PREMIERE MAGAZINE #345

 

The Roundup with Jeff Stockton (Season 35 Round 5)

 

 

The first half of Season 35 was dicey. Here's The Roundup.... 

3. N/A

2. Unreasonable Doubt

I think Walter McKnight was very clever combining the rom-com genre with the crime genre and did so in a very interesting fashion. Cristin Milioti was super charming (as usual) and Channing Tatum seemed like he was having a blast as the love interest/villain.

1. Blood and Glory

This one felt like a spiritual successor to films like 300 and TV series like Starz's Spartacus - and I mean this in a good way. Everything felt heightened to the extreme - the action, the scope, the violence, the sexuality, etc. It did a good job of combining history and excitement.

3. Profits

The studio is only around $50 million in profits for the season at the midway point. Obviously the studio still has a Batman flick due out later in the season, but even with that I don't think the studio can afford many more flops this season.

2. Running from the Spotlight

This one just didn't click with me whatsoever. The cast didn't feel like a big screen cast (even a low budget one) - it wreaked of TV movie production (not even streaming). The stakes were small but made to feel overly serious. Jacob Jones has delivered better teen films than this.

1. Box Office

We're at the official halfway mark of Season 35 and it is quite concerning that we've only have one film - The Punisher: Purgatory - managed to crack $100 million at the domestic box office.

On Location (Season 35 Round 5)

 

Blood and Glory 

- Ouarzazate, Morocco

Running from the Spotlight

- South Orange, New Jersey, USA

Unreasonable Doubt

- Cincinnati, Ohio, USA

Box Office Breakdown (Season 35 Round 5)

 

Blood and Glory

Budget: $100,000,000

Total Box Office: $196,666,547

Total Profit: -$4,102,064

Running from the Spotlight

Budget: $10,000,000

Total Box Office: $7,685,149

Total Profit: -$8,777,100

Unreasonable Doubt

Budget: $30,000,000

Total Box Office: $73,817,196

Total Profit: $18,099,545

Box Office Facts

Blood and Glory

Director Tarsem Singh has quietly had a pretty successful LRF career despite Blood and Glory just missing out on profits. His previous three LRF productions were all profitable - combining for nearly $350 million in profits.

Running from the Spotlight

Out of writer Jacob Jones' 66 films for the studio, Running from the Spotlight has come in as the lowest grossing of his career. The previous low grosser had been Season 29's Connected with $18 million worldwide.

Unreasonable Doubt

Unreasonable Doubt is the 8th official Romantic Comedy released by the studio, but is just the fourth to make a profit at the box office.

Genre Rankings

Blood and Glory

Action: #217

Historical: #17

War: #12

Running from the Spotlight

Drama: #394

Teen: #6 

Unreasonable Doubt

Romantic Comedy: #3

Crime: #45

Season 35 Round 5

Total Box Office: $278,168,892

Total Profit: $5,220,381

Season 35 Totals

Total Box Office: $1,856,702,828

Total Profit: $54,86,892

Season 34 Summary

1. ThunderCats : $372,054,861

2. The Punisher: Purgatory : $231,004,586

3. Zorro : $215,997,717

4. Blood and Glory : $196,666,547

5. Discovery : $167,267,665

6. The Tick : $166,896,092

7. Spelljammer : $158,394,702

8. Unreasonable Doubt : $73,817,196

9. Tara's Wrath : $73,090,751

10. Man of God : $63,494,668

11. The Writer and the Film Star : $39,529,721

12. Thus Dreamed Zarathustra : $34,589,058

13. The Letter Never Sent : $29,417,143

14. Dust Saint : $26,796,972

15. Running from the Spotlight : $7,685,149

LRF TRIVIA TIDBITS (Season 35 Round 5)

 

Welcome back for more LRF Trivia Tidbits! Round 5 underscores how radically a film can be shaped by casting decisions and creative pivots—whether through exhaustive star searches, full-scale reinventions, or head-to-head actor showdowns before a single frame was shot. Each release carries a clear reminder that the version audiences see is often just one of many paths not taken.

Blood and Glory

Casting Alexander the Great proved to be a major undertaking, with an extensive audition and screen-testing process narrowing a crowded field of contenders. Cosmo Jarvis ultimately secured the role, beating out Tom Bateman, Milo Gibson, KJ Apa, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Tom Rhys Harries for the lead in Tarsem Singh’s violent, stylized historical epic.

Running from the Spotlight

Few Season 35 projects underwent a more dramatic transformation. Early versions had Sofia Coppola attached to direct a cast of rising stars including Rachel Zegler, Halle Bailey, Sophia Lillis, and Xolo Maridueña. By the time cameras rolled, Coppola had been replaced by Michael Fimognari and the entire young cast had been swapped out for lesser-known actors - fundamentally altering both the film’s tone and the studio’s expectations.

