Author: Edward

#1 Lakeview Terrace from Screen Gems takes #1 this weekend bringing in $15.6 million. Terrace showed in 2464 theaters and cost $20 million to make.

#2 Burn After Reading from Focus drops to #2 taking in $11.2 million, down 41%, in 2657 theaters, up 6 over last. Burn has grossed $36,401,000 and cost $37 million.

#3 My Best Friend’s Girl from Lionsgate comes in at #3 this weekend bringing in $8,3 million. Girl showed in 2604 theaters and cost $20 million to make.

#4 Igor from MGM debuts at #4 this weekend bringing in $8 million for the weekend. Igor showed in 2339 theaters, and cost roughly $30 million.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

#5 Righteous Kill: Weekend Gross: $7,700,000, down 52% / Theaters: 3152 / Gross:$28,810,000 / Budget $60 million

#6 Tyler Perry’s The Family That Preys: Weekend Gross: $7,500,000, down 56% / Theaters: 2070 / Gross: $28,356,000 / Budget: Unknown

#7 The Women: Weekend Gross: $5,306,000, down 45% / Theaters: 2995, up 33 / Gross: $19,209,000 / Budget $16 million

#8 Ghost Town: Weekend Gross: $5,171,000 / Theaters 1505 / Gross: $5,171,000 / Budget $20 million

#9 The Dark Knight: Weekend Gross: $2,950,000, down 28% / Theaters: 1905, down 286 / Gross: $521,925,000 / Budget: $185 million

#10 The House Bunny: Weekend Gross: $2,800,000, down 32% / Theaters: 2,675, down 88 / Gross: $45,724,000 / Budget $25 million

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

An interesting quote from an interview with JJ Abrams in AMC’s Sci-fi Scanner regarding William Shatner and the New Star Trek movie: Q: How do you react to William Shatner’s ire at not having a role in the movie? A: It was very tricky. We actually had written a scene with him in it that was a flashback kind of thing, but the truth is, it didn’t quite feel right. The bigger thing was that he was very vocal that he didn’t want to do a cameo. We tried desperately to put him in the movie, but he was making it very clear that he wanted the movie to focus on him significantly, which, frankly, he deserves. The truth is, the story that we were telling required a certain adherence to the Trek canon and consistency of storytelling. It’s funny — a lot of the people who were proclaiming that he must be in this movie were the same people saying it must adhere to canon. Well, his character died on screen. Maybe a smarter group of filmmakers could have figured out how to resolve that.

According to MTV the latest Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel will be utilizing both live-action and CG based technology. TMNT co-creator addressed the rumors as well as some comments made by TMNT co-creator Kevin Laird to MTV; Peter Laird: I have to say that I don’t know why Kevin was talking about something with which he has no involvement. The blurb he put on his website was very inaccurate. He has not been involved with any meetings in Northampton, nor any others related to a new “TMNT” movie, as far as I know. That being said, I can confirm that we have had several meetings with very interested people, and I think we are pretty close to making a deal. As owner of the TMNT property, I want to be the first to announce it at a time of my choosing (hopefully soon). MTV: Why another live-action TMNT film, and why now? PL: As it stands now, there is no intention of doing another live-action film like the first three, with actors and stuntmen in actual Turtle suits, contrary to what was said by Kevin. We have pretty much decided that the next “TMNT” movie should be what we’ve been calling a “hybrid” — that is to say, live-action humans and sets combined with very realistic CGI Turtles (and possibly some other CGI characters).

Studio Briefing reports Fox Searchlight has paid $4-5 million for distribution rights to Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, which won the Best Film award at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend — and critical accolades for the performance of its star, Mickey Rourke. The deal was reportedly signed at the Toronto Film Festival, where the movie is also being screened, after what Daily Variety called “an intense wee-hours bidding war.”

Also from Studio Briefing, the Justice Department has hired former Disney vice-chairman and chief counsel Sandy Litvack to head an investigation into possible antitrust violations by Google in its growing control of advertising on online searches. The government is likely to oppose a deal between Google and Yahoo! who together reportedly account for more than 80 percent of the ads generated by online searches. Litvack, who had vigorously opposed Michael Eisner’s hiring of Michael Ovitz (and later famously remarked that he had walked behind Ovitz “with a shovel”), had been the Justice Department’s antitrust chief under Jimmy Carter before joining Disney. The announcement of Litvack’s appointment caused Google shares to dive 5.5 percent on the Nasdaq Monday.

