Movie News Wrap Up: May 8, 2009

This week:

Will Ferrell has a Hangover while the box office is UP; Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway do Drugs; Mary-Kate Olsen, Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens are Beastly; Sigourney Weaver returns to aliens; Lemony Snicket gets animated and Roberts and Bardem Eat.

Pixar’s UP stayed on top of the box office with a second weekend gross of $44 million. With great reviews and $137 million already in the bank, it looks like UP will be one of the biggest hits of the summer season.The R-rated comedy The Hangover opened strong in second place with a weekend take of $43 million. With a sequel already in development, it looks like a weekend that Warner Bros. doesn’t want to forget.

Speaking of hangovers – Will Ferrell’s Land of the Lost opened to a pretty lackluster $19 million. Looks like the films chances of turning a profit are history. [NOTE: Parents Beware, Land of the Lost is not for kids. Though it's been advertised that way, the movie is full of adult humor.]

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian banked another $14 million giving the Ben Stiller family comedy a total of $127 million.

Star Trek amassed another $8 million for a grand total of $222 million. It looks like it might cling-on (geddit?) to the top ten for another couple of weeks.

Terminator Salvation finally crossed the $100 million marker after taking $8 million over the weekend. Although the domestic gross is low compared to the previous two entries in the franchise, the international openings for the film read higher than T3. A sequel should be on the way if the accountants are happy.

Drag Me to Hell fell down the charts with a second weekend take of $7 million. With $28 million in the bank so far, this has to be a disappointment for Sam Raimi.

Angels & Demons raked in another $6 million giving the Tom Hanks film a $116 million total gross. Again, international sales are strong and because of this we might see a sequel – but it’ll have a cheaper production cost that will probably be at the expense of Hanks’ and Ron Howard’s participation.

My Life in Ruins and Dance Flick round out the top ten while Wolverine took another $1.8 million giving the Hugh Jackman franchise film a total of $174 million.

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Movie News

1. Brokeback Mountain duo Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway are set to reunite in Love And Other Drugs.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“Gyllenhaal will play the salesman, who begins a relationship with a woman who has Parkinson’s (Hathaway) while on one of his sales calls. Their love story plays out in the political and social context of the time.”

Sounds like a barrel of laughs.

Director Ed Zwick (Defiance) hopes to start shooting in the fall.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

2. Mary-Kate Olsen, Alex Pettyfer and High School Musical’s Vanessa Hudgens will star in Beastly a modern teen retelling of Beauty and the Beast:

“Olsen’s character places a curse on a handsome egocentric young man, to be portrayed by Pettyfer, who’s physically transformed into everything he despises.”

The Daniel Barnz directed film starts shooting in Montreal on June 13th.

Source: Variety

3. Sigourney Weaver has signed up to star in two new comedies.

Weaver has joined the cast of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost’s alien-comedy Paul in an unknown role. The Greg Mottola film details the story of two science fiction fans who discover an alien near Area 51.

In You Again the actress will star opposite Kristen Bell. According to Variety:

“Bell will play a young woman who returns home for her brother’s wedding and is horrified to find he’s marrying her high school nemesis. Weaver will play the bride’s filthy-rich aunt.”

Weaver will next be seen a low-budget science fiction film directed by a first-timer named James Cameron. The film is Avatar.

Source: Variety
4. Brad Siberling has been taking up a Lemony Snicket sequel while he has been out doing the press rounds for Land of The Lost.

Speaking to IESB, Siberling said a sequel to the 2004 Jim Carrey-starrer may be on the cards but due to the time lag it would appear that the film will more than likely be animated (stop-motion being the most likely option).

Jim Carrey may still be involved if the film ever materializes.

Source: IESB.net

5. Javier Bardem is negotiations to join Julia Roberts in the film version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s memoir Eat, Pray, Love.

“Roberts plays the author, and Bardem will play Felipe, the man Gilbert meets and falls in love with on the final leg of a journey of self-discovery that began with the end of her marriage.”

Ryan Murphy will direct the film that is being produced by Brad Pitt.

Bardem is also on Oliver Stone’s wish list for Wall Street 2.

Source: Variety

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.