The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will have a panel at Comic-Con next month, Lionsgate announced today in both predictable and awesome news. It’s unclear which Hunger Games stars will be in attendance, but Lionsgate promises that “talent” from the film will be there for the Saturday, July 20 panel. One can only hope (nay, pray) for Jennifer Lawrence . And Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth and Woody Harrelson and Sam Claflin (above) too, sure. But for reals, Lionsgate … J-Law. Make it happen. The Lionsgate panel will also debut an exclusive new Catching Fire trailer and new footage from I, Frankenstein , whose cast will also be on hand. Buy your tickets to San Diego now!
2012 was a strong year for film , delivering numerous high quality event movies and also a ton of very excellent serious fare as well. But perhaps it’s the overall high quality that made us take note of the moments in which we were wrenched out of our suspended disbelief, or maybe it’s just that the gods of moviedom knew something had to be done to prevent people from taking themselves too seriously. Either way, the year was blessed with some rather amazeballs moments of unintentional awkwardness that really forced us to step back and gasp, “Did that really happen?!” [ SPOILERS! ] Talia Al Ghul’s death in The Dark Knight Rises We can spend hours picking apart the problems with The Dark Knight Rises ( and we did! ), but the film probably could have glued itself together were it not for the moment Marion Cotillard was revealed ( da-da-daaaa ) to actually be the daughter of Ra’s Al Ghul (Liam Neeson) from Batman Begins . Not only did this reveal come out of nowhere, but it turned very quickly into a punchline when she died less than 10 minutes later, delivering her death monologue like she was having a ham-off with William Shatner. “My father’s work… IS DONE! Gasp. Gasp. GASP!” (Bonus points for the goofy look of disbelief on Jim Gordon’s, Batman’s and Selina Kyle’s faces. Even they know how silly this is.) Javier Bardem ‘s Dentures in Skyfall Skyfall is almost the perfect Bond film, right down to the amazing theme song. But the film nearly ground to a halt during the contractually obligated moment where Javier Bardem’s Silva has been captured and is interrogated by M – not because the scene isn’t awesome, but because for some reason, Silva’s already-creepy personality and damaged brain wasn’t enough for the film’s creative management. So they went and gave him the worst dentures ever. Every other moment Bardem is onscreen is truly terrifying, but this just felt like a bad parody. Jacob’s Love For A Baby In Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part Two It almost seems unfair to mention it, but even a film series littered with spectacular amounts of knowing camp managed to take itself very, very seriously at precisely the wrong moment: The moment in which a werewolf TOOK A TODDLER AS HIS SOULMATE. The Twilight series’ discomfort that began in Part One with Jacob’s baby-imprinting peaked in the Breaking Dawn Part 2 flash forward that showed Jacob (Taylor Lautner) and a grown Renesmee canoodling as a happy and ostensibly legal-and-totally-not-creepy-anymore couple. Every time Gale shows up in The Hunger Games I feel bad for Liam Hemsworth because he did a perfectly fine job playing Katniss’ childhood bestie/first love interest, Gale. Unfortunately, Hemsworth interpreted Gale as though he just walked in from the cast of Magic Mike , delivering the bro-iest take on an oppressed citizen of a dystopic, post-apocalyptic dictatorship in recorded history. I saw The Hunger Games three times in the theater. One of them was a press screening and even there, I heard snickers every time the camera panned to Hemsworth. Hopefully he bros it down a notch for the sequel. What about you, readers? Let us know your favorite moments that disrupted disbelief in comments. MORE END-OF-YEAR 2012 TOP TENS: One Of The Last Top 10s Of 2012, By Brian Brooks Mash-Ups, ‘Moonrise,’ And ‘Miami’ Connections: Jen Yamato’s Top 10 Movie Moments of 2012 Amy Nicholson’s / Top 10 of 2012 / Written In Haiku The Masters: Movieline Critic Alison Willmore’s Top 10 Films of 2012 They Turn Us On, Dammit! Movieline Critic Alison Willmore’s Top 10 Overlooked Gems of 2012 Ross Lincoln is a LA-based freelance writer from Oklahoma with an unhealthy obsession with comics, movies, video games, ancient history, Gore Vidal, and wine. Follow him on twitter (@rossalincoln). Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The Hunger Games , The Dark Knight Rises , The Muppets , Midnight In Paris and even last year’s Oscar winner for Best Picture, The Artist are up for awards this year, but this time it’s for the 55th annual Grammy Awards. Theatrical titles dominated this year’s Grammy categories dedicated to visual media with The Hunger Games receiving two nominations for Best Song (“Abraham’s Daughter”) and Taylor Swift’s “Safe & Sound.” The Muppets also scored two nominations, including Best Song for “Man Or Muppet” in addition to a nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack. Others in the category include this year’s Marley documentary and 2011’s The Descendants and Midnight in Paris . Trent Reznor received a Best Score nom for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo along with Hans Zimmer for The Dark Knight Rises and John Williams for The Adventures of Tintin – The Secret of the Unicorn . The Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy,” Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You),” Fun’s “We Are Young” Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Frank Ocean’s “Thinkin Bout Your” and Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” are the Grammys’ nominees for Record of the Year. The Grammy Awards ceremony will be broadcast February 10th on CBS. 55th Grammy Awards’ Visual Media-related nominees follow with information provided by the Recording Academy (for other categories, visit the Grammy’s website ). Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media : The Descendants (Various Artists) [Sony Classical/Fox Music] Marley (Bob Marley & The Wailers) [UMe/Island/Tuff Gong] Midnight In Paris (Various Artists) [Madison Gate Records, Inc.] The Muppets (Various Artists) [Walt Disney Records] Rock Of Ages (Various Artists) [WaterTower Music] Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media : The Adventures Of Tintin – The Secret Of The Unicorn John Williams, composer [Sony Classical] The Artist Ludovic Bource, composer [Sony Classical] The Dark Knight Rises Hans Zimmer, composer [WaterTower Music] The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, composers [Null/Madison Gate] Hugo Howard Shore, composer [Howe Records] Journey Austin Wintory, composer [Sony Computer Entertainment America] Best Song Written For Visual Media : Abraham’s Daughter (From The Hunger Games ) T Bone Burnett, Win Butler & Régine Chassagne, songwriters (Arcade Fire) [Universal Republic; Publishers: Régine Chassagne, Absurd Music, Win Butler, Henry Burnett Music, Baffle Music] Learn Me Right (From Brave ) Mumford & Sons, songwriters (Birdy & Mumford & Sons) [Walt Disney Records/Pixar; Publisher: Pixar Talking Pictures] Let Me Be Your Star (From Smash ) Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman, songwriters (Katharine McPhee & Megan Hilty) [Columbia; Publishers: Winding Brook Way Music, Walli Woo Entertainment] Man Or Muppet (From The Muppets ) Bret McKenzie, songwriter (Jason Segel & Walter) [Walt Disney; Publisher: Fuzzy Muppet Songs] Safe & Sound (From The Hunger Games ) T Bone Burnett, Taylor Swift, John Paul White & Joy Williams, songwriters (Taylor Swift Featuring The Civil Wars) [Big Machine Records/Universal Republic; Publishers: Sony ATV Tree Publishing, Taylor Swift Music, Sensibility Songs, Absurd Music, Shiny Happy Music, Baffle Music, Henry Burnett Music] [ Source: Yahoo ]
