Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Salt - When CIA officer Evelyn Salt (Jolie) is accused of being a spy by a Russian defector, she goes on the run, putting all of her experience and skills to use to elude capture, learn the truth of her identity, and hopefully clear her name.

Ramona and Beezus - When grade-schooler Ramona Quimby (King) senses that her family's home is danger, she uses her boundless energy and enthusiasm to save the day.

Movies coming out on DVD and Blu-ray!

The Runaways
Cop Out
The Losers
Mother

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 Inception$60.4 M

2 Despicable Me$32.7 M

3 The Sorcerer's Apprentice $17.3 M

4 The Twilight Saga: Eclipse $13.5 M

5 Toy Story 3 $11.7 M

6 Grown Ups $10.0 M

7 The Last Airbender $7.4 M

8 Predators $6.8 M

9 Knight and Day $3.7 M

10 The Karate Kid $2.2 M

"Inception" opened on the same weekend that blockbuster "The Dark Knight" was released two years ago, and director Christopher Nolan has again scored with critics and fans by winning the weekend by a landslide.

"Despicable Me" continues to do well, earning $32 million in its 2nd week. Word of mouth will keep this cute little cartoon in the top ten for a few more weeks.

I thought "Sorcerer's Apprentice" would put in a big showing, especially for the family audience, but they weren't feeling it (especially since an animated family-friendly film is already out). Is the Disney family film dying or are people just sick of Jay Baruchel already? "Sorcerer's Apprentice" looks like it'll be running out of magic sooner rather than later. Sequel? Eh...

"Eclipse." Almost $500 million worldwide on a budget of $70 million. Have to give Summit credit for knowing how to make a profit.

Meanwhile, "Toy Story 3" has made $584 million worldwide on a $200 million budget (the film is still a success and is at least good), "Grown Ups" is still in the same spot and "The Last Airbender" tries to make more profits to warrant a sequel.

"Predators" dropped like the Dow Jones with a 73 percent decrease going from 3rd to 8th. That's around the 30th biggest drop of all time.

"Knight and Day" and "The Karate Kid" won't be in the Top Ten for much longer. Expect them on DVD and Blu-ray in the fall.

Will the brain teaser "Inception" win the Comic-Con weekend as well or will Angelina Jolie's return to action in "Salt" rule the weekend?

USA Today, Latino Review, Rope of Silicon

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Please Give - A Manhattan couple (Platt and Keener) find their plan to expand their apartment complicated when they bond with Andra (Guilbert), their elderly neighbor next door.

A Nightmare on Elm Street - Disfigured serial killer Freddy Krueger (Haley) stalks a group of young people in their dreams, forcing them to remain awake as the only alternative to death.

Furry Vengeance - A real estate developer (Fraser) looking to turn a forest into new homes faces some unusually tough competition: the local woodland creatures.

Movies coming out on DVD and Blu-ray!

It's Complicated
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus
Five Minutes of Heaven
District 13: Ultimatum
Ride With the Devil: Criterion Collection

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 How To Train Your Dragon $15.0 M

2 The Back-Up Plan$12.2 M

3 Date Night $10.6 M

4 The Losers$9.6 M

5 Kick-Ass $9.5 M

6 Clash of the Titans $9.0 M

7 Death at a Funeral $8.0 M

8 Oceans $6.0 M

9 The Last Song $3.7 M

10 Alice in Wonderland $2.2 M

Low numbers this weekend. In fact, it's the smallest box office take so far this year. Expect numbers to jump drastically in the next upcoming weeks.

"How To Train Your Dragon," which actually lost to "Kick-Ass" last weekend when the final numbers were tallied, grew back its wings and soared to No. 1 again with about $355 million in the bank worldwide.

The GMA (general movie audience) continue to show just how stupid they really are. Jennifer Lopez's "The Back-Up Plan" came in 2nd with an estimated $12.2 million. Are people really missing Jennifer Lopez and are desperate enough that they'd actually pay to see her on screen in a below average rom-com? I really shouldn't be baffled by this since I know people who would see films like this.

