At the weekend box office, Avatar grossed another $30-million, beating all comers for the 7th weekend in a row, including Mel Gibson’s return to the screen in thriller Edge of Darkness, which despite earning mixed reviews scored $17 million. Avatar only needs a little more than $6 million to overtake Titanic as top domestic b.o.-grosser, and should do so by mid-week. Patrick Goldstein puts Avatar‘s grosses in perspective, adjusting for inflation. Another question: does Avatar‘s rolling b.o. success help or hurt with Oscar voters?
For his part, Harrison Ford should retire here and now. He sounded like death warmed over at the Globes, and has no clue what movies to do, clearly, having agreed to co-star with Brendan Fraser in the widely-panned Extraordinary Measures. The movie dipped 57% after its weak $7 million opening, and has totaled $10.4 million to date. CBS Films is off to a rocky start. Tom Vaughn’s last film? What Happens in Vegas.
by Anne Thompson, posted to Box Office, Winter, Directors, James Cameron, Franchises, Avatar, Genres, Thriller, Headliners, Mel Gibson on January 31, 2010 at 10:52am PST | Permalink | Comments (4)
The movie most likely to succeed this weekend is Roland Emmerich’s 2012, which I look forward to seeing with a crowd. The critic-proof doomsday movie is expected to do $40-50 million on over 3400 screens. I just want to see the VFX. That’s what Emmerich is good at. Even in the trailer John Cusack looks embarrassed.
Must See: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson’s adaptation of the Roald Dahl tale of wily foxes (Americans) vs. nasty farmers (Brits) is charming until it runs out of steam in the last third (the script is by Anderson and Noah Baumbach). But the stop-motion animation is gorgeous and voice actors George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman are superb. The movie has already performed well in the UK; it opens in NY and LA before going wide on Thanksgiving. The critics adore it: Tomatometer: 92%; Metascore: 88.
To counteract press about Anderson directing long distance from Paris to London, Fox is trying to showcase his involvement, which will also be a factor in whether the animation branch of the Academy takes Anderson seriously. Check out the clip on the jump.
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Genres, Animation, Thriller, Reviews on November 13, 2009 at 5:12pm PST | Permalink | Comments (3)
It is more likely that Matt Damon will score an Oscar nom for Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, which slices into Nelson Mandela’s 1995 pursuit of the rugby World Cup to unify South Africa, than Steven Soderbergh’s offbeat The Informant! which has already faded from the scene. Damon plays the captain of the South African rugby team, Francois Pienaar, and Morgan Freeman inhabits Mandela. Invictus opens December 11.
Check out the Apple trailer and the Green Zone trailer on the jump.
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Awards, Oscars, Directors, Clint Eastwood, Paul Greengrass, Genres, Biopics, Thriller, Headliners, Matt Damon, Video, Trailers on October 27, 2009 at 10:28pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (4)
It’s hard to resist the lure of a new Twilight Saga: New Moon clip. The marketing folks at Summit are trying to turn Taylor Lautner into the next Rob Pattinson. He’s the new romantic interest for depressed Bella (Kristen Stewart) while her vampire lover has fled the scene (to save her life, natch). Well, while Lautner worked out like crazy to give himself some physical heft for his role as a werewolf, and has developed a following—he’s no Pattinson. The sequel opens November 19.
by Anne Thompson, posted to Franchises, Twilight, Genres, Romance, Thriller, Independents, Summit, Marketing, Video on October 20, 2009 at 10:32am PDT | Permalink | Comments (8)
Weekend Box Office Winners
Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are led the weekend box office. While an estimated $32.4 million was a studio record for October (the movie was on some 3700 screens), the number wasn’t as big as some expected after its stellar Friday. The studio aimed the PG-rated film at a general, not family audience. But will the $90-million movie make its money back? Finally, Warners backed filmmakers working outside of the box, and that’s a good thing.
