The Hollywood Roundup: October 6
Ford talks Indy 5, Favreau talks all things Marvel, and Spacey returns as Lex Luthor
BOX OFFICE TOP TEN
1. Beverly Hills Chihuahua - $29 million ($29 million)
2. Eagle Eye - $17.7 million ($54.6 million)
3. Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist - $12 million ($12 million)
4. Nights in Rodanthe - $7.3 million ($25 million)
5. Appaloosa - $5.1 million ($5.5 million)
6. Lakeview Terrace - $4.5 million ($32.1 million)
7. Burn After Reading - $4.083 million ($51.6 million)
8. Fireproof - $4.069 million ($12.4 million)
9. An American Carol - $3.8 million ($3.8 million)
10. Religulous - $3.5 million ($3.5 million)
End Times Have Arrived: Beverly Hills Chihuahua opened at #1 at the box office last weekend, bringing in $29 million.
Eagle Eye fell to #2 in its second weekend, earning $17.7 million to raise its total gross to $54.6 million. With a budget of $80 million, Shia should probably stick to talking to robots and making out with Megan Fox. Really, Shia, there are worse fates a man can have.
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist opened to round out the top 3 with $12 million.
In crushing defeat news, two heavily promoted films made deafening belly flops in Hollywood: Blindness debuted at #12 with $2 million, while Simon Pegg vehicle How To Lose Friends and Alienate People debuted at #19 with $1.4 million. Sometimes "I told you so!" just feels really good to say.
Yep, Indy 5: In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Harrison Ford announced that George Lucas is currently wearing his ugly little thinking cap to dream up another Indiana Jones movie. "It's crazy but great. ... George is in think mode right now [about Indiana Jones V]. It's automatic, really, we did well with the last one and with that having done well and been a positive experience, it's not surprising that some people want to do it again." Because nothing says "let's do another one!" quite like a geriatric hero in a franchise milked dry. cough - Rambo - cough...
Somebody cares, right? Kirsten Dunst always said that her one condition as to whether or not she’d be involved in any future Spider-Man sequels was that director Sam Raimi and co-star Tobey Maguire be involved. Both Raimi and Maguire have signed back on for a fourth and fifth installment, and now it appears that we'll get the same cheeky Mary Jane Watson as well. MTV News posed the question to Dunst while she was promoting her current flop, How to Lose Friends and Alienate People.
“I’m in,” said the actress, although she quickly scaled back to declare, “I’m not saying anything, I know there’s rumors…”
Warner Bros. is reportedly shelling out the millions to get Kevin Spacey to reprise his role as Lex Luthor in yet another new Superman movie. The film, which the studio hopes will start filming in 2009 for a 2011 release, will naturally piggyback the darker, grittier direction this summer's The Dark Knight crushed the competition with. I don't care if they've got a billion-dollar budget and and a supporting cast with enough Oscars to fill a musem - if Brandon Routh is still Superman, the move will fail. He was a terrible Superman, with acting "skills" reminiscient of Hayden Christiansen as Anakin Skywalker.
A sequel to Kung Fu Panda will be released on June 3rd, 2011. Dreamworks, motivated by the original film's $600 million worldwide take, have signed stars Jack Black and Angelina Jolie to reprise their cartoon roles for the sequel. Do you care? We don't.
After the cinematic landmarks of Goodfellas and Casino, Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro are working together again on a new mob movie called I Heard You Paint Houses.
The film will be based on the life of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran ( DeNiro), a legendary mob hitman rumored to have carried out the assassination of Teamsters' boss Jimmy Hoffa. The title refers to mob slang where house painting means splattering walls with blood.
Brett Ratner (The Family Man, the Rush Hour series, X-Men: The Last Stand) has confirmed that he will direct God of War, the upcoming film based on the hit video game. Ratner is waiting for the final screenplay before the project can officially be greenlit, but with the popularity of video game movie adaptations these days, we'd say it's a safe bet.
In a web chat on the LA Times website, Iron Man director Jon Favreau had some very interesting reactions to fans' questions about the Iron Man sequel, as well as other potential films in the Marvel universe.
On villains: "We're playing with who the villain should be and what we should incorporate from the comic book. And how it will lead into The Avengers. I think we need some version of 'classic villains' in these movies. Many don't hold up well to time and to the big screen, but their essence should inspire the characters."
He continued about Mandarin, saying the villain "is still an important figure in the Iron Man universe. We have an interesting take on him that allows us to incorporate the whole pantheon of villains. The whole 10 Rings thing in (Iron Man 1) was a good tease for it."
On a female villain such as Madame Masque being used in the sequel: "Female villain... Now there's an interesting notion."
On the sequel: "The sequel is shaping up to incorporate Tony's vision for the future. What happens after he says 'I am Iron Man?' Iron Man is indeed a celebrity. He announced who he was and we have now officially departed from the standard secret ID superhero. Tony was already famous before the announcement. What would really happen if this went down? Fun to explore."
On synergy between these comic films: "Now that Marvel is making its own movies, every movie has to fit into the Marvel universe. The Avengers incorporates not just Iron Man, but Thor, possibly the Hulk and traditionally Captain America as well. As it is, it's scheduled Thor will come out the same summer as Iron Man 2 and Captain America will come out a few months before Avengers. All the films have to come together to create a consistent universe. That's very important to everyone involved."
Favreau also said he hopes the film will be released in 2010, that Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. would remain important parts of the franchise, and that Iron Man 2 needs War Machine. Sounds exciting!
The latest issue of Production Weekly offers a full plot synopsis for the upcoming and highly anticipated Captain America film. We can't say it's 100% fact, but it seems legit, and it follows the Steve Rogers storyline pretty well:
"Born during the Great Depression, Steve Rogers grew up a frail youth in a poor family. Horrified by the newsreel footage of the Nazis in Europe, Rogers was inspired to enlist in the army. However, because of his frailty and sickness, he was rejected. Overhearing the boy's earnest plea, General Chester Phillips offered Rogers the opportunity to take part in a special experiment… Operation: Rebirth. After weeks of tests, Rogers was at last administered the 'Super-Soldier Serum' and bombarded by 'vita-rays.' Steve Rogers emerged from the treatment with a body as perfect as a body can be and still be human. Rogers was then put through an intensive physical and tactical training program. Three months later, he was given his first assignment as Captain America. Armed with his indestructible shield and and battle savvy, Captain America has continued his war against evil both as a sentinel of liberty and leader of the Avengers."
No names have been officially connected to the project yet. The First Avenger: Captain America will arrive in theaters on May 6th, 2011, while its follow-up, The Avengers is set to hit theaters on July 15th, 2011.
Michael Bay will shoot 3 separate scenes for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen with IMAX cameras. The news was unceremoniously revealed deep in a recent Variety article that looked at the growing trend to use IMAX in big tentpole films. "Michael Bay will film at least three action setpieces using IMAX cameras for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which is lensing." The film, set for theatrical release on June 26th, 2009, pushes the argument further that IMAX is the new revolution in Hollywood.
Michael Bay had this to say on the matter: "The extraordinary level of detail and intensity captured by the IMAX camera creates many exciting possibilities for us with this film. IMAX’s all-encompassing format will take this story to a new level, and I am once again very excited to share The IMAX Experience with Transformers fans around the world."