Reports that Target — Target! — will sell a limited-edition $999 Mockingjay pin to coincide with the DVD release of The Hunger Games later this month has visions of P.T. Barnum dancing in my head. If there are movie lovers who are willing to pony up that kind of dough for such a simple bauble, then surely their must be a market for the following memorabilia: 1. Rosebud ( Citizen Kane ) Limited to just 1500 pieces, this lovingly crafted replica of Charles Foster Kane’s beloved childhood plaything is not just a symbol of childhood lost and a mother’s love, it’s a working sled! Manufactured by a noted Bavarian sled maker, this memento from one of the greatest films of all time, features stainless steel runners and a hand-painted, individually numbered Rosebud logo. Price: $1999 . Deluxe Variant Version: Limited to just 100 pieces, the image of Rupert Murdoch is discreetly painted on the sled’s underside. $1499 2. Nicky Santoro’s Vise ( Casino ): An eye-popping conversation piece if ever there was one! An exact 1:1 scale replica of the vise that Joe Pesci’s character used to extract a confession from Tony Dogs (Carl Ciarfalio). The attention to detail in the making of this limited-edition item includes splatters of discarded human blood obtained from cash-strapped hospitals. Just 25 will be made. Price: $595.00 3. Dyson Sentinel ( The Matrix ): Twelve years after this game-changing film was released, fans are still clamoring for Matrix memorabilia. So we turned to one of the most innovative product manufacturers on the Earth’s surface to produce this working 1/20th scale reproduction of the fearsome mechanical squids that menaced Neo and his crew. With its patented Tentacled Ball technology, the Dyson Sentinel is more than just a prop replica: It can also take care of your spot-welding needs and keep your frenemies at bay. Price: $2,000 4. The Gimp ( Pulp Fiction ): Not just a costume! We’ve rounded up a dozen emaciated, self-loathing masochists and fitted them in head-to-toe rubber suits constructed to the exact specifications of the outfit worn by the actual Gimp in Pulp Fiction. All you need to do is find a crawl space or dark, musty place in your basement for the little guy to live. (Oh yes, and you might want to throw him some food and water every once in a while.) Bring him out when you feel like being watched. He’ll obey your every command. Price: $15,000 (Note: Purchaser must also agree to indemnify seller against any injury, death or dismemberment that befalls the purchase. ) 5. Bane Mouth Apparatus ( The Dark Knight Rises) : For your favorite mouth breather! This exact-size replica of the fearsome mouthpiece will make its wearer the focus of any social situation — because no one will be able to understand what the hell he is saying! A limited edition of 100. Price: $799 Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
With all the casting chatter surrounding Catching Fire – Jena Malone! Philip Seymour Hoffman ! – let’s not forget about the movie that started it all. The Hunger Games comes out on DVD August 18, and the following teaser for the release takes fans behind the scenes with the film’s stars and teases the three hours of bonus footage you’ll receive if you purchase the box set. Watch now:
Movies reigned where once music videos played… MTV hosted its annual Movie Awards in L.A. over the weekend from the Gibson Amphitheatre, morphing the venue into a futuristic drive-in of sorts. Russell Brand MC’d the show, which featured four “Golden Popcorn” wins for The Hunger Games , an on-stage performance by Johnny Depp and a roasting for Trailblazer award-winner Emma Stone. Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry introduced Dark Shadows star Johnny Depp who received the Generation Award during the show. He then went rock n’ roll, taking a guitar and playing with The Black Keys for a version of the band’s “Gold on the Ceiling.” Later, Christopher Nolan introduced a sneak peek of The Dark Knight Rises along with cast members Christian Bale, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Gary Oldman. But the night belonged to The Hunger Games , which won four prizes including Best Female and Best Male. The pic also picked up Best Fight and “Best On-screen Transformation.” Bridesmaids , meanwhile won two nods. Emma Watson accepted the Best Cast prize as well as the first-ever socially voted Best Hero Golden Popcorn for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 . First-time Movie Awards winner Shailene Woodley was chosen by a group of film directors as this year’s Best Breakthrough Performance winner for The Descendants and Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson took home a fourth-straight win in the Best Kiss category