Even Sesame Street Disses Spiderman

Ouch.  Your show has to be in trouble when even Sesame Street can't resist spoofing it.  While Elmo and the gang get ready for the show's 42nd season, which kicks off in September, the world's most famous street has released this hilarious spoof of the disaster-prone musical Spiderman: Turn of the Dark, which will finally open on Broadway tomorrow:

I'm guessing Bono won't be making any appearances on Sesame Street anytime soon. 

Weekend Box Office: June 10 - 12

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Super 8 - $35.4 million

2.  X-Men: First Class - $24.1 million

3.  The Hangover Part II - $17.6 million

4.  Kung Fu Panda 2 - $16.5 million

5.  Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - $10.9 million

6.  Bridesmaids - $10 million

7.  Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer - $6 million

8.  Midnight in Paris - $5.8 million

9.  Thor - $2.4 million

10.  Fast Five - $1.7 million

Old-school wins this weekend as the JJ Abrams homage to classic Spielberg Super 8 opens with $35.4 million.  It also made an additional $1 million from Twitter-sponsored screenings on Thursday, hoping to get word out on the movie for the weekend.  That's above expectations, but it's still got awhile to go before we can call it a hit just yet.  It seems to be grownup choice for moviegoers needing a break from the usual superhero-fueled summer fare, so there's a good chance it could hold up well against Green Lantern when that arrives in theaters next weekend.

Meanwhile, X-Men: First Class dropped 56% in its second weekend, earning $24.1 million.  The good news?  That's the X-Men series' second-lowest second-weekend drop (X2 dropped 53% in 2003).  The bad news?  It's still only grossed $98 million since opening on June 3, which is low for an X-Men movie.  Bleah.  Seriously, it's one of the best X-Men films in the series.  So if you haven't seen it yet, go now.

The Hangover Part II crossed $200 million this weekend, earning $17.6 million and passing Fast Five to become the highest-grossing film of 2011 so far, although that won't be for too much longer.  The much funnier Bridesmaids had another terrific weekend, adding another $10 million to its $123 million domestic total.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides also sailed past the $200 domestic mark this weekend, and has amazingly grossed more than three times that total overseas.  Worldwide, the fourth Pirates film has grossed $886 million.  Really.

The weekend's other new release, the kid film Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer didn't do much, earning a quiet $6.1 million.  It was no match for Kung Fu Panda 2, which earned another $16 million this weekend.

Let's all start learning the oath for next weekend, when Green Lantern finally arrives in theaters. 

Yet Another "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows-Part 2" Poster

In Part 2 of the epic finale, the battle between the good and evil forces of the Wizarding world escalates into an all-out war. The stakes have never been higher and no one is safe. But it is Harry Potter who may be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice as he draws closer to the climactic showdown with Lord Voldemort. It all ends here.

New "Cowboys & Aliens" Trailer

First debuted on Spike TV at the "Spike Guys Choice Awards" but has now made it's way online and all across the interwebs. New trailer for "Cowboys & Aliens".

1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don’t welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde. It’s a town that lives in fear.

But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known.

Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he’s been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella, he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents – townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors – all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.

New "Captain America" Trailer Description

Now some news from a flick I am really looking forward to. A spanking new trailer is on it's way for "Captain America: The First Avenger" and it was already screened at LA Times Hero Complex Film Festival on Sunday.  SuperHeroHype/ComingSoon was kind enough to round up some descriptions of the trailers from our fellow movie outlets in attendance.

Newsarama:

It’s a much more linear trailer than past Cap footage, starting off with a skinny Steve Rogers in a car with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), interspersed with footage of him courageously getting beaten up by neighborhood toughs in an alley. The military scenes show him herorically jumping on an (inactive) grenade during a drill, with Colonel Chester Phillips — played by Tommy Lee Jones — remarking “He’s still skinny.”

Things move to Steve undergoing the Super-Soldier treatment, with Stanley Tucci’s Abraham Erskine telling him to not lose sight of being a good man first. Steve: “Is it too late to go to the bathroom?” Quick action shots follow, including Steve getting the Cap costume (voiceover: “You’re going to get so many chicks with that”), Captain America on a motorcycle and a brief shot of Sebastian Stan as Bucky.

The trailer also provides a direct introduction of Red Skull; naming him Johann Schmidt, the head of Hydra, with shots of him both as the Red Skull and in his less ghoulish cover with, y’know, Hugo Weaving’s face. The end of the trailer is the same as the TV spot released last week — Red Skull asking Captain America who he thinks he is, and Cap responding that he’s just a kid from Brooklyn.

Ain't It Cool News:

The new trailer focused on the character of Steve Rogers, particularly the spirit of scrawny Steve desperate to sign up, feeling like it’s his duty and he’s letting his country down by not getting in.

