Frickin' Eh Movie News 8.05.09: August Edition

Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 08.05.2009

Hugh Jackman will be putting on the shoes of P.T. Barnum, a director is named for the Aliens reboot, Sam Worthington is replacing Tom Cruise as The Tourist, and will the Governator be returning to movies with James Cameron and Tom Arnold?



It's August, which means it's the home stretch of summer. University starts in a month. Ugh . . . Oh well. I haven't accomplished nearly as many things as I wanted to this summer, but that was kind of expected at the start of the summer.

I finally got around to watching Vantage Point and I was very impressed. It's a fascinating concept and it all worked very well, even with my disdain for Dennis Quaid. It was a little frustrating that they always withheld just enough information so it was impossible to figure out what the end would be, but they kind of had to do that, I guess. But anyway, let's get on to some more current movies:


The Mid-Week Box Office Time Machine

Last weekend's victor was Funny People, which pulled in $23.4 million to beat out the rest of the pack. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince stuck around at second with $17.7 million. G-Force dropped to third from first last week, making another $17.1 million. The Ugly Truth dropped a spot to fourth with $13 million, while Aliens in the Attic premiered at fifth with $7.8 million. Orphan dropped from fourth to sixth, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs dropped from fifth to seventh, The Hangover dropped a spot to eighth, The Proposal slid a spot to ninth, and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen fell from sixth to round out the top ten, making another $4.6 million.

This weekend there are three new movies gracing theatres. The first is Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, telling the story simultaneously of Julia Child and a young woman working her way through Child's cookbook. An interesting concept, to be sure. The second opener is A Perfect Getaway starring Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich, about a couple who goes hiking trails and finds trouble. It also looks like an interesting and curious plot, but I have a hard time seeing it perform all that well. The final opener, and the likely top spot for the weekend, is G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. With Channing Tatum in the lead, this looks like a big blockbuster poised to follow the success of Transformers and the like, but it looks a little too over-the-top and cheesy to be as successful. Maybe it's just me.


Rob Marshall To Take Over the Helm of Pirates 4?

Just one week after ComingSoon.net broke the news that Walt Disney Pictures is hoping to get the cameras rolling on the 4th "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie in April or May of next year, Variety is reporting that director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha and the upcoming musical Nine) is in talks with Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer to helm the fourth chapter in the adventures of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow. It makes sense that they would actively be looking for a director if they plan to start shooting next spring, especially with Gore Verbinski still being noncommittal about possibly returning for the fourth go-round.

A very odd choice, I have to say. Pirates is a large action/adventure movie with a large scope, and Marshall doesn't exactly have a lot of experience in that field, looking at his history. I'd love to see Verbinski return but I'm not holding my breath; then again, with Bioshock virtually shelved, maybe he will pick this up after all. We'll just have to see.


Ridley Scott Keeping Aliens Reboot

After months of rumor and speculation, Variety confirms that 20th Century Fox plans to keep the "Alien" franchise alive with a prequel film that will be directed by original helmer Ridley Scott.

The announcement that Fox has hired a writer comes just two months after the 30th Anniversary of Scott's original sci-fi horror film which launched a series of movie sequels, a number of comic books, and two movies that pit the Aliens against Fox's other creature franchise, the Predator.

Screenwriter Jon Spaihts has been hired to write the prequel after the studio was impressed by his work on two space thrillers, both for Keanu Reeves, called Passengers and Shadow 19.

Now that's more like it. Good to see Scott come back and reboot this thing, because if anyone's going to do it, it should be him. Not that I'm overly excited about the entire idea, but with Scott behind it, I feel a hell of a lot better. Spaihts sounds like untested material, but I'm sure he'll do fine with this new installment.


Worthington and Theron are Tourists

Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation, upcoming Avatar and Clash of the Titans) is joining Charlize Theron in Spyglass Entertainment's thriller remake The Tourist.

