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Production began this week on "Southern Scares," an ambitious horror mystery that brings acclaimed actress Dee Wallace to the Columbus area for a locally-helmed feature film shooting in the region.

Thank God Warner Bros moved Weapons into the late summer, or else we wouldn’t be feeling a pulse. The Zach Cregger pic’s hold for weekend 2 stands at -43% for a second frame of $25M after a $7.4M Friday and Saturday of $9.6M, +29%.

Given the A- CinemaScore, the multiple on this will be massive ala Sinners (5.8x opening) and Get Out (5.3x). Weapons was always bound to be director Zach Cregger’s biggest opening at the box office. With Weapons, the Artists First and CAA-repped filmmaker is a new, dependable fresh voice for edgy commercial fare on the big screen.

What set Blaq on Broadway 2 apart was its daring blend of genres. A sprinkle of orchestral elements wove through the beats, giving the night a cinematic edge that had the crowd on their feet — and on their seats — singing, dancing, and rapping every line back to the artists.

The first weekend of August has The Fantastic Four: First Steps at $11.7M million on Friday for a $40M second sesh, and $198.4M running cume. That’s a 66% decline in the vicinity of Captain America: Brave New World (-68%), but harder than Thunderbolts* (-56%) which indicates the front-loaded rush to Marvel’s first family. 

Columbus-born artist Ann Strub, who now resides in New Orleans, has made history with a recent multi-million-dollar estate gift to support art, music and archival programs at Columbus State University.

Still, that’s a steep Friday/previews to Saturday decline, which indicates the movie was front-loaded. Nobody was spotting that yesterday, the lowest was a $120M debut.

Funds awarded by Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) include appropriations from the Georgia General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts. Grant recipients include theaters, dance companies, museums, schools, cities, colleges, and multi-discipline arts entities.

Warners has also had six movies open to No. 1 more than any other studio this year with nine weekend at No. 1. They’ve also had five movies in a row bow to $45M+, a first for any studio.

Warner Bros execs have every reason to be doing the Krypto doggie dance this morning as it’s the studio’s second $100M-plus opening this year after A Minecraft Movie ($162M).