Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: May 17, 2009

This week:

Tom Hanks is the box office champion; Terry Gilliam kills Don Quixote…again; Spider-Man has a new Green Goblin (on stage); the Basterds are online; Toy Story 3 is moving Up; Ewan McGregor won’t be Trainspotting and who are the Six Suspects?

Box Office

Tom Hanks charged to the top of the box office with Angels and Demons. The sequel to The DaVinci Code grossed $48 million over the weekend, which is down from the $77 million opening for the first film. Having said that, reviews are better and the audience is more mature so it might have legs to make it profitable. Expect a third movie – but might they replace Hanks with someone younger and cheaper next time?

Star Trek showed great legs with a second weekend take of $42 million and a drop of less than 45% from its opening weekend. With a total gross of $147 million it looks like this installment of the long running science fiction franchise really does have phasers set for stun!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine clawed in another $15 million for a grand total of $151 million.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past pulled in another $4 million for a total of $40 million. Expect it to hit the $50 million mark.

Obsessed has now banked $62 million so expect to see Beyonce Knowles in more romantic comedies. 17 Again is also teetering around the $60 million mark while Monster Vs Aliens is closing in on $200 million.

Movie News

1. It looks like Terry Gilliam’s The Man Who Killed Don Quixote is looking like it’s going to finally hit the big screen. Although having said that I wouldn’t get too excited until I’ve bought my ticket.

Gilliam and Tony Grisoni (a very nice man) have rewritten the script where a filmmaker ends up in Don Quixote’s world.

Gilliam said:

“I’m not so much a filmmaker as someone who gets possessed by an idea and it doesn’t leave me until I make the film. I commit myself to it so fully.”

Johnny Depp was set to star in the original incarnation of the film and Gilliam is in talks with the star to return to the project, but Depp’s a busy man these days and he might not be able to fit it into his schedule.

Time will tell.

Source: Variety

2. X-Men 2 star Allan Cumming is in negotiations to star in Julie Taymor’s $40 million Broadway musical production of Spider-Man.

Cumming would play the Green Goblin in the play which will have music by U2.

Anybody else think that this is a crazy idea?

Source: New York Post

3. The official website to Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds has been launched. Excited? Don’t be – there’s just a trailer there and some facebook and twitter links.

Expect more as we get closer to the August 21st release date.

Source: Inglourious Basterds

4. If you’ve been waiting 10 years for Toy Story 3 then wait no more. Well…you’ve got to wait a bit more. The trailer for the long awaited animated film will be attached to Pixar’s forthcoming UP.

Toy Story 3 will open on June 18th, 2010.

Source: Movieblog

5. With Slumdog Millionaire raking in Oscars and grossing millions it’s no surprise to learn that the author of the book on which the film was based – Vikas Swarup has become a hot commodity. The author’s next novel Six Suspects is being developed by BBC Films. The book which is billed as “Agatha Christie meets Elmore Leonard” is being adapted by John Hodge, who also wrote Slumdog director Danny Boyle’s Shallow Grave and Trainspotting.

The film is due to shoot in Delhi next year.

Source: Screen Daily

6. Speaking of Trainspotting – it looks like Ewan McGregor won’t be slipping back into Renton’s tight jeans in a Trainspotting sequel.

Speaking to Moviefone McGregor said:

“I don’t think I would, for several reasons. The first one is that I didn’t think the book was very good. The novel of ‘Trainspotting’ was quite fantastic, it was beautiful, quite moving and disturbing writing, and then I find that the sequel … the book that Irvine Welsh wrote was called ‘Porno,’ and … it didn’t move me as much … He’d written a good sequel to the film as opposed to a sequel to his book. It’s also a similar story, you know, the betrayal of trust … Renton walks away with all the money at the end again. And I thought I don’t want to make the same story again. And, also, I think just the idea of getting the cast together again 10 to 15 years later isn’t good enough, you need more than that.”

Fair point – I think the fact that Boyle and McGregor had a huge falling out over Leonardo DiCapario being cast in The Beach might have something to do with it.

You might be angry Ewan – but he did do you a favor on that one.

Source: Moviefone

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