Well, it looks like a Bourne movie. That's about all I can say about this trailer, aside from the Vegas chase scene, which does look pretty cool. The thing about the Bourne movies is that when they were originally coming out, the Greengrass style of frenetic, hardcore action filmmaking was so revolutionary that it took hold of the genre immediately and every action movie in its wake was somewhat ripping it off. So now, all these years later, it's no longer as different as it once felt. But Greengrass is still a great director, so if anyone can pull off a good one, it's him. We'll see. I also don't really buy Alicia Vikander in the role of CIA agent or whatever it is she's playing here. The first three cast character actors Chris Cooper, Joan Allen and David Straithairn in those parts- people who looked and seemed like government officials if nothing else. But the baby-faced, lovely Vikander? Yeah, not so much.
Emily Blunt Turns On the Waterworks for 'The Girl on the Train'
Speaking of blah, this adaptation of the bestselling thriller looks an awful lot like Gone Girl, which I understand the book was as well. Not convinced this will be any good, especially coming from director Tate Taylor, the guy who helmed The Help and Get On Up. Also, I gotta be honest- I don't know what it is about Emily Blunt, but she's never really struck me as having much screen presence or charisma. Can't see her carrying a movie like this.
Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt Lead the New 'Magnificent Seven' Trailer
This isn't one of those untouchable classics that can't be remade or anything, but this new one looks kinda blah, if you ask me. Maybe I just hate it when people attach new music to period settings to make it look "cooler" for younger audiences. Hopefully it works, since westerns don't really get made at all anymore.
BOX OFFICE 4/15-4/17: 'The Jungle Book' Wows With 103 Million
Okay, so people knew Disney's live-action Jungle Book was probably going to be big, but early estimates ended up rising from 70 to 88 to now coming in with 103 million over the weekend, which is pretty amazing...although these days it's really starting to feel like old news when a big movie takes in 100 million on opening weekend, isn't it? It's the second highest April opening ever, next to last year's Fast and Furious movie. Interestingly, it's the second live action Disney movie to open over 100 million, as Alice in Wonderland did it back in 2010. The movie got great reviews and an "A" Cinemascore though, and will have strong legs going forward, as the family choice for audiences. It's already made 291 million worldwide, with particular success in India, as it's now the highest grossing Disney release in history there.
Barbershop: The Next Cut, opened in second with 20 million, which is almost exactly how much the original made back in 2002, while Kevin Costner's Criminal bombed and didn't even crack the top five. The Boss fell 57 percent for third and has now grossed 40 million, while BvS took another steep hit and came in with 9 million, bringing its new total to 310 million. Zootopia rounded out the top five with 8 million and now sits at 307 million and is closing in on 900 million globally, with Japan still to come to see if it can make it over a billion, as the year's highest grossing movie worldwide.
Top 5:
- The Jungle Book- 103 million
- Barbershop: The Next Cut- 20.2 million
- The Boss- 10.2 million
- Batman v Superman- 9 million
- Zootopia- 8.2 million
In limited release, John Carney's Sing Street opened to a 13k PTA and 68k overall on five screens, while Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic Miles Ahead expanded to 47 screens and earned 212k for 635k so far. Next week it's The Huntsman: Winter's War in wide release, with Susan Sarandon's The Meddler opening in limited. See you guys then.
First Teaser Trailer Drops for Sundance Hit 'The Birth of a Nation'
I guess this film about the Nat Turner slave rebellion has to qualify as the first Oscar buzzed movie of the year, since it was a longtime passion project from writer-director-star Nate Parker and won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. But tellingly, Parker chose Fox Searchlight to be the distributor after a bidding war with Netflix coming out the highest bidder, and then they went with a prime October 7th release date, so if you think this movie's not chasing Oscars you got another thing coming. To be honest, there was some lukewarm critical reaction to the movie itself when it debuted, but that will probably not matter in the end with this one. After the controversy of OscarSoWhite for the second year in a row, the truth is if this movie's even half decent there's no way it's getting ignored. So be on the lookout for it.
Benedict Cumberbatch Takes on an American Accent in First Trailer for 'Doctor Strange'
Whoa. For some reason, when everyone was clamoring for Cumberbatch to play Doctor Strange to the point where his eventual casting couldn't have seemed any more inevitable, I thought what they wanted was essentially his Sherlock-ian british genius character. Hearing him do an american accent here is kinda odd, to say the least, right? Other than that odd little detail, the movie looks kinda cool. Not so much like the other Marvel movies, which is a good thing for variety (although I'm sure the studio will do whatever it takes to make it palatable with the brand). Doctor Strange is primed for a Thanksgiving release date. But I still wish Cumby was a brit.
