Thompson on Hollywood

Weekend Box Office: Dolphin Tale Overtakes Moneyball in Second Inning

While it looked like Moneyball would assert its dominance over the weekend box office, another second weekender took the prize: Dolphin Tale. Again, the family movie pulled a bigger niche audience than too many competitors aimed at males and adults. Anthony D'Alessandro reports:Another flood of wide entries fragmented Fall moviegoers this weekend. Warner Bros./Alcon's heart-tugging crowd-pleaser Dolphin Tale yipped up $14.2 million in its second session, overtaking Sony's well-reviewed Moneyball, which fielded $12.5 million. Both films generated warm buzz throughout the week, especially on Rosh Hashanah last Thursday when some schools were off.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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October 2, 2011 4:33 AM
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More Than Just Funny: How Women Took Comedy by the Balls

On a weekend in which the multiplex was mainly a man’s world, Matt Brennan's "Now and Then" column this week focuses on news from the small screen. With Bridesmaids now available on DVD and a flurry of funny women hitting network TV, he got to wondering: are we in a golden age of women in comedy? Trailers below:I know. You already have seven problems with this column and all you’ve read is the teaser. So let’s slow down and lay out some of the assumptions I’m working with here: first, that women are funny, and not only to other women, despite what Christopher Hitchens might have to say on the subject; and second, that I recognize there are problems with using the term “golden age,” and will get to these near the end.

By Matt Brennan
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September 26, 2011 12:31 PM
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Oscar Watch: The Real Black Swan, Co-Host Franco Rehearses, Does Santa Barbara Q & A, Recites Byron

Never has one movie inspired more men to put on makeup and tights: see Johnny Knoxville at the Critics' Choice Awards and Jim Carrey on SNL, below. And here's the latest incarnation, The Real Black Swan: Lionsgate used Madea to promote Tyler Perry's latest, Madea's Big Happy Family (April 22).

By Anne Thompson
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February 1, 2011 6:20 AM
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Green Hornet Creams The Dilemma at Martin Luther King Holiday Box Office

Big-budget effects trumped raunchy buddy comedy as Michel Gondry and Seth Rogen's Green Hornet beat out Ron Howard and Vince Vaughn's The Dilemma at the Martin Luther King holiday box office. Anthony D'Alessandro reports.Monday morning Sony executives had every reason to keep Sunday night’s champagne flowing into their mimosas. Not only did the Culver City studio score big at the Golden Globes with The Social Network, but it continued to flex its B.O. muscle for No. 1 openers as superhero adaptation Green Hornet took $40 million over the four-day Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend. Meanwhile, Universal/Spyglass’ Vince Vaughn-Kevin James’ vehicle The Dilemma could have used a laugh track as the dramedy registered a low opening for both thesps at $21.1 million. Already, the media is proclaiming a recession for Hollywood after a three-day weekend haul of $127 million-plus (per Box Office Mojo estimates), which is 25% off last year’s $170 million. Their complaint: studios are delivering a crappy films. Relax. This is par for the course for January.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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January 17, 2011 5:59 AM
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Green Hornet Early Reviews Are Mixed

The early reviews are in on Michel Gondry and Seth Rogen's Green Hornet and they're all over the place.

By Anne Thompson
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January 12, 2011 2:18 AM
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Gondry to Direct Jimmy Kimmel Live to Promo Green Hornet

It might actually be worth watching. Joining an elite group that includes J.J. Abrams and Quentin Tarantino, Green Hornet director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) will direct an episode of ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live. Thursday night's episode will feature his star, Seth Rogen.

By Anne Thompson
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January 12, 2011 12:24 AM
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Pegg and Frost Talk Universal Road Comedy Paul and Tintin

Working Title co-chief Eric Fellner looked anxious before Universal's Comic-Con panel for Paul, an alien road-trip comedy reteaming Simon Pegg and his Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz co-star Nick Frost, as co-writers and co-stars. Seth Rogen voices the friendly alien that the two sci-fi geeks encounter after they leave Comic-Con for a road tour through Area 51. Sigourney Weaver, Jeffrey Tambor, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman and Jon Hader lend support. Director Greg Mottolla (Superbad) grabbed some exterior shots at the Con last year, but largely restaged the mammoth San Diego event with extras in Albuquerque. (According to Frost, when they asked if they could shoot inside the real Con, the fire marshall said, "no fucking way.")

By Anne Thompson
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August 2, 2010 7:15 AM
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Comic-Con: Gondry Talks Green Hornet

It's deja vu all over again at Comic-Con.

By Anne Thompson
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July 29, 2010 7:45 AM
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This Means War Casting Saga, WGA vs. IMDb, Boyle directs Olympics, Fairy Tales are New Vampires

- McG can't make up his mind on casting vidgame-to-film This Means War. While Reese Witherspoon is set to play the femme at the center of a dispute between two spies--best friends turned enemies in this action-comedy--the two male leads are up in the air. In-demand Bradley Cooper has bailed on the role originally intended for Martin Lawrence, while Seth Rogen and Chris Pine were both reported as attached at some point. Now Vulture asserts that McG has offered his Terminator Salvation star Sam Worthington the lead. The Playlist, which has been tracking the This Means War casting saga, writes that Justin Timberlake was being considered for the film, and filmmakers may go to Colin Farrell if Worthington is a no-go.

By Sophia Savage
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June 17, 2010 3:40 AM
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Summit Talks Eclipse Reshoots, Sony Denies Bad Hornet Rumors

Pity the studio corporate flacks who have to keep straightening out the rumors that hit the internet--especially big-name movies that will build traffic as they spread like kudzu. For example, IESB reported that Sony Pictures is apparently "displeased with the results" they've seen so far of Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet film adaptation, citing claims that the "tone is too campy, they're not happy with the work from director Michel Gondry and Seth Rogen does not look the part. At all. In fact, the feeling at Sony is the movie is a disaster."