Happy Monday and welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s culture news roundup. What did you miss last weekend? Well, It Chapter Two made a lot of money. Also, audiences seem to really like Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker and Kristen Stewart would like to play a gay superhero. Let’s go!
It Chapter Two Rules the Box Office
Considering the overwhelming popularity of its predecessor, it should surprise no one that It Chapter Two ruled the box office this weekend. The film brought in $91 million domestically and $94 million internationally for a $185 million opening weekend. That domestic take doesn’t match the $123.4 million It made in the US in 2017, but it’s still the second-best opening for a horror movie in history.
Joker Wins Top Prize at the Venice Film Festival
In news that is likely more surprising than It Chapter Two‘s box office take, Joker—the new origin story film about Batman’s nemesis—won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival this past weekend. Director Todd Phillips thanked “Warner Bros. and DC for stepping out of their comfort zone” to make the movie when he accepted the Golden Lion. Will Joaquin Phoenix become the second actor, after Heath Ledger, to win an Oscar for playing the character? We’ll know in a few months.
Kristen Stewart Would Like to Play a Gay Superhero
For a while now, Marvel Studios has been promising more LGBTQ representation in the MCU films. It’s already been confirmed the Valkyrie will “find her queen” in Thor: Love and Thunder, but there’s someone else who would like to play a gay hero: Kristen Stewart. During an interview with Variety, someone asked her Seberg costar Anthony Mackie what kind of superhero Stewart should play and the actress responded with “a gay one!” Ya hear that, Marvel?
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