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Move News: Jason Statham and Melissa McCarthy, Spy Comedy Team; Red-Band 'Bad Grandpa' Trailer Gets Rude

2013-10-22T06:22:00.001-07:00

Jason Statham and Melissa McCarthy

Susan Cooper : Jason Statham, who has often cracked wise and made tough guy jokes in his action movies, is now contemplating making a straightforward comedy … with Melissa McCarthy. The unlikely duo may team up as secret agents in Susan Cooper, to be directed by Paul Feig. Feig worked with McCarthy on her breakout movie Bridesmaids as well as this summer's smash hit The Heat. [Deadline]

Animal : Musician turned actress Eve says she is excited to appear in the upcoming horror movie Animal; she says horror movies are her favorite genre, plus, she claims: "I’m a real good screamer.” The first official image finds her in pre-scream mode, looking at something that has left her speechless. The movie, produced by Drew Barrymore's company, involves a bloodthirsty predator and a group of stranded friends; it's aiming for release next year. [EW.com]

Skiptrace : Jackie Chan's latest English-speaking co-star is well-suited for the role. Sean William Scott, whose chemistry with Dwayne Johnson in The Rundown resulted in a career highlight for both actors, has been set to appear opposite Chan in the action adventure Skiptrace. The lovely Fan Bingbing will co-star; Sam Fell, who helmed the terrific animated films ParaNorman and The Tale of Despereaux, will make his live-action directorial debut. Chan will play a cop, while Scott will portray a fast-talking gambler. [Heat Vision]

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa Trailer: In the latest cinematic adventures of the Jackass crew, Johnny Knoxville travels the country in character as an 86-year-old man, accompanied by his 8-year-old grandson as they engage in one outrageous adventure after another in Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa. A new red-band trailer begins when the "old man" gets his genitals stuck in a … well, you already know if you want to watch it or not! The movie opens on Friday. [Coming Soon]

It's Gotham City vs Metropolis in First Behind-the-Scenes 'Batman vs. Superman' Footage

2013-10-21T10:13:00.001-07:00

Last week, we shared some news about the first big scenes being shot for Zack Snyder's hotly anticipated Batman vs. Superman . Today we've got lots of footage from the actual location. If you love football and superheroes, you're probably going to want to check this out.

The scene was shot at Weingart Stadium in East Los Angeles, and features the Metropolis and Gotham football squads facing off in a game. As a real game headed to halftime, Snyder and his crew burst into action to shoot their footage, which consisted of Metropolis scoring a touchdown, a tackle for a loss, and a brief scuffle between the fictional teams. According to Batman News, a Warner Bros. rep told the crowd they were going to be in Batman vs. Superman (seems even Warner Bros. has latched onto that title), and Snyder oversaw the action (from a filmmaking and football standpoint) with the use of a giant megaphone.

While the shoot was only supposed to last until the end of halftime, studio reps told people to hang out after the game in case they had to shoot more footage. That didn't happen, but those who stuck around got a chance to win phones and televisions in a raffle. Very cool.

Check out two videos of the shoot below, then if you're hankering for more behind the scenes action, swing on by Henry Cavill News for a series of photos from the day's filming.

Batman vs. Superman hits theaters in summer of 2015.

Miley's Twerking, Carlos Danger and Other Funny Movie Posters Based on Recent News Headlines

2013-10-21T07:25:00.001-07:00

These parody posters from website Next Movie — the same site that created the awesome fake Seinfeld movie posters — will remind you just how absurd and obnoxious the American news media can be. Riffing on the country's economic crisis, Miley Cyrus' twerk-ariffic VMA's performance, Anthony Weiner's sexting pseudonym Carlos Danger, and more, these one-sheets based on recent news headlines and other pop culture happenings are absolutely ridiculous.

The funny fictional posters ripped from the headlines top off a recent spat of memorable posters — including Lars von Trier's orgasmic character images for Nymphomaniac and the very Wes Anderson one-sheet for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Movie News: Dwayne Johnson's Final 'Hercules' Pic; Trailer for Motion-Captured Kellan Lutz in 'Tarzan'

2013-10-21T06:28:00.001-07:00

Hercules : Dwayne Johnson, who has been generously sharing behind-the-scenes pictures from the production of action epic Hercules, has tweeted his final image, captioned: "My strongest THANK YOU to all who worked to create an epic film. Proud of you all. #ThatsAWrap." The movie will open in theaters on July 25, 2014. [Dwayne Johnson]

Jurassic World : Josh Brolin, who will shortly be seen in Spike Lee's revenge thriller Oldboy, may next be going up against dinosaurs. He's in "early talks" to star in Jurassic World, the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park series. Young Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson are already in talks to play brothers, along with Bryce Dallas Howard; adult roles and relationships have not yet been revealed. Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) will direct the movie, which is aiming for release on June 12, 2015. [Variety]

A Night at the Museum 3 : Robin Williams is riding high as the star of this fall's breakout TV sitcom, The Crazy Ones, but he's keeping his feature film options open. He's in talks to reteam with Ben Stiller in A Night at the Museum 3, as the series moves to London; Williams would once again portray Teddy Roosevelt; director Shawn Levy is also set to return. [Heat Vision]

Tarzan Trailer: Motion-captured versions of Kellan Lutz and Spencer Locke star in a new animated version of Tarzan that imagines the young man raised by apes and his lovely human friend Jane as Avatar-like defenders of a recently discovered power source, a meteorite that crashed into the jungle eons ago. The movie is heading to U.K. theaters on January 24; while we await news of U.S. release plans, we can feast our eyes on the first full-length trailer. [Empire]

Tarzan - Trailer #1 [VO|HD] by addictomovie

Here's a Simple Way to Make Netflix' New Profiles System Even More Useful

2013-10-18T14:12:00.001-07:00

Netflix recently changed the way it handles its queue system, allowing for multiple family members to create their own streaming profiles. A welcome addition, yes, but here's how you can manipulate the new system to make it even more useful.

