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Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: September 6, 2009

Niall Browne — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 05:13:38 +0000

This weekend:

It’s Gamer over as the box office has a Final Destination; Kevin Smith loses his Dicks; Blake Lively moves into Affleck’s Town; Liam Nesson and Bono are introduced to The Virgin of Las Vegas; Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy and Gabriel Byrne swim with Two Birds and Keanu Reeves helps solve Henry’s Crime. Woah!

Box Office
It’s Labor Day weekend again and that can only mean one thing – low box office. Horror franchise film The Final Destination 3-D held onto the top spot with a pretty decent $12 million 3-day take. It should have $15 million in the bag by the close of business Monday giving it a $50 million total. This is going to be the highest grossing film in the series, so expect another installment – soon.

Sandra Bullock and Bradley Cooper should capture the runner-up spot with the comedy All About Steve. The pair are both coming off summer comedy sleepers with The Proposal and The Hangover, both of which had significantly more positive critical response. The fact that those films played so long probably had an impact on this film’s opening box office. All About Steve should bank about $13 million by the end of play on Monday.

Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds continues to do well with another $13 million or so over the long weekend. The Brad Pitt flick is closing in on $100 domestically and it will become the highest grossing film in the director’s career. Unadjusted of course!

Gerard Butler’s Gamer had a soft $10 million opening, showing that his one for the girls and one for the boys means that The Ugly Truth is the actor’s highest grossing film since 300. I presume more romantic comedies are on the way.

District 9 crossed the magical $100 million marker this weekend giving the $30 million film some hefty profit.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween II went down like a friend of Hugh Grant’s. With less than $6 million over the four days and $25 in the till since it opened, it looks like this franchise reboot won’t run as long as the original series – unless they inject new blood into it. I hope Rob Zombie has signed on to his next film.

G.I. Joe. banked a little less than $7 million. This means that the film will happily clear $150 million. The sequel is a safe bet.

Julie and Julia shows that Meryl Streep still has that box office magic! The cooking comedy has just under $80 in the pot. It won’t hit $100 million but it shows that Streep still has the bankable chops.

The Time Traveler’s Wife should make just under $5 million this weekend. The film should finish its run with a little less than $70 million. Not too bad.

Poor Mike Judge. The guy can’t catch a break. A great cast and great reviews couldn’t help Extract make more than $4.5 million over the weekend. Ouch.

Movie News

1. It looks like Kevin Smith’s Bruce Willis-starring cop comedy, A Couple of Dicks, is facing the chop.

Speaking to MTV, co-star Adam Brody said:

“I don’t think it’s gonna happen. We were talking about [changing the name]; you can’t really advertise that before 9. If that’s the case, so that really hampers [the studio]. I know he feels a little burned, because he fought really hard for Zack and Miri Make a Porno and then it didn’t do that well. This time he’s like ‘F-ck the title, you can call it Cream Cheese, I don’t care.’ So, I’d be surprised [if he kept it].”

You see this is what annoys me – Zack and Miri Make a Porno is a terrible title for a film and that’s probably why it didn’t do well. A Couple of Dicks on the other hand (so to speak) is great – it’s worth fighting for.

Grow a set Smith and hold onto your Dicks!

Source: MTV

2. Blake Lively has signed on to Ben Affleck’s The Town. The Gossip Girl star will join Affleck, Man Men’s Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall and Jeremy Renner in the adaptation of Chuck Hogan’s novel Prince of Thieves.

Lively will play Affleck’s ex-girlfriend in the film.

Chris Cooper, who recently starred with Affleck and Kevin Costner in The Company Men, is also in negotiations to join the cast.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Liam Neeson will star in The Virgin of Las Vegas. The film will be produced by fellow Irish man and U2 singer, Bono.

According to Variety:

“[The Film] affectionately recalls the Irish pop culture phenomenon of show bands. Show bands, which became popular across Ireland before the onslaught of TV, used to play cover songs in the early days of rock ‘n’ roll and amassed large followings across the country. Neeson will play an aging show band singer, prone to drink and living in Vegas, who finds his life turned on its head following the arrival of a mysterious stranger.”

The show bands were huge in Ireland in the 50’s. 60’s and even the 1970’s with local stars attracting a huge following – while not quite on a level of The Beatles, they were pretty damn big and the show band tours are still big events for Irish women of a certain age.

One for my mum!

Source: Variety

4. While we’re talking Irish cinema I might as well mention Brendan Gleeson’s directorial debut, At Swim-Two-Birds.

Irish heavyweights Colin Farrell, Cillian Murphy and Gabriel Byrne will star alongside Gleeson in the coming of age drama.

“[The plot follows] a 19-year-old student who sees the fictional characters in the play he’s writing intertwining with the people in his life.”

