Furious Movie News 09.02.10: The Cancer Sucks Edition

Posted by Arnold Furious on 09.02.2010

James Cameron battles subpar 3D, Michael Douglas battles cancer, Darren Aronofsky may be helming Wolverine sequel and The Rock has a sequel of his own. Plus trailers, chart news and more!

Furious Movie News 09.02.10: The Cancer Sucks Edition

Michael Douglas battles cancer, Jim Cameron battles subpar 3D, Darren Aronofsky may be helming Wolverine sequel and The Rock has a sequel of his own. Plus trailers, chart news and more!

Furious on Film 193

NEWS!

Michael Douglas battles cancer



The news broke to the world on August 16th that Hollywood actor Michael Douglas had throat cancer. In an interview with People he revealed that he "will beat this" and discussed how positive he was feeling about the whole process. On David Letterman's show he spoke about starting chemotherapy and how the 8 week course was only a week old. He also said that despite the cancer being at Stage 4 the predictions about treatment have been optimistic.

65 year old Douglas blamed alcohol and cigarettes for causing the cancer but added he'd had a stressful year and that hadn't helped. His son Cameron Douglas was jailed in April for 5 years for heroin possession and Douglas is in the midst of a legal battle with ex-wife Diandra Luker over payments for Wall Street 2, which presumably Diandra believes she's entitled to because she helped him with the original character in Wall Street. We at 411 wish Michael all the best in his battle with cancer.

Cameron in war of words over Piranha 3D



Here's what Jim Cameron had to say about Piranha 3D during an interview with Vanity Fair:

"I tend almost never to throw other films under the bus, but [Piranha 3D] is exactly an example of what we should not be doing in 3D. Because it just cheapens the medium and reminds you of the bad 3D horror films from the '70s and '80s, like Friday The 13th 3D. When movies got to the bottom of the barrel of their creativity and at the last gasp of their financial lifespan, they did a 3-D version to get the last few drops of blood out of the turnip. And that's now what's happening now with 3D. It is a renaissance. Right now the biggest and best films are being made in 3D. Martin Scorsese is making a film in 3D [Hugo Cabret]. Disney's biggest film of the year -- Tron: Legacy -- is coming out in 3D. So it's a whole new ballgame."

So what Cameron is saying is that he feels he's recreated the 3D game to not just be about objects flying into view like the crappy Friday 13th 3D he referenced but rather about quality filmmaking. Piranha 3D is the old fashioned usage with bits and pieces flying at the camera. I wonder what he thinks about Jackass 3D? Quick with a rebuttal however was Mark Canton, producer of Piranha 3D, who had this to say:

"As a producer in the entertainment industry, Jim Cameron's comments on VanityFair.com are very disappointing to me and the team that made Piranha 3D. Mr. Cameron, who singles himself out to be a visionary of movie-making, seems to have a small vision regarding any motion pictures that are not his own. It is amazing that in the movie-making process - which is certainly a team sport - that Cameron consistently celebrates himself out as though he is a team of one. His comments are ridiculous, self-serving and insulting to those of us who are not caught up in serving his ego and his rhetoric. Jim, are you kidding or what? First of all, let's start by you accepting the fact that you were the original director of Piranha 2 and you were fired."

It goes on and on and on. It seems Mark Canton got very upset with a throwaway remark from an actual filmmaker. You'll notice the producer is the one defending the film rather than the director as he knows any publicity is good publicity and it'll stir up people's interest in the film. However they're both wrong.

Cameron has to realise that no matter what he thinks people will still be entertained by the more base elements of entertainment and 3D can enhance those as well. And Canton needs to realise the film he's made is schlock. It might be entertaining schlock but that doesn't stop it being schlock. Canton went on the defence of genre films pointing out stuff Scorsese did early in his career and so on and so forth but generally those filmmakers weren't making those films out of choice. They were trying to get their foot in the door and sometimes that's all the horror market is good for. Yes there are good horror movies and good directors who work in horror but for Canton to go on the offensive is ridiculous. It makes him look petty and jealous. Let's not forget his resume, which includes Jack Frost and both remakes of Get Carter and Fame.

What's that? You want to see that picture of Kelly Brook that we keep using whenever anyone mentions Piranha 3D? No problem!