Meanwhile, the other new release, that was actually fun to watch, came in 4th place with $9.6 million. "The Losers" lost big at the box office, making it the second comic book adaptation in two weeks to not reach studio expectations.

"Date Night" stayed in third place. I still haven't seen it and will probably catch it when it hits DVD. And if someone else pays for the rental. "Kick-Ass" had a 50 percent drop in box office and fell from No. 1 to No. 5 in its second week. So much for word of mouth. So far it has made $56 million worldwide.

Finally got around to seeing the "Clash of the Titans" remake. I'm a sucker for plot and character development - which this film had little of.

Disneynature's second film to be released, "Oceans," did a respectable $6.0 million. I need to see this movie, it looks really cool. I like nature documentaries about Oceans. My favorite parts are when they show fish swimming in the water.

"Alice in Wonderland" fills out the last slot for the Top Ten, but expect it to be gone next weekend as "Nightmare on Elm Street" scares its way into theaters along with some random films that no one heard of.
(Latino Review)

UPDATED: Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

The Losers - After being betrayed and left for dead, members of a CIA black ops team root out those who targeted them for assassination.

The Back-up Plan - Single gal Zoe (Lopez) meets potential husband Stan (O'Loughlin) on the day of her artificial insemination. Despite the initial spark, the two lovers begin to wonder if they're taking the right steps to an enduring romance.

Movies coming out on DVD and Blu-ray!

Avatar
The Lovely Bones
Crazy Heart
The Young Victoria
Summer Hours

UPDATE: It appeared that "Kick-Ass" failed to take home the gold medal at the box office as "How To Train Your Dragon" returned to first place after four weeks in theaters.

But Sunday's box-office estimates aren't measuring up with new numbers pegging "Kick-Ass" as the No. 1 movie of the weekend with a $19.8 million haul. "How To Train Your Dragon" earned $19.6 million, a few strides shy of its previously estimated $20-million finish.

So "Kick-Ass" did as its title says and slew the dragon. It doesn't mean much since the numbers are still low, but the No. 1 crown is psychologically important to Lionsgate, which promoted the movie heavily with hopes of discovering a franchise. Joe Drake, Lionsgate’s co-chief operating officer, appears to still have hope. “Our marketing and distribution teams have brilliantly positioned it for a long and successful run,” he said in a news release on Monday.

(NY Times, MTV News)

Geez, I've had to update two box office results posts in a row. What's with the close calls lately?

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 How To Train Your Dragon $20.0 M

2 Kick-Ass $19.7 M

3 Date Night $17.3 M

4 Death at a Funeral $17.0 M

5 Clash of the Titans $15.7 M

6 The Last Song $5.8 M

7 Why Did I Get Married Too? $4.1 M

8 Hot Tub Time Machine $3.5 M

9 Alice in Wonderland $3.5 M

10 The Bounty Hunter $3.2 M

We may never truly understand the reason why "Kick-Ass" came in 2nd place with an estimated $19.7 million to the 4th week box office giant "How to Train Your Dragon" which came in 1st place again with $20 million.

Was it the marketing? Was it the hard 'R' rating? Was it the fact that the comic book isn't that well known to the general public? Was it Nicolas Cage's hairstyle?

The 'R' rating probably does hurt a bit, and it doesn't have the inflated 3D prices to help its box office numbers, but I figured it would have done at least $30 million. Maybe people weren't as excited about it as I thought.

And while Kick-Ass will still prove profitable for Lionsgate, the movie demonstrates the difficulty in translating online interest in a film to in-house cash. Another obscure comic-book adaptation, 2006's "300," enjoyed the same Comic-Con welcome and fan interest and opened with $70 million. So why did "Kick-Ass" not deliver on its opening weekend?

It wasn't for a lack of advertising - that's for sure. Posters and trailers galore were out for this film, nearly double than "How to Train Your Dragon." Hopefully good word of mouth will keep "Kick-Ass" as a strong contender for next week.