for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 . Emma Stone was honored with the inaugural MTV Trailblazer Award. The presentation turned into a joke-filled roast featuring Octavia Spencer, Jim Carrey, Mila Kunis, Anna Faris, Steve Carell and Jason Sudeikis. Not to be outdone, Charlie Sheen took to the stage to fete the greatest party films of all time (naturally), naming Project X as the “next in line to become an Instant Cult Classic.” Closing out the night, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 took the final award of the evening, winning Movie of the Year. Winners of the “2012 MTV Movie Awards” are as follows (*denotes new category/**voted on by an “Academy of Directors”): MOVIE OF THE YEAR (voting stays live throughout the 2012 Movie Awards ceremony) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 Director: Bill Condon, Producers: Karen Rosenfelt, Wyck Godfrey, Stephenie Meyer (Summit Entertainment) BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games (Lionsgate) BEST MALE PERFORMANCE Josh Hutcherson – The Hunger Games (Lionsgate) BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE** Shailene Woodley – The Descendants (Fox Searchlight) BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids (Universal Pictures) BEST CAST* Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Warner Bros. Pictures) – Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton BEST ON-SCREEN TRANSFORMATION* Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games (Lionsgate) BEST FIGHT Jennifer Lawrence & Josh Hutcherson vs. Alexander Ludwig – The Hunger Games (Lionsgate) BEST KISS Robert Pattinson & Kristen Stewart – The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (Summit Entertainment) BEST GUT-WRENCHING PERFORMANCE* Bridesmaids (Universal Pictures) – Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper, “Food poisoning turns the girls’ dress fitting into a disaster” BEST ON-SCREEN DIRTBAG* Jennifer Aniston – Horrible Bosses (Warner Bros. Pictures) BEST MUSIC* “ Party Rock Anthem ,” LMFAO – 21 Jump Street (Sony Pictures) “House dance party”
The Avengers (titled Avengers Assemble in the UK) exploded at the UK box office with £15.78 million — or roughly $25.6 million — over the weekend, including its Thursday preview screenings, giving the superhero film the winning spot among British releases. And coming in the heels of John Carter (which has yet to even break the £5m mark in Britain), Disney is wasting no time celebrating, calling the result the biggest superhero-movie opening of all time, The Guardian reports . By comparison, The Dark Knight debuted in Great Britain with £11.19m ($18.1m, including previews), while Spider-Man 3 kicked off with £11.83m ($19.1m, sans previews) in May 2007 and Iron Man 2 grabbed just £7.66m ($12.3m, including previews) back in April 2010. Meanwhile, Battleship , which launched April 11 in the UK, has dropped from first to sixth place, taking in the rough equivalent of $811,000 from 436 locations — a 61-percent decline from the previous weekend. Rounding out the British theatrical top five, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen took in £1.08m ($1.75m) from 417 sites, The Hunger Games followed with just over £744K ($1.2m) from 398 locations, The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists landed at number four with nearly £664K ($1.07m) at 511 theaters, and The Cabin in the Woods closed the top five with almost £562K ($911K) at 383 locations. [ The Guardian ]
After nearly a month in first place, The Hunger Games surrendered its banner to another big-league bestseller-adaptation — and not the one that you (or I, for that matter) were expecting. Your eye-opening Weekend Receipts are here. 1. Think Like a Man Gross: $33,000,000 (new) Screens: 2,015 (PSA $16,377) Weeks: 1 Author Steve Harvey’s comic self-help literary phenomenon became director Tim Story’s comic cinematic-infomercial phenomenon over the weekend, soundly shutting down the Nicholas Sparks adaptation The Lucky One . Or maybe “shutting down” is being kind: Any time you can open on a third fewer screens and earn a third more opening-weekend loot — and more than double the per-screen average — than your closest competition, that’s just an ass-kicking. 