Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Grown Ups - After their high school basketball coach passes away, five good friends and former teammates reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend.

Knight and Day - June Havens (Diaz) finds her everyday life tangled with that of a secret agent (Cruise) who has realized he isn't supposed to survive his latest mission. As their campaign to stay alive stretches across the globe, they soon learn that all they can count on is each other.

Movies coming out on DVD and Blu-ray!

Green Zone
Remember Me
The Last Station
She's Out of My League

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 Toy Story 3 $109.0 M

2 The Karate Kid $29.0 M

3 The A-Team $13.7 M

4 Get Him To The Greek $6.1 M

5 Shrek Forever After $5.5 M

6 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time $5.2 M

7 Killers $5.1 M

8 Jonah Hex$5.0 M

9 Iron Man 2 $2.6 M

10 Marmaduke $2.6 M

"Toy Story 3" had biggest debut in June history, taking in $109 million this weekend and extending Pixar's streak of opening at the top of the box office to 11.

The last film of the franchise bested its competition — and predecessors — by a mile. The original movie opened at $39.1 million in 1995, while "Toy Story 2" made $83 million four years later.

This time around, the cartoon added 3-D and Imax to the mix, boosting repeat business as kids checked out the film in different formats.

Sadly the film doesn't have the biggest opening weekend for an animated film, as that title is still held by "Shrek the Third" at $121 million.

Still the film will continue to make big bucks as it has amazing word-of-mouth. And let me tell you it really is a great film. The first thing I did when I got home after the flick was take out all my old toys from the closet that I hadn't touched in years and play with them. I know - that's weird. But the movie practically compels you to. Go see it and tell me I'm wrong.

Other films dropped a respectable amount, with only one other film opening this past weekend.

Poor "Jonah Hex." It bombed terribly. The budget has been estimated at around $60 million and the film only made $5 million its opening weekend. And it will only drop lower from there. There goes Megan Fox's career down the toilet!

Expect "Toy Story 3" to hold the top spot next weekend as well since I don't expect "Knight and Day" and "Grown Ups" beating out the kid factor.

Movie News Rush 15

"Oz: The Great and Powerful"

The news - Sam Raimi is lined up to direct this prequel to the classic "The Wizard of Oz." Hopefully this will actually be a good movie instead of a full-blown 3D special effects film with little plot and terrible characters (as so many other films these days are). Robert Downey Jr. is rumored to play the role of the Wizard, but he has a lot on his plate what with two franchises to work on ("Sherlock Holmes" and "The Avengers"). Will he have time to work this film in?

UGO Movie Blog
Rope of Silicon
The Geek Files
Deadline

"Resident Evil: Afterlife"

The news - A new trailer is out for the film that shows off some of the plot as well as some 3D gimmicks and special effects shots. I'm still reeling from the disaster that was the third film and how it got of ruined the image of the awesome video game series, so this might be a DVD watch for me.



"Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance"

The news - Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor are in negotiations to direct Columbia's "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance," a sequel to 2007's film that starred Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze. Neveldine/Taylor are the writing and directing duo behind such films as "Crank" and "Crank: High Voltage." If you're wondering why this film is even still moving along, Columbia has until November 14, 2010 to get a sequel into production or the rights revert right back to Marvel and into Disney's lap.

THR Heat Vision
Rope of Silicon
First Showing
Latino Review
The Geek Files
Screen Rant
MTV News

"The Karate Kid"

The news - Since Sony's "The Karate Kid" remake with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan earned an $56 million this past weekend (blowing past its $40 million budget), the studio is already thinking about sequels. Let's not forget that the original "Karate Kid" got not just one, but three total sequels, the last one arriving in 1994 with Hilary Swank taking over as the new student. Will this remake of the franchise follow down the same path? We'll have to wait and see...

Otherwise, it would be interesting if the sequel went in the direction of the video below.



