Screen Ninja

Uh Oh. The Hobbit needs a new director.

2010-06-01T02:01:00.002+01:00

In a statement to Theonering.net, Guillermo Del Toro has announced that he will no longer be directing the two part adaptation of Tolkien’s The Hobbit.

The ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’-director began pre-production work, including scripts, in August 2008 alongside ‘Lord of the Rings’ team Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, but the protracted nature of developments at MGM meant that other long-term projects were becoming compromised. Del Toro will continue in a writing role for several months.

At a press conference for his latest film, ‘Splice’, Del Toro revealed that: “we have designed all the creatures…we've designed the sets and the wardrobe. We have done animatics and planned battles sequences.... We are very, very prepared for when it is finally triggered."

Despite this, MGM’s financial woes are such that the film has still not been green-lit more than two years after Del Toro signed on as director. It was also reported in April that another major production, ‘Bond 23’, has been put on hold indefinitely.

“We feel very sad to see Guillermo leave the Hobbit, but he has kept us fully in the loop and we understand how the protracted development time on these two films, due to reasons beyond anyone’s control – has compromised his commitment to other long term projects”, says Executive Producer Peter Jackson. “The bottom line is that Guillermo just didn’t feel he could commit six years to living in New Zealand, exclusively making these films, when his original commitment was for three years. Guillermo is one of the most remarkable creative spirits I’ve ever encountered and it has been a complete joy working with him. Guillermo’s strong vision is engrained into the scripts and designs of these two films, which are extremely fortunate to be blessed with his creative DNA”.

Good news though. Talking to New Zealand’s Dominion Post, Peter Jackson has said that he would consider taking over the directorial reins. "If that's what I have to do to protect Warner Bros' investment, then obviously that's one angle which I'll explore.”

It’s a shame that Del Toro won’t be at the helm after all this, but I doubt I’m alone in wanting Jackson back. It’s certainly difficult to imagine anyone else doing it at this stage – no decent director is going to come in and not want to make changes and Jackson surely wouldn’t sit around to basically re-adapt it.

Who would you prefer to direct? Do you think Jackson can resist?

Weekend box office estimates:

2010-05-30T18:31:00.003+01:00

After a disappointing start last weekend, ‘Shrek Forever After’ finishes its second weekend down a respectable 38.8% to $43.3 million and a total of $133 million.

In Shrek’s previous outing (‘Shrek the Third’), takings were down 56.4% in the second weekend, although after a substantially larger opening.

Next up is the first of two new releases failing to set the box office alight despite hopes of being amongst the summer’s biggest, ‘Sex and the City 2’. Opening to $32.1 million, ‘City’ does not get close to the $57 million of its predecessor. Even if the extended weekend AND $14.2 million from Thursday are taken into account, it will be a struggle to surpass this figure.

The other big release of the week is ‘Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time’ from super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer. $30.1 million is way down of the first ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie ($46.6 million), which Disney have made no secret of wishing to recreate. With a relentless slew of big movies hitting theatres over the next few months, ‘Prince’ is highly unlikely to have the staying power/opportunity to replicate ‘Pirates’ total of 6.5 times its opening ($305.4 million).

In fourth place is ‘Iron Man 2’, down 39.2% to $16 million and a four-week total of $274.6 million. Worldwide takings sit at $550 million and although the worldwide total of the first film ($585.1 million) will be beaten soon, ‘2’ may not have the legs to out-gross it domestically. $43.8 million separates the two.

Rounding out the top five is ‘Robin Hood’. $10.3 million (-45.1%) gives Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe $83 million after three weeks in theatres. Outside the States, ‘Hood’ has taken $154.6 million, for a worldwide total of $237.6 million.

Elsewhere in the top 10, ‘Date Night’ has yet another small drop (39.9%) for $1.7 million in its eighth weekend and $93.4 million altogether. ‘MacGruber’ continues to plummet - $1.4 million brings its total to $7.1 million, doing nothing to suggest there is any appetite for SNL spinoffs.

‘Alice in Wonderland’ has now passed the $1 billion dollar mark and will shortly overtake ‘The Dark Knight’ to become the fifth biggest movie worldwide. This feat makes Johnny Depp the only actor to have two films break the billion dollar mark, the first being ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest’. ‘Alice’ is also the second 3D movie to make a billion dollars.

Estimates in full:
Shrek Forever After – $43,345,000
Sex and the City 2 – $32,125,000
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – $30,170,000
Iron Man 2 – $16,035,000
Robin Hood – $10,305,000
Letters to Juliet – $5,900,000
Just Wright – $2,200,000
Date Night – $1,750,000
MacGruber – $1,477,000
How to Train Your Dragon – $1,025,000

Figures from boxofficemojo.com

Next week sees the release of comedy 'Get Him To The Greek', 'Killers' and 'Splice'. Which will you be seeing and what will the box office look like?

If you haven't seen the trailer for 'Splice', starring Adrien Brody, take a look below.

De Niro, Pacino, Scorsese collaboration possible?

2010-05-25T15:55:00.001+01:00

In news that is sure to have fans salivating, Martin Scorsese revealed to the Indian daily newspaper The Hindu that Al Pacino is his choice to play Frank Sinatra in the big screen biopic he is working on, with long-time collaborator Robert De Niro taking on the role of Dean Martin.

