The brand new poster for the fourth official "American Pie" movie, "American Reunion," definitely looks familiar, but there's something different going on.
All of the series' original stars, including Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Mena Suvari, Seann William Scott and Chris Klein, are all here, but I don't think that's it.
Sherlock Holmes is back on the streets of London – or rather Robert
Downey Jr., the actor who plays him, is for the European premiere of
"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows."
Also walking the red carpet in the British capital on Thursday night
will be co-stars Jude Law and Noomi Repace and director Guy Ritchie,
Madonna's ex-husband.
The film, the sequel to the 2009 hit "Sherlock Holmes, sees Downey
Jr. and Law reprise their roles as the eccentric detective and his loyal
sidekick Dr. Watson. This time they travel across Europe as they take
on the criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, played by Jared Harris.
"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" hits U.K. cinemas on Friday.
I haven't seen it yet but I here: Big-budget, effects-filled Hollywood flick "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" smashed its way through box office records by Monday, its sixth full day in theaters, with global ticket sales nearing $400 million.
Paramount Pictures, which released the movie about shape-shifting aliens battling for control of Earth, said the movie was its highest-grossing international debut ever, ringing overseas cash registers to the tune of $217 million through Sunday and beating the release of "Transformers 2."
The movie opened simultaneously in 58 overseas markets last Wednesday, along with its U.S. and Canadian debut. Global ticket sales, excluding Monday's international box office estimates which have not yet been forecast, stand at $398 million.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (also known as Transformers 3) is a 2011 American science fiction/action film, part of the Transformers film series, directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the sequel to Transformers and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and was released on June 29, 2011. The film is presented in regular 2D, Real D 3D and IMAX,featuring Dolby Surround 7.1 sound.
Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson and John Turturro reprise their starring roles, with Peter Cullen returning as the voice of Optimus Prime and Hugo Weaving returning as the voice of Megatron. Ehren Kruger, who collaborated in the writing of the last film, was again involved in the writing. Despite having been initially confirmed for the film,and with the film already into principal photography, it was announced that Megan Fox would not be reprising her role from the previous two films. With Fox's character (Mikaela Banes) being dropped, Sam was assigned a new love interest, portrayed by English model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. Also, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, having written the last two films, did not return for this installment in the series,which Orci had earlier somewhat anticipated, fearing the duo would "risk getting stale". Bay has stated this would be his last installment in the series.In May 2011, it was announced that Paramount Pictures had bumped Transformers: Dark of the Moon's release date of July 1, 2011, two days earlier, June 29, in order to receive an early response to footage.The film was then released one day earlier, June 28, in select 3D and IMAX theatres, nationwide. The budget and marketing costs are estimated to total $270 million.
In U.S. and Canadian theaters, where "Transformers" debuted in late-night previews on Tuesday last week, the movie will have taken in $181 million by the time the U.S. Independence Day holiday ends on Monday night, according to Paramount's estimates.
Industry watchers said the movie's four-day (Friday through Monday) domestic box office forecast of $116.4 million is the best ever for an Independence Day weekend, which is one of the heaviest moviegoing periods of the year. It eclipsed the $115.8 million debut of "Spider-Man 2" over the same weekend in 2006.
On Monday, Paramount revised its Sunday estimates slightly to $97.5 million for the three-day weekend --
Friday through Sunday -- from a previous $97.4 million.
Beyond Choice: Multiplayer Reveal Trailer
"Transformers" earned a whopping $24,300 per-theater average from around 4,000 theaters over the three days. By contrast, the No. 2 domestic movie, Disney/Pixar's animated "Cars 2" earned $26.2 million over the three days ($32.1 million for the four days ending Monday) from just under 4,100 theaters. Its per-theater average was about $6,400.
About 60 percent of "Transformers'" domestic revenues came from theaters showing it in more expensive 3D, and about 70 percent of the international box office tally came from 3D, which should help bolster the format that in recent months has seemed to fade in popularity.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Exclusive Trailer (PS3, Xbox 360)
"What you take away is that if you give the public the right movie in the right way, audiences are happy to pay the upcharge," said Don Harris, executive vice president of distribution at Paramount.
