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Monday Night Poll: How Much Will 'Avatar' Make Opening Weekend?
Filed under: Action, Animation, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Box Office, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Oscar Watch
Avatar isn't being released until December 18th, but if you're already sick of hearing about it, you better plug up your ears. The hype machine for James Cameron's magnum opus has been hard at work leaking details, images, snippets, and trailers since way before this year's San Diego Comic-Con or the extensive profile in October's New Yorker. Cameron, who has never been one to bite his tongue, told Playboy, "We know from the exit polling that the response [to Avatar] was 95 percent ecstatic. Most of the five percent negative response is from the fanatic fans who imagined the movie in their minds but now have to deal with my movie." Also, that when it comes to giving birth to a movie, he's crowning. Yum!
Bon mots from Cameron aside, Avatar could be a real game-changer as far as 3D films go – and hell, it's a refreshing change of pace from the sequels, prequels, remakes, and re-imaginings we're forced to sit through. (Plus... giant blue cat people!!!). It's definitely in the running for numerous Oscars. In fact, Oscar experts at In Contention currently have the film for consideration in eight categories, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Not only that, Variety reported that James Cameron, stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana, and producer Jon Landau will be doing a live webcast on December 3rd that will allow fans the chance to ask questions of the crew and sneak peeks at previously unseen footage from the film. The webcast will be broadcast on MTV two days before Avatar hits screens.
So, are you a betting man or woman? How much do you think the Avatar exposure will pay off opening weekend? Will Na'ivish become the new Elvish? Let's start with under $20 million. Going once, going twice... Vote below!
First Glimpses of 'The Voyage of The Dawn Treader'
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Family Films, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels, Images
Over the holiday weekend, we received our first official glimpse of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This is a film that hasn't really attracted a lot of fervent interest or rumor-mongering, something that seems to have marked the ill-fated series as a whole.
But Dawn Treader is coming, with Michael Apted at the helm and 20th Century Fox directing its trade wind. I know I've stated it a million times before, but this is one Narnia installment that I'm desperate to see. It was my favorite of the books, and the film might actually work on a level that Wardrobe and Caspian haven't. There was more to be mined from those first two books than the films managed, but Dawn Treader is rather glossy and adventurous, a series of "What's that -- oh no!" moments that should make for a pretty entertaining movie. Sure, there's the heavy handed morality tale of selfish cousin Eustace, but that's a pretty simple thing to translate since it's a lesson as old as Grimm's -- bad kids are punished, regardless of religious inclination!
Narnia has chosen to launch its first images in a very unlikely place: Facebook. A production blog has started up there, and the first images were tacked onto the end of it. It should be fun to follow along with as we inch closer to its release date of December 2010. Meanwhile, the photos are in the gallery, and they certainly are pretty to look at.
Another A-Team Cameo Confirmed: Dirk Benedict
Filed under: Action, Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
Just a few weeks ago, Peter Hall brought you the news that Dwight Schultz, aka the original Howlin' Mad Murdock, had earned a cameo in Joe Carnahan's remake of The A-Team. Obviously, you can't invite Schultz and not invite the rest of the surviving team, and it seems Faceman will also be getting some facetime. According to Dirk Benedict Central, Dirk Benedict will also be appearing in the film in an unspecified role. Remember when this kind of thing stayed secret? I'm not losing sleep over the production of The A-Team or anything, but it makes me nostalgic for the days down the long haul and into history back when you didn't know anything about secret cameos until you were in the dark theater. Then you could nudge whoever you were with and say "Oh my gosh! That's Dirk Benedict! Ha ha!" If you had your head bitten off when you started blabbing about the Zombieland cameo, this is the reason why. People like surprise cameos!
So, who do you think Benedict will be? Bradley Cooper's father? Someone helpful they meet along the way? One of the commanding officers coordinating the task force that's hunting them down? Or will Schultz, Benedict and Mr. T (you know he'll be the next one confirmed) all have a scene together where they hand over keys to the iconic van?
