Grown Ups, the Adam Sandler-starring vehicle which reunited him with friends Kevin James, Rob Schnieder, Chris Rock and David Spade made a lot of money. $162 Million, point of fact, making it the second highest grossing Sandler film, just about two million shy of Big Daddy. Which is exactly why Sony has greenlit a sequel, and it’s now expected to hit theaters July 12, 2013. Aren’t we lucky.

Part of the film’s success had to do with bringing Sandler together with his friends, as Kevin James and Chris Rock also have respectable audiences, and getting that Saturday Night Live flavor back by bringing Spade and Schnieder into the mix. The film was mercilessly panned by critics, netting a 10% approval rating over at Rotten Tomatoes. That didn’t stop audiences though, as the film played strong throughout the summer of 2010.

Sandler is back on writing duties with Fred Wolf, who wrote the first film, though many would suggest calling it writing was an exaggeration. Sandler’s most recent film, Jack and Jill, was something of an underperformer, as it didn’t hit $100 Million like many of his starring vehicles, so it’s likely that Sony (which has been home to Sandler for some time) wanted a sequel. Or perhaps he just likes hanging out with his friends.

Did you See Grown Ups?

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And now the more cutting edge side of 2012 Sundance Film Festival with it’s line-up for their Spotlight Films, Park City at Midnight, <=Next=>, and New Frontier films! All of the films sans a couple of the New Frontier films will be world premieres of some of the best, most inventive and (likely) insane films from around the globe. If you’re looking for the best of avant-garde filmmaking, horror films, foreign films, and overall, things you don’t see everyday in theaters, then look to further and check out the impressive line-up below…

Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said about the following films, “In many ways, the extremes of the Festival’s program are most readily apparent in our out-of-competition sections, which showcase the wildest comedies, the most terrifying horror films and uncompromised visions from singular voices springing up from around the country and the world. We hope audiences experiment with their film selections to an equal degree as these filmmakers have experimented with their storytelling.”

SPOTLIGHT

Regardless of where these films have played throughout the world, the Spotlight program is a tribute to the cinema we love.

• Corpo Celeste / Italy (Director and screenwriter: Alice Rohrwacher) — After moving back to southern Italy with her mother and older sister, 13-year-old Marta struggles to find her place, restlessly testing the boundaries of an unfamiliar city and the catechism of the Catholic church. Cast: Yle Vianello, Salvatore Cantalupo, Anita Caprioli, Renato Carpentiere.
• Declaration Of War / Belgium (Director: Valérie Donzelli, Screenwriters: Jérémie Elkaïm, Valérie Donzelli) — A young couple embark upon a painful, enlightening journey when they discover that their newborn child is very ill. Cast: Valérie Donzelli, Jérémie Elkaïm, César Desseix. North American Premiere
• Elena / Russia (Director: Andrei Zvyagintsev, Screenwriter: Oleg Negin) — A meditative, modern-noir tale about an older woman, Elena, who marries the wealthy business man for whom she worked and, when his health fails, is forced to deal with his estranged daughter who threatens her inheritance. Cast: Andrey Smirnov, Nadezhda Markina, Elena Lyadova, Alexey Rozin.
• Monsieur Lazhar / Canada (Director and screenwriter: Philippe Falardeau) — An elegant reflection on loss and death focused on an Algerian immigrant teacher who brings emotional stability to a Montreal middle school class shaken by the suicide of their well-liked teacher. Cast: Fellag, Sophie Nélisse, Émilien Néron, Danielle Proulx, Brigitte Poupart.
• The Orator (O le Tulafale) / New Zealand (Director and screenwriter: Tusi Tamasese) — A Samoan villager must defend his land and family when they are threatened by powerful adversaries. Cast: Fa’afiaula Sagote, Tausili Pushparaj, Salamasina Mataia, Ioata Tanielu.
• The Raid / Indonesia (Director and screenwriter: Gareth Evans) — All hell breaks loose when an elite SWAT team, given orders to raid a run-down Jakarta apartment building that houses the city’s most notorious crime boss, is forced to fight their way to freedom or die trying. Cast: Iko Uwais, Yayan Ruhian, Joe Taslim, Doni Alamsyah. U.S. Premiere
• Where Do We Go Now? / France, Lebanon, Italy, Egypt (Director: Nadine Labaki, Screenwriters: Nadine Labaki, Jihad Hojeily, Rodney Al Haddad, with the collaboration of Thomas Bidegain) — A group of Lebanese women try to ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims in their village. Cast: Claude Baz Moussawbaa, Layla Hakim, Nadine Labaki, Yvonne Maalouf, Antoinette Noufaily. U.S. Premiere
• Wuthering Heights / United Kingdom (Director: Andrea Arnold, Screenwriters: Andrea Arnold, Olivia Hetreed) — A freshly conceived retelling of Emily Bronte’s classic novel about Heathcliff and Cathy, two teenagers whose passionate love for each other creates a storm of vengeance. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, James Howson, Solomon Glave, Shannon Beer, Steve Evets. U.S. Premiere
• Your Sister’s Sister / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton) — While still mourning the recent death of his brother, a bereft and confused man finds love and direction in a most unexpected place. Cast: Emily Blunt, Rosemarie DeWitt, Mark Duplass. U.S. Premiere

