» Movie News

‘New Moon’ Crushes Box Office Records

Carly — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:52:16 +0000

The sequel to 2008’s Twilight proves that there’s something to be said for having a strong fan base.

Despite receiving reviews that range from lukewarm to downright cold, New Moon’s midnight release showed that a solid — and large — fan following can trump quality of movie as being the main factor in earning box office success.

New Moon’s first midnight showing earned the film the distinction of being the highest grossing midnight run in box office history. The film was shown at 3,514 theaters, and brought in $26.3 million.

This amount surpassed previous recordholder Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’s midnight earnings by more than $4 million.

Last year’s release of Twilight saw $36 million in its first day, and if the midnight turnout for New Moon is any indicator, the follow up is already well on its way to trouncing the number.

According to box office observers, the biggest obstacle New Moon may face in achieving its anticipated success will be the film’s ability to appeal to audiences beyond the die-hard fans — or how successful those fans are at dragging their friends and boyfriends to the theater with them.

Looking for a wider scope than its own franchise, the next box office goal for New Moon is to break the record for best opening day. Currently, 2008’s The Dark Knight holds the record, having brought in $67.2 million in its first day.

We’ll see if vampires can beat out superheroes for first-day draw.

New Disney Princess Met With Love

Carly — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:49:11 +0000

Disney’s newest princess won’t be making her screen debut for a few more weeks, but The Princess and the Frog’s Princess Tiana is already being embraced as much as Disney’s longer-established princesses.

In less than a month, more than 45,000 Princess Tiana dolls have made their way off shelves, three times as many Princess Tiana bedding sets have been sold than any other princess, and sales show that the new princess’s dress is the current fave at The Disney Store.

All told, sales of Princess Tiana merchandise are beating out other Disney princess merch by double digits. Not a bad way for the new princess to take her place in a long line of beloved princesses.

Princess Tiana is the first princess Disney has introduced in more than a decade and, as such, the corporation is building the marketing for The Princess and Frog almost solely around Tiana.

Disney hopes to see the introduction of Princess Tiana continue the success of their princess line, and also anticipates that bringing in their first African-American princess will expand the fanbase for all the princesses.

Aside from just rolling out Princess Tiana themed merchandise, Disney has also been having meet-and-greets with the new princess at both Disney World and Disneyland, as well as introducing a riverboat musical called “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee” that visitors at to the theme parks can see three times a day.

Disney has consistently seen success with new additions to the princess legacy, and the reception Princess Tiana has had so far shows that the same bodes well for her, as well as for the release of The Princess and the Frog.

Tim Burton Exhibit Opens at MoMa

Carly — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:41:41 +0000

Tim Burton is lauded as being one of the most creative forces in Hollywood. His films have a distinct style that sets them apart, and characterizes Burton as a stand out director. Now, his work is being moved from the big screen onto the walls of the Museum of Modern Art.

In an exhibit opening Sunday and running through April, MoMa will have on display film memorabilia, movie posters, and drawings by Burton– some going as far back as his childhood. The exhibit will also include a film series showing Burton’s feature and short films, along with movies that influenced him.

This is the largest exhibit MoMa has ever put on that displays a retrospective view of the works of a filmmaker. At a press conference for the exhibit, Burton thanked “everybody that raided my closets” to find the material for the exhibit, and described the process of collecting work, and making sense of his life from that work, to be “a very positive experience.”

According to MoMa’s assistant curator, Ron Magliozzi, the museum first got the idea for the exhibit in 2005, and began collecting materials in 2008. Among some of the pieces they gathered are puppets from The Nightmare Before Christmas, Batman masks, and an Edward Scissorhands statue. Along with these, the exhibit also includes Burton’s sketchbooks, concept art, drawings, paintings, photographs and amateur films.

During the press conference for the exhibit, Burton briefly mentioned his current project, Alice in Wonderland. According to the director, “I’m still working on it. I got a lot to do in a short period of time. … I shouldn’t even be here.” He also revealed his reason for tackling the beloved story to be that he has never seen film adaptations of Alice that he really liked.

The exhibit is being largely sponsored by Syfy Network, whose president, David Howe, called Burton “a role model…and a guru” for the network. Howe feels that no artist greater exemplifies Syfy’s goal of encouraging people to “imagine greater.”

The exhibit begins with Burton’s childhood in Burbank and spans to his most recent work, and also focuses on Burton’s years at the California Institute of the Arts and his time as an animator at Disney.

Forbes: Will Ferrell Isn’t Worth the Money

Carly — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:40:19 +0000

There used to be a time, not so very long ago, when a film starring Will Ferrell would instantly draw in crowds and see box office success.