Latino Review
Screen Rant
First Showing
Deadline
EW

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Toy Story 3 - Woody (Hanks), Buzz (Allen), and the rest of their toy-box friends are dumped in a day-care center after their owner, Andy, departs for college.

Jonah Hex - The U.S. military gives bounty hunter Jonah Hex (Brolin) and offer he cannot refuse: in exchange for his freedom from the warrants on his head, he's to take down a terrorist (Malkovich) who is gathering an army and preparing to unleash Hell on Earth.

Movies coming out on DVD and Blu-ray!

The Book of Eli
When in Rome
Youth in Revolt
Unthinkable

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 The Karate Kid$56.0 M

2 The A-Team$26.0 M

3 Shrek Forever After $15.8 M

4 Get Him To The Greek $10.1 M

5 Killers $8.1 M

6 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time $6.6 M

7 Marmaduke $6.0 M

8 Sex and the City 2 $5.5 M

9 Iron Man 2 $4.5 M

10 Splice $2.8 M

"The Karate Kid" has won a 1980s showdown at the box office against "The A-Team."

The remake of 1984's "Karate Kid" debuted at No. 1 for the weekend while big-screen adaptation of the 1980s TV series "The A-Team" came in at No. 2 with less than half what "Karate Kid" made.

After three weekends at No. 1, "Shrek Forever After" slipped to No. 3, raising its domestic gross to $210.1 million, becoming the fourth movie released this year to top $200 million.

Other films continues to slip n' slide to DVD land. Some making modest amounts of money, some not even making back its budget. All in all, this has been a slow summer so far and might not pick up but for a few more films. Next summer is going to be a doozy though.

Expect "Toy Story 3" to dominate the weekend. I really have no idea where "Jonah Hex" is going to wind up, but it does have Megan Fox in it...

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

The A-Team - Framed for crime they didn't commit, a team of four former Special Forces soldiers looks to clear their name with the U.S. military.

The Karate Kid - Dre Parker (Smith) moves from Detroit to China with his hard-working mom (Henson), where his feelings for a girl in his class make him the target of a jealous bully who is trained in kung fu. Fortunately for Dre, his building's maintenance man, Mr. Han (Chan), reveals himself to be a master of the self-defense form (Chan) and begins training the boy.

Movies coming out on DVD and Blu-ray!

Shutter Island
From Paris with Love

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 Shrek Forever After$25.3 M

2 Get Him To The Greek$17.4 M

3 Killers $16.1 M

4 Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time $13.9 M

5 Sex and the City 2 $12.6 M

6 Marmaduke $11.3 M

7 Iron Man 2 $7.7 M

8 Splice $7.4 M

9 Robin Hood $5.1 M

10 Letters to Juliet $3.0 M

"Shrek" bested four new movies this week to stay on top for three weeks in a row. Not something that happens too often in the summer with all the big tentpole films. But this summer has been lacking so far...

And "Get Him to the Greek, the faulty but still funny comedy from the guys behind "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," is supposed to be this summer's "The Hangover." Don't think it will be making the same amount that film did.

"Killers" came in third - giving Ashton Kutcher more things to tweet about.

The big surprise was "Marmaduke" beating "Splice." Maybe the kid factor had its hand in making parents take their kids to see a talking, dancing dog rather than a genetic creature that gets into all sorts of creepy trouble.

Look for "Shrek" and the debuting "A-Team" to sit beneath "The Karate Kid" next weekend as it is expected to open big. Despite how mediocre the film is, and the fact that it's a bunch of little kids fighting (and a remake that bears little resemblance to the original except for plot structure), it's tracking well and is getting lots of positive buzz. It better do as much business as it can because "Toy Story 3" comes out the 18th and is going to crush any movie that tries to get in its way.

New 'Karate Kid' Remake Trailer

Columbia Pictures has refashioned its new version of the 1984 hit "The Karate Kid" as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith - The new film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub (who launched the original franchise) and is directed by "The Pink Panther 2" helmer Harald Zwart.

While the new film will be set in Beijing, it will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.

