 13 minutes longer than the version of the film that was in theaters last December and made available home video in the early months of the year, and Sony Pictures made the call to give the extended cut a wide release in nearly 4,000 locations this past Friday. It clearly didn't turn out to be the fresh win that the studio wanted it to be, as it made an estimated $6 million.

For those who want to be saved the trouble of doing the math, that's an average of $1,525 per location – which looks particularly rough when you remember that Spider-Man: No Way Home made $59,995 per location when it first hit theaters back in December. It's Sony's second underwhelming Marvel movie re-release of the year, as you may remember that the studio made the call to put Daniel Espinosa's Morbius back on the big screen in June (hoping to make money off of people laughing at its awfulness). That dismal decision resulted in just a $289 per location average.

It's not exactly hard to decipher what went wrong here. After Spider-Man: No Way Home hit theaters back in December 2021, it ended up staying in the Top 5 at the box office for 13 weeks – and that only happens if there is a strong contingent of fans who are paying to see it multiple times. Since then, the blockbuster has been released digitally and on 4K/Blu-ray/DVD, and die-hard fans have purchased copies en masse and surely enjoyed it at least one more time in the comfort of their own homes.

Spider-Man: No Way Home – The More Fun Stuff Version is technically arriving just a couple months after the original version fully left theaters (which happened at the end of June, per The Numbers) and after the home video release. With the movie still fresh in audiences' memory, and the knowledge that this new cut will surely be available to watch at home in a few weeks/months, is it any surprise that we didn't see massive crowds going to see it this weekend?

Sony has said that the impetus behind the theatrical release of the expanded film was in celebration of Spider-Man's 60th anniversary, as the web-slinger first arrived in the pages of Marvel Comics in August 1962. Sadly, these box office results aren't much of a birthday present.

Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul., The Only New Wide Release This Weekend, Failed To Crack The Top 10

Part of the reason why Spider-Man: No Way Home – The Fun Stuff Version was able to win the box office this weekend with a $6 million haul is because the film industry didn't put up much competition against it. It seems that Hollywood figured that everyone would be too busy with the end of summer and the start of the school year to go to the movies. Hence, Adamma Ebo's Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. was the only new feature title in wide release this weekend, and you'll notice that it's missing from the chart above.

Distributed by Focus Features, Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. only made $1.4 million in the past three days... and it's hard not to put at least a touch of the blame on the fact that the film wasn't released as a theatrical exclusive. Instead, the choice was made to give the film a hybrid release, as it started streaming on Peacock this past Friday in addition to playing on the big screen. We can't say how well the movie did on the service, as Universal doesn't release subscription or traffic numbers, but it feels fair to assume that the more convenient option lured away at least some movie-goers who otherwise might have purchased a ticket to see it at their local cinema.

Will the box office situation improve as we get deeper into September? We'll just have to wait and find out with the diverse slate of new releases set to hit theaters on Friday. This lineup includes the Ayan Mukerji's fantasy adventure Brahmastra Part One: Shiva, Zach Cregger's horror feature Barbarian, and Petr Jákl's historical drama Medieval. Be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday to see how the rollout of these films ends up impacting the Top 10 (let's keep our fingers crossed for some big surprises).

Meanwhile you can learn about all of the films that are set to be released on the big screen between now and the end of the year with our 2022 Movie Release Calendar. The good news is that even if September does turn out to be a bust, there are a lot of big and exciting titles that should make big waves in the coming months.

It has been been often repeated in the last few months how amazing summer 2022 has been for the box office. The theatrical industry was rocked in many ways during the pandemic, but we've seen hit after hit come out since early May, with big winners including Joseph Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick, Colin Trevorrow's Jurassic World: Dominion, Sam Raimi's Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, and Kyle Balda's Minions: The Rise Of Gru. Unfortunately, things have been slowing down a bit since August started – and that's opened the door for a mid-month surprise and an unconventional top film at the box office.

While one may have thought that a thriller featuring Idris Elba going toe-to-toe with a ferocious lion would be exactly the kind of movie that would succeed in late summer, Baltasar Kormákur's Beast failed its bid to become the new #1 Movie In America, as that title now belongs to Tetsuro Kodama's Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.  Check out the full Top 10 below, and join me after for analysis!

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero Sits At The Top Of The Domestic Box Office Chart As Anime Fans Show Up In Big Numbers

Those who have been tracking the weekend box office results since the start of the pandemic will note that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is the first anime title to make it to the tippy top of the domestic chart, but the success of the new movie is arguably part of a trend we've been seeing since last year. It started in April 2021, when Simon McQuoid's Mortal Kombat dealt with some serious competition from Haruo Sotozaki's Demon Slayer in its second week of release. The latter film ultimately took the #1 spot seven days later.

The popularity of Japanese animation also made a significant dent on the box office back in March. When Seong-Hu Park's Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie premiered, didn't sell quite enough tickets to out-gross Matt Reeves' The Batman in the superhero movie's third weekend, but it did push Reuben Fleischer's Uncharted to third place for the first time, making $18 million in its first three days.

Released by Crunchyroll domestically, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is the first anime film since the start of the pandemic to be released in the United States and Canada and be declared the highest-grossing title in its opening weekend. The estimates say that it won't make as much in its first three days as the aforementioned Demon Slayer, which made $22.8 million when it came out in April 2021, but the $20.1 million it made is huge, and was more than enough to secure the franchise movie's position on the chart (per The Numbers).

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is the twenty-first feature film in the Dragon Ball franchise, and the movie's performance in the United States and Canada is exceeding what the anime was able to do in Japan (where it was release back in June). According to Box Office Mojo, the film has made $18.1 million outside of North America.

Exactly how sustainable the success will be is a big question mark at the moment. The other anime movies I mentioned all tended to have front-loaded opening weekends, with dedicated fans showing up in the first few days of the feature's release, and then leaving the film to fade from the box office rankings. It's unclear if that will happen with Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero, and that's mostly because of the circumstance that led to the movie's success in the last few days: a lack of big competition.

Beast Does Only About Half The Business Of Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero And Settles For Second Place

While everyone behind Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is likely celebrating the film's the domestic release this weekend, there isn't too much to be celebrated about the box office earnings for Beast. The new creature feature thriller featuring Idris Elba protecting his family from a revenge-seeking lion wasn't made with a ridiculous budget – $36 million, according to Variety – but the movie has a long way to go before its considered a financial success following its $11.6 million debut.

Beast earned middling reviews in the middle of last week, and it seems that has translated to mediocre earnings. The total from its first three days in release means that it had just the twenty-ninth biggest opening weekend of 2022 thus far, the film having made less than Robert Eggers' The Northman back in April ($12.3 million) and more than what Roland Emmerich's Moonfall made when it came out in February ($9.9 million).

On the hunt for silver linings, one bit of good news is that Beast's box office numbers are being bolstered by overseas performance. The film was released in a number of foreign markets earlier this month prior to its domestic release, and thus far that has translated to an extra $10.3 million added to its worldwide totals. To date, the movie has made $21.9 million globally – but it will need to make a hell of a lot more than that if its going to be looked at as a success.

Looking ahead, next weekend will bring summer 2022 to a close – but will it conclude with a bang or a whimper? Everyone behind Jessica M. Thompson's The Invitation and George Miller's Three Thousand Years Of Longing are surely hoping for the former, as the pair of titles will be arriving in wide release. How will they shake up what we see in the Top 10 above? Be sure to return here to CinemaBlend next Sunday to find out – and you can get a look ahead of what's in store from fall and winter with our 2022 Movie Release Schedule.

Bullet Train managed to hold on to its top spot at the box office this week, but the ensemble action comedy is traveling a lot slower than its title would suggest. After getting off to a solid start with opening-weekend ticket sales bringing in just over $30 million, we here at CinemaBlend were interested to see what Week 2 would indicate. However, this turned out to be a dismal week overall in the theaters, with the Brad Pitt-led ensemble action adding just $13.4 million. Theaters overall are estimated to have brought in just $66.8 million domestically from Friday-Sunday, making this the summer’s lowest-grossing weekend yet. 

Let’s check out the Top 10, and then join me below to break down these numbers.

Bullet Train Drops 55 Percent In Its Second Weekend

David Leitch’s 2022 book-to-movie adaptation may be leading the box office this week, but it — along with pretty much every other movie — failed to draw a huge audience to the theaters this weekend. After two weekends, it stands at $54.5 million domestically, according to The Numbers, but the international box office should help it make back some of its reported $90 million budget. 

It was hoped that word-of-mouth, advertising and perhaps lack of competition could boost the action thriller's numbers but, with its CinemaScore standing at a B+, and a 77% Rotten Tomatoes audience score, those better-than-average ratings didn’t translate to ticket sales, at least this week. Deadline reports the $66.8 million brought in domestically by all movies this weekend was the lowest since May 20-22. During that period of time, Downton Abbey premiered at $16 million, with box office winnings for all movies that weekend totaling $75.6 million.

Top Gun: Maverick Shoots Back Up The Charts, But DC League Of Super Pets Ekes Out Second-Place Finish 

Tom Cruise is proving to be the Energizer Bunny, as we continue to wonder just how much Top Gun: Maverick will make. As Maverick took Titanic's box office title for highest-grossing domestic release in Paramount Studios history this week, the movie was added to more theaters. That strategy in the film’s 12th weekend at the box office paid off, and Top Gun skyrocketed back to third place with a three-day increase of $7.15 million. 

DC League of Super Pets appears to have dug its claws in for the silver-medal finish, garnering $7.17 million for a three-week total of $58.3 million. This for a movie that reportedly cost $90 million to make. While the DC animated film led the box office on its opening weekend, the ticket sales were not what Warner Bros. had hoped to see. Its biggest opportunity may be closing, too, as kids are already going back to school in some areas of the country, so weekday family trips to the theater are about to take a dive.  

Despite Super Pets being the latest and last kid-friendly offering of the summer, it’s been Minions: The Rise of Gru that has continued to attract families (and suited-up teen Gentleminions). The fifth film in the Minions franchise picked up another $4.9 million this weekend, and it rests comfortably in the middle of the pack after seven weekends. The Universal animated prequel has garnered $343.7 million domestically to date.

Bodies Bodies Bodies Sees Better-Than-Expected Wide Release 

The new horror movie from A24, Bodies Bodies Bodies (starring Pete Davidson) saw a successful limited release last weekend, pulling in $226,653 from six theaters in Los Angeles and New York City. Variety reports that it was expecting its wide release this weekend to make between $2 million and $3 million, which it surpassed with its $3.25 million to nab eighth place on the charts.

Fall, a survival film from Lionsgate that finds best friends stranded after they climb to the top of a 2,000-foot tower, also performed better than expected, sneaking into the last spot on this weekend’s Top 10 list with $2.5 million, after it was projected to gross between $1 million and $2 million on its opening weekend.

Next week brings Baltasar Kormákur’s Beast, which promises a thrilling survival tale of a father (Idris Elba) trying to protect his daughters from a killer lion, landslides and hunters. It sounds exciting, that is, if people make their way back to the theaters. Meet us back here next week to find out and ,if you’d like to see what other films are coming up, check out our 2022 movie release schedule.

The fast-paced, high-energy Bullet Train sped into the box office station this weekend and will come out the other side relatively on time. The action movie, which stars Brad Pitt as a thoughtful assassin just trying to do a quick smash-and-grab job, took a big step toward paying for itself and delivering on expectations with a solid performance over its first three days. Current estimates have it taking home more than thirty million dollars this weekend, which is a really solid start but not exactly a dream scenario for a movie that reportedly cost around $90M to make.

You can check out how Bullet Train faired, along with everything else in the Top 10 below…

Bullet Train's Opening Weekend Is Perfectly Solid

There's always a rush to quickly label newly released movies as either big winners or big losers, but a lot of films have a debut that fall somewhere between those extremes. That's how I would look at Bullet Train. On the one hand, it's an action film with a $90M budget that stars Brad Pitt and was getting a fair amount of positive word of mouth. I'm sure the studio had fantasies of a spectacular box office run, and I get it. On the other hand, it's not part of a franchise, its source material isn't that well known outside the target demographic, and the supporting cast, while great, isn't exactly Ocean's 11. 

