It’s a rare thing when the summer movie season starts with such a big question mark. But the behind the scenes drama regarding X-Men Origins: Wolverine has left the film in serious danger of playing more like Van Helsing than X2: X-Men United. Still, I did notice these action figures while out and about today. The odd thing is that these figures seem to be closer to the comic book counterparts than how the characters allegedly appear in the film. Especially interesting is this pic below, which again seems to suggest that Logan will be donning his comic-book ‘yellow tights and spandex’ costume. I certainly have not read that anywhere, but then specifics on this movie are pleasantly scarce. At least this figure set actually gives you a few villains (Sabretooth, Deadpool, Gambit, and uh… Agent Zero?) to go along with the standard five versions of Wolverine.
As for this new international poster, is Fox even trying anymore? At best, this brings back not-so-fond memories of Darth Vader’s Frankenstein bit at the climax of Revenge Of The Sith. At worst well, am I the only one who thinks it looks like Logan is really trying to hold his bladder? Or, judging by the bulge, it kind of looks like he’s popped a most painful adamantium erection of some kind. Either way, the somewhat bright and sunny day plus that not exactly terrifying action pose - not exactly something to inspire confidence from geeks. And unless it’s better than the buzz and advertising would suggest, Fox must be insane to release it in France two days prior to the release date (Les critiques d’accord: Wolverine, le film est très mauvais!). Having said that, my expectations for this one are so low that I might just enjoy it be default. Paramount must be jumping for joy. Star Trek may end up being the ‘kick off’ film of summer after all.
Well, it’s 3.55x for Monsters Vs. Aliens. The much hyped 3D toon from Dreamworks took in a best-of-2009 opening weekend of $59.3 million. This includes $16.8 million on Friday, $24..3 million on Saturday (an uptick of 45%), and a $18.2 million Sunday. So, yes, it played like a family film through and through. This is the biggest opening for any kind of 3D film, besting the $40 million that Chicken Little scored in November 2005. Of course, Chicken Little didn’t have nearly as many 3D screens as Monsters Vs. Aliens. Plus, today’s 3D screens for the Dreamworks feature are charging a $2-3 premium on tickets. For the record, 56% (about $32 million) of its weekend total came from the 28% of its screens with 3D capabilities and 9% of the gross (about $5.2 million) came from the 143 IMAX theaters. Whether the grosses of such 3D hits as Coraline, Monsters Vs. Aliens, and My Bloody Valentine deserve a Roger Maris astrix is open to debate. For now, until any major records are broken, we’ll just let it be. But rest assured, as soon as a 3D movie breaks a major record like biggest opening weekend, you’ll be sure to hear complaining from the studio of the prior record holder (unless of course, the new record holder is from the same studio as the prior record holder, in which case every other studio will carp).
As for legs, let’s review similar films. Chicken Little had mediocre reviews and word of mouth, but it held on through 2005 anyway to gross $135 million (which was and still is Disney’s highest grossing non-Pixar toon since Lilo and Stitch in summer 2002). The recent 3D toon Bolt opened with a softer $26 million (against the $69 million debut of Twilight), but it held its ground over the holidays and crossed $114 million. Two years ago this weekend, Disney’s Meet The Robinsons debuted in 2D and 3D theaters to about $25 million. Alas, because you people are soulless monsters who don’t deserve Meet The Robinsons, it petered out at $96 million (I’d turn you all into ducks, except I don’t know how and I don’t need a duck). So, like any other type of movie, there is no real pattern to discern. But, since the reviews are similar and the debut is probably similar in terms of tickets sold, I’ll go with the Chicken Little multiplier. That one had a 3.4x weekend-to-total multiplier. So a similar final gross is $197.2 million. Let’s toss in the holiday weeks coming up (various schools have Spring Break during the next month) and Dreamworks’ bragging necessities, and we’ll give it $210 million by closing time. However, if it performs like the quick-kill 2.8 multiplier Madagascar 2: Escape To Africa (which is much better than I expected, by the way), it’ll end its run with $166 million.