The best new addition is a scene that happens between Tommy Lee Jones’ Col. Philips and Stanley Tucci’s Dr. Erskine on the grounds of their training camp. Jones says, “When you let a 90 pound athsmatic onto my base, I let it slide” to which Tucci replies, “I am looking for qualities beyond the physical.” A few shots of skinny Steve trying his damnedest through obstacle courses play over this dialogue.

Then Jones grabs a grenade and says, “You win wars with guts,” before pulling the pin and throwing it at the ground of the recruits. The big, tough guys scatter to the four winds, but Steve Rogers jumps on top of it, sure he’s about to be blown to pieces, but wanting to protect his fellow soldiers.

After a tense few seconds nothing happens and Rogers uncurls himself on the ground. “Is this a test?” he asks. Tucci smiles and Jones looks surprised for a beat, then turns to Tucci and says, “He’s still skinny.”

As Erskine prepares Rogers to receive the serum, he warns him not to let it change the man he is; not just a soldier, but a good man.

Post-serum injection, Hayley Atwell’s Peggy Carter tells us a little about Hydra, calling it “the Nazi deep science division.”

The rest of the trailer plays out more in quick cuts, with small moments between Chris Evans and Dominic Cooper’s Howard Stark (Evans has some ideas about the uniform, apparently), some voice-over of Hugo Weaving’s Red Skull saying “We are very much alike”, Tommy Lee Jones promoting Evans, a badass shot of Cap and The Howling Commandos running along the top of a moving train in snowy mountains, some Hydra tech, Peggy Carter blasting down a hallway with a machine gun, Cap throwing his shied at camera and a little moment of Skull asking Cap “What makes you so special?” He replies, “Nothin’. I’m just a kid from Brooklyn.”

Major Studios Tell Comic Con To Screw

A lot of news outlets are running this story as if it is a giant surprise even though some of us knew this to be the case years ago, the studios don't need to appease fanboys to make money. The NY Times is reporting that major studios are going to skip Comic Con 2011. Among them are money making juggernauts Warner Bros, Disney, and Dreamworks, with Marvel debating on whether or not to bring "Avengers" full force.

Comic Con is becoming less and less important to the success of a film and in some cases fans wearing hobbit feet or shiny black helmets are hurting the product. Remember when fans loved "Scott Pilgrim" and "Tron" at Comic Con? Then the general public decided that they don't care what fanboys think either and didn't show up to the theaters like they needed to. On the flip side, fanboys complaining about the tint of red on a cape or the curvature of a jaw line doesn't help a product, if anybody was actually listening to begin with.

"The Amazing Spider-Man" will have a huge ass showing at Comic Con 2011 but I noticed forum dwellers and websites were kind of up and arms that "Man of Steel" and "Dark Knight Rises" was going to be heroically represented at this years Con. Why? "Man of Steel" isn't coming out until December 2012 at the latest. Comic Con 2012 is where you're going to see Superman make an impact. Also, Nolan never uses Comic Con as push for Batman as far as I can remember.

Rest easy. Unless there is some kind of major surprise and we get a "Dark Knight Rises" teaser with "Green Lantern" or "Harry Potter: Eleventeen"  I would imagine that you'll get a "Dark Knight Rises" teaser/trailer with "Contagion" in October at the very lastest. "Man of Steel" hasn't even started filming yet. Patience.

It's Not the Years, It's the Mileage: Raiders of the Lost Ark Turns 30

Today marks the 30th Anniversary of the release of one of the best action-adventure movies of all time, Raiders of the Lost Ark.  This first Steven Spielberg/George Lucas collaboration, created during a post-Close Encounters/Star Wars vacation in Hawaii, introduced the world to the swashbuckling archaelogist Indiana Jones (awesomely immortalized by Harrison Ford), who battles the Nazis to reache the fabled Ark of the Covenant.  It won five Oscars, and was actually a Best Picture nominee that year.

The film spawned three sequels, a TV series, several video games, the PG-13 rating (thanks to 1984's gruesome followup, Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom), and my favorite ride at Disneyland.

Of course, it also famously proved why it's always a good idea to bring a gun to a swordfight:

Classic!  As fans know, that scene was originally written as a big fight sequence, but a flu-ridden Harrison Ford suggested "just shooting the guy" since he wasn't feeling well enough to shoot the whole original fight scene.  His way definitely worked.

I was lucky enough to see Raiders of the Lost Ark in theaters in the summer of 1981.  Unfortunately I was only 7 years old at the time and it scared the living crap out of me.  People usually don't melt in movies you see just before starting second grade.  Luckily, I grew out of that quickly enough and after years of viewings on TV - and even a big-screen re-release a few years ago, the Indiana Jones movies remain some of my favorite films.   