The film's financial future will likely depend greatly on how things look next weekend. The movie has been getting positive word of mouth. It went over very well in the screening I saw, and it's rolling at a B+ on CinemaScore. If people tell their friends and a good percentage of them turn up, and it's able to have a pretty solid hold, it'll likely be in good shape for a nice little box office run leading into streaming. If it has a weaker than expected second weekend, it likely won't have a ton of long-term legs.

Nope Is About To Cross $100M

Jordan Peele's third movie, Nope, continues to do steady business at the box office. His latest horror film, which has gotten pretty positive reviews from critics and a range of responses from audiences, made an additional eight million plus this weekend and will very shortly pass $100M at the domestic box office, per The Numbers. As a comparison, Peele's first film, Get Out, did $175M and change at the local box office and his second film, Us, also did $175M and change at the box office.

It seems unlikely Nope will get to that figure during its initial release, but with a budget reportedly in the $60-$70M range, that's still pretty solid business. No doubt it'll be very widely consumed once it hits streaming services, as well. There's still some time on that, however, as the film is only in its third weekend of release.

Everything Else

There's nothing too crazy at the box office this weekend, but I will shoutout a few interesting things from my perspective. First, a huge shout-out has to go to Top Gun: Maverick for somehow still being the number six movie in its eleventh weekend after release. That's an incredible stat. A lot of movies don't even make it five weeks in the top ten, let along eleven weekends in the top six. What a run.

Jo Koy's Easter Sunday also opened to steady business. The delightful comedy was expected to make somewhere in the mid-single digits per Deadline, and it achieved exactly that. It'll be interesting to see how well that movie holds moving forward, though. Did those it was seeking to reach all make it a point to go the first weekend or will there be any word of mouth to keep it at this level for a few more weekends?

We'll see next weekend when you can check back here for more box office coverage.

Later this year, Warner Bros. is very much hoping the popular DC brand will put a lot of butts in a lot of seats. The studio is releasing two big live-action tent poles in the final quarter of 2022, with Jaume Collet-Serra's Black Adam arriving in October, and David F. Sandberg's Shazam! Fury Of The Gods on track for December. There are some big expectations for those blockbusters – if not especially because the franchise's first big screen release of the year, as Jared Stern and Sam Levine's DC League Of Super-Pets is not off to a great start at the box office.

Check out the full Top 10 for this past weekend in the chart below, and then join me after for analysis!

DC League Of Super-Pets Only Barely Squeezes Into The Top 20 Opening Weekends Of 2022

With the release of DC League Of Super-Pets, there was clearly a hope that a star-studded voice cast featuring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, and Keanu Reeves would get a lot of attention, but it didn't even manage to make half of the opening weekend sum of Angus MacLane's Lightyear, which made over $50 million in early in early June and was quickly labeled a disappointment. 

Despite the branding of DC and the presence of notable characters like Superman and Batman, the movie couldn't even outpace the other big animal-centric animated feature of 2022: Pierre Perifel's The Bad Guys. That film had a $24 million start when Dreamworks released it in April, and while it is based on a popular book series, obviously the brand isn't on the same level as the comic book giant. 

According to Variety, DC League Of Super-Pets had a production budget of $90 million (not counting marketing and publicity costs), so it still has a lot of financial ground to cover before it can be declared a profitable and successful release. The good news for the production is that it is arguably the last big family-centric feature that is hitting theaters between now and the fall when kids go back to school, and it may continue to sell tickets to parents looking for activities for their children during summer vacation. 

What's tough about depending on that audience is the fact that Kyle Balda's Minions: The Rise Of Gru is still around and continuing to prove to be exceptionally popular (it's now ranked as the fifth biggest cinematic release of 2022 internationally, having made $710.4 million globally to date (via The Numbers).

On the subject of Illumination Entertainment, one can imagine that Warner Bros.' model for success with DC League Of Super-Pets was based on the money made by Chris Renaud's The Secret Life Of Pets back in 2016 (also starring Kevin Hart), and the new film sadly came nowhere near hitting that bar. That kid-friendly release made an impressive eight figures in its first three days – and while its sequel, The Secret Life Of Pets 2, made less than half of that when it came out in 2019, its $46.7 million total was still double what DC League Of Super-Pets made this weekend.

It will be interesting to ultimately see what the movie's performance means for the future of theatrically released animated films based on DC properties. The franchise has had immense success for decades when it comes to features made for the direct-to-video market... but it was also only four years ago that Teen Titans Go! To The Movies hit the big screen and made a whopping $51.6 million worldwide. It sadly wouldn't be too surprising to see Warner Bros. react to this development by making all animated DC films home video exclusives going forward, though, at the same time, it seems like everything related to DC in the movie realm is in flux at the moment, so it's hard to make any firm predictions about the future.

Nope Takes A Second Weekend Box Office Dip, But Crosses $80 Million Domestically

One feather in the cap of DC League Of Super-Pets, of course, is that it was the number one movie in the United States and Canada this past weekend, dethroning Jordan Peele's Nope, which made $44 million in its first three days. In its sophomore Friday-to-Sunday, the critically acclaimed sci-fi/horror film took a bit of a dip, dropping a comparative 58 percent, but it firmly ranked #2 behind the new release, having made an additional $18 million domestically.

Having now made over $80 million here at home, Nope is now the sixteenth most successful domestic release of 2022, and in the next few days it will surpass the totals earned by two of the other biggest scary movies of the year: Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's Scream ($81.6 million) and Scott Derrickson's The Black Phone ($83.1 million). Having been made with a $68 million budget – per Variety – it isn't a runaway box office success just yet, but it most certainly is building as another win for Jordan Peele.

Thor: Love And Thunder Crosses $300 Million Domestically, As Top Gun: Maverick Moves Past $650 Million

In the milestones department, readers will note that Taika Waititi's Thor: Love And Thunder fell to third place on the Top 10 this weekend, but the $13.1 million it earned  was enough to push it past $300 million domestically. It's only the sixth movie of 2022 to hit that benchmark, and it's only the third Marvel Cinematic Universe title (of the six released) to make that much money since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Joseph Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick also has yet another success to celebrate, as the $8.2 million it made in the last three days has now pushed that blockbuster's total earnings in the United States and Canada over $650 million. It continues to dwarf the ticket sales of every other film put out in 2022 thus far, having made $1.3 billion globally (the movie first crossed the $1 billion mark in late June).

Coming up, Friday will see the box office injected with another excellent dose of star power, as David Leitch's Bullet Train starring Brad Pitt will be hitting theaters alongside Jay Chandrasekhar's Easter Sunday starring popular stand-up comic Jo Koy. Head back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday to see how the new films perform and shake up the Top 10, and you can preview what else is ahead in what remains of the year with our 2022 Movie Release Calendar.

Where The Crawdads Sing was a nice detour from a summer dominated by action and superheroes despite Crawdads receiving mixed critical reviews. Among other things, the film has propelled Taylor John Smith into leading man status. Reese Witherspoon served as the film’s producer, which marked the first time she and Smith have worked together. Despite not knowing each other before the movie, there was a connection between the Election star and this rising actor. The Where The Crawdads Sing star revealed to Witherspoon the Cruel Intentions connection they shared before making the romantic drama.

As the book-to-film adaptation’s producer, the Legally Blonde star got to interview Smith and leading lady Daisy Edgar-Jones for the film’s promotion on behalf of Sony Pictures Entertainment. Before the interview began, she mentioned to the leading man that he looks familiar to her before saying he looked like a high school ex. After the cast and director introduced themselves, Witherspoon brought up the subject again before Smith revealed how they (as well as Witherspoon's ex-husband Ryan Phillippe) were tied together through the fan favorite Cruel Intentions. The star and producer had a hilariously sweet exchange over the revelation.

"Taylor John Smith: I dunno if you know this, but I played the love child of you and Ryan Philippe in the Cruel Intentions pilot for NBC.

Reese Witherspoon: What are you talking about?!

Smith: Yeah, yeah.

Witherspoon: I’m seriously blown away right now.

Smith: I played your kid, so…

Witherspoon: Well, that’s what it is. I thought it was something else, but now it got weird. I see that too, by the way. You kind of look like my son!"

Saying the rising actor reminded her of her son was a major compliment. But there was an uncanny resemblance to Reese Witherspoon's ex-husband and son Deacon Phillippe when looking at Smith. He shares the older Phillippe’s facial structure in conjuncture with the Sweet Home Alabama star’s blue eyes and blonde hair. I guess there’s another name to add to who looks more like Phillippe and Witherspoon. Of course, Witherspoon and Phillippe disagree with the media over who their kids look like.

It seemed like that resemblance worked for the Blacklight actor. In the unseen 2016  Cruel Intentions pilot, Taylor John Smith played Bash Casey, the love child of Sebastian Valmont and Annette Hargrove, against Sarah Michelle Gellar, who reprised her role as a now-mature Kathryn Merteuil. Unfortunately, the Sharp Objects actor didn’t act alongside Witherspoon, as she was recast in the Cruel Intentions reboot with Kate Levering playing Annette. Despite shooting the pilot, NBC turned it down, with the producers shopping the series to other networks before this new take on Cruel Intentions was declared officially dead in the water.

Of course, the original film has become a cult classic while cementing Witherspoon, Phillippe and Gellar as future Hollywood stars. Despite the film’s popularity, the I Know What You Did Last Summer actor was unsure if he would want his kids to watch Cruel Intentions due to the spicier scenes between him and his ex-wife despite them appearing on social media.

If you want to see if the Where the Crawdads Sing ending stayed true to the original book, you can look over the big differences between the best-selling book and the hit movie. There are more book-to-screen adaptations among 2022's movie releases for you to look out for. If you want to revisit any racy scenes from Cruel Intentions, you can stream the teen drama by getting an Amazon Prime subscription.

SPOILERS are ahead for Where The Crawdads Sing, both the book and movie. 

After flying off bookshelves since its 2018 release, Delia Owens’ Where The Crawdads Sing has been adapted into a movie. Whether you read the book first or just got out of the movie and are curious about the source material, it’s time to discuss how the source material and the latest Reese Witherspoon-produced movie are different from one another. 

First off, as an avid book reader who often finds myself wildly disappointed in movie adaptations of books, I will say, Where The Crawdads Sing is among the rare handful of movies that remains rather close to the book it's based on. Even so, the new 2022 movie release has a number of big differences from the novel to talk about. 

How The Investigation Of Chase Andrews Is Presented

Book readers of Where The Crawdads Sing were likely the most thrown off the most about the fact that the movie begins with Kya being pursued by the police soon after Chase Andrews’ dead body is found. In the book, Kya is not brought in by investigators until the latter half of the story because in between the story of her life, the story turns to the pair of cops investigating the murder and finding clues that lead them to placing her on trial every few chapters. The main reason for this change seems to be a way to provide a framing device for Kya to be the first person narrator and reflect on her life story as the trial goes on, whereas the book was told from a third person omniscient point of view. 

Jumpin’ Has A Larger Role In The Book

Sterling Macer Jr’s Jumpin’ plays a key role in the Where The Crawdads Sing movie as a convenience store owner that Kya develops a relationship with, whether he is watching her back, buying mussels from her, or his wife, Mabel, is encouraging her to go to school. As Kya lives a lonely life in the marsh, they become almost family to her. This is overall true to the book, except the movie overlooks the book’s greater discussions of Jumpin’ being a Black man in the south in the 1960s. In the book, there’s a number of scenes that touch on the racism Jumpin’ deals with as a store owner – one time in particular Kya helps Jumpin’ fend off some town bullies. 