While I may have underestimated WTWTA a tad, I was right to be optimistic about F. Gary Gray’s Law Abiding Citizen, starring Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler. Its robust action trailer pulled in males to the tune of about $21.3 million. That was good news for The Film Department which financed the film, and for Overture which badly needed a hit. As Overture sits on the edge of its future, key backer John Malone will be glad to see the mini-major score its biggest opening to date.
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Box Office, Fall, Genres, Action, Horror, Independents, Thriller, Headliners, Keira Knightley, Independents, Overture, Studios, Warner Bros./New Line on October 18, 2009 at 11:05pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (10)
The first day of Telluride screenings kicked off Friday with IFC’s North American debut of Brit TV’s Red Riding trilogy, produced by Andrew Eaton and directed by Juian Jarrold, James Marsh and Anand Tucker. I screened Red Riding: 1974, the first installment of Tony Grisoni’s adaptation of four novels by David Peace. Cocky young journalist/womanizer (Andrew Garfield) faces his own Chinatown in Yorkshire as he investigates a possible serial killer/rapist. Garfield (Boy A) is strong as a guy with a good heart who can’t catch a break. The always impressive Rebecca Hall plays the femme fatale Faye Dunaway role and Sean Bean is the reporter’s nemesis, a real estate thug. This noirish tale never lets up as it digs darker and deeper and nastier than you’d ever expect. I look forward to parts 2 and 3, as the Yorkshire story continues into 1980 and 1983. (Here’s Todd McCarthy’s rave review.) Red Riding is not playing Toronto.
Saturday’s 3:45 PM Sneak Preview, as we had heard, is Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air, starring Vera Farmiga and George Clooney (who will be in Toronto). Saturday night is Oren Pell’s low-tech, scary $11,000 home video movie Paranormal Activity.
Saturday I’ll report on Last Station, which screened well Friday night (IFC looks interested) in front of some descendants of Leo Tolstoy, and I will interview An Education‘s Lone Scherfig and Carey Mulligan on the flip cam. Last Station could have used a leg up from Toronto (the festival passed), as key buyers Miramax, Weinstein Co. and Fox Searchlight are not in Telluride this year.
by Anne Thompson, posted to Festivals, Telluride, Genres, Thriller on September 4, 2009 at 11:35pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (0)
The new website for Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan’s Inception is up. Everything is genre these days. This looks like Matrix meets Shutter Island, which also stars DiCaprio. The scary thing about mind-movies—anything can happen, you don’t know what the rules of reality are. Film Drunk has culled some plot points.
Here’s the trailer:
by Anne Thompson, posted to Genres, Thriller, Headliners, Leonardo DiCaprio, Studios, Warner Bros./New Line, Video, Trailers on August 24, 2009 at 8:33am PDT | Permalink | Comments (1)
In a startling reveal of how dire studio financials have become in this recession, Paramount made a swift and surgical move to trim its year-end budget. Marketing meetings took place last week for Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, based on the Dennis Lehane novel and starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Running a little over two hours, the period mystery looks thrilling and commercial as hell. But the studio looked at the cold hard millions the release would require—even in October, with a possible costly Academy campaign down the line—and pushed the picture back to February 19.
UPDATE: Paramount issued this statement from chairman and CEO Brad Grey:
“Our 2009 slate was greenlit in a very different economic climate and as a result we must remain flexible and willing to recalibrate and adapt to a changing environment. This is a situation facing every single studio as we all work through the financial pressures associated with the broader downturn. Like every business, we must make difficult choices to maximize our overall success and to best manage Paramount’s business in a way that serves Viacom and its shareholders, while providing the film with every possible chance to succeed both creatively and financially.
Leonardo DiCaprio is among the most talented actors working today and Martin Scorsese is not just one of the world’s most significant filmmakers, but also a personal friend. Following a highly successful 2009, we have every confidence that Shutter Island is a great anchor to lead off our 2010 slate and the shift in date is the best decision for the film, the studio and ultimately Viacom.”