Making The (Up) Grade: Rocky
Filed under: United Artists, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Home Entertainment
While new Blu-rays of old movies are sometimes dubious replacements for prior editions (hence the need for this column), box sets released in the high-definition format have thus far been fairly helpful, at least in terms of shelf space: many or most of them forego a lot of the frills and flourishes of their standard-definition iterations in favor of more streamlined packaging. Unfortunately, that's also sometimes extended to their extras, thanks in no small part to the legal entanglements of transferring commentaries and bonus content from one format to another.
Both Warner Brothers and Fox have faced this challenge a couple of times thanks to their ownership/ adoption of the libraries of MGM and United Artists, which until a few years ago issued their own releases. Rocky, which is one of United Artists' premier franchises, was recently released on Blu-ray in The Undisputed Collection, a set that contains all six of the films in the series, but it remains to be seen whether complete also means comprehensive in this particular case.
What's Already Available:
'Avatar' Watch: Running Time Announced and New Featurettes
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Newsstand
Though early rumors suggested the film was going to clock in at over three hours, 20th Century Fox claims James Cameron's Avatar will instead clock in at 150 minutes (or 2.5 hours), or about 156 minutes if you count the credits. The main reason why the film will run under three hours is because of the IMAX showings. Avatar will open in about 180 domestic IMAX theaters on December 18th, and because of the way the IMAX system is set up, the theaters that aren't converted over to digital projection can only hold about 170 minutes worth of film. But while Cameron's final edit came in significantly under 170 minutes, there's no saying whether there will be a cut on the DVD that will run over 170 minutes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Avatar will open on a minimum of 5,500 screens, with almost half of those screens equipped to show the film in 3D.
In other Avatar news, two new featurettes were released online toward the latter part of the week. IGN UK unveiled one behind-the-scenes video focused primarily on the realistic sci-fi equipment created for the film, and Coke Zero released a video that introduces Stephen Ling's character, Col. Quaritch, and reveals a whole bunch of new footage. You can watch both videos over at SciFi Squad.
Fun or Lame: Fox's 'Bones' Becomes One Big 'Avatar' Promo
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Fan Rant
I'm pretty easygoing when it comes to marketing and product placement. It's so ubiquitous that I tune it out, or laugh along when it shows up on 30 Rock. I can never really muster up the rage some viewers do when Pizza Hut, Ford, or the iPhone is prominently placed in a movie or television show. The most I'll do is roll my eyes and joke about it later on ("Did you notice that? Lame!"), because I find the big picture to be more important than some high-priced props. That is, I didn't care until Fox proudly announced that Bones will return in two weeks with an Avatar themed episode. (The promo is embedded below the jump for the curious and eager.)
Look, I get why Fox would think this was a slamdunk. It's on their network, and one of Bones' recurring cast members, Joel Moore, is actually in Avatar. I understand that the combination makes the December 3 episode of Bones prime advertising real estate. But come on! Can't you just run some flashy commercials, a new trailer, or "a special behind-the-scenes look" like you did with films back during the good old days? Doesn't anyone at 20th Century Fox wonder if it doesn't look a little desperate to coerce an entire show into the PR game? After all, Avatar was supposed to sell itself purely on the photo-real effects, the world of Pandora, and the name of James Cameron. Why do they need Bones?
New 'Percy Jackson' Trailer Reveals Uma Thurman's Snake Head
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, 20th Century Fox, Trailers and Clips
There is a new trailer out for Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, 20th Century Fox' bid to get in on the financial treasures to be mined from film adaptation of young-adult fantasy novels, and for most people it should serve as the first real glimpse into what kind of an imaginary world Chris Columbus, after having ushered in the first two Harry Potter films, is bringing to life on the big screen. I know little about the series of fantasy-adventure novels by Rick Riordan, so it's nice to now have some clarification beyond the film's early teasers, which were merely announcing the title.In this feature trailer you'll actually get a cursory look into the life of the titular Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman, who played Christian Bale's eldest son in 3:10 to Yuma), a teen who is unknowingly a descendant of the Greek God Poseidon, as well as glimpses of the film's nice array of adult actors countering the mostly young cast. We've got a look at Pierce Brosnan as Percy's guide to Greek mythology, as well as glimpses of Rosario Dawson as Persephone and Uma Thurman sporting an unhealthy amount of snakes around her head as Medusa, one of the several antagonists Percy will have to cross in order to recover a lightning bolt he is accused of having stolen from Zeus.