Kya’s Age Gap With Tate

The Where The Crawdads Sing movie has a lot of ground to cover, from Kya’s childhood to adulthood and while it signifies which year it is throughout, how old Kya is when she meets and starts to become romantically involved with Tate is not clear to audiences. It feels like this might have been ignored on purpose, because in the book, Kya is 14 and Tate is 18 when their first cute feather back-and-forths take place. At the point in the novel when they almost have sex, Kya is 15. Daisy Edgar-Jones most certainly does not look 15 during those scenes.

Tate Inspiring Kya To Publish Her Book 

In the movie and the book, Tate empowers Kya to send in her drawings to a publisher and write books about her findings of shells and such in the marsh, which she follows through on later on. However, they happen during different points between the two. In the movie, it happens when Kya and Tate are first together, prior to him leaving for college and disappearing on her. And in the book, it happens after he returns and Kya is with Chase. In turn, the book gives Tate more credit for being someone who truly cares for Kya and her interests no matter who she is with and perhaps its that kindness that contributes to Kya returning to him after the murder trial is over. 

The Details Of Kya And Chase’s Romance And Falling Out 

In the movie, it makes it look like Chase Andrews completely pursued Kya and she just went for it over time because she didn’t want to be alone, but in the book things happen differently. Years after Tate leaves and Kya remains heartbroken, she notices Chase, someone she is attracted to and sexually curious about. To quote the book: “Her body watched Chase Andrews, not her heart.” However, Chase proves to be a selfish lover in both mediums, but in the movie it’s not clear that Kya pursued Chase in her own way. Additionally, when it comes to their relationship falling out, in the movie she meets Chase’s fiancée in person, whereas in the book, she finds out through a newspaper announcement.

Kya’s Obsession With Animal Mating Dynamics

Where The Crawdads Sing has a shocking ending either way, but it’s perhaps more shocking in the movie because the film does not highlight a central part of what makes Kya, Kya. Throughout the book, Kya is constantly observing how animals mate and interact with one another in the wild and applying it to her real life. So once we learn she is the killer behind Chase Andrews' death, we somewhat understand that she took the rules of nature into consideration when making decisions her whole life. However, in the movie, while it’s clear she spends a lot of time around nature and learns from animals, there’s not any major moments that highlight that before we learn she really did kill Chase. 

Amanda Hamilton Is Not In The Movie 

The final major difference between the book and movie for Where The Crawdads Sing is in regards to a poet named Amanda Hamilton. Throughout the book, Kya recites poetry from a local poet who is relatively unknown with that name. Poetry is an important part of the pair’s relationship because poetry means so much to Tate and his own family. At the end of the book, when Tate learns of Kya’s crime, he also learns that she has been Amanda Hamilton this whole time. However, in the movie, there is no mention of Amanda Hamilton and when Tate finds out about Chase, we see a series of hidden drawings instead. 

Now that we’ve talked about the main differences between the book and movie, check out our breakdown of the Where the Crawdads Sing ending along with what critics are saying about the movie.

After Where The Crawdads Sing has been flying off the shelves of bookstores since 2018, Delia Owens' bestseller has been imagined into a new movie release starring Daisy Edgar-Jones. Now there’s certainly pressure that comes with playing a literary character readers have spent hours imagining and living through in their heads, but there’s one specific aspect of the adaptation that was particularly gratifying for the actress. 

When CinemaBlend had the chance to speak to Daisy Edgar-Jones about making the film, she gushed about having the voiceover element of the movie to add to the storyline of Kya when adapting the project from the book to the big screen. In her words: 

It's always interesting to see how the written word can be adapted into dialogue and visual images, particularly in a movie-length format. In fact, Kya is such an internal, introverted character who doesn’t really speak her mind for much of the movie, except for a few scenes. However, that’s where the voiceover of Kya telling her story gives the story a chance reveal things from her perspective and empower the character. As Daisy Edgar-Jones told us, the voiceover usage allowed her to get to know her character better and reflect on her life with her character. 

Where The Crawdads Sing was made with Delia Owens involved “every step of the way," per director Olivia Newman’s own words to CinemaBlend. The author was also reportedly “very happy” with how her story was adapted to the screen with Daisy Edgar-Jones at the forefront. Critics may be mixed on the movie, but per Rotten Tomatoes, audiences are really connecting with it. 

The movie is produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine company alongside Sony. Witherspoon famously helped adapt Wild, Gone Girl, Big Little Lies and Little Fires Everywhere in the past to success, so she has a knack for bringing books to the screen. Daisy Edgar-Jones also spoke to CinemaBlend about the female inclusion the Legally Blonde actress brought to set and spoke about her reaction to Taylor Swift’s original song for the movie, “Carolina.”

Where The Crawdads Sing begins with the death of Chase Andrews in a fictional town off the coast of North Carolina. Since Kya is an ex-girlfriend of his and the town’s outsider, named “Marsh Girl”, she becomes a prime suspect and is placed on trial. As audiences follow along with the evidence presented from both sides, the movie goes back to Kya’s childhood and tells her entire life story and with the help of these voiceovers we learn more about her. 

Don't forget to check out our breakdown of the Where the Crawdads Sing ending and other stories about the 2022 movie here on CinemaBlend. 

Launching into theaters last weekend, Taika Waititi's Thor: Love And Thunder had a tremendous opening on the big screen – earning $144.2 million at the domestic box office (the third biggest Friday-to-Sunday thus far in 2022). Surely there was a lot of celebration initiated at Marvel Studios in reaction to the success... but this week's results are definitely going to put a damper on the party. The fourth chapter in the Thor series is still the number one movie in the United States and Canada... but its earnings took a shocking dip in regards to weekend-to-weekend comparison.

Check out the full Top 10 below, and join me after for analysis!

Thor: Love And Thunder's Earnings Drop Nearly 70 Percent Compared To Its Opening Weekend

In this conversation, let's start by pointing out that the estimated $46 million earned by Thor: Love And Thunder in its second weekend is still a nice chunk of change. Had it only earned that much when it debuted, it still would be listed among the Top 10 openings in 2022. The Marvel Cinematic Universe film has certainly done what Marvel blockbusters do, and that's draw in movie-goers and rake in cash.

What's troubling in this case is that the money flow for the film has gone from a deluge to what is contextually a trickle in just seven days. The nearly $100 million difference between the earnings in Thor: Love and Thunder's two weekends in release thus far is a drop of 68 percent (via The Numbers), and that's a fall that has to trouble even the most optimistic Marvel/Disney executives.

Important to further note is that this isn't the first time in the last year that this has happened. In fact, this is actually the fifth Marvel Cinematic Universe release to drop over 60 percent in its second weekend since the start of the franchise's Phase 4 (Destin Daniel-Cretton's Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings is the lone exception to the pattern). The 68 percent tumble experienced by Cate Shortland's Black Widow last summer saw a lot of blame pointed at the decision to make it a hybrid release – a.k.a. simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ – but no other title has that excuse.

It should be noted that there were Marvel movies in the Infinity Saga that took 60 percent-plus dips in their sophomore Friday-to-Sundays... but that was very rare. Of the 23 films released during that era of the franchise, only four had that kind of second weekend dip: Louis Leterrier's The Incredible Hulk, Joe Johnston's Captain America: The First Avenger, Jon Watts' Spider-Man: Homecoming, Peyton Reed's Ant-Man Ant The Wasp. 

Marvel movies aren't the only films that are taking serious dips in their second weekends of release (it's something we've seen ever since the start of the pandemic), but it does seem to be an on-going issue with the franchise. So what's driving it?

One key factor in this conversation may be that Marvel Studios has unintentionally changed the way that audiences watch their content. In addition to all of the Phase 4 films that have been released, Marvel has also been rapidly rolling out a large number of originals series on Disney+ – including WandaVision, Loki, Hawkeye, and, most recently, Ms. Marvel. These titles are featured on the streaming service right alongside all of the previous MCU films that are out on home video, and as a result audiences are getting comfortable seeing all of the content on a smaller screen.

Those who value the power of the theatrical experience are still going to see all of the Marvel movies when they premiere in cinemas around the globe, but those who would normally go see the films in their second or third weeks may now just be opting to wait a few more weeks for the new title to land online.

In the specific case of Thor: Love And Thunder, the film may be getting hurt by the buzz around it, as the critical response wasn't exactly tremendous (it has a 68 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and CinemaScore grades delivered a "B+" (while Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok got an "A").

All that being said, Thor: Love And Thunder has still made a hell of a lot of money to date. In addition to having made north of $200 million domestically, its global box office haul will total over $500 million within the next couple of days. At present, it's the seventh biggest worldwide release of 2022, though it is presently chasing Kyle Balda's Minions: The Rise Of Gru, which got a one week head start on the Marvel blockbuster and is also continuing to do quite well.

Where The Crawdads Sing And Paws Of Fury: The Legend Of Hank Put Up Mediocre Numbers In Wide Release

As I noted in last week's column, studios are trained at this point not to release major movies in the wake of Marvel blockbusters, not wanting to run the risk of them being trampled. The name of the game is usually smaller titles that can run as counterprogramming to the big action spectacle – and this week those films were Olivia Newman's Where The Crawdads Sing and Rob Minkoff, Mark Koetsier, and Chris Bailey's Paws Of Fury: The Legend Of Hank.

The former, based on the best-selling novel of the same name, cost a reported $24 million to make (per Deadline), and so a $17 million start at the box office is solid – not to mention it's the first movie to push Joseph Kosinski's Top Gun: Maverick out of the Top 3 since that film debuted in late May. It was only estimated to make about $10 million, so it could be said that it overperformed.

Paws Of Fury: The Legend Of Hank was expected to make around the same amount as its counterprogramming companion, but it conversely underperformed. Playing to little kids who perhaps are a bit too young for the action of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the movie couldn't quite make it into the Top 5 this weekend, making only $6.3 million in ticket sales domestically. 

In Limited Release, Anthony Fabian's Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris And Marcel The Shell With Shoes On Continue To Perform Well

In addition to Where The Crawdads Grow and Paws Of Fury: The Legend Of Hank, this weekend's list of new releases also included Anthony Fabian's Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris – though the title only made it on to 980 screens in its theatrical debut. The critically acclaimed film (CinemaBlend's own Mike Reyes very much on the bandwagon) performed well enough to claim a spot toward the bottom of the weekend's rankings, taking ninth place after making $1.9 million.

The success of Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris arguably pushed Dean Fleischer-Camp's Marcel The Shell With Shoes On out of the Top 10, but the A24 feature continues to do well in limited release. The stop motion/live action movie may have fell from eighth place to eleventh place this weekend, but it actually saw its profits increase 79 percent as it started playing in more than 100 new locations. 

With the additional $575,370 it made the last three days, its domestic total is up to $1.7 million, and the expectation is that it will follow the successful strategy of Daniels' Everything Everywhere All At Once: slowly start to play in more and more theaters until everyone in the world realizes its one of the best films of the year and start purchasing tickets in droves.

Coming up, the box office should get a nice shakeup, and very likely a new number one film, as this Friday will see the highly anticipated release of Jordan Peele's Nope. Can it match the powerful success of 2017's Get Out or top the even bigger numbers that were put up by 2019's Us? Head back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday and find out.

To see everything that is cinematically on tap for what remains of the year, check out our 2022 Movie Release Calendar.

Over the past decade, Reese Witherspoon has transitioned from being solely an actress to a building larger producer role in her own Hello Sunshine company. As a producer, the Legally Blonde actress isn’t only working more behind the scenes, she’s been ushering in more inclusion of female perspectives with her projects like Gone Girl, Big Little Lies and The Morning Show. On the subject of her latest film, Where The Crawdads Sing, its leads gushed about Witherspoon's involvement on the project and what it brought to their experience on the movie. 