Even more surprising was "Clash of the Titans" getting it's head chopped off. While estimates had it losing to "Date Night" last week, it actually did come in 1st place. But now it has slid down to 5th with $15.7 million. No matter, the movie has made just over $250 million worldwide. Sequel? We shall see.

The remake of "Death at a Funeral" didn't do too bad. It came in 4th place with $17 million but don't expect it to hang out in the top ten for very long.
(Latino Review, USA Today)

'Losers' Release Date Goes Back to April

Following Warner Bros. Pictures' announcement that "The Losers" would transition from its original April 9 release date to a later June opening, the studio has now shifted the film back to an April 23 premiere.

The move was reportedly intended to keep "The Losers" from closely competing with the action-oriented "Clash of the Titans," which would be playing its second weekend in theaters. Additionally, the June move was intended to provide the studio with ample time to make corrections based on audience feedback from test screenings.

Apparently those changes won't take as long to make as initially expected, meaning Warner Bros. is returning "The Losers" to April, even if the new date is still a few weeks later than first planned.

This helps move the film away from a near head-to-head confrontation with "The A-Team," another action-packed film with similarities about a covert team of professionals who are betrayed and then exact revenge with lots guns and bullets.

"The Losers" is filled with gun fire, explosions and attitudes of stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans. The film seems fairly incomparable to the decidedly more mythological fare of "Clash of the Titans," which means many action film fans should have enough time to transition from one film to the next.

"Clash of the Titans" opens April 2 and "The Losers" now opens "April 23."
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Source: MTV News

'The Losers' Gets Delayed for a Head-to-Head Against 'The A-Team'

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Anyone who got excited about the above trailer for "The Losers" can go back to relaxing now. Warner Bros. has decided to delay the film two months.

The release date for Sylvain White's adaptation of the DC/Vertigo comic book series has been pushed back from April 9 to June 4.

What makes the decision regarding "The Losers" a tad bizarre, and more than a little ballsy, is that it will now be competing directly with Fox's "The A-Team."

"The Losers" stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Zoe Saldana and Idris Elba, among others.

"The A-Team" hits theaters a week after "The Losers." Now, which group of special agents will be the winners?

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: MTV News, Latino Review

Trailer for 'The Losers' Arrives

The new trailer for the action film "The Losers" revolves around a group of betrayed CIA black ops and their fight for survival. The movie is based on the DC/Vertigo graphic novel of the same name by Andy Diggle.

"The Losers" team is comprised of some of the best of the best military personal and stars Zoe Saldana ("Avatar") as Aisha, Jeffery Dean Morgan ("Watchmen") as Clay, Chris Evans ("Push") as Jensen, Idris Elba ("Thor") as Roque, Jason Patric ("Narc") as Max, Columbus Short ("Armored") as Pooch and Oscar Jaenada as Cougar.



This actually looks pretty awesome, I love the style, I love the cast, I love the action, what's not to like? Some comparisons can be made to "The A-Team," but I think this has its own good story and since it's based on a DC Comics graphic novel, it's got a lot to draw from that's very different from "The A-Team."

Between "The Losers" and "Kick-Ass," April is shaping up to be a great month for comic book action films.

What did you think about the trailer for "The Losers"? Are you planning on seeing at after watching the trailer??

"The Losers" will blow up theaters on April 9, 2010.
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Screen Rant, First Showing

WB/DC Get Their Act Together and Create DC Entertainment

Warner Brothers announced some big changes on the DC Comics front today—big enough to rival last week's Disney/Marvel merger.

Confirming an early report on Deadline Hollywood, WB announced the creation of DC Entertainment, a new subdivision of WB aimed at better exploiting Superman, Batman and the rest of DC's stable of characters across various media platforms. The new company will be helmed by Diane Nelson, who previously served as president of Warner Premiere, the subdivision responsible for many of the animated, direct-to-DVD, DC Universe features. (Nelson also serves as caretaker for the wildly successful "Harry Potter" property at WB.)

