This week:
Angelina Jolie’s Salt can’t beat Inception; Adam McKay goes from The Other Guys to The Boys; Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in a Rush; a pair of Schmucks take a Cruise of the Gods; Wahlberg has a lot Happening with The Raven, Five Bothers and The Brazilian Job; Steven Seagal delivers some Justice; and we see Brad Pitt play Moneyball.
Christopher Nolan’s Inception remained the box office champion over the weekend. The Dark Knight director’s latest film should steal another $44 million worth of moviegoers’ cash by the time Monday morning rolls around.
That would give the Leonardo DiCaprio led film an impressive $144 million by the end of its second weekend. Even more impressive is the fact the film is entirely original – not based on an existing property or showcasing unnecessary 3D. Lets just hope that Warner Bros has already made their Batman 3 deal with Nolan – because if they haven’t then his quote has just gone even higher!
Once again Angelina Jolie proved why she can demand a high salary for an action film. Though she had to settle for second place, she still helped Salt score a $37 million debut. The Phillip Noyce directed film has been tracking well – the real life spy shenanigans of Anna Chapman, coupled with solid reviews, and a ninety-five minute run-time probably helped woo moviegoers. Jolie deserves a lot of credit, as she and her better half (a certain Mr. Pitt) have been on a media blitz over the last few weeks. It’s plain to see that Jolie is still working hard for that $25 million paycheck. A new Sony Pictures franchise is born.
Despicable Me was third with a weekend take of $24 million. The lower budget (comparatively) animated film has now banked an impressive $162 million. It looks like a final tally of $200 million is in reach.
After a pretty miserable debut last weekend, Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice didn’t drop too much. A second weekend take of just under $10 million means that this Nicolas Cage/Jerry Bruckheimer film may have decent legs. If it manages to secure strong international grosses, then it should turn a profit.
Toy Story 3 also held well. It grossed a smidgen less than Sorcerer, upping its total to $380 million. A final take of over $400 million is pretty much certain.
Walden Media’s adaptation of Beverly Cleary’s Ramona And Beezus brought in $8 million over the weekend. While this may not sound good – it is when you consider that the film only cost $15 million to produce.
Adam Sandler’s Grown Ups grossed $7.5 million for a cumulative take of $142 million, while Twilight Saga: Eclipse bit into another $7 million and upped its total to just under $280 million.
M. Night Shyamalan’s critical disaster The Last Airbender has become the third highest grossing film of his career. The adaptation brought in $4.5 million over the weekend for a $123 million total.
20th Century Fox’s, Robert Rodriguez produced, Predators shot up another $2.5 million for a $46 million total gross. It should hit $50 million – a sequel is already on the way.
Movie News
1. The Other Guys helmer Adam McKay is set to direct an adaptation of the Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson comic book series The Boys.
McKay likened the film to a modern day Watchmen and he stated that the Sony picture would be R-rated. The Boys follows a group of super-powered CIA agents who observe superheroes and make sure that they stay in line.
Haven’t we seen this type of thing a million times already?
Source: Collider
2. Can’t get enough of Joseph Gordon-Levitt after seeing Inception?
Get an eyeful of the star in his next action film Premium Rush.
It’s like Speed – on a bicycle
Source: Just Jared
3. David Guion and Michael Handelman wrote the forthcoming Dinner For Schmucks, but now they’re preparing to call the shots – as the duo is set to direct their first film.
The pair will write and direct Cruise of the Gods, a remake of a 2002 BBC comedy, about a fan-cruise celebrating a fictional television series named The Children of Castor.
Steve Coogan, who starred in the original BBC comedy will produce (and possibly star) alongside Ben Stiller.
I managed to see the original when is aired back in 2002 and it was mildly entertaining. The best way to describe it would be Galaxy Quest, without the science fiction element, on a boat.
Source: Deadline
4. Mark Wahlberg is in talks to produce, and star in, a feature film version of Ricardo de Montreuil’s short film The Raven.
According to Latino Review:
“The short follows Chris Black who possesses a power that could lead to the destruction of the current regime, and they will stop at nothing to destroy him. The chase is on as Chris runs for his life in this sci-fi thriller set in an alternate and futuristic Los Angeles.The Raven was produced with a total budget of $5000 and is based on a treatment for a potential film trilogy.”
Justin Marks will write the script for Universal.
Source: Latino Review
5. The artist formerly known as Marky Mark has a few more projects on the way too – including The Brazilian Job - and the Four Brothers sequel, I mean Five Brothers.
Speaking of the sequel to The Italian Job, Wahlberg said:
“I think if it’s ever going to happen it would be now. But, you know, with any other movie that I’ve made there’s been talks of sequels but if we can’t make it any better or as good as the first, we just don’t want to do it. It’s just not worth it. Because that movie, with a good piece of material starting out and putting together a great cast, it ended up being a good movie and people really enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun, it was smart, and so if we can capture that magic again then it’s worth doing. But, other than that…”
As for Five Bothers:
“I kind of assume the parental figure or position, helping younger kids in the neighborhood, they kind of get into trouble. Then I realize that my biological dad had another sibling and he decided to keep him and, you know, it’s gets…”
Wahlberg will next be seen in David O Russell’s The Fighter opposite Christian Bale. The boxing drama opens on December 10th.