Back in March, Scorsese told ShortList that he wanted Sinatra to be portrayed by different actors at various points in his life.

“And we’re still working on the Sinatra script. It’s very hard because here is a man who changed the entire image of the Italian-American. And that’s just one thing. Along with his political work, civil rights, the Mob...”

“I was hoping it would be a combination of [GoodFellas and The Aviator]. Yeah, because in structure I’d like it to be more like GoodFellas. But like The Aviator, it only deals with certain times in his life. We can’t go through the greatest hits of Sinatra’s life. We tried this already. Just can’t do it. So the other way to go is to have three or four different Sinatras. Younger. Older. Middle-aged. Very old. You cut back and forth in time – and you do it through the music. See what I’m saying? So that’s what we’re trying for. It’s very tricky.”

Scorsese and De Niro have worked together on eight occasions, but not since 1995’s ‘Casino’. Over the last couple of years rumours of a new collaboration have circled – in particular ‘I Heard You Paint Houses’ and more recently, a sequel to ‘Taxi Driver’, but as of yet nothing has been confirmed. This would, however, mark the first collaboration between Pacino and Scorsese. De Niro and Pacino have appeared together in three films, the most recent being 2008’s ‘Righteous Kill’.

Bloom, Corden join Waltz in 3D Musketeers

2010-05-24T16:17:00.002+01:00

Orlando Bloom and James Corden are the latest names to sign on for an upcoming 3D ‘Three Musketeers’ movie.

Summit Entertainment, known principally for the ‘Twilight’ franchise, is behind the Paul W.S. Anderson film. Anderson (‘Resident Evil’; ‘Alien vs. Predator’) will shoot the film entirely in 3D, making ‘Musketeers’ his second in the format following the upcoming ‘Resident Evil: Apocalypse’.

Bloom will play the Duke of Buckingham. Corden will portray Planchet, a servant. Alongside Bloom and Corden is Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz as the villainous Cardinal Richelieu. The titular Musteteers Athos, Porthos and Aramis are Matthew McFayden, Ray Stevenson and Luke Evans, respectively, whilst Mads Mikkelsen, Milla Jovovich and Logan Lerman will also star.

The film in set for a summer 2011 release.

Weekend box office estimates:

2010-05-16T20:04:00.004+01:00

In its second weekend, ‘Iron Man 2’ remains comfortably atop the box office, seeing off competition from the Scott-Crowe partnership’s ‘Robin Hood’.

Tony Stark is down 58.6% to $53 million and a two-week domestic total of $212.1 million. At the same point during its run ‘Iron Man’ was on $177.8 million, on its way to a surprising $318.4 million.

Outside the States, ‘Iron Man 2’ is already close to surpassing the total foreign takings ($266.7 million) of the original. Currently it has taken $216 million for a $428 million worldwide gross.

Ridley Scott’s big budget retelling of ‘Robin Hood’ opens in second with $37.1 million from 3503 theatres. This is a respectable opening, particularly considering the subject matter, but Universal has been keen to stress that success be judged worldwide as ‘Robin Hood’ is considerably more popular in the UK and Europe. ‘Hood’ has taken double its domestic total abroad ($74 million) for a worldwide opening weekend of $111.1 million.

This is director Scott’s third biggest opening ever, behind 2001’s ‘Hannibal’ ($58 million) and 2007’s ‘American Gangster’ ($43.5 million). It is Russell Crowe’s second biggest, behind ‘American Gangster’.

In comparison, ‘Gladiator’ opened with $34.8 million (unadjusted for inflation) back in 2000, finishing up on $187.7 million domestically and $457.6 million worldwide.

In third place is another new entry, ‘Just Wright’ starring Common and Queen Latifah, with $8.5 million.

Again with the smallest drop-off in the top 10, ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ continues to rack up ticket sales in its eighth weekend. Down 23.4% to $5.1 million, ‘Dragon’s’ domestic total sits at $207.7 million – domestically ‘Dragon’ is DreamWorks’ fifth biggest release ever (second biggest non-‘Shrek). Worldwide it has taken $415.5 million, and a sequel is already in the works.

Elsewhere, Steve Carell and Tina Fey’s ‘Date Night’ continues to show unexpected staying power. Down only 26.6% to $4 million in its sixth week, ‘Date Night’ is within site of the $100 million mark – somewhat remarkable given its solid but unspectacular $25.2 million opening. Relative to its unimpressive $12.2 million opening, Jennifer Lopez’s ‘The Back-Up Plan’ has taken a decent $34.2 million, bringing in another $2.4 million in its fourth weekend.

Although it has more or less finished in the States, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ has continued to score highly worldwide and is now the sixth biggest film of all time (unadjusted for inflation) with $980 million. If it can muster another $20 million, Johnny Depp will be the only actor to have two films gross a billion dollars.

Estimates in full:
Iron Man 2 – $53,000,000
Robin Hood – $37,114,000
Just Wright – $8,500,000
How to Train Your Dragon – $5,120,000
A Nightmare on Elm Street – $4,700,000
Date Night – $4,000,000
The Back-Up Plan – $2,465,000
Furry Vengeance – $2,300,000
Letters to Juliet – $1,375,000
Clash of the Titans – $1,255,000

Figures from boxofficemojo.com

The big release next weekend is ‘Shrek Forever After’, the last in the franchise. Also hitting theatres is ‘MacGruber’. What will you be seeing? What will ‘Shrek’s’ opening weekend look like?

