The Playlist

Weekend Box Office: Audiences Smuggle 'Contraband' Into The Number One Spot Over 'Beauty & The Beast 3D'

By Gabe Toro
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January 15, 2012 1:43 PM
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2 Comments

Box Office

After a year which sported the lowest attendance numbers in sixteen years, studios are looking for all the bright sides they can find. Thus far, 2012 has provided them, with big number one debuts for a cheap horror acquisition and, now, a solidly mid-budgeted star vehicle. "Contraband" nailed the top spot this weekend, of the four day holiday weekend, that was slightly down from last year. However, this is a solid win for Universal, who spent $40 million on the Mark Wahlberg project, gambling that the film would open uncharacteristically big for an R-rated January offering.

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Mark Wahlberg Talks "First Choice" Casting & Giovanni Ribisi Reveals What Docs Helped Him Prep For 'Contraband'

By Jen Vineyard
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January 12, 2012 4:08 PM
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0 Comments

News

Whenever Mark Wahlberg is a producer on a film he's starring in, he sits down with the director and the casting director (usually Sheila Jaffe) and comes up with a wish list of who he'd like to be in the cast -- "Contraband" is the first time he got "our first choice for most of the parts in the film."

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Review: In 'Contraband' The Humans Aren't Nearly As Compelling As The Bullet Holes

By Gabe Toro
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January 11, 2012 6:30 PM
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Reviews

Chris Farraday, the protagonist of “Contraband,” is a popular movie construct. Handsome, wide-shouldered, and with a movie-star smile, he’s tough enough to have done some Very Bad Things, but also principled enough to be retired by the time we meet him. Chris is an ex-drug smuggler, and the life doesn’t seem to have done much for him. Clad in form-fitting jeans and tee-shirts, he still hangs out at the same ratty bars with his low-life former criminal acquaintances. It’s a character as walking, talking movie shorthand: we know what he was, what he is, and, likely, what he’ll have to become again.

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Mark Wahlberg Says Jennifer Lopez Chasing Role In 'Cocaine Cowboys'; Film Aiming To Shoot This Summer Or Fall

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 10, 2012 6:15 PM
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6 Comments

News

With "Contraband" hitting theaters this weekend, Mark Wahlberg is out doing the rounds with the press, and he's game for talking about anything. And to his credit, he's got a lot to talk about. The actor has a laundry list of projects in the works at any given moment. And one that has been moving in fits and starts for the past little while is "Cocaine Cowboys," but according to Wahlberg, it could be lensing as early as this summer and not only that, a pretty big name is already looking for a role.

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Mark Wahlberg Says They're Looking For A New Director To Helm 'The Fighter' Sequel

By Jen Vineyard
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January 9, 2012 9:57 AM
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5 Comments

News

Remember that alleged rift between Mark Wahlberg and David O. Russell? Despite their three films together -- "Three Kings," "I Heart Huckabees," and "The Fighter" -- and Wahlberg being one of the director's main cheerleaders (unlike, say, George Clooney), there may be something to the rumors. The Playlist spoke to Wahlberg last week and when the subject of Russell came up, the actor became quiet and diplomatic.

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Mark Wahlberg Blames Hurried Release Schedule For Ruining Tim Burton's 'Planet Of The Apes'

By Drew Taylor
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January 3, 2012 3:28 PM
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3 Comments

News

While promoting his forthcoming counterfeit thriller "Contraband" (out later this month), star Mark Wahlberg was asked by MTV about his involvement in Tim Burton's "Planet of the Apes," since the new entry in the franchise, last August's "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," got considerably kinder reviews. "I haven't seen it yet, but I heard it was pretty damn good," Wahlberg said. "Well, ours wasn't. It is what it is." Wahlberg with the self deprecation.

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Mark Wahlberg Compares His Justin Bieber Basketball Movie To 'The Color Of Money'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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December 28, 2011 9:26 AM
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5 Comments

News

For all the action and special effects you can stuff into a film, one of the most appealing things to an audience can be seeing two of their favorite stars face off for the first time. Think Pacino & De Niro in "Heat." Diesel and The Rock in "Fast Five." Crystal and Williams in "Father's Day." OK, maybe not the last one. As such, there's one film that, ever since its announcement, looks to be the true successor to that coffee shop scene in Michael Mann's classic, a team-up so enticing that it can only be a license to print money. Wahlberg. Bieber. BOOM. Two tickets and a large popcorn, please.

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Mark Wahlberg & Dwayne Johnson Frontrunners For Michael Bay's Low Budget Dark Comedy 'Pain And Gain'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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December 5, 2011 3:40 PM
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1 Comment

News

So, what does a Michael Bay movie look like without $100 million dollars worth of explosions and Victoria's Secret models? We'll soon find out. The director is pushing ahead with plans to do a smaller film after his trilogy of "Transformers" movies and despite the low budget -- somewhere around $20 million bucks -- he may be getting two pretty big starts to help him out.

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Mark Wahlberg, Marion Cotillard & Zoe Saldana Eye Guillaume Canet/James Gray Project 'Blood Ties'

By Oliver Lyttelton
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November 2, 2011 2:20 AM
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1 Comment

James Gray's 'Low Life' With Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Renner & Marion Cotillard Aims To Start Shooting In January 2012Given the Hollywood-friendly slickness of his directorial efforts to date, it was only a matter of time before French actor Guillaume Canet made a film in the U.S. The star of "The Beach" and "Love Me If You Dare," among many others, stepped behind the camera to much acclaim with 2002's Cesar-nominated "Mon Idole," the 2007 thriller "Tell No One" (which Ben Affleck is planning to remake), and followed it up with 2010's "Little White Lies," all of which showed an international sensibility.

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John Oritz Joins David O. Russell's 'The Silver Linings Playbook'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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October 28, 2011 3:49 AM
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1 Comment

Are David O. Russell & Mark Wahlberg No Longer BFFs After Splitting On The Film?As David O. Russell's long developing "The Silver Linings Playbook" now rolls in front of cameras, he's added one more to the cast. Variety reports that respected theater actor John Ortiz -- who has made appearances in "Fast & Furious," "Jack Goes Boating" and "Public Enemies" among others -- has joined the film playing lead Bradley Cooper's best buddy.

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