Source: Collider
6. With Machete on the way it looks as if Steven Seagal could be attempting a big-time comeback.
Moviehole states that the Under Siege star could be getting his own scripted television series.
No, this is not actor’s current reality show, Steven Seagal: Lawman. The new show will be titled Southern Justice, or possibly True Justice, and is getting a 13 episode order.
“Seagal plays Elijah Kane the leader of an undercover group of cops that chases down the bad guys in the Seattle, Washington area.”
Moviehole’s source is quoted as saying:
”It’s being filmed from July to December in Vancouver. There are 13 episodes ordered and it will air world wide through Voltage’s foreign sales efforts. It will be an action/crime drama – one hour procedural. Crime of the week kind of thing.”
Could be good.
Source: Moviehole
7. Want to see what Brad Pitt looks like in the troubled Moneyball?
Check out below
Source: MTV
That’s it for now. See you at the movies.
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Whoah. Im gonna see inception soon,but i also wanna see salt!!!!!
Jolie is sooooooo over-rated…..can’t think of any recent movie of hers that has been memorable. Bunch of stinkers. I think Pitt has her beat now.
ya i heard salt sucked, inception on the other hand got a way better rating the salt. if you want to see salt, rent it. its not worth it. inception was a great movie, action packed, and a thinking movie. it was bad@ss. that i watched in IMAX
So you HEARD that Salt sucked so you automatically assume it’s not worth watching? It’s great that you loved Inception, but I am sure that there are alot of people that liked Salt, too. I want to see BOTH movies, but I will see both when they’re available on Blu-Ray….
I saw a good 25 minutes of salt and loved it^^ it was fantastic!!!!!! As was inception,ive only seen parts cuz i work at the movies and i see these on my break;)
Inception was not too bad if you can stay awake for the whole movie. Salt, of course had more action than Inception and a little twist at the end. I liked Inception but dont plan on buying it when it comes out on dvd.
On another note, I’m looking forward to catching “Machete” with Seagal, Deniro and Danny Treyo. Its gonnna be a very entertaining action flick to hit theatres on Sept 3.
I think Steven Seagal is running the risk of being type casted. If he wants a huge comeback he needs to play a gay cowboy or a mental patient.
I’d pay to see him do the mental patient, I think…
Well, there WAS that talking doggie once upon a time…
Anyway, I wonder if anyone will be out for ‘Justice’ (hey, I had to work it in, it was too ripe)
Wait…. so you are saying most of his earlier films he was actually a police officer and wasn’t a mental patient pretending to be a police officer?
The Boys is an amazing comic and nothing like what you’re thinking has been done already. It’s a bloody, gory, sex filled violent comic series with amazing characters and story. They don’t act like CIA Agents and if it didn’t actually say it, you’d never know. They basically put younger, bad, or corrupt superheroes who have strayed from being good back into check. Plus the “CIA” superheroes only have powers because of a serum they have to inject. Trust me it’s worth a read but I dunno about McKay doing it. I’m glad he’s keeping it R Rated (as it should be considering people get murdered in bloodier ways than anything you’ve seen on screen. As long as he knows the material and doesn’t change stuff then I’m down!
Really happy to hear that an R rated (25 million to make)Predators movie actually made money…50 million thats not bad. Hopefully they cast more A list actors next time and hopefully they get the hint that staying true to the subject matter with Predators is more important then ruining the franchise for the sake of a few extra dollars.
I think the fans really spoke loud and clear on this one…do it right or dont do it at all. Lets hope that R. Rodriguez and Antal Nimrod jump on board for the sequal…they really did the movie legacy justice.
They could really use another jack to put into the box next time. Maybe get a big name like Cameron or Spielberg to script doctor for them. At least find an honest to god science fiction writer to feed them a story. They won’t get by on good willed nostalgia again…
Mr Man,,,
There’s gotta be a role for him in the, “One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest” remake…
Yeah I’d pay to see that…
At 37 million opening for a female action film, I think Jolie is worth her “ratedness.” I can’t think of any other actress right now that would have pulled in the same for an action film. I plan on seeing it this week. I saw Inception last week and the hype is real. It is The Matrix of this year.
um sigourney weaver could, in another Alien movie
790 it’s my understanding that Steven is already mental I think if he went in for an exam he could legally be classified as retarded. I still can’t believe the concept behind his reality show and that any one in the world actually liked it.
I’d watch anything with JGL in it at least once. Brick made me like him 500 days of summer made me really like him and inception made me love him. Right now he is making nothing but great films. He has come along way since that crappy third rock show.
I still can’t believe anyone watchs Angelina. She is a bad actresses and honestly not even believable as an action hero. Seriously the only reason she gets these roles is because a bunch of guys get off starring at her plastic fake… Everything. Salt sounds about as basic action as they come a basic story with bad acting and a built from the ground up with plastic actress.
SHE’S THE FEMALE TOM CRUISE!!!!!
I’m sorry but Jolie is a good actress and she did deserve the Oscar she won.
green, no, she is taller than Cruise
are you sure it wasnt a razzie manowar??
The average Muppet is taller than Tom Cruise..