The Big Screen Bulletin 03.11.13: Oz the Great and Powerful Wins the Box Office!
Posted by Steve Gustafson on 03.11.2013
News and thoughts on a new trailer and plot details for Iron Man 3, George Lucas confirms three big Star Wars castings, a new clip from G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Oz The Great and Powerful getting a sequel, Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell talking Army of Darkness 2 and more!
Welcome to the Big Screen Bulletin! My name is Steve Gustafson and this is where we hit the big movie news from the weekend and anything else going on in the world of Hollywood!
My friend, Leola Bell is up for Playmate of the Year. Leola is an awesome person and she gets my endorsement. Click on the LINK and vote daily! Thanks!
I came across a cool project over at Kickstarter. Some of you old school types might remember one of the most popular independently published titles of the 1980s...The Justice Machine! Seems some fine folks are on a campaign to publish a 100 page, full color graphic novel... THE JUSTICE MACHINE: OBJECT OF POWER!
The book was initially intended as a miniseries published by Moonstone Books, but due to financial hardships, the project was delayed so many times the contract with the publisher expired. They decided to compile the completed miniseries into a graphic novel and go through Kickstarter...not only to fund the production and publication but also so the artists could finally receive the money owed to them. Head over to KICKSTARTER and join the cause!
1. Oz the Great and Powerful $80.2 million ($80.2 million) READ THE REVIEW!
2. Jack the Giant Slayer - $10 million ($43.8 million total)
3. Identity Thief - $6.3 million ($116.5 million total) READ THE REVIEW!
4. Dead Man Down - $5.4 million ($5.4 million (total)
5. Snitch - $5.1 million ($31.9 million total) READ THE REVIEW!
6. 21 & Over - $5.1 million ($16.8 million total) READ THE REVIEW!
7. Safe Haven - $3.8 million ($62.9 million total)
8. Silver Linings Playbook - $3.7 million ($120.7 million total) READ THE REVIEW!
9. Escape From Planet Earth - $3.2 million ($47.8 million total)
10. The Last Exorcism Part II - $3.1 million ($12.1 million total)
Box Office Survey!
Instead of me just repeating what you can see, how about we ask some questions about the weekend box office? Answer in the comments!
* How much of Oz the Great and Powerful's box office victory can be attributed to the casting and how much to the story of Oz?
* Why did Dead Man Down perform poorly?
BULLETIN BOARD
I want to keep this simple this week. If Warner Bros continues how it does with forcing a Justice League movie into theaters, it will bomb. Badly. They have not made one decision that gives me ANY hope that this is being planned in a thoughtful and long-term way. It has come off like they saw the impact that The Avengers had and said, "Yeah. That's what we want too!"
First, they need patience. The Avengers was a gamble but a calculated one. From casting to directing, they were specific on what they were looking for and balanced both short-term and long-term plans. And expectations. With each box office victory, they strengthened audience excitement and each step was built on the last.
Warner Bros is throwing money at everything and wondering why it isn't falling into place. I say scrap plans for Justice League. Stop looking at Marvel and focus on their strengths. Batman. Superman.
The World's Finest.
Plan a trilogy based on those two. Hint at a bigger world but show the audience you can do that and create your own niche.
To cram a Justice League movie into theaters to be a theatrical copycat of The Avengers will be a disaster of epic proportions.
So I ask...
Casting of the Week!
I hope this is settled and we can move on to other Star Wars news. In a great article by Business Week, George Lucas has provided the closest thing to official confirmation of Star Wars: Episode VII's first casting news, by revealing that Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill are all in the final stages of negotiation a return.
All three had been reported to be in discussions over the last few months, and now those same reports are coming straight from the George's mouth. "We had already signed Mark and Carrie and Harrison," says Lucas. "Or we were pretty much in final stages of negotiation. So I called them to say, ‘Look, this is what's going on.' Maybe I'm not supposed to say that.