If you haven't seen the 'Shrek Forever After' trailer, take a look below:

Weekend box office estimates:

2010-05-09T23:24:00.002+01:00

The only wide release this week, ‘Iron Man 2’, opens in first place with $133.6 million. This is the 6th highest opening weekend on record (3rd for a comic book adaptation) and also has the distinction of being the widest release in history (4380 theatres). The first ‘Iron Man’ opened with $98.6 million on its way to a surprise $318.4 million domestic total.

The worldwide gross already sits at $327.6 million, including $194 million overseas. In its entire run, the first film only took $266.7 million overseas, and ‘2’ should surpass that by next weekend.

Last weeks number one, ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, falls a steep 72.1% to $9.1 million for a two-week total of $48.5 million. Unadjusted for inflation it is the third biggest film in the ‘Elm Street’ franchise, and should overtake ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master’ in the next couple of days.

In third place is ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. DreamWorks’ latest takes $6.7 million in its seventh weekend to break the $200 million barrier and overtake ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’. Worldwide it has now grossed $408.8 million.

Elsewhere, ‘Date Night’ drops 30.1% to $5.3 million and a domestic total of $80.8 million, ‘Furry Vengeance’ is down 39.6% to $4 million – despite gaining five screens from its debut last week it should disappear from theatres pretty quickly. After two weeks it has earned just $11.6 million on its estimated $35 million budget.

Falling from the top 10, ‘Kick-Ass’ takes $1.5 million (down 66.6%). Domestically it has now taken $45.2 million and a shade under $75 million worldwide. Matthew Vaughn is reportedly working on a sequel.

Estimates in full:

Iron Man 2 – $133,600,000
A Nightmare on Elm Street – $9,170,000
How to Train Your Dragon – $6,760,000
Date Night – $5,300,000
The Back-Up Plan – $4,345,000
Furry Vengeance – $4,000,000
Clash of the Titans – $2,305,000
Death at a Funeral – $2,100,000
The Losers – $1,800,000
Babies – $1,575,000

Figures from boxofficemojo.com

‘M:I-IV’ gets director, release date

2010-05-08T18:49:00.003+01:00

The sequel to 2006’s ‘Mission: Impossible III’ has been given a December 16th 2011 release date. JJ Abrams will return in a producer capacity, alongside star Tom Cruise, whilst the movie will be helmed by ‘The Incredibles’-director Brad Bird.

Amongst Bird’s other directorial credits are ‘The Iron Giant’ and ‘Ratatouille’, although this will be his first live action feature.

Cruise told Empire Magazine: "Brad is enormously talented and [producer J.J. Abrams] and I are having a blast, cranking away. We're having a lot of fun. I like working with people I just love hanging out with. You get to hang out and laugh and talk stories and movies and technology: what are we going to do?"

Worldwide the series has earned more than $1.4 billion at the box office. The first and second instalments were directed by Brian De Palma and John Woo, respectively.

Cruise can next be seen alongside Cameron Diaz in ‘Knight and Day’, in theatres June 25th. If you haven’t seen the latest ‘Knight and Day’ trailer, take a look below:

JJ Abrams secret project with Spielberg revealed

2010-05-06T17:19:00.002+01:00

The ‘Star Trek’-director's next project has been revealed to be ‘Super 8’. Abrams has written and directed the film with Spielberg acting as producer. Paramount will unveil the trailer alongside ‘Iron Man 2’ in the US from Friday.

The teaser has reportedly been delivered to cinemas under typical Abrams-level secrecy. Special codes are needed to open the containing boxes.

Little is known of the plot, although Abrams confirmed to New York Magazine's Vulture blog that it "has nothing whatsoever to do with Cloverfield" as many pundits had speculated. The trailer is set in the 1970s and shows a collision between a train and a truck heading to Area 51.

Abrams’ ‘Lost’ is currently winding up but new spy drama ‘Undercovers’ has recently been picked up by NBC. He is also set to produce ‘Mission: Impossible IV’ as well as beginning work on a follow-up to his reboot of the ‘Star Trek’ franchise.

Ridley Scott confirms 'Alien' prequel(s)

2010-04-26T13:26:00.004+01:00

According to ‘Collider’, Ridley Scott has confirmed that he will be making two prequels to his 1979 hit ‘Alien’.

It is not yet clear whether Scott will take the directorial reins or more of a supervisory/producer role; or whether the two films will shoot back-to-back. However, in any case this will mark his first involvement with the franchise since the original. Speaking to MTV, Scott explained that the films will deal with the hitherto unexplained fate of the crew of The Space Jockey.

The movie will be shot using James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’-technology – Cameron was also responsible for the arguably superior sequel, ‘Aliens’ – and will be filmed in bright light and darkened afterwards, so as to be able to work in 3D. “That's the downside. The problem is you'll have to grade it later. You'll have to grit your teeth and light it not the way you'd like it. And then later, you're going to have to regrade it. Repaint it."

Costing $11 million at the time, ‘Alien’ went on to earn over $104 million at the box office and spawned three sequels and two crossovers with ‘Predator’.

