Movies: Ghosts and Monsters Top the Box Office

This just in Dreamworks Animation announced their next animated film called "Poop on a Stick" and it is already projected for a $60 million opening! This coming on the heel's of "Monsters Vs. Aliens" opening this weekend to an expected $58 million from 4,104 sites and a killer $14,181 average. The opening was no where near the last two "Shrek" films but on par with last year's Dreamworks offering "Kung FuPanda" which opened to $60 million last June. "Monsters" did play in around 2,000 3d theaters and with the elevated ticket prices a matching of "Panda's" haul was expected. But it is still a solid opening for the commercial juggernaut.

The real surprise of the weekend came at the number two spot where the Virginia Madsen starring "The Haunting in Connecticut" scared up $23.1 million from 2,732 sites for a very strong 8,422 average. The fright flick was projected to finish in the mid teens but made an almost 10 million dollar jump. The tally once again proves the allure of horror films released in the early months of the year.

This move was not unlike the one experienced by last week's number one film "Knowing." The Nicholas Cage thriller, which surprised insiders to lead the frame last week, held strong falling only 40 % to an estimated $14.7 million for a total cume of $46 million.

40% is a great hold for a science fiction film as they typically lose 50-60 percent of their audience but the true hold over of the week is the laugher "I Love You, Man" which lost only 29% of it's audience. It came in with a strong $12.6 million tally and a cume of $37 million. The Paul Rudd starring film should continue it's strong hold and be headed towards 60-80 million.

Rounding out the top five is the under performing "Duplicity" which fell by 45% to an estimated $7.5 million for a two week gross of $25 million.

Overall the Box Office was up a whopping 58 percent over a year ago when "21" led the box office with 24.1 million.

1	Monsters vs. Aliens	$ 58,200,000			4,104	1	$ 14,181	$ 58,200,000	Paramount
2	The Haunting in Connecticut	23,010,000			2,732	1	8,422	23,010,000	Lionsgate
3	Knowing	14,700,000	24,604,751	-40.3	3,337	2	4,405	46,215,000	Summit
4	I Love You, Man	12,600,000	17,810,270	-29.3	2,717	2	4,637	37,007,000	Paramount
5	Duplicity	7,556,000	13,965,110	-45.9	2,579	2	2,930	25,639,000	Universal
6	Race to Witch Mountain	5,637,000	12,786,041	-55.9	3,268	3	1,725	53,295,000	Buena Vista
7	12 Rounds	5,300,000			2,331	1	2,274	5,300,000	Fox
8	Watchmen	2,750,000	6,801,114	-59.6	2,010	4	1,368	103,291,000	Warner Bros.
9	Taken	2,700,000	4,057,695	-33.5	1,961	9	1,377	137,074,000	Fox
10	The Last House on the Left	2,611,000	5,776,160	-54.8	2,251	3	1,160	28,459,000	Universal

Movies: Bizarre "Stooges" to Hit Big Screen

I don't know about you but when I think Sean Penn I think hilarity and I definitely think physical comedian. If this sounds like a bizarro description of the recent Oscar winner to you,well, then we have entered the Twilight Zone.  The most serious man on Earth has been cast as Larry in the Farrelly Brothers directed "The Three Stooges"  Joining Penn are Che Guevera himself Benicio Del Toro as Moe and elastic comedian Jim Carrey as Curly.  The film will not be a biopic of the three actors but a comedy about the antics of the three characters.  

The cast is certainly star studded and out of the box. My first thoughts were to discount this but I'm sure Penn and Del Toro can do anything and say what you want about Carrey but he is a brilliant physical comedian.  I'm looking on with curiosity.

Movies: Bobby's DVD Corner 3.24.09

Namaste, Wilkkomen, and greetings I'm your intrepid reporter and managing editor Bobby Shortle and I thought I'd try my hand at a weekly DVD column. I will attempt to run over the week's major releases and give you an idea of what I think is worth your scratch. I'm going to start small but if you enjoy the column please get in contact with me and I'll expand it. Without further ado let us dive deep into the dark waters of retail and see what we find.

