We watch the Watchmen’s grosses; Ben Stiller leaves family comedy behind with Greenberg; Brendan Fraser returns to The Center Of The Earth; Vance joins Fraser and Harrison Ford in Crowley; Mickey Rourke has Passion and The Strangers become familiar.

Box Office

Dwayne Johnson’s Race To Witch Mountain captured the top spot with an estimated weekend gross of $25 million. There was once a time that people thought that “The Rock” was going to inherit Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action throne – not it appears that he’s the new family Eddie Murphy.

It looks like people aren’t watching the Watchmen – with a drop off of 67% showing that the film does not have legs. With a weekend of $18 million and a total take of $86 million far from a financial disaster, the film must be classed as an underachiever. Having said that – it’s a miracle that the film was ever made at all.

The Last House On The Left remake managed an opening of $14 million. Not bad for a horror remake that has very little name recognition, but poor considering horror openings of recent months.

Taken banked another $6 million giving the film an amazing $126 million total. With a sequel on the way it looks like this is a film that audiences really love.

Madea Goes To Jail managed another $5 million giving the Tyler Perry flick $83 million in the bank.

Slumdog Millionaire continues to connect with audiences grossing another $5 million. So far the film has banked $132 million and with DVD imminent, the film will be very, very profitable.

Speaking of profitable – Paul Blart: Mall Cop arrested another $3 million bringing its total to $137 million.

The top ten was rounded out by He’s Just Not That In To You, Coraline and Miss March all making $2 million plus over the weekend.

Movie News

1. Noah Baumbach will direct Ben Stiller in the “dramedy” Greenberg. Rhys Ifans, Brie Larson and Juno Temple will co-star in the film.

According to Variety:

“Penned by Baumbach, story centers on a New Yorker (Stiller) who moves to Los Angeles to housesit for his brother and figure out his life. He ends up having a relationship with his brother’s assistant.”

It sounds like Stiller is returning to his low budget roots. At least it’s not set in a museum!

Source: Variety

2. Brendan Fraser will star in a sequel to last years surprise hit Journey To The Center Of The Earth.

According to Variety:

“The sequel’s based on Richard Outten’s script Mysterious Travels: The Lost Map of Treasure Island, in which Prof. Trevor Anderson and his nephew embark on a journey to a mysterious island that was the subject of three classic novels (Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island and Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels).”

Talk about pillaging classic literature.

Journey To The Center Of The Earth cost $60 million to make and grossed $241 million world wide. Do you see the financial sense?

Source: Variety

3. Speaking of Brendan Fraser – Courtney B. Vance will join The Mummy star and Harrison Ford in Crowley.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“Vance will play a father whose daughter has the same genetic disease as the children of Fraser’s character.”

4. Mickey Rourke is a very busy man. Having signed on to Iron Man 2, The Expendables and Broken Horses he has now attached himself to Passion Plays.

The drama film will be written and directed by Mitch Glazer, the writer behind Scrooged and The Recruit. The plot is being kept secret.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

5. Horror movies need sequels. It’s almost an unwritten rule.

Laurent Briet is now in talks to direct a sequel to Rogue Pictures surprise hit The Strangers .

The low budget horror starred Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman cost $9 million and grossed $81 million worldwide.

Expect a remake in 10 years.

Source: Bloody Disgusting

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

Friday the 13^th was lucky for some at the box office; The Hardy Men keeps moving; Russell joins Ford and Fraser; in Crowley; Kevin James goes to the Zoo; Ayer pens Deep Sea Cowboys and are you ready to Escape to Donegal?

Box Office

Friday the 13^th is unlucky for some, but very lucky for people with profit participation in the movie. The horror remake slashed its way through $42 million over the weekend. Not bad for a movie with a $19 million budget. Expect the sequel soon.

He’s Just Not That Into You held up well and banked another $19 million from Friday to Sunday. A $100 million final total seems likely.

