The Avengers had an even better weekend than initially thought . The Academy sets up a new outdoor screening venue and it looks like Kick-Ass is getting a sequel . Those are among the spotlights in Monday afternoon’s Biz Break round up. Also in the mix, Arnold Schwarzenegger picks up a gig and actor Mark Ruffalo ‘s Twitter account gets hacked. Avengers Sails Passed $207M Marvel’s The Avengers took $207.4M at the North American box office over the weekend, higher than the $200,329,000 estimated Sunday morning . The film crossed the $600 million mark globally in just 12 days. Its worldwide cumulative count is now $654.8 million. Academy Announces Slate of Outdoor Events The Academy unveiled a new outdoor screening venue and a slate of summer movies set for June 15th through August 18th. The “Oscars Outdoors” series will devote every Friday night to classics and contemporary favorites aimed at adult audiences, and every Saturday night to family-friendly fare. The final Friday night presentation, on August 17, will be an “Audience Choice” selection, determined by fans who cast votes on www.oscars.org/outdoors. Most features will be preceded by surprise animated or live-action short subjects. Around the ‘net… Kick-Ass Sequel Set for Summer Shoot Kick-Ass comic series illustrator John Romita Jr. is promising a Summer 2012 start date for the movie sequel with a planned May 2013 release, Screen Rant reports . Action Thriller Ten to Team David Ayer and Arnold Schwarzenegger Open Road has picked up U.S. rights to action thriller Ten which David Ayer will direct and former CA governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will star. Deadline reports . Imelda Staunton, Miranda Richardson Board Maleficent Imelda Staunton and Miranda Richardson are joining Angelina Jolie in Maleficent , Disney’s live-action re-tell of the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. THR reports . Catfish Team Join for The Monkey Wrench Gang Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the team behind the 2010 Sundance Film Festival documentary Catfish and Paranormal Activity 3 , will write and direct an adaptation of the Edward Abbey novel The Monkey Wrench Gang , Deadline reports . Avengers Star Mark Ruffalo’s Twitter Account Hacked The actor who plays Bruce Banner in smash hit The Avengers had his account taken over and even changed his username from @MRuff221 to @Mark_Ruffalo and proceeded to add some peculiar posts. “The women of Hollywood sure have some great boobs,” read one. E Online reports . Checking in with Debra Granik’s Latest Filmmaker Debra Granik earned four Oscar noms for Winter’s Bone , starring Jennifer Lawrence. Now she’s taking on a possible HBO project, This American Highlife , her film version of Russell Banks’ novel Rule Of The Bone and a doc about U.S. war veterans inspired by an actor in Winter’s Bone . Thompson on Hollywood reports . Culkin & Czuchry Take on Gabriel Rory Culkin ( Scream 4 ) and Matt Czuchry ( The Good Wife ) are set to star in indie project Gabriel by writer/director Lou Howe. Culkin will star as the title character, Variety reports . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Cinco de Mayo weekend will surely belong to Marvel’s The Avengers , which has already racked up $18.7 million in U.S. grosses courtesy of last night’s midnight screenings. The superhero filled adventure has been pegged as possibly this year’s biggest box office draw — time will tell . But for those who want to check out something else besides superheroes (or want to resuscitate from its aftermath) there are plenty of specialty releases opening this weekend including Fox Searchlight’s India-set The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel , Sundance Selects’ dance doc First Position , ATO’s water doc Last Call at the Oasis , Kathleen Turner starrer The Perfect Family . And, if you need a little more Samuel L. Jackson in your life post- Avengers , check out his other opener Meeting Evil . Marvel’s The Avengers (Opening Wide) Director: Joss Whedon Writers Zak Penn (story), Joss Whedon (story and screenplay), Stan Lee (comic book), Jack Kirby (comic book) Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson Destined to be the big box office draw of 2012 (so far), Marvel’s The Avengers features a “Super Hero team of a lifetime. Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow battle an enemy that threatens global safety. The director of the international peacekeeping agency – S.H.I.E.L.D. – assembles the team to save the world from certain disaster. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (Limited Release) Director John Madden Writers: Ol Parker (screenplay), Deborah Moggach (novel) Cast: Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith Distributor: Fox Searchlight The feature revolves around a group of British retirees who move to India to “outsource” their retirement in a less expensive but exotic locale. They’re drawn by advertisements to the newly refurbished Marigold Hotel, but arrive to find it less than they envisioned. Less luxurious than they had oped, they’re nevertheless transformed by their shared experience, “discovering that life and love can begin again when you let go of the past.” Marigold shot in October 2010 in India, which producer Graham Broadbent described as an “extraordinary, bewildering place.” They arrived