Aaron Eckhart is attached to star in “Battle: Los Angeles,” a sci-fi actioner that Jonathan Liebesman is directing for Columbia. Neal Moritz and his Original Film are producing.
The deal puts the actor front and center on an action movie for the first time. Eckhart had made his name working on less mainstream films, among others starring in “In the Company of Men” and “Thank You for Smoking.” He had one of his biggest roles to date in the summer, playing Harvey Dent/Two-Face in “The Dark Knight,” the blockbuster that has grossed more than $997 million worldwide.
The story, written by Chris Bertolini, revolves around a Marine platoon’s encounter in the battle on the streets of Los Angeles against an alien invasion. Eckhart will play the platoon leader in the film, which has yet to set a start date.
Hollywood would like to skip spring and head straight to summer.
The summer-style blockbuster "Battle: Los Angles" performed like one at the box office, opening to a strong debut of $36 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film stars Aaron Eckhart as a veteran soldier leading a platoon of Marines in combat against invading aliens.
For Columbia Pictures and Sony, the sci-fi action film recalls its 2009 Oscar-nominated hit, "District 9." ''Battle: Los Angeles" hasn't received nearly as good reviews, but it benefited from a 68 per cent male audience and a very successful marketing campaign.
"It's kind of like having a summer film in the spring," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution at Sony. "From the beginning, this was a film we were excited about."
Bruer added that there's "definitely a connection" between "Battle: Los Angeles" and "District 9," which opened to $37.4 million and was also helmed by a South African filmmaker. Neill Blomkamp directed "District 9," while Jonathan Liebesman directed the similarly handheld-heavy "Battle: Los Angeles."
In its second week of release, the animated Western spoof "Rango" came in second, adding $23.1 million for a cumulative total of $68.7 million. The critically acclaimed Paramount Pictures film appeared on its way to surpassing $100 million.
The weekend's other new releases didn't fare as well.
"Red Riding Hood," the updated fairy tale starring Amanda Seyfried and helmed by "Twilight" director Catherine Hardwicke, debuted to $14.1 million for Warner Bros.
Worse was Disney's animated 3-D family film "Mars Needs Moms!" It opened to a disappointing $6.8 million, well below expectations. With a voice cast including Seth Green and Joan Cusack, it also opened on more than 200 IMAX screens.
Based on the book of the same title by Berkeley Breathed, "Mars Needs Moms!" had an estimated production budget of $150 million. Such a poor start means it's likely to be a significant loss for Disney, though that pain is somewhat alleviated by its surprise hit, "Gnomeo & Juliet." It has taken in $89 million in five weeks.
Overall, moviegoing business was still down from the corresponding weekend last year. Since November 2010, such down weekends have been the norm except for one up weekend. The box office for 2011 was 21.5 per cent off last year's pace.
Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian said the weekend business was "good news for aliens, bad news for the overall box office."
"It's a cyclical business, but this is a long downturn," said Dergarabedian. "The industry is holding its collective breath for summer to start."
With myriad blockbusters planned for both the summer and holiday seasons, Hollywood has reason to expect better business as the year continues.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
FYI: Deadline notes that Just Go With It, which finished in eighth place this weekend, is close to hitting the $100 million mark in cumulative box office sales.
As if the upcoming DVD release of Twilight Saga: New Moon weren't enough, add to that the just leaked sneak peek trailer for this summer's theatrical debut of Twilight Saga: Eclipse. To celebrate the latest entries into the franchise, Nashville's own Borders bookstore (located at 2501 West End Avenue) will host a Midnight Release Party coupled with a very clever Borders New Moon Movie Awards ceremony.
Last year's Twilight sequel, New Moon introduced movie-goers to the year's most popular love triangle of Bella/Jacob/Edward. In New Moon, angst-ridden teen mortal, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) was seemingly abandoned by vampire hunk, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and offered solace in the shape-shifting, often shirtless form of Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). While that seemed to be the sole purpose of the film--to set up the third installment's main plot device--Twi-hards are just as eager for the third installment.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse is set to debut in theatres on June 30, 2010, but fans have been given an early spring gift with the just released teaser trailer.
