05/20/10

Tops at the Box: Tony Stark: visionary; genius; American patriot; big time box office draw. Just two years after Jon Favreau’s first Iron Man film became a major success at the box office, we have Iron Man 2, which took the No. 1 spot at the box for a second straight week, upping its so-far U.S. total to $212 million and its so-far world total to over $400 million. Still running hot, too. Look for Favs, Robert Downey, Jr. and the gang to keep scoring decent dollars for another month or so. 

More From the Box: The No. 2 film last weekend, predictably, was director Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood film, which we’ve seen described as “more merry than medieval.” Looks like a safely made period piece … probably nothing too incredible. Bringing in just over $37 million over your first three days is cause for celebration for most film, but not this one. Robin, starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, cost $200 million to produce and, from what we’ve seen, a whole lot of dollars to promote. Industry analysts predict that it’ll end up being the highest grossing medieval film of all-time before it’s said and done, topping 1991’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and 1995’s Braveheart. Way to put a good spin on a unimpressive opening, guys. Coming in at No. 3 was the cheesy-looking romantic drama Letters to Juliet, starring the ever-busy Amanda Seyfried; No. 4 last weekend was b-ball com-rom Just Wright; and coming in at No. 5, still hanging tough after eight weeks and $208 million, is animated family feature How To Train Your Dragon. The good movies still in theaters (Greenberg, Kick-Ass, Shutter Island and The Ghost Writer) combined for about $978,000 last weekend. Kinda depressing. Maybe Roger Greenberg was right: “life is wasted on people.”

Opening this Weekend: Two major releases this week, starting with Shrek Ever After, which we believe is the fourth proper film in the Shrek series. Could be the fifth; we don’t care to check. It’ll sell lots of tickets and DVDs and a whole new age group of kids will have their Halloween costumes secured. Who cares. Also out this week is MacGruber, a comedy based on a current SNL skit spoofing MacGuyver. Umm. Can bad+bad=good? Lots of films begin to test, including a documentary called Racing Dreams that we’re guessing is about people who dream about becoming race car drivers. Holly Rollers, which we hope will get a wide release and come to town, will also begin to test, as will indie crime drama Perrier’s Bounty, which stars greats Brendan Gleeson and Cillian Murphy. Looks kinda not-good, despite the solid cast. Some promising flicks are set to come out next weekend, so stay tuned!

New to Home Video: Major releases coming Tuesday, May 25, on DVD and Blu-ray include Dear John (already?!?!), Mystery Team and the great The Road. Also look for a Criterion issue of Stagecoach, season two of “Tru Blood” and a number of Blu-ray first editions, including Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, which he directed at age 31.

Industry Buzz: Finally. At long last. I thought it’d never happen. Now I can finally sleep. About time, guys. A few days ago the folks at the Warner Bros. studio finally set a date for Christopher Nolan’s third and final Batman film: July 20, 2012, just two and a half weeks after the dreaded Spider-Man reboot hits screens. Considering how big of a production The Dark Knight was, I have to think that Nolan and his brother have completed a script by now and are headed into pre-production. But that’s just geek talk. Look for the summer of 2012 to be a big one, as a number of other huge releases have already set dates, including a Star Trek sequel, The Avengers, Madagascar and Men in Black sequels, Pixar’s long-labored Brave, Battleship and probably a few other sequels and comic book films. Ugh. Look for that Batman flick to bring in some serious - and likely well deserved - bank.

Quick Buzz: Catherine Hardwick, who ScreenTime once respected, is making a Red Riding Hood film starring Amanda Seyfriend. No thanks. Warner Bros. are making a big-budget Winnie the Pooh film. Super no thanks. Some idiot is making a prequel to Tim Burton’s kinda awful Planet of the Apes film. No thanks. The final Twilight film, Breaking Dawn, will break wind on November 18, 2011. No thanks! Avatar is selling incredibly well on Blu-ray. Duh. Doctor Zhivago and (finally, at long last, about time, etc.) Saving Private Ryan will finally released on Blu-ray soon enough. Tyler Perry is making yet another Madea film. Sigh. Warner Bros. has signed on to produce Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion, a big budget outbreak flick starring Matt Damon, Skinny Gweny, Jude Law and Kate Winslet. Martin Scorsese is working on a 3D film based on a children’s book titled Hugo Cabret and we’ve heard that The Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow is planning a new film. Oh, and last but not least, Warner Bros. recently announced that they’re making a fifth Final Destination film despite advertising the fourth film as the end of the dreaded series. Fucking liars.

Written by G. William Locke