Ridley Scott’s next film ‘Robin Hood’, starring frequent-collaborator Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, is set to open the Cannes Film Festival on May 12th. It is in theatres May 14th.

Weekend box office estimates:

2010-04-25T18:26:00.002+01:00

‘How to Train Your Dragon’ remained atop the box office in its fifth weekend with $15 million. Down only 23.5% (the smallest drop in the top 10), ‘Dragon’s’ domestic total sits at $178 million – ahead of ‘Monsters vs. Aliens at the same point despite a substantially slower start. It is currently DreamWorks’ 8th highest grossing picture domestically (5th non-‘Shrek’).

In second place is Jennifer Lopez’s return in ‘The Back-Up Plan’, a poorly-reviewed romantic comedy from CBS Films. This is the studios second release after January’s Harrison Ford/Brendan Fraser flop ‘Extraordinary Measures’. On the plus side, ‘The Back-Up Plan’ out-earned ‘Measures’ entire domestic run with its $12.2 million opening, although it can hardly be considered a success.

Next up is ‘Date Night’ with a decent hold (36.6%) for $10.6 million in its third weekend. Its domestic total sits at $63 million, making it Tina Fey’s highest grossing film to date.

In fourth is the second of three new releases, ‘The Losers’ with $9.6 million. It is Zoe Saldana’s second film in the top 10 and third in the top 15, although with the obvious exception of ‘Avatar’ neither has performed as well as expected.

Rounding out the top five is ‘Kick-Ass’, falling from the top spot after a less-than-stellar hold of 52.1% to $9.5 million. With a two-week total of $34.8 million it has performed solidly, but considering the buzz and positive reviews it is easy to imagine studio bosses having had higher expectations.

Elsewhere ‘Clash of the Titans’ falls 41.5% to $9 million and a domestic total of $145 million and Disney’s ‘Oceans’ opens in 8th with $6 million – the Pierce Brosnan-narrated follow-up to 2009’s ‘Earth’ has already taken $54.1 million overseas.

Estimates in full:
How to Train Your Dragon – $15 million
The Back-Up Plan – $12.3 million
Date Night – $10.6 million
The Losers – $9,605,000
Kick-Ass – $9,500,000
Clash of the Titans – $9,000,000
Death at a Funeral – $8,000,000
Oceans – $6,000,000
The Last Song – $3,700,000
Alice in Wonderland – $2,200,000

Figures from boxofficemojo.com

Opening next weekend are 'Furry Vengeance' and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. Will either be able to knock 'Dragon' from the top spot? Which will you be seeing? Let me know below!

Shyamalan goes 3D

2010-04-24T20:55:00.003+01:00

M Night. Shyamalan’s upcoming project ‘The Last Airbender’ is going to join the 3D train ahead of its July 2nd release date.

Stereo D, the company used by James Cameron on ‘Avatar’, will perform the conversion. They have reportedly been working with Shyamalan for several months, so this should (fingers crossed!) look better than ‘Clash of the Titans’.

This will mark the first film Paramount has ‘upgraded’, although they release DreamWorks’ pictures such as ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ and ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’.

‘The Last Airbender’ is a live-action adaptation of Nickelodeon’s animated TV series ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’, and is reportedly the first of a planned trilogy. On release, it will have strong competition from ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’, out 30th June.

Shyamalan’s last film was 2008’s ‘The Happening’ starring Mark Wahlberg that grossed $163 million worldwide.

Check out the latest trailer for 'The Last Airbender' below:

Avatar smashes more records

2010-04-24T14:01:00.003+01:00

In its first day of release, James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ is reported to have shifted over 1.5 million copies on Blu Ray in the States. In the fashion we have come to expect, it comfortably crushed the previous record of 600,000 copies set by ‘The Dark Knight’ in 2008.

The film is already on track to become to biggest seller of the year with overall first week sales easily breaking the 4 million barrier. Currently, the highest selling release of 2010 is ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ with over 6.2 million copies sold.

According to a representative from Fox, “Retailers sold out of 60% of their Blu-ray inventory on average, [and] mass merchants moved roughly 50% of their ‘Avatar’ DVDs.”

Several other editions of the DVD are planned for later in the year, featuring a raft of additional content.

For other recent ‘Avatar’ news, take a look here.

Mike Myers talks ‘Austin Powers 4’

2010-04-23T13:48:00.003+01:00

The long-awaited sequel to 2002’s ‘Austin Powers in Goldmember’ is reportedly ‘on track’ according to creator, writer and star Mike Myers.

Myers revealed to MTV that he is working with original director Jay Roach to create a new trilogy focussing on Dr. Evil.

"Things are on track," he said. "It's hard to keep a Stanley Cup team together and I'm very happy how insanely well it's gone. Then it gets hard to get everybody all together."

Talks for a fourth film have been ongoing since at least 2007, since which Myers has starred in ‘The Love Guru’ and the forthcoming ‘Shrek Forever After’. He was also in Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglorious Basterds’.

Austin Powers was first seen on screen in 1997 in ‘Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery’. The film was a modest success at the domestic box office, garnering $53 million on a $16.5 million budget, but it proved wildly more popular upon home release and quickly became a cult classic. This success prompted two sequels, and the three films have earned a combined $675 million at the worldwide box office.

