The Big Screen Bulletin 04.05.10: Clash of the Titans Takes #1!

Posted by Steve Gustafson on 04.05.2010

Clash of the Titans prequel and sequel talk begins! Is Robotech coming to the big screen? Sean Connery returns to the movies! Where do you stand on 3D movies? Chris Evans talks Captain America! 3 "Men-on-a-Mission" Trailers! Plus, the Casting Quarterback returns with my picks for the Justice League, box office results, and DVD news! All this and more inside!

Welcome back to the Big Screen Bulletin! My name is Steve Gustafson and this is the movie news roundup from the weekend! Easter might be over but I have plenty of movie eggs for you to get crackin on! Let's get these plugs outta the way first!

What else do I do around these parts? Let's take a look at all things Steve:
Saturday & Sunday: Last weeks edition of The Hollywood 5 & 1. Gossip and hot women.
Monday: Big Screen Bulletin. Movie news!

Support the Hollywood 5 & 1's sister site! The Music 5 & 1 by Adam Hill.

And don't forget about the The Silicon Valley 10 & 1 by Justin Weinblatt!

Do you ever go to cnn.com? You do? Well then...maybe you saw the shiny star which is Al Norton on there last week. Mr. Norton was dropping some science all over the place. Head over to his Two Tivos to Paradise and share your kudos!

Real quick, I'm part of the management team for hip hop artist John Public. He just released a new mixtape and I'm spreading the word. Hit me up at [e-mail] for the free download. If you're not sure, just ask for a free sample and I'll shoot you over a couple of tracks to peruse with your ear.

And now it's time for everyone's favorite Big Screen Bulletin segment...

Comic author and new DC executive, Geoff Johns made big headlines pretty much saying nothing last week. He touched on The Flash and Wonder Woman, saying he couldn't talk about it. But everyone knows DC Entertainment is anxious to follow Marvel's lead and build a more cohesive movie universe. A big part of that will be the crown jewel of DC...The Justice League!



We have a good idea of who could play Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern. But what about the others? READ BEFORE COMMENTING! The whole point of these Casting Quarterbacks is to inspire and create debate. I'm not looking to rile anyone up. Most of my choices are "outside the box" and stray from the obvious choices. If I did that, what would be the point? Alright, let's do this!

Dwayne Johnson: Aquaman
I originally thought Daniel Craig. Then some random dude on Twitter (Steveberman1022) suggest Haley Joel Osmont. But I decided to go totally against type and pick Dwayne Johnson. LISTEN! LISTEN! First, Aquaman is the least respected superhero out there. He has lame powers and his reputation is ruined! Who would take this guy serious? Let's make some changes and introduce a bad ass Aquaman. Someone you believe is a King, a ruler. With Johnson putting his stamp on Aquaman...the mockery WILL STOP!

And I know this will draw all sorts of criticism, but I wanted to get outside the box of the usual Aquaman casting.



Denise Milani: Wonder Woman
She's got the "look." I'll give her that. But does she have the acting ability? I don't know, I really can't concentrate right now. I really just cast her so I had an excuse to run a picture of her. Wonder Woman should be someone you wouldn't see just walking down the street. She would have a regal authority to her. A woman that commands your respect and can stand toe-to-toe with Superman. Someone who wouldn't be intimidated by Batman.

If she can't pull it off, how about Priyanka Chopra? She has the athletic part down. She can bring the exotic beauty to the table, she can act, and would be a different take on the Amazon.





Bradley Cooper: The Flash
I was a big supported of Cooper getting the Green Lantern role. Ryan Reynolds will be fine as long as they don't go too overboard with effects. But imagine the cool back-and-forth between Reynolds as GL and Cooper as Flash. It would work. I'm talking Wally West, not Barry Allen, FYI.

Someone on Twitter said Neil Patrick Harris. That's so awesome but I couldn't claim it as my own.



Laurence Fishburne: Martian Manhunter
Give me a nice mix of CGI and this is set. He has the voice and presence to give the alien a respectable place in the line-up.



If you're new to the Bulletin, I've classified the news by a symbol in front of the news segment. That way, if you're looking for certain information, just look for the logo. Easy enough to decipher but to ease your reading pleasure I've provided a legend for you. I've included the "legend" below.

Let's dive into the weekend!

Clash at the Box Office!


1. Clash of the Titans $61,400,000 (-) ($64,055,000) Read the review!
2. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? $30,150,000 (-) ($30,150,000)
3. How to Train Your Dragon $29,200,000 (-33.2%) ($92,326,000)
4. The Last Song $16,203,000 (-) ($25,590,000)
5. Alice in Wonderland $8,267,000 (-53.3%) ($309,793,000) Read the review!
6. Hot Tub Time Machine $8,000,000 (-42.9%) ($27,842,000) Read the review!
7. The Bounty Hunter $6,200,000 (-48.4%) ($48,957,000) Read the review!
8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid $5,525,000 (-45.4%) ($46,234,000)
9. She's Out of My League $1,463,000 (-58.3%) ($28,659,000) Read the review!
10. Shutter Island $1,462,000 (-54.1%) ($123,415,000) Read the review!
11. Green Zone $1,217,000 (-64.0%) ($33,087,000) Read the review!
12. The Ghost Writer $1,135,000 (-33.1%) ($11,024,000)

RELEASE THE KRAKEN! Clash of the Titans stormed theaters with an estimated $61.4 million, shattering the Easter opening weekend record formerly held by Scary Movie 4 with $40.2 million. 3D presentations played a major role in Titans' launch, even though the picture didn't secure as many screens as Avatar, Alice in Wonderland, or How to Train Your Dragon, due those pictures still taking up much of the limited 3D theater space.