Last weekend’s box office tumbled to its lowest gross since 2003 as the top-12 films grossed just $50.3 million, down 32 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago and down 23 percent from last weekend. The Nicolas Cage film Bangkok Dangerous from Lionsgate finished as the leader, but its $7.8 million gross was the lowest for any No. 1 film this year. Its per-screen average of $2,937 was slightly less than that of No. 11 on the list, Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which averaged $2,947 per screen in its fourth week.

The Hollywood News reports Wes Anderson (The Life Aquatic, The Darjeeling Limited), is to write a new movie for Imagine Entertainment and Universal Pictures. The movie is entitled My Best Friend, a remake of the French comedy “Mon meilleur ami.” Anderson is also looking at the film as a potential directorial vehicle following his success of this years ‘Darjeeling‘ and his upcoming take on The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which boasts George Clooney among its vocal cast. Variety says that My Best Friend, revolves around ‘a cranky antiques dealer who learns at a dinner with his closest acquaintances that none of them really like him because of his harsh manner and selfishness. When his business partner bets him a valuable vase that he can’t produce a best friend, the dealer tries to get an amiable cab driver to pose as his buddy.’ Brian Grazer will produce alongside Agnes Mentre.

According to Variety Johnny Depp will reunite with “Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski on “Rango,” an animated pic that Paramount will finance and distribute.

According to Movie Score Media British electronica wizard Paul Oakenfold has written the original score for the upcoming Christmas comedy Nothing Like the Holidays, which is premiering on November 21 and tells the story about a Puerto Rican family who celebrates what supposedly is their last Christmas together. Alfredo De Villa (Adrift in Manhattan) directs an all star cast including Debra Messing, John Leguizamo, Melonie Diaz, Freddy Rodríguez, Vanessa Ferlito, Alfred Molina and Jay Hernandez. Music supervision is handled by veterans Budd Carr and Nora Felder.

E! says Julie Andrews will play opposite Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in Tooth Fairy, a movie about a minor-league hockey player who, after spoiling a kid’s dreams, is sentenced to one week as a real-life tooth fairy replete with wand and tutu. Andrews is an administrator at the Tooth Fairy Dept. Ashley Judd also stars.

Guillermo del Toro has been tapped by Universal to helm remakes of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, per Variety, along with a big-screen adaptation of Charles Dickens’ final novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood simply titled Drood, and a new take on Kurt Vonnegut’s cult novel, Slaughterhouse-Five. The Oscar nominated helmer, who is currently prepping the Hobbit films with Peter Jackson, will most likely begin with Drood, a murder mystery that Dickens never completed.

Disturbia is under fire for for its similarities to Hitchcock’s The Rear Window. According to the lawsuit, filed by the Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, the basis for Hitchcock’s 1954 film was “Murder from a Fixed Viewpoint,” a short story by Cornell Woolrich. Hitchcock and actor James Stewart obtained the motion picture rights to the story in 1953. The lawsuit argues that Dreamworks should have done the same. “In the Disturbia film the defendants purposefully employed immaterial variations or transparent rephrasing to produce essentially the same story as the Rear Window story,” the lawsuit said. In reviewing “Disturbia,” the New York Times called it “a kind of adolescent ‘Rear Window.”‘ The Toronto Star newspaper called it “a rip off with wit.”

Sources:

E!

Mania.com

AMC’s Sci-fi Scanner

MTV

Studio Briefing

IMDB

Variety

The Hollywood News

The Movie Blog

Movie Score Media

Don LaFontaine arguably one of the most recognizable voiceover talents in movies has died. He was 68.

LaFontaine, who also did voice-over work on countless radio and network television promotional spots and commercials, died Monday of complications after treatment for an illness at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his family said. The illness was not specified.

 LaFontaine had been doing trailer work since the 1960s. He was the voice of the 1974 ad campaign for “The Godfather Part II,” and he managed to turn a simple recitation of that classic film’s Oscar wins into a kind of sermon which echoed back to an earlier era when the Oscars deserved a voice full of gravitas, a time when movies and advertising had a different standard for quality and intensity.