PARK CITY AT MIDNIGHT

From horror flicks to comedies to works that defy any genre, these unruly films will keep you edge-seated and wide awake. Each is a world premiere.

• Black Rock / U.S.A. (Director: Katie Aselton, Screenwriter: Mark Duplass) — Three childhood friends set aside their personal issues and reunite for a girls’ weekend on a remote island off the coast of Maine. One wrong move turns their weekend getaway into a deadly fight for survival. Cast: Katie Aselton, Lake Bell, Kate Bosworth.
• Excision / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Richard Bates, Jr.) — A disturbed and delusional high school student with aspirations of a career in medicine goes to extremes to earn the approval of her controlling mother. Cast: AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Ariel Winter, Roger Bart, John Waters.
• Grabbers / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Jon Wright, Screenwriter: Kevin Lehane) — When the residents of an idyllic Irish fishing village are attacked by mysterious, blood-sucking sea creatures, a high blood alcohol content could be the only thing that gets them through the night. Cast: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Russell Tovey, Bronagh Gallagher.
• The Pact / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Nicholas McCarthy) — As a woman struggles to come to grips with her past in the wake of her mother’s death, an unsettling presence emerges in her childhood home. Cast: Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien.
• SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS / United Kingdom (Directors: Dylan Southern, Will Lovelace) — A documentary that follows LCD Soundsystem front man James Murphy over a crucial 48-hour period, from the day of their final gig at Madison Square Garden to the morning after, the official end of one of the best live bands in the world.
• Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim) — After two guys are given a billion dollars to make a movie, their Hollywood dreams run off course and they decide to rehabilitate a run-down shopping mall in an attempt to make the money back. Cast: Tim Heidecker, Eric Wareheim.
• V/H/S / U.S.A. (Directors: Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Radio Silence) — When a group of misfits is hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house and acquire a rare VHS tape, they discover more found footage than they bargained for. Cast: Joe Swanberg, Calvin Reeder, Adam Wingard, Sophia Takal, Kate Lyn Sheil.

NEXT

NEXTencompasses a selection of pure, bold works by promising filmmakers distinguished by an innovative, forward-thinking approach to storytelling. Presented by Adobe Systems Incorporated. Each is a world premiere.

