Alice still rules the box office while the Green Zone doesn’t make enough green; Dustin Hoffman turns his hand to directing with Quartet; Hoffman’s also in Luck as he gets a 48 Hours to transform for Rome; don’t take the news that True Grit has added Pepper with a pinch of salt; Hemsworth has a genie in a bottle and it’s not Christina Aguilera in Arabian Nights; Ryan Reynolds gets Buried in September; Kirsten Stewart welcomes the Riley’s and might Keanu Reeves have another excellent adventure with Bill and Ted?

Box Office

Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland retained the top spot this week with an estimated weekend take of of $62 million. The Johnny Depp starrer has now banked a highly impressive $208 million in ten days.

Matt Damon’s Green Zone had a lower than expected opening, grossing $14 million over the weekend. The film was expected to open with  in the $18 million range – even with the Bourne goes to Iraq press it looks like the US public just don’t like Middle East based thrillers.

Comedy She’s Out of My League had an so-so $9.5 million debut over the three days.

Robert Pattinson’s Remember Me banked $9 million over the weekend. The films debut was again on the soft side, as it was expected to open in the region of $12 million. At least Pattinson has Twilight to fall back on.

Shutter Island crossed the century mark over the weekend, The thriller has now banked $108 million – not bad for an adult focused thriller.

Our Family Wedding had a $7.5 million start, while Avatar brought it’s cumulative gross up to $730. The James Cameron film has now grossed more than $2.6 billion world wide!

Bruce Willis’ Cop Out brought in just over $4 million, giving the film a total just short of $40 million. Fellow cop movie Brooklyn’s Finest had a similar gross, for a $21 million total.

Movie News

1. At the age of 72, it looks like Hollywood legend Dustin Hoffman has no intention of slowing down. After news that the Oscar-winning actor was set to star in Luck for Michael Mann and HBO comes the news that the diminutive star is set to direct his first film.

Dustin Hoffman is currently in talks to replace Richard Loncraine (Firewall) as director of Quartet. The film which is about retired opera singers is based on a stage comedy by Ronald Harwood with a script by The Pianist scribe Finola Dwyer.

The not insignificant acting talents of Maggie Smith, Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay are signed to the project that is being produced by BBC Films.

Will Hoffman also star as the fourth member of the Quartet?

Source: Deadline

2. Speaking of Luck – the drama series has now found a few more cast members.

Transformers actor Kevin Dunn, Rome star Kerry Condon and Tom Payne are all signed to the show and Nick Nolte is also said to be circling the project.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“Dunn will play the prodigious misanthrope who is the ringmaster of a syndicate of misfits. Nolte would play the trainer of a top racehorse. Condon will play the exercise rider for the horse who is interested in Bug Boy (Payne), an apprentice jockey.”

The actors will be joining the aforementioned Hoffman and Dennis Farina and John Ortiz in the Michael Mann produced show.

Source: THR

3. Battlefield Earth star Barry Pepper has now joined the cast of the Cohen Brothers True Grit.

Pepper will star as…er… “Lucky” Ned Pepper, which is the role that Robert Duvall played in the 1969 John Wayne Western.

True Grit also stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Hailee Steinfeld.

Source: Variety

4. Liam Hemsworth is in negotiations to star Chuck Russell’s 3D adventure film Arabian Nights.

According to Heat Vision Blog:

“Written by Russell and Barry P. Ambrose, the period epic centers on a young commander (Hemsworth) who, after his king is murdered in a coup, joins forces with Sinbad, Ali Baba and the Genie from the magic lamp to rescue the queen, Scheherazade.”

The actor is the brother of Thor star Chris Hemsworth.

Source: Heart Vision Blog

5. Lionsgate will release the Ryan Reynolds starrer Buried on September 24th.

“In Buried, Paul (Reynolds) is a U.S. contractor working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone it’s a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.”

Get ready to have nightmares!