My problem started started with R.O.T.O.R. , a 1988 no-budget mish-mash of concepts stolen from Terminator and Robocop (a robotic cop goes on a killing spree). It was the best kind of bad movie, so full of ambition and yet so low on the means to actually execute that ambition. I streamed it through Netflix with a couple of friends who also have a soft spot for terrible genre films and we laughed all the way through. When the film ended, I was prompted to give it a 1-to-5 star rating to help Netflix’s recommendation engine. I froze.

Do I give this admittedly 1-star movie a single star? In that case, I’m telling Netflix that I don’t really want recommendations like this. It puts R.O.T.O.R., a total stinker that I enjoyed, on the same level as films that I truly do hate. As a bad movie, it’s a 5-star star dud, but giving it five stars equates it with the best movies I’ve ever seen. What’s a fan of cheesy movies to do?

There’s finally a solution! A few weeks ago, Netflix rolled out the ability to create profiles on one account for different users within a household. These profiles also save the ratings that are given by the profile’s owner. Now, when my roommate’s daughter gives The Suite Life with Zack and Cody a 5-star rating, my recommendations aren’t filled with other Disney Channel junk. In turn, she isn’t recommended a bunch of R-rated relationship dramas just because I gave Take This Waltz five-stars.

The trick is, you don’t have to create profiles for people; you can create profiles for genres.

With the new feature, you can create a profile named “Best Worst Movies” and use that profile to give 5-star ratings to your favorite stinkers. When you access that profile, all of the best bad movies should rise to the top of that profile’s recommendations, allowing you to see a slew of other movies that are as gloriously dumb as R.O.T.O.R.

This "life hack" works for other types of things as well. If you’re a true crime junkie, create a “True Crime” profile and 5-star your favorite shows and movies. If you want stronger foreign film recommendations, create a profile for that and 5-star any foreign film you’ve ever liked (even if it would normally get 3-stars on your “real” profile). You’ll soon have Netflix “channels” where you can start to see content that might not be suggested to you otherwise. Grab some popcorn and enjoy!

Oh, and because you know you want to watch it, here's the trailer for R.O.T.O.R.:

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New Movie Posters: 'Non-Stop,' 'Grudge Match,' 'Ender's Game,' and More

2013-10-18T10:41:00.001-07:00

Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.

Movie News: First Look at 'Mr. Peabody and Sherman' (Pics); Sizzling Trailer for Alex Pettyfer's 'Endless Love'

2013-10-18T06:52:00.001-07:00

Mr. Peabody and Sherman : The upcoming animated family film Mr. Peabody and Sherman draws from time-traveling characters created for TV and gives them a fresh new look, as demonstrated by the first-look pictures. Talking dog Mr. Peabody and his adopted boy Sherman enjoy a new adventure in the movie, which will zip into theaters on March 7, 2014; the voice cast includes Stephen Colbert, Stanley Tucci, and Mel Brooks. [USA Today]

Of Mice and Men : Well, he's done everything else. Actor / director / novelist / university student James Franco is set to make his debut on the Broadway stage in a revival of John Steinbeck's classic novel Of Mice and Men. Franco is being touted to star as George, likely opposite Chris O'Dowd (Girls, This is 40), who is in negotiations to take on the role of his good friend, the slow-witted Lennie. If negotiations are successful, the production is aiming to open in the spring of 2014. [New York Times]

Hot Wheels : The monster success of the Fast & Furious 7 franchise has already inspired at least one other speedy motor vehicle movie (The Need for Speed), and now another competitor is revving up its engines. The producers of Hot Wheels, inspired by the Mattel toy line, have hired Simon Crane to helm the project; he's a veteran second-unit director (World War Z). And they've also brought on Academy Award-nominated Paul Attanasio (Quiz Show, Donnie Brasco) to write a new draft of the script. [Deadline]

Endless Love Trailer: A new version of 1981's gloomy teen romance Endless Love is heading to theaters on February 14, 2014 -- yes, that's Valentine's Day! -- and the first trailer suggests it's a dreamy tale of a good girl (Gabrielle Wilde, Carrie), a bad boy (Alex Pettyfer, Magic Mike), and a disapproving parent (Bruce Greenwood). [MovieClips]

The Craziest Prison Escapes in Movies

2013-10-17T17:22:00.001-07:00

Sure, you and I would have no problem breaking out of a maximum security prison. But for many movie characters, it's a real struggle. Luckily, cinematic prison breaks are often a blast to watch, as they rely on brilliant innovation, careful plotting, and heaping doses of blind luck to succeed. If we're really in for a treat, a bit of lunacy is involved as well.

Here are some the craziest prison escapes ever put to film.

