This week we’re starting to see some of 2012′s movies hit DVD and Blu-ray, and still some of 2011′s best (and want-to-be bests). The best of the lot is the original TV miniseries version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, with Alec Guiness playing the role that gave Gary Oldman an Oscar nomination. It’s not a great week for Blu-ray, but as always, there’s at least some stuff to grab.
We watch a lot of movie trailers here at ScreenCrave, and, as we inch closer to summer with its ever-increasing torrent of new films, we’re seeing more and more previews with each passing day. As we do so, we can’t help but notice some similarities, repetitions, and clichés among them. Here at Trailer Park, we’ll be offering a rundown of those clichés, where they come from, and which trailers share them. For our first installment, we’ll be breaking down one of summer’s most ever-present previews: The Heist Movie Trailer.
Kate Beckinsale jumped from one top spot to another. The fierce actress remained at the top of the box office with her new movie Underworld Awakening, which brought in a solid amount of $25.4 million. In the No. 2 spot was Red Tails which made a surprising solid debut of $19.1 million. Contraband, Beckinsale’s other movie, fell to No. 3. The heist thriller grossed $12.2 million over the weekend, bringing its total to $46.1 million. Five weeks after its debut, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close finally broke into the top 10 with $10.5 million, coming in before Stephen Soderbergh‘s Haywire. The 9/11 film came in at No. 4, while Haywire rounded out the top 5 with $9 million.
Check out the numbers…
Oh, foot-in-mouth disease. It’s a fascinating affliction that seems to haunt a good number of celebrities, who, due to a near-constant worship in the media, begin to feel as if they have all the answers to the world’s problems, and have no qualms about letting the rest of us know about it. Case in point: Mark Wahlberg, who recently all but announced that the people on board the hijacked airplanes on 9/11 were essentially cowards and, had he been there, Wahlberg would have personally taken back the plane he was on and landed it himself, like a real hero. And I’m sure you can guess about how well that went over.
Mark Wahlberg‘s heist thriller Contraband took the top spot from Paramount’s moneymaker The Devil Inside. Contraband is off to a slow start, but it did manage to best the 3D version of the beloved Disney classic Beauty and the Beast, which took us by surprise, as we thought Beast would definitely take the top spot. Marky Mark’s film brought in $24.1 million, while Beauty and the Beast brought in $18.4 million. The Devil Inside dropped all the way down to No. 6 bringing in only $7.9 million. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol came in after Beast with $11.5 million; Dolly Parton‘s new musical with Queen Latifah Joyful Noise came in at No. 4 with $11.3 million; and Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows rounded out the top 5 with $8.4 million.
Check out the numbers…
Trailers for the Icelandic film remake Contraband show an action-packed heist thriller where Mark Wahlberg runs around with a gun and big bills around his torso, killing bad guys with bad tattoos. The 110-minute feature isn’t much different. This January flick is loaded with famous Hollywood faces like Wahlberg including Kate Beckinsale, Ben Foster, J.K. Simmons, and Diego Luna. On the surface, Contraband appears to be an honest tale about a man who is forced to go back to his old ways to protect his family, but as we all know, heist thrillers aren’t that committed to story. Let’s see if this American adaptation proves to be any different.
After last weekend‘s surprising show from The Devil Inside, what may be most interesting this weekend is to see how steep the decline is on the film. 70% seems likely, but it’s possible the film could fall even further. January is not the bad movie dumping ground it once was, so it will be interesting to see how well Beauty and the Beast and Contraband fare against Joyful Noise. Let’s start guessing, shall we?
Ben Foster is at it again. He’s about to play the sidekick to an older, more experienced man in his upcoming film Contraband. According to Variety, Foster and Avatar star Giovanni Ribisi have joined the film’s cast that currently includes Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale. The film will be directed by Baltasar Kormakur, and it’s an American remake of the Icelandic feature Reykjavic-Rotterdam.
The last time we checked, Universal wasn’t the most popular or successful studio in Hollywood. Over the past few years they’ve had more than a fair share of bombs, but that’s not stopping them from taking risks. According to Deadline, the studio has emerged as a financier for the Kate Beckinsale, Mark Walhberg film Contraband, the American remake of the 2008 Icelandic feature Reykjavic-Rotterdam.