The film centers on 12-year-old Dre Parker who heads from Detroit to China with his mother, ends up getting bullied, makes friends with Mr. Han (Chan) and starts cleaning house.

Watch the new trailer below.

I'm still not entirely convinced to see this movie considering the film is about kids now. The original "Karate Kid" at least had the story take place in high school - but to have middle school kids beat each other up and also have romance? And I'm trying to ignore the fact that Kung Fu is mentioned at least three times in the trailer but the film is still being called "The Karate Kid."

"The Karate Kid" hits theaters this summer on June 11.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Latino Review, Rope of Silicon

'The Karate Kid' Remake Trailer

Columbia Pictures has released the first trailer for "The Karate Kid," the remake of the classic ’80s movie.

The film stars Jaden Smith (son of megastar, Will Smith) as Dre Parker who moves to China with his mother and gets into a fight against a bully. His misfortune catches the eye of Mr. Han (this new version’s Mr. Myagi), played by Jackie Chan. Mr. Han then teaches young Dre karate 9actually kung fu) in order to defend himself.

The trailer definitely pulls a more modern spin on the story and actually makes Jackie Chan cool again.

This remake also looks like it will up the action factor from the original films (which actually had more humor and character development than action). There are also a couple of throwbacks to the original film by having Mr. Han have unusual training methods and also trying to catch a fly with chopsticks.

But I don't think anyone can top the kind of on-screen friendship that Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita pulled off in the original films.

But what are your thoughts on the trailer for "The Karate Kid" remake? Does the trailer inspire confidence that it may be decent or does it confirm that it’s going to suck, muddying the legacy of the original film?

"The Karate Kid" is set to kick its way into theaters on June 11, 2010.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: Screen Rant

'Kung Fu Kid' Begins Production

"The Kung Fu Kid," the remake of the classic "The Karate Kid," has been met with many groans. But the film has started production and while it still doesn't have a release date, it is officially getting made.

Playing the lead is Will Smith’s son, Jayden, as a kid who moves to China with his mom, gets bullied at school and eventually ends up learning Kung Fu from Mr. Han (Jackie Chan, playing the remake’s equivalent of Mr. Miyagi).

The Harald Zwart ("Pink Panther 2") directed martial arts remake actually started filming this weekend in Beijing (heck, at least they’re shooting the camera’s in the right location…), where the story it will take place in modern day. The shooting schedule of the film is set to last for three months, and to celebrate the start of production, a traditional Chinese ceremony was held on Saturday.

Jayden Smith was there at the ceremony with his father, Will, mother, Jada Pinkett, and sister, Willow. In a video shot of the ceremony put online at Sina.com, Will Smith, Chan, and Zwart, “symbolically removed a piece of red cloth covering a movie camera, after which Smith gave Chan a hug.” If you want to take a look at the ten-minute video of the ceremony, you can watch it here as I don't know how to embed because of all the Chinese.

Are you willing to watch "The Kung Fu Kid" when it comes out?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: Screen Rant

The Karate Kid Remake

"The Karate Kid" is a classic film of growing up and overcoming obstacles. Now Will Smith is producing a remake that isn't a full remake since it only follows the same template as the original but doesn't follow the same storyline or involve the smae characters.

Just cast for the remake is Taraji P. Henson, who played Brad Pitt’s adoptive mom Queenie in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button." She will once again tap into her maternal instincts by playing Jaden Smith’s mother. According to reports, Henson’s character is a single mother named Sherry who is forced to move with her son to China in order to keep her job.

“I’m off to Beijing [soon] to work on a film,” actress Taraji P. Henson revealed to MTV News. “They’re remaking ‘The Karate Kid.’”

The controversial remake of the Eighties classic is rumored to be called “Kung Fu Kid,” although Henson referred to the film by its original title. Will Smith is producing the project, which will cast his real life son and “Pursuit of Happyness” co-star in the role originally played by Ralph Macchio.