Unreasonable Doubt

For this R-rated crime rom-com, the male lead came down to a true face-off between Channing Tatum and Wyatt Russell. Two distinct versions of the script were written to match each actor’s strengths, but a chemistry test between Cristin Milioti and Tatum ultimately tipped the scales, convincing the filmmakers to move forward with Tatum’s interpretation of the role.

Release: Unreasonable Doubt

 

Unreasonable Doubt

Genre: Romantic Comedy/Crime

Director: Andrew Fleming

Writer: Walter McKnight

Cast: Cristin Milioti, Channing Tatum, Raymond Lee, Kurtwood Smith, Heidi Gardner, Aya Cash, Paul Scheer, Stephen Root, Kim Matula, JB Smoove, Iris Apatow, Reid Scott, Meredith Hagner

Budget: $30,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $52,913,001

Foreign Box Office: $20,904,195

Total Profit: $18,099,545

Reaction: LRF doesn't have an extensive history of Romantic Comedy films, but it is worth noting that this is the first one to turn a profit since Season 17 - McKnight's debut film, Kylie Dates New York City.

"What might have been a tonal trainwreck instead blossoms into something sneakily clever: Unreasonable Doubt marries the compulsive pull of true-crime with the fizzy beats of a rom-com, and it works better than it has any right to. Cristin Milioti and Channing Tatum are the unlikely alchemy — she’s prickly, neurotic, and bitingly funny, while he brings wounded charisma with just enough menace to keep the romance sharp-edged. Andrew Fleming directs with a light but assured touch, never letting the comedy undercut the danger or vice versa. For women who toggle between binging Dateline and rewatching You’ve Got Mail, this film feels like it was tailor-made, and Milioti cements herself as one of the most interesting comedic leads of her generation." - Eric Marsh, Denver Post

"Messy? Absolutely. But Unreasonable Doubt leans into that chaos in a way that’s kind of fun. Cristin Milioti sells Lucy’s bad decisions with just the right mix of charm and cringe, and Channing Tatum’s 'is-he-or-isn’t-he-a-killer' vibe makes for an offbeat rom-com foil. The courtroom satire hits more often than not—Stephen Root barking about order is comedy gold—and the mid-credits pivot into true-crime podcasting feels right for 2025. Still, the film doesn’t always juggle tone smoothly. It’s the cinematic equivalent of a messy Tinder date: sometimes awkward, occasionally regrettable, but never boring." - Jeremy Raren, RottenTomatoes.com

"What do you get when you cross romantic comedies with a court procedure? You get a film that has good intentions but gets a little muddied by trying to balance two different genres at once. Miloti and Tatum do have nice chemistry and it's clear that the cast knows how to play along with the unique setup. Yet sometimes, the film veers way too hard towards one side and ignores the other, especially near the end with a surprisingly graphic brawl with our main leads and Eli." - Mitchell Parker, New York Times

Rated R for language, sexual content/nudity, and some violence. 

Interview: Walter McKnight

 

For this edition of Interview, Last Resort Films president Phil Dolan sits down with writer Walter McKnight (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Monster Squad) to discuss his latest romantic comedy, Unreasonable Doubt, and what else he has in the works....

PD: Unreasonable Doubt is a project you first mentioned over three years ago. Can you describe the process of finally shepherding it to the big screen?

WM: If I recall, I originally mentioned it trying to find ideas for the female lead role. Originally I was pretty set on Wyatt Russell as the male lead, and wanted to find someone who would be compatible. Then I saw the film Palm Springs and simply fell head over heels in love with Cristin Milioti and knew she had to be the female lead in this project. Once she was set, I revised my concept to fit her talents, which led to going after Channing Tatum eventually as the male lead. Cristin was the key to the entire project.

PD: The R-Rated Romantic Comedy - especially a female-led one - is a rare thing. What made you decide to go with such an adult tone?

WM: Outside of the Judd Apatow and Farrelly Brothers films, you're right, there are not a ton of well known and successful R-rated romantic comedies. The aforementioned Palm Springs managed to work with its R-rating and another good recent one was Anyone But You. I felt like it could still be successful and that an R-rating would play better to the comedic strengths of both Cristin and Channing.

PD: Another type of film you're known for as a writer are the live-action adaptations of animated films. Do you have any in the works?

WM: I recently submitted a sequel to Pocahontas to the studio. I also have a few ideas of others to do - mostly looking at 80s and 90s animated films that I think have live-action potential. Nothing concrete beyond Pocahontas 2 though.

PD: What is next for you?

WM: I finally got around to writing a second Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. If it's successful, I'd love to close things out as a trilogy. Beyond that I have the animation adaptation ideas as well as a couple romantic comedy ideas that I may decide to flesh out further.