Time for some positive box office news ! By the end of this weekend, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 will pass the $1 billion mark in worldwide gross. Domestically, the film is already over $300 million , and will race ahead of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in both North American and worldwide returns by Sunday or Monday to become the franchise’s biggest hit — 3-D bump, higher ticket prices and IMAX surcharges excepting. Still, well done, Harry! [ THR ]
By now, you most likely know that James Franco is an unabashed fan of Twilight , so much so that he extolled the series’ virtues to Esquire and confessed to petitioning for a role in Breaking Dawn while visiting Jimmy Kimmel Live! What you probably don’t know is that the Oscar-nominated actor/serial multi-tasker could have actually snagged a part in the franchise if he was willing to make a few movie star concessions.
Now that NFL lockout has ended, EA ‘able to flip the switch on roster updates pretty easily,’ rep says. By Russ Frushtick Madden NFL 12 Photo: EA Sports What would the world be like without football? Thankfully, fans needn’t concern themselves with such a horrible scenario (at least for another 10 years), as NFL owners and the NFL Players Association came to an agreement to end a months-long standoff that might have cancelled the 2011-2012 season. Because the lockout ended early enough, there will be no impact on the season itself, but what about this year’s installment of “Madden”? “Madden NFL 12” is scheduled to be released in about a month, but video games are often finalized months before they hit store shelves. Does that mean anyone who buys “Madden” will be playing with out-of-date rosters from before the lockout was even settled? Anthony Stevenson, the director of marketing for “Madden NFL 12,” discussed how the development team is planning to keep everything up-to-date for fans. “From the game’s standpoint, what everyone wants to know is rosters,” he said. “You’re taking what historically would be five months of offseason activity and you’re condensing it into what would be as little as two to three weeks. So, there are going to be a lot of roster moves. And these aren’t inconsequential moves: There’s Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb; these are moves that could shape a division. But we’re fortunate that we’re able to flip the switch on roster updates pretty easily.” Mike Young, the game’s creative director, confirmed that the rosters would be up-to-date not only at the beginning of the season, but also straight on through to the Super Bowl. “Our ratings people and our roster guys are going to be really, really busy,” he said. “Day one, anybody with an online connection is going to have all these moves and up-to-date rosters. All season long, we’ll support that really well.” Young confirmed that while the rosters and player stats will be up-to-date, EA won’t be able to implement all of the just-agreed-upon rules. “Some of the new rules we will not get in the game this year. Unfortunately, [the end of the lockout] happened too late,” he explained. “It’s kind of a complicated system to change with something like a patch.” As for which new rules didn’t make the cut, Young revealed, “The rookie cap stuff, a lot of the business part of football. So your Franchise mode will be using last year’s rules for another year. That was the only disappointment. But, as far as rosters, I think we’re the best at having those up-to-date.” Those roster updates will require an Internet connection for your console. If you don’t have your console hooked up to the Internet, Young suggested taking advantage of nearby gamers. “Take it over to your friend’s house, plug it in,” he recommended. “There are a lot of free trials for Xbox Live and PSN [PlayStation Network] is free. Update your game, save it to your hard drive, and bring it home. You need the rosters!” Certainly, fans who are just thrilled to have an NFL season will consider updated rosters the cherry on top. Check out the Multiplayer blog , updated daily, for even more on “Madden NFL 12” and other gaming coverage.
The first trailer for Paranormal Activity 3 has just been released, and continuing the prequel trend set by the franchise’s sequel, we’re going back in time. Way back in time. The third installment goes back to 1988, when young girls Katie and Kristi first encounter the nasty demon who will follow them in the other films. According to Movie Fanatic, the third film will be helmed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman , who directed and appeared in the movie Catfish . Paranormal Activity 3 opens October 21. Check out the trailer below: Paranormal Activity 3 Trailer
The Amazing Spider-Man has gotten its first teaser trailer, with the director behind 500 Days of Summer, Marc Webb and The Social Network actor, Andrew Garfield taking the franchise in a different direction. The movie has had an enormous budget and is meant to be a tent-pole, huge 3D, action-packed movie, but the teaser (for me at least) just doesn’t do it justice. The teaser shows that we get introduced… Broadcasting platform : YouTube Source : TweakTown News RSS Feed Discovery Date : 21/07/2011 04:05 Number of articles : 2
It’s time to whip out your magic wands and wave goodbye to the Harry Potter flicks. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 opens this weekend, and it’s the final installment in the wildly popular kid wizard movie franchise. But whether you’re Gryffindor or Slytherin, there’s one thing we can all agree on: the ladies in the films are magically hot, so check out the witches’ teats of Julie Christie , Helena Bonham Carter , and the rest of the Top 10 Naked Stars of Harry Potter! 10 Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall) … Witch’s teats. 9 Fiona Shaw (Aunt Petunia) … You’ll want to pluck Petunia! 8 Natalia Tena (Nymphadora Tonks) … Nympho-dora. 7 Julie Walters (Molly Weasley) … .The Sorcerer’s Bone. 6 Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter) … Nice Skeeter bites. 5 Kelly MacDonald (Helena Ravenclaw) … Fluffy Hufflepuff. 4 Emma Thompson (Professor Sybil Trelawney) … Casting a spell . . . on your crotch! 3 Julie Christie (Madame Rosmerta) … Magic mams. 2 Cl
