The Hollywood 5 & 1 7.14.12: Sarah Michelle Gellar vs. Alyson Hannigan
Posted by Jack McGee on 07.14.2012
Sarah Michelle Gellar battles Alyson Hannigan and Iyari Limon faces Dichen Lachman in the Whedonverse Vs Tournament, The Fantastic Four reboot gets a director and writer, Viacom goes dark on DirecTV, Ed Helms goes on Vacation, Ronda Rousey is your "& 1" Model of the Week and more!
The Part at the Beginning
Welcome back to the latest edition of the Hollywood 5 & 1. I am your humble correspondent, Jack McGee. We are back again to discuss the world of Hollywood, and as always there is a lot to discuss. As always, I want to thank you all for reading little part of 411, as I really appreciate you taking the time to both read and vote. Now much going in the McGee household this week, other than work, but so is life, right friends? But no one wants to hear about that, we have Hollywood stuff, hot women and more to discuss. Also today we shall continue our quest to crown the QUEEN of The WhedonVerse!!! Lets get on with the show…
They make you get this damn thing at 411. Social media and all. I know, you won't follow me, it's cool, it's cool.
WHO IS IN THE HALL OF BANG?
~ Denise Milani
~ Stacey Dash
~ Salma Hayek
~ Jennifer Love Hewitt
~ Sofia Vergara
~ Mila Kunis
~ Scarlett Johansson
~ Keeley Hazell
~ Mya Jane
~ Susan Coffey
~ Holly Peers
~ Penelope Cruz
~ Arianny Celeste
~ Kate Upton
~ Sarah Shahi
~ Gina Carano
~ Bianca Beauchamp
THIS WEEK's BATTLE – The Battle For The WhedonVerse Continues!
A NOTE ON THE TOURNEMENT: Ok, now I know that no matter what I did, people would likely not be happy. But what I want you to do is read and see what happened. Again, I discussed the feature with the column's original owner "The Goose" and we decided that the best way to select the ladies was a blind draw from a hat. We also did the same with the NUMBER of competitors. We landed on 18 for that, which means this week you shall vote on the play in rounds, kind of like the NCAA tournament does now. And then, then we shall fully get the ball rolling. Also, the program I used to make the bracket allowed for "random seeding," which is what I selected and the bracket below is how the program placed the ladies. Again, I know that this isn't like many of you would have done, but I felt that added a fun element to everything as we truly did things random. Now, let's get to work and crown the QUEEN of The WhedonVerse!
Last week's voting: Last week we had some tremendous participation, over 2,000 votes, and not only were your voices heard, but it was not even close. In the first play in round, Alyson Hannigan defeated Monena Baccarin 691 [66.25%] to 352 [33.75%]. In the second play in round, Iyari Limon defeated Juliet Landau 665 [71.89%] to 260 [28.11%]. Again, the updated bracket is above, and that shall take us to this week's TWO battles! Double the pleasure as they say.
REMINDER: The photos are a mere representation, always vote for who YOU feel is the hottest woman
#1. Sarah Michelle Gellar
VS.
#17. Alyson Hannigan
#15. Iyari Limon
or
#2. Dichen Lachman
ALL VOTING CLOSES ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS AT 9PM
FIVE – Fantastic Four Reboot Update
Some big news this week regarding the reboot of the Fantastic Four franchise, as Josh Trank (Chronicle) has been officially announced as the director for the reboot. Trank has limited experience, as he served as a writer and director on the TV series The Kill Point, and of course the previously mentioned Chronicle. Chronicle received some positive reviews from fans, and also some very good reviews from critics. It also made bank, as the film with a budget of $12 million made $126.6 million worldwide. The film will be the next Marvel production after The Wolverine and the sequel to Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class. Both X-Men films will begin production soon
Trank has his work cut out for him, as the last crack at The Fantastic Four did not set the world on fire. Critics didn't really like the films and fans for the most part were in the middle on the franchise. And the really unfortunate thing is that when Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer was finished and complete, there was no one asking for a third film, only fans asking for a new take on The Fantastic Four. Mild fan reaction, poor reviews by critics, and then there was the box office…
* Fantastic Four (2005): BUDGET - $100 million, BOX OFFICE TOTAL - $330 million
* Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007): BUDGET - $130 million, BOX OFFICE TOTAL - $289 million
Now, the first thing that you will notice is that they did make money during their theatrical run (a studio recoups 55% of a film's grosses on average. This means that a film needs to approximately double its budget to be profitable during its theatrical run). Unlike say, Green Lantern, which during it's theatrical run only make around $20 million over it's budget. Anyway, Fantastic Four has been good enough to be profitable, but not good enough to make people discuss it like they do X-Men, Dark Knight or Avengers. The franchise thankfully doesn't have that Green Lantern stank too it, but it also has a long way to go. Can Trank help give the Fantastic Four the big screen treatment that it really deserves? I for one hope so.