Quantum of SolaceA very good action film and a middle of the road Bond film. I felt it took too much from the Bourne films and lost alot of the British flair that Casino Royale seemed to balance so well. That being said you can do a lot worse it's worth a watch for the opera house scene alone. The disc itself includes 8 featurettes the longest being the 24 minute "Bond On Location." This is a big week for 007 because....

Never Say Never Again, Moonraker, The World is Not Enough


It's a Blu-Ray and Bond kind of week as three films from three eras hit shelves. Connery's Never Say Never Again, Roger Moore's Moonraker and Pierce Brosnan's The World is Not Enough. All three were much maligned upon their respective releases and have fared no better as time passed. That being said the previous Blu-Ray releases have been solid discs with outstanding transfers. So, if you like the suave Englishman you could do worse.

Bolt

2008 was a great year for animated films and although Bolt wasn't the best of the big three (Wall E and Kung Fu Panda being the others) it was certainly a return to form for Disney Animation Studios. They stopped trying to impersonate Dreamworks and got back to telling solid stories. All Disney films are sites to behold on Blu-Ray so if you are picking it up there you won't be disappointed. As far as features there is:
All-New Exclusive Super Rhino Short
Deleted Scenes
A New Breed Of Director: A Filmmaker's Journey
Act, Speak! The Voices Of Bolt
Creating The World Of Bolt
Miley Cyrus And John Travolta Sing The Song I Thought I Lost You In Studio
DisneyFile Digital Copy

Watchmen: Tales of the Black Freighter

From the desk of fucking awesome shit Watchmen companion Tales of the Black Freighter hits shelves this week. The DVD also contains a mockumentary "Under the Hood" which is pulled from the appendix of the novel. My better judgment says to leave this and wait for the catch all Watchmen DVD to hit later this year. But since when does DVD buying have anything to do with better nature?

Movies: Cage Box Office King!

So, you can count me in the shocked category on this Sunday afternoon because math thriller Knowing has landed Nicholas Cage on top of the box office once again. The Alex Proyos(Dark City, The Crow) film nabbed $24.8 million on 3,332 screens for a $7,447 average. Prior to this weekend's haul most industry experts were tracking the film at third place bow and around $15 million for the weekend. That prediction was blown out of the water when the sci fi offering pulled in $8.9 million on it's first day. Knowing once again proves the muscle that Cage brings to genre pictures.

Finishing very strongly (and right on expectations) was the Paul Rudd, Jason Segal vehicle I Love You, Man the laugher co-starring Rashida Jones toke in an estimated $18 million with a $6.641 average from 2,711 sites. This opening is right on target with other comedies of it's ilk with Role Models and Forgetting Sarah Marshall pulling in $19.2 and $17.7 million respectively. There is great word of mouth on Man and it should hold up as well as those other pics did.

The other new release of the week Duplicity opened decently in third place with $14.4 million. The Clive Owen/Julia Roberts vehicle failed to incite the same kind of fire as the similar Mr. and Mrs. Smith which bowed in the summer of 2005 to a whopping $50 million. That movie had the benefit of the summer season and a spicy Angelina Jolie/ Brad Pitt off screen tryst. Still, there was a day when a Julia Roberts movie would not be third banana.

The top five was rounded out by a couple of holdovers. Disney's Race To Witch Mountain fell 46% for an estimated $13 million and Watchmen continues its precipitous fall losing 62% of its audience for a weekend haul 0f around $6 million. The two films have gathered $44 million and $98 million respectively.

I did want to note one more top ten film. Coraline swept back into 3-d theaters this weekend and in doing so only lost about $600,000 weekend to weekend. It came in at number 10 with around 2 million bucks. It's nice to see such a well made film really resonating with a main stream audience. It's total cume now sits around $72 million.