• COMPLIANCE / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Craig Zobel) — When a prank caller convinces a fast food restaurant manager to interrogate an innocent young employee, no one is left unscathed. Based on true events. Cast: Ann Dowd, Pat Healy, Dreama Walker, Bill Camp, Philip Ettinger.
• I AM NOT A HIPSTER / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Destin Daniel Cretton) — Set in the indie music and art scene, this is a character-driven story exploring themes of love, loss and what it means to be creative in the face of tragedy. Cast: Dominic Bogart, Alvaro Orlando, Brad William Henke, Tammy Minoff, Kandis Erickson, Lauren Coleman.
• KID-THING / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Zellner) — A rebellious girl whose existence is devoid of parental guidance, spends her time roaming the land, shoplifting, and vandalizing. Her routine is broken one day while playing in the woods when she hears a woman calling from a mysterious hole in the ground, asking for help. Cast: Sydney Aguirre, Susan Tyrrell, Nathan Zellner, David Zellner.
• Mosquita y Mari / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Aurora Guerrero) — A friendship between two 15-year-old Latinas becomes complex as they struggle to recognize the sexual undercurrent in their relationship. Cast: Fenessa Pineda, Venecia Troncoso, Joaquín Garrido, Laura Patalano, Dulce Maria Solis.
• My Best Day / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Erin Greenwell) — Karen’s life as a small-town receptionist is turned upside down when the father she never knew calls for a refrigerator repair. That day she encounters a sister addicted to off track betting, a brother struggling with grade school heartache and bullies, and a load of fireworks. Cast: Rachel Style, Ashlie Atkinson, Raúl Castillo, Jo Armeniox, Robert Salerno, Harris Doran.
• Pursuit of Loneliness / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Laurence Thrush) — An elderly patient dies in a county hospital leaving no known next of kin. Over the next 24 hours, four central characters try to find a family member to contact regarding the death of this anonymous individual. Cast: Joy Hille, Sandra Escalante, Sharon Munfus, Kirsi Toivanen, Natalie Fouron.
• Sleepwalk With Me / U.S.A. (Co-directors: Mike Birbiglia and Seth Barrish, Screenwriters: Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass, Joe Birbiglia, Seth Barrish) — Reluctant to confront his fears of love, honesty, and growing up, a budding standup comedian has both a hilarious and intense struggle with sleepwalking. Cast: Mike Birbiglia, Lauren Ambrose, Carol Kane, James Rebhorn, Cristin Milioti.
• That’s What She Said / U.S.A. (Director: Carrie Preston, Screenwriter: Kellie Overbey) — Armed with nothing but their addictions and lots of personal baggage, two best friends and a mysterious young interloper battle a series of misadventures on their quest for love in New York City. Cast: Anne Heche, Marcia DeBonis, Alia Shawkat.
• TWENTY-EIGHT HOTEL ROOMS / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Matt Ross) — Seen only as fragments in the secret world of hotel rooms, a long-term affair becomes perhaps the most significant relationship of a couple’s lives. Cast: Chris Messina, Marin Ireland.

NEW FRONTIER

With media installations, multimedia performances, transmedia experiences, panels, film screenings, and more, New Frontier highlights work that celebrates experimentation and the expansion of cinema culture through the convergence of film, art, and new media technology. These films complement the previously announced installations and performances in the New Frontier venue at the Festival.

• Bestiaire / Canada, France (Director: Denis Côté) — The boundaries we place around animals are provocatively and formally explored in this meditation on the relationship between nature and humanity. World Premiere
• An Oversimplification of Her Beauty / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Terence Nance) — A quixotic young man humorously courses live action and various animated landscapes as he tries to understand himself after a mystery girl stands him up. Cast: Terence Nance, Namik Minter, Chanelle Pearson. World Premiere
• THE PERCEPTION OF MOVING TARGETS / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Weston Currie) — A segmenting journey into the dreams of four neighbors. Cast: Brighid Thomas, Cherie Blackfeather, Gerald Casey, Tom Wood, Jin Camou.
• Room 237 / U.S.A. (Director: Rodney Ascher) — This experimental documentary explores the numerous theories about the real meaning of Stanley Kubrick’s film The Shining. World Premiere
• whiteonwhite:algorithmicnoir / U.S.A., Kazakhstan (Directors: Eve Sussman | Rufus Corporation, Screenwriters: Eve Sussman, Kevin Messman, Jeff Wood) — A computer program assembles raw elements of music, dialogue, sound and footage shot in Kazakhstan into a generative noir mystery film in this live algorithmic performance. Cast: Jeff Wood, Marina Fedorenko.

The Festival takes place from January 19 through 29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

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With John Carter‘s release date fast approaching, Disney is gearing up for the March 9 release of one of their most expensive films of 2012. And so far… they haven’t gotten much traction with their teasers and posters. The film is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel, and stars Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins. Yeah, they need to sell something to get people hooked. Here’s a teaser from the latest trailer, which finally starts selling the spectacle.

Of course this is from Good Morning America, which is showing the highlights of the highlights. This is Andrew Stanton‘s first non-animated film. Stanton started out with Pixar, and directed films like Finding Nemo and Wall*E – he’s definitely talented.

With three months to go, they need to get audiences excited about this event picture if they hope to find an audience. There are very few second weekends for pictures that are as good if not better than their first, and this is a very expensive question mark right now. With a couple of good trailers and TV spots, they could get audiences hooked in, and this is Disney. But it’s still a big question mark.

Here’s the newest poster in full:

Are you excited for John Carter?

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Clint Eastwood has been working so hard and so much, it’s easy to be bowled over that an 81-year-old has churned out nearly a film a year for over two decades (generally if he takes a year off it’s because he directed two the year previous). For his latest he’s assembled Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, and Armie Hammer for a portrait of one of the most important and powerful men of the 20th Century: J. Edgar Hoover, who developed the Federal Bureau of Investigations into the complicated and powerful organization it is now. But J. Edgar is sadly undercooked, with all the juicy tales of Hoover and none congealing.

