Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: December 26th 2010

This week:

The box office meets the Little Fockers; we learn about the Madden Curse; Screen Gems asks About Last Night; Phillip Noyce cuts down on Salt; Christian Bale is a Nanjing Hero and Christina Hendricks, Olivia Munn and Seth Meyers don’t know how Sarah Jessica Parker Does It.

Box Office

The Focker family were the box office champions over the weekend. Little Fockers,the third film in the “Meet The…” franchise banked an estimated $34 million over the weekend (read our review). The Ben Stiller starrer has now scored $48 million since its launch last week. The grosses aren’t amazing for this pricey comedy, but it should be profitable in the end for Universal.

Jeff Bridges continues to impress at the box office. True Grit (read our review) has opened to an impressive $25.6 million over the weekend (almost $37 million since last week’s debut). Strong reviews and heavy Oscar potential could mean that this Western has legs.

Tron: Legacy brought in another $20 million, with $88 million in the bank already it looks like this has the potential to relaunch the franchise.

The latest (last?)  instalment of The Chronicles of Narnia franchise – The Dawn Treader upped its cume to a smidgen under $64 million after grossing an estimated $10.8 million this weekend.

Yogi Bear stole another $8.8 million away from moviegoers over the weekend. The CGI-filled movie has now banked over $36 million. Meanwhile, The Fighter brought in $8.5 million for a $27 million total gross. Oscar hopes mean that gold should pave the road ahead.

Gulliver’s Travels tanked over the weekend. The Jack Black film should mean that the actor might choose his projects with more care in the future.

Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan danced up another $6.6 million for a $29 million total cume. The Natalie Portman film is expected to grab a slew of Oscar nominations.

Tangled upped its total to $143 million after banking another $6.5 million, while Sony’s under-performer The Tourist brought in an estimated $5.7 million for a $41 million total gross.

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Movie News

1. Electronic Arts is developing a film called Madden Curse.

According to The Wrap, the film is:

“a sports comedy that incorporates the infamous jinx, believed to strike NFL players who appear on the cover of EA’s popular Madden video game with injury or poor performance. The story will follow a former Madden video game champion who is forced out of retirement just as he finds himself on the corner of the game’s cover — and subject to the curse.”

Sounds like an odd idea for a film – but then again, remember when Disney decided to make a film about one of their rides with Johnny Depp in the lead role?

Source: The Wrap

2. Screen Gems is considering remaking the 80s film, About Last Night.

Edward Zwick directed the film, which was based on a 1974 David Mamet play and starred Demi Moore and Rob Lowe. No talent has yet been attached to this remake, so it may never make it to screens. However, you never know…

Source: EW

3. Sony always saw Salt as a franchise starter, but it now looks like the director Phillip Noyce won’t be returning for a second dose of Salt.

“Those 3 [alternate] Blu-ray cuts [of the film] represent just about everything I have to offer on Everlyn Salt. If there ever is a sequel, better its directed by someone with a completely fresh take on what I believe could be a totally entertaining and complex series of stories.”

It looks like they may have a Bourne type situation on their hands if they plan to get a sequel with Angelina Jolie off the ground.

Source: Movie Hole

4. Just before he slips into his cowl for The Dark Knight Rises, it looks like Christian Bale will star in director Zhang Yimou’s Nanjing Heroes.

The plot follows:

“The Nanjing Massacre, when Japanese troops killed thousands of Chinese citizens in what was then the nation’s capital in 1937, has been the subject of several recent Chinese and co-produced films, each of which has included the character of John Rabe, a German businessman who helped save hundreds of Chinese refugees.

Bale will not play Rabe but instead play an American priest called John who helps a great number of Chinese escape certain death.”

The budget of the film is 600 million yuan ($90.2 million) and “will pull in the Hollywood effects team behind Saving Private Ryan and The Dark Knght”.

Source: THR

5.  Mad Men‘s Christina Hendricks, Olivia Munn and Seth Meyers are set to join Sarah Jessica Parker’s big screen adaptation of I Don’t Know How She Does It.

According to The LA Times:

“The movie is based on Allison Pearson’s first-person comic tale of a high-powered finance type (Parker) who’s also the mother of two young children and trying to balance the many competing elements in her life”.

At least Parker is stretching herself as an actress.

Source: LA Times

Just For Laughs:

Werner Herzog reads Twas The Night Before Christmas.

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