Liam Neeson’s Taken continues to hold well grossing another $19 million. The century mark is coming up fast. Taken is now officially the sleeper hit of the year.

The terrible looking Confessions of a Shopaholic rang up $15 million at tills around the US. Not a bad performance, but I’m guessing that Jerry Bruckheimer wanted more.

Coraline grossed another $15 million this weekend showing impressive legs.

Speaking of legs – Paul Blart: Mall Cop managed another $11 million bringing the total to $110 million. It’s a crazy world folks.

Clive Owen’s The International had a modest opening of $10 million. Expect this one to make it’s money at the worldwide box office.

The Pink Panther 2 laughed up another $9 million. It should finish with around $50 million – about $30 million less than the original. A sequel will depend on DVD and international grosses.

Slumdog Millionaire grossed another $7 million bringing the total to $86 million. $100 million is just an inch away.

Movie News

1. It looks like the Tom Cruise/ Ben Stiller comedy The Hardy Men is one inch closer to fruition. Ed Soloman, the wordsmith behind Men In Black has been brought on board to pen the comedy that follows the adventures of Frank and Joe Hardy, two former teen detectives who are now estranged.

The film is based on the series of Hard Boys novels that were penned by a variety of authors under the pseudonym Franklin W. Dixon

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

2. Keri Russell will join Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser in The Untitled Crowley Project. According to Variety:

“In this emotional drama, Russell plays Aileen Crowley, a wife and mother who relentlessly builds a normal, loving home life for her children while her husband, John Crowley (Fraser), and an unconventional scientist (Ford) race against time to build a company that could rescue them. The film is inspired by a true story.”

Source: Variety

3. Did you love Paul Blart: Mall Cop? If you did you should look forward to Kevin James’ forthcoming The Zookeeper.

According to Variety:

“Zookeeper centers on a lonely zookeeper who decides to leave his job because he can’t meet a girl, leading to intervention by the zoo’s animals.”

If you went to see Mall Cop – you asked for this!

Source: Variety

3. Training Day’s David Ayer will write Deep Sea Cowboys for Dreamworks. According to Darkhorizons:

“The story chronicles a salvage crew that tries to save a capsized Japanese cargo ship transporting cars into the US. The real-time action scenario will explore how a tightknit crew races to beat the clock and potential drowning to save the ship’s dangerous cargo and claim its reward.”

Apparently the film is a thriller- but will it be any good?

Source: Dark Horizons

4. Coming Soon has had an anonymous tip about a film called Escape to Donegal. The site says:

“Let Them Chirp  Awhile writer/director/producer/editor Jonathan Blitstein is attached to direct a new sci-fi psychological thriller titled Escape to Donegal. While the plot is under wraps, the script is described as a classic Philip K. Dick story.

Filming is expected to take place in New York City this summer.”

For those who don’t know, Donegal is situated in Ireland (and the county is mere minutes from where I grew up which makes me very curious to know more.) Somehow I have a feeling that this is going to be anti-climactic when we learn more details.

Source: Coming Soon

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

Considering the ass that he kicked in Indiana Jones this past summer – you can’t disagree.

Speaking to MTV Ford said:

“I think it’s a character I could easily play at this point if people were interested in seeing what happens to Jack Ryan as his life progresses,”

Don’t get too excited though – Paramount has no apparent interest in casting Ford, although in Clancy’s books Ryan does move up the promotional ladder and become President of the United States. However, I can’t imagine much ass kicking in that role.

Hold on, didn’t Ford play an ass kicking US President in Air Force One? Maybe there is a bit of room, although that would lead to Ford playing a similar character to one he played previously.

Wait a minute – doesn’t Ford usually play a grumpy, aging professional who ends up in a dangerous position? Maybe there is a bit if leeway for that!