Throughout the 1980s and ’90s, LaFontaine voiced trailers for all genres, but his gravely baritone, slightly scary, message-from-beyond kind-of delivery certainly lent itself best to horror, thrillers and sci-fi. Counting from one to 12 became a terrifying prospect with the ad for 1980’s original “Friday the 13th”. He added a chilling depth to the promos for 1984’s “The Terminator” and 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”; And he brought fear and dread to the trailer for “Fatal Attraction.” 

Of his work LaFontaine said “You have to bring a personal take on horror, love, drama, comedy, to make [a trailer] work.” He rose to the top of his profession because in three minutes or less audiences could grasp not only what a movie’s tone was supposed to be but also what LaFontaine brought to those three minutes. And he brought what we all do when we go to the movies: Anticipation and excitement for what happens when the house lights dim. In many ways LaFontaine made a better movie in three minutes than Hollywood typically makes in 2 hours.

LaFontaine is survived by his wife, Nita; daughters, Christine, Skye and Elyse; and a grandson.

Sources:

IMDB

LA Times

NY Daily News

The 65th annual Venice Film Festival opens on Wednesday with a screening of the Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading. Stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt are expected to attend. The film, however, is not among the 21 films entered in the official competition. Also expected to attend the festival — and screenings of films they’ll be appearing in — are Kim Basinger, Charlize Theron, Mickey Rourke, Debra Winger, and French actress Juliette Binoche. The seven-member jury is headed by German filmmaker Wim Wenders.

According to IGN, “J.J. Abrams was in New York today to discuss his upcoming Fox TV series Fringe, but during the event the topic of his Star Trek reboot of course came up.” Unfortunately, Abrams dismissed rumors of any cameos from other original members of the Enterprise crew. “No, the only cast member from the original films is Nimoy,” he told the assembled press. The article also states that the film, which is in post-production right now for a summer 2009 release, is “evolving.” “We’re not done with it but we are working on it still. There have been cuts and, as everything goes, [it’s] an evolution. I’m hoping the final cut is a few weeks away. But we’re definitely circling.” Star Trek opens May 8, 2009.

Woody Harrelson has signed on to star in the horror comedy Zombieland, which Ruben Fleischer is directing for Columbia Pictures, says The Hollywood Reporter today. Written by the team of Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Zombieland revolves around a mismatched pair of survivors who find friendship and redemption in a world overrun by zombies. Harrelson plays one of the men, a zombie fighter named Albuquerque. Gavin Polone and his Parish Films shingle are producing. Harrelson recently starred in Semi-Pro and is in production on Roland Emmerich’s 2012. He has the Will Smith starrer Seven Pounds in the can and wrapped Bunraku, a martial arts noir that mixes live action and animation.

According to Firstshowing.net another new comic adaptation is headed for the big screen – The Boys. First published by Wildstorm and later by Dynamite Entertainment. The book follows a CIA squad, known as “the boys”, whose job it is to keep watch over superheroes and eliminate them should they become a threat. Aeon Flux and The Tuxedo writers Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay have been brought on to write the adaptation of the comic, which will begin production under Neal H. Moritz. No director has been attached. This is one of many projects that Moritz has announced recently.

E! reports that Although Stargate: Atlantis wasn’t reupped for a sixth season but the Sci Fi Channel has announced plans to launch a second spinoff of the cult hit, titled Stargate: Universe. The new show will premiere early next year as a two-hour TV movie before sliding into its regular weekly time slot next summer. Stargate, which has been airing on the tube in one form or another since 1997, is the cable network’s longest-running franchise. After debuting on Showtime, SG-1 came over to Sci Fi following its fifth season. Based on the film, the TV version centered on a secret military team whose mission was to probe the uncharted stargates throughout the galaxy. It ended its 10-season run in 2006. Stargate: Atlantis, blasted off in 2004, continued that story as a team of explorers found their way into a new galaxy and encountered an enemy called the Wraiths. That show will wrap up with a two-hour movie this season. The Universe action will be set in deep space and follow a new team of scientists and military men who stumble upon an ancient unmanned spaceship. No word on casting but producers expect guest appearances from the SG-1 and Atlantis ranks.