Men in Black 3 is officially a go, and Columbia Pictures will set a May 25, 2012, release date for a sequel that director Barry Sonnenfeld will shoot in 3D. Will Smith has signed his deal to reunite with director Barry Sonnenfeld, and deals are now being negotiated with Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin. An announcement is imminent.
The project has been in the prep stage for some time, but didn't become real until Smith chose it over several "next film" candidates. His decision to put on the sunglasses and dark suit gives Sony a killer 2012: the studio previously set a July 3, 2012 release date for its Spider-Man relaunch, which also will be shot in 3D. Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald return as MIB3 producers, and Steven Spielberg will be executive producer.
It has long been expected MIB3 would be next for Smith, who last starred in 2008’s Seven Pounds and then took the time to be a very hands on producer in the China-shot Karate Kid remake that stars his son, Jaden (which Columbia releases June 11). Smith then mulled several star vehicles that included City That Sailed, and I hear that he also contemplated Colossus, the scifi remake that Ron Howard wants to direct for Universal and Imagine.
While Smith pondered his choices, Columbia, Sonnenfeld and MIB3 producers Parkes and MacDonald positioned themselves to be ready. I’m told that Rick Baker has been designing and building the creatures, Bo Welch has been designing the sets, and David Koepp had been polishing a script by Etan Cohen that got this whole thing started. Cohen is back and polishing the shooting draft.
The film will use a time travel element that moves the action from contemporary back to 1969. Brolin will play the younger version of Jones's Agent Kay character. Sony had every reason to be stoked about more MIB, the franchise based on the comic book by Lowell Cunningham. The 1997 original grossed $589 million worldwide, and the 2002 sequel did $442 million in global ticket sales. Those films rank high on Columbia’s all-time gross chart, and the prospect of making an installment that captures the otherworldly creatures in 3D is enticing. Still, many felt another film would be impossible because the gross deals were so prohibitive. I’m told that the principal players showed flexibility. It's still a big-ticket film, and there is plenty of gross out the door. But the deals have built-in hiatus periods that allow the studio to recoup and make money.
That hurdle was overcome some time ago, and it came down to Smith committing. He showed some flexibility by agreeing to a Memorial Day weekend opening. Since Independence Day, Smith has considered July 4 weekend to be his preferred domain for commercial vehicles, but that slot was already occupied by Spider-Man. Then again, Smith has always been shrewd about choosing projects, and he has positioned himself to keep intact his title as world’s biggest box office star.
On the eve of the release of Iron Man 2 (opening next week), which will signal the release of a whole slew of new Marvel comic superhero films (ie. Thor, Captain America, The Avengers), Warner Bros. and director Christopher Nolan have announced the release date for the upcoming sequel film for DC Comics superhero Batman.
The third film in Nolan’s rebooted Batman franchise will swoop into theaters in 2012. A follow-up to 2005’s Batman Begins and 2008’s The Dark Knight has been scheduled for July 20, 2012,
Currently Nolan is in post-production on his latest non-Batman film Inception, but is also flushing out the newest Batman story with co-writer, David Goyer.
At this point there is no official title for the film nor a start date for production.
With Batman 3 now announced, 2012’s summer is looking to be every comic movie fans dream. The Avengers is set for May 4 and the Spider-Man relauch is set for July 3. Also, the Star Trek sequel will be beaming down to theaters on June 29.
Nolan wouldn’t comment on who might be the principal baddie in the next film but he has reportedly ruled out Mr Freeze, who Arnold Schwarzenegger played in Joel Schumacher’s much-maligned Batman & Robin (’97) and who was never one of the better villains anyway. Whoever it is, one thing is certain: Heath Ledger’s rip-snorting Oscar-winning performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight has gotta be the toughest super villain act to follow in cinema history. Rumours have been circulating for a while that Johnny Depp may be considering a role as The Riddler, to add yet another iconic OTW character to his collection.
Which Batman villain would you love to see on the big screen and who would you want to play them?
Warner Bros.' remake of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" topped the domestic boxoffice on Friday with an impressive first-day tally estimated at $15.8 million, setting the stage for a $30 million-plus haul through Sunday.
"Elm Street" stars Jackie Earle Haley as evil Freddy Krueger in the sixth New Line-produced installment in the long-running horror franchise. Music video helmer Samuel Bayer directed the R-rated film.
