Welcome to CraveOnline's weekly movie news roundup - a weekly rundown of all the breaking news in the film world, with an eye for what Tinseltown's got in store for us in the near future!
BOX OFFICE TOP TEN
1. Gran Torino $29 Million - ($40 Million)
2. Bride Wars $21.5 Million - ($21.5 Million)
3. The Unborn $21 Million - ($21 Million)
4. Marley and Me - $11.3 Million ($123.7 Million)
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – $19.4 Million ($94.3 Million)
6. Bedtime Stories - $8.5 Million ($97 Million)
7. Valkyrie - $6.6 Million ($71.5 Million)
8. Yes Man - $6.1 Million ($89.4 Million)
9. Not So Easily Broken $5.6 Million - ($5.6 Million)
10. Seven Pounds - $3.9 Million ($55 Million)
Go Clint! After a successful limited release, Gran Torino stomped out the competition last weekend, leaping 13 spots to #1 at the box office with $29 million in tickets sold.
Bride Wars debuted at #2 at the box office with $21.5 million, while its evil twin in the disposable film family, The Unborn, debuted at #3 with $21 million.
Marley and Me dropped three spots to #4 at the box office, while the overrated Forrest Gump remake The Curious Case of Benjamin Button fell two spots to #5, making$19.4 million over the weekend for a running total of $94.3 million. With a budget of $150 million, maybe Brad Pitt and Co. will think twice the next time they're considering making a ten hour snorefest that relies just as much on shadows as it does on makeup and technology for its special effects.
Slumdog Millionaire took a big step toward Oscar night on Sunday, when it walked away from the Golden Globes with four awards, including Best Picture, Drama and Best Director for Danny Boyle.
The ever-gorgeous Kate Winslet did some sweeping of her own as well, winning awards for Best Actress in a Drama, and Supporting Actress for her roles as a discontented 1950s-era housewife in Revolutionary Road and as a guilt-ridden former concentration camp guard who has an affair with a teenager in The Reader.
Mickey Rourke, Heath Ledger, Tina Fey and Laura Linney were also notable winners last night.
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has made over $500 million worldwide at the box office, so it should be no surprise to anyone whatsoever that they're making a third film in the franchise.
While promoting the Nickelodeon animated series "The Penguins of Madagascar," which is, quite obviously, a spin off of the Madagascar films, Jeffrey Katzenberg of Dreamworks confirmed that Madagascar 3 was going to happen. Katsenberg stated: "Yes, we are making a Madagascar 3 now, and it will be out in the summer of 2012."
A sliver of hope? Attorneys for both Warner Bros. and Twentieth Century Fox told a judge on Friday that the two studios were in settlement talks over the upcoming Watchmen film, sources said.
U.S. District Judge Gary Feess, presiding over the copyright dispute between the studios, was expected on Friday to rule on whether to move up a January 20 hearing on the movie's planned March 6 release. But with both sides in talks, Feess delayed his decision on whether to move up the hearing. If there is no settlement, a new date will likely be set next week.
Warner Bros. produced the superhero movie, based on a 1980s comic series by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, but Fox, which acquired the rights to the Watchmen story way back in 1986, recently won a ruling that the studio owned "at the very least, a distribution right" in the film.
In a recent interview with IESB, Blade: Trinity director David Goyer had some interesting information about the status of all movies involving DC Comics:
"A lot of the DC movies at Warner Brothers are all on hold while they figure out, they're going to come up with some new plan, methodology, things like that so everything has just been pressed pause at the moment. It was the double header of both Iron Man and The Dark Knight coming out. More than ever I think they've realized, I think DC was responsible for 15% of Warner Brother's revenue this year, something crazy like that, so they realized that comic books, it's become a new genre, one of the most successful genres."
There are currently no details on the "new plan" that Warner Bros. is looking into, it's hardly a leap to suggest that they're trying to synchronize the DC Universe characters, like Marvel is currently lining up.
According to Variety, Leonardo DiCaprio is about to star in the new hitman thriller Beat the Reaper, which is based on the novel by Dr. Josh Bazell. DiCaprio will reportedly play a killer who enters the witness protection program and becomes a doctor. All goes well until he is recognized by another mobster, and is then pulled back into his former life.
All this Batman 3 casting rumor nonsense has really gotten out of hand, but far be it for us to ignore a rumor and miss out on all the fun.
According to conflicting accounts from The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell are in talks to play villains in Iron Man 2.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Rourke could be lining up to play Ivan, the famously tatted Russian that develops deadly, technologically enhanced energy coils. But Variety claims that the grizzled Wrestler star play the Crimson Dynamo. They go on to state that, "Crimson Dynamo is considered to be an evil version of Iron Man because he battles the superhero in a nuclear-powered suit of armor."
Sam Rockwell is said to be in talks to take on the role of Tony Stark's rival, billionaire industrialist Justin Hammer.
Iron Man 2 is expected to begin production this spring, with a May 7th, 2010 release date. Jon Favreau is returning as director, as is Gwyneth Paltrow, who will reprise her role as Pepper Potts, and of course, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man. As previously announced, Don Cheadle will be taking over for Terrence Howard as Jim "Rhodey" Rhodes. Howard left in frustration when producers wouldn't demand that the entire cast and crew use baby wipes instead of toilet paper on set.
After a massive campaign by a bunch of worried people on the internets (pre-pubescent, morbidly obese, very lonely or all of the above), fans of Taylor Lautner will be delighted to hear that he is returning as the werewolf Jacob Black in the Twilight sequel New Moon, producer Summit Entertainment and director Chris Weitz said Wednesday.
Jacob had somewhat of a bit part in the first movie, but a significantly larger one in the second, in which he develops a romantic relationship with Bella (Kristen Stewart), the female lead.
Despite reports that Lautner may be replaced, the actor has now officially signed on and is said to be gaining weight for the part.
Netflix, the best thing to happen to home entertainment since TiVo, and nonprofit group Film Independent launched a contest on Thursday to award a first-time filmmaker $350,000 in cash and production support to make a movie.
Netflix and Film Independent, which produces the annual Independent Spirit Awards, also roped in Josh Brolin for a judge's spot in the competition, which will provide the winner with distribution online at Netflix. The winner will be determined by July of this year, according to Netflix.
"Netflix is all about connecting people with movies they'll love, and a large part of that mission has been about finding just the right audience for films that otherwise would have had real challenges finding a market," said Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix, at a press conference.