Korean Movie Theaters Are About to Get Even More Ridiculous With 270-Degree Movie Screens

2013-10-17T15:22:00.001-07:00

South Korea is possibly the world leader when it comes to trying out new ways to lure people away from their couches and in to actual movie theaters. Unfortunately not all of these ideas are good ones. Their 4D movie theaters capable of spraying fog, wind and even smells may have a silly ad campaign, but they could make for a fun, unique way to see certain movies. Heck, even their movie posters are using cutting-edge technology to enhance the experience. But we're not so sure we're on board for this new 270-degree screen that will be expanding to over thirty movie theaters in 2014.

Dubbed the ScreenX, this is basically a projection system that blasts images onto not only the front screen we're all used to watching, but the sides of the theater as well. And that could be potentially very immersive experience, only the illusion seems to be shattered by the big speakers that line the walls of all movie theaters. Check it out.

The first movie that is actually be shot with a tri-camera system specifically for ScreenX is called, appropriately, The X . The movie, a 30-minute experience created by Jee-Woon Kim (The Good, The Bad, The Weird) itself looks like a pretty slick thriller, and you can check out the trailer for the ScreenX version of it below:

And here's the ScreenX version of Joon-ho Bong's Snowpiercer , which is already out in Korea while the rest of the world impatiently twiddles their thumbs.

But what say you? Would you go to the theater more often if you were seeing movies in a ScreenX format?

[Thanks to Kotaku for the gif]

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Movie News: Shia LaBeouf's War Face in 'Fury' (Pic); Blake Lively to Stop Aging in 'Adaline;' Trailer for Liam Neeson's 'Non-Stop'

2013-10-17T06:23:00.001-07:00

Fury : Director David Ayer's Fury is set during World War II and follows a small tank crew, led by Brad Pitt. Tank crew member Shia LaBeouf can be glimpsed in the latest photo shared by the director from behind the scenes; another shot apparently shows a reenactment in the style of a classic combat photograph. Jason Isaacs, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena and Jon Bernthal also star; the movie is due in theaters on November 14, 2014. [Coming Soon]

The Age of Adaline : Blake Lively, who rose to fame on TV's Gossip Girl, is still looking for a breakout film role; perhaps the epic romantic drama The Age of Adaline will be the one to propel her to full-fledged stardom. Lively will play a character who nearly dies in an accident, and then mysteriously stops aging; the story ranges over the 20th century. Ellen Burstyn will co-star; the movie will begin production in March 2014. [Deadline]

A Tale Dark & Grimm : The great stop-motion animation specialist Henry Selick (Coraline) has finally found a new project. He will direct A Tale Dark & Grimm, a live-action movie based on a childrens' book by Adam Gidwitz. Reportedly, "the story follows two children who run away from their own dark fairy tale in hopes of finding a happier life, but they end up landing in eight other terrible tales" -- which sounds right up Selick's dark alley. [Heat Vision]

Non-Stop Trailer: Liam Neeson stars in action thriller Non-Stop as a U.S. air marshal on board a jet heading from New York to London; he must foil an extortion plot so as to avoid passengers being killed every 20 minutes. The first trailer has been released, revealing Neeson in proper action star mode. The movie will fly into theaters on February 28, 2014. [The Film Stage]

Photo Feature: The Evolution of Little Horror Girls

2013-10-16T14:11:00.001-07:00

Carrie

Brian De Palma's adaptation of Stephen King's novel set a high-water mark for terrifying teens in 1976, thanks in large part to Sissy Spacek, then 26, who elicited sympathy as 17-year-old Carrie, a waif-ish outsider and prototypical little horror girl. Barely 16 herself, Chloe Grace Moretz will place her own imprint on the character in Kimberly Peirce's new version of Carrie. Will she earn a place among the most memorable young ladies of horror?

Director’s Notebook: ‘The Heat’ Director Paul Feig on How Test Screenings Shaped His Favorite Scene

2013-10-15T17:39:00.001-07:00

In this monthly column we spotlight new Blu-ray/DVD releases by interviewing directors about the scenes that stood out most for them while making their movies. This month, we talk to Paul Feig about his follow-up to Bridesmaids, the Sandra Bullock/Melissa McCarthy comedy, The Heat (out October 15).

After years of directing episodic TV (ranging from Freaks and Geeks, which he created with the help of Judd Apatow, to Nurse Jackie) Paul Feig has established himself as a go-to for feature-length comedies thanks to the breakout success of Bridesmaids. He’s now followed that by reteaming with Melissa McCarthy for the buddy cop laugher The Heat. McCarthy weaves spontaneous comedic gold as the hard-nosed Boston cop Mullins, while Sandra Bullock plays the “straight man” in this duo, Ashburn, a stuck up, by-the-book FBI agent.

In Feig’s favorite scene, the two get to know each other at a dive bar, which quickly gets out of hand as the ladies get drunk and wreck havoc.

Here, Feig gives us some of the mechanics that go behind making a scene like this work, and why for him test screenings are an iatrical part in putting the final touches on it.

“There’s nothing we need to accomplish here other than fun.”

