We established long ago, well before Tower Heist was greenlit, that sorting out the many irons in Brett Ratner’s directorial fire is something of a fool’s errand . New projects seem to come and go from the filmmaker’s slate every day, with a few priority projects like Beverly Hills Cop IV hang on for dear life (their stars’ disinterest notwithstanding). And now you can add another “dream project” to the list.
“They’ve given us a special dispensation… to have lung cancer.” So quipped director Bruce Robinson, joining Johnny Depp and the assembled cast of this weekend’s Hunter S. Thompson adaptation The Rum Diary for a late morning presser the other week at the swanky Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. Things kicked things off, appropriately enough, with a cloud of cigar smoke that hung in the air like the ghost of Thompson himself — whom Robinson insisted was in the room, watching the entire proceedings.
It’s shaping up to be a busy weekend at the box office and our partners at Movie Fanatic have reviewed all the new offerings in advance of their Friday openings. Let’s get right to it, shall we? In Time Trailer In Time : Justin Timberlake headlines this action packed, sci-fi thriller from Gattaca mastermind Andrew Niccol. It’s a true mind-bender that asks the question: What if money was replaced by time? Amanda Seyfried co-stars in a movie that will make you think much of the time without wasting a second of yours. Check out Movie Fanatic’s In Time review . The Rum Diary : This Johnny Depp picture is not a blockbuster for everyone, but for fans of the star and the late Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary delivers. As Movie Fanatic’s Rum Diary review notes, it’s a work that blends powerful messages with complex performances from its cast and an exquisite ’60s feel. Puss in Boots Trailer Puss in Boots: An odds-on favorite to run away from the box office competition, Antonio Banderas brings his swashbuckling Shrek character back for the lead role. Adventurous, sweet and uncannily smart in its introduction of new characters such as Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) and Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis), Puss’ origins story takes audiences back to the beginning and is fun for all ages. Follow the link now for Movie Fanatic’s Puss in Boots review ! The Double: Richard Gere and Topher Grace star in a CIA thriller about an agent (Gere) who retired after spending a career tracking an international assassin. Anonymous: Screenwriter John Orloff, after extensive research, presents Anonymous and its idea that William Shakespeare did not write all his masterpieces. While clearly different, Anonymous also falls under “origins” stories with Rum and Puss in Boots . Read Movie Fanatic’s full Anonymous review for more insight. Which of these films do you think you might check out?
Amber Heard stars in The Rum Diary, and she’s skintoxicatingly nude. On Blu-Ray, it’s the ’80s skin classic The Hollywood Nights, with bush-baring cheerleaders, and the horror flick Zombie, where a naked chick swims with a shark. I think we’re gonna need a bigger bra.
After years of watching Johnny Depp give performances from behind thick rings of pirate eyeliner or masks of outlandish Tim Burton makeup, it’s a relief to see him, more and more often these days, acting with nothing but his real face. In Bruce Robinson’s The Rum Diary — liberally adapted from Hunter S. Thompson’s novel — Depp plays a wayfaring, hard-drinking journalist, Paul Kemp, who has drifted to Puerto Rico, circa 1960, where he lands a job at a floundering, two-bit newspaper, The San Juan Star . Its editor, played by a cigar-chomping Richard Jenkins, hires him reluctantly; never mind that he was the only person who applied for the job.