"I think they want to announce that with some big whoop-de-do, but we were negotiating with them. I won't say whether the negotiations were sucessful or not."
GottaBeKidding!
It seems like his fanbase is excited for this but is that good or bad? Is it better for a director to find an audience and cater only to them or to expand their demographic? Kevin Smith posted the following on his Facebook page, announcing that he has started writing Clerks III…
"THE BEGINNING OF THE END
20 years ago today, we started shooting CLERKS.
20 years later, with no plan or provocation, I jumped out of bed at 4:20 this morning and started writing CLERKS III.
It's been like hanging out with old friends.
And after 2 hours of tapping the keys and giggling, I have come to a conclusion... CLERKS III will be the best film I'll ever make."
The last gasp of a desperate director or a shining swan song of a classic? You thoughts?
Iron Man 3! !!!SPOILERS!!! Scroll down and don't look at the pics! Pictures for LEGO's forthcoming Iron Man 3 line are making the rounds online and giving us all sorts of spoilers and plot points to discuss!
The three sets, Malibu Mansion Attack, Iron Man vs Mandarin Ultimate Showdown, and Extremis Sea Port Battle, all reference key action setpieces from the movie.
YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!
First, the box shows Ben Kingsley's Mandarin driving some kind of flame-throwing mechanised tank. The design looks a little...cartoonish. Let's see if this is the final vehicle design got the movie.
Next, the Extremis Sea Port Battle seems to show a development for Guy Pearce's character that was hinted at in the newest trailer (Which you can see below).
It has made the rounds that Iron Man 3's plot will hinge around the Extremis virus, and the character line-up and image on the front of the LEGO box infers pretty heavily that Aldrich Killian will use himself as a guinea pig, in an attempt to become a super-soldier. Hence the the zombie-like hue, red eyes, and veiny face. Also, again, a brief trailer shot of what seems to be a shirtless Killian taking on a robotic soldier.
Last, every trailer released so far has featured glimpses of the attack on Tony's Malibu mansion, but the LEGO box suggests a big plot twist that should definitely get comic book fans excited. In the image, Tony's falling out of an exploding window, while someone in an Iron Man suit hovers above him. A closer look reveals...a lady's freckles, lips, and eyes hidden within the suit. Considering Pepper is the only LEGO character included in the set, it's fair to say she'll be adopting her superheroic Rescue persona from the comics.
It should be noted that LEGO does have artistic license so these could be a little off or not even close to what we'll see in the movie. We'll fine out soon enough!
In a related note, what did you think of the new Iron Man 3 trailer? Some are LOVING it while others feel it shows too much. Your thoughts?
YO JOE!
Check out this new clip from G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The film opens on March 28th and stars D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Stevenson, Channing Tatum, with Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson.
In this sequel, the G.I. Joes are not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence.
PHASE TWO!
Marvel's Kevin Feige chatted with SFX magazine about what's in store for Phase Two in the comic giant's cinematic universe. Here's a sample of what he had to say:
"The Thor film and the Guardians Of The Galaxy film certainly are cosmic. Guardians and Thor will take the brunt of the cosmic side of the universe, particularly Guardians, which is 95 per cent in space. I think Iron Man 3 shows the other side of Phase Two, which is delving deeper into the characters...What's exciting to me about [Captain America 2] - sort of about Iron Man 3 too if you look at it - is it's tonally almost like a different genre. Shane Black's described Iron Man 3 as a Tom Clancy sort of political thriller, which I like a lot. We hired our directors on Cap because they loved our explanation that we really want to make a '70s political thriller masquerading as a big superhero movie."
Feige went on to describe Guardians as "much more of a standalone film…The Avengers are not involved with what's happening out there at this time."
Machete! Sofia Vergara shows off her guns in this new character poster for her role as Desdemona in Machete Kills. I enjoyed the first one and this one is gearing up to be even better!
Spring Break Time!
Here is the first full clip via A24 and Annapurna Pictures for Spring Breakers. The film stars James Franco, Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, and Rachel Korine and opens on March 22nd.