Myers can next be seen in the final instalment of DreamWorks’ Shrek franchise, ‘Shrek Forever After’, released May 21st in the States and 9th July in the UK. Jay Roach’s next film in the Steve Carell comedy ‘Dinner for Schmucks’ out Jul 23rd.

Check of the 'Schmucks' trailer below, if you haven't seen it:

Cameron speaks on Avatar 2 + re-release

2010-04-22T20:44:00.001+01:00

James Cameron has revealed, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, that the follow-up to ‘Avatar’ will centre on the oceans of Pandora.

"Part of my focus in the second film is in creating a different environment - a different setting within Pandora," he said. "And I'm going to be focusing on the ocean on Pandora, which will be equally rich and diverse and crazy and imaginative, but it just won't be a rain forest. I'm not saying we won't see what we've already seen; we'll see more of that as well."

The director has explored his fascination with our own oceans in ‘Titanic’ and ‘The Abyss’ as well as in the documentaries ‘Expedition: Bismarck’, ‘Ghosts of the Abyss’ and ‘Aliens of the Deep’. The latter two were both produced in IMAX 3D.

Cameron also spoke of an upcoming re-release of ‘Avatar’ in both 3D and IMAX 3D this summer, featuring six minutes of previously unseen footage. "We were sold out of our IMAX performances right up to the moment until they were contractually obligated to switch to Alice in Wonderland, so we know we left money on the table.”

‘Avatar’ broke every major box office record on its way to becoming the highest grossing film of all time both domestically and worldwide, and is released on DVD and Blu-Ray today.

For everything we already know about the oceans of Pandora, have a look at this article over at MTV.

Marvel’s unknowns to hit the big screen

2010-04-22T17:23:00.004+01:00

Marvel, acquired last year by Disney in a $4 billion deal, plans to produce lower-budget films based on its ‘second tier’ of property.

Characters including Dr. Strange, Ka-Zur, Luke Cage, Dazzler and Power Pack are currently being developed for the big screen, although as of yet no names have been attached. Edgar Wright (‘Hot Fuzz’) is also known to be working on an adaptation of Ant-Man.

Budgets for the pictures are thought to be in the $20-40 million range – a far cry from the estimated $200 million budget for the upcoming ‘Iron Man 2’. However, the news has been greeted with enthusiasm by fans after years of anticipation.

Other big budget films in various stages of development include ‘Thor’, ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ and ‘The Avengers’. Marvel is also co-producing the untitled ‘Spiderman’ reboot with Columbia Pictures as well as an ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine sequel’ and ‘Deadpool’ with 20th Century Fox.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the second trailer for 'Iron Man 2', scheduled for release 7th May in the States and 30th April in the UK:

‘Dark Knight’ follow-up in 3D? Nolan unsure

2010-04-21T16:55:00.004+01:00

According to cinematographer Wally Pfister, who has worked with the ‘Inception’-director on each of his films, Nolan is yet to make a decision on the format. Speaking to Cinematical, Pfister also questioned whether the format will turn out to be little more than a fad; potentially out of fashion by the time their film is released.

‘The Dark Knight’ featured four major sequences shot in IMAX, although not 3D, and Nolan expressed at the time his wish that he could have shot the entire movie in the format. However, speaking on ‘Inception’, Nolan said he made the decision not to shoot his latest release using either IMAX or 3D cameras.

“We didn’t feel that we were going to be able to shoot in IMAX because of the size of the cameras because this film given that it deals with a potentially surreal area, the nature of dreams and so forth, I wanted it to be as realistic as possible. Not be bound by the scale of those IMAX cameras, even though I love the format dearly. So we went to the next best thing which was 65mm...3D I think is an interesting development. It’s something we’re looking at and watching. There are certain limitations of shooting in 3D. You have to shoot on video, which I’m not a fan of. I like shooting on film.” (Collider.com interview)

Pfister has received three Academy Award nominations for his work with Nolan on ‘Batman Begins’, ‘The Prestige’ and ‘The Dark Knight’. His work can next be seen on 16th July in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception’ starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Weekend box office estimates:

2010-04-18T18:03:00.002+01:00

In a weekend even closer than the last only $250k separates the top two and only $300k third and fourth, so the top four spots could all change by tomorrow. As it stands, though, ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ marks 13 of 18 weekends won by 3D films since the beginning of the year. All non-3D victories, incidentally, occurred in February.

‘Dragon’ climbs back into the top slot in its fourth week, down 19.6% to an estimated $20 million. Its domestic total stands at $158 million ($320.5 million worldwide), only $4.5 million off ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ at the same point – particularly impressive given the $16 million difference in opening weekends ($43.7 million as opposed to $59.3 million), and the usually-unappealing titular characters. At this rate ‘Dragon’ could quite feasibly break the $200 million barrier.

In second place is the first of two new entries, ‘Kick-Ass’, with a somewhat disappointing $19.7 million including $1 million from Thursday screenings. Estimates had it taking between $25-30 million, although positive word-of-mouth could help ‘Kick-Ass’ gather strength over the next few weeks.

Next up is ‘Date Night’, the Carell/Fey-comedy that eventually missed out on last week’s number one position, despite being ahead in studio estimates. With a drop of only 31.4% to $17.3 million, its two-week total sits at $49.2 million.