Daisy Edgar-Jones is a 24-year-old actress who plays Kya in the film and has recently begun to make a name for herself with her performances in Normal People, Fresh and Under the Banner of Heaven. While speaking to CinemaBlend about Reese Witherspoon, the actress shared what the producer brought to the thriller. In her words: 

Reese Witherspoon has made it somewhat of a mission of hers to employ more women in film with Hello Sunshine, and that doesn’t just go for the actresses in front of the camera. Where The Crawdads Sing, the movie adapted from Delia Owens’ bestselling book, not only involved the author, but it also features an adapted screenplay by Lucy Alibar and direction by Olivia Newman, who spoke with our ReelBlend podcast about the making of the film. 

Additionally, it has a female cinematographer in Polly Morgan, production design by Sue Chan, art direction by Kirby Feagan and all sorts of behind-the-scenes women within its production. It's a break from the norm, especially on a high-profile project like this one. Taylor John Smith, who plays Kya’s first love Tate, shared his own experience on Where The Crawdads Sing with Reese Witherspoon:  

The 2022 movie release is already turning heads too ahead of its opening weekend with an impressive $2.3 million in Thursday night showtimes. This is ahead of an estimated $16 million debut weekend, per Box Office Pro, which forecasts the new release will perform behind bigger releases Thor: Love and Thunder and Minions: Rise of Gru. 

Although the reviews overall are mixed on Where The Crawdads Sing, audiences so far are connecting with the film, with its Rotten Tomatoes audience score at 93% against the critics 35%. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that Taylor Swift wrote an original song for the movie after falling in love with the popular novel. Where The Crawdads Sing is playing in theaters now. 

SPOILERS are ahead for the Where The Crawdads Sing ending, now streaming with a Hulu subscription.

When Where The Crawdads Sing begins, two young boys find the dead body of a man named Chase Andrews deep in the marshes of North Carolina. Not too soon after, the townspeople suspect who they call the “Marsh Girl” (Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Kya) and she is taken into police custody. As Kya is placed on trial, we learn the intriguing backstory of who the Marsh Girl is, and in time, how the victim came to his death. Years later, I’m still gasping over what’s revealed as the story unfolds. Let’s talk about the ending of  one of 2022’s book-to-movie adaptations. 

After Delia Owens’ 2018 bestselling novel  was featured on Reese Witherspoon's book club, the actress/producer worked alongside Sony to adapt the flick with her massive production company, Hello Sunshine, with the author's involvement as well. It’s time to examine the ending of Where The Crawdads Sing based on the movie itself, though it should be noted both endings are not too far off from one another. 

The Big Twist At The End Of Where The Crawdads Sing

After a cutthroat trial led by Kya’s lawyer (David Strathairn), the jury rules that she is innocent and Chase Andrews’ death is ruled as an accident. Kya then lives out her days alongside her first love, Tate (Taylor John Smith) into their old age within the marsh. Kya dies on a boat while on the marsh not soon after she imagines her late mother coming home as she remembered her. After an elderly Tate finds her dead, he is seen going through their home. There he finds a hidden notebook that features illustrations, secret poetry and most importantly, the shell necklace that was never found during Chase Andrews’ trial. 

Previously in the movie, Chase’s mother testifies that Chase was wearing the shell necklace, which Kya gave him earlier in the film while they were together, the last time she saw him before he died. However, when his dead body was found, it was gone. The authorities had searched Kya’s home without any luck finding the shell necklace, but it was literally under their noses the whole time. Also in the notebook, Kya has illustrated a drawing of Chase and speaks of him as prey. Kya killed Chase after all, despite being proven innocent in court decades before. 

How Chase Andrews Was Killed 

Where The Crawdads Sing never shows us the moment Kya kills Chase Andrews, but how she could have done it is referenced within the movie. As we come to learn in the film, Kya had a conference with book publishers when Chase died, giving her an alibi to be outside the marshes on the night he died. Though, there is a short window of time when she could have committed the murder. As shown in court, Kya chose a motel very close to a bus stop and after having dinner with her publishers, she must have taken the last bus ride home and lured Chase to the top of a tall lookout and pushed him off. 

She then would have cleaned off all the fingerprints and taken the earliest bus back to her motel to meet with her publishers again, who noted she was “unruffled” in their next meeting. And along with collecting her many samples of feathers and shells over the years, she had to collect something from Chase and hide it away for Tate to find following her death. From what the movie shows us, Kya never told a single soul about the murder she committed and was pretty unbothered by committing the act or showing remorse for it. 

Why We Don’t See Kya Kill Chase

But why doesn’t Where The Crawdads Sing actually show Kya murder Chase? When the movie’s director, Olivia Newton spoke with The Wrap about crafting the ending of the movie she offered some insight into why we never see Kya commit the crime. In her words: 

While omitting Kya murdering Chase may add some confusion or mystery to the end of the story, that is very much purposeful to match the tone of the novel as the director shared. The filmmakers did in fact toy with a murder scene, but ultimately decided against it. 

The Clues That Back Up The Twist Ending

While the ending to Where The Crawdads Sing is shocking and crafted by design to mislead its audience into believing she is innocent before the truth is revealed, there are a few clues throughout the movie to backup Kya being Chase’s murderer. For one, Chase was incredibly cruel to Kya and had backed her into a corner, with no intention of taking no for an answer. Chase loved Kya, but he showed signs of being very abusive toward her throughout the film. He allowed her little consent through their sexual interactions and nearly raped her in their last interaction, which ended in Kya saying she would “kill him” if he came near her again. 

Kya is shown throughout the film to care very deeply about her home in the marsh and escape into the real world was not an option for her. She renewed the deed to her property in the marsh with the money she made off of her book too. But Chase continued to threaten that by coming by and treating her poorly (and even being engaged to someone in town, while still expecting a relationship with her). From Kya’s point of view to live the life she wanted, Chase was the only thing standing in her way. Plus, on the night before she kills him, when she is meeting with her publishers, they speak about some of the animals in her book she’s been studying, who have a violent nature. While her colleagues scorn the animal behavior, Kya says she believes nature doesn’t have a dark side, “just inventive ways to endure.” It shows Kya perhaps looked at the murder as a means for survival for herself, especially after a string of incidents of abuse. 

The Deeper Reasons Behind Kya’s Actions

To understand Kya’s actions even further, we’ll have to examine more of the storylines that make up her life. For one, Kya grew up under an abusive father who regularly chose violence to deal with conflict. It led to her entire family leaving not only him but her, who was the youngest child in the family. From those experiences, Kya developed a deep-seated trauma not only with abandonment, but with remaining safe within the confines of the marsh. When her father leaves too, Kya attempts to go to school for one day and then when she is ridiculed and faced with conflict and abuse from her peers, she decides she will learn from nature rather than going to school and living within society. 

Kya then spends her entire life actively studying other animals as her education rather than ever assimilating in society. From that, one assumes she took up the mindset of the animal food chain and how when an animal feels threatened in nature, it won’t talk things out or move from its territory, but defend it and kill if necessary. And that’s exactly what Kya did. By her own mindset, she might not have ever believed it was the wrong thing to do.

How The Movie’s Ending Differs From The Novel

While there are a few differences between the Where The Crawdads Sing novel and movie, the ending remains relatively unchanged. However, there is one additional detail the film decided to omit. In the book, Kya constantly quotes a local poet named Amanda Hamilton. But when Tate learns of her crimes, he also learns that Amanda Hamilton and Kya are the same person. And this poem from the novel speaks to her murder: 

"Luring him was as easy
As flashing valentines.
But like a lady firefly
They hid a secret call to die.
A final touch,
Unfinished;
The last step, a trap.
Down, down he falls,
His eyes still holding mine

Until they see another world.
I saw them change.
First a question,
Then an answer,
Finally an end.
And love itself passing
To whatever it was before it began. 

A.H."

The poem offers more context as to how Kya did it as well. She did in fact push him over the lookout and watched him die as he fell. 

How The Title Ties Into The Ending

The title of the story itself Where The Crawdads Sing also somewhat speaks to the ending that plays out. First off, crawdads are an American slang term for crayfish, which are a freshwater crustacean related to the lobster. No, they don’t actually sing, but Delia Owens shared in the novel itself that the title means “a place that is far from modern society” or “to depart into nature.” 

Apparently, Owens’ mother used to say the title of the book as a phrase all the time when she was growing up, too. The title ties into the ending because it speaks to Kya’s isolated upbringing where she took note from the animals rather than “modern society.” It only underlines why the murder made sense in her world where predators vs. prey is how the world turns. 

Now that’s an ending that will make you look hard at Taylor Swift’s “Carolina” lyrics with brand new eyes. You can check out what upcoming book adaptations are on the way next here on CinemaBlend. 

It’s always exciting for fans of the certain novels when their favorite book is chosen to be adapted into a new movie, and that’s the case for the film we are talking about today. The highly anticipated adaptation of Where The Crawdads Sing has finally come to theaters, and with it comes a cast full of stars that I’m sure you have recognized from other movies or shows. 

From beloved, long-standing stars like David Strathairn, to fresh faces such as Daisy Edgar-Jones, Where The Crawdads Sing has plenty of talent that has been all over the industry in movies and TV series. Here is where you might have seen the Where The Crawdads Sing cast before. 

Daisy Edgar-Jones (Kya Clark)

The first up on this list is Daisy Edgar-Jones, who plays the main character of Where The Crawdads Sing, Kya Clark. Edgar-Jones has been making a name for herself over the last couple of years, starring in several TV shows, as well as movies. In terms of film, in 2022 she starred opposite Sebastian Stan in the Hulu original horror film, Fresh, which is about a woman who begins dating a man with surprising tastes. 

Other than that, she’s also appeared in the film, Pond Life, but this will be her third feature film ever released, so it’s exciting to see her talent hit the cinemas more. 

Edgar-Jones has also appeared in a variety of television shows. You might recognize her the most from the Hulu original series, Normal People, where she starred. But she’s also appeared in several others, including a main role in War of the Worlds, and in the FX/Hulu series, Under the Banner of Heaven, the sitcom Cold Feet in a recurring role, and some guest roles on other shows, too.

Taylor John Smith (Tate Walker)

Next up, we have Taylor John Smith, who plays Tate Walker in Where The Crawdads Sing. Smith has been in movies and TV shows for years. His most recognizable role is most likely when he portrayed John Keene in the HBO miniseries, Sharp Objects, however, he’s been in many movies and shows, too. 

Some of his biggest film appearances thus far have included Some Kind of Beautiful Wolves, You Get Me, The Outpost, Blacklight, and Shadow in the Cloud. He’s also appeared in guest roles on shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Chicago P.D., Hart of Dixie, and had a recurring guest role on American Crime. 

Harris Dickinson (Chase Andrews)

Moving on, we now have Harris Dickinson, who plays Chase Andrews in Where The Crawdads Sing, and he has been in many movies and television shows that you might recognize. One of his biggest roles was playing Paul Getty III in the FX original series, Trust, but in terms of TV, he also had a role in Clique, and voiced Gurjin in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, which was unfortunately cancelled after one season. 

Dickinson has also been in many movies, several of which you may have seen. Some of his biggest roles have been playing Prince Phillip in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil alongside the film’s stars, the wonderful Angelina Jolie and the talented Elle Fanning, The Darkest Minds, The King’s Man, and Beach Rats. He’s also set to star in the film, See How They Run, according to Variety.

Michael Hyatt (Mabel)

Next up on the list, we have Mabel in Where The Crawdads Sing, who is played by Michael Hyatt. The actress started her career on stage before she began working in television and movies. Some of her biggest film appearances have been Two Weeks, Fame, The Trials of Cate McCall, Nightcrawler, Four Good Days, The Little Things, and more. 

Hyatt has also had an incredible career in television, appearing in many popular TV series such as HBO’s The Wire as Brianna Barksdale, The West Wing, The Kill Point, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Snowfall, Homecoming, and the political show, The Comey Rule, where she portrayed Loretta Lynch. She’s also guest starred in many TV shows, like E.R., The Big Bang Theory, and more. 