More Magic in New Trailer for 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'
That familiar John Williams score accompanies the new trailer for this Harry Potter spin-off, and it's once again being directed by David Yates, who helmed the last four Potter movies, so we probably have an idea what this will be like. I was a big Potter book fan once upon a time, but I never actually read this one, so my interest isn't as high. Plus I'm not a big Eddie Redmayne fan either, as you might recall. But it doesn't look bad exactly, and WB wants to mine their other successful franchise for all it's worth.
More Jokes in New 'Suicide Squad' Trailer
So, WB has ordered tens of millions of dollars worth of re-shoots to make this movie funny, and this new trailer keeps using pop songs to make audiences think the same, so I guess it really needs to deliver on that score. It does look more lighthearted than Batman/Superman, but anything that gets chopped up like this months before the release is suspect, in my opinion. We'll see how the finished product actually turns out on August 5th.
Will Smith receives the generation award
'Star Wars' Tops the MTV Movie Awards
Will Smith receives the generation award
The winners are pretty expected here, I'd say. Lots of wins for big stars and Deadpool, but the best winner is probably Charlize Theron for Mad Max. That's a cool one.
2016 MTV Movie Award Winners
- Best Movie of the Year: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Best Female Performance: Charlize Theron, Mad Max: Fury Road
- Best Male Performance: Leonardo Dicaprio, The Revenant
- Best Ensemble: Pitch Perfect 2
- Best Breakthrough Performance: Daisy Ridley, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Best Action Performance: Chris Pratt, Jurassic World
- Best Comedic Performance: Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool
- Best Virtual Performance: Amy Poehler, Inside Out
- Best Hero: Jennifer Lawrence, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2
- Best Villain: Adam Driver, Star Wars: The Force Awakens
- Best Fight: Deadpool vs. Ajax
- Best Kiss: Pitch Perfect 2
- Best True Story: Straight Outta Compton
- Best Documentary: Amy
BOX OFFICE 4/08-4/10: Melissa McCarthy's 'The Boss' Edges Out 'Batman v Superman'
Did you guys know that Melissa McCarthy hasn't not had a number one opening at the box office since her scene-stealing turn in Bridesmaids five years ago? She is a true movie star, whatever the varying quality of some of these films. The Boss got dreadful reviews and a bad "C+" Cinemascore, so it might not stick around long, but she still has a fanbase that will go see her in just about anything on opening weekend, at least so far. I think she's hilarious, but she needs to stop using her clout to let her husband make movies, because with this and Tammy, Ben Falcone is clearly a terrible director. Make too many like those and the fanbase might eventually start to dwindle.
But anyway, it beat out BvS this weekend, though just barely, and the estimates might change when actuals come in tomorrow. Still, the superhero movie dipped another 58 percent and is fading fast- it looks like it won't reach the billion dollar mark worldwide and may not pass Deadpool domestically. So far it's as 296 million, while Zootopia is also at that mark, pulling in 14 million for the weekend and will certainly pass 300 in the next week. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 and the action movie Hardcore Henry filled out the top five.
Top 5:
- The Boss- 23.48 million
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice- 23.44 million
- Zootopia- 14.35 million
- My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2- 6.42 million
- Hardcore Henry- 5.1 million
In limited release, Jake Gyllenhaal's Demolition bombed, earning a PTA of just 1k- ouch. Not a whole lot going on in the indie world right now, I have to say, although if you're looking for something, Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some is out there and doing okay, even if it's not something targeted at the older demographic that goes to these movies these days. Next week The Jungle Book is expected to do well, and Barber Shop: The Next Cut is also coming out. See you guys then.
Ricky Gervais is Back in 'David Brent: Life on the Road'
Ricky Gervais reprises his iconic character from the original UK version of The Office (or as I like to call it, the true version), as he takes the world's most cringeworthy former boss on tour for his attempt to make it as a singer-songwriter. He obviously loves playing this guy, but I'd like to see them do another reunion movie that reunites all the original cast. What are Tim and Dawn up to these days (as I like to think of them, the far superior and more realistic versions of Jim and Pam)? In case you couldn't tell, just about everything about that original show was absolutely perfect in my mind, so I'd love to catch up with that group.
Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell in Black Comedy 'Mr. Right'
It's always weird now when I see trailers for what looks like a perfectly normal movie with legitimate name actors, in this case a black comedy rom-com, but it turns out it's coming straight to digital release and on demand. Are non-blockbuster films just dwindling to the point where the only thing that makes it to theaters now are movies that are part of franchises? So depressing. I don't even know if this will be good or not, but it certainly doesn't look like it should be relegated to on demand only.