Sounds very interesting. However, I like all of the above actors and I’m Irish, so I might just be slightly biased!

Source: Variety

5. Keanu Reeves will star and produce the romantic comedy Henry’s Crime.

Malcolm Venville will direct the film which is being pitched a “Capraesque”. The plot follows a big-hearted man who is accused of robbing a bank.

I’m sure that lessons are learned and there’s some sort of moral. Or maybe not.

The film is currently without distribution. I’m sure that Reeves’ involvement means that this won’t be for long!

Source: Variety

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

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Hall & Hamm Go To “Town” With Ben Affleck

Niall Browne — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:54:25 +0000

Ben Affleck is stepping back behind the camera following the success of 2007’s Gone Baby Gone.

The Oscar-winner will direct and star in The Town, based on a novel by Charles Hogan.The film will also star Mad Men star Jon Hamm and Vicky Christina Barcelona’s Rebecca Hall.

Ten years ago Ben Affleck was one of the hottest young stars in Hollywood. Following the commercial and critical success of the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, Affleck and his best friend Matt Damon were the toast of Hollywood.

Then after a few questionable career choices (Gigli, Daredevil) and a high profile relationship with Jennifer Lopez, it appeared that Affleck had come to a crossroads with his career. After spending a couple of years avoiding the spotlight he took supporting roles as George Reeves in Hollywoodland and State of Play opposite Russell Crowe.

It looks like Affleck is now carving out a niche as an actor-writer-director. Gone Baby Gone is an excellent Boston-based thriller that has a strong central performance from Ben’s brother Casey, as well as able support from heavyweights Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris. The Town (based on Hogan’s book Prince of Thieves) is another Boston-set thriller.

According to Variety:

“[Affleck will be] playing a bank robber who becomes smitten with the teller of a bank (Hall) he held up. She makes him want to go straight, but she is also the FBI’s golden ticket to catching Boston’s most wanted bank robber.”

Hamm will star as an FBI agent who also falls for Hall’s charms.

Hall

Hamm

The script for the film was written by Peter Craig and author Hogan, with a rewrite by Affleck – who won his Oscar for writing Good Will Hunting.

2009 appears to be a busy year for Affleck, who also has Mike Judge’s comedy Extract set for release and The Company Men, a drama co-starring Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones.

The Town starts shooting in Boston next month.

Source: Variety

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Movie News Wrap Up: March 30, 2009

Niall Browne — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 19:44:37 +0000

This week:

Monsters Vs Aliens tops the box office; the Coens remake John Wayne’s True Grit; Val Kilmer talks up a reteam with Robert Downey Jr; Matthew McConaughey is The Lincoln Lawyer; Tobey Maguire knows The Limit; Ben Affleck and Matt Damon hunt for Good Will after Bourne again and Affleck hits The Town.

Box Office

Monsters Vs Aliens was the big winner this weekend with a powerful gross of $58 million. It’s the best opening gross of a movie this year (beating Watchmen). Also, horror isn’t dead with The Haunting in Connecticut scaring up $23 million in ticket sales.

Nicolas Cage’s Knowing dropped a decent 40% with a weekend take of almost $15 million giving the action flick a total gross of $46 million – despite bad reviews.

I Love You, Man managed another $12,7 million, while the Julia Roberts- Clive Owen heist movie Duplicity banked another $7.5 million for a $25 million total.

Dwayne Johnson’s Race To Witch Mountain fell over 50% giving the Disney film a total of $53 million.

Fellow wrestler John Cena misfired with 12 Rounds. The Renny Harlin directed film managed a poor $5 million weekend.

Watchmen eked out another $2.8 million bringing its total to $103.3 million.

Taken took another $2.7 million bringing the action pic’s gross to a huge $137 million.

Horror remake The Last House on The Left managed a weekend take of $2.6 million.

Movie News

1. The Coen brothers will remake John Wayne’s True Grit – the film that won the cinematic legend an Oscar!

The film will be based on the book by Charles Portis.

Variety states:

“Portis’ novel is about a 14-year-old girl who, along with an aging U.S. marshal and another lawman, tracks her father’s killer in hostile Indian territory.
But while the original film was a showcase for Wayne, the Coens’ version will tell the tale from the girl’s p.o.v.”

So who will the Coens get to replace Wayne? After all they are big, big boots to fill.

Didn’t they learn their lesson with The Ladykillers?

Source: Variety

2. Val Kilmer believes that we will see a sequel to 2005’s action-comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
The star twittered:

“RDJ, Jr (Robert Downey Jr) and I talked AGAIN about a Kiss Kiss Bang Bang sequel… Now that he is king of all time and space it will happen.”