“The bar scene was always something I was looking forward to shooting. I always like doing those scenes that kind of are in service of the story but also where you go, Okay we can actually have fun here. In Bridesmaids it was the airplane scene. I knew it was just going to be fun to see Kristen [Wiig]’s character drunk and all the stuff we came up for her. It was the same with this because we just created these areas to work in. We knew we had our scripted thing where they are kind of bonding at the bar, but after that we just came up with stuff—like the dancing part, I just wanted to see them dance. [Screenwriter] Katie [Dippold] wrote a bunch of really funny scenarios and we shot those but they were a jumping off point and one of my favorites is when they tape up their faces with scotch tape and make each other laugh. In the DVD I put in basically the whole 10-minute take of that.

“I wanted Sandra and Melissa to be comfortable [in the scene] but because of logistics we had to shoot it two weeks into principal photography. I kept trying to move it because I wanted them to know each other better, but it turned out to be great because it’s a scene of them bonding but they don’t really know each other, so the timing worked out really well. They bonded pretty quickly but they became even closer doing those vignettes together.

“We shot the bar scene over 2-3 days, you have to get all the dialogue in the bar right, and that’s a lot of playing. It’s very scripted but also everyone is writing jokes on Post-its and passing them to me, so that was fun. Then we got to the bits of drunkenness, then it becomes a free-for-all in a controlled chaos sort of way. With the scotch tape bit literally the only line was “Ashburn and Mullins take shots,” so to me that’s the scariest and most fun thing. There’s nothing we need to accomplish here other than fun. So originally I thought we’d do it all at the bar, we started at the bar and then I thought I didn’t want to stay at the bar, it would be visually boring, so I looked around and saw they had this checkered board table on the set so I said let’s pull it over here and maybe they’ll just do shots checkers, that would be a different way for them to down shots. So I told Sandra and Melissa and they kind of gave me a look like that’s a lame idea, and I was like let’s just try it. I went to set up the camera and I come back and they had called for a roll of scotch tape and they tapped their faces all up. So I just walked into that going okay this is weird and hilarious. They just started doing this stuff. I was just crying laughing. The bits are in the movie but you don’t get that same energy when it’s cut up, so that’s why I’m happy we have the extended take on the DVD. You can hear us laughing in the background when they discover the tape. That’s the stuff I live for. In the moment, two people just making each other crack up. If you can figure out how to get that in a film you’re in great shape. But there was a lot to manage in that drunken sequence. We had so much stuff and had to figure out what to cut.

“I’ve been burned so many times thinking something is going to be hilarious and then it doesn’t get the laughs that you want and you go shit what happened? But I was pretty certain the bar scene would play because it was fun and I picked a fun song but we played with it a lot. There was a lot more dancing in the first cut. You can tell when people are getting fatigued. You want to go in with everything that’s funny but you can pay the price down the line because you wear the audience out. It was the same with the airplane scene in Bridesmaids, that could have easily been a 20-minute scene, but there’s a point when you know that’s too much.”

“…I want the laughs of a real audience.”

“It’s all about test audiences, I’ll let some people watch a cut but I’m much more dependent on a test audience. I start my test screenings two-three weeks into my director’s cut and then I’ll do them every two weeks, and not with friends or family, I want the laughs of a real audience. Our personal friends who are in comedy, they laugh at different stuff and I’ve been burned in the past by showing it to friends and family and thinking it’s all killing and then you get in front of your first test audience and they don’t laugh through half of it. When it’s comedy professionals we want to twist stuff, “Oh, you see this all the time, you should twist this,” but with a real audience it’s too hip for the room. I know some people who are horrified by test audiences but I really rely on them. If you’re making a drama, yeah, it’s a different thing, but the 10-week director’s cut can be the worst thing you can go through, because you fall in love with everything. No one is immune to it, I’m certainly not. So if you start the test screenings two weeks in you think it’s working but you aren’t sure and you throw it up [on screen] and see what people think.

“We did 10 test screenings [for The Heat] so we tweaked the scene 10 times, and by the end it was micro tweaks. But we record the laughs and that’s our bible. Test audiences fill out these questionnaires, which is whatever, and they do this focus group. We always go to the recording. It’s something that Judd [Apatow] started doing, I think people were doing it before, I know people who will record the audience on night vision to see if they are shifting in their seat or look bored, that’s too much information for my taste. [Laughs] It’s totally empirical evidence. You get in the editing room and you get notes from the studio, it’s very easy to resolve stuff, you go, “Well, let’s go to the tape.” That happens to me all the time.”

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The Producer of 'Napoleon Dynamite' Wants to Make 'The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made'

2013-10-15T13:28:00.001-07:00

It took buddies Eric Zala and Chris Strompolos seven years to create a shot-by-shot, stunt-by-stunt remake of the 1981 action-adventure classic, Raiders of the Lost Ark . Dubbed Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation , the pals begged, borrowed, and stole for their fan film (shot on Betamax and eventually VHS), recruiting neighborhood kids to play roles, building massive props (like a six-foot fiberglass boulder), and scouting for desert locations in Mississippi. Chris had his first kiss on camera, Eric almost melted his face off, and his house was nearly destroyed. Through the years, their friendship was pushed to the limits as the guys faced personal struggles (parents divorcing, remarrying, moving away), and more. Raiders: The Adaptation became a documentary of a friendship and a dream, first discovered by Eli Roth, and later recognized by the original director himself, Steven Spielberg.