Sterling Macer, Jr. (Jumpin’)

Moving on, we now have Sterling Macer, Jr., who plays Jumpin’ in Where The Crawdads Sing. An actor for some time, he has appeared in a lot of television shows in big roles. While he has had roles in movies like the Bruce Lee biopic, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, Wicked and Night Terror, he’s mainly kept his talents to television, appearing in many series.

Some of his biggest roles were playing Tyrell Dawson in Generations, Cpl. Robert Davis in Homefront, Marcus St. Cloud in Harts of the West, Officer Powell in Lincoln Heights, and Deputy Director Victor Stark in Bones. He’s also guest starred in many other TV shows, like several of his castmates, including NCIS: Los Angeles, 24, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and more. 

David Strathairn (Tom Milton)

Last but not least, we have Tom Milton in Where The Crawdads Sing, who is played by David Strathairn, an actor who has been around for a long time in Hollywood and garnered plenty of accolades from the work he has done. Strathairn has appeared in so many films, it’s hard to pick just some of his best. 

Some of his highlights include The Firm, Home for the Holidays, L.A. Confidential, Simon Burch, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Limbo, Good Night, And Good Luck (which scored him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor), We Are Marshall, the Bourne series, Trumbo, Lincoln, the Godzilla series, the Academy Award-winning film, Nomadland, and, most recently in 2021, Nightmare Alley, directed by Guillermo del Toro. 

Strathairn hasn’t just kept his talents to movies though, as the actor has appeared in many TV shows. Some of his best work was playing Moss Goodman in The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, and he was also on Alphas, The Blacklist, Billions, the Amazon Prime original series, The Expanse, and the 2020 series, Interrogation. Truly Hollywood royalty. 

When it comes to the most anticipated films that are on the 2022 release schedule, Where The Crawdads Sing is certainly one of them, and with a cast as star-studded as this, it’s no surprise. 

This weekend’s newest thriller is a chilling adaptation of the bestselling novel Where The Crawdads Sing, starring Normal People breakout actress Daisy Edgar-Jones as a young woman who becomes an outsider in a fictional coastal town of North Carolina in the 1960s. Taylor Swift was a huge fan of the book and wrote a love letter to Edgar-Jones’ character of Kya with the song “Carolina.” So we had to ask the 24-year-old actress about the experience of brushing shoulders with the iconic songwriter with the original tune. 

As Where The Crawdads Sing’s director Olivia Newman previously told us, “Carolina” was written before the movie was even shot. However, Daisy Edgar-Jones told CinemaBlend her experience with the song didn’t come until much later. In her words: 

Daisy Edgar-Jones had the experience watching Where The Crawdads Sing audiences will have when they catch it in theaters. Following the movie’s shocking ending, she was left with her emotions around Kya’s journey and Taylor Swift’s fitting song, “Carolina.” You can check out the official lyric video for the song below, but keep in mind that it holds a brand new meaning once you see the movie play out: 

Yeah… this one is going to be in our heads for some time. Taylor Swift is no stranger to having her music in movies and television shows, most recently in Amazon’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, but Where The Crawdads Sing is one of the few times the singer has penned a song specifically for a movie. A decade ago, she memorably wrote “Safe & Sound” for another book adaptation with The Hunger Games, so it’s all coming full circle. 

Swift is an avid reader, and when she first announced the song earlier this year, she revealed that she got “absolutely lost” in Where The Crawdads Sing when she read it years ago and wanted to be part of the soundtrack. She said her aim was to “create something haunting and ethereal” to match the story and now it plays during the credits of the film. 

Where The Crawdads Sing stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Kya, the North Carolina town’s Marsh Girl, who becomes the prime suspect of a murder trial after her ex boyfriend is found dead in the marshes. Kya recalls her life, which is filled with a combination of trauma, abuse and romance, as she is placed on trial for murder. The movie is produced by Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine company, which also adapted books like Gone Girl and Big Little Lies. The movie is now playing in theaters, and stay tuned for more exclusive interviews for 2022’s movie releases here on CinemaBlend. 

This weekend, Where The Crawdads Sing, another book-to-movie adaptation from Reese Witherspoon’s super successful production company Hello Sunshine, hits theaters. At this week’s premiere of the movie, Witherspoon asked the real hard-hitting question many of us have probably been secretly wondering about, but simply accepting as something we definitely know… what the heck are crawdads? 

Depending on where you grew up, you either know exactly what a crawdad is or are nervously googling the word right now. During the Where The Crawdads Sing premiere, Reese Witherspoon asked what the animal in the title of the book is, and no, not everyone knew the answer. Whew, I'm happy it wasn’t just me. 

Does The Cast Know What A Crawdad Is? 

While stunning in a hot pink dress that was very Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon decided to ask the cast of Where The Crawdads Sing what exactly it is. Check out the Instagram video:  

There were some mixed answers here. Now it’s time to answer it. 

What Is A Crawdad? 

Crawdads, which are also called crawfish, crayfish and crawdaddies, are aquatic animals that look like small lobsters and live in rivers and streams. They are technically crustaceans, which are cousins of lobsters, shrimps and crabs, per the Columbia Journalism Review.

No one interviewed at the premiere really gave this specific answer, but they were right in a sense of them being shellfish and seafood. Of course, my favorite answer is the one where one person at the premiere thought it was a bird at first because “it sings.” I’m not going to lie to you, that’s what I pictured a crawdad might be at first. But hey, this gal is from Southern California, and crawdaddies are most likely to be found in the Pacific Northwest or the Continental Divides of the Americas that flow through states in the Midwest and East Coast, including North Carolina, which is where Where The Crawdads Sing is set. 

What Does Crawdad Singing Even Mean?

Now that we all have our crawdad education, what’s up with the title of the movie and the Delia Owens novel it’s based on? The title is a saying in the movie that is said by the people of North Carolina. Here’s the moment in the book itself (in Chapter 17): 

You can check out CinemaBlend’s review of Where The Crawdads Sing and see what other reviews are saying about the movie ahead of the release this Friday, July 15. Also, you can check out Taylor Swift’s original song for the movie “Carolina” on Spotify now.    

Delia Owens took the literary world by storm with her 2018 novel Where the Crawdads Sing, and it was little surprise when the film got picked up to be adapted as a movie. Reese Witherspoon is a producer on the upcoming mystery drama after selecting the book for her Hello Sunshine Book Club, and now audiences are about to see the struggles of Marsh Girl Kya play out on the big screen. Where the Crawdads Sing has screened for critics ahead of its July 22 release, and the reviews are in.

Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kya Clark, a girl who is forced to grow up early and learn to survive on her own in the North Carolina marsh after being abandoned by her parents and siblings. Kya finds herself a suspect in a murder when her ex-boyfriend Chace Andrews (Harris Dickinson) turns up dead. 

So how did critics feel about director Olivia Newman’s vision of Delia Owens’ best-selling book? Let’s turn to the reviews, starting with CinemaBlend’s review of Where the Crawdads Sing. Our own Sarah El-Mahmoud rates the film 3 stars out 5, saying the film loses some of the spirit of the beloved book, as Olivia Newman seems to avoid the story’s grittiness in a somewhat glossy adaptation. She argues:

Hoai-Tran Bui of SlashFilm was similarly underwhelmed with the film, rating it 6 out of 10. This review says the murder mystery is turned into a glossy romance, resulting in a “soapy snooze”:

Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter calls the adaptation a “muddled moral fantasy” whose narrative relies heavily on racial and gender stereotypes. This review says while the Black characters are underdeveloped (a fault of the book as well, the critic argues), Kya is painted as so beautiful and delicate that she comes off as more “manic pixie dream girl than misanthropic protagonist”:

David Ehrlich of IndieWire grades the movie a C+, saying Olivia Newman made Delia Owens’ literary sensation into a summer popcorn flick, as it never dives deeper than surface level. The film adaptation isn’t worthy of same celebration received by the book, but it finds just enough ways to endure, in large part thanks to its star, the review says:

Owen Gleiberman of Variety, meanwhile, finds Where the Crawdads Sing “compelling,” but says Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Kya is quite “poised” and “refined” for a character who learned to survive on her own and is known as a “wild child.” Overall, Where the Crawdads Sing is as dark as it is romantic, he says:

If you want to see what all the fuss is about, you’ll be able to check out Where the Crawdads Sing when it hits theaters on Friday, July 22. Until then, be sure to check out our 2022 Movie Release Schedule to see what other films will be gracing a theater near you in the near future.

When Delia Owens’ debut novel Where The Crawdads Sing hit bookshelves in 2018, it became a page-turning bestseller, particular thanks to the thriller being featured as a title in Reese Witherspoon's book club. Just four years after its release and over 12 million copies sold, the novel has made the journey to live-action a la associated projects like Gone Girl and Big Little Lies –  however, Olivia Newman’s take on the popular book skips the grittiness of the source material to be a glossier adaptation compared to those other films.

Where The Crawdads Sing follows the fictitious life of Catherine “Kya” Clark (Daisy Edgar Jones), who grows up in a North Carolina marsh in the 1950s and 60s and becomes the prime suspect following the murder of an ex lover. The movie moves between Kya’s present, where her lawyer (David Strathairn) dutifully defends her in court, and flashbacks of her life growing up as an outsider among her peers – the “Marsh Girl,” as they all call her. While the material doesn’t lose its gripping and suspenseful sensibilities, the interplay between mystery and romance strikes a confusing tone in the adaptation that leaves one treading through the muggy marsh rather than embracing its natural beauty, like its narrator would like us to see it as. 

Where The Crawdads Sing gives Daisy Edgar Jones’ Kya a beautifully fleshed out (yet flawed) arc rooted in the lifelong torment of domestic abuse.  

Director Olivia Newman’s first studio film after her critically acclaimed debut, 2018’s First Match, is beautifully shot and executed visually. It displays Kya’s home of the marsh as a character itself full of wild things. Its pleasant landscapes juxtapose the protagonist’s difficult upbringing where her physically abusive father (Garret Dillahunt) drives out her entire family, leaving him and Kya alone in their home. 

Twenty-four-year-old Daisy Edgar Jones continues an impressive launch into Hollywood stardom after Normal People and Fresh as Kya, a reclusive yet headstrong child of abuse who becomes set in her ways among nature in her family home rather than assimilating in society. The theme of a woman raised by nature in a world where she is constantly disappointed and exploited by the world of men is the strongest element of the movie. The fear associated with Kya’s lifetime of abuse is illustrated well and with care in many ways, but as she continues to grow up there’s other scenes that project a romanticization of her life that becomes an off-putting stain on the film.

A lot of this has to do with the movie’s decision to “tell” instead of “show.” Throughout the film, Kya is narrating the story, and while she is a quiet character, the telling doesn't match the visuals . It's explained that she is this outsider "Marsh Girl" who completely doesn’t fit in the world, and yet she is wearing beautifully styled clothing, her hair and makeup is done up, and she just doesn’t seem too different from her peers. Edgar Jones gets one maybe two memorable scenes of dialogue and performance that really inform her character, because the movie unfortunately has a lot of plot. There are only a couple moments where the audience can pause and take a moment to observe her and decide for ourselves who she is to us. It feels like with this, Where The Crawdads Sing is short siding the stunning character portrait the material could have given us.

The core romance in Where The Crawdads Sing is awkward and unpassionate. 

Where The Crawdads Sing doubles as a thriller and a romance and the latter has its actors (Edgar Jones and Taylor John Smith’s Tate) going through all the motions without much spark. The lines often feel forced and inauthentic, because of the disconnect between the storytelling and the creation of genuine moments in which the audiences can be immersed. We barely go a single scene before Kya’s voiceover says something to the effect “...but in the marsh such and such happens." A lot of the intimate moments are also super cringe and uninteresting to watch take place. 

I’m talking about cheesy shots of nails on skin and awkward removing of clothes without much lead up or sweet nothings whispered between characters – not to mention one moment where Tate has to explain to Kya she could get pregnant in the most odd way I’ve ever heard it. It isn’t completely devoid of chemistry as a whole thanks to a few beats. The actors who play Kya and Tate in younger and older ages actually pulled my heartstrings in just a few minutes on screen way more than the core actors who are experiencing the meat of the storyline. 