Source: Shock Till You Drop

6. The fall will also see the release of Twilight star Kristen Stewart’s non vampire starring film Welcome to The Riley’s.

The Jake Scott (son of Ridley) directed drama also stars James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo.

According to Deadline:

“Gandolfini and Leo play a couple whose marriage becomes a wreck following the death of their teenage daughter. On a business trip to New Orleans, the husband finds himself drawn to an underage prostitute, insinuating himself as her platonic guardian.”

Sounds like a barrel of laughs.

The film apparently got some great reviews at Sundance – most notably for Stewart’s acting.

Source: Deadline

7. When MTV caught up with Keanu Reeves on the red carpet of last week’s Oscars they couldn’t help but ask him about the chances of a potential sequel to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

The star replied by saying:

“I’m trying, I’m trying.”

The when asked if he was joking he said

“I’m not. We’ll see.”

MTV is unsure of the Matrix star is yanking their chain, or being serious. In Hollywood today anything is possible – so I wouldn’t be too surprised.

Wow!

In the past Reeves has always said that it would be good to catch up with Bill and Ted in their forties. As that time is here, it  appears that we may not have seen the last of Bill and Ted.

So is this news Excellent?

Source: MTV

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

To kick off the last week of January 2010 we have news that a couple of quite highly anticipated films around these parts have been picked up for distribution by different studios: The Robert Rodriguez directed/co-written exploitation film, Machete, has landed at 20th Century Fox and the “Ryan Reynolds in a box” thriller, Buried, has been picked up by Lionsgate. Read on for the details.

MACHETE

After a bidding war for Robert Rodriguez’ latest film, Machete, 20th Century Fox emerged the victor. Fox now has the domestic distribution rights to the film, beating out other studios like Paramount and Lionsgate (amongst others). In case you’re not familiar with the name, Machete was originally one of the faux trailers found in Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino’s exploitation throwback, Grindhouse. Along with Eli Roth’s trailer Thanksgiving, Machete was the only one I think could have been fleshed out (pardon the pun) into a full length feature (Roth is also making Thanksgiving into one).

The film has a wild and diverse cast featuring Danny Trejo as the titular blade wielding Machete, Robert De Niro, Steven Seagal, Jessica Alba, Cheech Marin, Lindsay Lohan, Michelle Rodriguez, Jeff Fahey and Don Johnson. That’s a strange but nonetheless great cast right there. I can’t wait to see what sort of dynamic they have together; pairing folks like Lohan and Alba could either be a stroke of genius or a completely disastrous decision on Rodriguez’s part). Rodriguez has co-written the script along with long-time editor, Ethan Maniquis.

With Fox now handling domestic distribution and Sony taking care of international distribution, it’s now confirmed we’ll see Machete properly released in theaters instead of  going straight-to-DVD or getting a limited “blink and you’ll miss it” run. With the financial bombing of Grindhouse it was somewhat of a surprise that any studio wanted to touch a film which resembled the double-feature (heck, it was spun-off of it). Then again, I’m guessing Machete’s budget didn’t hit anywhere near that of Grindhouse (which cost $70 million to make).

BURIED

In the first major acquisition at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Lionsgate won a bidding war with other studios for the North American distribution rights to the Ryan Reynolds thriller, Buried. We posted the trailer for Buried just recently; the film is about a private contractor who is kidnapped while in Iraq and buried alive. Supposedly, most of the movie is Reynolds in a box, so the Green Lantern star will have to bust out some serious acting chops for that to work for a whole movie.

Prexy of acquisitions and co-productions at Lionsgate, Jason Constantine, had this to say about the movie – “Buried is one of the tightest, most intense thrillers we’ve ever seen, and we were absolutely determined to bring it home to Lionsgate.” The director of the film, Rodrigo Cortes, said that the deal with Lionsgate will ensure that the film will be released with the strongest possible impact – “So it’s a very natural fit.” Insiders say that Lionsgate paid in the area of $3 to $4 million for the rights.

