It was kind of up in the air about who would take the box office over last weekend. Our dark horse candidate was ‘Haywire’ (#6 @ USD $8.4 Million), but clearly that wasn’t meant to be. Instead, ‘Underworld Awakening’ took the #1 spot with $25.3M, a respectable debut. ‘Red Tails’ didn’t wow us with its $18.8M take, just enough to make it to #2… ‘Contraband’ (#3 @ $12.0M) told us that Mark Wahlberg is not the box office guarantee that we thought he was… ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ made it to #4 with $10.0M… and ‘Beauty and the Beast: 3D’ held on for another weekend – not bad for a nearly 20 year old film.
This weekend, we get ‘Taken 3’, also known as ‘The Grey’, which pits Liam Neeson against nature this time. The reviews are great, so don’t underestimate this one. ‘Man on a Ledge’ is about a man on a ledge, or something… ‘One for the Money’ looks like another dead-on-arrival vehicle for Katherine Heigl (sorry, it just does)… and the French film ‘Declaration of War’ has gotten some excellent reviews, but you’ll have to live near an art house theater to see that. What are you betting your money on? Let us know in the comments and forums!
Wondering what deals have been made this week? Sundance is in full swing, so it’ll be interesting to see which films pick up distributors…. a project that is close to being green lit is ‘Gods and Kings’, Steven Spielberg’s take on the Biblical Moses story… negotiations are apparently heating up for the cast of ‘The Hangover’, who want to cash in if a third movie is made… ‘The Crow’ has yet again found a new creative team in screenwriter Jesse Wigutow and director F. Javier Gutierrez… Ben Stiller is teaming up with novelist Jonathan Safran Foer for a new HBO show… and all of the Oscar Nominations have been announced – were you surprised? Disappointed? Bored? Make your thoughts known!
Casting-wise, we have Chloe Sevigny joining ‘Lovelace’… Paul Giamatti is set to play the Friar in the latest ‘Romeo and Juliet’ adaptation… Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga and Ron Livingston will be in ‘The Conjuring’… Catherine Keener and Kate Winslet have both been added to Charlie Kaufman’s ‘Frank or Francis’ cast… ‘Side Effects’ has snagged Catherine Zeta Jones… the hilarious members of Monty Python will reunite as aliens (or at least with their voices) in ‘Absolutely Anything’… Lily Collins has dropped out of the lead role in ‘The Evil Dead’ due to scheduling… and Demi Moore has left ‘Lovelace’ due to her recent health issues, which you’ll have to go to a gossip site to speculate about. Get well soon.
Feel like staying in and watching movies at home? So do we. ‘Reel Steel’ could be a fun way to pass the time (Hugh Jackman and robots!)… ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ did well with audiences and critics, so it may be worth a look, even if you avoid horror movies… for serious fare, ‘The Whistleblower’ was one of those overlooked movies that may deserve a second life… and talk about overlooked, no one went to see the critics’ darling ‘50/50’ so maybe it is time for you to do so
See you next week!