1	Knowing	$ 24,813,000			3,332	1	$ 7,447	$ 24,813,000	Summit
2	I Love You, Man	18,005,000			2,711	1	6,641	18,005,000	Paramount
3	Duplicity	14,402,000			2,574	1	5,595	14,402,000	Universal
4	Race to Witch Mountain	13,004,000	24,402,214	-46.7	3,187	2	4,080	44,715,000	Buena Vista
5	Watchmen	6,720,000	17,817,301	-62.3	3,510	3	1,915	98,060,000	Warner Bros.
6	The Last House on the Left	5,921,000	14,118,685	-58.1	2,402	2	2,465	24,047,000	Universal
7	Taken	4,100,000	6,568,651	-37.6	2,661	8	1,541	133,139,000	Fox
8	Slumdog Millionaire	2,700,000	5,002,777	-46.0	2,067	19	1,306	137,202,000	Fox Searchlight
9	Madea Goes to Jail	2,510,000	5,108,532	-50.9	1,835	5	1,368	87,208,000	Lionsgate
10	Coraline	2,143,000	2,718,231	-21.2

Video Games: Milano Ain't Afraid of No Ghosts!

Source: Variety

Ghostbusters: The Game has taken a hit in nostalgic cred but a major step up in the hotness meter as Alyssa Milano has signed on to voice Dana Barrett in the Atari published game. The part was originally played by Sigourney Weaver who declined the chance to reprise her roll.

How weird is the world when you can get the normally aloof Bill Murray to come back but not Rick Moranis or Sigourney Weaver. Milano is a good actress my only pause is that it might sound out of place. She is certainly saying the right things though. Milano stated "I have so much respect for that character in the movie that I hope I do the position that she is in justice. I was just flattered to be asked to be part of 'Ghostbusters'."

Ghostbusters: The Game hits the PS3. XBOX 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, PS2 and PC on June 16th.

Movies: Set My Ring of Power to Stun!

It seems DC/Warner Brothers might not be so far off from launching on of their major heroes to the big screen and they are looking to Captain James T. Kirk to do it.

Chris Pine who is all set to play the non Shatner Kirk in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot may be slipping on that all powerful ring and becoming the Green Lantern. That's word over at IESB anyway, where they report that Pine is at the top of the casting list.

This would mark the first major hero outside of Batman and Superman to make it to the big screen. (I don't count Catwoman and neither should any rational human being).

The film would be the story of Hal Jordan, a test pilot who was given a power ring by a dying alien, Abin Sur, and who became a member of the Green Lantern Corps, an interstellar organization of police overseen by the Guardian of the Universe.

Casino Royale director Martin Campbell is set to helm with an eye on a December release date.

Movies: Whitaker Expendable, 50 Cent Necessary!

How do you go from Oscar winner to a sort of popular rapper? For the answer to that you must ask Sylvester Stallone. It has been rumored for a few days the Forrest Whittaker would have to back out of Stallone's macho epic The Expendables due to scheduling conflicts the only question was who was to replace him? Naturally Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson of course! I don't quite get how they are playing similar folks but it might just come down to the fact that they needed to start shooting and 50 was available.

For those of you who don't know what The Expendables is it's the story about the US with the help of other Nations secretly put together a squad of its most trained military personal to finally over throw the dictator who has caused devastation in South America for over 20 years. The team sets out on its mission to complete the assassination but with little help from the nations as they try to keep the mission secret. After they realize that there will be no outside help they rely on their own sources to fight not only the dictator's army but also the Governments that set them up.

The plot is whatever I know but take a look at this cast!
Hale Caesar is Curtis Jackson
Toll Road is Randy Couture
Monroe is Eric Roberts
Tool is Mickey Rourke
Bao is Jet Li
Lee Christmas is Jason Statham
Lacy is Charisma Carpenter
Barney 'the schizo' Ross is Sylvester Stallone.