Writer Alan Eisenstock wrote a book about the amateur film production, and Deadline is now reporting that Napoleon Dynamite producer Jeremy Coon has optioned the story and will work with Zala and Strompolos (now in their 40s) to create a film. "First, Coon intends to direct a documentary as he works to set up a narrative feature, which is essentially a movie about the making of a movie that is a remake of another movie," the website indicates. "I thought the movie was an urban myth but when I saw it, from a filmmaker perspective it was more inspiring than any movie I’d ever seen,” Coon told Deadline.

To get a feel for Raiders: The Adaptation, considered the most successful fan film ever created, check out this book trailer.

Watch: Professor X Kicks Wolverine Out of the X-Men

2013-10-15T10:24:00.001-07:00

Everyone likes Wolverine, right? He's got awesome mutton chops, he's basically immortal, and he can rock a leather jacket like nobody's business. Plus his claws look really cool every time they come out.

Professor X hates Wolverine, though. He hates him so very, very much. He thinks Logan is just an utterly worthless team member, and that's why he's giving the amnesia-riddled lughead the boot from the X-Men in this below clip from the new TBS show The Pete Holmes Show.

Warning, the below video is kind of NSFW, especially if your workplace happens to have something against the middle finger.

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Movie News: A Tale of Two 'Hercules,' Dwayne Johnson (Pic) vs. Kellan Lutz (Trailer); 'X-Men' Coming in 48fps

2013-10-14T06:07:00.001-07:00

Hercules : Dwayne Johnson continues to share photos of behind-the-scenes action from the production of his upcoming, big-budget Hercules, which is due in theaters on July 25, 2014. He captioned the latest image: "16hrs straight - my soldiers stand strong & ready for battle. Good men. #BloodKnowsNoTime." In another, he honored the horses who pull the chariot for his character to ride. Brett Ratner is directing; Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes, Peter Mullan, and John Hurt also star. [Coming Soon]

X-Men: Days of Future Past : Reaction to the new High Frame Rate (aka 48 frames per second) format in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was mixed, but we'll all have a chance to give it a second chance when The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug comes out in December. Now comes a report that Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past was also shot in the format and the filmmakers were pleased with the results. So the movie will be released in 48fps, along with more traditional formats, on May 23, 2014. [Ain't It Cool News]

Cameron Crowe's Untitled Hawaii Project: Originally thought to be a so-called "two-hander" (focusing on just two characters, similar to Gravity), Cameron Crowe's new movie, set in Hawaii, has sprouted enough supporting roles to attract an intriguing cast. Bill Murray is the latest possible addition; he is said to be in talks to join leading players Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone, as well as Rachel McAdams, Danny McBride, Alec Baldwin, and Jay Baruchel. The still untitled movie is aiming for release "sometime" next year. [The Wrap]

Stretch Armstrong : A movie version of Hasbro's venerable Stretch Armstrong toy will have to wait a little longer. Universal acquired movie rights as a part of a deal back in 2008, and considered Taylor Lautner to star at one point before dropping the property; Relativity Media picked it up in January 2012 but has now decided to "focus on other projects." We're hoping the project will bounce right back with some other company, but for now it's on the back burner for Hasbro. [The Hollywood Reporter]

Hercules: The Legend Begins Trailer: Dwayne Johnson is not the only one playing Hercules. Kellan Lutz (The Twilight Saga) stars in Hercules: The Legend Begins as a somewhat younger son of Zeus. Directed by Renny Harlin, this version features the great Scott Adkins; the first trailer is reminiscent of the gladitorial cable series Spartacus. The movie is earmarked for release sometime next year. [Collider]

Box Office Report: 'Gravity' Continues To Hover, 'Captain' Starts Strong For Hanks

2013-10-13T14:07:00.001-07:00

Here's your 3-day box office returns (new releases bolded):

1. Gravity - $44.2 million

2. Captain Phillips - $26.0 million

3. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - $14.2 million

4. Machete Kills - $3.79 million

5. Runner Runner - $3.72 million

6. Prisoners - $3.6 million

7. Insidious: Chapter 2 - $2.6 million

8. Rush - $2.36 million

9. Don Jon - $2.34 million

10. Baggage Claim - $2.0 million

The Big Stories

Adults are finally having their say at the box office. Actually, age does not matter when it comes to Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, as it is an event film worthy of every demographic. But it is the time when some great, mature filmmaking is ruling the nation. We will see precisely how Carrie fits into that plan next week and then all bets are off when Bad Grandpa opens the week after. But right now, down here in October, it is our time. And the treasures are abundant for both audiences and a couple studios at the moment.

No Weighing Down Gravity

As impressive as it was to see Gravity take the all-time October opening weekend record, this week's tally is actually more so. $55 million down to just $44 million. That just doesn't happen. Especially with such a direct challenger to its dominance. That is the very definition of word-of-mouth. By the end of the weekend, it will be hovering around $123 million. Last weekend we told you that the highest-grossing film during the month of October (talking 31 days or less here) was Shark Tale. With $146.2 million. Goodbye to that 9-year record. $200 million seems like a foregone conclusion at this point as talk is already turning to the Oscars. We are jumping ahead though. Gravity was the 11th film of 2013 to open to more than $50 million. Comparing its second weekend to that of its peers is where the impressive part comes in.