The Players:

• Director: Clint Eastwood
• Writers: Dustin Lance Black
• Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer, Judi Dench
• Cinematography by: Tom Stern

The Plot:

Through the framework of J. Edgar Hoover (DiCaprio) dictating his autobiography, the film moves from Hoover’s childhood and interest in the protection of people from communism, to his glory years where he developed the Bureau of Investigation into a powerhouse – especially after the Lindbergh baby kidnapping case – and then his later years, where he butted heads with the Kennedys over organized crime, and thought Martin Luther King was a communist. The most important people in his life seem to be his mother (Dench), his secretary Helen Gandy (Watts) and Clyde Tolson (Hammer), his second in command and rumored lover.

The Good:

• On Time and Under Budget: Credit to James Rocchi for that saying, but when it comes to a Clint Eastwood film, that seems to be one of the things that is likeable about it. And Eastwood has a great craft, and there’s no faulting the design or quality of the film itself. It’s handsomely put together, and everyone seems to know what they’re doing.

The Bad:

• The Script: It may seem dangerous to come to a thesis when making a film like this, but with so many details of interest in Hoover’s story, you wait for the film to at least make you feel you have an understanding of Hoover, and not just a collection of his greatest hits. The film mentions that in the 1960′s, Hoover thought organized crime didn’t exist, and was more worried about the threat of communism. That’s fascinating and could serve for a great chapter on the man’s life, and yet it’s a sentence in the film. And there are too many sentences and moments that should resonate stronger. Hoover ultimately became dangerous through his organization, but what he did that was bad in the 60′s and 70′s – other than spying on Presidents to keep his job – is backgrounded and the film doesn’t seem to implicate him in the deaths of any of the famous figures at the time. It does a better job of showing him as petty, but never really showcases what made him terrible. Perhaps the film expects us to realize he’s evil, but as a generation has been raised on CSI, that Hoover used scientists and fingerprints to find criminals is appealing. Does the film want to be a balanced portrait of Hoover’s legacy, or is that just what happens when you make a film that is more assemblage of facts than narrative? And the way the film deals with the allegations of homosexuality and cross dressing are laughable, but more damningly don’t really connect to the film at hand. You could snip the two biggest dramatic scenes that relate to those allegations and the film wouldn’t be changed.

• Homosexuality: Perhaps that’s why Dustin Lance Black was hired on to write this as he won an Oscar for penning Milk, but his work here needed another draft to make a story out of these elements. The homosexual angle on Hoover would be fascinating if it tied into his work a little more, but the film doesn’t make a case that repression relates to the work, or his later years. This is also bungled when it comes to Naomi Watts’s character, who’s got some of the best moments in the film early on when Hoover is trying to date her, but her character quickly falls into being a secretary and so she dutifully shows up every twenty or thirty minutes in old age make-up to remind you she’s in the film. Cinema has often punished closeted men for being such, and it’s understandable that Black wouldn’t want to turn Hoover into another closet freak, but he’s a freak anyway. And if Hoover was a good lawman ruined by his desire to catch people in scandal, so too is J. Edgar ruined by it’s failure to tie his sexuality into his work.

• The Direction: Again, this is undercooked and that’s got to lay at the feet of Eastwood. Though some blanch at the use of the phrase “Oscar Bait,” this team was more assembled and project has the air of “this is a good topic.” I think everyone wanted to work together, but the end results suggest the sort of film that’s not a passion project – comparing this to Bird or White Hunter, Black Heart, and J. Edgar looks undernourished and confused. And though Eastwood’s work has declined in some ways over the years (there are few cheerleaders for Invictus or Hereafter), this appears to be his sloppiest in a long, long time – if those films are less good, with moments of Eastwood’s gift, little here has any charm or resonance. The material doesn’t grip him, and though Eastwood’s got a sure hand, he doesn’t have a three act structure to fall back on so it’s mostly a collage of scenes. Great art often expects you to meet it half way, but films like this expect audiences to do all the heavy lifting. There’s a difference.

• Mommy: I wish the character Judi Dench plays had weight, but perhaps it’s because Eastwood doesn’t excel at camp. That’s a strongpoint when navigating tricky material, but when you eventually put Hoover in a dress for one scene, you could see how that might work if the film was done in the spirit of Mommy Dearest. Here, you just cringe for everyone involved.

