This week:
The box office has a severe Hangover; Vertigo tries to find the real Exorcist; Ed Neumeier talks RoboCop; Angelina Jolie is Wanted; Megan Fox is a Vampire Slayer and Dwayne Johnson goes Commando.
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Box office
The Hangover was a holdover this week in the number 1 position. The R-rated comedy should bank another $33 million over the weekend to bring the total of the film up to $100 million after one week on release. With a sequel already in development it looks like this is a new lucrative franchise for Warner Bros – one that doesn’t involve costly special effects. Up held onto the runner-up spot with a weekend take of about $30 million showing that people just love Pixar movies.
Tony Scott’s The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 arrived at number 3 this weekend with a gross of $25 million. The Denzel Washingtion/ John Travolta starrer faced some hefty competition but its opening is pretty normal for a Washington-led action film. It should have decent legs and a total of $70 million isn’t out of the question.
Night At The Museum 2 grabbed another $9.5 million this weekend, helping Ben Stiller secure at least one more family comedy in his future.
Will Ferrell’s summer bomb Land of the Lost managed another $9 million but the end is in sight and it looks like it’ll have to wait for DVD in order for it to see profit.
Speaking of bombs – Eddie Murphy’s Imagine That will eek out about $6 million. It looks like Murphy’s career may be over. Once he was the king of the box office with a slew of adult oriented comedies and then when things looked shaky, he moved into the family comedy arena where he had a very lucrative career. Now it looks like the family comedy genre is more interested in the likes of Ben Stiller. Does Murphy need Beverly Hills Cop 4? Probably – imagine that!
Long running franchise films Star Trek and Terminator Salvation are pretty much neck and neck with just under $5 million a piece. Their totals on the other hand couldn’t be more different. Star Trek has over $230 million while Terminator has about half that.
Drag Me To Hell and Angels and Demons are also a close call with about $3-4 million each. The Sam Raimi fright pic stands at about $35 million while the Tom Hanks starrer has banked about $125 million. I wonder how much Dan Brown is getting?
Movie News
1. Everyone loves a good scare, that’s why the horror genre is one of the most profitable genres. Horror films are usually relatively cheap to produce and if done right are cross generational (The Sixth Sense).
One of the most successful horror films of all time is William Freidkin’s The Exorcist. The 1970’s classic has spawned sequels, prequels and countless knock-offs. Now Vertigo Entertainment are set to adapt The Real Story Behind The Exorcist: A Study of the Haunted Boy and Other True-Life Horror Legends from Around the Nation’s Capital for the big screen.
The book (and I presume the film) follows a reporter who attempts to track down the real person who inspired the Freidkin movie. The reporter discovers that there is more to the story than meets the eye.
It sounds like it could be promising in a Mothman Prophecies sort of way.
Source: Bloody Disgusting
2. Ed Neumeier, producer and writer of Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop, has discussed the currently in development remake with Moviehole.
Neumeier who isn’t involved in the film said:
‘’Obviously, I hope they do a good job and don’t make a mess of it like they managed to with RoboCop 2 and 3. Darren Aronofsky, the director of record last time I checked, is a talented guy and I presume he’ll do something interesting. The biggest problem the new movie may face is MGM’s shaky financial health”.
Not an awful lot to go on but I presume that no news is good news. Having said that – it’s a shame that neither the writer nor Verhoeven are involved in the film, however the duo are developing a film together. Neumeier said:
“Verhoeven and I are hard at work on our epic about Los Angeles, the LAPD, marriage, divorce and bank robbery called Black & White and Red All Over.”
Source: Moviehole
3. Timur Bekmabetov is preparing Wanted 2 and Angelina Jolie is set to return in the sequel to last year’s action hit.
Bekmabetov told Russian site RIA Novosti:
“In July we will start preparation for the film. I think in the late autumn or winter shooting will be performed. The shooting will take place in America, India and Russia.”
Apparently the budget of the film will be in the region of $150 million. Expect a good chunk of that to go to Jolie.
Source: Comingsoon
4. Cinefools have some interesting (and far fetched) rumors.
The first being that Megan Fox is set to star in the new Buffy the Vampire Slayer film. Now, I’m pretty sure that this will never happen – but it’s probably safe to assume that Fox’s name at the very top of the producer’s wish list. However she is a very busy young lady and I’m not too certain that they’ll be able to snag her.
The Transformers 2 star is a hot commodity at the moment and just the kind of name that would probably make some fans forget that Joss Whedon isn’t involved in the reboot.
5. The second rumor (and slightly more likely) is that Dwayne Johnson is set to step into Arnold Schwarzenegger’s fatigues in the remake of Commando.
The Schwarzenegger remake/reboot bandwagon has been rolling on for some time with Terminator Salvation on release; Predators in development and Conan on the way. However, why remake Commando? It’s a pretty silly but highly enjoyable film that works because of Scwarzenegger and he is what separates it from a multitude of forgetful action films with D-list talent.
Johnson was all set to become the new Schwarzenegger until he was sidetracked by family comedy. Maybe he saw what happened to Eddie Murphy and decided that it’s time to get out the guns.