I digress. While Ford may have some superficial interest in the Jack Ryan role, he does have other films in development, so it’s unlikely that he would star in a film that Paramount wants to make pretty sharpish. To explain further, over to Mr Ford:

“I have a comedy that’s been developed by J.J. Abrams and a drama that I developed that talks about the pharmaceutical industry. We haven’t sorted out which is first yet.”

The Abrams film is Morning Glory where Ford would play – you guessed it a grumpy professional – this time a morning television anchorman.

The drama is Crowley – a medical drama where (and I’m just guessing here) Ford will play a brilliant but grumpy medical researcher.

I’m more interested in the comedy – if you haven’t seen Ford in Working Girl, then you’ve missed a great piece of 1980’s cinema.

Now, if Paramount own the Ryan property, and they have a good relationship with Abrams (Star Trek) and Ford (Indiana Jones, previous Ryan films) then they might be able to negotiate a deal!

We all want to see Ford back as Jack Ryan.

Come on Paramount!!! Give us what we want. Please.

Source: MTV

George Clooney becomes a Tourist, Harrison Ford dabbles in science, Amanda Peet gets her diary ready for 2012, The Three Musketeers make a comeback (come on – if Stallone can do it so can they!) Liam Nesson and James Nesbitt return to Ireland and Val Kilmer and 50 Cent make sweet music together.

1. George Clooney is being tapped to star in The Tourist, an adaptation of a Olen Steinhauer novel.

“The Tourist is a contemporary international thriller about a spy who risks everything to reveal a conspiracy after he’s accused of a murder he didn’t commit.”

It sounds a bit generic, but if Clooney has a hand in it expect it to have a 1970’s feel like Sydney Pollack’s Three Days of the Condor.

This could be a good franchise starter. Clooney will produce the script by Anthony Peckham with his Smokehouse partner Grant Heslov.

Source: Variety

2. Harrison Ford will star in Crowley. The Robert Nelson Jacobs scripted film is based on the true story of John and Aileen Crowley, whose two children had a rare genetic disease, they found a researcher (to be played by Ford) who had a possible cure.

CBS Films hope that the film will be going into production soon. It doesn’t sound overly exciting, but I suspect that Ford might get his second Oscar nomination and that the film will under go a change of title.

Source: Variety

3. Amanda Peet has signed up to star in Roland Emmerich’s 2012. Peet will Co-star alonside John Cusack, Danny Glover and Oliver Platt. It’s the third teaming of Cusack and Peet following Identity and Martian Child.

The film should be going before cameras soon, that is if the SAG don’t strike.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. The Three Musketeers are making a return to the big screen. Millennium films plan a series of movies to show the adventures of Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D’Artagnan. The first film will show how the Musketeers first decided that they should be “One for all, and all for one.”

The youngest member of the group D’Artagnan may be introduced at the end of the first movie or in the second movie in the franchise.

The Alexandre Dumas novel has entered the public domain, so you could say that the rights are “free for all and all for one”

Sorry. It was either that or a Dumas joke.

Source: Variety

5. Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt will star in Five Minutes of Heaven, a drama set in Northern Ireland from the outbreak of the troubles in the 1960’s through to the Good Friday Agreement in the 1990’s.

Oliver Hirschbiegel the director of Downfalland the ill-fated Nicole Kidman – Daniel Craig starrer Invasion will helm the film.

Nesbitt starred in the Paul Greengrass directed Bloody Sunday , and if you look very, very closely you’ll see me in the crowd scenes. However, don’t hold your breath!

Source: Dark Horizons

6. Aaron Ashmore will Join Val Kilmer in the Sci-Fi horror The Thaw.

Mark A. Lewis’ film starts shooting on Monday in Canada. The film follows the fight for survival of an artic research team whose lives are threatened by a parasite which has been freed by the melting polar icecaps.

Meanwhile Kilmer and 50 Cent are planning a Christmas hit – Christmas is Calling. The pair recently co-starred in Streets of Blood a New Orleans set drama.

Source: Variety and Val Kilmer

That’s it for another week. I’ll see you at the movies!