Darren Aronofsky for Wolverine 2



This isn't new news because I heard the link about a week ago but the story is still doing the rounds and seems to be gaining strength. Seeing as Marvel were somewhat dissatisfied with X-Men Origins: Wolverine and yet frequently butted in during production after hiring a relative newcomer in Gavin Hood to shoot it. I get the feeling Marvel are after a director who would be both popular with the fans AND be strong enough to shoot the film his own way. Now, the downside for Marvel is if they do hire Darren Aronofsky there's every chance they'd never make it onto set. Because Aronofsky has few financial demands but insists on shooting films his way or no way. Its his stubborn nature and determination that's seen several projects go by the roadside including a collaboration with Brad Pitt where the director stood up to the Hollywood star. If Marvel hire him the first thing he'll tell his new overlords is to back the fuck off. And Marvel NEED to be told to back off. The first Wolverine movie suffered from too many cooks in the kitchen and too many ideas at the table. Aronofsky has a great relationship with Hugh Jackman having previously worked with him on The Fountain and is a brilliant director. Let's look at his resume for a moment;

Pi
Requiem for a Dream
The Fountain
The Wrestler
Black Swan

This is a director with a singular vision who almost avoids big names and will probably continue to do so unless they do what he wants. He knows Hugh, and its about time someone just handed a project over to him. Yeah, I don't like The Fountain much but he's learned from that experience. I think Wolverine 2 would be a good thing for everyone. Maybe Marvel is being smart with its choices again. Look at Joss Whedon. Popular with the fans, great track record and yet no major Hollywood productions before. Its like Marvel are trying to give deserving directors big breaks. I hope it works out for everyone.

The Rock to Journey in place of Fraser



2008's Journey to the Centre of the Earth was a surprise hit doing $100M in the US and $140M overseas. Star Brendan Fraser wasn't too enamoured with the idea of returning for the planned sequel though. Apparently he can't fit it into his busy schedule and Warners have lined up Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to replace him. Josh Hutcherson will reprise his role and the sequel will adapt another Jules Verne book "The Mysterious Island". The rumoured title being Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Brad Peyton will direct and he's no stranger to sequels having just shot Cats and Dogs 2. I don't hold up too much hope for this one but I didn't see the original and chances are this will be marketed at the kids.

Deals

We'll get their people to call our people

George Clooney will be directing Farragut North. He's already hired two actors to appear; Philip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Giamati are signed. Chris Pine is expected to take the lead in a movie about dirty politics based on the 2004 Presidential campaign. Leonardo DiCaprio was attached but is no longer.

Remi Malek has signed up to play the part of Egyptian vampire Benjamin in Breaking Dawn the two-part conclusion of the Twilight saga. He's best known for TV roles in 24 and The Pacific.



Charisma Carpenter and Ty Olsson will star in Crash Site, which features them in a battle against nature after an accident in the middle of the woods. I imagine that one will be headed straight to DVD.

Terry Malick has a casting call for his next movie, which is likely to be set in Oklahoma but has yet to be named. Or rather his production company Redbud does. Producer Nick Gonda said the following names are lined up already; Ben Affleck, Rachel Weisz, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams and Olga Kurylenko. Malick meanwhile is still in the editing suite working on his latest film The Tree of Life. Most Malick films spend an eternity in post-production so we don't expect Malick to stick his head out again this year.

Finally Quentin Tarantino is aiming to cast Justin Timberlake in a forthcoming movie wanting to turn the pop icon into a cold blooded killer. Timberlake would play a trainee hitman. He's a bit late if he wanted to skew public perception of Justin as Timberlake has already changed public perception through his career choices especially with some excellent work on SNL.

TRAILERS

The Freebie. Interesting concept and Dax Shepard looks to be doing a small Indy film to get his reputation back together. Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. Reviews have been really positive from the festival circuit.



And speaking of actors taking smaller more serious roles to enhance their reputation here's Gemma Arterton working with Stephen Frears in Tamara Drewe. Arterton has caught Hollywood attention as a sex-pot (Prince of Persia, Clash of the Titans and she was a Bond girl) but looks to be improving her lot as an actress. I shall be following her career with great interest.