The film is about four sexy college girls as they plan to fund their spring break getaway by burglarizing a fast food shack. But that's only the beginning... At a motel room rager, fun reaches its legal limit and the girls are arrested and taken to jail. Hungover and clad only in bikinis, the girls appear before a judge but are bailed out unexpectedly by Alien (Franco), an infamous local thug who takes them under his wing and leads them on the wildest Spring Break trip in history. Rough on the outside but with a soft spot inside, Alien wins over the hearts of the young Spring Breakers, and leads them on a Spring Break they never could have imagined.
James Franco's Tar!
More Franco? OK! James Franco's North American premiere of Tar gave us some nice gems. As part of his first directorial class as an instructor at NYU, he gave each of his students their choice of a poem from C.K. Williams' book Tar. They each made a short using one of two cinematographers and several A-list performers including Jessica Chastain, Mila Kunis, and Bruce Campbell. Not too shabby. The film uses Tree of Life for much of its inspiration, complete with quiet upward shots of characters as they solemnly walk through Instagram colored landscapes while Franco recites a Williams poem.
Also, Franco gave some insight on how he makes career decisions. Franco seems to either draw people who love or who hate him. Where do you stand?
More Oz!
With strong buzz and a solid opening week, this wasn't a huge surprise. Sam Raimi'sOz The Great And Powerful just opened in theaters and Disney has already commissioned screenwriter Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire to write it. Kapner co-wrote the first film.
Marc Graser and Stuart Oldham of Variety write: "While no plot details are yet available, Kapner can work with what's featured in L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, which is public domain. But he can't use any of the iconic creative additions from the original film, Dorothy's ruby slippers, for example, as Warner Bros. owns the 1939 film."
Raimi has already said he will NOT be doing the sequel.
Yay or nay on a sequel?
Evil Dead!
Speaking of Raimi: Coming Soon reports that during a Q&A following the premiere of the Evil Dead remake at the South by Southwest Film Festival, it was revealed that Sam Raimi is not working on an Evil Dead 4, but an Army of Darkness 2! This coming on the heels of the news that a sequel to the remake is being written.
Raimi's Ghost House Pictures producing partner Rob Tapert said: "That would be Army of Darkness 2. Everybody calls it Evil Dead 4 but Army of Darkness wasn't calledEvil Dead anywhere except by the fans."
Series star Bruce Campbell was asked if he would be back for Army of Darkness 2, considering it would be a direct sequel to his three film in the franchise.
He replied: "Sam threatens this every six months. I've heard this a thousand times, because in the back of his mind, he never wants to let go, because he loved making these movies. We all loved making them together. They were a nightmare to make, very difficult, but they lasted the test of time, so he's not going to let that go, and I'm never going to say 'no.' It'll be me and a walker fighting some other old guy. But that's what he does and who knows? It may happen."
Meanwhile Jane Levy was asked if she heard about any of the crazy things that may happen to her in a sequel to the remake, which she has signed on to do. She said: "They haven't actually, but Shiloh [Fernandez, who plays her brother] has a secret. He knows stuff but I don't, but I'm excited for it."
The remake will be released on April 5.
What do you think about Army of Darkness 2
Trailer Talk
People are feeling this! Here is the first trailer for The Hangover III. The film opens on May 24th and stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Justin Bartha, John Goodman, Sasha Barrese, Gillian Vigman, and Jamie Chung.
What do you think?
Also, a new trailer has been released for J.J. Abrams'Star Trek Into Darkness. Here's a synopsis: In the wake of a shocking act of terror from within their own organization, the crew of The Enterprise is called back home to Earth. In defiance of regulations and with a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads his crew on a manhunt to capture an unstoppable force of destruction and bring those responsible to justice. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew.
The film stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alice Eve, and Peter Weller. It will be released in IMAX on May 15 and in regular theaters on May 17.
Before I say GOODBYE!
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