In Case You Haven’t Heard: ‘Weapons,’ ‘The Paper’

“The Office” Executive Producer Greg Daniels reveals why he signed on to the series’ spinoff show, the horror flick “Weapons” is outperforming a rerelease of a classic film at the box office, and McTilly is now the name of a child after she was born in the parking lot of a certain fast-food restaurant.

All this and more in this edition of “In Case You Haven’t Heard.”

Alyce Rotunda gave birth to her fourth child in a McDonald’s parking lot in Michigan. Rotunda said she always planned to name her daughter Matilda and call her Tilly. However, after giving birth in the parking lot of a restaurant that’s served billions and billions of people, she and her husband tweaked the name and decided to call her McTilly. According to the New York Post, Alyce insisted to hospital staff she was in labor, but the experts disagreed and sent her home, resulting in the parking lot birth.

This was a tough decision for the Rotunda’s, because McTilly was actually conceived in a Burger King parking lot. Once again, it’s McDonald’s for the win. 

“The Office” Executive Producer Greg Daniels says at one point he was determined never to revisit a TV world similar to the one he created in NBC’s “The Office.” Ultimately, he decided to dive back into the mockumentary world with Peacock’s “The Paper.” The show follows a struggling newspaper company. Daniels said he changed his mind after seeing “The Office” at number one on Netflix for four years. It was then that people started begging him to do a spinoff, and here we are. “The Paper” is now available to stream on Peacock.

Former wrestler Dwayne ‘the Rock’ Johnson’s moneymaker has always been action films, and not even good ones. He’s made a good living using his physique and charm to headline very mediocre films. That apparently has all changed now. The Rock shed 60 pounds for a role in his new film “The Smashing Machine,” which tells the story of MMA fighter Mark Kerr.

The film stars Emily Blunt opposite Johnson, as Kerr’s girlfriend. Johnson’s hard work physically and mentally appears to have paid off, as the film just premiered at the Venice Film Festival and received a 15-minute standing ovation, causing Johnson sob uncontrollably, according to Variety.

It’s early, but those who have seen the film are already creating Oscar buzz for Johnson, who appears to have come a long way since “San Andreas.” In a related story, I’ve been trying to lose 20 pounds for about three years and can’t use the “I put it on for movie role” excuse much longer. 

Everyone loves a comeback story, and there was a big one last weekend at the box office. The film “Weapons,” in its fourth week of release, regained first place at the gate over the holiday weekend. The horror film raked in $10 million, bringing its box office total in theaters to $132 million. “Weapons” edged out last weekend’s second place film, which is just over 50 years old and enjoying a re-release. “Jaws,” which was first released in theaters in 1975, hit the big screen again last weekend in honor of the big anniversary, and pulled in over $8 million dollars.

The film is showing great legs as it’s now in its 2,620th week of release. Not a bad haul for what is considered by many the greatest summer blockbuster film of all time. If you want to see “Jaws” on the big screen you have until Thursday, Sept. 4. In third place was new release “Caught Stealing,” starring Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz, which pulled in just under $8 million. Rounding out the top five are “Freakier Friday” in its fourth week of release at $6.6 million, and in fifth place was the Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia Williams’ “The Roses” at $6 million.

Last weekend brought the 2025 summer box office to a close. 

Editor’s note: For more movie and entertainment talk, join host Pete Schwaba weeknights from 6 to 8 p.m. for “Nite Lite” on the Civic Media radio network.