And to complete the trilogy we have John Cena taking on a more serious role in Legendary as a troubled former amateur wrestler. It co-stars Patricia Clarkson (in permanent Awards Clip mode), Danny Glover and John Posey. It actually looks shockingly good as Cena leaves the heavyweight work to those around him and opts for sitting and looking moody. Hey, sometimes that shit works! I might even watch this.




CHART WATCH

New Releases



The Last Exorcism learned a few lessons from Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. Make your film on the cheap with a handheld camera and reap ALL the profits! Costing just $1.8M to put together Last Exorcism has been on pure profit right out of the gate. Already chewing up more than $20M of American cinemagoers hard-earned green. Eli Roth was producer on this film and its outperformed all his films opening weekend grosses. His best to date being Hostel, which scored a $19M opening weekend. Seeing as Hostel went on to accumulate nearly $50M chances are Last Exorcism will exceed that and be a huge success. I'm expecting a cheap sequel to be rolled out sooner or later. When movies make this much money with next to no effort the studios are eager to finance another one. Compared to other recent horrors it opened similar to 1408 went on to gross $71M. That kind of figure would represent crazy wins.



Takers. This movie shocked me. I saw the reviews and they were poor. I saw the trailer a few months back and thought it looked like a complete waste of time and yet it opens to a freakish $20.5M and top spot? So they'll be thrilled about that opening weekend. After all it only cost $20M. They've made a smart move by not opening against anything that'll do mad money and the result is success. Sony will be quite happy with that. I'm just surprised it's made any money at all. I had it pegged as doing less money than Avatar this weekend. Shows what I know, I guess.



Avatar: Special Edition is Jim Cameron's last attempt to eek cash out of the first film before embarking on the sequels/novels/Na'vi dictionary. For adding in a few extra minutes of footage it chalks up another $4M onto the enormous $749M US take. Which means Avatar is now through the $750M mark. Catch that, George Lucas!

Holdovers



The Expendables continues to show strong returns. Now up to $82M over 3 weeks with nearly $10M this weekend. Its not going to be a massive hit or anything but has now reclaimed the budget. Which is step one to getting a sequel made. Its Sylvester Stallone's biggest hit as a lead since Cliffhanger in 1993. And its sure to be his biggest hit since the mid-80s heyday of Stallone's career. While Rambo and Rocky Balboa saw some popularity based on nostalgia; Expendables has combined nostalgia with modern action stars and is paying the dividends. For an estimate of overall gross; I'd go with $115M. It hasn't had the replay value of Inception and many action films tend to fade after bright starts.

Julia Roberts vehicle Eat Pray Love has also reclaimed its budget hitting the $60M+ mark this past weekend. Her bankability has lost something and without a strong male lead or the usual humour of date movies this movie has been quite successful. Kinda weird that Eat Pray Love cost so much at $60M when similar movies Julie & Julia and The Devil Wears Prada, which were both journal based, were made for less and were both more successful without that big star name attached.



Hitting the $100M mark is The Other Guys, which is now into the black as well. Surpassing Step Brothers its now Will Ferrell's most successful film Blades of Glory in 2007. Which means his career isn't falling apart after all and rumours of his demise were somewhat exaggerated. Sometimes comedy actors just need to get a better script coming their way. Land of the Lost just didn't cut the mustard. This time out he teams with Mark Wahlberg and both actors benefit from it. It looks like it'll be Marky Mark's biggest hit as a lead since Planet of the Apes in 2001. As far as buddy action films go its close to infiltrating the top ten of said genre, which is dominated by 3 franchises; Lethal Weapon, Rush Hour and Men in Black. It needs $130M to beat out even the least of the Lethal Weapon movies however.



Last week I seem to remember saying it was only a matter of time before people figured out that Vampires Suck, wasn't just a clever title, but in fact the latest in a string of crap from Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg. Too late though; with $27M its already a hit. Chances are it'll close with more money than Team America: World Police. Which I think is particularly sad. What's worse is its already beaten good movies like Hot Fuzz. I really don't want to talk about it anymore but luckily next week I won't have to. With the movie down 56% there's every chance it won't worry the chart-makers next week.