Movies: "Sorority Row" Trailer

The horror remake train is still at full steam. This year we've had Friday the 13th. My Blood Valentine and Last House on the Left and now there is Sorority Row. The remake of the 1983 film House on Sorority Row stars a bunch of nameless pretty people and of course Princess Leia. Head on over to MySpace for all sorts of HD goodness.

Movies: "Up" Making History at Cannes

Source: Variety

Pixar continued their dance up the Hollywood prestige ladder today with announcement that their latest film Up would open the Cannes Film Festival. This marks the first time in a history that an animated film and a 3d film of any kind will kick of the festival. Up will, of course, screen out of competition.

Pixar has always been a genius factory but Wall-E was heralded by many critics as being the best film of the year and one of the best Sci Fi films of all time. However, it is said that Disney brass including John Lassester have been disappointed with the Box Office takes and think taking it to France will make people take notice. Cannes has obviously taken notice.

"Cannes has demonstrated for many years its interest in animation by selecting films from DreamWorks, as well as films that use animation differently," said Thierry Fremaux, the fest's director. "It's audacious to open the festival with an animated film, but we're conscious of our duty: By stretching its boundaries, cinema remains universal."

"It's a great honor for the Walt Disney Studios, and our incredibly talented cast members at Pixar Animation Studios, to have 'Up' selected as the first animated feature to ever open the Cannes Film Festival," said Disney chairman Dick Cook. "We are so proud of this terrific movie and can't wait to share it with the film making community and festival goers."

Disney Animation Studios head John Lasseter said, "This is a huge step for animation and further supports our belief that a great animated film is simply a great film."

Movies: Transformers 3 Has A Date!!

Dreamworks and Paramount are jumping on the money train or should I say money autobot a little early this year.

Three months from the release of the second film the two studios announced that "Transformers 3" will hit theaters on July 1st 2011. This move continues the trend of Transformers marking out the July 4th holiday weekend.

Megatron joins Thor, Captain America, and Spider-man who were allready in habiting the dog days of 2011. Variety reports that: " No deals have been inked with director Michael Bay or franchise stars Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox. Nor has a writer been hired for the third installment."

I could feign anger at Hollywood's consistent relase date before script trend but honestly it's a story about huge robots who change into cars. How much does the script really matter.

Movies: Sin City 2?

I'm still convinced that we will not know when "Sin City 2" is coming until Robert Rodriguez finishes shooting it in his garage. But Rosario Dawson decided to tease us a little bit this weekend. Both with the above photo and with this quote:
“Yeah, I talked to Robert [Rodriguez] and Frank [Miller]... They actually just finished the script for ‘Sin City 2’ a few months ago.”

Count me in no matter what.

Movies: "Thirst" Trailer

Korean "Oldboy" director and all around genius Park Chan-wook is laying his golden finger upon the vampire genre. "Thirst" tells the tale of a beloved and devoted priest from a small town volunteers for a medical experiment which fails and turns him into a vampire. Physical and psychological changes lead to his affair with a wife of his childhood friend who is repressed and tired of her mundane life. The one-time priest falls deeper in despair and depravity. As things turns for worse, he struggles to maintain whats left of his humanity.The trailer is embedded below!

Movies: Marvel Release Date Shake Up!

Only one more bit of Marvel news today I promise! Today Marvel Studios announced a lot of new release dates for their upcoming films.  Including the announcement of their first co-produced Spider-man picture.  I'm kind of excited about this delay.  I thought all these films were coming too fast anyway.  Now they will at least have the appropriate time to gestate and be the awesome movies we know they can be.  Below is an excerpt from Nikki Finke's column....

“This new schedule strongly sequences Marvel’s movie debut dates, big screen character introductions and momentum. It maximizes the visibility of our single character-focused films, leading to the highly anticipated release of the multi-character THE AVENGERS film in 2012,” said David Maisel, Chairman, Marvel Studios.

