Danish Girl Regrets; King Richard‘s True Stories; RIP Peter Aykroyd

Eddie Redmayne says playing a trans woman in The Danish Girl was “a mistake”; the true story of some key scenes in King Richard; R.I.P. Peter Aykroyd. All in today’s Movie News Rundown.

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Danish Girl Regrets: Eddie Redmayne says that he regrets playing a trans woman in the 2015 movie The Danish Girl, telling the Sunday Times: “I made that film with the best intentions, but I think it was a mistake.” When the film came out, it received critical praise, but also some criticism for not casting a trans actor in the lead role. Trans writer Carol Grant wrote in IndieWire that she thought the film was “regressive, reductive, and contributes to harmful stereotypes.”

Who Ya Gonna Call? Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a sequel to the 1980s classic franchise, made its North American debut this weekend. Variety is calling $44 million in domestic box office revenue “solid,” noting that its debut made $60 million worldwide.

That’s Encouraging: “The better-than-expected result is an encouraging sign that family audiences are willing to visit their local multiplex, provided there’s something broadly entertaining to be found there,” Variety added.

King Richard Box Office: King Richard, the story of how Richard Williams raised his daughters, Venus and Serena Williams, to dominate tennis, disappointed at the box office with just $5.7 million from 3,302 theaters in North America. That was likely in large part due to the film also being available on HBO Max. Variety notes that many adult-oriented dramas have struggled at the box office, and noted the film’s “rapturous reviews and Oscar buzz.”

You Know What? We still love King Richard whatever the dumb ol’ box office says. See below.

King Richard True Stories: You may want to stop reading now if you haven’t seen the King Richard or don’t mind some mild spoilers. Okay? Hi everyone. Where were we? Ah yes: In some of the best biopics, the moments that seem the most unbelievable are also the most true. So it goes with King Richard. We looked at the lightly fictionalized John McEnroe-Pete Sampras meeting scene in King Richard, as well as the pretty damn accurate drive-by shooting scene and almost completely real interrupted-interview scene.

TV Treatments: Ridley Scott acknowledged the Blade Runner TV spinoff publicly for the first time on the BBC’s radio news program Today, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “We have already written the pilot for Blade Runner and the [show] bible,” he said. Oh, and he teased that Alien is getting a TV spinoff, too.

R.I.P. Peter Aykroyd: Former Saturday Night Live cast member Peter Aykroyd has died at the age of 66, the show announced on Twitter. The younger brother of fellow comedian Dan Aykroyd, Peter Aykroyd was a writer and featured player on SNL in 1979 and 1980, notes Vulture, which added that he won an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Variety or Music Program alongside the other SNL writers in 1980. Watch him star in a short called “The Java Junkie,” directed by Tom Schiller, below:

Main Image: Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl (2015).