Source: Cinefools
That’s it for now. See you at the movies.
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21 Comments
**********Spoilers**********
How can Angelina Jolie be in a SEQUEL to Wanted??? She shot herself through the freakin head.
Megan Fox as Buffy….thats another reason for me not to see that movie. I think remaking “Commando” is a bad idea, IMO Arnold made that film.
Haha!!! Yeah, you’re totally right on that one Kinoda!
@kinoda, they want her in 2 for the same reason they put her in 1, so all of the horny 15 year-olds would flock to see it. They’ll find a way to get her in the movie, either her or Megan Fox. Those two are the go-to tramps to draw in the horny guys crowd.
About Commando, I don’t think Dwayne Johnson can be as badass as Arnold was back in those days.
Yeah Ken like there are no horny 25 or 35 year olds who flock to see movies with Jolie and Fox..
Arnold had the Terminator to cement his bad@$$ status..Johnson had The Rundown which I enjoyed but was no Terminator.
Remake Commando, wow that movie sucked eggs. How’s remaking it with Johnson going to change anything.
All these lame remakes,,, sigh,,,.
^
???, Does Eddie play duel roles in Imagine That?
Someone told me he also plays the little girl in that movie. Maybe I heard wrong. 6mil, won’t even cover the craft service or all the barriers they have to put around Eddies trailer’s so nobody can make eye contact with him.
I think the R rated Gumby movie is his last hope for a comeback… They can hire the same dorks that wrote Land of the Lost. And btw, that movie won’t make 120 mil on dvd. That was a huge bomb for Universal. Grope that Farrell.
Megan Fox is the female Jonny Depp, name a to be cast popular role amongst movie fans and the knee jerk reaction is to stutter out their name.
Really now though the current box office line up is filled with with big hitters that are running out of steam or just small fish, everyone is waiting for a certain Michael Bay movie to take centre stage.
Technically hollywod is SUPPOSED to remake bad films .
So,I wish them luck with Commando.
Who’d have thought that the Hangover would be the first movie to repeat on top of the box office especially considering the tent poles we have seen so far this summer. I think WB underestimated the Sunday drop for Hangover and Pixar overestimated UP’s drop..so the final numbers may be a little closer than that and it would not be suprising for me to see UP come out on top…
I though Commando was great but I was 15 and did not have great taste in movies..hence thinking it was great..I have only seen it once since it’s heyday and it seems very cliched now..
For instance:
Matrix: You’re a funny man, Sully, I like you. That’s why I’m going to kill you last.
Later in the film as he dangles Sully over the edge of a cliff
Matrix: Remember, Sully, when I promised to kill you last?
Sully: That’s right, Matrix. You did.
Matrix: I lied.
Then falls Sully…
Need I say more
Murphy will need a lot of epinephrine and a hell of a lot more than 200 biphasic joules to restart his career..
Thats my favorite scene in the whole movie….where he dropped Sully.
Kind of sucky movie news all around…
@ greenknight333 & Matt Keith
That part with Sully was my favorite of that movie too!
As for another Exorcist type movie? I’ll watch it. The Exorcist is pretty much the only movie that’s scary in my opinion. Some others come close, but to this day, anytime I watch the Exorcist I find myself getting goosebumps and paranoid that some demon is going to get me.
Commando is a damn classic. I’m hoping this remake talk is all BS that goes nowhere.
YEAH WANTED 2
im 21 as of today not 15 btw
Commando rules!!! You might think its silly but thats the one film that kicked off the macho one-man-army craze and it still rules. It was before First Blood: Rambo 2.
Sure it had silly lines, but it knew when to take itself seriously and when not to. It was a fun ride and also destroys everything set in it’s path.
This remake, didn’t they basically do a remake with those John Cena movies? And isn’t there a Russian remake as well?
Just leave this gem alone…Dwayne, Disney is paying your bills. Sorry but you cannot join Col. Matrix’ unit.
Well, I did something really stupid yesterday….I went to see Land of the Lost. Yes, that’s right, I’m a total and complete idiot. The movie is horrible. I agree with 790, it will not make it’s money back even with DvDs.
About Commando and that scene; if you look at Sully’s foot as Matrix is dangling him, you can see the cord around his ankle. Just another reason to laugh at the film. But for all its cheesiness, I did enjoy it. Hey, it’s Arny. the Rock had his chance to step into Arny’s shoes in Walking Tall (Arny had a cameo where it was like handing over the reins) but has decided to do family stuff instead. Too bad; I thought he would have made a great action star.
Wow, I knew The Hangover was a great comedy but 2 weeks as number 1. Let’s just hope the sequel is at least as good.
I must have missed something (which is quite possible because, you know, I am an idiot
), because I couldn’t find Moon anywhere in DC. I thought it was released last Friday?
I’ll never even consider watching ‘Buffy’ without Joss Whedon at the head. Megan Fox could be naked for 2 hours during the movie and I wouldn’t support it without Whedon.
I call your bluff Aristigon,,,
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