In the same year he starred in his first Star Trek movie, Chris Pine also led a horror thriller that is infecting the competition on streaming. Carriers, which Pine stars in alongside Emily VanCamp, Piper Perabo, and Lou Taylor Pucci, has crept into the Paramount+ top 10, currently sitting in the #9 spot, just ahead of Mark Wahlberg‘s Shooter, which has been a mainstay on the chart for more months. Carriers follows four friends who seek a reputed, plague-free haven amidst a growing pandemic as a result of a lethal virus. However, while the travelers are able to avoid the infected, they quickly learn the real danger is among each other. In addition to Pine, Vancamp, Perabo, and Pucci, Carriers also stars Christopher Meloni, Kiernan Chipka, and Ron McClary, and the film currently sits at a 64% rating from critics and a 39% score from general audiences on Rotten Tomatoes.

Carriers was written and directed by Alex and David Pastor, and it is still considered their most famous work to this day. However, the brothers did most recently helm Bird Box: Barcelona, the spin-off film from Sandra Bullock‘s Bird Box which dominated the Netflix charts for months and is among the platform’s highest-viewed movie of all-time. Three years before Bird Box: Barcelona, the brothers also teamed up with Netflix for The Occupant, the drama/thriller starring Mario Casas and Ruth Díaz. They followed up Carriers in 2013 with The Last Days, the unrated horror sci-fi thriller which is currently streaming on AMC+ and on Plex, and is also available for rent on Prime Video for $3.99.

What Else Is Popular To Watch on Paramount+?

All three of John Krasinski’s Quiet Place movies have been in the top 10 on Paramount+ for most of the month, showing that The Office breakout star knows how to handle more than just comedy. Paramount darling Tom Cruise also has several movies in the Paramount+ top 10, including both of his Jack Reacher movies, and the $1 billion-earning legacy sequel, Top Gun: Maverick. Krasinski also has his Ryan Reynolds-led family flick, IF, currently in the #2 spot in the Paramount+ top 10, with the cult classic, Mean Girls, also spending much of the last two months in the top 10 chart.

Carriers stars Chris Pine, Emily VanCamp, and Christopher Meloni, and was written and directed by Alex and David Pastor. Stay tuned to Collider for future streaming updates and watch Carriers on Paramount+.

WATCH ON PARAMOUNT+

The director of three of the four-highest grossing movies of all-time has some strong words for his biggest haters. During a recent interview with Empire Magazine, James Cameron was asked what he would say to those who criticize the scripts and dialogue in his films. Cameron has proven himself more than capable of directing major Hollywood hits, with both Avatar and the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, as well as Titanic, being three of the highest-grossing movies ever (the other being Avengers: Endgame).

However, some dialogue in his films has been criticized, especially of late, such as the use of the word “bro” so many times in the recent Avatar sequel. When asked what Cameron would say to those who would call his scripts “cringeworthy,” particularly the original Terminator, the legendary director had this to say:

“I don’t think of it as some Holy Grail, that’s for sure. I look at it now and there are parts of it that are pretty cringeworthy, and parts of it that are like, ‘Yeah, we did pretty well for the resources we had available.’ Just the production value, you know? I don’t cringe on any of the dialogue, but I have a lower cringe factor than, apparently, a lot of people do around the dialogue that I write.
You know what? Let me see your three-out-of-the-four-highest-grossing films — then we’ll talk about dialogue effectiveness
.”

While Cameron does acknowledge that his scripts do have some moments that could be considered “cringeworthy”, it’s hard to argue with the results. As hard as it is to even get a movie made in the first place, it’s much more difficult to make a major blockbuster on a high budget that earns back that budget and gets into the green. Cameron has done that several times, with some of the biggest franchises ever, and proven himself one of the most successful directors ever, if not the most successful. Everyone measures success differently. If you measure it by Academy Award wins, his only three have come on Titanic, but if you measure it by box office success, he is undoubtedly the greatest director of all-time, and it isn’t particularly close.

James Cameron Is a Franchise Titan

The Terminator kicked off James Cameron’s career in 1984, and his work directing the Alien sequel after Ridley Scott launched the franchise in 1979 took him to another level of stardom. Cameron then worked on the Terminator sequel, Judgment Day, before helming Titanic, and then 12 years later, he directed Avatar, which is still the highest-grossing movie of all-time, to this day. Cameron has not directed a non-Avatar project since 2005, and his work leading the many Pandoran sequels will likely keep him busy for at least the next 10 years.

James Cameron’s next project will be Avatar: Fire and Ash, which is currently slated for release on December 19, 2025. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates and watch Avatar: The Way of Water on Disney+.

WATCH ON DISNEY+

Director Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice Beetlejuice debuted with a bang a couple of weekends ago, and now, just as it completes two weeks of release, the horror comedy sequel is set to pass a massive domestic box office milestone. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice debuted with a stunning $111 million in its first weekend — the third-biggest of the year — and delivered an excellent second weekend haul. The movie will enter its third weekend having hit the $200 million mark at the domestic box office.

The film’s current total stands at $198.3 million, and once Thursday’s figures are factored in, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will have passed the $200 million milestone. The film’s daily earnings haven’t dropped below $2.8 million in its entire run. This weekend, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice will face a challenge in the form of Paramount’s well-reviewed animated film, Transformers One, which is expected to generate a little over $30 million in its debut frame.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is already the sixth-biggest film of the year so far, behind Twisters, which generated over $265 million in its phenomenal domestic run. Globally, Burton’s film has generated around $275 million. It will pass the $300 million mark this weekend. It’s currently Burton’s fourth-biggest hit domestically, behind Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Batman, and Alice in Wonderland. The filmmaker hasn’t had an outright hit since Alice in Wonderland, which debuted in 2010 and remains his only film to have made more than $1 billion worldwide.

‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’ Will Scale Bigger Heights this Weekend

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the long-awaited sequel to Burton’s breakout film, Beetlejuice, which generated $75 million globally against a reported budget of $15 million in 1988. It brings back the stars of the original film — Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O’Hara — alongside a bunch of series newcomers such as Justin Theroux, Willem Dafoe and Jenna Ortega. Burton worked with Ortega on the hit Netflix series Wednesday, and her newly minted stardom came into play last year, when she was put front-and-center of Scream VI, which legged it to $170 million globally.

Produced on a reported budget of $100 million — Burton reportedly convinced the cast to slash their fees — Beetlejuice Beetlejuiceopened to mostly positive reviews, and currently sits at a “fresh” 77% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The film’s audience score stands at a slightly superior 81%. In his review, Collider’s Martin Tsai described the movie as a “return to form” for Burton. You can watch Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.