Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: April 19, 2009

Welcome to another Weekend Movie News Wrap Up. In this week’s comedy filled line-up:

Zac Efron might be 17 Again but he’s also No.1 at the box office; Reese Witherspoon is Nice; Sean “Diddy” Combs goes Greek; Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning go Somwhere for Sofia Coppola; Felicity Jones is a woman in Ricky Gervais’ The Men At The Pru and Brotherhood’s Blake Masters fires  2 Guns for Universal Pictures.

Box Office
Zac Efron is a movie star. The High School Musical star’s role in 17 Again helped the film make $24 million over the weekend. The body swap comedy also stars Friends‘ Matthew Perry as an older Efron. Poor guy - a decade ago he was headlining (mediocre) romantic comedies and now he’s supporting a tween star.

In second place was State of Play starring Russell Crowe and Ben Affleck. Again about 10 years ago this would have opened at number one when the two stars were at their peak. Now, they’ll have to settle for a $14 million runner-up position. With good reviews this one just might have legs.

Hannah Montana: The Movie dropped over 70% for a third place finish. The film grossed about $12.5 million over the weekend giving the Miley Cyrus film a $56 million total.

Monsters Vs Aliens and Fast and Furious both banked about $11 million over the weekend bringing their totals to $161 and $135 respectively.

Crank High Voltage didn’t have much juice over the three days with a weak $7 million debut. Has the profitable Jason Statham action genre finally run its course?

Observe and Report dropped over 70% this weekend with a second weekend take of just $4 million. The film will be lucky to see a $25 million finish.

Movie News

1. Reese Witherspoon will produce and may star in an adaptation of en Sacks’ novel
Nice. According to Variety:

“The protag(onist) is a magazine writer who accidentally kills her boyfriend. She finds a way to get rid of the body and discovers that killing boyfriends is easier than breaking up with them.”

I cant say that I’m much of a Witherspoon fan, so I’ll be sitting this one out.

Source: Variety

2. Rapper with many names Sean “Diddy”/”Puff Daddy” Combs has signed onto the sequel to Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The film entitled Get Him To The Greek stars controversial British comedian Russell Brand, Jonah Hill, Elisabeth Moss and Rose Byrne.
According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“In the film, Combs plays the role of Sergio, an executive who owns a record label. Moss will play Daphne Binks, the girlfriend of Aaron Greenberg (played by Hill), while Brand plays an out-of-control rocker named Aldous Snow. Byrne will play Jackie Q, a scandal-ridden pop star and Snow’s character’s newest love interest.”

Judd Apatow produces. There’s a surprise!

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning will star in Spofia Coppola’s Somewhere.

“(The) story centers on a bad-boy actor stumbling through a life of excess at the Chateau Marmont. With an unexpected visit from his 11-year-old daughter, he is forced to reexamine his life.”

The film will be shot in Hollywood’s famous Chateau Marmont hotel.

It sounds like someone is trying to recreate some of that Lost In Translation magic.
A bit of advice Sofia – Dorff is no Bill Murray.

Source: Variety

4. British actress Felicity Jones will join Ricky Gervais in The Men At The Pru.

“(In the 1970’s set “dramedy”) Jones will play Julie, who is led to believe by the men around her that a woman should focus on raising a family but who wants to break out and pursue a career in photography.”

Unlike most people I can’t say that I’m a fan of Gervais. I find him quite smarmy and full of himself.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

5. Blake Masters the creator of TV’s Brotherhood will adapt 2 Guns for Universal Pictures.

“Guns, written by Steven Grant with art by Mat Santolouco, follows a DEA agent and an undercover naval intelligence officer who are unwittingly investigating each other and who steal mob money for the good guys. They realize later that the mob actually got them to swipe $50 million from the CIA.”

Apparently the film will have a 1980’s buddy movie vibe, but with a modern spin.

Wasn’t that Kiss Kiss Bang Bang or Rush Hour?

It sounds interesting though – we’ll see what happens.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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

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