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by Anne Thompson, posted to Awards, Oscars, Genres, Thriller, Headliners, Leonardo DiCaprio, Studios, Paramount, Video, Trailers on August 21, 2009 at 2:41pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (9)
Nine is a popular number at the movies these days. Last week I saw Shane Acker’s animated dystopian adventure 9, featuring the voice of Elijah Wood, which opens September 9, 2009. Wednesday night I see Neill Blomkamp’s alien thriller District 9, produced by Peter Jackson. The German film Cloud 9 opens in New York this Friday and in LA on August 28. This fall I look forward to the Rob Marshall musical Nine. Earlier this year I missed the animated feature $9.99. I count four past movies named Nine, as well as such classics as Nine Months, The Whole Nine Yards, Nine Queens, Nine 1/2 Weeks and Nine to Five. Is any other number as frequently used in movie titles? I guess one and ten are just as common, finally. But why the plethora of nine titles in 2009?
Acker’s 9 got some positive buzz at Comic-Con. Filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bakmembetov were so excited by the visuals in Shane Acker’s 2005 Oscar-nominated UCLA thesis short that they helped to produce the Focus Feature. While the world and the visuals are stunning, the story is derivative and familiar. I want more depth and originality, post-Wall E. Here’s the original short:
Here’s my Cannes coverage on Marshall’s Nine:
The Weinsteins also debuted for buyers and press a featurette made by Rob Marshall of his musicalNine, which was adapted by the late Anthony Minghella from the Broadway musical inspired by Federico Fellini’s 8 ½. In the role of the womanizing director having a midlife crisis (played on-stage by Raul Julia and Antonio Banderas) is Daniel Day Lewis, who looks handsome and charismatic in the movie. (Yes, he sports an Italian accent. And sings. And dances.) Much of the story, like Marshall’s Oscar-winning Chicago, unfolds in the director’s mind as he muses over the women in his life: his mother (Sophia Loren), the village prostitute (Fergie), lover (Nicole Kidman), wife (Marion Cotillard), mistress (Penelope Cruz), interviewer (Kate Hudson) and costume designer (Judi Dench). The movie looks sumptuous, elaborate, visually dazzling. It also looks expensive, and was shot in London and Cinecitta (estimates range from $80 to $90 million). The risk for the Weinsteins: is there a market big enough to pay back the cost of a studio-scale all-stops-out musical? The movie opens during awards season, November 25. Here’s the trailer.
And District 9 clips and trailer:
by Anne Thompson, posted to Directors, Peter Jackson, Tim Burton, Genres, Animation, Horror, Musical, Period, Thriller, Video, Trailers on August 11, 2009 at 12:51pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (3)
Every day, I round up some items for your delectation:
David Carr remembers the age of Talk. So does Tina Brown.
One kvetch from the other side of the pond doesn’t realize that much of his least favorite jargon comes from Variety, which announces that Brit heartthrob David Tennant’s Hamlet will air on PBS.
I recommend the Sundance crowd-pleaser, the eco-thriller doc The Cove, which is definitely not for younger kids. It’s as disturbing as it is entertaining.
Here’s a round-up of cool trailers: It’s hard to tell what to make of Wes Anderson’s intriguing fuzzy animated movie The Fantastic Mr. Fox. We’ve never seen anything quite like this before. And George Clooney is a definite plus:
Richard Eyre’s The Other Man looks terrific: Liam Neeson is in Taken-mode as a cuckold who isn’t willing to lose Laura Linney to wife-stealer Antonio Banderas:
I’m there for the Coens every time. A Serious Man is set during their mid-west youth in 1967, as a physics professor (theater actor Michael Stuhlbarg) faces a life crisis:
by Anne Thompson, posted to Directors, Coens, Genres, Thriller, Video, Trailers, Writers, Screenwriters on August 4, 2009 at 12:35am PDT | Permalink | Comments (2)
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