Elsewhere on Friday, Summit Entertainment's family comedy "Furry Vengeance" – co-produced by Participant Media and Imagenation Abu Dahbi – fetched $1.7 million in its first day in release. That placed it sixth among the daily grosses and suggests a three-day bow in the middle single-digit millions.
The top-grossing holdover pic DreamWorks Animation's leggy 3D adventure "How To Train Your Dragon" started its sixth session in release with $2.6 million in second place for $184.2 million in cumulative boxoffice. Fox comedy "Date Night" launched its fourth frame with $2.5 million in third and cume of $68.5 million.
CBS Films' Jennifer Lopez starrer "The Back-Up Plan" rung up $2.4 million in fourth place on Friday, while raising its cume to $18 million through eight days in the marketplace. Warners' comics-based military actioner "The Losers" began its sophomore session with a $1.9 million tally in fifth place to shape a $14 million cume.
This weekend represents the final frame of the spring boxoffice season before Paramount’s "Iron Man 2" kicks off the all-important summer season next weekend.
I allways liked all the Predator's Movies. The game is cool too. It's a must see movie. You can either love the idea of a new Predator movie or you can hate it -- but either way, you know you're interested! With the arrival of this teaser trailer, it seems as though all can take a collective sigh of relief -- it looks like producer Robert Rodriguez and director Nimrod Antal have nailed it. Multi-cultural cast of killer characters: Check. Eerie, jungle-set atmosphere: Check. Overtly loud, extremely menacing alien bounty hunters afoot: Check.
Film beats 'Saw VI' with a $22 million weekend haul
Paranormal Activity" won the weekend's frightfest smackdown.
Paramount's micro-budgeted ghost story topped the domestic boxoffice with an estimated $22 million from its second weekend in wide release as Lionsgate's gore-filled sequel "Saw VI" settled for a tarnished silver medal in a disappointing $14.8 million domestic debut. Warner Bros.' fantasy "Where the Wild Things Are" finished third with $14.4 million, dropping 56% from its chart-topping bow of a week earlier for a 10-day cume of $54 million.
Three other wide openers marked soft sessions:
The Summit-distributed animated feature "Astro Boy" rung up just $7 million in a drab sixth-place launch.
Universal's John C. Reilly-toplined "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" circled $6.3 million in eighth, also bowing well below pre-release expectations.
Fox Searchlight's Hilary Swank starrer "Amelia" landed outside the top 10 with $4 million from a barely wide 818 playdates.
Overture Films' crime thriller "Law Abiding Citizen" fell just 40% from its opening frame to register $12.7 million in fourth place and a $40.3 million cume. Universal's ensemble comedy "Couples Retreat" was fifth with $11.1 million and a $78.2 million cume through three weekends, while Sony's horror thriller "The Stepfather" dipped 44% in its sophomore session to $6.5 million in seventh place with a $20.4 million cume.
Collectively, the weekend's top 10 films rung up $105 million, or 10% less than top performances in the comparable frame last year.
But the downtick is unlikely to mar the upbeat mood of exhibitors arriving here for today'sMONDAY start of the four-day ShowEast confab. The industry has proven true to its recession-resistant rep this year, tracking 5% ahead of 2008 on a year-to-date basis.
Among the weekend's limited bows, IFC Films unspooled the Lars von Trier-directed "Antichrist" with solo playdates in six cities and grossed $73,500. That gave the controversially violent drama an encouraging $12,500 per engagement.
IDP/Samuel Goldwyn's comedy "(Untitled)" opened with $19,145 from two L.A.-area locations and one in New York for an auspicious $6,182 per site.
Freestyle Releasing debuted the comedy "Motherhood" -- starring Uma Thurman and Minnie Driver -- in 47 theaters and grossed $57,754, or just $1, 203 per venue.
Disney launched its annual re-release of "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D" in 105 locations and grossed $131,000, or a ho-hum $1,245 per site.
Elsewhere in the specialty market, Sony Pictures Classics' British drama "An Education" added 12 playdates for a total of 31 and grossed $408,002, or a smart $13,161 per engagement. Cume climbed to $980,896.