Buried being picked up so fast (it only premiered at Sundance on Saturday) defies the recent trend of buyers taking longer and longer to pick up films at festivals. However, even with things being slow at this year’s festival, there are a couple of new trends: Major Hollywood studios are weighing in and picking things up, with prints even being flown back to Los Angeles of films that are getting big buzz, with a recent example being the film HappyThankYouMorePlease, which caught the eye of Warner Bros. Also, filmmakers are stepping up to make sure the audiences watching their films are enthusiastic enough to encourage buyers.

I’m glad Buried will be getting the release treatment it deserves. From the trailers and the clip we posted it looks tense as hell, and I can’t wait to see how Reynolds holds his own for a whole movie that’s just him in a box. I just wonder how they’ll make it stand out from other films and TV shows that have used the same technique: Quentin Tarantino used it twice in recent years, with Kill Bill Vol.2 and the episode of C.S.I. he directed entitled “Grave Danger.” I’ll definitely be seeing Buried in theaters, as it seems like that’s where you’d feel the impact of it most.

Are you glad both Machete and Buried have been picked up for distribution? Will you be seeing them both in theaters? Which of the two are you most interested in?

We’ll let you know when both Machete and Buried get release dates.

Source: Variety

Back in July we found out that Ryan Reynolds would be doing a independent film titled Buried which would star he, himself and him, all trapped in a coffin. From what knew of the film, he would be playing a civilian contractor who awakens buried in a coffin in the middle of the desert after being kidnapped in Iraq and that the entire movie would just feature him, a true test of acting skill and something good for his resume before heading to work on the big budget comic book movies Green Lantern and Deadpool.

The indie film is directed by Rodrigo Cortés and the screenplay was written by Chris Sparling. Filming will took place entirely in Cortés’ home country of Spain and it’s set to screen at the Sundance film festival this week. We got our first look at Buried with some photos back in August but now we finally have some video, courtesy of MTV who today put up a teaser trailer and a scene from Buried so we can get a taste of how this movie will be experienced.

Here’s the teaser:

And here’s a scene where Reynolds films the teaser on his cell phone:

I dig the teaser with the idea of Reynolds filming himself a ransom message from within the coffin but the second video, an actual scene from the film, makes me fear that the entire movie will be overloaded with annoying shots like the rotating camera. I understand that the movie is just Ryan Reynolds and that director Cortés may feel the need to keep the audience engaged by attempting to make the visuals more dynamic but I’m turned off by that.

I hope in the full film, this doesn’t happen much.

What do you think of your first look at Buried?

Source: MTV

Happy Friday everyone!

Welcome to the second half of this week’s Poster Friday feature.

Part one of our biggest Poster Friday collection ever (separated into two parts) went up a few hours earlier featuring a pile of posters from last week and now it’s time for the more recent one-sheets to be added to Screen Rant’s wall.

These include: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, Exam, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Solomon Kane, Kick-Ass, Iron Man 2, [REC2], Tenderness, Warlords, From Paris With Love and Buried.

Let’s get to it.

To start, here’s a new poster for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time featuring the film’s star Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time opens May 28, 2010.

Source: Planet Disney

Two big comic book movies I’m very much looking forward to are Green Lantern and Deadpool and it’s not because of my man-crush on Ryan Reynolds. Well, that’s part of the reason, but these movies will both be pushing the popular and fast-growing genre in new directions and both are attempting to bring an unknown character to mainstream audiences.

Deadpool has a slight advantage, having been introduced and extending off the successful X-Men franchise with his mishandled appearance in this summer’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While the character was completely misused, it was a blessing in disguise as it allowed Ryan Reynolds to showcase Deadpool’s alter ego Wade Wilson which earned him fan support and the greenlight for his own solo spinoff movie.

Green Lantern on the other hand, doesn’t have that advantage of a pre-introduction. However, it does have the full backing of DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. and a $150 million budget – It also includes Ryan Reynolds as the star if you didn’t get that already.