“Jaden Smith -– Will and Jada’s son -– is playing the karate kid. I’m playing his mom,” she explained. “And Jackie Chan is playing Mr. Miyagi.”

"The Kung Fu Kid" starts with Sherry (Henson) being offered a transfer to China. Considering the U.S office is about to lay off everyone, it's really her only choice; especially since nobody else at the office has been offered a transfer. With her young son Dre (Jaden Smith) in tow, the single-mother makes Beijing her new home. Needless to say, not knowing Chinese, and experiencing a bit of culture shock, they both find it a little hard to settle in - - Dre especially.

Like Daniel Larusso in the original film, Dre (who, unlike Larusso, is a skateboarding video-game buff) immediately catches the attention of the local bullies - in particular, Lui Wei Cheng. And before too long, Dre is going home with bruises (he tries to hide a black-eye under a cap by pulling it as far down his face as he can) and whining about wanting to return to the states.

Dre's enrolled into a strict Beijing Middle School. His first day there is a bit of a shambles - the assistant principal spots his bruises, and assumes he's been fighting (which, of course, they don't accept under any circumstances), and he turns up in a school uniform, something he didn't have to wear that day (there's only certain days when a uniform is required).

The Mr Myiagi character is actually named Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). He's the maintenance man of the apartment lock that Sherry and Dre have moved into, and meets the new residents when he's called over to fix their hot water service. From the bathroom, Han spots Dre practicing martial-arts kicks (unsuccessfully) in front of a video-game, and catches his black eye. Later, of course, he'll agree to teach him - both martial-arts and the Chinese language (so he can impress his mother by haggling over apples).

The ‘John Kreese' character - the character played by Martin Kove in the original film - is Li Quan Ha, the owner of the Fighting dragon school of Kung-Fu. One visit to the school - in which Li Quan terrorizes his students (who range from the age of 3 onwards), namely Lui Wei Cheng - and Dre is immediately put off.

Oh, and yes, there's a love interest - someone mother wants Dre to bring home for dinner.

The story is essentially the same - kid forced to move with his mother to a new city. Gets beat up by some Bullies. Maintenance man teaches him martial-arts - but this one, being set in China, does play to a slightly different beat.

Henson is currently hard at work on the Steve Carrell/Tina Fey comedy “Date Night,” and she’ll be flying to Beijing to shoot “Karate Kid” as soon as she’s done with that film.

Does an Oscar-nominated actress make the “Karate Kid” remake sound any better in your opinion? Will you keep an open mind, or is the project still scaring most of you folks at this point?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Moviehole, MTV News

Movie News Mash 9

"The Kung Fu Kid"

According to First Showing, "Last year it was announced that Columbia Pictures was remaking the 1984 classic 'Karate Kid' with Jaden Smith set to star. In January, we announced that Jackie Chan had been cast as the lovable Mr. Miyagi, stepping in for Pat Morita. As far as I know, not a single person was excited by any of this news, but of course Sony is pushing forward with the production in hopes of convincing audiences later with marketing. Well, a good friends of ours dropped by with a tip recently letting us know that in a recent interview with Jackie Chan, he let slip that this remake is actually going to be called Kung Fu Kid, not Karate Kid.

'They don't want to call it Karate Kid any more,' Chan said. 'They want to call it The Kung Fu Kid.' He quickly changed topics and unfortunately didn't add any more about as to why this change was being made. Our guess is that since this remake is a Chinese co-production and being shot in Beijing, it's much more relevant today to use kung fu as opposed to karate (which isn't as popular as it was back in the 80's) and also more appropriate considering karate actually has its historical roots in kung fu. As in, story updates and Chinese influence caused them to change the title to be more culturally relevant and accurate."

Having the title of "Karate Kid" could have had people want to see the movie based on name recognition alone. Now that won't happen.
Why does this movie need to be remade again?


"Wonder Woman"

According to IESB, "Looks like WB and Silver Pictures are now looking for a director. The studios are enthusiastically working together to attach elements to the film to get it up and going quickly.

