Horrible Bosses Writers Directing New Vacation Sequel

Hot off the success of Horrible Bosses, THR reports the writing team Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley will jump to the director's chair(s) for Vacation, a sequel, for some reason labeled a reboot (Because that’s the "buzz" term they love to use for everything these days?) to the 80s/90s comedies starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo and whatever child actors they cast for each individual film at hand as the Griswolds, the unluckiest family at taking nice, relaxing vacations. This will be the directorial debut for the duo.

They were initially commissioned to write two years back for helmer David Dobkin. But he's moved on, and presumably off Bosses' success (The two are also working on a sequel) Goldstein and Daley are itching to try out directing. Odd to think Daley is linked to Vacation and his Freaks & Geeks co-stars Seth Rogen and Jason Segel wound up with The Green Hornet and The Muppets, respectively.

For this entry, the focus will shift to a grown-up Rusty Griswold and his own attempt to have the perfect family vacation. Proving how stupid Russ grew up to be since none of his family outings as a kid worked out. Does having GPS and iPhones make him think things will turn out different for him?

No word on the return of Chase or D'Angelo though the indication, back when the duo was onboard strictly to write, was cameos were planned for the two. Just throw some money on a fishing line in front of Chase's house and lure him onto the set. Heard that’s how they got him on Community.

Weekend Box Office: February 24 - 26

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Act of Valor - $24.4 million

2.  Tyler Perry's Good Deeds - $15.5 million

3.  Journey 2: The Mysterious Island - $13.3 million

4.  Safe House - $10.9 million

5.  The Vow - $9.9 million

6.  Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - $9.0 million

7.  This Means War - $8.4 million

8.  Wanderlust - $6.5 million

9.  Gone - $4.7 million

10.  The Secret World of Arrietty - $4.3 million

Hold on...there was something else going on this weekend besides the Oscars?  Apparently so, as the box office celebrated yet another solid weekend.  This week's winner was Act of Valor, which earned an excellent $24.4 million.  Not bad for a movie without any major stars...then again, the team of active Navy SEALs that did star in the film could probably kick anyone's ass.

Tyler Perry's latest, Good Deeds, took second place with $15.5 million.  That's not all that spectacular for a non-Medea Perry movie, but it did much better than this weekend's other new releases, as Wanderlust and Gone debuted on the lower end of the top ten with $6.5 million and $4.7 million, respectively. 

For the family films, Journey 2 continues to do well, holding on to third place with $13.3 million.  The sequel has officially outgrossed the original film, with $76 million domestically so far.  It was also another good weekend for Denzel Washington, as Safe House inched that much closer to the $100 million mark.  The Vow has already passed that marker, as this weekend's $9.9 million pushed the romantic drama to $102 million domestically.

In just under 10 days, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance has earned $38 million.  That pretty much speaks for itself.

Next weekend, the 3D animated version of Dr. Suess' The Lorax opens in theaters, as well as the Hangover Jr Edition mockumentary, Project X.  Both should win up doing pretty well, continuing 2012's strong box office streak for at least another week before John Carter gets here to put an end to that.

Who is Guy Pearce Playing in Prometheus?

Everyone involved with Prometheus are still walking the "Oh, it's totally not a prequel to Alien" line despite all the early promo images and teaser trailer screaming at our faces otherwise. As long as it's a good movie, that's all that matters at the end of the day.

While continuing with that narrative, helmer Ridley Scott tells the Hungarian site Mozinezo (and transcribed by AvP Galaxy) what role Guy Pearce will play in the not-an-Alien prequel-but-really-it-is:

"When the first Alien movie and Blade Runner were made, I thought that in the near future the world will be owned by large companies. This is why we have the Tyrell Corporation in Blade Runner, and Weyland-Yutani in Alien. They sent the Nostromo spaceship.

The Prometheus is owned by an entrepreneur called Peter Weyland, and is played by Guy Pearce. That’s the connection between the two films, and nothing more. Prometheus is a new film, a new world, and is full of new ideas. And of course new monsters as well."

Jonah Hill & James Franco Set for True Story

It appears Moneyball wasn't a fluke. Jonah Hill is serious about changing the course of his career. Good on him. "TOLDJA" reports in lieu of his Oscar nomination and new lease of life, sticking with the weight loss (Friend of mine told me he ate nothing but vegetables during the 21 Jump Street shoot and refused to eat meat!) he's attached to True Story with fellow Judd Apatow-alum James Franco, based on the book True Story: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa.

Here's the official synopsis of the originating book courtesy of Coming Soon:

"On February 2002, New York Times Magazine writer Michael Finkel received a startling piece of news: a young man named Christian Longo, wanted for killing his entire family, had been captured in Mexico, where he'd taken on a new identity: Michael Finkel of the New York Times.

The next day, on page A-3 of the Times, came another troubling item: a note from the editors explaining that Finkel, having falsified parts of an investigative article, had been fired. Nonetheless, the only journalist Longo would speak with was the real Michael Finkel, and so Finkel placed a call to Oregon's Lincoln County jail, intent on getting the true story. So began a bizarre and intense relationship—a reporting job that morphed into a shrewd game of cat-and-mouse. Part mystery, part memoir, part mea culpa, True Story weaves a spellbinding tale of murder, love, and deceit with a deeply personal inquiry into the slippery nature of truth."

Hill will play the actual Michael Finkel and Franco as Logo for director Rupert Goold and producer Brad Pitt via his Plan B production company.

