Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: January 9th 2011

This week:

The box office shows True Grit, while Season of the Witch fails to cast a spell over audiences; Will Smith and Brett Ratner are Wheeler Dealers; Diego Luna and Lukas Haas get caught with Contraband; we travel back to the 60s using Pan Am and when we get there we meet a Playboy in the Magic City; Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and John Goodman are Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Eminem commits Random Acts of Violence.

Box Office

The Coen brothers and Jeff Bridges have shown some true grit and determination with their latest effort… er… True Grit. This seems to have paid off because, according to estimates, the western has taken the top spot at the box office – defeating nearest rival Little Fockers. The remake of the John Wayne film (if that’s what you want to call it) banked $15 million over the weekend, upping its total to $110 million.

Little Fockers dropped to second place after scoring another $13.7 million. The total gross of the Ben Stiller/ Robert De Niro face-off flick is now $123.9 million.

The much maligned (and delayed) Season of the Witch (read our review) opened at number three with a gross of $10.7 million. It’s not as bad of an opening as some predicted – but it could have been a lot better considering Nicolas Cage’s star-power. Having said that, the man has been making films like they’re going out of fashion, so maybe audiences are getting Cage fatigue.

Tron: Legacy upped its cume to $147 million after grossing another $9.8 million. Meanwhile, Black Swan banked another $8.3 million and brought its total up to over $61 million.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s latest Country Strong brought in $7.3 million over the weekend. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but ponder the fact that it’s only playing in about half as many theatres as Season of the Witch.

The Fighter punched up another $7 million, upping its total to $57.8 million – this should grow if it bags a few of those predicted Oscar nominations.

The King’s Speech talked its total up to $33 million. The historical drama brought in another $6.8 million over the weekend.

The top ten was rounded out by Yogi Bear and Tangled. Yogi scored another $6.8 million, while the Disney film brought in a smidgen over $5 million. Their totals stand at $75 million and $175 million respectively.

Movie News

1. Paramount Pictures has just sealed the deal on Wheeler Dealers.

According to Deadline:

“It’s based on the true story of a group of Miami twenty-somethings who landed a $300 million Pentagon contract to acquire massive stockpiles of old Chinese ammunition that wound up being sent to supply the Afghan army.”

Michael Lerner will write the script for Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment and Brett Ratner’s Rat Entertainment.

Will it be a comedy,drama, or an action film? Time will tell.

Source: Deadline

2. Diego Luna and Lukas Haas have joined the cast of Mark Wahlberg’s Contraband.

Baltasar Kormákur’s directs the smuggling drama, which is a remake of his own Icelandic thriller Reykjavik-Rotterdam.

Kate Beckinsale, Giovani Ribisi, and Ben Foster also star in the film.

Source: What’s Playing

3. The success of Mad Men means that 60s-set dramas are now “all the rage.”

NBC has given the nod for the pilot for Playboy, according to Variety:

“The hour-long drama is set in the frisky world of 1960s Playboy clubs. Chad Hodge (Tru Calling) wrote the script, which focuses on a group of women working as Playboy bunnies in the New York club. Playboy will use that as a jumping-off point to explore the nation’s changing mores and the coming sexual revolution.”

Playboy isn’t the only new drama set in the swinging 60s. Variety also says that:

“Starz recently gave a 10-episode order to the 1960s Miami series Magic City, while ABC is developing Pan Am, centering on the airline’s wild crew in the 1960s.”

I hope that these people realize that what made Mad Men a hit was the quality of the show, and not just the period setting.

Source: Variety

4. John Goodman has joined the cast of Stephen Daldry’s adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. The former Roseanne star joins Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks in the film which is sure to be Oscar bait.

“The drama centers on Oskar, a 10-year old boy who loses his father (Hanks) in the Sept. 11 attacks and goes on a cathartic journey to deal with his loss. He scours New York for information relating to the lock-box key box left behind by his father and meets an assortment of people along the way — each dealing with their own forms of grief and loss that connect and parallel his own.”

Source: THR

5. Nine years ago rap superstar Eminem made his movie debut in Curtis Hanson’s Oscar-winning 8 Mile. Despite a huge gross and critical acclaim, he didn’t seem interested in repeating that success – until now.

The rapper is set to star in Random Acts of Violence for 20th Century Fox, which is said to “center on an ex-con just released from prison who is trying to stay on the right side of the law despite pressure from his former comrades. At the same time, the FBI is trying to recruit him to bring down the syndicate.”

David Von Ancken, the director of the underrated Pierce Brosnan/Liam Neeson western Seraphim Falls and multiple episodes of Californication will direct the film.

A spokesperson for Eminem said:

“Eminem’s producing team, including his manager Paul Rosenberg, have been developing this project for some time. Everyone involved hopes that it comes to fruition and the film goes into production, but as of right now nothing is set in stone and there is no firm start date.”

