Also in Thursday afternoon’s round-up of news briefs: Christoph Walt is in talks to star in a Muppets sequel; Kathryn Bigelow ‘s Zero Dark Thirty officially gets new nationwide release; And a Brad Anderson thriller finds a U.S. release. Harrison Ford, Zac Efron Eye You Belong to Me Directed by Rob Reiner, Ford would play a psychiatrist who faces hard times after one of his female patients commits suicide. But he bonds with her brother James (Efron), but the situation becomes complicated when he lets James into his life and he begins seducing his wife and daughter. Rob Reiner will direct, The Wrap reports . Jennifer Garner Eyes Drama Dallas Buyers Club Garner is in talks to star in the drama alongside Matthew McConaughey. The story revolves around a man who was given six months to live after contracting AIDS in 1986, but lived another six years by illegally smuggling medicine into the U.S. and giving drugs to other sufferers too, Deadline reports . Christoph Waltz Eyes The Muppets Sequel Waltz would play an Interpol inspector in the Europe-set comedy. James Bobin who directed the 2011 Muppets film is returning to direct the follow-up, THR reports . Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty Goes Wide in January The Osama bin Laden pic will do awards season qualifying runs in New York and Los Angeles on December 19th in order to build word of mouth. It will add markets January 4th before going nationwide on January 11th. The title will now avoid the Christmas crush, including five high-profile roll outs, THR reports . Thriller Eliza Graves Heads to U.S. Theaters Directed by Brad Anderson ( The Machinist ), the movie is about a new physician who arrives to apprentice at a mental institution where he falls in love with a patient under circumstances that are more complicated than they seem. Production begins in 2013, Deadline reports .
All four studio releases debuted with a whimper at best and tanked at worst. Ben Affleck ‘s Argo topped the box office in a disappointing weekend. It is hard to estimate the impact on the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy had on Sunday on the East Coast as residents scurried to get ready for the storm, but the weekend’s box office took a hit nevertheless. Strong word-of-mouth made Argo one of the lone stars of the weekend. 1. Argo Gross: $12,355,000 (Cume: $60,780,288) Screens: 2,855 (PSA: $4,327) Week: 3 (Change: – 24.9%) Argo finally made it to number one three weeks into its release. But it was mostly by default because its competition from newcomers failed to make the box office grade. Still, Argo showed bravado on its own, with only a small dip in its returns, despite losing 392 locations. Word of mouth is clearly propelling the Ben Affleck-directed political thriller that is a strong contender for awards this season. A $100 million gross is certainly not out of the question. 2. Hotel Transylvania Gross: $9.5 million (Cume: $130,434,000) Screens: 3,276 (PSA: $2,900) Week: 5 (Change: – 26.9%) The animated feature jumped from fourth place last week to second in its fifth round. The $130 million-plus cumulative makes it one of Sony Pictures Animation’s top animated-only pic. It will eventually overtake The Smurfs , which grossed $142.6 million. 3. Cloud Atlas Gross: $9.4 million Screens: 2,008 (PSA: $4,681) Week: 1 Six slightly connected stories told over two hours and forty-four minutes was bound to be a marketing challenge. The pic received a C+ CinemaScore, so it’s going to be a steep trek for this $100 million movie sees any profit. Its recognizable cast should help it as it heads overseas. While it’s the best of the weekend’s newcomers, it clearly didn’t connect with audiences at the level needed. 4. Paranormal Activity 4 Gross: $8,675,000 (Cume: $42,632,365) Screens: 3,412 (PSA: $2,542) Week: 2 (Change: – 70.1%) The pic fell a heavy 70% from its opening weekend when it opened at number one with a $30.2 million open and an $8,851 screen average. The drop was steeper than Paranormal Activity 3 ‘s 66 percent drop. The third installment had grossed about $10 million more than the current pic by this point in its release. 5. Silent Hill: Revelation (3-D) Gross: $8 million Screens: 2,933 ($2,728) Week: 1 A weak opening for the pic, which is off 60 percent from the first movie’s $20.15 million debut. Competition from Paranormal Activity 4 and Sinister likely weighed in in suppressing box office activity for the title. 6. Taken 2 Gross: $8 million (Cume $117,389,000) Screens: 2,995 (PSA: $2,671) Week: 4 (Change: – 39.7%) The title lost 494 theaters compared to its third weekend and essentially tied with newcomer Silent Hill: Revelation (3-D) in the overall box office chart. Taken 2 is holding solid, beating out the first installment by $22 million. 