The WB announcement also confirmed that DC president and publisher Paul Levitz will step down from his role with the company. While this certainly indicates that WB is finally beginning to take notice of the DC brand, details are slim regarding the potential effects on the publishing side of DC and any immediate changes we're likely to see on the movie front.

However, that doesn't mean we can't glean a few potential implications from the news.

According to Deadline Hollywood, WB is "calling back" many of the high-profile films in development involving DC characters. Much like Disney's desire to bring all of Marvel's properties under one roof and cut back on third-party deals to produce films based on the company's characters (i.e., "Spider-Man" and the "X-Men"), the report alledges that WB is putting a hold on many of the high-profile DC films that involved production partners outside the company.

"My understanding is that Joel Silver, who is buddies with [WB Pictures Group president Jeff] Robinov, was allowed to continue bringing low profile 'The Losers' to the big screen under his Dark Castle banner. But Silver's 10 years of developing 'Wonder Woman' is history now," reported Deadline Hollywood.

The fact that DC Entertainment—and Nelson—will now be reporting directly to Robinov also says quite a bit about the company's new approach to the DC brand. Where the home of Superman and Batman existed somewhat independently in the greater WB picture prior to today's shuffle, DC Entertainment's new role appears to be in service of the theatrical division of WB first and foremost.

Exactly where publishing comics will fit into this new picture remains one of the biggest questions surrounding the news. Will comics receive more or less attention under DC Entertainment—or is the publishing division too small for anyone to bother changing?

On the movie front, however, the move certainly looks good for WB's much-discussed problems getting films involving DC characters off the ground. Fans hoping to see the Superman franchise finally return to theaters will likely get their wish under the new, re-structured DC Entertainment banner, and many of DC's other notable properties will probably receive more attention from the studio than ever before.
Often plagued by studio interference, the starting and stopping of scripts in the works, and without any solid DC franchises, save Batman, the creation of DC Entertainment is looking to rectify this — and fast. But DC is still a far-cry away from Marvel's stranglehold on the comic book-movie genre. Perhaps under the fixated umbrella of DC Entertainment, DC Comics can more equally compete with Marvel in theaters. Though, as a branch of Warner Bros, it's as of yet unknown if WB will be as hands-off as Disney has promised for Marvel, or if DC Entertainment will hold as much control as Marvel did when they were self-financed.

Regardless, it is still exciting to see Warner Bros making a strategic and bold move with DC. Now let's roll these franchises out. Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Justice League — I'm hoping all these films follow the example of Nolan's successful Batman franchise. What do all of you think of this news?

Current DC properties in development and/or production at Warner Bros. Entertainment include:

–"Human Target" is being produced by Warner Bros. Television for a mid-season debut on Fox.

– "Midnight Mass" is in series development at Warner Bros. Television for consideration for the 2010-11 season.

– "Jonah Hex," Warner Bros. Pictures' supernatural Western starring Josh Brolin, Megan Fox and John Malkovich, recently wrapped production in Louisiana.

– "The Losers," Dark Castle/Warner Bros. Pictures' action-adventure drama starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans, began principal photography mid-July in Puerto Rico.

– "The Green Lantern," Warner Bros. Pictures' next big superhero tentpole release, recently cast Ryan Reynolds as the titular character. The film has a projected second quarter 2011 release date.

– "Lobo," based on the DC Comics anti-hero, has Guy Ritchie attached as a director; Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Andrew Rona are producing for Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures.

– Warner Bros. Animation currently produces "Batman: The Brave and the Bold," which airs on Cartoon Network.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: First Showing, MTV News, UGO Movie Blog

More DC Films Finally Getting Made

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "A year after 'The Dark Knight' became a worldwide phenomenon, there are more DC Comics adaptations in the works than at any other point since the company was acquired by Warner Bros. in 1969."

DC fans should start shouting from the rooftops, but lets take a look at all these projects because some of them have been kept hidden while others are being dragged around the spotlight.