Overall:

Bad movies aren’t always the ones that are incompetent, sometimes the worst films are the ones that frustrate. There is so much potential for the material in J. Edgar, but the film that was made feels rushed and pointless. Sometimes great people don’t make for great films, but this film is beneath everyone involved.

Rating: 2.5/10

J. Edgar opens wide November 11.

Trailer:

Photos:

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Oh, for the love of…  Sigh.  Because Die Harder, Die Hard with a Vengeance, and Live Free or Die Hard weren’t stupid enough titles for unnecessary sequels to a great film (and, let’s face it, Die Hard itself is kind of a goofy title, too), it was announced today by Fox CEO Tom Rothman that Die Hard 5 will be entitled A Good Day to Die Hard.  Seriously.  A… Good… Day… to… Die… Hard.  A group of grown men and women, adults, came up with and approved of that title for a film.   Really.

And, like just about every single other film in the franchise (except for Die Hard with a Vengeance) the film is about how a member of Bruce Willis’ immediate family is kidnapped and held hostage by a group of terrorist bad guys, and only The Bald One can get said family member back.  Because, you know, INTERPOL’s probably busy or something, I guess.

That’s the title of the John Moore-directed sequel, which finds Willis’ John McClane traveling to Russia to rescue his son, John McClane Jr., then getting entangled in yet another high-octane adventure in a place where “nothing is as it seems.”

So this should be pretty interesting, despite the fact that it sounds exactly like the Liam Neeson film Taken, but, hey, whatever.  With a title like A Good Day to Die Hard, this thing has gotta be so bad it’s good.  Right?  Right?  I mean, it’s got to be, right?

What do you think of the Die Hard news?

Source: The AV Club

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Well, the casting news for Quentin Tarantino’s highly anticipated Civil War epic, Django Unchained, just keeps on coming.  After announcing that Jamie Foxx would nab the hero role, and that Christoph Waltz would join him as King Shultz (a “dentist turned bounty hunter”), we’ve learned that Sam Jackson, Dennis Christopher, Gerald McRaney and M.C. Gainey would all be in the film.  Even Kevin Costner was going to show up as an evil slave trainer, before having to drop out due to his commitments to The Hatfields and the McCoys, leaving Kurt Russell to take his place.  And now another addition to the cast has taken place, one that will satiate all manner of Miami Vice fans.

That’s right, Don Johnson, who, while not being able to nab Costner’s slave trainer role, will “play a totally different, but still nasty character.”  Which is awesome, and one hopes that Johnson will somehow find a way to work in his trademark stubble, pastel shirts, and not-all-that-great acting into the upcoming Tarantino flick.

It was announced today that Johnson will be portraying “Spencer Bennett, a plantation owner who runs a string of ‘ponies’ — that is, pretty, young female slaves.”  Apparently, this is a small role, but it will “factor into one of the film’s early sequences,” when Django and King Schultz join forces.

Django Unchained is set for a Christmas 2012 release.

What do you think of the Django Unchained news?

Source: /Film

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One of the most interesting films of next year is John Carter, the Andrew Stanton-directed film starring Taylor Kitsch and Willem Dafoe. The long-in-gestation project (which has had Harry Knowles, Kerry Conran and Jon Favreau attached at different points) is hoped to be the first in a franchise. Stanton talked to the New Yorker about the film, and told them the film needs to make $700 Million at the box office to generate a sequel. As large a number as that is, we’re moving into a period of very risky projects, including films like The Avengers – where we’re seeing bigger and bigger budgets for films that are not sure things.

That said, the business of writing about numbers is often foolhardy. Though I write about them every week, how much a film actually costs is often downplayed or hidden (Art Buchwald famously sued Paramount for monies owed on the concept for Coming to America and was told that the third most successful film of the year failed to turn a profit). But the hard and fast rule is that a film needs to make two times what it cost to be profitable.

Which would suggest that John Carter cost around  – or at least – $350 Million to make. Stanton’s accounting may be slightly different, as to move forward on a sequel it may mean that film has to do better than break even, or it could mean that breaking even or coming close to even with that much gross is good enough for more (now that they’re figured it out and introduced the universe). A good low-ball of the budget would mean $250 Million, which suggests it would need to make half a billion just to be profitable.