Despite people bashing it for not making the mad money of Dark Knight, Inception continues to have incredible holds. Despite losing 331 theaters it actually gained two places on the chart. If the top ten was based on theatre averages; Nolan's film would be 4th this weekend. With $270M so far, and successes overseas, its fair to say Chris Nolan can do no wrong. And Inception was a huge risk for Warners. They were releasing a film that was hard to even describe, let alone promote, and it was hugely expensive too. The reward for such a risk has been $110M of profit in the US. Chalk up another $357M overseas and Inception is one of the years biggest hits.

Rest of the Ten



Nanny McPhee Returns has $17M in two weeks. $35M budget means this film is in trouble. It does already have the benefit of $69M foreign markets in the bank but it still could have done with being more successful in the US. Chances of a franchise are hurt by poor American sales. That works for almost everything. The Switch has done even worse and has $16M after two weeks. Jennifer Aniston might as well not bother with another starring role because people just don't want to see her as a lead anymore. For her best genre, the rom-com, to fall flat as well just adds insult to the injury. However she does have a lifeline because Bounty Hunter did exceptionally well. Piranha 3D inserted tongue firmly into cheek and got praise from reviewers for it but no love from the general public. I thought they'd be all over this considering how perfect the set up was for 3D. 57% drop-off second week sees it drop to #10 on the chart. Considering it has a $24M budget it is in danger of not regaining that.

Going, going…gone



Lottery Ticket can wipe that smile off its face. Decent opening weekend but second weekend sees a massive, massive 62% drop-off. Seems everyone who was going to see the movie saw it opening weekend and its just about scraped that $17M budget back. I'm not overly surprised though. The turnout opening weekend was 72% black. Traditionally films aimed at the black market (if you'll excuse the pun) tend to open well but audiences dwindle after opening week. Tyler Perry has seen this trend happen time and time again. Lottery Ticket is an extreme example of this trend.



This is quite sad. Despite good reviews people just didn't like the look of Scott Pilgrim Vs the World and the market it was aimed at is a market that downloads its movies for free off the internet. Cheapskates! Which means Scott has $26M from a $60M budget. That doesn't look good. In comic book terms that's only slightly better than the dreadful Elektra and not much more than failures like The Losers. It seems people aren't prepared to given weird comic book movies a go, which is odd considering the success of Hellboy, regardless of positivity. This was easily as tough a film to sell as Inception but when it came down to it people won't see a weird looking movie just because critics like it.

Big Earners



Toy Story 3 has the billion dollars worldwide that I said it would last week. That means it has now beaten The Dark Knight and it is sitting pretty on $1.012 billion. Another $15M and it'll knock Alice in Wonderland off the top of the yearly chart. The movie is slowing right up now after a huge run of success this summer but it should knock Alice off top spot before its done. As for the rest of the chart; there's not much happening. Inception isn't making much of an inroad into the American all-time list and won't because its almost done in the US. It has cracked the top 50 worldwide and has made more money than Hancock now.

Next Week



Three movies open; Machete, George Clooney's The American and Going the Distance starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. There isn't a clear favourite for #1 spot and it could go to the wire as a 3-way tie. I think The American is most likely to take top spot as George Clooney is the biggest star of the weekend. Machete will either suffer or benefit from opening this close to The Expendables. If people saw the trailer on Stallone's movie and thought it looked good that could boost sales. If people can't afford two movie trips so close together for the same sort of film then it'll hurt it. I predict that less people want to see it than The Expendables, which should see it open off top. I wouldn't be surprised if Drew Barrymore scored top spot either. All these films are liable to pull in $10-18M and it won't be a busy weekend at the box office.

EPL Player of the Week

Week 3

How did we vote this week? Wait anxiously no more…

1. Hugo Rodallega (Wigan). Massive goal for Wigan against Spurs. Wigan were looking likely to go down this season after getting thumped in back to back games to open the campaign. Then they go and win at Spurs, which is about the same sort of form you'd expect of them based on last season's wild inconsistencies. This has stopped the rot though and should steady the ship. Hugo also made telling contributions throughout the game and was a terrific point man for the team that needed a busy striker to keep the pressure off their defence.

2. Florent Malouda (Chelski). It was after careful debate that I selected Malouda at #2 this week. Not so much for how well he played, although he did play well, but partly as recognition for how good he's been in every game for Chelski so far with Drogba getting most of the headlines. Malouda already has 4 goals in 3 games and has been tearing defences apart with his movement off the ball.