Sony Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ SPIDER-MAN 4 is slated for May 6, 2011. To date, all three motion pictures in the phenomenally successful SPIDER-MAN franchise have generated nearly $2.5 billion worldwide theatrically.

Below is Marvel Studios’ 2010-2012 updated release schedule for its slate of self-produced and financed feature films:

Marvel Studios Feature Film Pipeline
IRON MAN 2: formerly May 7, 2010, now May 7, 2010
THOR: formerly July 16, 2010, now June 17, 2011
CAPTAIN AMERICA: formerly May 6, 2011, now July 22, 2011
THE AVENGERS: formerly July 15, 2011, now May 4, 2012

The release date for IRON MAN 2 remains unchanged.

Movies: Scarlet a Widow and Rourke a Ruski

The internets is a buzz today with Marvel news.....

Mickey Rourke is in baby!! Marvel has ponied up the dough for Randy the Ram to play a yet to be named Russian villian in "Iron Man 2."  This is a big win for the film as it strengthens an allready stellar cast.  Rourke will join Downey, Paltrow, Jackson, Rockwell and....

It is being reported in the trades that Scarlett Johansson is all set to play Iron Man frienemy Black Widow in the upcoming "Iron Man 2."  The roll was originally offered to Emily Blunt but she had to bow out when Fox exercised it's option and put her in "Gulliver's Travels."  

Rourke? Johansson? Thoughts anyone...

Movies: "Twilight" Franchise Going Classy?

Variety and Nikki Finke are reporting that Summit Entertainment has inked "The Orphanage" director Juan Antonio Bayona to direct "Eclipse," the third film in the Twilight franchise.

Considering that "New Moon" the second film in the series has not yet started production a directorial announcement may seem strange. However, it is to be noted that "Eclipse" is due out in just over a year from now so Summit had to get a move on.

This choice of director is a great one.  In fact it reminds me of Alfonso Cuaron helming "Prisoner of Askaban" except for the fact that the Potter series comes from far superior source material. Bayona is a disciple of Guillermo Del Toro and a really talented guy in his own right. So, I'm anxious to see what he does with the franchise.  

Movies: Saturn Award Nominees

The nominees for the 35 annual Saturn Awards were announced today. The Saturn Awards which are put on by The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films are a specialty award show catering to genre films. Head right over to their official website for all the details!

Science Fiction Film
"The Day the Earth Stood Still"
"Eagle Eye"
"The Incredible Hulk"
"Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
"Iron Man"
"Jumper"

Fantasy Film
"The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian"
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Hancock"
"The Spiderwick Chronicles"
"Twilight"
"Wanted"

Horror Film
"The Happening"
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army"
"The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor"
"Quarantine"
"Splinter"
"The Strangers"

Action / Adventure / Thriller Film
"Changeling"
"The Dark Knight"
"Gran Torino"
"Quantum of Solace"
"Traitor"
"Valkyrie"

Actor
Christian Bale, "The Dark Knight"
Tom Cruise, "Valkyrie"
Robert Downey, Jr.. "Iron Man"
Harrison Ford, "Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Will Smith, "Hancock"

Actress
Cate Blanchett, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Maggie Gyllenhaal, "The Dark Knight"
Angelina Jolie. "Changeling"
Julianne Moore, "Blindness"
Emily Mortimer, "Transsiberian"
Gwyneth Paltrow, "Iron Man"

Director
Clint Eastwood, "Changeling"
Jon Favreau, "Iron Man"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Christopher Nolan, "The Dark Knight"
Bryan Singer, "Valkyrie"
Steven Spielberg, "Indiana Jones & Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
Andrew Stanton, "Wall-E"

Network Television Series
"Fringe"
"Heroes"
"Life On Mars"
"Lost"
"Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles"
"Supernatural"

Movies: Loki Might be Joshin!

