Weekend Box Office: August 13-15

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. The Expendables - $35 million

2. Eat Pray Love - $23.7 million

3. The Other Guys - $18 million

4. Inception - $11.3 million

5. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - $10.5 million

6. Despicable Me - $6.7 million

7. Step Up 3D - $6.6 million

8. Salt - $6.3 million

9. Dinner for Schmucks - $6.3 million

10. Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore - $4 million

Honestly, with that cast, they couldn't possibly go wrong.  The Expendables, starring Sylvester Stallone and just about every other action movie star you can think of, easily took first place this weekend with a terrific $35 million.  That's much better than this summer's other 80s flashback action film The A-Team, which opened with $25 million.

Julia Roberts also had a pretty good weekend, with her film Eat Pray Love earning $23.7 million.  That's Roberts' biggest opening weekend since 2001's America's Sweethearts.   

Last weekend's champ The Other Guys had a steady second weekend, earning another $18 million to bring its total to $70 million.  Inception also continued it's hit run at the box office, edging closer to the $250 million mark with $11.3 this weekend.

It was not such a great weekend for fanboy favorite Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which flopped this weekend with just $10.5 million.  Despite being a favorite at Comic Con, the Michael Cera film failed to catch on with mainstream audiences, although I expect it to reach cult-hit status in the months to come.

Step Up 3D stumbled this weekend, dropping 58% and trailing the previous two films in the series despite the advantage of higher 3D ticket sales.  Salt became Angelina Jolie's fourth film to gross $100 million this weekend, while Dinner For Schmucks held steady with $6.3 million.  Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore inexplicably remains in the top 10 for some reason.

It's been an excellent summer for animated films, with the adorable Despicable Me having the smallest drop of the weekend and sitting pretty with $222 million, and despite not being in the top 10 for the first time since its release in June, Pixar's brilliant Toy Story 3 crossed the $400 million mark this weekend, making it the second highest-grossing animated film (behind Shrek 2's $441 million) in history, as well as the 11th highest-grossing fllm of all time.

Coming up next weekend, we have Piranha 3D and Nanny McPhee Returns opening in theaters.  That should be a real-biter at the box office.  (no, not really)

Star Wars on Blu Ray!

After years of fanboys pissing and moaning about no high definition release for Star Wars they can finally nerdgasm over the new box set being released next summer! The original and prequel trilogies are both being released on blu ray. The only catch is the version included from the original trilogy is the "special edition" versions, and not the the original releases. You would think they would offer the option to watch them in either special edition or original, but meh at least they're coming to blu ray!

They also added that the boxset will be one package including all six films, and not two separate box sets containing the individual trilogies. All this means is the die hard fans will end up with the prequel trilogy which they claimed raped their child hood as well as the classic but special edition trilogy they also hated in comparison to the original releases. I could care less though, I'll be buying it the same as you know you will.

Here's the official press release from the annual Star Wars Celebration Convention:

FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER,
THE FORCE WILL BE WITH YOU ON BLU-RAY!

Highly Anticipated Complete Star Wars™ Saga
Readied for High Definition Blu-ray Debut

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (August 14, 2010) – Today at Star Wars Celebration V, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment announced that the complete Star Wars Saga will come to Blu-ray Disc with a worldwide release in Fall 2011. The Star Wars Blu-ray Box Set will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films utilizing the highest possible picture and audio presentation, along with extensive special features – including documentaries, vintage behind-the-scenes moments, interviews, retrospectives and never-before-seen footage from the Lucasfilm archives.

“Blu-ray is the absolute best way to experience Star Wars at home – in pristine high definition,” said George Lucas, creator of the Star Wars Saga. “The films have never looked or sounded better.”

ABOUT STAR WARS CELEBRATION V

Featuring celebrities, costumes, live entertainment, screenings, autographs, collectibles, panels and much, much more, Star Wars Celebration V is THE official Lucasfilm convention - and the biggest Star Wars party in the galaxy! Taking place in Orlando, FL from August 12-15, Star Wars Celebration V commemorates the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back and the ongoing, weekly adventures of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

Also check out this cut scene from Return of the Jedi which was shown at the convention and has made its way online everywhere. It's a bootleg but who cares, enjoy.

Updated: Animated Terminator Film In Development

UPDATE: According to TOLDJA! Eric Parkinson of Hannover House has just received a cease and desist order from Pacificor the owner to the Terminator Film Franchise rights.

