Amazing Spider-Man Home Video Release

Blu-ray.com has set the release date for The Amazing Spider-Man as November 9th later this year with the box art picture above. A list of possible features was found on Amazon.com which haven't been confirmed officially just yet. You can probably expect a full set of specs to come up online shortly though with the details of all the goodies on the disc.

- Deleted Scenes and Alternate Takes

- Audio Commentaries with Cast and Crew

- The Oscorp Archives – Art and Promotional Materials Gallery

- Screen Tests

- Stunt Rehearsals

 

The 3D Blu-ray offers two more exclusive features alone with two collectible figurines:

- Both 3D & 2D versions of the film

- Interactive 3D Film School with Director Marc Webb

- Collectible Amazing Spider-Man Figurine

- Collectible Lizard Figurine

Warner Premiere Comes to an End

An official statement was released from Warner Bros. today announcing an end to their direct-to-video line of films, Warner Premiere.

Given the continuing decline in the direct-to-video film market and shifting business models in the production of digital series, the decision was made to close Warner Premiere,” the company said in a release. “The division will continue and complete production on its remaining film and digital series project into the fall.  In addition, the evaluation of potential digital content will be folded into Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, and Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Home Video will continue to produce and release animated films, such as Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry and DC Universe.

I was only familiar with their animated line of movies, being a huge fan of their DC Universe full length features. Reading further into it, they also released live-action movies like Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning and a few other relatively well known films that never saw a theatrical release.

It is reassuring to know that they continue to release the DCU animated features especially with the upcoming Dark Knight Returns Part 1. Discontinuing these fan favorites would have been a real disappointment to me and I'm sure to many others because of the quality given to each project.

"Jawsfest" Leaves Martha Vineyard In It's Wake

JAWS fans from around the world descended upon Martha Vineyard (aka "Amity Island") to kick start JAWSFEST: The Tribute on Thursday, August 9, 2012. The annual, four-day, fan-driven event takes place August 9-12, 2012, to celebrate the legacy of Steven Spielberg's film and how it has impacted the lives of those who came to Amity in 1974. The tribute event also pays homage to the men and women of JAWS who have passed with a special focus on Peter Benchley, Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw.

The event coincides with Universal Studios' 100th Anniversary celebration and the August 14th release of JAWS on Blu-rayTM. Featuring an all-new, digitally remastered and fully restored picture, as well as 7.1 surround sound, the JAWS Blu-ray™ includes over 4 hours of bonus features including an all-new documentary "The Shark is Still Working."

Weekend Box Office: August 10-12

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  The Bourne Legacy - $40.2 million

2.  The Campaign - $27.4 million

3.  The Dark Knight Rises - $19.5 million

4.  Hope Springs - $15.6 million

5.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days - $8.2 million

6.  Total Recall - $8.1 million

7.  Ice Age: Continental Drift - $6.7 million 

8.  Ted - $3.2 million

9.  Step Up Revolution - $2.8 million

10.  The Watch/The Amazing Spider-man - $2.2 million

The ads insisted that "there was never just one", and audiences mostly seemed to take their word for it as The Bourne Legacy earned an estimated $40.2 million, a respectable start for the first Bourne film minus the franchise's star, Matt Damon.  They may have been swayed to show up just from being fans of the Bourne franchise itself, but it certainly helped that star Jeremy Renner has been building up a solid action resume over the past year with roles in The Avengers and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.  And that Universal made the wise decision to push the release back to give The Dark Knight Rises another week to wind down.  So that was a plus, although it did fall short of The Bourne Ultimatum, the last entry starring Damon, which opened with $69 million in 2007. 

In second place was The Campaign, starring Will Ferrell and Zack Galifinakis, which earned $27.4 million.  That's surprising, considering that the ads for this were awful (maybe that's just me), but still on the low end of the Ferrell opening weekend scale - his highest being the $47 million Talladega Nights opened with in 2006.

Falling to third place is The Dark Knight Rises, which earned $19.5 million to bring its domestic total to $390 million.  It should cross the $400 million mark this week.  Worldwide, the Batman finale has earned $835 million.

The other new release this weekend, Hope Springs, earned a soft $15.6 million.  However, the movie had a two-day head start, since it opened last Wednesday, so it's actually earned $20 million.  It should continue to have a healthy run in theaters as the counter-programming alternative to Bourne and Batman.

Next weekend is looking to be busy with the openings of The Expendables 2, Paranorman, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, and Sparkle.  So...something for everyone.

New Stills from Paul Thomas Anderson's 'The Master'

Let me be clear, I am not a fan of Paul Thomas Anderson.  I have never seen any of his films nor am I what you would call a 'follower' of his work.

Yet for some odd reason, I can not help but be tremendously excited to see his new film, The Master.

Maybe it's because it marks the return of Joaquin Phoenix to feature films after a long 'break,' maybe it's because it revolves around the supposed true story of Scientology, or hell, maybe it's because the film just looks that damn good, I am looking forward to seeing it.