Theron and Worthington will be the leads in the redo of the 2005 French spy thriller about an American tourist manipulated by a female Interpol agent in Europe. Bharat Nalluri (Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day) is directing from a screenplay by Julian Fellowes and Jeffrey Nachmanoff.

Canal Plus is co-producing with Spyglass. Filming is scheduled to begin in January.

Worthington is replacing Tom Cruise, who was long attached to the role before moving on to the untitled James Mangold project at Fox.

Worthington is quite popular nowadays, isn't he? This is good to see him in something like this, especially since it's a bit different than the other movies he's doing. I'm not too sad seeing Cruise go, either. Cruise's weirdness means he's rarely missed nowadays. But shouldn't this movie be reversed – shouldn't it be a European agent who is manipulated by an American? Hmm? Just kidding. This should be a good one when it comes out.


Is Arnold Coming Back with James Cameron?

While James Cameron is working on finishing December-opener Avatar, actor/comedian Tom Arnold has been talking to The New York Times, saying that he will be reuniting with the True Lies director and co-star Arnold Schwarzenegger for a movie next year:

Still, the future project Mr. Arnold said he's most excited about is a movie with a still-to-be-determined plot and script. "All I know is Jim Cameron's making it and Arnold" — Mr. Schwarzenegger — "and I are going to be in it, and it starts shooting in 14 months, the day after Arnold stops being governor of California," he said. "It's not going to be called 'True Lies II,' but it might as well be. I can live with that."

Wishful thinking or is something really brewing? True Lies, which was released in July of 1994 (has it really been 15 years already?), earned $378.9 million worldwide.

I don't know about this one. I have a hard time taking anything Tom Arnold says too seriously to start with. I'm also skeptical that Arnold will be jumping back into the movies that fast. I'm sure there are plenty of other political opportunities he might want to pursue. I'd love to see him back in the movies, but I don't see it, at least not right away. Also, I'm hoping it's not True Lies II if this whole thing is true. That just doesn't sound all that appealing to me.


Bruckheimer Waging a World War With Robots

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has picked up the rights to the IDW graphic novel World War Robot written and drawn by artist Ashley Wood as a war diary written by the participants in a battle between humans and robots that takes place on Earth, the moon and Mars.

Variety reports that the deal was closed during last week's Comic-Con, following on the heels of the IDW comic 30 Days of Night having been turned into a film by Sony which grossed $40 million.

The story reports that IDW is currently the third largest publisher behind Marvel and DC thanks to comics based on licensed titles such as "Star Trek," "24," "CSI" and others.

An interesting concept, to be sure. It would be a very interesting concept, and would have to be a huge movie, I assume, considering you've got three locales and possibly more viewpoints. Bruckheimer has the vision to do it, though, so we'll just have to see.


Jackman Becomes The Greatest Showman on Earth

Variety reports that 20th Century Fox has attached Hugh Jackman to play American showman P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman on Earth, an original contemporary musical to be written by Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City).

The film will be produced by Laurence Mark (Dreamgirls), Jackman and his Seed partner John Palermo.

Jackman will play the showman with a penchant for hoaxing a gullible public as he creates the three-ring circus that made him famous. The musical also focuses on his infatuation with singer Jenny Lind -- the so-called Swedish Nightingale.

The film will have a contemporary musical score, and the studio is in talks with British singer-songwriter Mika to write music and lyrics.

The Lind role is being scripted for Anne Hathaway, who teamed with Jackman in his opening Oscars number.

I've got no complaints about Jackman in this role, he's a very talented actor and obviously a very talented singer as well, so this is a good role for him. I can definitely see him in the shoes of Barnum, drawing in the audience. The whole idea of it being a musical is less appealing to me, but I have faith in Jackman making this watchable.


Carla Gugino Getting SuckerPunched

Carla Gugino is reuniting with Watchmen director Zack Snyder for SuckerPunch, coming to theaters on March 25, 2011.