with a small crew from the U.K., which was met by a massive team from India during their 45-day stay. “There were 350 people in the crew,” said Broadbent. “In the U.K. we’d expect maybe 120.” First Position (Limited Release) Director: Bess Kargman Subjects: Aran Bell, Gaya Bommer Yemini, Michaela Deprince Distributor: Sundance Selects Check out Movieline’s exclusive clip from First Position : (http://movieline.com/2012/05/04/first-position-clip-whats-it-take-to-be-a-boy-in-ballet-exclusive/) The doc is an inspirational look at six ballet dancers ages 9 to 19 who sacrifice physically and emotionally on their way to one of the most prestigious youth ballet competitions in the world. First Position takes a year-long look at children around the world who strive to master an art form despite the odds. “We fell in love with these kids who are striving to do their best with the pressures they’re facing,” Sundance Selects exec Ryan Werner said about the film. His company picked up the title at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and since then it has won awards at Doc NYC and at festivals in Portland, Dallas and San Francisco. Also sure to give the doc a push is the fact that one of its characters is on ABC’s Dancing With The Stars . Nightline and Good Morning America are doing stories on the film. First Position is available on demand and will open in theaters in New York and L.A. this weekend. “We’re actively pursuing the dance community as we did for [our other recent dance doc] Pina, but also people who are interested in a ‘great story.'” Last Call At The Oasis Director: Jessica Yu Writer: Jessica Yu Subjects: Erin Brockovich-Ellis, Jay Famiglietti, Peter H. Gleick Distributor: ATO Pictures in partnership with Participant Media This doc is a wakeup call about the worldwide water crisis. Featuring activists Erin Brockovich and others, the film exposes how water will become one of the biggest challenges society will face this century and offers up solutions. Selling a documentary about the world’s looming water crisis may be a tough sell at best. But there are potential solutions to drum up interest at low to no cost and the film’s distributor has been working those avenues. Director Jessica Yu joined a packed house at the Ford Foundation in Manhattan last month for a screening of the film which kicked off the 4th annual “Envision” conference, which focuses on issues relating to a “sustainable future,” co-hosted by the U.N. and the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP). “Part of the publicity is reaching out to NGOs,” said ATO Pictures co-president Jonathan Dorfman. “And [partner] Participant ( An Inconvenient Truth, Waiting for Superman ) has a lot of great relationships with those groups…They deliver on the docs.” ATO first saw the film last year in Toronto and were impressed by its quality and the highly regarded people who appear in the feature. “There are serious experts like Erin Brokovich and others who know [a lot] about this,” noted Dorfamn who added that the famed environmental advocate made famous by Julia Roberts portrayal of her back in 2000 will be heading to Los Angeles post-screening Q&As at the Landmark on Friday and has also been doing press to promote the film. Meeting Evil (Limited Release) Director: Chris Fisher Writers: Thomas Berger (novel), Chris Fisher Cast: Luke Wilson, Samuel L. Jackson, Leslie Bibb, Peyton List It’s not just The Avengers actor Samuel L. Jackson has going on this weekend, he’s also starring in this weekend’s crime thriller, Meeting Evil . The film centers on John (Luke Wilson) a depressed suburban family man who is recently unemployed. After he stops to help a stranger with his car, he’s forced into a surreal murder-filled ride that forces him to confront everything about his life. The Perfect Family Director: Anne Renton Writers: Paula Goldberg, Claire V. Riley Cast: Kathleen Turner, Emily Deschanel, Jason Ritter Religious mom Eileen Cleary (Kathleen Turner) is nominated for the coveted Catholic Woman of the Year Award at her local parish, but she has one challenge – her non-conformist family. Her gay daughter Shannon (Emily Deschanel) want to marry her partner and her unhappily married son Frank Jr. (Jason Ritter) is hooking up with a local manicurist. Meanwhile, her own marriage to a recovering alcoholic is less than ideal. With a budget of less than $1 million and a script, they turned to actress Kathleen Turner for the main role. “We were trying to put together as good of a cast as we possibly could to maximize attention and press,” producer Cora Olson said. After implementing some script changes Turner requested Olson and her producing partner Jennifer Dubin reached out to Emily Deschanel who they knew socially to join the cast and they also sought out Jason Ritter, who worked on their previous project Good Dick, which they also produced and released. The Perfect Family shot 19 days in Los Angeles, which she said ran pretty smoothly. “Jen and I have done a lot of these types of films and it’s important to get crews who understand this kind of schedule,” she said. The film debuted last year at Tribeca and Present Pictures has partnered with Variance Pictures for the theatrical release. [Comments and other portions of this article were previously published in Brian Brooks’ weekly specialty preview article on Deadline .]