Whether Ferrell has simply been making poor project choices, or whether his reign as Hollywood’s leading funny man has just been passed on, one thing is for certain: His films aren’t bringing in the revenue they used to.

Forbes Magazine recently came out with a list of the 10 most overpaid actors in show business. And Ferrell had the unfortunate “honor” of being number one on the list.

Forbes created the list by looking at 100 of Hollywood’s top actors, based on films that were released widely over the last five years. The salaries of the stars were compared with the total operating income for each film (production costs vs. revenue brought in) to see how much each movie made for each dollar the stars made.

Ferrell’s films earned a meager $3.29 for each dollar he was paid to star in them. Not far off in the number two position was Ewan McGregor, whose films have seen only $3.75 for every dollar of his salary.

To contrast, Forbes also released a list of the 10 stars most worth their salary.

Topping that list was Shia LaBeouf, whose films brought in $160 for every dollar he was paid to star.

Head on over to the Forbes website to see who else made the lists.

Jason Lee to Make Directorial Debut

Carly — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:38:40 +0000

Jason Lee’s television show My Name is Earl make have just been canceled, but don’t think Lee is going to be having any downtime because of that.

Lee will be sticking around the TV circuit for a bit, starring in the pilot for TNT’s Delta Blues where he’ll be playing a Memphis police officer who works as an Elvis impersonator at night. Lee is also working on a live-action series for Adult Swim. The show is to take place in the world of skateboarding, and Lee will both star in and direct the series.

As for the big screen, Lee recently finished filming A Couple of Dicks with director Kevin Smith, who Lee has worked with many times before. He will also be going back to his role as Dave in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel.

More importantly, Lee is going to be taking his first big swing at things from behind the camera. He’ll be making his feature film directorial debut with Get Back, a film about a couple of Beatles fans who time travel back to 1966 and meet the band. The twist? One ends up in a love triangle between John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

Get Back will be produced by Matt Berenson.

Carl Erik Rinsch Will Deliver ‘47 Ronin’

John Cooper — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:05:37 +0000

You might remember hearing up-and-coming (actually unproven) director Carl Erik Rinsch’s name being tossed about in discussions of Ridley Scott’s planned Alien prequel or reboot. However, Scott took Rinsch off the project to see over it himself, leading the man to head in another direction: that of 47 Ronin.

In a logline that reads like someone didn’t quite understand why The Last Samurai didn’t work, 47 Ronin will be an “epic period samurai swordsmen tale that will star Keanu Reeves” which will tell “the famous fact-based story of a band of samurai swordsmen who avenge the death of their master in 18th century Japan.”

You heard me right. Keanu Reeves. Samurai. I know the guy’s half Asian — that doesn’t stop him from having the acting chops of a bump on a log. Rinsch, who cut his teeth on car commercials, will direct the film from a script by Chris Morgan, the man who wrote Wanted. This film is quickly getting the chips stacked against it, but I’ll reserve judgment for when I see the final product. Who knows — maybe we’ll have a Neil Blomkamp-esque success on our hands that completely exceeds my expectations.

Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris Share ‘TMI’

John Cooper — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:09:43 +0000

Whether you love or hate Just Friends (an inconsequential little comedy that came out a few years ago), you have to admit that Ryan Reynolds and Anna Faris shared a great deal of comic chemistry. This is largely due to the fact that Reynolds is incapable of being anything but charming, while Faris is unstoppably cute and has mastered the “smart chick in the guise of dumb blonde” routine.

It looks like we’ll be seeing a reunion of the two actors in Universal Pictures’ TMI, scripted by Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith (10 Things I Hate About You) and Marc Klein (Serendipity, A Good Year).

The pitch for the film is that “while honesty is the best policy for a relationship, ‘too much information’ might not be the best thing.” That says nothing.

Hopefully we’ll be seeing an edgy comedy in which Reynolds and Faris can really thrive, but regardless, I’m looking forward to it.

‘20,000 Leagues’ Gets Torpedoed; McG Harpooned

John Cooper — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:57:55 +0000

Life is not looking good for Terminator Salvation director McG.

Disney has decided to indefinitely can the Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea project (surely to be a 3D CGI adventure-fest) and McG has stepped away from the film, which was slated to begin production in a little over two months from now. There has still been no big casting news for the film, which could have been a reason why Nemo has been canned.

Disney is looking for big tentpole films to fill the Pirates of the Caribbean vacuum with Prince of Persia, Tron Legacy and Nemo, but it’s likely that the only success they’ll achieve in that endeavor will be the inevitable fourth entry into the Pirates franchise, which Rob Marshall will direct in May.

Meanwhile, McG’s other project, Terminator 5, is also in limbo until the rights to the film are properly settled.

Is this all a blessing or a curse? Let us know in the comments!