Crawdads falls into a common book adaptation trap. 

Where The Crawdads Sing does something that is rare in book adaptations. It covers just about all of the ground of the book and even quotes many lines exactly from the text, making it closely in line with the source material. This may please some fans, but others will witness it fall into the adaptation trap of translating the material nearly word for word, when some of the best book-to-movie adaptations leave out elements here and there that ultimately help capture the spirit of the beloved book and read between the lines. For Where The Crawdads Sing, it feels like it made the “Marsh Girl” too lush of an adaptation, and misses an opportunity to elevate some flaws in the book itself.

Just because a story is popular and is given a sizable budget to be adapted to the big screen, why should the spirit of the character be made nice and marketable, when the very core of her being is someone who is rough around the edges and cast out by the mainstream? 

With over 12 million copies of the book Where The Crawdads Sing sold since its 2018 release, it’s fair to say of a lot of people are anticipating the movie adaptation heading to theaters this summer. Reese Witherspoon’s award-winning production company Hello Sunshine and Sony are behind the project, with Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones leading and new filmmaker Olivia Newman taking the helm. But is author Delia Owens involved with the adaptation? 

As it turns out, Delia Owens was vital to the production of the upcoming 2022 movie. When CinemaBlend joined a select few journalists at Sony Pictures in Los Angeles to speak about the film with Olivia Newman, the director shared how the Where The Crawdads Sing author was involved in the making of the movie. In her words: 

Whereas some authors of famous books either step back from movie adaptations or are simply not alive at the time their work is given the film treatment, Delia Owens was very much an important presense on the film. Newman involved the bestselling author and zoologist in the script, casting and production of the film. The director and author also had extensive conversation about the specifics of the film as well. When asked if Owens has seen the Where The Crawdads Sing movie, Newman said this: 

There’s nothing quite like the stamp of approval for the author of a book being adapted into a movie, and it sounds like Olivia Newman has one from Delia Owens for Where The Crawdads Sing. The thriller is about a young woman named Kya (Edgar-Jones) who grows up in the North Carolina marsh and becomes the lead suspect of the murder of a former boyfriend. You can check out the latest Where The Crawdads Sing trailer below: 

When speaking to CinemaBlend, Olivia Newman also shared the story behind Taylor Swift’s upcoming original song for the movie, “Carolina.” Like so many, Swift was a fan of the book, and asked if she could pen a song for the movie before the flick had even begun filming. You can prominently hear the new song in the trailer too. Reese Witherspoon’s love for Where The Crawdads Sing, which she previously featured in her book club, was also a major component of the book being adapted. 

Along with Daisy Edgar-Jones leading the film, Taylor John Smith will play Tate Walker, Harris Dickinson plays Chase Andrews, Michael Hyatt plays Mabel, Sterling Macer Jr. plays Jumpin, and David Strathairn plays Tom Milton. Where The Crawdads Sing hits theaters on July 15. 

Taylor Swift is coming off two quietly big years in music, as the singer dropped two surprise albums (folklore and evermore) in 2020 while in quarantine and then re-released two of her beloved albums (Fearless and Red) this past year. Swift is of course not stopping there, as she shared earlier this year she wrote a brand new song for Where The Crawdads Sing. Ahead of the movie’s release, we have the details about how “Carolina” came to be. 

CinemaBlend and a select few journalists had the chance to visit Sony Pictures Entertainment to see a chunk of Where The Crawdads Sing and speak with the film’s director Olivia Newman. During the roundtable interview, the filmmaker shared how Taylor Swift’s upcoming song happened. In her words: 

Taylor Swift is an avid reader and was apparently a huge fan of Delia Owens’ best-selling novel Where The Crawdads Sing, which was published in 2018 and has been on the The New Times Fiction Best Sellers list for a combined 150 non-consecutive weeks. In recent months, Owens’ thriller remains has returned to the list, with Swifties most definitely part of the book’s continued craze. Olivia Newman also said this: 

Back in March, just ahead of the first Where The Crawdads Sing trailer dropping and including a clip of “Carolina,” Taylor Swift announced in her first Instagram post of 2022 of the song. She shared that she got “absolutely lost in it” when she read it years ago. She mentioned that she knew she wanted to be part of the project when she heard of the movie, citing her love for Fresh actress Daisy Edgar-Jones and producer Reese Witherspoon.  

It’s wild that Taylor Swift actually wrote “Carolina” before the movie had even been shot. From what we’ve heard, the song definitely fits the tone of the film wonderfully, as Olivia Newman shared. Swift sounds like she really understood and was inspired by the material in Where The Crawdads Sing. 

Here's the new movie's full trailer:

The singer has written original songs for many soundtracks over the years, including for another book-to-movie adaptation, 2012’s The Hunger Games. And after seeing Taylor Swift create her own stories (rather than biographical love and breakup tracks) in her recent music, it’s no wonder she’s jumping at writing songs for more movies. 

Where The Crawdads Sing is an upcoming 2022 movie heading exclusively to theaters on July 15. You can learn more about what we know about the movie adaptation of Delia Owens’ bestseller here on CinemaBlend. 

Where the Crawdads Sing’s cinematic adaptation has been hotly anticipated for a couple of reasons. Not only does director Olivia Newman’s spin on author Delia Owens’ wildly popular best-seller have the literary fans intrigued, but Taylor Swift fans are also excited because of the film’s original song from her own pen. We previously saw a trailer for Where the Crawdads Sing that set up the mystery for this entry in the world of upcoming movies; but now we have a brand new look that further teases this brand new tune.

Released into the world by Sony, the latest footage for the Daisy Edgar Jones starring film is very atmospheric. Jones’ voice over as Kya Clarke, the “Marsh Girl” herself, reigns over this new peek, as she explains her life story once again. This time out, “Carolina,” Taylor Swift’s original song for Where the Crawdads Sing, plays a more prominent role in the proceedings. Fully admitting that I’m not exactly a Swift fan myself, I can say that this tune absolutely colors this murder mystery with the right mix of longing and intrigue.

Further sweetening the deal is the fact that Daisy Edgar Jones’ performance as Kya has all the makings of an engrossing character study. As she previously shined as part of the cast to Searchlight Pictures’ twisted horror film Fresh, Jones is fighting for her life yet again. Only this time, it’s a more nuanced fight that isn’t as simple as a physical challenge of strength. 

Marking the latest project to come from producer Reese Witherspoon and her production company Hello Sunshine, Where the Crawdads Sing has “best-seller adaptation” written all over it. That’s a total complement, as Delia Owens wrote a book that caught fire with audiences in a world where best-sellers don’t seem to have the same cache as they once did. When something like that can make it to the big screen, it already feels like a win. 

Summer movie seasons are always a good time to drop a film like Where the Crawdads Sing. Folks can rack up another beach read for those sunny days out, and discussions are all but assured in reference to where the movie worked and/or what the book did better. 

It all adds up to a cloud of buzz that gets people turning pages, only to show up at their local multiplex with great enthusiasm. The big difference this time is, there’s now a new Taylor Swift that enters into the equation, as “Carolina” will be another prong of the hype machine surrounding this eagerly awaited adaptation.

Theatrical audiences can finally go Where the Crawdads Sing on July 15. Which means there’s plenty of time to look up what to watch if you’re a Daisy Edgar Jones fan, in preparation for her latest appearance. If you haven't seen her work in Fresh yet, I highly recommend you do so if you're a Hulu subscriber.

As has typically always been the case, there are a great number of book-to-movie adaptations coming out in 2022, but few have the buzz surrounding them quite like that of Where the Crawdads Sing. The film adaptation of Delia Owens’ debut novel about a young girl who largely spent her life isolated from society and finds herself in a heap of trouble is one that people were talking about before the project was officially announced shortly after the beloved book’s 2018 release. And now, we’re just months away from seeing one of the most anticipated 2022 movies.

If you want to know when you’ll be able to see the Where the Crawdads Sing movie, who’s in it, and other things you can expect to see play out when it opens in theaters this summer, stick around because we have you more than covered.

Where The Crawdads Sing Will Be Released Theatrically On July 15, 2022

Those who have been anxiously awaiting the Where the Crawdads Sing movie the past few years will be glad to hear that the book adaptation is set to be released theatrically on July 15, 2022, per The Hollywood Reporter. The movie was initially set to debut a few weeks earlier on June 24, 2022, according to Deadline, but the release was moved around a couple of times before setting on the mid-July opening.

Daisy Edgar-Jones Leads The Where The Crawdads Sing Cast

At the center of the Where the Crawdads Sing movie is Daisy Edgar-Jones, who will surely be making an addition to her impressive list of credits with her portrayal of Kya Clark, aka “Marsh Girl.” Joining Edgar Jones on the cast is Taylor John Smith (Sharp Objects) as Tate Walker, Harris Dickinson (The King’s Man) as Chase Andrews, Michael Hyatt (Snowfall) as Mabel, Sterling Macer Jr. (Double Down) as Jumpin, and David Strathairn (Nomadland) as Tom Milton.

Where The Crawdad’s Sing Follows A Young Woman Accused Of Murdering A Former Boyfriend

If the Where the Crawdads Sing movie stays true to the original source material, it will tell the story of Kya Clark, a young girl who was abandoned by her parents and forced to raise herself in the seclusion of North Carolina’s marshes into adulthood. And though she temporarily re-enters society in a nearby community, Kya once again finds herself on the run when a former boyfriend attacks her and later ends up dead, with the “Marsh Girl” as the prime suspect in the heated murder case.

And while it looks like the odds are stacked against her, secrets and revelations from Kya’s past are brought to the surface, making her future even more uncertain in this sprawling murder mystery set in the marshy swamps.

Reese Witherspoon Signed On To Produce The Film Adaptation Almost Immediately After Reading Delia Owens’ Novel

Reese Witherspoon, who has been producing various film projects since Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde in 2003, has been at the forefront of bringing Where the Crawdads Sing to the big screen since she first read the book of the same name upon its release. When it was first announced that the adaptation was in the works in December 2018 with Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine slated to produce the feature, the Academy Award winner released the following statement (via Variety):

Where the Crawdads Sing is just the latest in a long line of projects produced by Hello Sunshine (previously known as Pacific Standard), which also worked on movies like Wild and Gone Girl, as well as shows like The Morning Show and Big Little Lies over the course of the past decade. Expect even more to come from the incredibly busy Witherspoon and her various ventures.

Olivia Newman Directed Where The Crawdads Sing

Sitting behind the camera and helming Where the Crawdads Sing was Olivia Newman, as reported by Deadline in July 2020. Newman made here feature length directorial debut with the 2018 Netflix drama First Match, which was based on a short film she released nearly a decade earlier. Since then, she has directed several episodes of Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, and FBI.

The Where the Crawdads Sing script was adapted by Lucy Alibar, who has some experience writing movies about young women braving the elements in movies like Troop Zero (in which she also acted) and the eerily beautiful Beasts of the Southern Wild.

Where The Crawdads Sing Will Feature A Brand New Taylor Swift Song

If the hype surrounding the release of Where the Crawdads Sing wasn’t enough, the upcoming coming-of-age drama will also feature a brand new Taylor Swift song called “Carolina.” The multi-time Grammy winner, who is currently re-recording all of her older albums, made the announcement in a March 2022 Instagram post (her first of the year) that featured a snippet of the song and a nice little caption about her love of the original novel:

And despite multiple YouTube claiming otherwise, it looks like we’ll have to wait, possibly until July, to hear the full version of this “haunting” track.

The Where The Crawdads Sing Trailer Is Full Of Romance, Murder, And Beautiful Imagery

In addition to giving us our first (brief) listen of the new Taylor Swift track, the Where the Crawdads Sing trailer also offers a quick look at the romance, murder, and beautiful imagery that is to be featured in the upcoming movie. Take a look and see:

As you can see in the footage above, the trailers offers up a lot of scenes and what could be pivotal moments while also not answering too many questions and ruining the mystique surrounding the upcoming drama.