2. The Lucky One Gross: $22,805,000 (new) Screens: 3,155 (PSA: $7,228) Weeks: 1 And the thing is, these aren’t especially horrible numbers for the Zac Efron potboiler: As the second-best opening for a Sparks movie to date, it would factor strongly overall into the film’s Sparks Quotient . It would also suggest that Zac Efron couldn’t open a packet of cheese let alone a movie full of the stuff. 3. The Hunger Games Gross: $14,500,000 ($356,900,000) Screens: 3,752 (PSA $3,865) Weeks: 5 (Change: -31.3%) God, third place? After five weeks ? Slackers. 4. Chimpanzee Gross: $10,205,000 (new) Screens: 1,563 (PSA: $6,529) Weeks: 1 Now that’s a fine way for Rich Ross to leave Disney : Fourth place on a nature documentary. The guy couldn’t wait two weeks for The Avengers ? I mean, I know they’d moved his personal parking space to a gas station around the corner from the studio, but still. Have some pride, son. 5. The Three Stooges Gross: $9,200,000 ($29,355,000) Screens: 3,482 (PSA $2,642) Weeks: 2 (Change: -45.9%) Someone had to finish fifth. [Figures via Box Office Mojo ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Happy Monday! Did you have a good holiday weekend? Here’s hoping it was better than what transpired over the last few days at the box office, where returns ranged from modest to sluggish as America’s families holed up with God and the Masters and whatever else struck their fancies while multiplexes hummed along quietly with a shrinking blockbuster and a few decent runners-up. Your Weekend Receipts 1. The Hunger Games Gross: $33,500,000 ($302,839,000) Screens: 4,137 (PSA $8,098) Weeks: 3 (Change: -42.8%) Spring’s mega-hit crossed the $300 million mark sometime Sunday, while the global tally rose to an insane $459 million. Continued congrats to the gang at Lionsgate, for whom this money will no doubt buy at least 15 new Tyler Perry films. 2. American Reunion Gross: $21,500,000 (new) Screens: 3,192 (PSA $6,736) Weeks: 1 As the American franchise goes, a $21 million opening falls on the low side of a spectrum that runs from American Pie ‘s $18.7 million debut in 1999 to the first sequel’s tremendous $45.1 million bow in 2001. On the bright side, all three previous films grew wickedly long tails here and abroad, pulling in well over $200 million at the end of the day. So sure: It’s not a number you can penetrate a pie with, but history suggests that it’ll get the job done. 3. Titanic 3D Gross: $17,350,000 ($25,710,000) Screens: 2,674 (PSA: $6,488) Weeks: 1 It’s a good thing that James Cameron and Co. aren’t just a bunch of ” greedy motherfuckers ,” because this showing would probably represent quite the disappointment. Art takes the day! 4. Wrath of the Titans Gross: $15,010,000 ($58,899,000) Screens: 3,545 (PSA: $4,234) Weeks: 2 (Change: -55.1%) Barring some late foreign-market miracle, this franchise is probably dead: At $200 million to make and market, it should be sitting on a little softer B.O. cushion than $135 million right now. Dare I say good riddance? 5. Mirror Mirror Gross: $19,000,000 ($36,473,000) Screens: 3,545 (PSA $4,234) Weeks: 2 (Change: -39.3%) A better-than-expected hold, but not much better. That’s about all that I’ve got. [Figures via Box Office Mojo ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Following a record-breaking opening weekend at the box office, how much did The Hunger Games rake in this Friday and Saturday? $61.1 million, enough to easily top all other films once again. A few facts about this impressive figure and where it helps The Hunger Games rank among the all-time best in Hollywood… This weekend’s gross marks a 60 percent drop from the prior weekend, which is on par with other blockbusters: Iron Man 2 dropped 59 percent; and Spider-Man 3 fell 62 percent; and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 decreased by 70 percent. The Hunger Games has now earned $251 million in 10 days, making it the fastest-ever non-sequel to achieve this milestone. The only movies to have hit that total in fewer days: the final Harry Potter ; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ; The Dark Knight . Analysts predict a final domestic tally of around $375 million. Have you seen The Hunger Games yet? Give it a grade if so:
