Movie News Wrap Up: June 14, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:42:06 +0000

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.

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.

Screen Rant » commando

Movie News Wrap Up: June 14, 2009