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Weekend Box Office: 'Battleship' & 'The Dictator' Flop Hard As 'The Avengers' Continues To Dominate

  • By Gabe Toro
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  • May 20, 2012 1:12 PM
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  • 8 Comments
Box Office
Disney sure picked the right time to get in on that Marvel action. After the first Marvel films proved to be decent-sized hits, the studio came in like a shark, swiping the studio up for a few billion, expecting similar results. Yet, not only has “The Avengers” handily outdrawn every other superhero film thus far, but it's number one at the domestic box-office for a third weekend running, with a $55 million haul, and is actually now Disney’s highest grossing film of all time. Take that, “Flubber”!
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More: The Avengers, Marvel, Walt Disney Pictures, Battleship, Hasbro, Universal, Taylor Kitsch, What To Expect When You're Expecting, The Dictator, Weekend Box-Office

William Friedkin Discusses Frustrating Lawsuit Over His Undersung '70s Film 'Sorcerer'

  • By Edward Davis
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  • May 11, 2012 7:19 PM
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  • 7 Comments
News
When discussing the scrappy and hirsute "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls" generation of 1970s filmmakers, the narrative arc of William Friedkin is a fun one to tell, and is often the stuff of legend. While he doesn't rank up there among some of the peers of that era like Martin Scorsese, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, he was the first of them to deliver what many call the first true blockbuster before "Jaws" and "Star Wars" with 1973's "The Exorcist." Arriving just two years after his critical hit "The French Connection" (which earned him an Academy Award for Best Director; 4 wins and 8 nominations total), "The Exorcist" became one of the highest-earning movies of all time during its era, grossing over $441 million worldwide (which is still a great figure by today's standards).
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More: William Friedkin, Sorcerer, Paramount Pictures, Universal

Brand-Over? Universal Reportedly Paid Huge Multi-Million Dollar Penalty To Get Out Of Deal With Hasbro

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • February 7, 2012 3:24 PM
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  • 1 Comment
News
One particular movie spot during the Super Bowl must have elicited a very specific reaction among the millions watching the big game: "Huh? They've made a movie of the board game 'Battleship?' And Rihanna's in it? How does that work?" We're yet to see exactly if and how it works, but what's clear at this point is that the film is no longer going to be the first in a whole string of Hasbro adaptations from Universal.
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More: Universal, Hasbro, Stretch Armstrong, Candy Land, Battleship

Universal Pick Up Gus Van Sant/Matt Damon Drama; 'The Invasion' Scribe David Kajganich To Rewrite Ben Affleck's 'The Stand'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • January 19, 2012 9:01 AM
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  • 4 Comments
News
No matter what they do, the fates of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck will always be tied together. Having arrived as hot new things at the same time thanks to writing and starring in "Good Will Hunting" together, and cemented as a partnership thanks to joint appearances in various Kevin Smith films, it's easy to forget that the duo haven't worked together since Damon cameoed in the ill-fated "Jersey Girl." The pair are planning to reunite down the line -- with a film about legendary Boston gangster Whitey Bulger and "The Trade" a movie about wife swapping ball players in the works -- but with those efforts seemingly still a way off, they've got their own concerns.
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More: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, The Stand, Gus Van Sant, Universal, David Kajganich

Universal Hires Writers For 'Bruce Almighty' Sequel, With Jim Carrey Eyed To Return

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • January 9, 2012 8:01 PM
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  • 0 Comments
News
You would have to go back to 2008's "Yes Man" for the last bona fide Jim Carrey hit. Since then he's starred in the underrated "I Love You Phillip Morris" (which nobody saw anyway), that ill-advised version of "A Christmas Carol" (which did good business, but isn't exactly a Jim Carrey Movie) and last summer's "Mr. Popper's Penguins," which made good coin overseas, but didn't quite register stateside. It looks like he may have a comeback project in the long-developing "Burt Wonderstone" with Steve Carell, which starts lensing soon, but if things go according to plan he'll pick up on a franchise that "The Office" star had taken over for him.
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More: Universal, Jim Carrey, Bruce Almighty 2

Universal Lands Angelina Jolie & Luc Besson's Dramatic Thriller

  • By Kevin Jagernauth
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  • December 12, 2011 4:53 PM
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  • 2 Comments
News
After a year spent canceling a bunch of projects, ranging from R-rated fare like "At The Mountains Of Madness," potential awards season dramas like "Memphis," ambitious multi-platform franchise endeavors like "The Dark Tower" and a slate of bad idea brand movies like "Ouija," it looks like Univeral is ready to roll the dice on an original project once again. That it has one of the biggest movie stars on the planet in a lead role certainly doesn't hurt.
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More: Angelina Jolie, Luc Besson, Universal Pictures, Universal

Another Goddamn Found Footage Movie In The Works Thanks To Universal And 'The Strangers' Director Bryan Bertino

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • November 21, 2011 6:40 PM
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  • 4 Comments
News
The idea of 'found footage' -- taking a well-worn genre, usually horror, and giving it a mock-documentary spin, to make the terror and thrills that much closer to reality -- has been having a real kick of energy for cinema of late, pushing filmmakers to fascinating new places in a bid to do something different, with fascinating results that will provide food for thought in film studies classes for years to come.
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More: Bryan Bertino, Universal

Rumor: Are Bryan Singer And Leonardo DiCaprio Teaming For Big-Screen 'Six Billion Dollar Man'?

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • November 17, 2011 9:22 AM
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  • 2 Comments
News
It's hard not to lament the career that Bryan Singer might have had. When he broke out with the arrival of "The Usual Suspects," one of the most textured and well-achieved of the post-"Pulp Fiction" wave of crime flicks, it seemed like the annoucement of a major talent, and the underrated "Apt Pupil" only seemed to re-emphasize that. But ever since, the filmmaker has strayed further and further into the blockbuster world, and it has become clear that his ambitions lie more in becoming the next Richard Donner than a great auteur. The last fifteen years have seen two "X-Men" movies -- the second admittedly being by some distance the best in the franchise -- one "Superman" film and one big-budget Tom Cruise war film. 
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More: Bryan Singer, Leonardo DiCaprio, The Weinstein Company, Universal

Universal Head Ron Meyer Says He Makes 'Shitty Movies,' Bashes 'The Wolfman,' 'Land of the Lost'

  • By Oliver Lyttelton
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  • November 4, 2011 12:21 PM
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  • 0 Comments
Also Calls 'Cowboys & Aliens' 'Mediocre,' But He Likes 'Scott Pilgrim'
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More: Universal, The Wolf Man

Universal's No-Name 'Wolfman' Reboot Going Straight-To-DVD

  • By Ryan Sartor
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  • November 1, 2011 2:21 AM
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  • 0 Comments
From the studio that brought you a bunch of “Bring It On” sequels and “Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball” comes “Untitled Werewolf Thriller,” a direct-to-DVD (and Blu-ray and On Demand) movie that will trod the same territory as last year’s Academy Award-winning talent suck, “The Wolfman.”
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More: Film Studios, Films, Modern Horror, Universal

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