Again, when you get into the numbers, they don’t necessarily include things that can make a huge difference, including advertising costs (a blockbuster title often has a marketing budget around $100 Million), advertising tie-ins (say, a McDonald’s happy meal with a John Carter figure), product placement (unlikely for a period and science fiction piece), toys, and ancillary and home video sales, many of which help lower the budget or raise the profitability – and that’s not even talking about the constant stream of tax incentives now thrown at movies to get them to shoot in certain locations. Profitability isn’t always the only goal: A movie can also be about keeping the ancillary money flowing. Cars 2 was not a hit by any stretch, but because the toy sales are so high, the film’s relative success s in keeping that brand current.

Regardless of how much the film cost – which may be more or less than numbers previously listed – Carter is a huge risk, but as we’ve seen a number of recent franchises come to an end (Harry Potter for instance), there has to be fresh blood. The problem is that in making these spectacle pictures, you’re seeing films that cost a lot with no guarantee of breaking even. 2012 will be an interesting year because John Carter has yet to generate a pulse – though we’re a ways out from its March 9 release. But it’s not the only one that should be a little sweaty: 2012′s summer will offer such films as Battleship and The Avengers that will also have to figure out how to get themselves into the ” over $500 Million worldwide” club.

What’s interesting about both these titles is that they have budgets already estimated around $200 Million (with The Avengers being listed at $220 Million in a recent Entertainment Weekly cover story). Both of these are films sold on well-known brands, but neither are the guarantees that one might hope for.

It may seem like I’m beating up on The Avengers – which just had its trailer premiere – for no good reason, but when you look at the math, it’s not that strange. The most successful character in the film is Robert Downey Jr.‘s Tony Stark. The Iron Man films have done over $300 domestic and around or over $600 internationally. But after that, the other prominent Marvel characters have not performed as well. Thor did $181 domestic ($448 Worldwide), Captain America did $176 domestic (currently $362 worldwide) while both previous Hulk films did a little more than $130 domestic (and around $250 worldwide) – and both Thor and Captain were in 3-D, which may have inflated their grosses.

And as cool as it might seem to assemble a team, there’s going to be a number of characters in the mix that audiences didn’t take a shine to when their films came out (we are on our third Hulk actor) even if films like Thor and Captain America are considered successful. The bottom line is that people went to see those movies, but the numbers don’t suggest that audiences responded with any great passion – $300 million has become the new $100 Million (twenty years ago $100 meant that a film was a phenomenon). And if both Hulk films are considered misfires, both Captain and Thor are closer to Hulk numbers  – especially when you consider 3-D inflation – than they are to Iron Man‘s (though Cap and Thor fared better internationally).

The Avengers is the film Marvel studios has been building to over the last four years – it’s their crown jewel – but there is no guarantee it will do Iron Man numbers, and last I checked Iron Man 2 was not as warmly received as the first film. But watching the trailer, they are selling Iron Man and spectacle more than anything else. It’s just as likely the film will open to $100 million if – by the time May rolls around – the engine of hype is fueled, and word is positive, and it benefits from the “first week of summer” release date. It’s also possible that if Fast Five hadn’t been a spoiler that Thor would have done $200 Million plus.  I would never argue The Avengers couldn’t be a massive hit. But where combining Matt Damon, George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts can make for a sense of greater spectacle by appealing to a broader section of the populace, comic book films play to the same core audience… and then sometimes attract outsiders. Or – that is to say – most of the people who saw Thor also saw Captain America, and those people likely have also seen all the Marvel movies. Bringing this group together doesn’t create a multiplying effect – you’re hitting mostly the same audience with each character.

As for Battleship, it’s a film that speaks to the problems of branding in Hollywood. much like the constant stream of remakes, Battleship stems from the same thought process in that it’s easier to sell something people have already heard of than an entirely new concept. And though that’s a troubling thing to consider in terms of the art of cinema, the problem is that the way box office moves these days, you need that name brand, because most – if not all pictures – decline considerably after the first week. You need to hit fast and hit hard to do over $100 Million. Sure, we’ve seen films as diverse as Taken and The Help play longer than average, but part of their success is due to not being marketed at the 18-24 demographic, and not being released in the most heated of money months.  Comedies are the exception to that rule, but those aren’t the films we’re talking about here.

Battleship cost a lot of money based on a premise that is on the surface laughable. The film might work or not, but they’ve got a hurdle in front of them. Sadly, the main reason why the film was greenlit was because they knew they had a name brand, the very thing that works against the film. Everyone knows the board game Battleship, so why not start there? Though it doesn’t reflect on the film (which can be anything as long as it has battleships fighting), the thinking that made this happen is inherently problematic.