FOUR – How Much Bank Has Spider-Man Made?
"God, I would kill to make some of that Avenger's money. Hell, even a lovely plate of shwarma would be nice…"
Time to take a little look at the box office here friends. The Amazing Spider-Man, which I gave a mini-review for last week, if going pretty strong at the old box office. Before I get into that, I will say that I did give The Amazing Spider-Man another viewing, because after reading my own review (I am for sure no film critic) I felt that I was a bit harsh. So after another viewing, it surely isn't The Avengers or The Dark Knight, but overall I will say that I liked it better the second time. Surely not a perfect film, but pretty damn enjoyable, that's for sure.
Anyway, I figured that we'd look at the box office for The Amazing Spider-Man. One thing to remember when we discuss box office, a studio recoups 55% of a film's grosses on average. This means that a film needs to approximately double its budget to be profitable during its theatrical run. Now, with that being said, as I write this, (Friday afternoon) the film has made $159.7 million domestic, and another $201.6 million Internationally, giving the film a total of $361.3 million worldwide after 13 days. The budge for the film is either $220 million or $230 million, both have been reported in various places. Here are how the other Spider-Man films performed…
* Spider-Man (2002): BUDGET - $139 million, BOX OFFICE TOTAL - $821 million
* Spider-Man II (2004): BUDGET - $200 million, BOX OFFICE TOTAL - $783 million
* Spider-Man III (2007): BUDGET - $258 million, BOX OFFICE TOTAL - $890 million
The film is off to a very strong start, and I am sure that they are happy about that. With inflation, 3D and IMAX, there is really no reason that the film shouldn't be able to defeat the previous installments. Quite honesty, if the film doesn't near $1 billion, I would say that it is a bit of a disappointment for the reasons I previously listed (inflation, 3D and IMAX). It will be interested to see how the film does once The Dark Knight rises hits next weekend, because one would think that the final installment of the Batman saga will heavily eat into Spider-Man's audience.
THREE – Time For Another Griswold Family Vacation
Through out the years, the National Lampoon's Vacation series of films have been a favorite of mine. The original the classic it was in 1983, European Vacation in 1985 bringing the boobies for a young Jack McGee and Christmas Vacation required viewing during the holiday season. Hell, even Vegas Vacation gave us Wayne Newton and Nick Papageorgio. Now for years, there have been rumors that the franchise would come back, and that it would star Rusty Griswold dealing with his own family misadventures, with possible cameos from Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo also rumored. It has been announced that John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses) will direct from the script they wrote. But who will star in the role of Rusty? Could Anthony Michael Hall make his grand return to the franchise? Unfortunately no, he won't be. Shitty Jason Lively from European Vacation? Thankfully no. Johnny Galecki from Christmas Vacation? Too busy banging his theory. Ethan Embry from Vegas Vacation? Fuck off, they aren't using any of the former Rusty Griswolds, they are negotiating to have ED HELMS star…
See, even he is unsure about this! Actually, I will not just hate on Ed Helms here, but I will state that I am unsure of the casting. I think that he does work very well in an ensemble film, which this could end up being, but if it relies on him too much as the lead, I am not sure that it will work. I may be deadly in the wrong, and if so, so be it. I am interested in the film, as I previously stated, I like the franchise and grew up on it. And while I am not a fan of re-boots and re-launches, I see this as a continuation, and will give it a chance. But for those of you complaining about this, all I have to say is shut up! Shut up and back off because you do not care. Why am I being an asshole right now? Because if you cared for the "sanctity" of the franchise, you would have fought against Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure. Yes, that shit actually happened, back in December of 2003, fuck you very much NBC. The only saving grace of the film was the return of Dana Barron to the franchise as Audrey Giriswold. She also played the sexy little Nikki Witt on Beverly Hills 90210 back in 1992. Yes, I knew that straight off the top of my head, and she was too good for David, but had too many issues for Brandon. I mean, come on, she was dating Dennis 'Diesel' Stone, played by David Arquette…