Elephant Eye's Chilean drama "The Maid" added five theaters for a total of six and grossed $44,080. That translated into a pleasing $7,346 per venue for the Spanish-language pic and pushed cume to $70,162.
Attention, New Moon fans currently covering your feet:
Prepare for some cold toes... because the video below will knock your socks off!
In a newly-released clip from the Twilight Saga sequel, Taylor Lautner introduces a major scene from the film: Jacob's transformation into a werewolf, as the character comes to Bella's rescue.
While previous New Moon trailers have only showed snippets of scenes from the movie, this is the first extended look at a significant development in it.
We hope and pray the studio doesn't force YouTube to remove the clip, as it will merely build more excitement for the blockbuster. If that's even possible, of course...
As readers of the Twilight Saga novels know, Lautner's Jacob plays a prominent role in New Moon. Even more so than Robert Pattinson's Edward.
Based on the video above, though, we're confident he can pull it off. I can't wait for November 20. Can you?!?
It's already too much for some people that there's a new Saw movie every year, with new traps to twist victims in horrible, gory ways. With Saw VI putting viewers to Jigsaw's latest tests this weekend, the producers are moving ahead with Saw VII with plans to let Jigsaw loose on the latest filmmaking trend.
"Saw VII is in 3-D," said producer Mark Burg.
From a business standpoint, it seems obvious to put the most lucrative horror franchise in 3-D. Screenwriter Marcus Dunstan said there's an artistic reason too.
"It answers the question definitively, why make a Saw film in 3-D," Dunstan said. "It answers right away and it answers loud."
Since there's no stopping Saw, that means that probably "Saw VIII" and everything following will also be 3-D. "I think once you start a 3-D movie, you kind of got to continue with it," Burg said. "Once we do Saw VII in 3-D, it's kind of hard then to go back to 2-D."
Dunstan joked that they could go retro. "Saw VIII in black and white," he said. "It's a talkie."
Actor Tobin Bell, who plays the infamous Jigsaw, knows he's going to have to adjust his performance accordingly. "That's something I'm not going to be thinking about," Bell said. "They're going to say to me, 'Please, I love what you're doing but could you reach like that please?' So am I looking forward to it? No. It'll just be one further thing to think about. I'm going to be doing the same thing I've always been doing but hopefully they'll have lots of good technical people around to guide us and it'll be an interesting result in that way."
Don't worry, Jigsaw fans. Story will always come before the gimmick. "Listen, we have Saw VII," Burg said. "We're working on the script. Let's hope Saw VII turns out well so there can be a Saw VIII."
Some parents may decide that this inventive, moody adaptation of Maurice Sendak's beloved 1963 picture book is too emotional and intense to be a family film. And for some children, they would be right. Director and co-screenwriter (with Dave Eggers) Spike Jonze has expanded on little Max's interaction with the Wild Things in Sendak's book in ways the author may not have imagined (though he has given the film his enthusiastic blessing).
The film reaches a level of realism that other darker children's stories, such as "Coraline" (PG, 2009) don't, because they're animated. Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" mixes live action, puppetry and animation. The young protagonist is very real indeed, as are his temper tantrums, fears and sadness. What's clever is that all his troubles and personality traits are echoed among the Wild Things he befriends when he enters his imaginary world after a fight with his mom.
This film is okay for most kids 10 and older and certainly interesting stuff for teens and adults. However, it is not for kids who have short attention spans, who find strong, realistically portrayed emotions hard to deal with, or who could be scared into nightmares by the idea of stuffed animals becoming enormous monsters. The film shows the Wild Things at times fighting and hurting one another, and saying hurtful things.
Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian said the weekend business was "good news for aliens, bad news for the overall box office."
On the eve of the release of Iron Man 2 (opening next week), which will signal the release of a whole slew of new Marvel comic superhero films (ie. Thor, Captain America, The Avengers), Warner Bros. and director Christopher Nolan have announced the release date for the upcoming sequel film for DC Comics superhero Batman. 
It's already too much for some people that there's a new Saw movie every year, with new traps to twist victims in horrible, gory ways. With Saw VI putting viewers to Jigsaw's latest tests this weekend, the producers are moving ahead with Saw VII with plans to let Jigsaw loose on the latest filmmaking trend. 