It’s possible all of these films could be successful, but as we see more and more inflated budgets, the stakes for blockbusters has become so high that many of the films that are trying to become the next Spider-Man or Star Wars will eventually fail and fail big. And though we saw some of that this year with Green Lantern, Mars Needs Moms and Cowboys and Aliens, it’s possible that the industry could be hit with a number of films that – even if they do $100 Million or more domestic – will be huge money losers.

2012 has franchise continuers/rebooters/starters in films like The Amazing Spider-Man, Men in Black III, Dark Shadows, Prometheus and Jack the Giant Killer to name a few. It’s unlikely that any of these (save possibly Dark Shadows) didn’t cost at least $200 Million. The stakes are higher than ever, and it’s hard not to be reminded of the industry in the 1960′s, where bloated musicals started to destroy the studios until the independent and Blaxploitation movement reinvigorated the industry. When – as the makers of John Carter know – your film must make over a half a billion dollars to be successful, the stakes couldn’t be any higher.

Which of these films do you think is most vulnerable?

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Well… that was quick.  Just five days after Steve Jobs, co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc. and creator of everything awesome in your life ever, passed away due to pancreatic cancer, Sony is already on the move to buy the rights to Jobs’ life story and make a film about his life, which is in no way capitalizing on his death.  Not at all.  Despite the fact that this movie could have been developed anytime over the past four or five years.  Nope, nothing exploitative about this at all, especially since Jobs’ name isn’t, like, trending everywhere right now.

Looks like the film is set to be based upon the book, ingeniously titled Steve Jobs, written by Walter Isaacson, which is set for release on October 24 (it originally had a November release, but it got bumped to October—but totally not to capitalize on Jobs’ death, right, you guys?), as Sony is offering up $1 million to gain the feature film rights.

The film already has a producer, Mark Gordon (Source Code, 2012, 12 Rounds, Talk to Me, Saving Private Ryan), but no director, writer, or star.   The book used as the basis for the film “is a 448-page profile based on over 40 interviews with the Apple co-founder and over 100 conversations with friends, family members, colleagues and competitors,” and is the “first biography to get Jobs’ full blessing and cooperation, and its author Walter Isaacson was chosen personally by Jobs, as he’s written about Henry Kissinger, Ben Franklin and Albert Einstein before.”

In the right hands, Jobs’ story could make an excellent film—hey, David Fincher managed to make the Facebook story one of the most engrossing films of the last few years—it’s just unfortunate that the whole enterprise currently smacks of exploiting Jobs’ death rather than celebrating his life.

What do you think about a Jobs biopic?

Source: FirstShowing

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After playing such luminaries of literature as Hunter Thompson, Roald Dahl, and Willy Wonka, Johnny Depp is taking a break from earning 100 jillion dollars pretending to be Keith Richards in pirate garb in order to produce and star in a biopic about beloved children’s book author, Dr. Seuss.

According to The AV Club:

Depp’s Infinitum Nihil production company and Illumination Entertainment are in the early stages of developing the project through Universal, which will cover the life of the man who spent decades evading authorities as he conducted his experiments in stitching together madcap rhyming and political allegories, and generally tinkering with young brains.

In Treatment’s Keith Bunin will write the screenplay, “which producers say may include various animated sequences”—one has a feeling that this is going to be an incredibly odd film.  That said, as long as it avoids the horrors and atrociousness of the live action Cat in the Hat and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas adaptations—films whose images still scar my retinas—this Dr. Seuss biopic might actually be a pretty interesting film.  But only as long as Jim Carrey and Mike Myers stay far, far away from it.

What do you think about Johnny Depp playing Dr. Seuss?

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Well, this ought to make the day of a few Clint Eastwood fans out there—looks like the actor turned director who stated that 2008’s Gran Torino would be his final bow in front of a movie camera is planning on returning from his acting retirement for at least one more film.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Eastwood is “in talks to go in front of the camera once again for Trouble With the Curve,” which would center on “an aging baseball scout who goes on a road trip with his adult daughter.”

His longtime producing partner at Malpaso Productions Robert Lorenz is in talks to direct the baseball drama, set up at Eastwood’s longtime home of Warner Bros.

Lorenz, who has been producing Eastwood’s films since 2002’s Blood Simple, and assistant-directing them since 1995’s The Bridges of Madison County, will make his directorial debut with the film.