Source: THR

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

View the original article here

Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: November 28, 2010

This week:

Disney gets Tangled with Harry Potter; Twilight producers have a Game Theory; the truth is out there with Mulder and Scully; Gael Garcia Bernal and Al Pacino say “no more” with Hands of Stone; the Empire doesn’t strike back but there is indeed love from Russia and Michael J. Bassett hears the bells of Saint Mary’s.

Box Office

Harry Potter remained box office champion over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The boy wizard and the Deathly Hallows: Part One should bank in the region of $80 million over the five-day weekend ($50 million for the three days). That gives the film a huge $220 million cumulative gross.

Disney’s Tangled in 3D had to settle for the runner-up position. The mouse house shouldn’t feel too bad, as the film banked an impressive $69 million over the five days.

Megamind was third after grossing approximately $19.7 million, for a total gross of $130 million.

Denzel Washington’s Unstoppable upped its total to $61 million after bringing in another $16.5 million over the weekend. It won’t hit $100 million, but it shows that Washington is a safe bet with older audiences.

Burlesque opened at number five. The Cher/Christina Aguilera musical should bring in about $17 million over the weekend. Expect the film to find more success on DVD – much like the maligned Showgirls.

Love and Other Drugs debuted at six after pulling in just under $14 million worth of coin. The Ed Zwick directed romantic comedy stars Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal. It could do better as awards season looms, since there has been some talk of Hathaway getting an Oscar nod (amongst other nominations) for her performance.

It looks like nobody is interested in what “The Rock” is cooking. Faster should take $12 million over the Turkey weekend – making it a miserable under-achiever. You can read our review of the film here.

Due Date continues to hang in there. After bringing in another $9.6 million over the Thanksgiving weekend, the film’s total now stands at $85 million. It looks like the film will limp to $100 million after all.

Russell Crowe’s The Next Three Days scored $7.5 million over the last five days. The Paul Haggis directed film has now brought in a smidgen under $15 million.

Morning Glory rounded out the top ten. The TV-set comedy brought in $5.9 million over the weekend for a $27 million total.

Movie News

1. Twilight producers Temple Hill, Alex Goldstone, and Adam Shulman will produce Game Theory for Summit Entertainment.

Michael Alan Lerner’s penned action-thriller is “focused on a college professor and game theorist who gets sucked into a large-scale global incident.”

Might it be stocked with some Twilight alumni?

Source: Variety

2. Recent rumors that a third X-Files film was imminent have been shot down – and it appears that Mulder and Scully have been making fun of the recent speculation.

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson were at the launch of Duchovny’s latest play The Break of Noon and when quizzed by NY Mag the pair said the following:

How often do you see each other?

Duchovny: Not often. Twice a year?

Anderson: Yes, twice a year.

Duchovny: Depending on whether we’re doing an X-Files movie or not. If we’re doing an X-Files movie, we see a lot of each other.

Anderson: In France, apparently, there is going to be one in France.

With you guys?

Duchovny: No, no. Not at all. Apparently the script’s written.

Anderson: We’re not in it at all.

Duchovny: But we always would love to do another one. So we’ll see. We’re getting a little long in the tooth, but we’ll do it. Just me. Not her. Long in the tooth, I mean.

Would you do your same roles or become FBI mentors?

Duchovny: Well, I wouldn’t be doing her part.

Anderson: I’ll be on crutches. He’ll be in a wheelchair. But, yeah, it would be fun.

Duchovny: I would do it forever. I will always come back. By the end of the run, we were all good.

The truth is out there. Who do you trust?

Source: NY Mag

3. Gael Garcia Bernal is attached to play Roberto Duran in an upcoming movie called Hands of Stone.

Jonathan Jakubowicz will write, direct, and produce the film, while acting legend Al Pacino is being courted to portray boxing trainer Ray Arcel.

The film will chronicle the “inside story” of Duran’s “No Mas” fight with Sugar Ray Leonard. In the dying seconds of the match Duran turned his back to Leonard and quit the fight, saying “No mas” (“No more”).

Source: The Wrap

4. The iconic air pistol held by Sean Connery on the movie poster for the 1963 James Bond film From Russia With Love was sold for $439,000 at auction in London. That figure was more than fifteen times the estimated amount!

Meanwhile, at the same Christies auction a Darth Vader costume from Empire Strikes Back failed to sell. The costume was expected to fetch somewhere in the region of $212,000 to $305,000.

Source: THR

5. Michael J. Basset will write and direct the supernatural horror film Saint Mary’s, working alongside creator and co-writer Matthew Kingshott.

According to THR:

“Billed as a psychological horror story about an evil presence in a disused mental asylum, Saint Mary’s details the story of a group of young people who are deliberately trapped inside a labyrinthine building where they find their deepest nightmares manifest themselves.”

Before then, Bassett has to call the shots on Silent Hill 2.

Source: THR

Just For fun:

Have you ever wondered what would happen if your favorite movie franchises got Disney-fied?

Go here to see more Disney-fication of your fave franchises.

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

View the original article here

Weekend Windows Fun: “How Windows Works”

November 21 2010 by admin in News |

I know this applies to any computer including Mac OS X and Linux. I feel the same frustration when my computer is performing a task and counting down from ten minutes and then ends with a message window that says ‘Finishing” which stays there for 3 more minutes.