"There was a regime change late last year over at Silver Pictures, Andrew Rona is now the man in charge and will be the man spearheading the live action Wonder Woman project along with mega producer Joel Silver.

"WB and Silver Pictures are in the early stages but they are eager to get started on the movie. Sources tell IESB that WB is looking for new writers on the project and have been taking pitches the last few weeks."

Joss Whedon, famous for his hit TV show "Buffy," wrote a screenplay - for which he envisaged Eliza Dushku in the lead role - but it was rejected by studio bosses.

Hollywood babe Megan Fox (pictured) is so keen on the role that she promoted herself as Wonder Woman in a poster via a viral marketing website.

I am still hesitant to think that a "Wonder Woman" movie will be coming out soon, but with the general good responses coming from the recently released animated movie, maybe a director will soon be chosen.



"Sucker Punch"

According to Rope of Silicon, "Following the unfortunate departure of Amanda Seyfried from the lead role in Zack Snyder’s upcoming 'Sucker Punch' the role of Baby Doll has been filled by Aussie actress Emily Browning, one of the stars of this year’s thriller 'The Uninvited.'

Browning replaces Seyfried as Baby Doll, a role described as an insane asylum inmate who loses herself in a fantasy world where she dreams about escaping with her fellow inmates. She will be joining Evan Rachel Wood, Vanessa Hudgens, Abbie Cornish, and Emma Stone in the film described as 'an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ with machine guns.'

Filming is set to begin this fall with a October 8, 2010 release date already scoped out by Warner Bros."

I liked her in "A Series of Unfortunate Events." Though Jim Carrey might have outdone everyone in that film.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!

Jackie Chan as Mr. Miyagi

More news on "The Karate Kid" remake from The Hollywood Insider.

"Jaden Smith has found himself a mentor. Jackie Chan will take on Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi role in Sony Pictures' remake of 'The Karate Kid.' The movie stars 10-year old Smith ('The Pursuit of Happyness'), who is the son of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, and will be directed by Harold Zwart ('The Pink Panther 2'). Will's production company, Overbrook, will produce, and Jada has been rumored for the role of Jaden's mother in the film. China Film Corp. Group will coproduce the movie, which will shoot entirely in China."

What are your thoughts on this? Do you think Jaden Smith will make a good "Karate Kid?" Do you think Jacki Chan will make a good Mr. Miyagi?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

The Next Next Karate Kid

About a year ago I had rewatched two of my favorite films ever. Karate Kid I and Karate Kid II (to those of you who like Next Karate Kid with Hilary Swank, I like that one too). Then I started going around saying how I was the Karate Kid (and I still need to rewatch Karate Kid III).

Apparently Will Smith's 10-year-old son Jaden is the Karate Kid.

Here is a report by Variety that has me...thinking.

"Columbia Pictures is back in the dojo with a new version of the 1984 hit 'The Karate Kid,' which has been refashioned as a star vehicle for Jaden Smith.

The film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub (who launched the original franchise) and Overbrook Entertainment's James Lassiter, Will Smith and Ken Stovitz. Will Smith, who is the 10-year-old actor's father, co-starred alongside Jaden in his feature debut,'The Pursuit of Happyness,' which Overbrook and Escape Artists produced for Columbia.

The script is being written by Chris Murphy, and the film will shoot next year in Beijing and other cities. While the new film will be set in that exotic locale, it will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.

China Film Group Corp. will co-produce in China.

The younger Smith, who next stars in 'The Day the Earth Stood Still,' is a martial arts practitioner.

Columbia presidents Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach said they had been trying to find a way to bring back the series, which began with three films that featured Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita. A subsequent film launched the career of Hilary Swank."

So, would you like to see the new karate kid?

Also, I don't think Next Karate Kid launched Hilary Swank's career. I think it was winning Oscars for her roles in Boys Don't Cry and Million Dollar Baby.