Another big winner over the weekend was Tyler Perry. His Why Did I Get Married Too drew an estimated $30.2 million, exceeding the $21.4 million start of its predecessor and ranking as one of Perry's best launches yet. No matter what your feelings on his movies, his audience is extremely loyal and it looks like he is bringing in new fans. Great news for Perry.

How to Train Your Dragon played strong, as did the other new release, The Last Song, starring Miley Cyrus. Alice in Wonderland is starting to fade while Hot Tub Time Machine just tread water.

Looking towards next week, keep an eye on Date Movie!

How about giving a little shine to our readers across the ocean? Thanks to 411mania writer, Adam Hill for bringing this to my attention. Motherhood, a film about a stressed-out mother, only managed to gross £88 for its opening weekend over in Britain. The movie, which features Uma Thurman, Minnie Driver, and Jodie Foster, did badly in America as well, taking just over £40,000 when it opened last September. Interestingly enough, Motherhood is not Britain's biggest flop. That award goes to My Nikifor, which in 2007 took only £7 on its launch. But that was a independent effort rather than a £3m Hollywood production. Metrodome, the firm responsible for marketing the film, said it believed the DVD would do better than the cinema release, according to The Times. When told of the takings in Britain, Jana Edelbaum, the film's producer, replied: "You're kidding? We must have broken a new record for grosses." She said she would demand an explanation from Metrodome. "Motherhood is not bad. It's a very decent movie."


They don't waste much time, do they? Louis Letterier, director of Clash of the Titans, spoke to Moviehole about the future of the Titans franchise saying, "It's not really about a sequel; there is enough material to do two sequels or two prequels. It's Greek Mythology; you just open the books and keep going. As I was reading Greek Mythology, I realized there are many directions to take the films. The studios aren't dumb. They want to know that if the movie is successful, as a director they want to know where it can go. They asked me to write out the overall plot with the writers. We came up with this really cool, but very mythological idea. Perseus is sort of like the Jesus Christ of Greek mythology, everything circles around him. We got really excited that if the movie is by any chance a success during the first weekend; I would absolutely love to step back into it starting that following Monday and explore all of the possibilities. Even if it is not me directing, let's keep it going anyway. I would love to see more Greek mythology movies."

So, where does that leave a sequel? "If you know Greek Mythology, imagine the story of Perseus in the center and the Universe is enormous. You've got twelve gods, you have Titans, you have heroes. You open the pages of Greek mythology, you find endless opportunities. You've got great human stories with heart. You've got tremendous creatures. It's frightening. It's erotic. It's everything great storytelling has and needs." A lot of words to say, "I don't know!" Keep on eye on how Titans does at the box office to see if this has legs to warrant more films.


Trash of the Titans...excuse me...Clash of the Titans came out this past weekend and while audiences showed up, they didn't leave the theater very happy. Most of the ire came from the hastily put together 3D effects for the movie. That makes this an opportune time to ask: Is 3D Good or Bad for Hollywood? Let the arguments begin. Avatar. Alice in Wonderland. How to Train Your Dragon. All over town folks are debating: Should most movies be in 3D? Which projects are right for 3D? With the mad rush to make just about every new project 3D, a number of questions and debates pop up. First, Let's take a quick sampling of some upcoming movies that were announced to be in 3D:

Jackass 3D
Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
Toy Story 3
Harry Potter 7
Shrek Ever After
Drive Angry
Puss in Boots
The Smurfs

Are all these necessary? Titans hopefully will be a lesson to Hollywood that 3D means shooting in TRUE 3D, not rushing into 11th-hour conversion. While I would have liked to have seen Titans loaded with top notch effects, I don't feel the need to rush every project into 3D territory. Would I have like to have seen Hurt Locker in 3D? Sure. It would have enhanced the drama. But what about Up in the Air? Not interested. Same with a number of movies that focus on story. Some movies are made to be small. And what about cost? 3D charges add anywhere from $3 to $5 to a regular ticket price. How long will audiences pay the price? Studies show that family/kid's films suffer the most when ticket prices rise. While theatergoers were awed by the effects of Avatar, not every release will be able to capture the audiences the way that epic did. Or like Alice in Wonderland. It will be interesting to see how the studios respond when a number of 3D films stumble and fail at the box office. For now, we are in a "wait-and-see" pattern. Leave your thoughts on 3D below!


