Liam Neeson does it again! Are you old enough to remember the days when he was a serious actor of serious films? Now he’s a mega action star who has, this time around, taken ‘The Grey’ to the #1 spot with $19.7 Million. We haven’t seen it yet, but we hear the film brings more to the table than your standard disaster/man vs. nature film, so we’re excited to check it out. This means ‘Underworld Awakening’ – a film that looks more like a relic of the post-Matrix era than a fresh new take on the genre – was downgraded to the #2 spot (@ $12.4M). ‘One for The Money’ got the terrible reviews we expected, but somehow debuted at #3 @ $11.5M, ‘Red Tails’ ($10.4M) stuck around for a second week, and we expect ‘Man on a Ledge’ will jump from its #5 spot (@ $8.0M) to oblivion next week.
This weekend should be an interesting one. We will see if the classic horror stylings of ‘The Woman in Black’ prove that Daniel Radcliffe doesn’t need the ‘Potter’ series to be a movie star… ‘Chronicle’, about some high school kids who struggle with newly gained superpowers, is getting some really good buzz and should satiate ‘Akira’ fans for now… the B-list star studded ‘Big Miracle’ is the true-to-life story about a whale rescue in the Arctic… ‘The Innkeepers’ might be the other horror film that you will want to see this weekend… actually, perhaps that tile should go to ‘Kill List’… and for a horrifically bad movie, why not consider Madonna’s ‘W.E.’?
What’s the buzz this week? The sequel to the hugely successful X-Men First Class has retained its original director Matthew Vaughn… Joe Carnahan might be working on a remake of the Charles Bronson ‘Death Wish’ movies… Joe Johnston will be directing ‘Not Safe For Work’… the old rubber toy ‘Stretch Armstrong’ has had a movie in development for a while, but now the project has dumped Taylor Lautner and moved from Universal to Relativity Media… ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’ won big at Sundance, so keep an eye out for it… a Katy Perry 3D movie is in the works… screenwriter Akiva Goldsman may finally get to direct with ‘Winter’s Tale’… ‘RoboCop’ is now being rewritten by Nick Schenk… ‘Short Circuit’ is also getting a remake… ‘Les Miserables’ has cast theater vet Samantha Barks… and Ridley Scott may do ‘The Counselor’ after he finishes ‘Prometheus’… ‘Mockingbird Lane’ is the new title for ‘The Munsters’ remake… and in odd news, Nicolas Cage has announced that he would love to do a sequel to ‘The Wicker Man’ – but in Japan!
In casting news, Colin Firth is now in ‘Devil’s Knot’ with Reese Witherspoon… Blake Lively has been replaced by Rooney Mara for ‘Side Effects’… John Hawkes will be in the prequel to ‘Jackie Brown’, called ‘Switch’… Elizabeth Banks has joined the cast of ‘Frank or Francis’ , as has Paul Reubens… ‘Stand Up Guys’ have found their men in Al Pacino, Alan Arkin and Christopher Walken… ‘The Double’ has snagged Mia Wasikowska… ‘Charlie Countryman’ will be played by Shia LaBeouf… Justin Timberlake is going to be in Clint Eastwood’s baseball movie… Jim Jarmusch’s vampire movie ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ has cast Tom Hiddleston… and Amy Adams, Carey Mulligan and Samantha Morton have all joined Spike Jonze’s next project.
Still feel like staying indoors because it’s winter? How about some new DVD’s in order to catch up what you’ve missed in the theaters? ‘In Time’ saw very small audiences, as did ‘Drive’, so chances are you also missed these the first time around. The prequel to ‘The Thing’ may not live up to your expectations, but should help you pass the time… ‘Dream House’ was a big stinker on the big screen, but may smell less on your TV… and ‘The Big Year’ came and went, and we wouldn’t blame you if you skipped it too. Why not pick up the Criterion Collection edition of the original ‘Godzilla’ instead?
See you next week!