Ryan Reynolds is now a solidified A-list star with the weight of two in-development blockbuster films from both major comic book publishers on his shoulders, set to help kickstart new franchises. In the case of DC, he’s to help launch an integrated shared universe of superhero films similar to what Marvel Studios has already begun with their Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Avengers properties and more.

Needless to say, it’s a fantastic time for comic book fans and moviegoers alike as “geek” is the new cool and we’re seeing it daily in the media, growing through movies, television and video games.

This year, the actor that MTV is most thankful for is Ryan Reynolds. While it’s a bit of a strange honor, I can’t disagree. In all serious, Reynolds has always been a fave of mine and this year he hit it big this year with The Proposal, Adventureland and of course a long-awaited chance to see him play Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. On top of all of that, he is starring in another indie titled Buried which will test his acting prowess with the movie featuring only him in a coffin for its full run length. And last but not least, he of course signed on to the two massive franchises we’re talking about here today.

MTV got the chance to tell Reynolds this in person and interview him about the year he’s had. In the interview, they of course touched on the subjects we’re interested in and we’ve pulled those parts to share with you. To start, MTV applauded the Canadian actor for going after what he wants to do and making it a reality.

“It’s incredibly validating and gratifying when you can see that you can manifest something that you desperately want or a goal that you have. This is a difficult industry to get anything made, let alone a passion project, so when you see people understand what your vision is and come aligned with that common goal, it’s pretty cool. I’m including all the creative types that are actually involved with “Deadpool” and “Green Lantern,” because those guys want to make an authentic movie, and that’s something a few years ago studios disregarded. “

What moment stands out this year?

“I think, seeing the prototypes for the Green Lantern costumes was a huge moment. It was a moment when I was like, “This is happening, and it’s happening in the right way.” That’s a pretty cool, definitive moment for me. “

That’s something many of us wish we were there for.

Continue to Page 2 for more Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool, Green Lantern and more!

The movie would certainly test Reynolds’ acting skills and would represent a something a lot different from some of the other roles we have seem him in this year.

Today, we have our first two images for the film thanks to Twitch, one behind-the-scenes with Reynolds and the director, the other of Reynolds actually in the coffin from the movie.

At the time we first heard about Buried, Reynolds described the story as a one-may show, and entire film just on him.

“‘Buried’ is the story about a guy who’s buried (laughs). It’s the only movie I’ve ever heard of with only one person in it. So it’s just me, I’m the only person in the whole movie so, I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s either going to be, you know, the greatest, most experimental cool movie ever made or god knows what”

Here’s the pics [Click to Enlarge]:

Ryan and his cellphone – that’s all, folks

Ryan Reynolds & Director Rodrigo Cortés

I’m a big supporter of Reynolds’ work and I love that he’s working on this project before he heads back to some massive-scale big budget fare in Green Lantern and Deadpool.

The indie film is directed by Rodrigo Cortés on screenplay written by Chris Sparling. Filming will take place entirely in Cortés’ home country of Spain and the film will be released some time next year.

What do you think of Buried and will you look for it when it releases?

Sources: Twitch

It’s a big time for comic fans who want to see their favorite characters grace the silver screen. With plenty of major comic book films debuting to widespread success in recent years, it’s no surprise that there are dozens more of these genre films in production or development as we speak.

Some major ones have made big strides in recent weeks, confirming dates and announcing casting decisions, and we expect some more of that soon with San Diego Comic-Con around the corner.

Join me as I try to make sense of a large mess of comic book movie news involving my one of my favorites, Ryan Reynolds (Plus: 2 pieces of awesome fan art!).

Several films that I’ve been following closely and expecting to make casting decisions this month and last are Thor and Green Lantern – both of which are planned for releases in the early part of summer 2011.