In fourth is ‘Death at a Funeral’ with $17 million. The Chris Rock comedy has received less-than-stellar reviews, but managed the highest per-screen average of the top 10. As with ‘Kick-Ass’, the budget was kept well under control ($21 and $30 million, respectively), so despite both performing below expectations, they are unspectacular as opposed to poor.

‘Clash of the Titans’ rounds out the top five, down 40.8% to $15.7 million, and is the only top five film relatively sure to holds its position when final figures are released. The three-week domestic total for the 3D-epic is $132.9 million, whilst worldwide takings bump it up to $251.6 million.

Elsewhere in the top 10, ‘The Last Song’ is down 41% to $5.8 million for $50 million after three weeks, ‘Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?’ has another steep drop (62.1%) to $4.1 million and ‘Alice in Wonderland’ takes $3.5 million to bring its total up to $324 million. In 12th place, ‘Avatar’ actually gained 46 theatres and 21.4% to take an impressive $1 million in its 18th weekend, and should cross the $750 million mark in the next week or so.

Estimates in full:

How to Train Your Dragon – $20,000,000
Kick-Ass – $19,750,000
Date Night – $17,300,000
Death at a Funeral – $17,000,000
Clash of the Titans – $15,770,000
The Last Song – $5,800,000
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? – $4,180,000
Hot Tub Time Machine – $3,545,000
Alice in Wonderland – $3,500,000
The Bounty Hunter – $3,200,000

Figures from boxofficemojo.com

What did you see this weekend? Will Jennifer Lopez’s ‘The Back-Up Plan’ or ‘The Losers’ take the top spot next week? What will their first weekends look like? Let me know what you think!

Weekend box office estimates:

2010-04-11T18:36:00.003+01:00

‘Date Night’ pipped ‘Clash of the Titans’ to first place at the box office by one of the tightest margins in recent months. The Steve Carell/Tina Fey-starring comedy took $27.1 million over the weekend, versus $26.8 million for the returning 3D epic. These positions could still change by tomorrow when the final figures are released.

‘Date’ represents a career-high opening weekend for Fey, comfortably topping 2008’s ‘Baby Mama’ ($17.4 million), although it is slightly below Carell’s average. His last picture (‘Get Smart’) opened with $38.6 million on its way to a domestic total of $130.3 million.

‘Clash’ gained 25 screens from last week, but slid 56.1% to $26.8 million for a ten day gross of $111.4 million. Foreign box office adds $45 million for a worldwide total of $155.4 million. Amongst similar films, ‘300’ was at $129.1 million at the same point without inflation or the 3D-surcharge being taken into account.

In third place with a drop of only 12.6% is ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, with $25.3 million. ‘Dragon’s’ total sits at $133.8 million and $256 million worldwide, after three weekends. This is only $7 million behind ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ ($140.2 million) at the same point.

Rounding out the top five are two films in their second week, ‘Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?’ and Miley Cyrus’ ‘The Last Song’. ‘Married’ drops a steep, but expected 62.4% to $11 million, whilst ‘Song’ is down just 37.5%. Their totals sit at $48.5 million and $42.4 million respectively.

Elsewhere, ‘Alice in Wonderland’ takes another $5.6 million for a $319.3 million total ($780.8 million worldwide). Unadjusted for inflation, ‘Alice’ is now the 30th highest grossing film of all time (22nd domestically). It has also overtaken the first and third ‘Pirates’ movies to become Johnny Depp’s second biggest film domestically. ‘The Bounty Hunter’ falls 29.4% to $4.3 million for a respectable total of $56 million.

Estimates in full:
Date Night – $27,100,000
Clash of the Titans – $26,875,000
How to Train Your Dragon – $25,350,000
Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? – $11,000,000
The Last Song – $10,000,000
Alice in Wonderland – $5,600,000
Hot Tub Time Machine – $5,430,000
The Bounty Hunter – $4,300,000
Diary of a Wimpy Kid – $4,100,000
Letters to God – $1,121,000
Shutter Island – $885,000
Avatar – $870,000

Figures from boxofficemojo.com

What did you see this weekend? Will you be seeing ‘Kick-Ass’ or ‘Death at a Funeral’ next week? What will their first weekends look like? Let me know what you think!

‘Phillip Morris’ a no-go in the States

2010-04-09T23:15:00.002+01:00

After extensive delays, Jim Carrey’s latest movie, ‘I Love You Phillip Morris’, has been shelved indefinitely by distributor CPG. It is now unlikely to see a theatrical release in the US, and is expected to go straight to DVD. (For an earlier look at Phillip Morris’s distribution issues, go here.)

Here’s an interesting question, though. Would the film have been delayed or shelved if, instead of two gay men, it was a lesbian couple? It’s a question that barely exists – even the ‘explicit gay sex scene’ wouldn’t have been cut.

Jim Carey and Ewan McGregor are both big names; Carey one of the biggest of them all, so who are their female equivalents? For the sake of argument let’s say its Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox, even though neither is as big a box office draw as Carey. The studios would be mauling each other in the hurry to get their hands on that.

This brings us to the question: why does Hollywood hide from male homosexuality? There are masses of gays working behind the scenes and for the studios, but it is still taboo for a major star to come out. That one of the biggest stars in the world can’t get a release on a film like Phillip Morris is just the trickle-down effect.