Expect to hear more about Where the Crawdads Sing as we get closer to its July 15, 2022 theatrical release date.

Taylor Swift has had a huge couple of years in the music industry, between releasing two incredible albums she crafted in quarantine, folklore and evermore and re-recording and rolling out “Taylor’s Version” of her original music following her masters being sold. With that in mind, it’s understandable why Swift would take some time off of social media. However, we’re over the moon that she just returned to social media for her first announcement of the year, especially since it details what we’ll hear next from her. 

Taylor Swift took to Instagram for the first time in 2022 to post about an upcoming song coming “soon.” The artist wrote a song for the Reese Witherspoon produced film adaptation of Where The Crawdads Sing starring Daisy Edgar Jones. Check out Swift’s announcement: 

The singer has written many songs for movies including “Safe & Sound” for The Hunger Games, “I Don’t Want To Live Forever” for Fifty Shades Darker and “Beautiful Ghosts” for Cats. A blatant theme here is Taylor Swift loves writing music for movies based on books and that trend will continue for the upcoming film, Where The Crawdads Sing. 

The song is called “Carolina,” which seems to be in reference to North Carolina, where the movie is set. Where The Crawdads Sing is based on Delia Owens’ best-selling book of the same name. The story follows a woman who grew up in a North Carolina marsh and later becomes a suspect of a murder for a man who once pursued her. 

Daisy Edgar Jones is set to play Kya, the protagonist in the movie, following her beloved role in another book adaptation Normal People and recently alongside Sebastian Stan in Fresh. In Taylor Swift’s post, she shared the Where The Crawdads Sing first trailer and shared that she’s been a fan of the book for years. She wrote “Carolina” with The Nationals' Aaron Dessner, who she has worked closely with on folklore and evermore. She calls the song “haunting” and “ethereal” just like the story itself. 

Part of “Carolina” can be heard in the background of the trailer and it’s absolutely chilling. Taylor Swift has shown she is an incredible storyteller in her music as of late, especially as her newer albums served as fictional stories in their own right. Folklore for example had a love triangle within the album consisting of characters named August, Betty, Inez and James, the latter three being nods to Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s kids names. And evermore had more made-up song storylines. 

Where The Crawdads Sing is set to be released on July 22, 2022. While Taylor Swift doesn’t define how soon is “soon” regarding when “Carolina” will come out in full, we’ll definitely be looking out for it. As we wait for Taylor Swift’s new song, check out what other upcoming movies are coming out in 2022. 

Daisy Edgar-Jones is having a hell of a 2022 thus far. Prior to this year, she had only starred in one feature film – having spent most of her career making shows like Cold Feet, Normal People, and War Of The Worlds – but last month saw her earn rave reviews for her performance in Mimi Cave's horror film Fresh, and now we have this exciting debut trailer for the upcoming mystery/drama Where The Crawdads Sing.

Based on the 2018 best-seller of the same name, the film stars Daisy Edgar-Jones as Catherine "Kya" Clarke – a resourceful young woman who grew up alone on a marsh in North Carolina, having been abandoned by her family at a young age. As an adult, she enters a romance with a young man named Chase Andrews (Harris Dickinson), but she becomes embroiled in a murder trial when Chase is discovered dead shortly after she breaks off their relationship.

Where the Crawdads Sing is directed by Olivia Newman (her second feature directorial effort after 2018's First Match starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen), and co-stars David Strathairn, Garret Dillahunt, and Taylor John Smith. The pressure is on for this ensemble of artists, as the novel by Delia Owens became a sensation when it was released back in 2018. It spend hundreds of weeks on the Best Seller's list, which is no doubt why this film adaptation was able together. After all, producer Reese Witherspoon is an avid reader who has made a habit out of adapting books like Wild and Big Little Lies for the screen.

The trailer opens on Daisy Edgar-Jones's protagonist Kya seemingly in court, while we're treated to her tragic backstory and rough childhood. Kya is an outsider after her family abandoned her, forcing her to live by herself as a child in the marsh. She seemingly stays as a pariah in her community as she grows up, which is when things go from bad to worse.

As the footage continues, we see her courted by football star Chase Andrews. But they eventually break things apart, and he's seemingly furious when he sees Kya spending time with another man. When Chase eventually turns up dead, the authorities seemingly focus their blame on the young protagonist. Her status as an outsider doesn't help, as the tension and stakes for Where the Crawdads Sing's trailer continue to rise.

It should be fascinating to see how this beloved novel is adapted for film. The massive popularity of Where the Crawdads Sing has the potential to result in a strong box office performance. But that also means the mystery will be spoiled for the audience. We'll just have to see if director Olivia Newman puts her own spin on the iconic story.

Where the Crawdads Sing is currently expected to arrive in theaters July 15th. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience. 

There’s a different kind of experience that takes place when we watch a movie based on a book we’ve read. Spending time reading a book allows us to conjure up our own details and ideas about how a story unfolds in our heads and when we see it on film, it’s someone else’s version of that. This past year we saw Frank Herbert's Dune become a blockbuster, Ridley Scott adapt two true stories in The Last Duel and House of Gucci among other notable films. In the new year, there’s a new and massive stack of books to movies headed our way. 

Is this your 2022 reading list? Perhaps a checklist to see how many book-to-movie adaptations you’ve gotten to already on the page? You decide. Between thrilling romances, intense action, horror classics and historical fiction, there’s a lot of exciting titles going from shelf to screen this upcoming year. Let’s break them down:

Redeeming Love - January 21

A classic historical romance from the early ‘90s, Redeeming Love is finally being adapted to the big screen with a movie from Disturbia director D.J. Caruso. The movie starring Abigail Cowen, Famke Janssen, Nina Dobrev and Eric Dane is a retelling of the biblical book of Hosea, set during the California Gold Rush in 1850. It looks to be a sweeping romance with a western flair based on bestselling author Francine Rivers’ first novel. 

The Black Phone - February 4

Coming from the opposite side of the library is The Black Phone, an adaptation from a 2004 short story from the son of Stephen King, Joe Hill. The story is about a boy (Mason Thames) who is kidnapped by a serial killer (Ethan Hawke) and trapped inside a soundproof basement. The boy finds a disconnected phone that begins to ring and transmit the voices of the killer’s other victims. The movie was co-written/directed by Scott Derrickson, who famously helmed Sinister. 

Death On The Nile - February 11

Following Kenneth Branagh’s first Agatha Christie adaptation, 2017’s Murder on the Orient Express, the actor/director has continued his whodunnit anthology with Death On The Nile. The murder mystery has a stacked cast including Gal Gadot, Annette Bening, Letitia Wright and Russell Brand. The movie has been delayed multiple times, due to the pandemic, and amidst Armie Hammer’s cannibal sexting scandals. The movie follows Branagh’s Hercule Poirot as he investigates the murder of a young heiress while on vacation.

The Amazing Maurice - February 13 

On the children’s novel front, STX Entertainment is releasing an animated family film early this year called The Amazing Maurice. It’s based on the fantasy book The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett which is a new take on the classic fairy tale Pied Piper of Hamelin. The movie stars the voice talents of Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, Himesh Patel and David Tennant. It follows Maurice the cat, who tricks a human boy to be his very own rat piper. 

Mothering Sunday - February 25 

Another romantic drama coming out in early 2022 is Mothering Sunday, starring Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, The Crown’s Josh O’Connor and newcomer Odessa Young. The movie is based on a 2016 novel set in 1924 about a maid as she visits her lover since childhood as he is getting ready to be married. The period romance is sure to be a sultry visit to the movies, and featuring some of the most beloved British talents.

The Unbreakable Boy - March 18 

The Unbreakable Boy: A Father’s Fear, A Son’s Courage, And A Story Of Unconditional Love hit bookshelves in 2017, and in 2022 the true story will be told with a movie. It follows a teen boy named Austin, who has a rare brittle-bone disease and is autistic. The book was co-written by Austin’s father, Scott, and the adaptation will see Zachary Levi taking on the role for the screen. The movie is set to be an empowering drama about a real family’s experiences. 

The Bad Guys - April 22 

Another movie coming off the pages of the children’s section is The Bad Guys. DreamWorks Animation is adapting Aaron Blabey’s best selling series of books about a group of misunderstood reformed criminal animals. The main characters are Mr. Wolf (voiced by Sam Rockwell), Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson) and Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina). The animated film will be a heist comedy that has the potential of beginning a franchise considering the series is fifteen stories in. 

Mrs Harris Goes To Paris - March 4 

Based on the beloved 1958 novel Mrs. ‘Arris Goes To Paris, by Paul Gallico, and following a 1992 TV movie adaptation starring Angela Lansbury, Diana Rigg and Omar Sharif, comes an upcoming remake, Mrs Harris Goes To Paris. This version starring Lesley Manville as the titular Mrs. Harris once again follows the story of a widowed cleaning lady in 1950s London who becomes obsessed with a couture Dior dress and goes off to Paris because of it. The movie also stars Jason Isaacs and Isabelle Huppert. 

Bullet Train - July 15 

After some time off the saddle, Brad Pitt is returning to the action genre for Bullet Train. The thriller directed by Deadpool 2 director David Leitch is about five assassins aboard a fast-moving bullet train who realize their individual assignments are interconnected. Bullet Train is based on the Japanese novel by Kōtarō Isaka and also stars Zazie Beetz, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Joey King, Michael Shannon, Logan Lerman, Hiroyuki Sanada, Brian Tyree Henry, Andrew Koji and Bad Bunny. We expect this one to be a summer hit! 

Where The Crawdads Sing - July 22

Delia Owens’ Where the Crawdads Sing has remained a big hit since the novel went straight to the bestseller list in 2018. The book is the latest to be picked up by Reese Witherspoon and her innovative production company Hello Sunshine for an adaptation. The coming-of-age story set on the North Carolina coast will star Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones and unfold the mystery of how a woman who raises herself in the marshes of the deep South becomes a suspect in a murder. 

Dark Harvest - September 9

After a long time in the works, and previously set for last year, David Slade’s adaptation of Dark Harvest is expected to finally come out in 2022. Based on the book by Norman Partridge, the story follows a legendary monster called October Boy, who terrorizes residents with his butcher knife in a small midwestern town every Halloween. The Dark Harvest movie will star Elizabeth Reaser, Jeremy Davies and a primarily young cast, just in time for spooky season. 

Salem’s Lot - September 9 

Another horror story set to get a book adaptation is Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot, which was the author’s second book after Carrie. This story centers on a writer who goes to a town that he finds to have residents becoming vampires. The movie will be directed by Annabelle Comes Home’s Gary Dauberman and will star Lewis Pullman, William Sadler, Alfre Woodard, Spencer Treat Clark and Pilou Asbæk. 

She Said - November 18

Hollywood has discussed the #MeToo movement in a variety of ways over the years, and will continue to do so with an adaptation of She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story That Helped Ignite A Movement. Of course the story we’re talking about is regarding Harvey Weinstein, which was broken by reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. In the upcoming movie adaptation, Zoe Kazan will play Kantor and Carey Mulligan will play Twohey and break down how it allegedly happened. 

All Quiet On The Western Front - TBD

Another classic novel getting the movie treatment in 2022 is Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet On The Western Front, which originally came out in 1928, in between WWI and WWII. This version is being produced for Netflix in a movie that will star Falcon and the Winter Soldier’s Daniel Brühl. The war movie classically takes us on a journey of a group of German soldiers’ tribulations during WWI as they return home from the western front. 

Argylle - TBD 

Henry Cavill has adapted many beloved characters such as Superman, The Witcher and Sherlock Holmes. Next up, he’ll play the “world’s greatest spy” for Apple film Argylle. The movie directed by Matthew Vaughn of the X-Men prequel and Kingsman from a book by Ellie Conway, except in an odd twist the book has yet to come out either. So this one has an asterisk to it but it seems the author and filmmakers are working together here. Argylle will also star Ariana DeBose, Catherine O’Hara, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, John Cena and even Dua Lipa. 