Coming in second with a shockingly large debut is Lionsgate’s The Haunting In Connecticut. That one had a decent for a horror film multiplier of 2.4x. So it ended the weekend with $23 million. It comes in just under the $23.9 million debut of Lionsgate’s Fahrenheit 9/11 on the list of non-Saw/non Tyler Perry films from Lionsgate. In fact, this opening tops all of the various Screen Gems/Sony horror films that have been raking in over the last three years. That ‘end of 2008 blitz’ may have been a mixed blessing for Lionsgate, but 2009 has been one whammy after another (save the low-budget New In Town). My Bloody Valentine, Madea Goes To Jail and now The Haunting In Connecticut have all opened north of $20 million. And next month brings Crank 2, which should deliver a solid improvement on the much liked original. The 3D action cartoon Battle For Terra is a riskier gamble (in which mankind is the villain, invading the home of a race of peace loving aliens… subtle), but we’ll see how it fares about X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
I’ve been here in Dallas since late Thursday night. I was supposed to get in around 4:30 but at the last possible minute, my flight was canceled and I had to sit around for 6 hours to catch the next one. Total bummer because I missed Rian Johnson’s “The Brothers Bloom” as well as the opening night party. Blah.
However once I landed in Dallas, the team at AFI Dallas has been simply amazing. This festival, in fact, is simply amazing. The one thing press, filmmakers and panelists combined have all commented on separately to me is how well you’re treated here. The staff goes way, way out of their way to make sure you’re taken care of which is just…nice. I’m a pretty low-maintenance person but when I’m at a festival, I need some basics to get my work done. A centrally located hotel preferably with wi-fi, an easy to follow guide to venues and screenings and someone to tell me what the hell is going on each day so I don’t sit at my computer wondering what I’m missing. AFI Dallas does all that and more. I’ve had absolutely no problem getting places I need to go, on time and it’s really nice and refreshing.
Yesterday after some much needed rest I was on a panel called “Promoting Your Movie: What Lessons Can Indie Filmmakers Learn From Indie Bands?” While I’m not sure I had any thoughtful insights, the folks I was on there with with whip smart. I had fun with it and I think people liked the panel. After that I raced over to the big ass AMC Theater complex to see “Gigantic.” A review is forthcoming but it was so-so. Some outstanding camera work but a lack of character development and heart hurts the film. After the screening, it was party time.
Being the festival rat that I am, I have a bunch of friends I see when I go to fests and last night was like the beginning summer camp. I ended up stuck with intrepid indie film producer Adam Donaghey and we headed out to a party honoring Robert Towne. The moment we arrived at the party, I knew we wouldn’t last long. Me and multimillion dollar mansions are not a good match and I felt like the gardener who snuck into the bosses soirre. After some delish lemon-drop-tini’s, we headed back to town for the regular festival parties and closed out the night at my favorite restaurant, “Hooters.”
Today I did some work and then hit up the panel “Scary Symbols: How Do Horror Films Show Us What’s really Scary?” The panel was moderated by AFI Dallas badass John Wildman and featured “Grace” director Paul Solet, fellow journo James Rocchi, filmmaker Chad Johnson and every horror fanboy’s wet dream, Tiffany Shepis. The panel was really fun and insightful. Afterwards, I finally got to meet Solet and Shepis, both of whom I’ve talked to on the internet for a while. In fact, Tiffany and I have known each other for like, 10 years and have never met in person. Crazy! Tonight, I’m not sure what’s happening. I definitely want to see “Grace” but I also definitely want to hit some parties. I also simply must make the 12:30 p.m. screening of David Lowery’s “St. Nick” so maybe I’ll lay low. But for those of you who know me, you know that probably won’t happen.
This will be shorter than usual because so much is up in the air due to the nature of the two big openers. I will say that there was a major surprise and it’s not what you’re thinking.