What do you think? Would this film have been released if it centred on women? Why does Hollywood shy away from homosexuality in front of the camera?

Read about Anna Paquin’s bisexual ‘revelation’ here.

Anna Paquin: Has gay become okay?

2010-04-08T23:49:00.003+01:00

"I'm Anna Paquin. I'm bisexual and I give a damn."

The True Blood star’s revelation temporarily crashed servers earlier this week for wegiveadamn.org, the site for the ‘Give A Damn’ campaign launched by the True Colors Fund. The organisation supports equal rights for gay, straight, bisexual and transgender people, and has featured promotion from a raft of celebrities, including Elton John and Kim Kardashian.

Obviously this attention has been hugely beneficial for the campaign as, I’m sure, was designed, but don’t believe for a second they didn’t know she was going to come out with this. The amount of interest garnered, particularly given of the irony of her already being engaged to a man, is still surprising, though.

This engagement to co-star (and onscreen love interest) Stephen Moyer was announced in August 2009, but the couple have claimed they are too busy filming the third season of ‘True Blood’ to think about marriage just yet. No word on more interesting news, like when this new season will premiere in the UK.

Conventional wisdom says that ‘coming out’ is Hollywood career suicide. For men, it still holds a massive taboo – this is why there are so few openly gay actors, and certainly no big stars, in a place as gay-friendly as California. In the last 12 months or so, though, it seems that for female actresses and singers, being bisexual is the big new ‘thing’. Besides Paquin, there’s been Amber Rose, Lady GaGa, Nicki Minaj, Nelly Furtado, Fergie, Megan Fox, Lindsay Lohan and Angelina Jolie. No comparable group of men are rushing to admit the same thing.

So, the question is: why have we suddenly accepted bisexuality in females, when male stars spend millions with publicists to hide and deny the same issue?

Similar story: Here

Weekend box office estimates:

2010-04-05T00:48:00.003+01:00

Warner Bros’ 3D ‘Clash of the Titans’ remake made light work of the competition on a busy Easter weekend, claiming the top spot with an estimated gross of $61.4 million. This was behind ‘300’s’ opening of $70 million, particularly given ticket price inflation and the 3D surcharge levied on many tickets, but strong nonetheless.

In second place was another new release, ‘Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?’ – his first non-Madea sequel – with $30.1 million. The original opened with $21.4 million on its way to a total of $55.2 million. Perry’s films are usually front heavy and point to a final gross of around $65 million.

Last weeks big opener ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ falls to third, although the holiday weekend limited the drop to only 33.2%. ‘Dragon’s’ $29.2 million gives it a two-week total of $92.3 million.

Next up is Miley Cyrus’ ‘The Last Song’. Respectable weekend takings of $16.2 million are not in the same league as the ‘Hannah Montana Movie’, but it would be unfair to expect as much. In contrast to other teen stars stepping away from their fame-making vehicle (‘Twilight’s’ Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart come to mind) this performed substantially better.

Rounding out the top five is Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with a drop of 53.3% to $8.2 million. Much of this can be attributed to a loss of 404 screens, the majority 3D due to ‘Titans’.

Elsewhere, ‘Shutter Island’ took $1.4 million for a seven-week total of $123.4 million. Both domestically and worldwide, ‘Shutter Island’ is now Scorsese’s second highest grossing film ever, behind ‘The Departed’. This performance has been markedly better than many predicted after its near five month pushback.

Estimates in full:

Clash of the Titans – $61,400,000
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? – $30,150,000
How to Train Your Dragon – $29,200,000
The Last Song – $16,203,000
Alice in Wonderland – $8,267,000
Hot Tub Time Machine – $8,000,000
The Bounty Hunter – $6,200,000
Diary of a Wimpy Kid – $5,525,000
She’s Out of My League – $1,463,000
Shutter Island – $1,462,000
Green Zone – $1,217,000
The Ghost Writer – $1,135,000

Figures from boxofficemojo.com

What did you see this weekend? You can also see what's coming out next weekend here.

‘The Last Song’ opens well. Box office report/predictions

2010-04-02T23:47:00.003+01:00

The Miley Cyrus-starring ‘Nicholas Sparks’ adaptation opened with $5.1 million on Wednesday to take top spot at the domestic box office. Thursday’s results have ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ comfortably back in first place, but the figure for ‘Song’ was nevertheless above expectations, and points to a total of around $20 million by Sunday.

However, ‘Song’ should only be good for fourth position once the weekend is done, with two big new releases (‘Clash of the Titans’ and ‘Why Did I Get Married Too?’) plus the returning ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ expected to outperform over the Easter frame.

This is the also the first weekend to have true competition for 3D screens. Alongside ‘Titans’ and ‘Dragon’, there is ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and, still in a few screens ‘Avatar’, and it will be interesting to see what effect this has on the numbers. Studios will, no doubt, use it to put further pressure on the theatres to convert screens faster.

Weekend Predictions:
Clash of the Titans: $65 million
How to Train Your Dragon: $30 million
Why Did I Get Married Too?: $25 million
The Last Song: $20 million
Alice in Wonderland: $12 million

Do you agree? What do you think these films will do? What will you be seeing this weekend?

April in Film: what's coming up?

2010-04-02T15:31:00.004+01:00

Here's a look at the wide releases coming up over the next four weekends.

