Weekend Movie News Wrap Up: July 5th, 2009

This week:

Revenge of The Fallen meets Dawn of the Dinosaurs; it’ll take 6 years to see the last Airbender; Adams looks on as Batman fights Marky Mark; George Clooney leaves Warner Bros; The Green Hornet is delayed and Tony Scott, Denzel Washington and Chris Pine are stoppable.

Box Office

Sandra Bullock’s The Proposal banked a little less than $14 million bringing the total of the comedy to $86 million. The magic century mark is within spitting distance.

The Hangover is hanging in there with a gross of $4.5 million. The R-rated comedy now has a spectacular total of $198 million.

The Cameron Diaz starring My Sisters Keeper took about $6 million giving the film a total of $23 million. The Taking Of Pelham 123 has so far taken $56.9 million – look for it to stop at the $60 million mar.. Year One banked just over $2 million for a flaccid $37 million total while Night at the Museum 2: Battle Of The Smithsonian took home just under $2 million to bring its grand total to $166 million.

Movie News

1. Now that the marketing machine has started up for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender all eyes have turned to the potential sequels to the film.

The producer of the film, Frank Marshall has discussed the possible time frame of the sequel and Shaymalan’s involvement. Marshall said:

“One of the things we’ll be doing is using the sets, ships and elements for each different nation in this film and incorporating them into movies two and three. We’re not waiting. There just isn’t enough time. Night will finish this movie, then the script and then we’ll prepare for the next one. I think it’ll probably happen over six years.”

I’ve been a fan of Shayamalan’s work for the last decade or so, and while I will admit that his films have been declining since he made his mark with The Sixth Sense I’ve always been willing to defend his choices. However, I can’t say that I’m looking forward to The Last Airbender. I’m not a fan of animation and the film looks terrible.

I know that there’s a lot of people out there looking forward to this – but I’m not one of them.

Source: SlashFilm

2. Amy Adams will join Christian Bale and Mark Wahlberg in David O. Russell’s The Fighter.

“(The long in-development film) revolves around the life of boxer “Irish” Mickey Ward (Wahlberg) and trainer-brother Dick Eklund (Bale), chronicling their early days on the rough streets of Lowell, Mass., through Eklund’s battle with drugs and Ward’s eventual world championship in London.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Bale will be intense, Wahlberg will be wooden and Adams will be a love interest.

Over the years Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and Darren Aronofsky have been attached to the troubled film that is set to start shooting soon.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

3. George Clooney is ending his longstanding relationship with Warner Bros. The star along with his producing partner Grant Heslov will move their Smokehouse production company off the Warner lot to Sony Pictures.

Warner Bros has been behind most of Clooney’s big hits over the years from his star-making stint in ER through to The Perfect Storm and The Ocean’s trilogy.

Read the press release below to see what Sony head Amy Pascal and Clooney have to say, as well as a list of the films that Smokehouse is currently developing:

“George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures are in final negotiations to sign an exclusive two-year theatrical development and production deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment, it was announced today by Amy Pascal, Co-Chairman of Sony Picture Entertainment and Chairman of the studio’s Motion Picture Group.”

“Commenting on the announcement, Clooney said, ‘Warner Bros. has been a great place to work and I’ve felt like part of a family for almost 20 years. So in moving on, I’m leaving a terrific company and a lot of dear friends. They’re a class act. In looking ahead, I’m tremendously excited to be working at Sony Pictures, and we all feel like it’s a perfect match for Smokehouse. Grant Heslov and I hope to deliver the kind of films that will make them proud.’”

“We admire and respect George and Grant as filmmakers and producers and we couldn’t be more excited to be in business with them and their talented team at Smokehouse Pictures,” said Pascal. “The broad range of quality projects they have championed and the compelling and sometimes provocative material they support says everything about their company and their creative aspirations. While we have been trimming production deals overall for the last few years, we see real value in opening our doors to producers with their critical and commercial track record and their artistic point of view, and we know they will be a fantastic addition to the Sony Pictures family.”

“My nine year relationship with Warner Bros. was extremely gratifying and now, George and I look forward to Smokehouse being a part of the Sony family,” Heslov said.

The Smokehouse Pictures team includes Senior Vice President of Development Nina Wolarsky, and creative executive Alex Meenehan. The company is currently in development on the following projects with Warner Bros:

THE CHALLENGE
Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. An adaptation of Jonathan Mahler’s nonfiction book chronicling the historic Supreme Court case in which two lawyers sued the Bush administration on behalf of accused terrorist Salim Hamdan.

OUR BRAND IS CRISIS
A satirical comedy about American spin doctors competing in the same Presidential election in Bolivia. Based on the documentary by Rachel Boynton, with a script by Peter Straughan (MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS).
FARRAGUT NORTH
An adaptation of Beau Willimon’s critically acclaimed play, set during the Iowa primary of a presidential race.

ESCAPE FROM TEHRAN
The true story of how the CIA used a fake movie project to smuggle hostages out of 1979 Tehran. Chris Terrio is writing the screenplay.

THE TOURIST
A contemporary spy thriller about a spy who risks everything to reveal a conspiracy after he’s accused of a murder he didn’t commit. Based on the bestselling book by Olen Steinhauer. Tony Peckham is writing the screenplay.

THE INNOCENT MAN
Based on the bestselling nonfiction book by John Grisham, the true story of murder and injustice in a small town in Oklahoma. Adapted by David Gordon Green..”

The irony of this story being that just days before this deal was sealed Pascal ditched Clooney’s Ocean movie pals Steven Soderbergh and Brad Pitt’s Moneyball due to script issues.

Source: Deadline Hollywood

4. Those of you who have been waiting to see Seth Rogan as The Green Hornet better prepare to wait a little bit longer.

The comic book adaptation’s release date has now been changed from June 25, 2010 to July 9, 2010 release. It’s only two weeks so don’t worry too much.

The Michel Gondry directed Green Hornet will now be sandwiched between Toy Story 3 and Twilight: New Moon.

Source: Film School Rejects

5. It looks like Tony Scott’s runaway train film Unstoppable might be…er stoppable after all.

The film was set to star Scott’s go-to-guy Denzel Washington and Star Trek’s Chris Pine, however 20^th Century Fox have hot the brakes of the film because of budget concerns.

Unstoppable was set to go before cameras this fall but that start date now looks uncertain. One of the reasons for the studios cold feet is the so-so performance of the latest Scott and Washington action film The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 which has so far grossed $56 million from an estimated $100 million budget.

Washington currently gets $20 million a film while Pine is probably asking for a couple of million following the success of Star Trek.

More when we get it.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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