MY GOD WHY AM I SHARING SO MUCH INFORMATION? I'm off to drink beers and watch ESPN…
TWO – BEST AND WORST OF THE WEEK
BEST OF THE WEEK – Good News: Steve's Return?: While I cannot share anything specific, the former writer of the column and the Big Screen Bulletin, Steve Gustafson should have some news for you all shortly about his status with 411. And I can't share specifics because I was not given any. Apparently I am on a need to know basis and I didn't need to know. That's some shit isn't it, I mean, I just jumped in to help out and all. Oh well, just remember what ol' Jack McGee does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack McGee just looks that big ol' storm right square in the eye and he says, "Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it."
WORST OF THE WEEK – The Direct TV Bullshit: Viacom's channels, including Spike TV, have now gone dark on DirecTV. The two companies failed to get an agreement worked out regarding carriage fees, meaning that Spike, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, BET, VH1, CMT and other channels have become unavailable for DirecTV customers. The previous deal expired last weekend. DirecTV EVP Derek Chang held the company line, stating that they felt that the customers should not have to pay more for these networks than the customers of any other TV provider. They also claimed that Viacom demanded the channels get taken down while they negotiated. While this has to suck for Direct TV customers, I do have to laugh at the people rushing to take sides and defend them to the death. Direct TV doesn't give a shot about you. Viacom doesn't give a shit about you. All that they do give a shit about is making money, because this is another case of the rich getting richer, while you get fucked without lube.
ONE – WHAT TO WATCH THIS WEEKEND
#1 – Saturday at 7:55PM ET on HBOC-W – HBO Comedy Hour: The 14th Annual Young Comedians Show: This is the 1991 special, which was hosted by Richard Lewis, and features early performances by Drew Carey, Warren Hutcherson, Jeff Stilson, Anthony Griffith and Jon Stewart.
#2 – Saturday at 10PM ET on Showtime – Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Kennedy: Strikeforce MMA returns to Showtime on Saturday night, offering up a petty quality card of fights. Lorenz Larkin looks to continue his climb against Robbie Lawler, Roger Gracie faces veteran of drunken style Keith Jardine, Nate Marquardt battles Tyron Woodley for the vacant SF Welterweight Title and in the main event champion Luke Rockhold defends his SF Middleweight Title against Tim Kennedy. The main show begins on Showtime at 10PM ET, and 411 will have live coverage of the event over in the old MMA section.
#3 – Sunday at 12:15PM ET on SHOW2-W – Ed Wood: The 1994 film starring Johnny Depp as filmmaker Ed Wood. Here is a synopsis of the film… "A biopic of the life and work of the legendary 'worst director of all time', 'Edward D. Wood Jr.' , concentrating on the best-known period of his life in the 1950s, when he made Glen or Glenda (1953), Bride of the Monster (1955) and Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), and focusing on both his transvestism and his touching friendship with the once great but now ageing and unemployed horror star Bela Lugosi."
#4 – Sunday at 8PM ET on PPV – WWE MITB: The WWE makes their return to PPV on Sunday night for the MITB PPV. TWO MITB matches, as well as the WWE Title and World Title Matches headline the show, and 411 will have LIVE coverage of the event at 7:30PM ET in the Wrestling section. Here is the card for the show…