In response to the letter Parkinson said:

"We've arranged a meeting, we'll show them our money and if the rational brain prevails, they'll take the deal. If not, I can't do it without them. You'll have a follow-up next week that we are either holding  hands, or not doing the film. At least we now have our meeting. I hope they will can think outside the box, because if we can make a movie that delivers a $20 million to $30 million rights payment, that is an income source they didn't realize was possible. If not, it was a good idea anyway."

According to a recent press release from the bastards at Hannover House there are current plans set in place to develop a low budget animated Terminator film, and huge shocker it will be 3D. Holy shit balls does that sound stupid as fuck all on it's own, but to top it off those stupid fuckers are also minimizing violence in order to obtain a PG-13 rating. What the fucking fuck? A Terminator film animated, which by the sounds of it has nothing to do with the previous continuity, and there will be little to no violence, great!

The press release is as follows:

Hannover House, the entertainment distribution division of Target Development Group, Inc., has entered into a feature film development venture with Vancouver-based Red Bear Entertainment, for Terminator 3000, envisioned as a $70-million dollar budgeted, 3D animated feature film based on the characters and situations introduced in the original Terminator feature. Hannover House C.E.O. Eric Parkinson previously served as C.E.O. of Hemdale Home Video, Inc. and Hemdale Communications, Inc., and handled the distribution of the original Terminator feature.

Story details for Terminator 3000 are being kept under close wraps, but the writers and production team have a stated goal of minimizing violence in order to obtain a PG-13 level of material.

Hemdale produced and distributed director James Cameron's original Terminator feature, but released the sequel rights in 1990 to Carolco, which later transferred the rights to ultimately end up under the control of Halcyon Media. Santa Barbara based Pacificor, LLC prevailed in the most recent auction and transfer of rights to the franchise in January, and retains approval and licensing authority over the proposed Terminator 3000 project.

Hannover House and Red Bear Entertainment will release details of the production timing, financing and principal production personnel later this year, in advance of a proposed January, 2011 start.

The next three days trailer

This is a remake of a successful French thriller that starred Diane Kruger and a guy that is a lot less tough looking than Russel Crowe.

Big Rusty could do with a back to basics hit after the floptastic Robin Hood and for director Paul Haggis this looks closer to the mainstream than his previous films, the love it or hate it "Crash" and the underrated "In the Valley of Elah."

The story starts out the same as the French film with a regular couple at home with their kid when suddenly the cops burst in and arrest her for murder, represented here in true heavy handed fashion just to make sure we are on her and Crowe's side. However from that point it appears to deviate from the French film quite a bit, and in a way that could prove substantially more exciting.

Yahoo movies debuted the trailer.

Love and Other Drugs trailer

Earlier today Mitch posted a first look at this one and now the full trailer is online, and I have to say that while rom coms are not my thing this genuinely looks like fun.

The story is very simple and familiar, playboy guy finds love etc...but Gyllenhaal looks to be having a blast with his charming drug rep womanizer, while Anne Hathaway looks feisty and gorgeous as the woman that shows him there's more to women than just bedding them.

Perhaps the most surprising thing here is it's directed by Ed Zwick who's films include "The Last Samurai" "Defiance" "Glory" and "Courage Under Fire," not exactly a resume' that suggests he has a rom com in him.

"Love and Other Drugs" opens November 24th and you can check out the trailer below.

Karl Urban is Judge Dredd

This one has been rumoured for a while now and Empire have gotten the confirmation that Karl Urban will indeed don the Judge's helmet, and he won't be taking it off!

Karl  Urban has been confirmed for the leading role in Judge Dredd by producers Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich of the new film. Urban had been rumoured for the role already, but in a Movie-Con Q&A this evening the pair confirmed that he has been cast for the film, shooting in South Africa soon.

“The main thing about Dredd is that it’s a fantastic comic that was completely messed up 20 years ago," said Macdonald. "Our idea is to make a very hard, R-rated, gritty, realistic movie of Dredd in Megacity, so we’ve got to get the tone right. He’s not going to take off his helmet. His bike is going to feel real. He’s going to hit people and it’s going to feel real."

"There’s been a change in comic-book movies; they were treated unseriously and now they’re treated seriously. We’ve cast a guy called Karl Urban to play Dredd. We’ll be shooting in Johannesburg, it’s being directed by Pete Travis, we’re shooting with the people who did District 9 – and if we get it right, Alex has a couple of ideas for other stories as well. It’s not based on any one comic, and John Wagner is involved in every decision."