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is officially the highest-grossing film of 2011. The third film in this franchise earned $47 million over the weekend, a 52 percent decrease from its first three days, but good enough for it to have made $261 million in under two weeks. Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon – Official Trailer Jennifer Aniston and company also fared well with Horrible Bosses . It was the latest R-rated comedy to bank over $25 million on its opening weekend. A look at the top five: Transformers Dark of the Moon : $47 million Horrible Bosses : $28.1 million Zookeeper : $21 million Cars 2 : $15.2 million Bad Teacher : $9 million
The next James Bond movie will hit theaters in November 9, 2012. Who will join Daniel Craig in 007’s next adventure? Sources now confirm that Naomie Harris ( 28 Days Later , Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ) will come on board as the classic character of Moneypenny, M’s assistant at MI6. She’s appeared in over 20 installments of this franchise. Javier Bardem and Ralph Fiennes have also booked roles in the film. The former will portray Bond’s nemesis, while insiders simply say Fiennes will take on a “darkly complex” character. He’s had some practice with that as Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies. [Photos: WENN.com, Fame Pictures]
In Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe uses various spells to thwart Voldemort and the Death Eaters. While filming this franchise, though, the young actor recently admitted he relied on a different kind of foreign entity: alcohol. “I became so reliant on alcohol to enjoy stuff,” Radcliffe says in the latest issue of GQ UK . “There were a few years there when I was just so enamored with the idea of living some sort of famous person’s lifestyle that really isn’t suited to me.” Radcliffe adds that he’s lucky the paparazzi never caught him in a compromising, wasted position – and that he’s enjoying his new, sober life. “As much as I would love to be a person that goes to parties and has a couple of drinks and has a nice time, that doesn’t work for me. I’m actually enjoying the fact I can have a relationship with my girlfriend where I’m really pleasant and I’m not f–king up totally all the time. There’s no shame in enjoying the quiet life. And that’s been the realization of the past few years for me.” Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – previewed HERE – hits theaters on July 15.
‘Dark of the Moon’ might not make as much as ‘Revenge of the Fallen,’ but that doesn’t make it a failure. By Eric Ditzian Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Photo: Paramount Pictures Last month, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” corralled $92.2 million over its opening weekend — the highest total of 2011. How could Jack Sparrow possibly complain? Well, that lofty sum was still well below the openings of both 2006’s “Dead Man’s Chest” ($135.6 million) and 2007’s “At World’s End” ($114.7). The fact is, even the most robust of movie franchises tend to wane in terms of box-office bucks; the familiar pattern is a first film that sets the stage, a second installment that cashes in on the anticipation and then subsequent offerings that can’t continue the upward trend. Such is the case with “Transformers.” There’s much to celebrate with “Dark of the Moon,” which enjoyed a first-day gross on Wednesday of $42.5 million (when you count midnight screenings), beating the first-day pull of “On Stranger Tides” (a Friday release, no less). That puts the third “Transformers” film on track for a seven-day debut of as much as $200 million or more. So why might Optimus Prime be dissatisfied with that opening? “Revenge of the Fallen” opened to $62 million on a Wednesday in 2009, on its way to a one-week total of almost $240 million. Yet any dissatisfaction must be tempered with historical box-office perspective. “The fact that ‘T3’ didn’t measure up to ‘T2’ isn’t really a surprise, as the fatigue factor finally caught up to the franchise,” said Jeff Bock, box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. “This is the case for most films series as they reach the threequel. Plus, it didn’t help ‘Transformers’ that the second film was, for the most part, trashed by critics, fans and even the filmmakers.” While “Dark of the Moon” is off to a comparatively slow start, some industry observers believe it could pick up over the holiday weekend. “Everything we’re seeing on Facebook and Twitter indicates that word-of-mouth is extremely positive,” said Phil Contrino, editor of Boxoffice.com. “It’s still a bit early to rush to judgment on how well this is going to hold up over the holiday frame. It could explode in a big way over the weekend.” Perhaps. Or not. There’s no doubt the franchise took a public-opinion hit after the second film. And while the third one offers perhaps the finest use of 3-D since “Avatar,” it comes at a time when audiences are battling back against a host of shoddy 3-D offerings by simply not paying the extra bucks for another dimension. “Dark of the Moon” is a victim of the three-dimensional failings of “Clash of the Titans.” At the same time, we can’t ignore the worldwide situation. Globally, “Dark of the Moon” might well eclipse the $836 million total of “Revenge of the Fallen” (just as “On Stranger Tides” could end up being the biggest “Pirates” flick when international grosses are factored in). Thus, Optimus rejoices! So where does all this leave “Transformers” going forward? Both star Shia LaBeouf and director Michael Bay have declared, in no uncertain terms, that they plan to end their involvement with the series after three films. Both creatively and financially, that might not be such a bad thing. “This franchise needs new blood and a new angle going forward,” Bock said, going on to suggest the fourth film needs to leave the familiar environs of Earth behind and deeply explore the robot alien’s home planet. “Maybe a trip to Cybertron will be the spark ‘Transformers 4’ needs. Don’t bring it to us, we’ll come to you! But we will likely have to wait three to four years.” Check out everything we’ve got on “Transformers: Dark of the Moon.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘Transformers: Dark Of The Moon’ Related Photos ‘Transformers: Dark Of The Moon’ Crashes Into New York City
