News of the Week: Avatar 2 Beats Spider-Man: No Way Home's Box Office Record

We’re into January, and it’s a brand-new year for brand-new movies. As Hollywood gears up for the home stretch of awards season, news is starting up again in the post-holiday surge. This week brings news of a classic romance getting a remake, good news for a Marvel star, James Cameron doing it again, and more.

As always, Atom Insider brings you a few hand-picked stories we think you’ll like. Ready? Let’s dive in.

Channing Tatum Is Remaking 1990 Classic ‘Ghost’

An unexpected remake is coming from an unexpected source. Channing Tatum has revealed that he has acquired the rights to 1990’s supernatural romance classic, Ghost, and he’s planning to remake it as a starring vehicle for himself. He shared the tidbit in an interview with Vanity Fair, but acknowledged that his remake will be updating it for a new era and fixing certain outdated and more problematic elements of the original. “But we’re going to do something different,” he confirmed.

The original movie starred Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore as lovers Sam and Molly. When Sam is murdered, his ghost continues to look out for Molly and protect her. The movie also starred Whoopi Goldberg, Tony Goldwyn, and others. The original grossed $505 million at the box office and garnered itself two Oscars. It will be interesting to see what Tatum plans to do with the remake.

John Wick Director Chad Stahelski Helming ‘Rainbow Six’ Adaptation With Michael B. Jordan

Michael B. Jordan may have found himself his next action-packed movie and it has a fitting director attached: THR broke the news that John Wick director Chad Stahelski will be directing an adaptation of Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six with Michael B. Jordan back in the starring role. Details of the film’s story are being kept under wraps, but we can assume it will fairly closely follow the plot of the novel. It’s intended to be the follow-up to the studio’s Without Remorse, which went to Amazon in 2021. Jordan, of course, will be reprising his role as CIA operative and former Navy SEAL John Clark. With Stahelski at the helm, we can expect this to be full of incredible action sequences, if his track record is anything by which to judge.

‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ Surges Past ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ At The Box Office

Avatar: The Way of Water shows no signs of slowing down at the box office. In fact, it’s now surged past Spider-Man: No Way Home to claim sixth place in the highest-grossing movies of all time. Currently, James Cameron’s sequel is up to $1.93 billion at the box office and it’s certain to blow past the $2 billion mark this weekend. Spider-Man: No Way Home topped out at $1.91 billion, globally, though it’s fair to note that the Marvel blockbuster didn’t open in China. When Avatar 2 does cross that $2 billion threshold, it will only be the sixth movie ever in history to cross that mark – and two of the others on that rare list are also Cameron’s movies with the original Avatar and Titanic. Overseas, The Way of Water currently sits as the fifth all-time biggest title, behind Avengers: Infinity War. Much like its overall spot on the chart, it should surpass Infinity War this weekend.

It all goes to show: Never bet against James Cameron.

Jeremy Renner Is Home From The Hospital After His Snowplow Accident

There’s some good non-movie news coming out of Hollywood this week: Marvel actor Jeremy Renner has confirmed he’s out of the hospital and continuing to recover at home. The news comes more than two weeks after his near-fatal accident suffered on New Year’s Day, when his snowplow’s safety mechanism failed and it ran him over, leaving him in critical condition. The actor underwent two surgeries after experiencing blunt chest trauma, orthopedic injuries, and a significant injury to his leg that required a tourniquet. In a tweet, the actor said, “Outside my brain fog in recovery, I was very excited to watch episode 201 with my family at home,” referring to the season 2 premiere of his show Mayor of Kingstown. It’s unclear if the actor has more surgeries ahead – previously, there were rumors swirling that he might lose his leg – but either way, it’s great to see him home and recovering while surrounded by his family.

The First Look At The Upcoming Amy Winehouse Biopic Has Been Released

Musical biopics are big these days, but one that’s been flying well under the radar is the one being made about late British songstress Amy Winehouse. Studiocanal’s Back to Black has released its first image of Industry‘s Marisa Abela as the Grammy-winning singer, and reactions have been mixed, to say the least.

Sam Taylor-Johnson is directing the biopic about the troubled singer. Blessed with the throaty, soulful voice of a bygone era, Winehouse was also tormented by demons in the form of substance abuse and addiction, and passed away in 2011 from alcohol poisoning. Taylor-Johnson was reportedly blown away by Abela’s audition. The biopic means a lot to the director, who shared her personal connection with the late singer:

“My connection to Amy began when I left college and was hanging out in the creatively diverse London borough of Camden. I got a job at the legendary Koko Club, and I can still breathe every market stall, vintage shop and street… A few years later Amy wrote her searingly honest songs whilst living in Camden. Like with me, it became part of her DNA. I first saw her perform at a talent show at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in Soho and it was immediately obvious she wasn’t just ’talent’… she was genius. As a filmmaker you can’t really ask for more. I feel excited and humbled to have this opportunity to realise Amy’s beautifully unique and tragic story to cinema accompanied by the most important part of her legacy – her music. I am fully aware of the responsibility, with my writing collaborator – Matt Greenhalgh – I will create a movie that we will all love and cherish forever. Just like we do Amy.”

It’s not yet known when Back to Black will hit theaters.