"Unseriously?"............anyway, this is momentous news for Dredd fans who have waited 15 years for their guy to get another shot at the big screen, after the much maligned Sly Stallone version.

From what I've read the script is a tight Die Hard style actioner, big on set pieces and minimal on everything else, which seems like a smart way to relaunch the character. I liked director Pete Travis' debut "Vantage Point" and Dredd has potential for cool big screen carnage, so I'll be following this one.

For all those feeling a little nostalgic or like suffering I'm ending this piece with a treat, the trailer for Sly's Judge Dredd, enjoy!

New Posters for The Town

I'm really looking forward to Ben Affleck's sophomore directing effort "The Town," the trailer for it is one of the best of the year, showcasing a gritty crime thriller with some powerful themes and kinetic action.

Now Comingsoon.net has gotten hold of the poster and boy is it lame, it gives off a weird "Sister Act 3" vibe.

I'm not sure where this international poster that was posted on a thread at Superherohype came from but it's infinitely better.

First Look: Love and Other Drugs

The first footage from director and Oscar winning producer Edward Zwick’s Love and Other Drugs has come online courtesy of Entertainment Tonight. The film is based on Jamie Reidy’s nonfiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagara Salesman. The film revolves around a successful Viagra salesmen/womanizer (Jake Gyllenhaal) who happens to fall in love with a woman who has Parkinson’s disease (Anne Hathaway).

From the looks of the footage the film doesn't veer too far off the regular romantic comedy formula, but with Gyllenhaal and Hathaway in the lead roles it might be watchable.

Love and Other Drugs opens everywhere November 24, 2010.

We're Going Back - Back To The Future 25th Anniversary Reunion

Of course when we received the news that there would be an event as large as "We're Going Back" to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of "Back To The Future", we were geeked. If you hadn't notice, the name of our site is based off one of the most memorable quotes from the film. Check out the release below and click the links for info galore.

We’re Going Back ... spanning November 5th 2010 to November 12th 2010, you can join fellow Back to the Future fans re-create Marty McFly's week in 1955 to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Back to the Future!

The biggest Back to the Future only event ... ever!

By the fans, for the fans, with all proceeds going to Team Fox for Parkinson's Research.

Schedule

Celebrities

Tickets

Facebook

Twitter

Ben Affleck and Rachel Weisz board new Terrence Malick film

Ever since his directorial debut "Gone Baby Gone" and well received supporting performance in "Hollywoodland" Ben Affleck has been on the comeback trail, and replacing Christian Bale in enigmatic director Terrence Malik's new film is another notch on his belt.

Awesome thespian beauty Rachel Weisz is also joining the cast although not replacing Christian Bale. Weisz is a class act whether it is in action fare like "The Mummy" and "Chain Reaction" or more actorly efforts such as "The Fountain" and "The Constant Gardener," she always delivers.

I've only seen one Malick movie "Badlands" which I loved and one of his strongest points in his films is his use of cinematography, what is unusual is he has been directing 41 years yet has only released 5 films and there was a big gap between each, however with this new film (There are no plot details as of yet) due in 2012 and "Tree of Life" due later this year Malik will have made 3 films in 7 years.

The Wrap has the scoop.

Oscar winners Ben Affleck and Rachel Weisz have joined the cast of Terrence Malick's next movie, individuals familiar with the project have told TheWrap.

Weisz's publicist has confirmed the actress' casting to TheWrap, while Affleck's representatives did not immediately return TheWrap's messages.

The project was announced at the Berlin Film Festival, where it was described as a "romantic drama" and a "powerful and moving love story."

Christian Bale, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams and Olga Kurylenko were announced as the initial cast members, but it seems that Affleck will be replacing Bale in the picture.

Glen Basner's Film Nation is financing the film, and Bill Pohlad will produce.

Production is scheduled to begin the first week of October in Oklahoma.

TulsaWorld.com published a report yesterday that Affleck and wife Jennifer Garner were spotted at a local store buying fishing supplies.

Affleck reportedly told a store employee that he was filming a movie in Bartlesville, and would be playing a fisherman.

The head of Oklahoma's Film & Music office would not confirm that Malick would be shooting a movie in the state.

Affleck is represented by WME, while Weisz is represented by CAA.