Blonde - TBD 

Ana de Armas is set to play Marilyn Monroe in a Netflix adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates’ novel Blonde, which serves as a fictionalized chronicle of the late actress’ life. The movie is written and directed by Killing Them Softly’s Andrew Dominik and also includes Adrien Brody, Bobby Cannavale and Sara Paxton. 

Deep Water - TBD

Speaking of Ana de Armas, the No Time To Die actress is also the star of an adaptation of the thriller Deep Water, based on a book by Patricia Highsmith. The movie famously is the set where Ana de Armas met Ben Affleck, leading to them becoming a couple for some time. Deep Water is about a couple in a loveless marriage who become entangled in a murder. 

Killers Of The Flower Moon - TBD 

Martin Scorsese followup to The Irishman is Killers of the Flower Moon, which will be based on Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI. The bestseller tells one of the most “monstrous crimes in American history.” The movie will star Leo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Brendan Fraser and Jesse Plemons from a script by Eli Roth and land on AppleTV+. 

Mr. Malcolm’s List - TBD 

Another book adaptation of the period assortment is Mr. Malcolm’s List, which has enlisted the original author of its book Suzanne Allain for the script. The movie will star Freida Pinto, Theo James, Zaw Ashton and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. It’s about a young woman in 1800s England who enlists the help of her friend to get revenge on a suitor who rejected her for failing a requirement on his list. 

Persuasion - TBD

Jane Austen books continue to be fruitful to be revisited on film and Netflix is set to make a movie adaptation for her last work, Persuasion. This version will be led by Dakota Johnson, Henry Golding, Suki Waterhouse and Richard E. Grant. Persuasion follows Austen’s most adult heroine in Johnson’s Anne. We’ll be interested to see how this version compares with the two previous BBC versions. It seems as though this will be the first proper Hollywood telling of the story.

School for Good and Evil - TBD

Bridesmaids director Paul Feig is making an adaptation of a fantasy YA series The School for Good and Evil. The movie will be about an enchanted institution where children are trained in ways of becoming heroes and villains. The movie will be led by Charlize Theron as the Dean of the School of Evil and Kerry Washington as the Dean of the School of Good and also star Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Yeoh, among its packed cast. 

White Noise - TBD 

Award-winning Marriage Story and Frances Ha writer/director Noah Baumbach is back for an adaptation of the 1985 novel White Noise by Don DeLillo. The postmodern novel is about a professor who has made a name for himself by creating the field of Hitler studies. Adam Driver will play the lead role of Jack Gladney alongside Jodie Turner-Smith and Don Cheadle in the cast.  

That’s quite the shelf of titles to look forward to in 2022! Period pieces and movies based on books based on true stories seem to be the largest trend of adaptations coming out this coming year. There's a disappointing lack of science fiction following the success of Dune. Aside from the book-to-movie adaptations coming our way, check out CinemaBlend's full list upcoming of 2022 movies to look forward to this coming year. 

Both as an Oscar-winning actress and a film and television producer, Reese Witherspoon continues to demonstrate her persistent presence in Hollywood, building new and exciting career possibilities for herself. Having proven herself in comedies and dramas, the acclaimed actress is staying active with a variety of different upcoming projects, including Your Place or Mine, another season of Apple TV+'s The Morning Show, the long-awaited Legally Blonde 3, and even a return to the Election property. That's in addition to a number of other movies and shows that she's attached to solely as a producer, including (but not limited to) a much-anticipated adaptation of Daisy Jones and the Six.

Certainly, Witherspoon isn't hurting for work. The Academy Award winner is  as busy as ever with several intriguing new properties which will hopefully only continue to demonstrate her exceptional talents. Alas, for those wondering, it doesn't sound like Big Little Lies Season 3 is one of those projects, though maybe that will change. Nevertheless, if you love Reese Witherspoon, here's what you can look forward to. 

Your Place Or Mine - February 10, 2023 

While Reese Witherspoon has found a great deal of success through television efforts on HBO, AppleTV+, and Hulu, the actress/producer is heading to another premier service, Netflix, for her next few movies. Witherspoon is attached to produce and star in the upcoming romantic comedy Your Place or Mine, which will serve as the directorial debut of screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend).

Also set to be produced by Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan's Aggregate Films, Your Place or Mine follows Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher as two long-distance best friends who change each other's lives when one pal decides to pursue her lifelong dream and the other volunteers to keep an eye on her teenage son. The movie, which lands on Netflix on February 10, could very well become a new addition to the list of the greatest romantic comedies.
 

The Morning Show Season 3 - TBA 

While the Oscar-winning actress is better known for her extensive filmography, Reese Witherspoon has been expanding herself evermore in the growing world of prestige television. In recent years, the actress/producer starred in HBO's acclaimed Big Little Lies, which she followed with the Hulu original mini-series, Little Fires Everywhere, in 2020. In addition to those two television adaptations, Witherspoon frontlines The Morning Show alongside Jennifer Aniston. The Emmy-winning drama series, which also stars Steve Carell, Mark Duplass, and Billy Crudup, started Apple's TV bid with a bang.

The show’s second season, which was released in late 2021, was just as successful, and the series was quickly given the opportunity to try things out a third time. Though no release date has been announced for The Morning Show Season 3, the Apple TV+ original, which will see the addition of John Hamm to its talented cast, entered production back in August 2022. In January 2023, Witherspoon told Entertainment Tonight that filming was almost completed, while also teasing that there will be “lots of romance” when the show eventually does return.    

Legally Blonde 3 - TBA  

Get ready to bend and snap once more! While Reese Witherspoon is known for several esteemed performances throughout her acclaimed career, one that remains among her most beloved and revered is her role as Elle Woods in 2001's Legally Blonde and 2003's sequel, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde. While the comedy follow-up didn't garner nearly as much critical or commercial success, the original was such a beloved comedy that many people have wondered if or when she'll reprise this character for a long-awaited trilogy capper. Sequel talk only led to more rumors and speculation, but in 2018, Witherspoon confirmed that she'll return to the pink in Legally Blonde 3.

While the project is currently in the works, we don't know when exactly we'll get to see it. They're in the midst of finalizing a screenplay, which will be written by Dan Goor and Mindy Kaling. Hopefully, once Witherspoon is happy with the script and there's time in her schedule, cameras will finally start rolling. Right now, there are a lot of questions surrounding the threequel, but one thing that is for sure is that Witherspoon has said there is no Legally Blonde 3 without Jennifer Coolidge. 

All Stars - TBA 

Reese Witherspoon’s working relationship with Your Place Or Mine director Aline Brosh McKenna doesn’t end with the Netflix comedy, as the two are planning to work together again on the upcoming Amazon original comedy series, All Stars. In December 2022, Deadline revealed that the series, which has already been given a two-season order by the streamer, will follow a former cheerleader played by Witherspoon as she cons her way into teaching cheerleading at a school in England.

McKenna, who co-created the popular Crazy Ex-Girlfriend series on The CW, is slated to direct the pilot and several other episodes in addition to serving as showrunner. No other casting announcements have been made at this time, but expect to hear more about Witherspoon’s first comedy-centric TV series in the coming weeks and months. 

Tracy Flick Can’t Win - TBA 

Those who have long wondered what came of Election’s Tracy Flick in the years following the release of the 1999 comedy will soon get to find out as a sequel is in the works at Paramount+. In December 2022, Deadline announced that Reese Witherspoon’s overachieving and overly-ambitious student government president candidate would be returning for a sequel titled Tracy Flick Can’t Win with Alexander Payne also returning to direct the movie.

Based on Election author Tom Perrotta’s 2022 novel of the same name, the movie will follow an older Tracy as she finds herself vying for another high-profile role at her high school, only this time she’s trying to earn the job of principal after the school’s head administrator announces his retirement. There’s no word on if Matthew Broderick, Chris Klein, or other members of the original cast will be returning, but one can hope. 

Untitled Nick Stoller Comedy - TBA 

Nick Stoller, who has crafted hilarious romantic comedies like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Bros, will soon return to the genre with an untitled wedding comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell. In July 2022, Deadline announced that Amazon had secured the rights for the upcoming comedy. There haven’t been any updates on the project in the months since the initial announcement, but be on the lookout for more details in the near future.

The Cactus - TBA 

In addition to the aforementioned Your Place Or Mine, it was also announced in May 2020, per Deadline, that Reese Witherspoon is set to star in and produce an adaptation of Sarah Haywood's The Cactus. The upcoming streaming exclusive follows a reserved woman who's unexpectedly pregnant at 45, causing her to restructure the life that she has created for herself and leading her into an unconventional journey towards life, love, family, and to learning to accept the unexpected.

The description certainly has an Eat, Pray, Love kind of vibe, though the source material is said to be more comedic. Nevertheless, it's the second of two romantic comedies that Witherspoon has in store with Netflix, both as a producer and star, which will keep her on the service's payroll for at least a few years. 

Pyros - TBA

Throughout her career, Reese Witherspoon has often stayed earthbound. Even in an era where several of her A-list acting peers have traveled to distant planets and/or otherworldly dimensions through tentpole projects like Marvel movies, DC properties, and other billion-dollar enterprises, Witherspoon has generally avoided genre exercises, exploring dynamic and dramatic characters who often deal with very realistic and relatable problems. But now, that's set to change with, Pyros, which has been in the works for nearly half a decade at this point.

Set to be directed and produced by Simon Kinberg, this adaptation of the science fiction short story "Tardy Man" by Thomas Pierce, which appeared in The New Yorker, is the latest sci-fi blockbuster funded by Netflix. Pyros follows a group of people who wear indestructible Tardy suits that are connected to their spine, thus allowing them to endure dangerous conditions. This power is typically used to help rich people salvage their belongings, though those orders might not be followed too strictly. Pierce will also adapt his own story. Announced in 2019, it's unclear when the movie is expected to start shooting, as details have been slim-to-none since Deadline first revealed the project. 

Upcoming Producing Projects From Reese Witherspoon

In addition to all the other projects in development where the actress will split her time with producing duties, Reese Witherspoon's company, Hello Sunshine, will also make several other films and shows that will allow the producer to stay strictly behind-the-camera. Along with the aforementioned Daisy Jones & the Six, the upcoming Amazon original series based on Taylor Jenkins Reid's novel of the same name, Witherspoon has multiple other high profile projects in the works.

Hello Sunshine is producing A White Lie, based on Karin Tanabe's novel, The Gilded Years, which will star and also be produced by Zendaya, a Martina Navratilova documentary, an adaptation of Gayle Tzemach Lemmon's Ashley's War, and This Above All, a drama centered around the controversial Westboro Baptist church.

But that's not all! The Oscar winner is also set to produce Starz's multi-generational family drama, Kin, an adaptation of Heath Hardage Lee's The League of Wives, and the upcoming AppleTV+ thriller-drama series, Are You Sleeping, starring Octavia Spencer, as well as You Think It, I'll Say It, a long-in-the-works AppleTV+ comedy series based on Curtis Sittenfeld's collection of short stories.

Furthermore, Witherspoon's production company is planning to produce New Line's adaptation of Ruth Ware's In A Dark Dark Wood, the ABC comedy series, Americanized, based on Sara Saedi's memoir of the same name, and the forthcoming MGM adaptation of Gail Honeyman's bestselling novel, Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, which is being directed by Fleabag’s Harry Bradbeer, according to Deadline. Certainly, the actress/producer keeps herself plenty busy, especially with other upcoming titles like Tiny Trailblazers and The Last Thing He Told Me also in the works.

Expect to hear more about all of Reese Witherspoon’s upcoming projects in the coming weeks and months. But, while we wait for more details, now would be a good time to check out the 2023 movie schedule to get caught up to speed on all those big upcoming releases.