Anyway, the frustrations of trying to communicate with a PC will provide us with many more years of inspiration to make graphs like these:

View the original article here

Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: November 14, 2010

This week:

Unstoppable is stoppable; Dune‘s future is looking bleak; Paramount readies some high-profile films; Warner Bros. want Tales From The Gangster Squad; Courtney Ford needs True Blood; will Merlin have magic? Women kick butt in The Athena Project; Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank and Ashton Kutcher get ready for New Year’s Eve; and lots more.

Last week’s champion Megamind and the Denzel Washington flick Unstoppable (review here), directed by Tony Scott, fought it out for the top spot over the weekend. It looks like the animated superhero film came out on top, after grossing an estimated $30.1 million, upping its total to $89.8 million.

That doesn’t mean that Washington’s film disappointed – as it grossed $23.5 million, which is business as usual for a Washington action effort.

Due Date dropped a rather large 51% and took in $15.5 million. The Robert Downey Jr. comedy has now banked $59 million. It won’t hit $100 million, but it should still turn a profit.

Sci-Fi film Skyline brought in $11.7 million – despite no stars and some pretty bad reviews (read ours here). Though, it’s likely to drop like a stone next week.

Morning Glory is underperforming. The Harrison Ford film has brought in $12.2 million since its mid-week launch ($9.6 million for the weekend). Rachel McAdams toplines the comedy from Roger Michell.

Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls took a massive hit and dropped 65%. The drama has now banked $31 million, after bringing in under $7 million over the weekend.

Bruce Willis’ Red continues to do well. The action film shot-up another $5 million, upping its cume to a smidgen under $80 million.

Horror holdovers Paranormal Activity 2 and Saw 3D both grossed in the region of $3 million. The former has scored $82 million, while the latter has brought in $43.6 million.

Jackass 3D grossed $2.3 million and rounded out the top ten. The stunt-filled pic has now grossed $115 million.

Movie News

1. If you’re waiting patiently for the new big screen adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune, then you might have to wait a while longer. Quite a while longer!

If the film doesn’t have a firm start date by the spring, then Paramount Pictures intends to end four years of development on the project and put the film into turnaround. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, turnaround means a film is put up for sale by a studio – and if another company picks it up, they pay for some of the development costs.

Chase Palmer wrote the latest draft of the script, and producers Kevin Misher and Richard P. Rubinstein are looking for a director – following the departure of Taken’s Pierre Morel.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens here.

Source: Deadline

2. While Dune may not be on the horizon for Paramount, it does look like they’ve firmed up production on a few forthcoming films.

Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are writing G.I. Joe 2 for the studio, while Art Marcum and Matt Holloway have been brought in to pen a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.

Zoolander 2 is also on the way and Star Trek 2 is set for June 29, 2012, with J.J. Abrams considering directing again.

Source: THR

3. Warner Bros. appear to be thinking outside the box when it comes to choosing a director for Tales From the Gangster Squad. The film has been described as “The Untouchables on the streets of L.A”.

Zombieland’s Ruben Fleischer, Crazy Heart director Scott Cooper, and Jose Padilha, the director of the Portuguese-language film Elite Squad, are in the mix to direct the film.

Source: LA Times

4. Dexter actress Courtney Ford has joined HBO’s True Blood in a recurring role.

According to Deadline:

“Ford will play Portia Bellefleur, a classic Southern beauty who runs her own law practice. The character is the sister of Bon Temps’ bumbling detective Andy (Chris Bauer).”

Source: Deadline

5. The failure of Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice hasn’t stopped Working Title from developing a film based on the wizard Merlin.

Jay Basu has been hired to write a script for the film.

Source: THR

6. It looks like Warner Bros. will pick up the screen rights to the new Brad Thor novel The Athena Project.

“The Athena Project introduces an elite all-female Delta team made up of four agents who try to stop a terror attack on American soil. After a terror attack in Rome kills 23 Americans, the agents are sent to hunt down the Venetian arms dealer who supplied the explosives. This leads to a much larger terrorist conspiracy.”

So, it’s like The Expendables with chicks. Cool.

Source: Deadline

7. Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hilary Swank, and Ashton Kutcher will star in New Year’s Eve, the follow-up to Valentine’s Day, for director Garry Marshall.

According to THR:

“The movie tells intertwining stories of a group of New Yorkers as they navigate their way through romance over the course of New Year’s Eve.

De Niro will play a bitter dying man in a hospital, while Pfeiffer will be a frustrated executive secretary who decides to tackle her unfulfilled resolutions. Swank would play a producer of the famed Times Square New Year’s Eve show. Kutcher would play a guy who hates New Year’s Eve.”

That’s $100 million in the bank right there.

Source: THR

Also:

Want to see Daniel Radcliffe in The Woman in Black? Go here.

Just For Fun:

The World’s worst DVD sales person. Or is that the world’s best?

That’s it for now. See you at the movies!

View the original article here