Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
A new movie is in theaters now. It is called 'The End of Oak Street.'
Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor are the stars. They play a mother and a father.
In the movie, their neighborhood travels back in time. Dinosaurs are everywhere!
The movie got good reviews from critics. But it did not make as much money as another big movie.
- theater
- a building where people watch movies
- star
- a famous actor in a movie
- neighborhood
- an area where people live, with houses close together
- travel
- to move from one place to another
- dinosaur
- a huge animal that lived millions of years ago
- review
- an opinion about whether something is good or bad
- critic
- a person whose job is to give opinions about movies, books, or art
- money
- what people use to buy and sell things
Level 2 — Elementary
'The End of Oak Street,' a new science fiction adventure film, opened in theaters across North America this weekend. The movie stars Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as a married couple trying to protect their children.
In the story, their quiet suburban neighborhood is mysteriously sent back in time and suddenly surrounded by dinosaurs. The couple must work together, even though they argue a lot, to keep their family safe.
The film was directed by David Robert Mitchell and released by Warner Bros. in about 3,400 theaters. It cost more than $80 million to make.
Critics gave the movie strong reviews, and it earned a Certified Fresh score of 85 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. However, its opening weekend brought in about $20 million, which was smaller than expected and far behind 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day,' which stayed at the top of the box office for a third straight week.
- science fiction
- a type of story that often involves imagined science, technology, or futures
- mysteriously
- in a strange or unexplained way
- suburban
- relating to a quiet area with houses, located near a city
- director
- the person who guides how a movie is made
- release
- to make a movie available for the public to watch
- Certified Fresh
- a Rotten Tomatoes label given to well reviewed movies
- opening weekend
- the first few days a movie is shown in theaters
- box office
- the total money a movie earns from ticket sales
Level 3 — Intermediate
'The End of Oak Street,' a Warner Bros. science fiction adventure directed by David Robert Mitchell, opened in roughly 3,400 North American theaters this weekend, led by Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as a bickering married couple who must protect their children after their suburban street is mysteriously transported back in time and besieged by dinosaurs.
Made on a budget above $80 million, the film earned a Certified Fresh 85 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviewers praising its blend of family drama and creature-feature spectacle. Positive word of mouth was seen as essential to its commercial prospects, given the crowded late summer release calendar.
Despite the strong reviews, the film debuted with about $20 million domestically, roughly $2.5 million of which came from Thursday preview screenings, a total that fell short of some pre-release projections and left it well behind the market leader.
'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' held the number one spot for a third consecutive weekend, part of a summer box office that has already crossed $4 billion domestically, underscoring how difficult it remains for even a star-studded original film to break through against an established franchise juggernaut.
- bickering
- arguing about small, unimportant things in an irritated way
- besieged
- surrounded and put under pressure, as if under attack
- creature-feature
- a film genre centered on frightening or fantastical creatures
- spectacle
- a visually striking or dramatic display
- word of mouth
- informal recommendations people share with each other
- preview screening
- an early showing of a film before its official release date
- domestically
- within one's own country, as opposed to abroad
- juggernaut
- something with immense, unstoppable force or momentum
Level 4 — Advanced
'The End of Oak Street,' Warner Bros.' original science fiction adventure from director David Robert Mitchell, opened across roughly 3,400 North American theaters this weekend, starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor as a fractious married couple compelled to set aside their differences after their suburban cul-de-sac is inexplicably wrenched back in time and besieged by dinosaurs.
Produced on a budget exceeding $80 million, the film secured a Certified Fresh 85 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics singling out its willingness to ground genre spectacle in genuine domestic tension, a quality reviewers suggested distinguished it from more formulaic monster fare.
Despite that critical goodwill, the film's roughly $20 million domestic debut, which included about $2.5 million from Thursday preview screenings, landed beneath several pre-release forecasts, a shortfall industry analysts attributed to the combination of an unfamiliar, non-franchise premise and an unusually competitive late summer release window.
The result reinforced a familiar pattern in an increasingly franchise-dominated marketplace: 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' extended its reign to a third consecutive weekend atop the domestic box office, a run that has helped push the summer's cumulative domestic gross past the $4 billion threshold, even as the fate of ambitious, star-driven original films like Mitchell's continues to hinge on whether positive word of mouth can compound over subsequent weekends rather than being decided entirely by an underwhelming opening.
- fractious
- irritable and prone to disagreement
- cul-de-sac
- a street closed at one end, forming a dead end
- inexplicably
- in a way that cannot be explained or understood
- genre spectacle
- visually dramatic elements characteristic of a particular type of film
- formulaic
- following a predictable, unoriginal pattern or formula
- shortfall
- an amount by which something falls short of what was expected
- cumulative
- increasing or building up gradually by successive additions
- compound
- to build up gradually and increase in effect over time
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