The Warner Bros./Legendary project follows Babydoll (Emily Browning) who is confined to a mental institution by her stepfather, who intends to have her lobotomized in five days. While there, she imagines an alternative reality to hide her from the pain, and in that world, she begins planning her escape, needing to steal five objects to help get her out before she is deflowered by a vile man.

Gugino will play a nurse in the insane asylum who becomes a madam at a brothel in the film's alternate reality. Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Jena Malone and Abbie Cornish co-star.

The movie begins shooting in early fall.

This is going to be a seriously weird movie, I think. It's just going to be odd all around. Granted, an interesting concept, possibly confusing, and with Snyder's touch it will only be better, but still strange. Gugino is a talented actress and should flesh out this film, especially considering how young a lot of the rest of the cast is.


Russia-Georgia Conflict Coming to the Big Screen, Courtesy of Renny Harlin

Renny Harlin will direct an untitled drama based on actual events that took place during the five-day Russia-Georgia conflict, reports Variety.

The short war began Aug. 8, 2008, when Georgian forces attacked the border territory in South Ossetia. Russia recognized the territory's independence and subsequently routed Georgian forces; tensions have remained high ever since.

Harlin will shoot the film in areas near the conflict. Pre-production is already under way, as is casting, for a mid-September shoot

Harlin said the plot specifics are being kept under wraps for security reasons, but the drama involves an American journalist and his cameraman who get caught in the crossfire in Georgia and then have to deal with their obligation to be impartial journalists.

An interesting idea, although the conflict is still very fresh, which always makes things difficult because you don't actually know everything that's going on. I wonder which side the movie will take. Presumably the American side, but it is an interesting subject to look into, if you like hypocritical actions of world powers. Unfortunately, Harlin does not exactly have a great track record, but perhaps this is a chance to prove himself. We'll just have to see if he can deliver.


Rapid-Fire: Ghost Rider (2007, starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Sam Elliott)

As far as terrible comic book movies go, this one is up there, possibly gracing the top of the list, although I can't say that with certainty. This week I present:

I'm just not even sure where to start with this one. This movie has a lot of problems, as you may have guessed. The story is fairly bad. There appears to be absolutely no learning curve in becoming the Ghost Rider. The acting is bad, to put it mildly. It's just not a pretty sight.

I'll start with the acting, because that's one of the worst parts of the movie. Nicolas Cage should not have been cast as Johnny Blaze. I love the guy, he's a fantastic actor in the right roles, but this is not the right role. He comes off as childish and uninteresting the majority of the time, a flat character set in childhood. Eva Mendes is another flat character who has almost no depth to her, and while she doesn't get annoying or anything, she isn't really anything else, either. Sam Elliott is one of the saving graces as the Caretaker, but he fits in any movie as a wise old Western soul. Peter Fonda as Mephistopheles is an interesting choice, and could have been so good, but his parts were short, meaningless, and fairly pathetic. Wes Bentley as Blackheart is terrible, to put it simply, an uninspiring villain in every way.

Parts of the movie have potential. There could have been cool stuff about his Penance Stare or stuff like that, but there isn't. Half the movie is him getting to become the Ghost Rider and then he's fighting bad guys for the other half. For some reason, the Ghost Rider instantly knows exactly what to do, so all you get to do is watch some fairly uninteresting fights. The special effects of the Ghost Rider were well done, but it just looks cheesy, not because of the special effects themselves but just how they were used.

There's just something almost inherently bad with this movie, and I don't really know what it is. The entire movie just rubbed me the wrong way. Whether it's the casting, the poor story, or something else hidden beneath the surface, this was not an enjoyable movie in any way. Maybe it's just me . . . but I don't think so.


Closing Time . . .

The other movies I finally got to watch on this long weekend were the Blade movies, which I somehow missed along the way and finally caught up with. Expect all three to appear in Rapid-Fires in the near future. Other than that, I don't have much else to say, so until next week:


[All news, images, and other stuff from www.comingsoon.net, www.imdb.com, www.rottentomatoes.com and www.youtube.com.]