Yes, the Paramount/Dreamworks animated spectacle Monsters Vs. Aliens opened to number one with a rock-solid $16.7 million. But we do not yet know if this will play like a family film (3.5x multiplier gives it $58 million for the weekend) or a mainstream hit (3x gives it $50 million) or a front loaded franchise picture (2.5x gives it $41 million). As it is, the under $20 million opening day suggests a solid Saturday and Sunday bump (since Friday is still a school day in March). Regardless, it needs to do at least $50 million to justify the (self-imposed) hype. Amusingly, Dreamworks was bragging about a $60 million opening weekend, while Paramount was trying to temper the buzz, claiming they only expected $50 million. When the studio itself is raising expectations and calling it the dawn of a new age, it better at least meet those studio expectations. We’ll see tomorrow. I’m quite curious to see what the percentage is in regards to 2D vs 3D vs IMAX 3D ticket sales.
But the big surprise for me this weekend is the knockout $9.5 million opening day for The Haunting In Connecticut. I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I’m pretty sure that this is the biggest opening day for any Lionsgate movie that isn’t a Saw film or a Tyler Perry production (that previous record I believe belonged to the $8.5 million opening day for Fahrenheit 9/11). This looked more like a Sony horror picture, with its PG-13 rating and emphasis on kids and family strife (think Prom Night or The Messengers). And it opened at the high end of that studio’s horror properties. Prom Night opened to a $9.5 million Friday and When A Stranger Calls opened to $9.1 million.
Lionsgate had one truly scary image to sell (the mysterious ’something’ coming out of young boy’s mouth) that they used it on the poster and every piece of print advertising, and they also ended every trailer and TV spot with it. That single shot is responsible for I’d guess 70% of the money that the movie makes this weekend. But, once again, its weekend is up in the air due to the front loaded nature of the horror genre. While one expects a low multiplier, the reviews are better than expected (never have I read so many two-star reviews with so many good things to say) and the film could theoretically skew more adult with its old fashioned haunted house storyline, its PG-13 rating, and its emphasis (in the trailer) on grown up actors Virgina Madsen and Tate Donovan.
The holdovers performed about as expected, with one mild exception. Knowing dropped a pretty solid 48%, which means it’ll end the weekend with about a 45% drop (these days, especially for a science fiction picture, that’s considered legs). I Love You Man will drop the usual 1/3 that Judd Apatow films usually do, meaning that it’ll play into the beginning of summer. Duplicity dropped a disturbing 50%. Usually adult-themed pictures compensate for their less than huge opening weekends with stronger legs. The theory is that adults don’t need to rush out and see a movie on opening weekend. But this way too expensive caper picture is now likely to struggle to even make it to $40 million. That’s a shame, as it’s a good, fun, twisty little movie that allowed Julia Roberts and Clive Owen to shine. It deserved better. But then, had Tony Gilroy and company kept the budget in check (how on earth did this no frills character-driven comedy thriller cost $80 million?), this wouldn’t have been an issue.
That’s pretty much all of the news that’s fit to print. I’ll discuss weekend figures tomorrow or Monday.
With the possible exception of Watchmen, no movie this year comes with more ‘what the hell are they thinking?’ baggage than Spike Jonze’s live-action adaptation of Where The Wild Things Are. This wildly over budget ($115 million thus far), but refreshingly old-school fantasy (note the actual costumes rather than CGI) opens from Warner Bros on October 16th, 2009. I don’t have the deep emotional connection to the original storybook as others do, but this is just the kind of artistic gamble that has made Warner Bros. my favorite major studio. I’ll let the trailer speak for itself. While I’m always suspicious when there is almost no dialogue, this teaser is certainly an attention grabber.
This one is for my wife. I think the trailer looks about as boring as unbuttered toast. Frankly, the mad scientist set-up seems to suggest that most of the movie is the sort of invented and contrived back story and padding that marred such feature-length adaptations of such short stories as The Grinch. Besides, the set-up also seems to be directly cribbing from Meet The Robinsons. Still, my wife loves this book, and she’ll likely drag me to this one come September 18th (hopefully Allison will be able to join us). Anyway, enjoy the trailer for Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.
Tomorrow morning bright and early I head to Dallas, Texas for the AFI Film Festival. As a big fan of big Texas, I couldn’t be more excited to go although I know (I know, I know, I know) Dallas bears little resemblance to my beloved Austin, I’m still thrilled to be heading to what looks to be an awesome festival.
My interest in AFI Dallas was piqued last year when the intrepid Mark Bell attended via Film Threat and had what seemed to be an amazing time. Mark and I were always festival rats in that we’d see pretty much everything (films, panels, luncheons), hit every party (official or in someone’s room who had a rock band set) and still manage to throw out more festival coverage than any other site. I admit, without Mark around, I’m like that one-legged dog Springsteen sings about in his Oscar snubbed song “The Wrestler.” But I will still do my best to bring AFI Dallas to life for all you Film Threat readers.
Friday, March 27 I’m on a panel, which is terrifying. I’ve done a few before but never anywhere good so yeah, a tad nervous. My panel is “Promoting Your Movie: What Lessons Can Indie Filmmakers Learn From Indie Bands?” That actually sounds pretty great as I’ve had two films in the festival circuit, I manage an ass-kicking band and I’m inundated daily with requests from filmmakers for reviews and quotes. Plus, the other folks on the panel seem awesome and include Aaron Marshall and Justin Johnsonwho made the kick-ass doc “Zombie Girl.” I should be o.k. I hope. Come watch me fail at 5:30 Friday afternoon at the Victory Park Festival Lounge. In fact, show up at my panel, say you saw this and I’ll give you a free copy of five a.m.’s new album, “Raise the Sun” and I’ll let you buy me a beer! Sound like a deal?
As for films, I’m super excited to finally catch Rian Johnson’s “Brick” follow up “The Brothers Bloom” as well as the Patton Oswalt sports-fan-stalker pic “Big Fan.” Also blinking heavily on my radar is David Lowery’s “St. Nick” and Paul Solet’s horror flick “Grace” both of which I really, really wanted to see at SXSW but missed due to a mood pocket.
So, if you’re looking for me this weekend, I’ll be in Dallas alongside some amazing films, panels and friends. Come up and say Hi! I promise, I won’t fall over on you as I sway from too much film, beer and BBQ.
As seems to happen whenever Nicolas Cage releases a commercial movie such as Knowing, the critics and pundits are bitterly asking just what happened to this once brilliant, artistically inclined thespian and why oh why has he sold out? Guess what folks. Nicolas Cage is still Nicolas Cage and he’s always been the same quirky, half-insane goofball who would eventually name his son Kal El (yeah, I love Batman, but I didn’t name my daughter Selina, Pamela, or Talia). The difference is one of expectations and selective memory.
Nic Cage was making movies for about thirteen years before he won the 1995 Best Actor Oscar and became a mainstream player. In between Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Leaving Las Vegas, this allegedly fallen star made such high-brow, intellectually simulating entertainments as Trapped In Paradise, Valley Girl, and Amos and Andrew. Yes, he also made such movies as Red Rock West, Raising Arizona, and Peggy Sue Got Married. He was a working actor who alternated between occasionally lousy studio movies and often artistically superior low profile entertainments. Some of these movies made money, many of them did not. What we forget was that, prior to Leaving Las Vegas, Nic Cage was never all that respected as an actor. He was an offbeat performer, someone who often added a little color to the films he appeared in. Every time he gave a solid dramatic performance in something like Red Rock West, critics acted a little surprised. When he stole the show with his manic villain in Kiss Of Death, critics raved about a new high for this cult actor.
Leaving Las Vegas was a revelation for many, but in retrospect, it was partially just Nicolas Cage doing his shtick in a toned down version, for a film of genuine quality and morose contemplation. It was Nic Cage being Nic Cage, but with an entire film worth of back story and context to give his antics ‘deeper meaning’. After he won the Oscar, he did three big-budget action films in a row. Why? Because he was a geek at heart and he wanted to do action films dammit!
It helped that all three films were of a respectable quality. More importantly, it wasn’t ‘action star Nicolas Cage’. It was ‘Nicolas Cage… in a big budget action film’. The Rock is still Michael Bay’s only great film, Con Air was a terrifically entertaining acting treat and quasi genre spoof, and John Woo’s Face/Off was and is a masterpiece, and it contains what I still feel is Nic Cage’s finest performance. I’ve always said that Face/Off’s acting and dramatic scenes were so good that it would still be a great film without the shoot outs.
After Face/Off, Nicolas Cage got serious. And it’s here that critics started to gang up on him. City Of Angels, a pretentious and overly somber remake of Wings Of Desire, was arguably the turning point. The film was a hit, but it contained an unusually gloomy Nicolas Cage performance. Personally, I feel that it’s main offense was casting then-TV super cops Andre Braugher and Dennis Franz and failing to give them any scenes together. Super serious films with super glum Nic Cage performances would alternate with the quirky, goofy vibrating-head Cage or ole. He was nutso in the ambitious but mediocre Snake Eyes, but he was sober in the disappointing 8MM (great first half, terrible second half). He was a little of both in Martin Scorsese’s vastly underrated Bringing Out The Dead, which closed out the 1990s.
After getting panned for palling around with Martin Scorsese, is it any wonder that Cage retreated to the safety net of producer Jerry Bruckheimer? Cage started out 2000 with one of his very worst films, Gone In 60 Seconds (or as I like to call it… the action film with no action scenes). It is this decade that detractors claim that Nicolas Cage ’sold out’. They point to admittedly terrible films like Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and The Wicker Man as signs of crossing over to the dark side. There are two problems with this argument.
First of all, if you look at Cage’s filmography in this decade, you’ll notice that he actually has a somewhat decent batting average. You have studio garbage like Ghost Rider, Next, and Bangkok Dangerous. But you also have genuine art like Adaptation, Matchstick Men, Lord Of War, and The Weather Man. If critics and audiences ignore Lord Of War and then take notice of Ghost Rider (a terrible film with plenty of Nic Cage quirk), they can’t then say that Cage is a sell-out who only does big studio confections. As it is, if you recall, many of the reviews for The Weather Man seemed to criticize Paramount for releasing such a character-driven, small scale drama (how dare they release an intelligent drama for adults, instead of passing it off to Paramount Vantage!).
As for the uber-successful National Treasure series (by far his highest grossing films), I kinda like them. They are, if I may, incredibly stupid but genuinely fun, with lots of good actors (Sean Benn, Ed Harris, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Harvey Keitel) getting paid a solid sum to engage in historically-based PG-rated, family friendly adventure. I wouldn’t want every film to be National Treasure (just like not every home should have a bowl of freshly cut lemons in the refrigerator), but I’m glad there is one series that fills that void. Random anecdote: I took a private school principal on a first date to see the first National Treasure (somehow Kinsey didn’t seem appropriate) and I’m convinced the reason I didn’t get a second date was that she was offended that I had taken her to an education-based movie that was so willfully dumb.
Nicolas Cage has made sixteen live-action films in this present decade (counting Knowing and not counting his ten-second Grindhouse cameo). About half of them have been big studio genre pictures that haven’t been well received. The other half have been either well-received studio films (I hated World Trade Center, but I’m in the minority), or artistically inclined pictures that mostly flopped. So, for all the huff and puff, Nicolas Cage still seems to operate on the ‘one for them, one for me’ principle. He is a working actor who is undeniably past his prime, but still makes interesting choices regardless of whether the films work out in the end. And, for those who think that Cage has gotten dull… answer me this… could any other actor have made a film as awesomely terrible as The Wicker Man?
In the end, Nicolas Cage suffers from a very simple problem. He alternates between big budget studio genre pictures and smaller, more artistically inclined films. The issue is that critics and pundits inexplicably choose to ignore the smaller stuff and then use the mainstream tripe to nail him to the wall as the poster boy of an ‘actor who became a performer‘. They ignore Lord Of War and focus only on Next. They call him a sell-out because National Treasure was a smash hit, forgetting that Adaptation was not. They forget that Nicolas Cage will always do whatever film Nicolas Cage wants to do. Maybe, just maybe, Nicolas Cage always wanted to be a movie star, as opposed to a ’serious actor’ (why else do you think Cage followed up an Oscar with three slam-bang action films?). And really, what’s wrong with that as long as he does what he wants to do? We should all be so lucky.
Nicolas Cage is not the best actor in Hollywood nor is he the worst. He doesn’t have the worst track record of any major star nor does he have the best. He has a varied filmography, with various genres, many interesting directors, and far more smaller-scale pictures than you’d think from all the hand-wringing. He may not be worth idolizing, but he is not the poster boy for anything wrong with Hollywood or the movies in general.
As most of you know by now, Natasha Richardson died yesterday after a skiing accident. Obvious sympathies go out to husband Liam Neeson, their two sons, and surviving friends and family. What astonished me yesterday was the sheer speed in People Magazine already having a cover story out on the same day as her death, trumpeting an inside look at ‘her tragic accident’ (the photo is from Hollywood Elsewhere). I haven’t read the article because I frankly don’t care. It’s not really my business, and I usually don’t comment on stuff like this. But what is worthy of commentary is the tasteless banner headline ‘with 3D photo glasses inside’. I have no idea what those glasses are actually for (a Monsters Vs. Aliens ad?), but the combination of the two headlines is both tactless and (unintentionally?) creepy, with the magazine implying that this issue has 3D photos of the skiing accident and/or a family grieving. I don’t have any grand thesis here, it just gave me uncomfortable pause.
Well, the bleeding clotted somewhat on Watchmen, with a ‘mere’ 68% drop in weekend two, ending with $17.7 million. It’s ten-day take is now at a troubling $85.7 million. It will limp to $100 million by next weekend. As it is, it will be somewhat protected via IMAX until Monsters Vs. Aliens takes every IMAX and 3D screen on Earth on March 27th. I’ve said much about this film’s box office over the last ten days, so I’ll simply state that at this point, the blame goes not to the ‘challenging material’ or lack of stars or overly long running time. The problem was that the movie (in the opinion of myself and a surprising number of ‘geeks’) wasn’t all that good, and certainly not good enough to bring in the non-converts. I’m glad it was made, and I’m glad it was allowed to be the movie it was. But I wish it was a better, more disciplined picture. Maybe Watchmen really was an unfilmable property. Oh well, for what it’s worth, I’m looking forward to the super-long director’s cut (I imagine it’ll make a great laundry folding movie).
As for the number one entry this weekend, most people expected Race To Witch Mountain to open at number 01, and myself and others expected about a $25 million haul. It pulled in a 3.6 opening day to weekend multiplier. Even for a family film, that’s impressive in this front loaded day and age. It opened to $6.734 million on Friday, shot to $10.898 million on Saturday, then barely passed its Friday gross on Sunday (also a rare feat) with $6.769 million. So the weekend total is $24.4 million and if it displays anything like the legs we’ve been seeing on such populist entertainments like Taken, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, and He’s Just Not That Into You, Race To Witch Mountain will easily pass $100 million and become his highest-grossing star vehicle (The Scorpion King and The Game Plan both grossed around $91 million). Also of note was the statistic that 18% of the audience comprised of adults without children.