Oscars 2012 or How The Artist Surprisingly Didn't Win Everything

A night full of expected wins, expected shtick from host Billy Crystal and what might go down as one of the great upset victories in the form of Meryl Streep besting Viola Davis in the "Best Actress" race. Streep was destined for a third Oscar that we can all agree. But who saw this coming? Rise of the Apes losing "Best Visual Effects" to Martin Scorsese's Hugo and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo taking "Best Film Editing" were the other surprises win of the night.

About the only other thing noticeable about last night's ceremony was the lack of a real sweep for The Artist, which in fact tied the night in wins against the afore-mentioned Hugo. Both period-piece homages to the silent film era claimed five wins with the former claiming the top prizes.

An evening as boring as we all anticipated; so much so I turned over to The Walking Dead after the half-hour mark. I figured more Rick-Shane-Lori baby-daddy drama and flesh-eating zombies were worth my time more. Dare I beg someone to differ?

Here's the full list of winners:

• Best Picture: The Artist
• Best Director:  Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
• Best Actor: Jean Dujardin – The Artist
• Best Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
• Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginnings
• Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer – The Help
• Best Animated Film: Rango
• Best Foreign Language Film: A Separation
• Best Adapted Screenplay: The Descendants
• Best Original Screenplay: Midnight in Paris
• Best Film Editing: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
• Best Cinematography: Hugo
• Best Art Direction: Hugo
• Best Costume Design: The Artist
• Best Score: The Artist
• Best Original Song: "Man or Muppet" – The Muppets
• Best Makeup: The Iron Lady
• Best Documentary – Feature: Undefeated
• Best Documentary – Short: Saving Face
• Best Short Film – Animated: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
• Best Short Film – Live Action: The Shore
• Best Sound Editing: Hugo
• Best Sound Mixing: Hugo
• Best Visual Effects: Hugo

First Star Trek Sequel Set Pictures Surface

The first pictures from the Star Trek sequel (Still no title, Abrams?) set have surfaced courtesy of MTV. Both entailing our first look at Benedict Cumberbatch and judging by his face downs with Spock and Uhura he's definitely the baddie, as Variety reported.

But who is he? Your guess is as good as mine, but we can rule him out as a Vulcan or Klingon and he doesn't particularly look like Khan...

Second Wrath of The Titans Trailer Is As Forgettable As Its First

They should have cut to the chase and called this The Guy From Avatar Vs. Monsters.

Here's the second trailer for Wrath of the Titans, settling for less plot (besides the "Titans are breaking free!" exposition from Liam Neeson) and more monsters, mayhem and Sam Worthington's bad acting. Oh, and prepare for the oblivion, until Smackdown of the Titans in 2014, of course.

New Brave Trailer

The third trailer for Disney/Pixar's Brave takes a queue from The Devil Wears Prada (the most recent example unless someone can point to something sooner) of highlighting a scene from the finished film instead of the tried-and-true practice of cutting clips together throughout the narrative to tell the crux of its story in three minutes. You can check it out at iTunes or below.

Another Grinch at Fox News Terrorizes Children's Films

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."

That sounds like a positive message for a family film, right?  After all, it's been a well-known phrase ever since Dr. Suess first wrote it in The Lorax, his cautionary tale about the dangers of not taking care of the environment, in 1971.  In fact, I think the late, great creator of characters such as the Cat in the Hat and the Grinch would be thrilled to learn that just recently, a group of Massachusetts fourth-graders petitioned - and succeeded - in getting Universal to update the official website for their upcoming adaptation of The Lorax to include information on how to help the environment.

Well, just they did with The Muppets back in December, the twits at Fox Business have proven once again that they are, in fact, still not smarter than a fourth-grader.  According to this segment posted on Media Matters for America, both Universal's The Lorax and Disney's The Secret World of Arrietty are guilty of indoctrinating children into....whatever nonsense they're accusing these movies of now. 

Honestly, we should just re-post our article about The Muppets and just change the title of the movie.  It's the same crap they pulled before. 

But here's the segment, if you need to see for yourself:

Wasn't that awesome?  I especially loved the asshole who suggested that parents taking their kids to see The Lorax buy up lots of candy and popcorn, then dump all of the garbage on the floor in protest. 

I'm not going to belabor this...because obviously there is no evil message in either of these stories.  Secret World of Arrietty isn't even a Hollywood film, it was imported from Japan.  And not that that matters either, since the characters in that film "borrow" as a way of survival, not because of some kind of entitlement issue.

As far as The Lorax, I haven't seen the movie yet, but it is my favorite Dr. Suess book, so I know the story very well.  It's not about the evils of industry:  it's about the consequences of not caring about anything else.  That once something is gone, it's gone for good.  That "unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better, it's not."

You really have to be some kind of Grinch to find anything wrong with a message like that.

Somebody Named Jai Courtney Is Playing Bruce Willis' Son/Sidekick in Die Hard 5

Trying to figure out who Jai Courtney is, and then it dawned on me. Who cares? It's Die Hard 5 (AKA: A Good Day to Die Hard) and it's all about Bruce Willis. Whomever he trades one-liners with is irrelevant. I mean, did it matter that none of us had heard of Mary Elizabeth Winstead when she was cast as John McClane's daughter and she turned out fine.

Eh, well Courtney, who according to the press release Fox sent out along with a picture taken from his screen-test is best known for appearing in Spartacus: Blood & Sand, will co-star alongside Willis' as Jack McClane in the fifth Die Hard installment. Can't you tell by his standing next to Willis and holding a gun how badass he's gonna be?