3. Theo Walcott (Arsenal). Considering how much flak Walcott takes, and deserves, its amazing that I'm voting for him in back to back weeks. Hopefully a sign that his form this season is going to be somewhat more consistent. Maybe this actually is the year he pushes on and stamps his authority on English football. After all he's ridiculously fast and has shown himself to be a clinical finisher with an excellent goal against Blackburn adding to his hat-trick last weekend.

4. Darren Bent (Sunderland)

5. Luke Varney (Blackpool)

Ross Cummins

1. Darren Bent (Sunderland). Purely for breaking City hearts.

2. Ali Al Habsi (Wigan Athletic). I would've laughed last week if you told me I'd be putting a Wigan player in this list. But Al Habsi, a player I've never heard of, deputising for ten-goal wonder Chris Kirkland, had an incredible game on Saturday. Spurs were poor but Al Habsi made sure his side were deserved winners with a string of superb saves.

3. Nani (Manchester United). A goal, an assist, a few super efforts on goal and all round terrific display ensures Nani makes it into this list. And having come off the back of a week where the lad was heavily criticised after the Fulham game, it makes his his performance all the more admirable. Well done, Nani, are you turning into the player we all hoped you'd be?

4. Luke Varney (Blackpool).

5. Theo Walcott (Arsenal).

Ger O'Neill

1. Dimitar Berbatov (Man United)
2. Darren Bent (Sunderland)
3. Brad Friedal (Aston Villa)
4. Nani (Manchester United)
5. Hugo Rodallega (Wigan)

Tom O'Dowd

1. Hugo Rodallega (Wigan)
2. Nani (Manchester United)
3. Florent Malouda (Chelski)
4. Theo Walcott (Arsenal)
5. Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

David O'Loughlin


1. Luke Varney (Blackpool) – What a way to make your debut as Blackpool took Europa League finalists Fulham to the edge. Varney had a good attempt on goal converted by Paintsil in an OG moment we'll be seeing more than once. But the top moment for him was the expert finish he made to put Blackpool ahead for what would have been a famous win. Etuhu spoiled the show a bit for Blackpool, but it was still a great performance by Varney. Not bad for a guy on loan from Derby.

2. Nani (Manchester United) – With Rooney still struggling for form and Berbatov often a bit hit and miss (on Saturday he was very much hit) Nani helped take control of the match. One of the best goals of the weekend as he literally left the opposition defenders on their backsides, he also provided a great assist for Berbatov to smash home. Nani could have had a hatrick but what he gave was one of the best performances of the weekend.

3. Hugo Rodallega (Wigan) – Struggling Wigan had no chance against Champions League Spurs. At least that's what logic dictates. But Rodallega read from a different script. Causing all kinds of problems for Tottenham, he set up Alcaraz and Gomez for what should have been two easy goals. When they both missed, Rodallega took it upon himself to do the job and scored the 80th minute winner.

4. Simon Mignolet (Sunderland)

5. Sylvain Ebanks-Blake (Wolves)

Here's the top 5 for the weekend.

1. Hugo Rodallega 14 – 10 points
2. Nani 13 – 6 points
3. Darren Bent 11 – 4 points
4. Luke Varney 8 – 2 points
5. Florent Malouda 7 – 1 point

And here's the Top Ten so far this season;

1. Joe Hart 10
2. Andy Carroll 10
3. Didier Drogba 10
4. Hugo Rodallega 10
5. Theo Walcott 6
6. Nani 6
7. Marlon Harewood 4
8. Darren Bent 4
9. Marc Albrighton 2
10. Gareth Bale 2

No clear leader yet and now a 4-way tie for first. Join us after the International break (already?) and we'll see what excitement the Premier League throws our way. Don't forget to check out The Promised Land for more football related bloggery.

ELSEWHERE

Check out Top 100 Guy Movies as it nears conclusion. This week its 31-20.

I covered Series 1 of the Simpsons last week. I'm presently working on series 2. Don't expect it anytime soon because it's a full series and they take ages. For those who missed it there are also three new Furious Flashbacks on the wrestling tape review board with more to come.

One for the road. Do we need any oranges Gary Busey?



He sure loves Calvin & Hobbes.

Until next time I'm Arnold Furious and you're not.