Coming in third place was the Wes Craven-produced remake of Wes Craven’s The Last House On The Left. It brought in $14.1 million, which is comparable with the $15.7 million opening weekend for the Wes Craven-produced remake of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes. The Hills Have Eyes remake collapsed pretty quickly, ending with $41 million. I expect a similar fate for this one. I suppose if Craven and company are going to mine his filmography for 2.0 versions, he might as well start remaking his bad films as well as his good ones. I for one eagerly await the remake of Wes Craven’s Shocker (who will replace Mitch Pileggi)? But Deadly Friend and Vampire In Brookyln probably ought to be left where they are.
Coming in fourth is the unstoppable Taken with another $6.6 million (off a mere 10.4%). Fox must be laughing its ass off right about now. Not only will this acquisition that almost didn’t get released in the US soon surpass Watchmen on the weekend top-ten list, but it will probably out gross Watchmen in the final domestic tally. The Liam Neeson (sure-as-hell ought to be) franchise starter has now grossed $127 million. That’s (so far) a whopping 5.12x opening weekend to final gross multiplier, which is unheard of these days for anything but platform releases. I haven’t seen legs like this since The Sixth Sense, There’s Something About Mary, and Titanic. Ironically, I imagine this will only start cashing out when summer starts, which means that Taken might end up losing its screens to Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
In other news, Coralane has just about passed $70 million, He’s Just Not That Into You has just about reached $90 million, and Madea Goes Go To Jail has reached $83 million. The first will limp to $80 million, the second will make it to $100 million, and last will try its damnedest to reach $100 million and might just get there (again, if second run theaters were still a factor, this wouldn’t even be in question). Oh, and Slumdog Millionaire is now the 10th-highest grossing Best Picture Oscar winner of all time with $132 million.
More box office fun next weekend when Alex Proyas (the guy who made Dark City) directs Nicolas Cage in Knowing, and Julia Roberts ‘makes a comeback’ (IE - returns to making films after choosing to take a break to raise her kids) by teaming with Clive Owen in the allegedly quite good Duplicity. Just remember folks, Julia Roberts has only had $30 million+ three day opening weekends with Runaway Bride, American Sweethearts, Ocean’s 11, and Ocean’s 12 (a Pretty Woman reunion and large ensemble films). So don’t go all ‘Julia Roberts is finished as a leading lady!!’ if Duplicity ‘only’ opens to $20 million.
It’s a rare thing when the summer movie season starts with such a big question mark. But the behind the scenes drama regarding X-Men Origins: Wolverine has left the film in serious danger of playing more like Van Helsing than X2: X-Men United. Still, I did notice these action figures while out and about today. The odd thing is that these figures seem to be closer to the comic book counterparts than how the characters allegedly appear in the film. Especially interesting is this pic below, which again seems to suggest that Logan will be donning his comic-book ‘yellow tights and spandex’ costume. I certainly have not read that anywhere, but then specifics on this movie are pleasantly scarce. At least this figure set actually gives you a few villains (Sabretooth, Deadpool, Gambit, and uh… Agent Zero?) to go along with the standard five versions of Wolverine.
As for this new international poster, is Fox even trying anymore? At best, this brings back not-so-fond memories of Darth Vader’s Frankenstein bit at the climax of Revenge Of The Sith. At worst well, am I the only one who thinks it looks like Logan is really trying to hold his bladder? Or, judging by the bulge, it kind of looks like he’s popped a most painful adamantium erection of some kind. Either way, the somewhat bright and sunny day plus that not exactly terrifying action pose - not exactly something to inspire confidence from geeks. And unless it’s better than the buzz and advertising would suggest, Fox must be insane to release it in France two days prior to the release date (Les critiques d’accord: Wolverine, le film est très mauvais!). Having said that, my expectations for this one are so low that I might just enjoy it be default. Paramount must be jumping for joy. Star Trek may end up being the ‘kick off’ film of summer after all.