7. Here Comes the Boom Gross: $5.5 million (Cume: $30,610,472) Screens: 2,491 (PSA: $2,208) Week: 3 (Change: – 34.6%) The film remained in seventh place in the b.o. chart, dropping over 34% and losing 523 theaters. Last weekend it averaged $2,820 compared to $3,981 in its debut. 8. Sinister Gross: $5.07 million (Cume: $39,514,955) Screens: 2,347 (2,160) Week: 3 (Change: – 42.5%) The title dropped 195 theaters in its third round and dropped a fairly strong 42 percent plus. But with a production budget of only $3 million, the title is a clear success and its roll-out will continue. Last weekend it averaged $3,552. 9. Alex Cross Gross: $5.05 million (Cume: $19,368,691) Screens: 2,541 (PSA: $1,987) Week: 2 (Change: – 55.7%) The pic dropped nearly 56%, a steep one for the titles second round. It added two locations and its $1,987 average compares to $4,489 in its debut. The crime thriller’s $35 million production budget means it has a tough road given its slow momentum. 10. Fun Size Gross: $4.06 million Screens: 3,014 (PSA: $1,347) Week: 1 Ouch, one of the worst of the weekend’s new offerings, the film clearly tanked with audiences. —– 13. Chasing Mavericks Gross: $2.2 million Screens: 2,002 (PSA: $1,099) Week: 1 The worst of the newcomers, the film failed to make the top ten even though it opened wide. The debut is the ninth worst ever for a film opening in over 2,000 theaters.
Real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren will finally get their own movie with The Conjuring. The controversial ghost hunters, who found ed the New England Society for Psychic Research in 1952 and, most famously, were involved in the Amityville Horror case that led to the 1979 and 2005 movies of the same name, will be played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. Saw filmmaker James Wan is directing. Wan, Wilson and Ron Livingston — who plays the father of a family the Warrens try to help — were all on hand at this month’s New York Comic-Con to talk up the spooky flick which Warner Bros will release in the summer of 2013. Check out the video below to learn how The Conjuring finally got made, and how Livingston feels about making his first horror movie! Follow Movieline on Twitter . Follow Grace on Twitter .
Disney’s 2011 family adventure Mars Needs Moms wasn’t just a box office disappointment; it was a box office disaster , one of the worst in movie history . Mars producer Robert Zemeckis , appearing at the Philadelphia Film Fest with his latest Oscar-hopeful, Flight , prefers to remember Mars Needs Moms another way: “It’s the best 3-D movie since Avatar .” Zemeckis’s bold answer matched the bold question that prompted his trip down memory lane during Flight ‘s post-screening Q&A session on Saturday night. Following a string of massive career hits ranging from the Back to the Future franchise to Oscar juggernaut Forrest Gump , the Zemeckis-produced Mars Needs Moms opened last year as the filmmaker’s most high profile critical and commercial failure. ImageMovers Digital, the Zemeckis-founded CG house that produced Mars as well as his own films The Polar Express , Beowulf , and A Christmas Carol , was shut down after completing Mars , while plans to embark on a Yellow Submarine pic with Disney were also scrapped; needless to say, it’s probably not Zemeckis’s favorite topic of conversation. (For what it’s worth, Flight , Zemeckis’s Denzel Washington -starring return to live-action film, played well with the Philly crowd.) But one Philadelphia Film Fest attendee was eager for answers. Film critic Martin Schneider penned a reasonably questioning if snarky review of Mars Needs Moms at the time of release, criticizing the film for a slew of offenses ranging from its animation to character development, with particular scrutiny of the film’s “anti-gay,” anti-progressive gender messaging. He seized the opportunity during the Philadelphia Film Fest closing night film event to share how offended he was by the film, asking Zemeckis to explain: What happened ? For his part, Zemeckis didn’t flinch. Prior to the film’s screening, Philadelphia Film Society Executive Director J. Andrew Greenblatt told the audience that the director would be taking questions, and that they could “ask him anything.” It’s tough to say whether or not Zemeckis expected the subject of his history-making bomb to pop up, but when faced by his accuser he kept his cool under pressure, like Denzel’s alcoholic hero Whip Whitaker. And then Zemeckis flew the airplane upside down, so to