Source: Global Grind / Global Grind Another episode of The Rewind is here and we are more than happy to give you your much-needed dose of recap reality. Every week we revisit some of the pop culture trends, movies, viral moments and music from the week before and give our hot takes. Our experts Landon Lavarius and DJ Franchise share their opinions, sprinkle in some facts and then when it’s all over and done with, provide a rating of 1 to 10. We listen to the songs, watch the movies, scour the internet, and do the hard work so you don’t have to. On today’s episode, we’re getting into the new Robin Hood film. Unless you’ve lived under a rock your entire life, you probably know the story of Robin Hood pretty well. He was a well-meaning thief that robbed the rich to give to the poor. There have been a ton of movies based on the story of Robin Hood but this particular one came out on November 21, 2018 and stars Taron Egerton, Jamie Foxx, Ben Mendelsohn and others. It was produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson Killoran, and Basil Iwanyk. The story is a classic and other Robin Hood movies (and cartoons) have seemingly been received well. However, this one? Not so much. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 16% on the Tomatometer and with a production budget of $100 million, the film only brought in a total gross of $25.9 million worldwide. To say it flopped would be an understatement. The new Robin Hood was a box office bomb. But was it really bad or was it overshadowed by the release of Creed II, which did amazing in the box office? DJ Franchise and Landon Levarius give their take. We also break down last week’s rap battle between Joyner Lucas and Tory Lanez. The two exchanged some friendly fire after Tory Lanez got a little cocky on Instagram Live and said that Joyner Lucas couldn’t see him lyrically. Joyner challenged him to a bar for bar battle that resulted in several diss tracks between the two. It’s cool though, they are both still fans of one another and did it all for the love of hip hop. Did you get to listen for yourself? DJ Franchise and Landon Levarius give us a break down, and of course a rating, of the freestyles on today’s episode of The Rewind . Watch the full episode at the top of the page and let us know how you feel!
Experts weigh in on whether Kristen Stewart’s star power can overtake current box-office champs leading up to the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday, June 3. By Ryan J. Downey Kristen Stewart as “Snow White” Photo: Universal Last weekend, “Men in Black 3” finally ended the box-office domination of “The Avengers,” which saw the superhero team-up movie smashing world records with the combined might of Thor’s hammer, Captain America’s shield, Iron Man’s snarky wit and the Hulk’s green fists. During this MTV Movie Awards weekend, “Snow White and the Huntsman” will do battle against them both, with “Thor” himself, Chris Hemsworth, in one of the title roles alongside Kristen Stewart, best-known for a little franchise called “Twilight.” Will Stewart’s vampire fanatic fanbase focus their attention on “Snow White”? Will Thor’s Asgardian thunder rain down more box-office coin in this role? Keep in mind this isn’t the first “Snow White”-centered movie to hit multiplexes this year. Julia Roberts flopped in “Mirror, Mirror” just two months ago. “Huntsman” is headed to theaters with similar reviews (50 percent on Rotten Tomatoes’ “Tomatometer” at press time). So how will it do? “It’s going to be close, but ‘Snow White’ should edge out ‘Men in Black 3,’ ” HitFix ‘s Gregory Ellwood told MTV News. MTV Next Movie Executive Editor Kevin Polowy concurred. “Its competition isn’t that daunting. ‘Men in Black’ did well last weekend but hardly gangbusters. ‘The Avengers,’ which is still hanging ridiculously tough a month after opening, might actually be more of a threat than last week’s big winner. But ‘Snow White’ has an alluring cast, the potential to draw all demographics, and most importantly for a summer blockbuster, a whole lotta action.” Jeff Bock, Exhibitor Relations Senior Box Office Analyst, gave the edge to “Huntsman” over “Mirror, Mirror,” which opened at #3 at the box office with just $18.1 million. He credited the newer film’s stronger chances to its tone, likening its style to box-office juggernaut “Alice in Wonderland.” “Universal’s ‘Snow White’ is the one everyone was waiting for; [this one is] done on a much grander scale, more akin to ‘Alice’ and very dark, like the Brothers Grimm fairy tale it spawned from.” ” ‘Snow White’ very clearly wants to be a ‘Lord of the Rings’-like swashbuckling epic, which should draw a bigger, more enticed audience,” agreed Polowy.” “The Avengers” is now the fourth-biggest movie ever, in terms of gross, domestically. The power of “Twilight,” of course, continues. But what will the success or failure of “Snow White” mean for the careers of its respective stars outside of their tried-and-true franchises? “This movie has been sold as Charlize Theron as the evil queen,” Ellwood pointed out. “You could argue that Universal hasn’t done enough to showcase Hemsworth in the movie, especially after the success of ‘The Avengers.’ ” Bock was quick to note talk of a possible “Huntsman”-centered sequel. “Hollywood is pretty smitten with Hemsworth. In the end though, as an ensemble piece, this has very little risk involved for him. If it were to tank, the blame would likely fall on Kristen Stewart, with critics jumping on the ‘she can’t carry a film other than ‘Twilight’ bandwagon. It is quite apparent when watching the movie that the real stars are Hemsworth and Theron, who both give powerhouse performances.” “[The movie’s success or failure] will be very important for Kristen Stewart,” Polowy said. “This is Stewart’s first high-profile starring role outside of ‘Twilight,’ and it’s loaded with variables. Can she open a summer blockbuster? Can she do action? Can she do accents? Can she refrain from biting her lip so much?” “Any opening over $30 million outside of ‘Twilight’ is good for Stewart,” offered Ellwood. “If ‘Snow White’ has legs, it’s a sign she’s can easily transition as a leading lady in tentpole films once her days as Bella are over.” Speaking of “biting” and “legs,” there is another film swimming toward the box office: “Piranha 3DD.” It’s 2010 predecessor, “Piranha 3-D,” was a surprise hit with critics (73 percent on the Tomatometer, which is like an Oscar for that type of horror flick). It didn’t collect huge amounts of cash, but it certainly did well enough for the Weinstein Company/ Dimension Films to warrant a follow-up, for which director John Gulager (“Feast”) took over for Alexandre Aja (“High Tension”). However, despite the critical love for the last one, “Piranha 3DD” sat at a lowly 20 percent on the Tomatometer at press time. “Critics loved the first Piranha because it exploited everything cheesy about campy horror films — and 3-D flicks — in tongue-in-cheek style. The sequel is merely exploitation of that success,” Bock said. “Based on the theater count of 75 theaters, you can see that this one will go belly up quick and flushed down the drain.” Flesh-eating fish and “Snow White” aside, the $600 million question, as Polowy put it, is whether anything will beat “The Avengers” in 2012. All three of the experts we contacted agreed that only one film stands a chance. Which film is that? Let’s just say it involves a cape, a cowl and maybe a broken back. “There’s only one candidate who could come close, and its name is ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ ” Polowy said of the forthcoming flick, for which an exclusive clip will premiere at Sunday’s MTV Movie Awards. “Assuming [filmmaker] Christopher Nolan recaptures the magic of his last Batman blockbuster, and Tom Hardy’s Bane proves a viable replacement for Heath Ledger’s Joker, it will be close.” “It will have to be as strong critically as ‘The Dark Knight,’ ” said Ellwood. “That may be the only way to pull in [people who visit the movies four to six times per year]. Besides the added benefit of higher 3-D ticket prices, ‘The Avengers’ became a de facto family film, something ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ clearly isn’t, which helped fuel its coffers. Warner Bros. will need strong repeat business and massive adoration for ‘Rises’ to overtake ‘The Avengers.’ It’s arguably Batman’s toughest challenge yet.” Bock agreed it’s a huge challenge for Bats, one that may prove more defeating than anything Bane could cook up. “Even considering ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is probably the most anticipated threequel since ‘Return of the Jedi,’ ‘The Avengers’ is playing like Earth’s mightiest sequel. And that’s exactly what it is.” “Sorry Batman, you’ve been busted by Hollywood’s box-office brigade,” he concluded. Head over to MovieAwards.MTV.com to vote for your favorite flicks now! The 21st annual MTV Movie Awards air live this Sunday, June 3, at 9 p.m. Related Photos ‘Snow White And The Huntsman’ World Premiere
Considering Twentieth Century Fox executives are probably still counting the cash they made from Avatar , it seems silly to pass around the collection plate for them after a down year of releases in 2010. That said, which surprising Fox production managed to top the ticket sales of such high profile disappointments as The A-Team , Knight and Day and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader ? Hint: Lesbians.
The folks at Rotten Tomatoes have tabulated their annual Best of the Best list, inserting Tom Hooper’s 2011 Best Picture winner The King’s Speech into the annals of Oscar history. But comparing great films to other great films has always been something of an apples to oranges situation; how can you measure, say, The Godfather Part II against An American in Paris — two very different films that occupy adjoining slots on the list and have the same Tomatometer ranking (98 percent)? With a carefully calculated algorithm, that’s how! Still… why does The King’s Speech not quite feel right sitting so high above other bona fide classics?
There was a time when critics and Oscar pundits thought Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours was a lock to nab one of the coveted 10 Best Picture slots — if not in the top three, at least landing somewhere in the comfy middle of the pack. Then came the infamous faintings and those sluggish box-office receipts, and the jaunty amputation biopic started slipping downward in the weekly charts into the dark nether regions of the awards-season landscape, pinned between its rock-solid 93 percent Tomatometer and a very hard place: the outliers of the Best Picture 10.