This story comes to us courtesy of IESB and JoBl and tells tale of a Thor casting rumor. Apparently Josh Hartnett is in the running to play the god of mischief himself Loki.

For those of you unaware Thor is the story of, well, Thor who is the Norse god of thunder. He is sent to earth by his father Odin to learn humanity and humility. Loki is his brother and constant fly in his ointment. Kenneth Branaugh is set to direct for a July 2010 release. Thoughts on Hartnett as Loki?

Movies: Fantastic Again?

According to IESB 20th Century Fox is looking to reboot the "Fantastic Four" franchise. They plan to tone down the campiness and turn the production more towards an "Iron Man" like tone. The reboot would mean a totally different team. So, that mean Alba is out,Gruffold is out and Tim Story is out. However, Chiklis and Evans being out is not the best news. Evans as the Human Torch was the saving grace of both mediocre films.

I'm glad they are deciding on a new direction I just can;t put much faith in Tom Rothman's capabilities of letting a good hero movie happen.

Television: Let the Ratings Be With You!

The long gestating "Star Wars" live action television show is getting itself underway. George Lucas revealed to MTV that this new show will he show will center around minor characters from the mythology between REVENGE OF THE SITH and the original STAR WARS. We will follow the Rebel Alliance as it slowly gains strength against the Empire. There will be no Storm troopers nor Jedi.

It doesn't seem to matter how many Jar Jars, Jake Lloyds or gay Hutt clan members Lucas gives me I still find myself stoked beyond belief at this news. I'm always hungry for more of the universe and hopefully with television budget constraints Lucas can make something more akin to the first trilogy. Thoughts?

Movies: We Were Watching the "Watchmen" This Weekend

A 20 year journey to the silver screen ended in a number one debut for comic book adaptation "Watchmen" this weekend. Director Zack Snyder's new film collected an estimated $55.7 million making it the third best March debut behind "Ice Age 2" and another Zack Snyder film "300." There was hope in some circles that "Watchmen" would open higher but it is still a major win for a film that was once believed impossible to make.

Tyler Perry's "Madea Goes to Jail" slid into a distant second place with $8.8 million for a cume of $76.5 million after it's third weekend.

Disney's "Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience" plummeted 78% and just barely hung on to the top ten finishing in ninth place with $2.8 million. It's cume stands at a disappointing $16.8 million.

"Slumdog Millionaire" fell 42% to fourth place with a weekend tally of $6.9 million and raising the Oscar winner's cume to $125.4 million. The Weinstein Co.'s "The Reader" reached the $30 million mark as it grossed an estimated $2 million.

Overall the box office was up a healthy 11% from last year continuing a successful first half of the year for Hollywood.

Chart is courtesy of Box Office Guru:

1	Watchmen	$ 55,655,000			3,611	1	$ 15,413	$ 55,655,000	Warner Bros.
2	Madea Goes to Jail	8,800,000	16,175,926	-45.6	2,151	3	4,091	76,505,000	Lionsgate
3	Taken	7,450,000	9,864,197	-24.5	3,016	6	2,470	118,049,000	Fox
4	Slumdog Millionaire	6,925,000	12,026,343	-42.4	2,890	17	2,396	125,441,000	Fox Searchlight
5	Paul Blart: Mall Cop	4,200,000	5,602,392	-25.0	2,558	8	1,642	133,643,000	Sony
6	He's Just Not That Into You	4,020,000	6,011,405	-33.1	2,445	5	1,644	84,647,000	Warner Bros.
7	Coraline	3,313,000	5,261,129	-37.0	1,959	5	1,691	65,680,000	Focus
8	Confessions of a Shopaholic	3,121,000	4,634,534	-32.7	2,290	4	1,363	38,356,000	Buena Vista
9	Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience	2,785,000	12,510,374	-77.7	1,276	2	2,183	16,791,000	Buena Vista
10	Fired Up	2,600,000	3,701,562	-29.8	1,798	3	1,446	13,360,000	Sony