‘Found footage’ sequel beats out ‘Footloose’ and ‘Real Steel’ and breaks record previously held by ‘Jackass 3D.’ By Ryan J. Downey Katie Featherston and Sprague Grayden in “Paranormal Activity 3” Photo: Paramount Pictures Moviegoers were feeling the Halloween “spirit” over the weekend. “Paranormal Activity 3” broke the box-office record for the biggest fall opening with an estimated $54 million debut, passing “Jackass 3-D” to become the highest-grossing September/October opening ever. Meanwhile, “The Three Musketeers,” “Johnny English Reborn” and “The Mighty Macs” all underperformed. Both “Real Steel” and the remake of “Footloose” held strong over the weekend. Hugh Jackman’s robot action adventure was #2 with $11.3 million for a $67.2 million total, with “Footloose” right behind at #3 with $10.9 million for a $30.9 million total. Roughly 55 percent of “The Three Musketeers” $8.8 million debut, which landed the film at #4 at the box office, can be attributed to its more expensive 3-D screening ticket prices. Co-star Milla Jovovich made entertainment news headlines with a flurry of tweets questioning the promotion effort behind the flick on the part of distributor Summit Entertainment, which also handles the “Twilight” franchise. “I think ‘summit’ have swept ‘3 Musketeers’, a grt family adventure film, under the rug in the US. Shame on them,” the actress declared in one of several tweets unleashed on Friday. The film, directed by Jovovich’s husband, Paul W.S. Anderson, was dismissed by most film critics. “An editorial mess, an atonal wreck, and a huge waste of cash from inception to release,” Scott Weinberg at Twitch wrote. “The Ides of March” rounded out the top five with $4.9 million. The George Clooney-directed political feature has earned $29.2 million to date. While the comedy “Johnny English Reborn” has done respectable business internationally, it made just $3.8 million during its first weekend in North American theaters. “The Mighty Macs” made just over $1 million, although it played in less than a third of the locations as “Paranormal Activity 3.” Lizzie Olsen’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene” got off to a strong start at just four locations in New York and Los Angeles, taking in a respectable per-theater average of $34,385. Lizzie is the sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Next weekend’s new releases include Johnny Depp’s “The Rum Diary,” “Shrek” spin-off “Puss in Boots,” Justin Timberlake’s “In Time” and director Roland Emmerich’s “Anonymous.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Paranormal Activity 3” and “Footloose.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos ‘Paranormal Activity 3’ Is ‘Beyond Scary’
‘Kon was ‘fully involved’ in her first two albums, but now ‘creatively, 100 percent, it’s all Gaga,’ he tells MTV News. By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Rob Markman Lady Gaga Photo: WireImage Over the course of her ever-evolving career, Lady Gaga’s longtime boss, Akon , has always been by Gaga’s side as she reincarnated herself from disco-ball-wearing dance princess to couture-sporting pop demi-goddess. Now that Mother Monster is several years and millions of albums sold into her career, Akon has stepped back a bit and changed his role in the Haus of Gaga, giving the singer more control over what she does with her career. “So the way it works is, Gaga’s on Kon Live/Streamline, which is Vincent Herbert, and it’s distributed through Interscope,” he explained to MTV News. “And the first two albums, we were fully involved in everything creative when it comes to Gaga, and then, as she grows, she becomes more in tune with herself [and] what she wants to do. “Now she has full control over her project, period,” he continued. “Everything you see of Gaga now is all from her brain … and our job is just to make sure whatever she’s thinking we can make into reality. So I guess more so with the approval processes and everything like that, we still do what we do, but creatively, 100 percent, it’s all Gaga, and Vince does all the day-to-day stuff relating to Gaga.” Then whatever’s about to go down in Gaga’s upcoming “Marry the Night” video certainly got the A-OK from Akon. The singer was spotted in New York City filming a clip for the fifth single from her chart-topping Born This Way. What are you expecting from the “Marry the Night” video? Let us know in the comments! Related Videos MTV First: Lady Gaga Related Artists Lady Gaga Akon
‘These vampire movies have come out, and you go, ‘Well, nobody looks like a vampire, man,’ ‘ Depp tells MTV News. By Kara Warner Johnny Depp Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/ Getty Images Anytime Johnny Depp and Tim Burton get together for a film, fans know to expect the unexpected, particularly with their retellings of familiar stories like “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Alice in Wonderland” and their next highly anticipated project, the big-screen adaptation of ’60s vampire soap “Dark Shadows.” The fan fervor surrounding “Shadows” hit a high point recently when photos leaked of a heavily made-up Depp in his full Barnabas Collins costume , followed by the production’s first official photo of the entire cast posed family portrait-style and Burton in action on set . When MTV News caught up with Depp recently as he promoted “The Rum Diary,” which hits theaters October 28, we asked what inspired the highly stylized look of the character. “The memory that I have of watching the show as a kid, Jonathan Frid and what he did with that character was the main inspiration, for sure,” he said of the actor who originated the role of Barnabas. “But also the idea of, over the years, these vampire movies have come out and vampire TV shows and stuff like that, and you go, ‘Well, nobody looks like a vampire, man. What happened?’ “I adored Dracula, still do. I adored [everyone] from Bela Lugosi to Christopher Lee. I adore Nosferatu, [played by] Max Schrek. I adore all those wonderful sort-of horror films. And it was an opportunity really, an opportunity to sort of go into what really doesn’t exist [onscreen] so much anymore, which is classic monster makeup and a classic monster character,” Depp explained. “So that was really the inspiration Tim and I talked about.” Depp and Burton’s “Dark Shadows,” which also stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, Chloe Moretz, Jackie Earle Hayley and Eva Green, will be released May 11, 2012. Check out everything we’ve got on “Dark Shadows.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .
In new interview with Billboard, Florence Welch reveals she nearly worked with Lady Gaga and Katy Perry’s hitmaking teams. By James Montgomery Florence Welch on the cover of Billboard magazine Photo: Billboard Florence Welch graces the cover of the new issue of Billboard magazine (on stands now), and inside, she talks about the making of Ceremonials, her brand-new album with the Machine due November 1 here in the States. Welch began work on Ceremonials (the follow-up to their 2009 breakout Lungs ) more than 18 months ago, and during those early stages, they toyed with the notion of making the new album with the same hitmakers responsible for Lady Gaga and Katy Perry’s success. But eventually, as she told the magazine, Welch decided against it because it would be too much of a departure. “I love Lady Gaga and I love Katy Perry and R&B and rap music. … I love big, American pop music. … So the label said, ‘Do you want to go over to America to work in that scene?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, OK. Maybe I could bring my own take on it,’ ” she recalled. “It got put in the diary to go out for a week, to start writing the new record. And then the diary got sent to me, and I looked at it and just went, ‘No … I can’t do that. This is too weird. I can’t just suddenly leave behind everything that made Lungs. ‘ ” Instead, she decided to work with producer Paul Epworth (most recently known for Adele’s multi-multi-platinum 21 ), and yet, sessions kept getting delayed due to Florence’s continued success in the U.S., thanks in no small part to her show-stealing performance at the 2010 Video Music Awards . Eventually, with Epworth working on tracks in his London studio and Welch recording vocals in U.S. studios during days off from her tour, the duo finished some 40 tracks, 12 of which made the cut for Ceremonials (a total of 20 will be included on the album’s deluxe version, Billboard reports). “I’m pretty surprised at how prolific I’ve been, to be honest. When making the first album, I think I wrote a song about every six months,” Welch said. “The first album was so much about the vocals carrying it. This time I really wanted to give the music space to breathe and for the band to be able to experiment.” Of course, though she was under the gun to finish the new album, Welch says she never felt pressure — mostly because she’d already felt it during the making of her first album. “Nothing could have been harder than making the first record, so I was prepared for the onslaught this time,” she said. “There was a huge amount of media scrutiny on me. … Those conditions of people waiting and waiting, that expectance, everyone talking about you … those are the conditions that I did my first album in. This one, by comparison, is much easier. I came into it having a much clearer idea of what sound I wanted to make and a much clearer idea of what was going to happen after the record was finished.” What are you expecting from Florence’s next album? Let us know in the comments! Related Artists Florence + the Machine
We may have one Johnny Depp adaptation fast approaching ( The Rum Diary opens in theaters October 28), but that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about the other Johnny Depp adaptation down the line. Dark Shadows , the actor’s next and eighth collaboration with Tim Burton will bring the forgotten ’60s goth soap opera of the same name to life. Although it isn’t due out until May 2012, Empire does have a sneak peak of the behind-the-scenes action. Do you have your captioning pens handy?