Gravity (-20.7%), Monsters University (-44.7%), Star Trek Into Darkness (-46.9%), Despicable Me 2 (-47.4%), Oz The Great and Powerful (-47.9%), The Great Gatsby (-52.2%), World War Z (-55.2%), Iron Man 3 (-58.4%), The Wolverine (-59.9%), Fast & Furious 6 (-63.9%), Man of Steel (-64.6%)

Only Wolverine and Gatsby failed to reach $200 million at the domestic box office. It is already right at World War Z's pace which had $123.6 million by its 10th day - and that opened to $66.4 million to finish with $202.3. Uncertain how far it can climb after that, but Warner Bros., having started the year with five straight flops (and 42 which just about broke even without an international release), is now going to have their sixth big hit of the year and their fourth (after 42, The Conjuring and We're the Millers) to be a genuine word-of-mouth success.

They're Not Here To Fish

No, they want money. And not that measly thirty grand in the safe. They want millions. Greedy Somalis. Nice to see everyone embracing a Tom Hanks film again. Even nicer to see Paul Greengrass have a nice start that doesn't involve Jason Bourne. Captain Phillips' $26 million start is going to help propel it past both Greengrass' United 93 ($31.4 million) and Green Zone ($35 million) in just its first week. The same can be said for Hanks' last three films, Cloud Atlas ($27.1 million), Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close ($31.8 million) and Larry Crowne ($35.6 million). Before that, Hanks in a starring role was very much gold.

The Da Vinci Code ($77.0 million), Angels & Demons ($46.2), Saving Private Ryan ($30.5), Cast Away ($28.8), Captain Phillips ($26.0), Apollo 13 ($25.3), Forrest Gump ($24.4), Road to Perdition ($22.0), The Terminal ($19.0), You've Got Mail ($18.4), The Green Mile ($18.0), Sleepless in Seattle ($17.2), A League of Their Own ($13.7)

With the exception of The Terminal, each one of those films was a $100 million grosser for Hanks. And that is without including Catch Me If You Can, The Polar Express or the Toy Story pictures. Captain Phillips will need some of that word-of-mouth magic to reach $100 million. Of the ten other films this year top open between $25-30 million, only two of them (We're the Millers & Now You See Me) hit nine digits and the average gross was over $86 million. Sony is certainly hoping that sailing the $55-million budgeted film through international waters will give it a second hit after its rough summer. Though Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 is now a few million off the pace of the original and will need the kind of strong showing overseas to make that a success as well.

Machete Kills Not So Much

That trailer for a third Machete film that opens the first sequel to a film based on a fake trailer might be wishful thinking at this point. Then again, Robert Rodriguez is certainly known to stretch a dollar or two on his budgets, so who knows? What we do know is that Machete Kills is the worst wide opener of Rodriguez's career. Less than Desperado ($7.9 million) when he was getting his first studio shot. Less than the kids effort, Shorts ($6.4 million), in an arena that has seen his biggest success. (The first three Spy Kids films are his highest grossers.) The first Machete film opened to $11.4 million in 2010; just over $180,000 less than the Grindhouse double feature that inspired it three years earlier. With a start of a feeble $3.9 million, Machete Kills may not gross that in its entirety. That long-delayed Sin City 2 cannot get here fast enough.

Erik Childress can be seen each Thursday morning on WCIU-TV's First Business breaking down the box office on the Movies & Money segment.

[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]

New Movie Posters: 'Thor: The Dark World,' 'The Book Thief,' 'Frozen,' and More

2013-10-11T13:22:00.001-07:00

Your First Look at the New Toy Version of Optimus Prime from 'Transformers: Age of Extinction'

2013-10-10T06:38:00.001-07:00

Giveaway: Snag a 'Machete Kills' Shirt and a Signed Poster

2013-10-08T13:37:00.001-07:00

This Friday Machete Kills hits theaters everywhere, and having attended the film's world premiere at Fantastic Fest, we can attest that it's one of the most bonkers movies you'll see in a theater this year. Not only does it feature the return of the human killing machine that is Danny Trejo, but it also boasts highly memorable performances from the likes of Mel Gibson, Demian Bichir, Charlie Sheen, Sofia Vergara, Michelle Rodriguez, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Alexa Vega, and quite a few more familiar faces doing all of the wacky, ridiculous things director Robert Rodriguez can dream of.

We'd tell you the plot, but really, do you even need to know? It's called Machete Kills, after all. It's about a special agent named Machete, and he kills a lot of people with a lot of different weapons. Enough said.

Ahead of the film's release we've got a nice prize pack to giveaway to one lucky winner. In it you'll find a Viva Machete shirt, as well as a poster signed by Danny Trejo and Alexa Vega (and possibly another special person, schedule permitting). To win, all you need do is leave a comment below by opening day (October 11, 2013). We'll contact the randomly-selected winner to get their mailing info. Good luck!

MORE FROM AROUND THE WEB:

From Voodoo Dolls to Human Pin Cushins: Chucky's Best Kills in the 'Child's Play' Movies

2013-10-08T09:22:00.001-07:00

When the killer in your horror film is a cute doll come to life, one of the biggest challenges you're going to face is creating death scenes that somehow manage to execute scares without looking really, really silly. Surprisingly enough, the Child's Play series, which sees Curse of Chucky , its sixth entry, coming out this month, has done a remarkably good job making Chucky's diminutive size more of a benefit than a limitation, as these great death scenes attest.