Friday 2nd April

Clash of the Titans (Warner Bros)
3D fantasy epic starring Sam Worthington (‘Avatar’), alongside Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. A human-raised God leads the battle against Hades.
Director: Louis Leterrier (‘The Incredible Hulk’)

The Last Song (Buena Vista)
Written by Nicholas Sparks (‘Dear John’) alongside a novel of the same name, ‘Song’ stars teen sensation Miley Cyrus and real life boyfriend Liam Hemsworth (brother of ‘Thor’s’ Chris).
Director: Julie Anne Robinson

Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? (Lionsgate)
Janet Jackson featuring follow-up to 2007’s ‘Why Did I Get Married?’
Director: Tyler Perry

Friday 9th April

Date Night (Fox)
A well-cast comedy featuring Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg and Taraji P. Henson, about a couple who get more than they bargain for when they try to spice up their suburban life.
Director: Shawn Levy (‘Night at the Museum’)

Friday 16th April

Kick Ass (Lionsgate)
Overseas, Nicholas Cage’s latest has been called the reinvention of the superhero genre. Although possibly a slight overstatement, this is nevertheless a completely unique take on the comic book film.
Director: Matthew Vaughn (‘Stardust’)

Death at a Funeral (Sony/Screen Gems)
Remake of a 2007 British comedy of the same name, with a large cast including Chris Rock, Zoe Saldana and Tracy Morgan. A father’s death reveals his secret gay life.
Director: Neil LaBute (‘Lakeview Terrace’)

Friday 23rd April

The Back-Up Plan (CBS Films)
Romantic comedy starring the returning Jennifer Lopez, about a woman artificially inseminated by her male friend.
Director: Alan Poul

The Losers (Warner Bros)
Comic book adaptation with Zoe Saldana about an elite Special Forces team sent to Bolivia, only to find themselves the targets.
Director: Sylvain White (‘Stomp the Yard’)

Friday 30th April

Furry Vengeance (Summit Entertainment)
Family comedy – in the ‘Dr. Dolittle’ vein – with Brendan Fraser. A developer angers the local wildlife with his latest housing development.
Director: Roger Kumble (‘College Road Trip’)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Warner Bros/New Line)
Michael Bay-produced remake of 1984 slasher original with 'Shutter Island’s' Jackie Earle Haley as Freddie Krueger.
Director: Samuel Bayer

What will you be seeing? What will be the biggest film in April? Let me know below!

Disney and Shyamalan announce follow-up to ‘The Sixth Sense’

2010-04-01T00:25:00.002+01:00

Disney has revealed that original director M. Night Shyamalan will return to the film that made his name after wrapping up promotion for ‘The Last Airbender’. The first draft of ‘The Fifth Sense’ has been written by the director himself, with ideas already sketched out for four more films in the trilogy.

It is believed that all original cast members will return, including Bruce Willis as Dr. Malcolm Crowe and Haley Joel Osment as Cole Sear. ‘Fifth’ will act as a prequel, with all other films (Senses four through one) directly continuing the events of ‘The Sixth Sense’.

A spokesman for Disney said: “We think these five films have the potential to become the next ‘Harry Potter’ for us. The elements at the heart of Shamalamadingdong’s idea are universal – we all saw Bruce Willis – and now we can touch, taste and smell him, too.”

1999’s ‘The Sixth Sense’ remains Shyamalan’s highest grossing film both domestically ($293 million) and worldwide ($672 million). It received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director, losing both to ‘American Beauty’.

Adaptations, remakes & sequels: has Hollywood lost its edge?

2010-03-31T21:34:00.002+01:00

A look at the release schedule for 2010 reveals one thing immediately: there are very few original films coming out anytime soon.

Last weeks big picture was DreamWorks’ ‘How to Train Your Dragon’, based on a book. This week it’s ‘Clash of the Titans’, a remake and the second of at least six based on 80s films/TV shows. Then we’ve got ‘Kick-Ass’ and ‘The Losers’ (comic books), ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ and ‘Robin Hood’ (remakes), ‘Iron Man 2’, ‘Shrek Forever After’ and ‘Sex & the City 2’ (sequels) and ‘Prince of Persia (video game). That takes us up to the end of May.

In contrast there are just four big original ideas scheduled for release all year: ‘Inception’, ‘Salt’, ‘Knight & Day’ and ‘Grown Ups’. Out of these, only ‘Inception’ could really be considered daring or innovative (the others are all fairly safe bets). So why is it that the studios lose their nerve the moment things gets tough?

I don’t believe for a second there’s a drought of good ideas, but there’s almost no desire for even the slightest risk. Hell, Christopher Nolan had to make a billion dollars with ‘The Dark Knight’ before he could get the backing. Otherwise, studios are looking for anything that might come with a built-in audience. The post-Avatar rush for 3D conversion is similar in the sense that the format has a built-in level of interest/curiosity, at the moment, because it’s still new.

It’s a natural reaction to be cautious when money gets scarce, but it is often said those that invest and take risks during the downturn are the ones that reap the rewards. Apparently Hollywood isn’t subscribing to this. Creativity is undoubtedly suffering and one thing is certain. We, the viewing audience, are poorer because of it.

Do you agree? Would you rather see remakes/sequels/adaptations or original ideas? Let me know below!