This week:

The Expendables edges out five new releases at the weekend box office; Underworld 4 will rise in January of 2012; Mark Strong talks Green Lantern; creepy elevator images from Devil; Ryan Reynolds is one hard-working guy; Google is getting its own movie; the production schedule and shooting location for Super 8 has been revealed; and lots more.

Box Office

Sly Stallone and his brigade of manly men retained the box office crown for a second weekend as The Expendables was top dog yet again.  The ultra-explosive action flick grossed an estimated $16.5 million, raising its 10-day total to just under $65 million in the U.S.  Does this mean Expendables 2 will happen after all?  If it does, then Chuck Norris had better join the party the next time around.

Vampires Suck managed to overcome being slaughtered by critics and grossed $12.2 million, raising its total to $18.6 million since its Wednesday release last week.  The film was written and directed by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer of Meet the Spartans/Epic Movie/etc. "fame," whose careers tragically look to be far from dead since Suck is close to already recouping its $20 million production budget.  Sigh...

Eat, Pray, Love fell to third place with $12 million and a total of $47 million so far.  Word of mouth for Julia Robert's latest has been decent, but it doesn't look to be the leggy hit that Julie & Julia was around this time last year.  It should still turn a profit, having cost $60 million to make - and that's including Mrs. Robert's acting fees.

Lottery Ticket opened in fourth with just over $11.1 million.  The comedy about a young man who wins big bucks in the lottery, only to be harassed to no end by his neighbors stars Terry Crews, Ice Cube, Mike Epps, and Keith David - among others.  The film was a cheap production at $17 million and did decently at the BO, all things considered.  Look for it to be on DVD/Blu-ray sooner than later.

The Other Guys and Piranha 3D both grossed around $10.1 million, though current estimates put the Will Ferrell comedy ahead of the flesh-eating fish tale.  Piranha only cost $24 million to make and was generally regarded as a "good" B-movie (read our Piranha 3D review here), while Other Guys is close to recouping its $100 million budget (current gross is at $88 million).

Piranha 3D sequel details

The two other new releases this weekend - Nanny McPhee Returns and The Switch - grossed $8.3 and $8.1. million, respectively.  The kiddie-friendly sequel Nanny McPhee stars Emma Thompson and was generally well-received by critics, while the Jennifer Aniston pregnancy comedy The Switch was not - still, don't be surprised if both sell about the same number of tickets in theaters.

Inception grossed another $7.66 million and raised its total to $261.8 million - not a bad sum.  Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World rounded out the top 10 with a $5 million take and a $20.7 million total to date.  While the drop from opening weekend was only in the 50% range (indicating good word of mouth), no doubt the studio is disappointed at the weak box office for a film that while niche, they must have thought would do better. Oh well - there's always DVD...

Source: Box Office Mojo

Movie News

1. The war between vampires and werewolves will continue in Underworld 4, which is set for release on January 20th, 2012.  Kate Beckinsale is set to reprise her role as the catsuit-wearing vamp Seline, with her husband Len Wiseman back in the director's chair for the sequel - which will be in 3D.

Previous entries in the Underworld franchise were also released in January and were - financially, at least - moderate successes in their own right.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I suppose.

Source: Bloody Disgusting

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2. Mark Strong will play Sinestro in the upcoming Green Lantern movie, though he has warned fans to be patient in regards to seeing the character onscreen, saying that "[Most of my scenes are in space], indeed, which is why I've come in at the end of shooting [on the Green Lantern movie]."

While Strong gave brief but enthusiastic description of Tomar-Re and Kilowog in his interview with MTV, he was mum on which other classic Green Lantern characters would appear in the film.  It's going to a long wait for next summer to finally arrive, I suspect.

Source: MTV

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3. Being trapped in an elevator was never more terrifying than it will be in Devil, the supernatural horror film *cough* "from the mind of M. Night Shyamalan" *cough* that arrives this September.  Fortunately, the Last Airbender director is only responsible for the screen story behind this one, so it may turn out okay after all.

The night chronicles Devil

Collider has posted a new photo gallery for the movie, which you can check out HERE.  Beware, though - the terrifying image of Shyamalan giving directorial notes may be too much for some of you to handle.

Source: Collider

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4. If Ryan Reynolds keeps to his ultra-busy schedule for the next two years, he is going to be one tired fellow.  The actor is currently set to star in the comedy The Change-Up with Jason Bateman; the thriller Safe House with Denzel Washington; the Deadpool movie; R.I.P.D; and Green Lantern 2 - not to mention he has a whole slew of promotional work to do.

Ryan Reynolds holds Green Lantern ring

Can Reynolds pull it off?  One only hopes moviegoers don't tire of seeing his face up on the big screen anytime soon.

Source: The Playlist

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5. Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page will see their story given the Hollywood treatment in a new film based off Ken Auletta's non-fiction book Googled: The End of the World As We Know It.

Google movie production

Unlike the upcoming Facebook movie, The Social Network, the tale of how Google became the world's first $100 billion media company is expected to be portrayed in a less controversial light in this new movie - otherwise, Brin and Page would be forced to unleash their legion of blood-sucking demons on the filmmaking crew. ;-)

Source: Deadline

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6. Principal photography on the J.J. Abrams project Super 8 will begin near the end of September this year, in the town of Weirton, West Virginia - primarily on Main Street.

Official Super 8 Movie Trailer from Super Bowl

Per usual, details on the Abrams project are being kept under wraps, although the plot of Super 8 apparently revolves around a 14-year-old boy living back in 1979 who captures footage of strange creatures around his hometown - insert joke about West Virginia locals of your choice here.

Source: Production Weekly (via Ace Showbiz)

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In addition:

  • Eureka to get a 5th season on SyFy.  Go HERE for more details.
  • More images of zombies werecking havoc on Atlanta in AMC's new show The Walking Dead can be seen HERE.
  • The Johnny Depp/Angelina Jolie thriller The Tourist will be released in theaters on December 10th, 2010.  For more detail, go HERE.
  • Bruce Willis and Danny Trejo may sign on for Violet & Daisy, the directorial debut of Oscar-winning screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious).  For more information, go HERE.

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