We know about "Green Lantern," "The Losers" and "Jonah Hex," but what else is there? Thankfully, the Hollywood Reporter article looks at all of the DC Comics movies in the works and a bit of news about hiring on a few DC writers as consultants. It looks like DC might finally be setting up their game to compete with the ever-growing Marvel Studios.

Warner Bros has been changing the way they work with DC Comics over the last year. One part of that reorganization involved secretly hiring three of DC's biggest comic book writers - Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison and Marv Wolfman - to act as consultants and writers for its superhero movies in the works. Johns, known best for his work on the on-going Green Lantern comics and one of the creative geniuses behind Infinite Crisis, has been working on a new version of a "Flash" script, that was first written by Dan Mazeau. Johns will also produce, but no director has been hired yet for that. The projects Morrison and Wolfman have been working on haven't been revealed yet.

The process involves one writer taking point, though the trio do collaborate on projects, reading one another's materials while hashing out a story that will be at once accessible to nonfans yet still adhere to each character's long history. The writers also work in tandem with producers, writers and the Warners execs overseeing the projects, showing them treatments and providing notes on scripts.

"The creative process is by and large a true partnership," DC's Gregory Noveck said. "They'll ask us a ton of questions, and we'll give a ton of answers. We will talk back and forth. We'll discuss writers and talent, but ultimately it's their decision."

Other DC projects that they're developing include "Aquaman" and "Adam Strange." There is also a "Constantine" sequel still in the works, a "Green Arrow" project, and the "Shazam" movie that director Pete Segal has been attached to for a while.

There is also a "Bizarro Superman" movie being written by David Howard and Robert Gordon, the two who last brought us "Galaxy Quest." Bizarro is a supervillain with similar powers to Superman. He resides in his own Bizarro World, where he's a superhero, not a villain. It sounds like they're going for the comedic version of Superman with Bizarro, but it's too early to tell. The other DC character most may not recognize is Adam Strange, a sci-fi jetpack superhero with similarities to "John Carter of Mars." Adam is transported to a mysterious planet named Rann where he fights the aliens and falls in love with a local woman there.

So for all DC fans out there, what film is the highest on your list of must-see? "Green Lantern" already has a director, actor and release date. The other films are still in the embryonic state but are hoped to be hitting the big screen sometime in the next few years.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: First Showing, The Hollywood Reporter

The Losers

The cast of upcoming comic book movie "The Losers" has been confirmed - with Spanish actor Oscar Jaenada revealed as the latest name to join the project.

Jaenada has landed the role of stetson-wearing sniper Cougar in the big-screen adapation of the title on DC Comics' Vertigo imprint, according to Blackfilm.

The 34-year-old is best known to English audiences from this year's "The Limits of Control" and last year's "Che: Part Two" alongside Benecio Del Toro in the lead role of Che Guevara.

Directing the film is Sylvain White, who had helmed "Stomp The Yard" in 2007 and is slated to direct Frank Miller's "Ronin" and "Castlevania." The James Vanderbilt-scripted project is being financed by Dark Castle Entertainment with Dark Castle's Joel Silver, Weed Road's Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster producing.

The series was first published by the DC Comics imprint Vertigo in the 1970s. Gregory Noveck, who oversees DC Comics film transformations, will be involved in a producing capacity

"Losers" centers around a Special Forces team, who are set up and betrayed by their enigmatic handler, Max, who soon discovers that you should never leave a bunch of black-ops commandos for dead. The Losers regroup for revenge, and to get their names off a pesky CIA death list. For issue after issue, they conducted covert operations against the CIA, and sought to uncover the plans and conspiracies of the powerful, secretive Max.

The site reports that the following are confirmed for roles in the movie: Jeffrey Dean Morgan as leader Clay, Idris Elba as his second-in-command Roque, Chris Evans as motormouth Jensen, and Zoe Saldana as cold-blooded killer Aisha, the only female member. Columbus Short is their pilot Pooch, and Jason Patric will be playing the role of Max. Blackfilm says that, contrary to reports, Jeremy Renner is not in the film.
Sources: The Geek Files, Blackfilm

More news to come! Catch ya' later!