Eastwood and Lorenz’s next film, J. Edgar, charts the life of FBI head J. Edgar Hoover, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio.  J. Edgar is set for release on November 9.  Eastwood is also set to direct a remake of A Star is Born, which has been pushed back to due lead actress Beyonce Knowles’ pregnancy.

What do you think of Clint Eastwood making a return?

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We’re very sequel heavy on DVD this week as one of the spring’s biggest sequel hits, and biggest sequel flops, both come to DVD on the same day.

That’s right, it’s finally Fast Five day on DVD so you can take the all-star cast from the nearly billion-dollar megahit home with you. Or, if horror is more your speed, you can hang out for the thousand-dollar non-hit Scream 4 and let the blood flow.

All that plus many more TV on DVD and a whole lot of Lion King.

Check it all out below…

Feature Films

Fast Five

A common complaint among the mid-20s male moviegoer is the lack of the old school 80s action movie.

We miss the dry cool wit of a hero, plots that don’t really matter, and so much unintentional comedy they make a high school play blush.

Well here’s the thing: 80s action movies are back. And they’re called the “Fast and Furious Franchise”.

This has everything you want – a terrible actor in the lead (Vin Diesel), ridiculous action (the basic demolition of half of Brazil) and really awful dialogue (what do you remember about your father?).

It’s all right there!

So get over your “car movie” bias – Fast Five is the action you’ve been missing.

Buy Fast Five on DVD.

• Sarah Palin: Undefeated – Buy Now
• Scream 4 – Buy Now
• Submarine – Buy Now

TV on DVD

“Friday Night Lights”: The Complete Series

The fuss over an “Arrested Development” reunion reminded me of a simple fact: Most people who love the show never watched it.

Sure, they caught up on DVD or the scant re-runs you see on weird cable channels, but nobody actually watched it on TV. Which is why it got canceled.

That would be fine if it weren’t for the condescending way these people, who never watched the show, talk down about how stupid everyone is not to watch, and that’s why it got canceled. Even though they were the biggest part of the problem.

I have a feeling “Friday Night Lights” is next on this train. A highly lauded show that now has its entire series out on DVD – just in time for “I don’t own a TV” crowd to catch up and look down on us that it only got five seasons. Even though it’s once again their fault.

But I’m not bitter, I just want them to buy Friday Night Lights on DVD and enjoy it.

• “According to Jim”: Season 5 – Buy Now
• “Bored to Death”: Season 2 – Buy Now
• “Boy Meets World”: Season 7 – Buy Now
• “In Treatment”: Season 3 – Buy Now
• “Ken Burns’ Prohibition” – Buy Now
• “The League”: Season 2 – Buy Now
• “Lie to Me”: Season 3 – Buy Now
• “The Walking Dead”: Season 8 -Buy Now

TV on DVD

Normally, I ignore it when Disney “opens its vault” to put out another limited-run DVD, but I just couldn’t pass up The Lion King, only because the DVD and Blu-Ray release of this movie also comes along with “The Lion King Trilogy”.

There’s a trilogy? What is that!?

• The Lion King: Four-Disc Diamond Edition – Buy Now
• The Lion King: Two-Disc Diamond Edition – Buy Now
• The Lion King Trilogy – Buy Now

And Just So You Know, This DVD Exists…

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Despite the fact that this is a movie franchise based upon a film in which Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren starred as Vietnam-era soldiers who were killed and then turned into cyborgs who punch and kick each other a lot (I know, I know, it sounds like it should be cool, but it isn’t) Universal Soldier is somehow getting a freaking TV show.  Go figure.

According to The AV Club (via Deadline):

“Most recently, both Lundgren and Van Damme were due to return for 2012’s Universal Soldier: A New Dimension, its title both a nod to the film being in 3-D, as well as the more nuanced shade of existential ennui the actors would no doubt bring to their characterizations. And even though original Universal Soldier producers Allen Shapiro and Craig Baumgarten are attached to the series—which will be scripted by Stargate SG-1 and Stargate: Atlantis writer Damian Kindler—it’s not clear whether the show will bear any relationship to the film series beyond its basic premise.”

Can we just pause for a moment and reflect upon the fact that we live in a world in which people would willingly produce a film called Universal Soldier: A New Dimension, which is a 3D film about Van Damme and Lundgren in which they star as a couple of aging Vietnam-era cyborgs who are still trying to kick each other, but this time in 3D?  Let’s all sigh over that for a moment.

What do you think of the Universal Soldier news?

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