Movieline joins music and film fans in mourning the death of Adam Yauch – a.k.a. MCA, one-third of rap legends the Beastie Boys, influential filmmaker and music-video director, and founder of independent-film distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories. In other film news, Friday afternoon’s Biz Break includes rundowns on Jonah Hill’s collaboration with Martin Scorsese, Cannes’ new addition to its official selection, Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, and UTA’s failed bid for a Beverly Hills street name. The Weinstein Company Nabs Rights To Dustin Hoffman’s Directorial Debut TWC will take U.S. and Latin American rights to Dustin Hoffman’s comedy Quartet from HanWay Films. Starring Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon and Pauline Collins, the film revolves around a home for retired opera singers. Each year Reggie, Wilf and Cissy stage a concert to raise funds for the home, but Reggie’s ex-wife shows up, creating tension and playing the diva. Cannes Adds Le Serment de Tobrouk to Roster The festival will add Bernard-Henri Levy’s Le Serment de Tobrouk ( The Oath of Tobruk ) to its Official Selection and will screen May 25. Made during the eight-month conflict that ended Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s dictatorship, the film traces the unfolding of that unusual war. Four key figures from the Libyan revolution will attend the screening. From around the ‘net… Jonah Hill to Star with Leo in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street The recent Moneyball Oscar-nominee will star along with Leonardo DiCaprio in the adaptation of Jordan Belfort’s memoir about hard-partying, dramatic rise and fall on Wall Street. Boardwalk Empire creator Terence Winter wrote the script, Deadline reports . After Adam Yauch’s Death, Oscilloscope Reverses Management Change After announcing he will leave his top management position at Oscilloscope which he co-founded with Adam Yauch four years ago, David Fenkel will remain involved in running the company, a spokesperson told The Wrap. Fox Renames Neighborhood Watch Movie in Florida Shooting Aftermath Now re-named The Watch , 20th Century Fox wanted to avoid any association with the tragic shooting of teen Trayvon Martin in Florida earlier this year, Deadline reports . UTA Ends Pursuit of Beverly Hills Street Name at New H.Q. The talent agency expected Beverly Hills would approve United Talent Agency Drive street signs near the company’s new headquarters at its new 120,000 square foot offices off Civic Center Drive, THR reports .
One good ammo-riddled torrent of multiplex marketing deserves another, right? Never mind. Ready or not, and on the heels of this afternoon’s wild End of Watch spot , behold a new trailer for The Expendables 2 . It’s got more bullets than brain cells, and someone literally died in one of these explosions (or at least one like them), but who can argue with Arnold Schwarzengger quipping, “I’m back!” or Jason Statham issuing a smirking pronouncement of “man and knife”? I’m pretty sure this is the first trailer to ever give viewers PTSD — and that’s just after Sylvester Stallone’s intro. [ IGN ]
While talking up this month’s Men in Black III – in which he does an uncanny Tommy Lee Jones impersonation playing Jones’ ‘60s-era younger self – Josh Brolin took a moment to discuss the upcoming project that makes him nervous just to think about: Spike Lee ’s Oldboy , the remake of Park Chan-wook’s ultraviolent 2003 film, for which Brolin says he sought Park’s blessing before taking on the Hollywood remake. “I love Oldboy and I’m close with Chan-wook Park and I emailed him a couple months ago just asking for his blessing to do this movie,” said Brolin, “because if he had said no I wouldn’t have done it. I really respect his movie and we’ll make a little different movie, and this whole idea of a more Hollywood version of it, whatever – we’re just going to do a different version and have respect for the initial story and premise.” “I’m talking about it nervously because it makes me nervous.” Brolin will be joined in the cast by rising ingénue Elizabeth Olsen and District 9 ’s Sharlto Copley , the latter of whom sent his own message to Brolin when he joined the cast. “He just wrote me an email and was like, ‘Look, I’ve got to get this out of the way – Goonies was my favorite film! Now I’m going to make 20 years of your life miserable,’” Brolin said. The details of just how much Lee’s remake will stay true to the original film remain a mystery, though Brolin did confirm that their version will keep the infamous hammer fight scene. “Yes, by the way,” he said. “Yes. It’s a hammer, a knife, and all that stuff. Will we keep the octopus and the other stuff? You know, there are some changes and all that. But I think it’s really good. It still makes me throw down the script halfway through.” Filming begins in October on the anticipated project, and while Brolin seems confident that the remake will remain true to the source material while carving its own path, he knows a thing or two about woulda-coulda-shoulda thinking. Elsewhere in the conversation, Brolin brought up the specter of his 2010 bomb Jonah Hex unprompted. “I think that was a snowball effect,” he said, citing the film’s meteoric plunge in the media. “It got so much negative press, because we did so many reshoots, we did a ton of reshoots, man. I’m going to stand behind any movie that I do, and I do like the character. If I go back and see it now, I go, ‘That’s an interesting character.’ It’s not the movie I would have made. My intention was to make an Eastwood/Leone-esque really gritty $5-7 million film that I think would have been massively profitable, but you don’t have control over these things all the time.” Despite all that, Brolin learned a long time ago to embrace the serendipity of perceived failure – like when he lost the lead in 21 Jump Street to Johnny Depp . “ 21 Jump Street was between Johnny Depp and I,” he recalled. “Johnny got it, but we were in his apartment waiting to find out which one was going to actually leave on a plane that night.” Asked how he dealt with the disappointment of losing that gig, he laughed. “I love that you think 21 Jump Street was a huge disappointment! Johnny called me a year later and said, ‘Dude, this is awful!’” Stay tuned for more from Brolin, Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Barry Sonnenfeld on Men in Black III . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
“A California man who legally changed his name to ‘Obiwan Kenobi’ was released from jail yesterday after spending five days in custody following his arrest on a hit-and-run count. Kenobi, 37, has been charged with leaving the scene of a five-car accident last month in Roseville. According to cops, Kenobi’s reckless driving triggered the chain-reaction collision. Formerly known as Benjamin Cale Feit, Kenobi changed his name in 1999 in response to a radio stunt tied to the release of Star Wars: Episode I. A California station offered $1000 to the first listener to legally change their name to that of the fictional Jedi master.” Nice work! He’s got a ways to go before catching up with Yoda’s four DUI’s, but still. [ The Smoking Gun via Geekologie ]
Avengers fans, fear not! You’ll find no spoilers for this Friday’s big tentpole herein. Just know this: You’re going to want to stay through the end credits for the expected post-credits bonus scenes that Marvel Studios are known to slide into their films, because The Avengers reportedly contains not one, but two of ’em. Looks like Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t lying about filming the day after the premiere! (Wait, does that mean Joss led us all astray?) Oh, fine. If you can’t stand the not knowing, bang it here for details. [@ thefilmcynic , SuperheroHype ]
You loved the Blair Witch Project , the Paranormal Activities , and all of the knockoff faux-doc horror pics that followed, so now ladies and gentlemen, here comes a Christian horror pic entitled Harmless . Shot, according to the film’s website, “in the popular found footage style,” the film tells the freaky tale of one wholesome family torn asunder and terrified… by a box of porn . Behold the horrors that await (in terribly staged, lo-fi scenes of temptation and terror) in the trailer for Harmless . But first! Let the makers of Harmless explain to you what their film is all about. From their official site : ” Harmless is a feature film shot in the popular found footage style. It’s the story about a husband and father and his battle with a box of porn that is found in the closet. Once opened, the box of porn begins to torment the family, much like a poltergeist. It’s sort of a social commentary on how pornography can destroy a family.” Naturally. To the film’s credit, the porn-obsessed family man with a home video camera does justify the found footage setup more than most films in the genre do. “Oh honey, I’m just documenting this for posterity,” wink wink… [ Christian Nightmares via Jezebel ]
All the fuss over Spike Lee ‘s Oldboy remake star search can finally be put to rest, it seems — though who could have predicted that South African actor Sharlto Copley would’ve landed the plum co-starring lead opposite Josh Brolin ? According to Deadline , the District 9 star, most recently seen bursting out of the woodwork every now and then as the manic “Howling Mad” Murdock in 2010’s The A-Team , has nabbed the key role of Adrian Pryce, Oldboy ‘s villain and “a mysterious billionaire trying to destroy the life of Joe Douchett (Brolin).” Bold move, Spike. But does Copley fit the bill (and, more importantly: Can he hold his own against Brolin)? [ Deadline ]
Benh Zeitlin’s magical realist fable Beasts of the Southern Wild blazed a buzzy trail through Sundance ’12 , but the rest of the world has had to wait months to see with their own eyes what all that fuss was about. So without further ado, watch the film’s fantastic first trailer, starring newcomer Quvenzhané Wallis in a tale of a six-year-old named Hushpuppy who becomes a hero when a storm approaches her bayou home. Head to Apple for the trailer debut in HD. Synopsis: In a forgotten but defiant bayou community cut off from the rest of the world by a sprawling levee, a six-year-old girl exists on the brink of orphanhood. Buoyed by her childish optimism and extraordinary imagination, she believes that the natural world is in balance with the universe until a fierce storm changes her reality. Desperate to repair the structure of her world in order to save her ailing father and sinking home, this tiny hero must learn to survive unstoppable catastrophes of epic proportions. Beasts of the Southern Wild won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and was snatched up by Fox Searchlight, who will release the anticipated indie on June 27. As far as trailers go, this one does a crack job of introducing us to Wallis’s tenacious spitfire of a heroine, immediately conveying the poetry and sense of magic beneath the grime of her world before building to an emotional, triumphant swell. Bravo, Searchlight. Verdict: Yes, I say! Bring on Beasts , and let’s hope it doesn’t get lost in the clutter of the summer movie line-up.