Luckily for us fans, I was right and we’ve seen several of the key characters for Marvel Studios’ Thor movie been cast and following in suit, DC’s counterpart movie which has been moving along the same trend in development and casting timing, Green Lantern, finally made its lead star casting decision last week.

The man who will play Hal Jordan in the upcoming Warner Brothers DC Comics film is Ryan Reynolds.

That’s not all though. Screen Rant has also been closely following other Marvel film franchises that have their licenses owned by other studios, such as Fox’s X-Men movies and there’s been some major developments there as well… also involving Ryan Reynolds.

As we all know, Reynolds played a part in X-Men Origins: Wolverine which opened in May to financially successful results. Critics everywhere and a large portion of the fans did not share in that success however.

As I’ve been reporting on all along, leading up to the film, we all thought Reynolds was a perfect selection to play the role of Wade Wilson/Deadpool in that movie and we hoped, as Reynolds did, that the character would get his own spinoff.

Unfortunately, the makers behind the Wolverine Origins film messed up the character and his storyline but on the positive side, in the few minutes we saw Reynolds playing Wade Wilson on screen, he was spectacular and easily one of the best parts of the film.

As a result, a Deadpool Solo spinoff movie was given the greenlight and Reynolds now has the opportunity to deliver what he wants from the character and what the fans want. From what Reynolds has been saying all along, they seem to match up very well.

In interviews everywhere for X-Men Origins: Wolverine prior to its release, and then after with the announcement of the go-ahead with Deadpool during interviews for his recent and successful romantic comedy, The Proposal (with Sandra Bullock), he’s been making confirmations about the movie for the fans left right and center.

He’s already said the film will closely follow the comics, that he’s been given a lot of control over the movie with Fox studios apparently also wanting to respect the source material closely with this one.

He’s also confirmed that the movie will feature Deadpool in his trademark red and black duds and that the character will be breaking the fourth wall in the movie like he does in the comics, interacting with the audience directly, knowing full well that he is in fact in a film.

Continue Reading ‘Ryan Reynolds Discussion: Deadpool, Green Lantern & More!’

A week or so ago, it was announced that Canadian star Ryan Reynolds would be starring in an independent film titled Buried which follows a civilian contractor who awakens buried in a coffin in the middle of the desert after being kidnapped in Iraq.

Pretty intriguing, right?

As a few more details become available for the ambitious project, we now know that the entire film will be just Ryan Reynolds in this uncomfortable wooden box… that’s it… just him and his coffin.

Reynolds revealed the following in a Australian television interview:

“‘Buried’ is the story about a guy who’s buried (laughs). It’s the only movie I’ve ever heard of with only one person in it. So it’s just me, I’m the only person in the whole movie so, I don’t know. We’ll see. It’s either going to be, you know, the greatest, most experimental cool movie ever made or god knows what”

He’s honest and he’s right.

But most importantly, he’s testing his acting ability here, pushing past the traditional comedy routine or action role. There will be no crazy studio sets or green-screening, it’s just Reynolds in the box capturing the attention and emotions of the audience all by his captive and claustrophobic self.

It’s not all that bad though, Reynolds’ character will sport a cell phone, a candle and even a knife.

Much like the recent announcement that his other upcoming project, Deadpool, will have his character break the fourth wall, this is a risky idea and I like it.

The indie film will be directed by Rodrigo Cortés and the screenplay was written by Chris Sparling. Filming will take place entirely in Cortés’ home country of Spain and the film will be released some time next year.

This film’s quality will come down to two things: Reynolds’ acting and how good the story telling is. The good news is Reynolds is incredible on screen and never lets me down and apparently, the script is also pretty stellar – at least, according to the folks at ScriptShadow who had nothing but praise for the screenplay. You can head on over there if you want to read more details about the project and its potential.

This is something I’m looking forward to see and I’m excited to see Reynolds again making a flick for the passion of making it.

Does this film interest you and how do you feel about Reynolds taking on this role?

Sources: Variety, The Playlist, ScriptShadow