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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – March 26, 2009

Niall Browne — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 19:13:54 +0000

In this week’s A-list packed Wrap Up:

Kevin Costner, Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones are Company Men; Costner is The One; Silver rewrites Battle: Los Angeles for Aaron Eckhart; Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are in love; Magnum Pi hangs out with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl in Five Killers; Dennis Quaid and Julianne Moore are Bill and Hilary Clinton in The Special Relationship and Moore is less for The Thing.

1. Kevin Costner, Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones will star in the independent drama Company Men. According to Variety:

“Affleck plays a corporate hotshot whose Porsche and six-figure salary vanish after he gets laid off. Costner plays his brother-in-law, a salt-of-the-earth drywall installer who gives him a construction job. Jones plays a senior partner in the firm, a principled man who struggles with the greedy actions of his partners.”

I sounds like it couldn’t be more suited to the current economic climate.

Affleck has been on the comeback trail lately and Costner is one of the best leading men around. As for Jones – he was never better than he was in No Country For Old Men.

The John Wells (ER) penned film starts shooting next month.

Source: Variety

2. Variety also has the scoop that Costner will be directing and starring in The One.
The film was written by Michael Blake the man behind Costner’s finest hour Dances With Wolves.

“Costner will star as a free-spirited man who inherits $3 billion, leading him on an adventure and an eventual collision with pirates in the Cayman Islands.”

I can’t wait.

Source: Variety

3. Scott Silver has been brought onboard to rewrite Battle: Los Angeles.
The film sees an alien invasion of Los Angeles and the battle to reclaim the city by a platoon of marines.

Chris Bertolini wrote the original script and Jonathan Liebesman is set to direct.

The Dark Knight’s Aaron Eckhart is attached to star.

Source: Variety

4. Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz are mulling over reuniting on the big screen for a romantic comedy. The untitled film that has previously gone by the name of Wichita and Trouble Man.

According to Variety:

“Story revolves around a woman who has terrible luck with men but finds her path intertwined with that of a mysterious handsome man she meets on a blind date.”

The film was originally being tooled as a vehicle for Chris Tucker and Eva Mendes.

James Mangold the director behind Walk the Line and 3.10 To Yuma will call the shoots if the Vanilla Sky duo decide on starring.

It is one of many films that Cruise is pondering at this moment in time.

Source: Variety

5. Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara and Martin Mull will join Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl in Five Killers.

“The story follows a hitman (Kutcher) at the top of his game who falls for a computer tech (Heigl) and decides to hang up his guns. Years later, their suburban bliss is ruptured when he finds out there’s a hit out on him, forcing him and his spooked wife to go on the run.”

Magnum star Selleck and O’Hara will play Heigl’s parents.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

6. Dennis Quaid will play Bill Clinton in HBO’S The Special Relationship. The film charts the political relationship of Clinton and Britain’s Tony Blair. Michael Sheen seen recently as David Frost in Frost/ Nixon will star as Blair for the third time following The Queen and The Deal.

Julianne Moore will co-star as Hilary Clinton. Julianne Moore? Maybe they’ll cast Keira Knightly as Monica Lewinski…

Quaid will next be seen in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Source: Variety

7. It looks like Ronald D. Moore’s script for The Thing didn’t give Universal what they wanted because they’ve brought Eric Heisserer in to do a rewrite.

Heisserer has recently reworked the A Nightmare on Elm Street script by Wesley Strick.

What this means is unknown.

Are they now going for a straight up remake and ditching the idea that this remake/ prequel will be a companion piece to John Carpenter’s original?

Maybe Heisserer is doing nothing more than a polish on the dialogue. Time will tell.

But wouldn’t it be cool if the reason Kurt Russell didn’t do The Expendables was his commitment to this?

Just hoping.

Source: Bloody Disgusting

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

Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: February 22, 2009

Niall Browne — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 19:51:37 +0000

It’s the most important day in the movie calendar – and that’s just not because it’s time for the Weekend Movie News Wrap Up but it’s also Oscar night!

This week:

Tyler Perry tops the box office; Wes Craven talks Scream 4; The Dark Knight is mildly successful; Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel know Five Killers (hint – it’s not their last few movies); Sandra Bullock has a Blindside (it’s the only reason for Hope Floats) and Martin Lawrence goes Back To Africa.

Box Office

Tyler Perry continues to surprise with each movie. Madea Goes To Jail should lock up about $40 million over the weekend giving the control freak a career best despite terrible reviews.

Liam Neeson’s Taken closes in on the $100 million mark with a weekend gross of $11 million. Did anyone imagine this film making that much money?

He’s Just Not That Into You shows pretty good legs for a romantic comedy managing another $10 million. People are just that into it!

Friday The 13^thhad a terrible drop which isn’t unexpected because horror movies usually suffer a huge decline on their second weekend and because it opened on Friday The 13^th. The remake should manage about $10million over the Oscar weekend.

Speaking of Oscars; Slumdog Millionaire should take another $9-10 million bringing it up to the $100 million mark. Expect that to increase when it grabs a few Oscars.

Comedy Fired Up had a weak $8 million debut. That’s pretty much what Kevin James’ Paul Blart: Mall Cop grossed this weekend. Who ever imagined that the phrases “Kevin James” and “good legs” would be used in the same sentence?

Movie News

1. Wes Craven has talked about Scream 4. It looks like he hasn’t ruled out directing the film, but if you’re a fan of the franchise I wouldn’t hold your breath. Craven told Bloody Disgusting:

“It would take it being really as good a script as the first one was and the pay day reflects what I’ve done for that company and what I’ve gone through on Cursed.”

Sounds like he’s playing hard ball. He should go work for Marvel!

Source: Bloody Disgusting

2. The Dark Knight has reached yet another milestone. The Caped Crusader film has now grossed $1 billion around the world!

The film has now banked $533 million domestically and $567 million overseas. Factor in DVD and TV sales and the film must have made some people very rich in these rough economic times.

I wonder what Joel Schumacher has to say about all this?

Warner Bros has apparently stopped production on Batman 3 due to the low grosses. Joke!

I can only imagine that this gross increases once Heath Legder wins an Oscar.

Source: Variety

3. Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigel will star in Five Killers.

According to Variety:

“The story kicks off when a woman meets the man of her dreams while on vacation. Married bliss is turned upside down when they discover that their neighbors may be assassins hired to kill them.”

The film will be directed by Legally Blonde and Monster In-Law director Robert Luketic.

I don’t think that I need to add anything else!

Source: Variety

4. Sandra Bullock will star in Blindside. The sports drama will be directed by John Lee Hancock, the man behind The Rookie and The Alamo.

According to Variety:

“The story follows Michael Oher, projected to be one of the first players selected in this year’s NFL draft. He was homeless as a teen and was taken in by a well-to-do family. Bullock will portray the matriarch of the conservative suburban household Oher joins.”

Sounds very boring!

Source: Variety

5. Martin Lawrence will star in the “comedy” Back To Africa.

Variety inflicts the following synopsis:

“The comedy centers on a working-class man from Queens who discovers he is heir to the throne of an African country and travels there to claim his birthright.”

Here’s a bit of advice – go and watch Coming to America in reverse. It’ll save time and money.

Source: Variety

That’s it for now. See you at the Oscars!