Box Office Report: 'Gravity' Takes the October Record and Sets Eyes On Another

2013-10-06T09:53:00.001-07:00

Here's your 3-day box office returns (new releases bolded):

1. Gravity - $55.5 million

2. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 - $21.5 million

3. Runner Runner - $7.6 million

4. Prisoners - $5.7 million

5. Rush - $4.4 million

6. Don Jon - $4.16 million

7. Baggage Claim - $4.12 million

8. Insidious: Chapter 2 - $3.8 million

9. Pulling Strings - $2.5 million

10. Enough Said - $2.1 million

The Big Stories

Finally there is a movie out there that can be definitively recommended to your fellow man. Maybe you like Prisoners. Perhaps you felt compelled to recommend Rush cause it was a slightly different direction for Ron Howard. You should all be telling people to find Nicole Holofcener's Enough Said. Forget all that though. You know it and I know it that if there's one film out in theaters right now worth a full ticket price (and even your inflated 3-D IMAX dollar) and it's Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity. At this point that we could all just drop the mike and walk away. Except the film could be shaping up to be an even bigger story beyond its inherent greatness.

As October Falls, So Could October Records Fall

If you are one of the many who flocked out to see yet another Paranormal Activity film the third time around on opening weekend and did not buy a ticket to Gravity this weekend, there really is no saving you. Don't want to hear any excuses about your plans this weekend. Everyone had plans in 2011 to watch home movies of paint drying and they still ventured to theaters to see home movies of paint drying. October has typically been the month of sequels and remakes getting the biggest openings. To appreciate just what an event picture Gravity is, look at these rankings:

Gravity ($55.5), Paranormal Activity 3 ($52.5 million), Jackass 3-D ($50.3), Taken 2 ($49.5), Scary Movie 3 ($48.1), Shark Tale ($47.6), High School Musical 3 ($42.0), Paranormal Activity 2 ($40.6), The Grudge ($39.1), Red Dragon ($36.5)

Shark Tale is the only original film on that list - and it kinda stunk too. Sandra Bullock has never had a film open over $40 million. (This summer's The Heat with $39.1 was her best.) George Clooney's highest, believe it or not, was Batman & Robin ($42.8 million). None of the Ocean's movies even started with $40 million. Even with a resume including Children of Men, Y Tu Mama Tambien and A Little Princess, Alfonso Cuaron's films (aside from Harry Potter #3) haven't even grossed $50 million total. Also, look over this next list. It represents the highest-grossing films between Oct. 1-31 ever.

Shark Tale (31 days - $146.8 million), Taken 2 (27 - $118.9), Meet the Parents (26 - $101.8), Jackass 3-D (17 - $101.6), The Departed (26 - $92.6), Red Dragon (28 - $86.3), Couples Retreat (23 - $85.1), Paranormal Activity 3 (11 - $83.4), Paranormal Activity (31 - $80.7), Beverly Hills Chihuahua (29 - $79.9), The Social Network (31 - $79.5), Real Steel (25 - $74.3)

The Grudge (10 - $70.6), Zombieland (30 - $70.4), Ladder 49 (31 - $66.1), Antz (30 - $65.8), Paranormal Activity 2 (10 - $65.6), School of Rock (29 - $65.4), Training Day (27 - $65.0-$66.5), Argo (20 - $64.3), Scary Movie 3 (8 - $61.9), Where the Wild Things Are (16 - $60.3), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) (15 - $58.9), Red (17 - $58.8), Kill Bill Vol. 1 (22 - $57.2), Gravity (3 - $55.5), Three Kings (31 - $53.7), Friday Night Lights (24 - $52.9), Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (27 - $50.0)

We will revisit this chart in the coming weeks, but by next week Gravity will be in the top ten of that chart. October is the month for adults. Every major release this month is rated "R" except for Cuaron's film and next week's Captain Phillips which should take a little bite out of Gravity's numbers. That still will not stop it from reaching $100 million possibly by next Sunday. A good hold would get it there by its 10th day; a full five days faster than Shark Tale. Carrie should open well with the horror audience on Gravity's third weekend and Bad Grandpa should pull in at least Borat numbers if not full-blown Jackass dollars. But that's the back half of the month. By Halloween, Gravity should have no less than $135 million and still be in the top five. If word of mouth is as strong enough as I imagine it will be to make this a water cooler movie, it could even challenge Shark Tale as the highest grossing October film of all time.

Sucked Out On The River

Hopefully Rounders fans didn't venture out hoping that Brian Koppelman and David Levien crafted another cult-film-in-the-making about gambling. The title may be a reference to the game, but Runner Runner is little more than Paranoia with poker references or Boiler Room if Ben Affleck's character moved from the stock market to offshore gambling. Affleck is actually the best thing about the film, which is just a cliche-ridden 85-minute slog that leaves about eight potentially interesting story angles folded on the table. Fans of Timberlake would clearly rather see him headline a comedy like Friends with Benefits than dramas with loads of lost potential like this and In Time. Plenty of films got a "C+" from Cinemascore this year (The Big Wedding, Dark Skies, Don Jon, Evil Dead, Getaway, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The Last Stand, Paranoia, Pain & Gain, R.I.P.D., Texas Chainsaw 3-D). The only films to rate lower than Runner Runner's pure "C" (matching The Family and The Purge) are The Last Exorcism Part II, Scary Movie 5 and Movie 43. Runner Runner has made about $20 million worldwide so far. It will need about another $55 to break even. Otherwise it joins Fox's Turbo, Broken City, The Internship and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters on their losers list of 2013.