speak. “It was not marketed properly,” he said of the 3-D CG sci-fi flop, which cost a reported $150 million to make and made back just $38.9 million upon release, becoming the worst Disney performer of all time and one of the most miserable wide release 3-D openings in history. Zemeckis said Mars Needs Moms had been lost in the studio shuffle. He called it “breathtaking.” “It’s the best 3-D movie since Avatar ,” he continued. “It’s the way 3-D should be presented.” Meanwhile, in a career built on crowd-pleasers and after a decade spent attempting to bridge the uncanny valley with CG children’s films, Flight marks only the second film Zemeckis has directed to earn an R-rating. (His first? 1980s’s Used Cars .) Rated R “for drug and alcohol abuse, language, sexuality/nudity, and an intense action sequence,” Flight wasn’t gunning for anything less, given its full-tilt dive into the depths of addiction. “There was no way an adult drama was ever going to be anything other than R-rated,” said Zemeckis. Still, he earned applause with a parting shot at the MPAA: “I hate the ratings system. I think it’s horrible and despicable, and we should get rid of it.” Flight opens nationwide November 2. For more info on the Philadelphia Film Fest, head here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Yes, Frankenstorm has a much more ominous and Halloween-friendly ring to it. But the gentler, more goody two-shoes-in-black-leather, more obvious side to Hurricane Sandy and its internet meme potential involves Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta . Do you have chills yet, East Coasters? Are they multiplying ?! And this gem, which wins the meme-off by a mile ( Todd Hale via Jezebel ): The Category 1 hurricane is set to rock the Eastern seaboard tonight into the early week ( tell me about it, stud ) and already has tens of millions of people longing for those bygone summer nights. GROAN! For those of you venturing out in the ‘cane for Halloween, here’s a free costume idea: Combine Olivia Newton-John’s bad-girl blonde curls, hot mama lipstick, and dangling cigarette with a skintight off-the-shoulder trash bag covered in cotton ball clouds and toy cars and hit those Halloween parties as Hurricane Sandy Olsen. Doubles as protective rainwear! In all seriousness, stay safe out there, hurricane pals. Put your disaster days off from work and school to good use, by which I mean making more Hurricane Sandy memes for my internet-browsing enjoyment. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
If you’d like Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to be a total surprise when it opens on Dec. 14, then, by all means, skip to another post on this page. You won’t want to read my reference to a very in-depth — and whimsically illustrated — piece on the secrets of the first installment of the Hobbit trilogy. The piece, entitled “Massive Secrets of The Hobbit － Revealed!” was written and drawn by Lauren Davis after a visit to the set of The Hobbit in Wellington, New Zealand this past spring. Since cameras were forbidden, Davis drew the illustrations that accompany her report, which provides the back stories of dwarves, secrets of Thorin’s sword and behind-the-scenes look at the Hobbit homeland, Hobbiton, where the female of the species dress in the style of 18th-Century Sardinian women. Jackson also explains that because the first Hobbit adventure is meant to be a tad lighter than The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Ring’s effects on Bilbo will be noticeable but not as dark as they were in the first films. Jackson says moviegoers will see some of the Shadow World when Bilbo slips on the Ring, “but it won’t be so nightmarish,” he explains in Davis’ report because, “It’s in its infancy, before attracting the Eye of Sauron.” Similarly, costume designer Bob Buck explains that the Hobbit homeland, Hobbiton, will also be depicted as a much more colorful place because the ring has not been there to “suck the life out ” of the place. Which can happen, too, if you read too many spoilers. Just sayin’, Precious. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Compact and athletic in their identical cargo pants, Alex ( Gael García Bernal ) and Nica (Hani Furstenberg) are almost the same size, a pair of well-traveled pixies making their way through Georgia (the country, not the state). They’re engaged to be married, but in the meantime they’re backpacking, a journey that, when The Loneliest Planet begins, is about to take them into the Caucasus Mountains on a multi-day hike for which they’ve hired a guide named Dato (Bidzina Gujabidze). They look so happy and free, Nica and Alex, trying out the few phrases of Georgian they’ve picked up and partaking of local street food after a minor investigation as to what kind of meat it involves. They’re the opposite of ugly Americans (Alex might not actually be American at all), ready to try anything and quietly confident that they’ll be welcomed, that the world is meant to be explored. The third film from Julia Loktev ( Day Night Day Night ) and, by this critic’s reckoning, one of the finest of the year, The Loneliest Planet is based on a short story by Tom Bissell that’s itself inspired by a famous Hemingway work, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber . That earliest incarnation of this narrative is about a wealthy couple on a hunting trip in Africa lead by a professional guide, the wife a beautiful, emasculating figure who punishes her husband for a recent display of cowardice out in the bush. Bissell offered up a less toxic, contemporized take on the characters, but Loktev’s version is something else again, a profoundly cinematic exploration of the way a single incident completely unsettles the way this man and woman think of each other and themselves. The Loneliest Planet is primarily a three-person drama, and its eventual deep emotional turmoil and the power shifts that come with it play out not in speech but in behavior, submerged in everything from the withholding of physical contact to the formation in which the trio of hikers walks. The splintering incident, which takes place at the midpoint of the film, is in fact never discussed, though it reverberates throughout everything that follows. It’s a frightening but relatively minor thing that comes complete with a punchline, the kind of story you’d get mileage out of at a dinner party, but what it reveals about Alex and, eventually, Nica, is such that the couple stumbles through the hours after in a state of shock. The Loneliest Planet was made with an intoxicating and precise faith in the ability of images to convey feelings that words would be too clumsy and blunt to appropriately delineate. Its sophistication in its storytelling isn’t minimalism, exactly – the film never feels like it’s making a gimmick of its stretches of silence or choosing them over exchanges of dialog, but rather makes it clear that speech is unnecessary or inadequate. The film’s giant in scope, set against gorgeous wilderness, pulling back for periodic long shots in which the characters are tiny beside the splendid scenery. But its dramas are claustrophobic, defined in part by the presence of Dato as the outsider witnessing this implosion, the three always in each other’s company as they make their way over rocky and grassy terrain and break to camp for the night. Loktev, working with cinematographer Inti Briones, allows the film to flow out in long takes, the camera another impassive observer, sometimes still and other times tracking alongside the trio as they walk. The unbroken shots demand very intimate performances – Bernal and Furstenberg both have interesting, mobile faces that are allowed to occupy the frame for unhurried beats. Furstenberg, with her bright red hair and gap teeth, is a goofily unconventional beauty, and Bernal’s at his best like this, when he allows his handsomeness to be accompanied by a note of shiftiness. He and Furstenberg suggest their characters’ whole history together in easy shorthand, from the game they make of conjugating verbs in Spanish to the way they settle in to read Knut Hamsun at night in their tent. They aren’t smug, but a halo of bohemian sophistication illuminates many of their actions, from Nica’s insistence that she doesn’t need help navigating a tricky crossing to Alex noting that he doesn’t have a car, only a bicycle. As it’s put to the test several times in the latter half of the film, it’s revealed as a surface quality covering up underlying expectations neither Nica nor Alex may have realized they harbored. Non-pro Gujabidze brings both a dry humor and an almost frightening soulfulness to his character. As Nica drifts to his side, a cowed Alex trails after them, seeking out penance by insisting they needn’t stop when he hurts his leg and going out into the rain without a jacket. Dato’s otherness becomes evident and a kind of test, the life he’s led so different and so marked by tragedy that he dwarfs Nica and Alex in the privilege they’ve been able to enjoy, in the existences that have left them unscarred, fresh and unaware. They are, for all their curiosity and adventurousness, just visitors, passing through and taking in these sites and experiences before heading home. For all the film’s long silences, it’s the opening up and talking that becomes the loneliest moment of them all, a sharp and the sudden reveal of the distance that can exist between two people. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The time is ripe for a James Bond auction. The latest in the franchise, Skyfall , heads to North American theaters in early November and the 50th anniversary of 007 is a key slot for a memorabilia sale. Posters from every Bond pic, stills, lobby cards, scripts and other memorables will hit the auction block and in December and is expected to take in over $200K. But the loot may pail in comparison to an earlier sale of Bond tidbits, including a bathing suit worn by 007’s latest incarnation, Daniel Craig . One of the centerpieces of the planned sale of Bond memorabilia is a rare From Russia With Love special advance Leicester Square world-premiere poster from 1963, according to Reuters. It is one of only a handful known to exist and it’s expected to nab $10,000 – $15,000. Certainly not bad, though not quite the tidy sum swimming trunks worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale fetched at a separate London auction . Judi Dench presented the swimming costume (as the Brits call it) and joked they were “unwashed,” selling for a cool $72,000. The latest items going under the hammer were assembled by a private British collector over 25 years, noted the auction house’s head Joe Maddalena. “He wanted to build the most comprehensive James Bond movie poster collection,” he said. “It’s really a mind-boggling collection.” Maddalena pointed out a yellow Dr. No silkscreen on linen poster from 1962 that is thought to be the very first 007 film poster ever to appear to the public. Other highlights going on sale is a rare U.K. advance for Goldfinger and a 1964 British Thunderball poster from 1965. They’re expected to sell for $4,000 – $6,000, though Maddalena noted that he tries to keep estimates “conservative.” The auction will take place n Los Angeles December 15 and 16 and will include hundreds of other Hollywood-themed memorabilia aside from Bond. Auctions have reaped huge sums in past sales. Marilyn Monroe’s “subway” dress from The Seven Year Itch sold for a whopping $5.5 million, while Audrey Hepburn’s Ascot dress from My Fair Lady grabbed $4.4 million. [ Source: Reuters ]
Also in Wednesday morning’s new round-up: In the run-up to the election, a major cable company is offering its customers a free viewing of an anti-Obama doc; Details on Peter Jackson ‘s The Hobbit and a book deal for a Spider-Man creator. Avengers Halloween Costumes Top Moviegoers Survey Among 2012 releases, Avengers characters took the top four spots with males, with Chris Hemsworth’s Thor edging out the other characters from summer’s box office hit for the No. 1 spot. Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man came in second, followed by Chris Evans’ Captain America and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk , THR reports . Al Pacino Takes On Rocker Role Pacino will appear in Dan Fogelman’s Imagine , alongside Jeremy Renner – as the 40-year-old son with whom he tries to reconnect – and Julianne Moore, as the owner of the hotel he moves into on his quest for spiritual absolution. He is an aging rocker who turns over a new leaf after discovering an undelivered letter written by John Lennon to his 19-year-old self, The Guardian and Deadline report . Hobbit Running Time Revealed “It’s looking like it’s going to be about ten minutes shorter than Fellowship was,” explains Jackson. “So it’s going to be officially our shortest Middle-earth yet. I mean, Fellowship was just under three hours and this is about 2 hours 40 minutes at the moment.” Empire reports . Battleground Cabler Offering Anti-Obama Doc for Free “Armstrong Utilities is the nation’s 15th-largest cable provider and operates in 6 states including Ohio and Pennsylvania, two crucial battleground states in the 2012 election. In Ohio alone Armstrong is available in over 50 cities and towns in 10 Ohio counties. So it’s all the more controversial that the cabler is offering the anti-Obama documentary 2016: Obama’s America ’s as a “Free Movie Special” to all its subscribers on demand at no charge, Deadline reports . Spider-Man Musical Writer Gets Book Deal “The big-budget production – featuring music by U2’s Bono and The Edge – was plagued by problems including delays and a series of stunt accidents. Publishers say Berger’s book will give the ‘ultimate fly-on-the-wall account.’ Song of Spider-Man: The Inside Story of the Most Controversial Musical in Broadway History is due out next year, BBC reports .