In honor of Raiders' 30th Anniversary (which is perfect timing, considering that JJ Abrams' Spielberg homage Super 8 did some great business at the box office this weekend), here's a look back at the original trailer:

Anyone else feeling old about this?  Just wait for next year, when ET: The Extra Terrestrial turns 30.  I'm not even sure how I feel about that yet.

Did the The Dark Knight Rises Casting Call Reveal a Spoiler?

 

If you're avoiding all and/or any spoilers that might take away from the enjoyment of seeing the film for the first time completely fresh, then read no further, stop here!

An open casting call for extras and small parts is currently being held in Pittsburgh. All the usually expected roles are being filled. Smith & Webster-Davis Casting has revealed that they're seeking prisoners/thugs, guards, police officers, business men & women and sports fans, all of which sounds about right. Except for that last one, sports fans. Back in April it was rumoured by The Pittsburgh Examiner that one of the main reasons behind Batman filming in Pittsburgh this time around as opposed to Chicago the previous home of Gotham, was due to the scheduled demolition of a sports arena.

The Civic Arena is being scheduled for demolition shortly to make way for new construction. it was rumoured the destruction of the Civic Arena would form part of a key sequence in The Dark Knight Rises. What made this sound even more plausible was the fact that a candy factory demolition was used to stand in for a Joker-exploded hospital in The Dark Knight.

Not long after the news broke the rumour was debunked by Dawn Keezer, head of the Pittsburgh film office. She told CBS that "It’s a totally a bogus story... There’s been no conversation about ‘Batman’ having anything to do with the Civic Arena... so far it’s not happening. There’s been no conversation, and quite frankly I doubt if it will." But there`s clearly no way someone involved in a major Hollywood production would ever lie about a possible spoiler being revealed right?

I have to admit after having the rumour debunked so quickly after and then hearing nothing else about it I had actually figured it probably wasn't true. But now with the new casting call asking for sports fans, I can't help but to speculate how well that would fit the destruction of an entire arena. Although given Nolan's level of secrecy having been raised even higher for his last trip to Gotham, I seriously doubt we'll get any kind of confirmation on whether or not it's true until after having seen the film.

WB To Pimp Superheroes Over The Next 36 Months

UPDATE: Although I have DC Universe Online...I guess I might suck at it. Apparently this is a different version of a banner with Superman floating over earh to promote the Fortress of Solitude expansion mission for DCU Online

Thanks to Kal-El.9859 of the SuperHeroHype Forums for pointing it out to me.

As we've seen over the past several months, The Brothers Warner & DC Comics have been pushing everything Green Lantern on multiple levels in preparation for "The Green Lantern" which will be glowing on the big screen June 17th.

For Warner Bros. Consumer Products, this is only the beginning. The team has come up with a 36 month plan that will involve Superman, Batman, and Green Lantern flying full force into all of your senses at once. 

Here is what Bruno Schwobthaler, SVP sales and business development for WBCP EMEA had to say about the approach courtesy of Licensing.Biz

"Over the next 3 years there will be no escaping from the DC Universe as we deliver on our commitment to produce new content. We will be investing significant resource in further developing the iconic Batman and Superman franchises whilst also strategically introducing some of the other key characters from the huge and largely untapped DC portfolio starting with Green Lantern.”

This push has started with Green Lantern, but will continue into the upcoming International Licensing show in Vegas early next week with a massive presence featuring the "Caped Crusader" himself, Batman. This will only be the beginning for the Batman push, and is the first step in marketing the character on all fronts leading up to the release of "The Dark Knight Rises" in 2012.

The question is, has WB/DC already started the marketing engine for "The Man of Steel" as well? A loyal reader sent TMT some photos from this past weeks E3 Expo. Not sure if they were taken by him/her or they found them via the interwebs, but the photo captures a banner which features Superman flying from the Fortress of Solitude. Looks like early marketing for a new Superman video game to me. Not sure if it will tie in with the new Superman film dropping in late 2012.

"Our Idiot Brother" Poster

Every family has one: the sibling who is always just a little bit behind the curve when it comes to getting his life together. For sisters Liz (Emily Mortimer), Miranda (Elizabeth Banks) and Natalie (Zooey Deschanel), that person is their perennially upbeat brother Ned (Paul Rudd), an erstwhile organic farmer whose willingness to rely on the honesty of mankind is a less-than-optimum strategy for a tidy, trouble-free existence. Ned may be utterly lacking in common sense, but he is their brother and so, after his girlfriend dumps him and boots him off the farm, his sisters once again come to his rescue. As Liz, Emily and Natalie each take a turn at housing Ned, their brother's unfailing commitment to honesty creates more than a few messes in their comfortable routines. But as each of their lives begins to unravel, Ned's family comes to realize that maybe, in believing and trusting the people around him, Ned isn't such an idiot after all.