I hope this is true. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is an exceptional film that didn’t get the release that it deserved by Warner Bros. Funny, compelling and extremely well written – you must seek it out.

Source: Twitter

3. Matthew McConaughey will take the lead in The Lincoln Lawyer.

“The legal thriller that centers on low-level criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller who finds himself representing a wealthy client with ties to a previous murder case Haller handled.”

The film which is based on the book by Michael Connolly will be a return to the leagal thriller genre for the bongo playing star who made his name in Joel Schumacher’s adaptation of John Grisham’s A Time To Kill.

Source: Variety

4. Tobey Maguire is attached to star in Columbia Pictures’ The Limit. According to Variety:

“Maguire will star as Phil Hill, who went against his good friend and Ferrari teammate Wolfgang von Trips in the 1961 Drivers Championship.”

Maguire will produce the film through his Maguire Entertainment production company.

I think that it’s no coincidence that Maguire’s company is set up at the studio that produces the Spider-Man films.

Source: Variety

5. Best friends and Good Will Hunting co-stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will reunite for a new film next year.

The film will start shooting after Damon makes the next Bourne movie. Affleck is apparently mulling over directing duties on the film that was not written by the Oscar winning duo.

Affleck told Collider:

“We have a project but we haven’t said what it is just because of lame political money reasons. This is the movie we’re going to do together and I think it will be good.”

Source: Collider

6. Meanwhile, Affleck has been talking up his next directorial effort following the excellent Gone Baby Gone.

“I’m directing another movie and I’m going to act in the movie as well. That’s a slightly daunting prospect, but we’ll see. I’m nervous but excited. It’s called The Town – that’s the title I’m using now but I’m not sure it’ll be that – and it’s based on a book called Prince of Thieves by Chuck Hogan. It’s based on a true fact that there is this neighborhood in Boston called Charlestown where there are more armed robbers per capita than anywhere else in the world. It’s about this group of guys who rob a bank and an armored car.”

Source: Collider

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

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Sept. 18, 2008

Niall Browne — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 18:45:24 +0000

On this week’s A-List Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up we have:

Bruce Willis steps behind the camera for Three Stories About Joan; Ben Affleck also grabs the megaphone for The Town; Jim Sheridan makes I,Claudius; Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito reunite; Brett Ratner ponders Conan and Dwayne “The Rock Johnson visits Tomorrowland.

1. It has taken a long time but Bruce Willis is finally set to direct. The iconic action star is about to start shooting his directorial debut Three Stories About Joan. The film is a psychological thriller which will start shooting on October 2 until November 10. Owen Wilson and Kieran Culkin will co-star in the pic that has a budget of $25-30 million.

Bruce has worked with some great directors in his time, so he should have picked up a trick or two.

Source: CHUD

2. Bruce’s Armageddon co-star Ben Affleck will return to directing with The Town. Affleck will also star in the film which is based on the novel Prince of Thieves. The plot follows a professional thief who falls in love with the manager of a bank. I presume that the manager is female and that the thief intends to rob her bank.

The film was originally being developed by Adrian Lynne, but now Affleck will rewrite the script to his own tastes.

Source: Variety

3. My fellow Irishman Jim Sheridan is about to direct a film version of Robert Graves’ classic novel I, Claudius. The novel (and I presume the film) follows Claudius, a stuttering Roman who everyone believes to be a few biscuits short of the packet, but soon he defies all odds, with the use of his cunning to become Emperor of Rome.

A who’s who of British acting talent starred in the 1976 BBC adaptation.

This will make my dad very happy.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

4. Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito are set to reunite in the dramedy Solitary Man. The Romancing the Stone/ Jewel of the Nile/ War of the Roses duo star in the film, of which Variety gives the following synopsis:

“Douglas plays a former owner of a car dealership chain whose career and marriage were destroyed by his business and romantic indiscretions.”

Susan Sarandon and Jenna Fischer also star.

It looks like when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Source: Variety

5. Word on the street is that fanboy favorite Brett Ratner is mulling over the opportunity to direct Conan.

Nope, that’s not a joke.

The long in development film hasn’t had a director attached, and apparently Ratner has been offered the directors chair to the epic adventure. However, he currently has about another 2000 films that he might like to make.

True or false? Who knows, but I always thought that Chris Tucker would make a good Conan.

Source: Dread Central

6. Dwayne “The Rock Johnson is making Tomorrowland for Disney. The film will be based on a section of their theme parks. The epic film will be an action adventure set in space.

Jon Lucas and Scott Moore are on scripting duties for the film which Disney denies has anything to do with its theme park. I wonder why, ahem…Haunted Mansion…ahem.

Source: Variety

That’s it for this week. See you at the movies.

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