Variety reports that after getting some unenthusiastic reviews Babylon A.D. helmer Mathieu Kassovitz is seeking to distance himself from the film, which opens Friday — even though the version reviewed was the director’s international version, and Fox is not releasing the film overseas. In an interview with AMCtv.com, Kassovitz called the sci-fi thriller “pure violence and stupidity,” with parts of the film resembling “a bad episode of ‘24.’ ” Sources close to the production, who likened Kassovitz to the mercurial Billy Walsh character on Entourage, called the AMC comments just the latest in a series of headaches involving Kassovitz.

According to Film Junk French filmmakers Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (Inside) were previously attached to direct the Hellraiser remake, but once they dropped out of that project, there were rumours that they had entered talks to do the Halloween sequel. It seems that this is now pretty much confirmed. The duo had this to say about the project: “It’s a proposition we couldn’t refuse… Our vision will be done with utmost respect, with a continuity of [Zombie’s] work but also a real evolution of the world he set in place.”

Sources:

Variety

Film Junk

E

FirstShowing.net

THR

According to the Playlist Nicolas Cage has signed on to the lead in Matthew Vaughn’s (Stardust, Layer Cake) adaptation of the Mark Millar comic book Kick Ass. Also signed on are Aaron Johnson (The Illusionist, Baker Street Irregulars) and Lyndsy Fonseca (Heros, Desperate Housewives).

Kick Ass, originally written by Mike Millar and illustrated by the venerable John Romita Jr., centers on a high school outcast named Dave Lizewski, played by Johnson, who decides to become a superhero even though he has no athletic talent or ability. Complications arise when he runs into real bad-guys.

Fonseca will play Dave’s secret crush. Unfortunately for Dave she believes that he is gay. 

Cage will be playing an ex-cop obsessed with bringing down a drug kingpin. Cage’s teenage daughter, played by Chloe Moretz, is a trained assassin.

The film is being independently financed due to several studios having already passed on the project because of it’s very violent content.  

Kick Ass is scheduled to begin shooting in the fall.

Sources:

The Playlist.blogspot

THR

IMDB

Variety reports that Ben Affleck has signed on to the new Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-head, Office Space) vehicle Extract. 

Affleck, who turned 36 last week, will be playing an ambulance chasing attorney opposite Jason Bateman (Hancock, Juno) who will be playing a down on his luck flower extract factory owner. 

Also starring is Clifton Collins Jr ( NBC’s Fear Itself, JJ Abrams’ Star Trek) as an employee of Bateman’s character who loses a body part in a freak workplace accident, Mila Kunis, (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Max Payne) and Kristen Wiig (SNL). 

Affleck is also starring in the romantic comedy He’s Just Not That Into You and the crime thriller State of Play both for release in ’09.

Sources:

Variety

E!

The BBC reports that Twentieth Century Fox has applied to a Los Angeles court to block the release of Watchmen, based on the comic books written by Alan Moore. Fox, which says it bought film rights to the series in the 1980s, has been given the go-ahead to launch an injunction against rival Warner Bros. Fox said it “will be asking the court to enforce our copyright interests”. The movie has already been filmed and was due for release 6 March. Last week US District Court Judge Gary Feess said Fox could hold some of the rights to the material, even if it did not hold all rights. Fox spokesman Gregg Brilliant said it planned to stop the release of the movie and “any related Watchmen media that violate our copyright interests in that property”. His Warner Bros counterpart, Scott Rowe, said: “The judge did not opine at all on the merits, other than to conclude that Fox satisfied the pending requirements.”

The South Carolina state Senate has appointed a committee to review incentives designed to give South Carolina a much bigger role in the movie industry. The Film Incentives Study Committee met Aug. 19 with the state Commerce Department, the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department and officials from various state colleges to discuss efforts to help the industry at the state level.

According to Joystiq the big screen adaptation of Spy Hunter, the 16 bit arcade classic, has hit another speed bump. Director Paul Anderson (Alien V Predator) appears to have been taken off the pic by the studio. This is the second directorial change for the film, the first being the loss of John Woo.

/Film says that a Veronica Mars movie is still under discussion. They report that in an interview with EW series creator Rob Thomas said that he’s had “a few conversations” with Mars executive producer Joel Silver. Thomas says that he’s too busy right now, “But as soon as I have any free time, that’s my top priority.”

Sources:

BBC

SC.gov

Joystiq.com

Latino Review.com

/Film

MSN

Detroit News