The film will be making its bow on February 10th, which means that between this and Clash of the Titans, Greek mythology is going to be undergoing a welcome, mini-resurgence in the first quarter of next year. So if you thought the trailer for the latter, which features plenty of big budget action and CGI beasties wasn't up your fantasy alley, give this trailer, embedded below, for Percy Jackson & the Olympians a try.
Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox
Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Theatrical Reviews, 20th Century Fox, Family Films
By Todd Gilchrist (reprint from 11/3/09 -- AFI Film Festival)
It's not hard to like any movie that uses the Beach Boys' music, but Wes Anderson makes it especially easy. As Hollywood's foremost purveyor of hipster drama, his pedigree as a reliable selector of appropriately wistful, poignant and all-around unforgettable songs is virtually unrivaled, but Fantastic Mr. Fox exceeds even the work of his earlier films, using "Heroes and Villains," and later, "I Get Around" as populist punctuation that manages to be both specifically relevant and substantively rousing.
As an animated opus, the film is by necessity his most controlled to date, a painstakingly-designed dollhouse where he no longer controls just the music, sets, and costumes, but the performers themselves. Ironically, however, it feels like his loosest as well - a gloriously unwieldy comedy of manners submerged in the minutiae of Anderson's madcap creativity. All of which makes Fantastic Mr. Fox a celebration both of its stop-motion medium and Anderson's aesthetic, while still managing to fully document the spectacular fun in original author Roald Dahl's daffy, distinctive imagination.
Cinematical Seven: Silliest Disaster Scenarios
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, New Line, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Cinematical Seven, Lists
We both know that I could probably fill all seven slots of this list with just scenes from Roland Emmerich's disaster-tastic 2012, but in the interests of letting everyone else get a chance to see it, let's stick with films that have already come and gone. Some of these titles qualify because of the uniquely ridiculous nature of their disasters, while others count for what ridiculous plots unfold amidst otherwise ordinarily perilous acts of nature.
There will be a couple of spoilers to go along with our picks, but since most of these have been out for a couple of years, it's not like it's the end of the world...
Original A-Team Making Cameos in New Movie?
Filed under: Action, Casting, 20th Century Fox
I'm not going to pretend like I had any kind of a reaction to the initial news that Joe Carnahan was remaking The A-Team. I have no sentimental attachment to the original show from the '80s, nor do I have much affection for Carnahan's filmography. That said, once the film cast Liam Neeson, 'Rampage' Jackson, Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley as its crew of wrong war vets doing good while on the run, I was in. However, those who weren't too fond of the news of yet another pop culture staple getting re-manufactured by Hollywood might like to know that the original "A-Team" will be popping up in the reboot.
Well, at least one of them will. The Official Dwight Schultz Fansite is reporting the actor, who played the original 'Howling Mad' Murdock, has been on location in Vancouver filming his undisclosed role in the picture, which will be out in June of 2010. They're giving no hints as to who Schultz is playing this time around, but they have relayed his take on the District 9 star filling the same shoes he once did, "Sharlto Copely, the South African actor who plays Murdock, is according to Dwight: 'brilliant beyond words'. Dwight has seen his screen test and he stated: that honestly, if Sharlto is given an opportunity to do what I saw in that test, "Murdock" will be better than ever!"
That should be a sigh of relief to fans who were worried about the handling of their beloved characters. There's no mention if any of the other originals will pop-up in the new A-Team. George Peppard, who first played Liam Neeson's Hannibal, passed away in 1994, but Dirk Benedict and Mr. T could still join Schultz on screen. What say you fans of "The A-Team"? Would you like to see the remaining crew cameo or are they better left confined to '80s nostalgia?
Check Out Concept Art From Marvel's Futuristic Theme Park
Chris Weitz to Direct Two-Part 'Breaking Dawn' Finale?
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Alec Baldwin Becomes Latest to Threaten Retirement
The First 'Iron Man 2' Poster Appears!
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