Tales of the Top Ten

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 had a good enough hold this weekend. Puts it right on pace with the original film which actually grossed $3.5 million more in its second go-round. $15.8 million is the number to watch for next week as Sony still needs about another $130 million worldwide to start cashing in. If you are looking for their Battle of the Year, it has dropped out of the Top Ten in just its second week and marks their fifth loser of 2013. Prisoners is just a few million away from reaching $50 in the U.S. but is still a ways away from posting a profit for Warner Bros. Universal's Rush is sputtering towards a $25 million finish stateside, but overseas still looks to save the film from being a disappointment for them.

Insidious: Chapter 2 has all but picked up losses incurred from Film District this year on Olympus Has Fallen and Dead Man Down, but Jason Statham's Parker still looms large from January. They are left with only Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy to help put them in the black for the year. Another Mexican comedy has broken into the top ten. Lionsgate's Pulling Strings earned $2.5 million on just 387 screens. Not as impressive as Instructions Not Included (which is over $41 million) but still more than Stoker, The East and Trance grossed in the U.S. Speaking of Fox Searchlight, their Enough Said creeped into the #10 spot on just 437 screens for a total of over $5 million. Meanwhile, Baggage Claim is less than $6 million away from surpassing The Way, Way Back as their biggest grosser of the year. Audiences should try to help Nicole Holofcener's film achieve that - after they have seen Gravity.

Erik Childress can be seen each Thursday morning on WCIU-TV's First Business breaking down the box office on the Movies & Money segment.

[box office figures via Box Office Mojo]

The Movies.com Review: 'Runner Runner' is a Waste of a Good Shiny Suit and a Crocodile Wrangler

2013-10-04T13:55:00.001-07:00

The sparks of life in this film -- and you can count them on one hand, even if you've lost a finger or two to illegal fireworks -- involve Ben Affleck performing a variety of villainous activities.

First, he shows up wearing a shiny suit. Nobody nice in a movie ever wears one of those, so even though it happens in the beginning of the film before you're officially notified of his villainy, you see him and think, "Something's wrong with that cat. I bet he's the internet gambling powerlord who lures smart-yet-naive Justin Timberlake into his lair of wealth and bikini-ladies and then turns the virtual poker tables on him, treating him like a protege/kid brother but then setting him up to take the fall after absconding with all the cash to an exotic island outside of American extradition powers, much like the plot of the little-seen-and-also-laughably-bad-late-summer-release-starring-Liam-Hemsworth-and-Harrison-Ford, Paranoia. It would probably serve Justin Timberlake well, I'm guessing, if he were a touch more paranoid himself."

Second, he can keep a straight face while Timberlake's math/finance genius character recites technical math and finance dialogue from the dumb and dumberer script. If Ben Affleck were really Justin Timberlake's friend he'd just start laughing at this sort of thing. That he doesn't is just one of many indicators that he plans to ruin Timberlake's entire life.

Finally, Affleck's big boss man blows off steam by hurling raw, plucked chickens into his mini-pond full of pet crocodiles and watching them bite each other's faces off in an attempt to get a decent meal. He does not thoroughly wash his hands after this sporting event and probably passes on Salmonella poisoning to everyone he touches. Just to repeat: dude has a gang of pet crocodiles. Later, he pushes some enemies into this water-grave. Borderline Scarface-level goodness.

And that's it. It would be nice to report that this gambling-based thriller is the kind that's not so lazy that all it can do is slather the screen with luxury goods, sweet rides and thong-ish swimsuits. Or that it's insightful on a rudimentary level about the nature of risk, that it tries even one time to get to the heart of why people bet everything they have -- and sometimes everything they don't have -- for the dopamine of free money. Or that there's some excitement involving duplicity and counter-attacks and FBI surveillance. Or explosions or chases or...

Yeah, nothin'. Waste of a good shiny suit and a crocodile wrangler.

STAR RATING: 0.5/5

Watch: The Schmoes Review 'Gravity' and 'Runner Runner'

2013-10-04T12:35:00.001-07:00

The Schmoes, Kristian Harloff and Mark Ellis, not only have their Schmoes Know Movie Show on Movies.com—they're reviewing movies for us too.

Gravity

Runner Runner

10 Movies That Prove You Don't Have to Be Horror to Be Scary

2013-10-04T09:55:00.001-07:00

Usually, you need to hit the horror section if you want a movie to scare your pants off, but that's not always the case. For instance, Alfonso Cuaron's beautiful new film Gravity rests against the constant threat of being swallowed by an unfathomable abyss, and the effect is terrifying. Sometimes it's the horror you don't expect that hits you the hardest, as the following titles attest.

Ten Movies That Prove You Don't Have to be Horror to be Scary

2013-10-03T17:22:00.001-07:00

Usually, you need to hit the horror section if you want a movie to scare your pants off, but that's not always the case. For instance, Alfonso Cuaron's beautiful new film, Gravity , rests against the constant threat of being swallowed by an unfathomable abyss, and the effect is terrifying. Sometimes it's the horror you don't expect that hits you the hardest, as the following titles attest.