Rumors have circulated for a while director Sylvain White had been approached to helm a Tobey Maguire produced version of Robotech. IESB caught up with him at WonderCon today where he was promoting The Losers. IESB point-blank asked White of the rumors for his directorial participation. He said that he loves the series and yes, had been approached to helm Robotech. He even went as far to say he's read a draft. Said script is an adaptation of The Macross Saga. That particular series centered on a war against the Zentraedi, a race of militaristic giant aliens. He admitted he is interested, but was quick to point out the project hasn't been greenlit yet.

A few years ago, I would have skipped over this because technology just wasn't ready to give us a Robotech that is worthy to the source material. But I can safely say that the time is right! And don't be scared off by Maguire producing. He's a fan of the books and is looking to do justice to the franchise. I do have a little question in regards to White directing. I'm digging the trailers for The Losers but Robotech is a different beast all together. With a project this size, expect a number of announcements and changes as it crawls to production.


Do you get turned on thinking about Big Lebowski? You can be honest. Well, it's the latest movie to get the adult film spoof treatment. A trailer for the impending Big Lebowski porn-parody is making the rounds and it's...different. I've tried a few links and they've all been shut down, so I apologize for not being able to share it with you. I'm sure if you Google it, you'll see what I'm talking about. Funny enough, the trailer doesn't contain sex or nudity, two vital components for an adult film. No word if "The Dude" gives this a thumbs up or not, but I could take a guess on what Jesus has to say about all of this.

I might as well lump this in here as well. Kevin Smith showed up at WonderCon this weekend and did his usual meet, greet, complain, and explain. One of the subjects of his diatribes: Zack and Miri Make a Porno. Specifically, the movie was based on a television pitch. The show was a pilot he wrote for Jason Lee in the mid-90s called Hiatus, and Kevin explains how it turned into an almost NC-17 movie about two friends making porno. Nice to see Smith talking about films instead of...everything else he's been talking about lately. I enjoyed Zack and Miri. It could have tripped up a number of times but was able to pull off a charming little movie about friends, overcoming adversity, and...porno. I can't see this getting any sort of attention from network television and it's chances on cable were iffy. It's a good "idea concept" that would have quickly lost its luster if it had to be stretched out over a season or two.


Are you ready? I said...ARE YOU READY? Looks like we have a nice little "Men-On-A-Mission" trilogy going on. 3 movies. 3 trailers. 3 great reasons to see this in the theater! First up we have:

The Losers,, which hits April 23rd! After being betrayed and left for dead, members of a CIA black ops team root out those who targeted them for assassination. I ran a picture last week of Chris "Cappy" Evans as Jensen. But also catching my eye is Zoe Saldana. I hope she's paying her management team well because she is making all the right moves!

The A-Team blows up screens on June 11th! Like many of you I was skeptical of a movie based on a TV show from my youth. But as pictures were released and now with this trailer, I'm sold! Bring it on!



The Expendables, which is coming out on August 13th. We've all read about the cast, but what I find even more interesting is the cast that was asked or rumored to be in it, but for some reason couldn't do it. Let's hope for a sequel!




Quick Bits..........Sean Connery returns to the movie biz! In a way. Sir Connery is doing some voiceover work for Sir Billi, a new animated movie from Rogers & Cowan and a small Scottish animation team consisting of "a husband and wife creative team and just 60 people based in Glasgow, Scotland". The project, which the creative team "have accomplished in less time/a fraction of the people the creation of a full length animated feature (coming down to the finish line this summer) what it ordinarily takes a full Hollywood studio", will be the now-retired Connery's first animated movie. Sir Billi tells of an active Grandpa who helps to rescue animals, look after his grand kids, and also find a new love after the death of his wife. I miss Sean. Here's hoping for ONE MORE FILM!..........It's good to be Chris Evans! Not only has he been cast as Steve Rogers in The First Avenger: Captain America, he's got two new films making way to the theater: this month's ensemble action flick The Losers and August's Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Evans took time to talk about casting Captain America at WonderCon saying, "I try and stay away from all that. That's almost none of my business. It's a slippery slope when you start reading that stuff. I have enough trouble doing press. You end up living in your own head a lot more than you'd like to and you start reading that stuff and it's a dangerous game to play. So, for the most part, I tried to stay out of it."..........


How about a little something for the Blu-Ray crowd? Coming out this Tuesday is the movie that has more versions then any other franchise I can think of. The sad thing is I'm sure somewhere out there, a guy owns EVER SINGLE version there is to own of The Lord of the Rings! So that guy, and many more, will be picking up Lord of the Rings: The Motion Picture Trilogy (Theatrical Editions) on Blu-Ray. Nicolas Cage plays a rogue detective who is as devoted to his job as he is to scoring drugs while playing fast and loose with the law in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. I heard good things about it and will be picking it up for a viewing or two. For those wrestling fans out there, you can pick up Hart and Soul: The Hart Family Anthology. Now for the first time ever on DVD, fans can learn the storied history of the Hart family and Stampede Wrestling. Christian Slater, Wes Bentley, and Emmanuelle Vaugier star in
Dolan's Cadillac. Based on the story by Stephen King; After his wife is murdered by notorious crime boss Jimmy Dolan (Slater), Robinson (Bentley), a quiet middle school teacher, devises a diabolical plan to get revenge. Smells like a RedBox rental!

What do the symbols mean by the story? Here you go:



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