Anyway, new high-def stills from the film have popped up online which you can view below:

Set in America in the years following World War II, a charismatic intellectual (Philip Seymour Hoffman) launches a faith-based organization and taps a young drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) as his right-hand man. But as the faith begins to gain a fervent following, the onetime vagabond finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor.

The Master opens in limited release on September 14th followed by a worldwide release on September 21st.

Cigarettes & Red Vines

Official Images From Found Footage Horror Film "V/H/S"

V/H/S is a POV, found footage horror film from the perspective of America's top genre filmmakers. In 'V/H/S', a group of misfits are hired by an unknown third party to burglarize a desolate house in the countryside and acquire a rare tape. Upon searching the house, the guys are confronted with a dead body, a hub of old televisions and an endless supply of cryptic footage, each video stranger and more inexplicable than the last...

Principal Photography Concludes For "All Is Lost", First Photo Revealed

Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions, Academy Award-winner Robert Redford, and Academy Award-nominated writer/director J.C. Chandor (Best Writing, Original Screenplay for MARGIN CALL) jointly announced that principal photography has wrapped on the open water thriller ALL IS LOST at Baja Studios in Rosarito, Mexico. Chandor wrote and directed the film, and Redford stars in a solo performance of one man lost at sea and his battle against the elements to stay alive. Before The Door Pictures’ Neal Dodson and Washington Square Films’ Anna Gerb are producing.

"After an intense two months of shooting on the water, we’re headed home and have finished production on schedule,” said Dodson and Gerb. “JC is making an audacious film with a brave performance at its center."

The director of photography is Frankie DeMarco and the editor is Pete Beaudreau, both of whom collaborated with Chandor on MARGIN CALL. The underwater cinematographer is Pete Zuccarini (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN franchise, DOLPHIN TALE). The production designer is John P. Goldsmith (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN). 

Justin Nappi and Teddy Schwarzman also serve as producers. Executive producers for ALL IS LOST are Joshua Blum of Washington Square Films, actor Zachary Quinto and Corey Moosa of Before The Door, Cassian Elwes, Laura Rister, Robert Ogden Barnum, Glen Basner, and Kevin Turen.

Chandor, Washington Square Films, and Before The Door previously collaborated on the critically-acclaimed and award-winning MARGIN CALL, which had its world premiere at Redford’s 2011 Sundance Film Festival, and was released by Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions.

FilmNation Entertainment is handling international sales on the picture and has already sold out the world. Universal Pictures International will distribute the film in a large portion of the globe, alongside several other distributors, including SquareOne, Sun, eOne, LEV, HGC, Italia, SSG and Pony Canyon.

ALL IS LOST marks Chandor’s second feature film, following MARGIN CALL. In addition to his Academy Award nomination for that film’s screenplay, Chandor won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and the Robert Altman Award for ensemble cast, and he was awarded the Australian Academy’s International Award for Best Screenplay. He was named Best Debut Director by the National Board Of Review and Best First Film by the New York Film Critics Circle, in addition to being listed on dozens of Top Ten lists for 2011.Chandor is currently under contract to Warner Brothers Pictures on a two-picture writing deal, the first of which is an international thriller being developed by Appian Way with producers Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Kiloran as a potential starring vehicle for DiCaprio.

"My Uncle Rafael" Poster

MY UNCLE RAFAEL, opens on September 21, 2012 in New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Orange County, San Francisco, San Diego and Fresno. The film will continue to open in additional markets throughout the Fall.   

The award-winning film stars Missi Pyle (The Artist, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory), John Michael Higgins (Yes Man, TVs “Happily Divorced”), Anthony Clark (Yes, Dear), Joe Lo Truglio (Role Models) and Rachel Blanchard (Road Trip).  

Directed by former Spielberg protégé Marc Fusco, the film introduces Armenian stage and TV star Vahik Pirhamzei whose successful stage play featuring the Uncle Rafael character serves as the inspiration for the movie. This is the first American comedy to have an Armenian lead character. The film was financed and is being distributed by Slater Brothers Entertainment (SBE) and Rocky Mountain Pictures.

MY UNCLE RAFAEL follows a dysfunctional all-American family who is cast in a reality television show and must invite a stranger into their home—in this case an old Armenian uncle, who has one week to save them from falling apart.

Poster For "10 Years" Starring Channing Tatum

In this ensemble comedy, 10 Years follows a group of friends on the night of their high school reunion who, a decade later, still haven’t quite grown up. Channing Tatum plays Jake, who is deeply in love with his girlfriend (Jenna Dewan-Tatum) and ready to propose—until he runs into his high school flame (Rosario Dawson) for the first time in ten years. Jake’s friend Cully (played by funnyman Chris Pratt) married his cheerleader girlfriend (Ari Graynor), and has been looking forward to the reunion so he can finally apologize to all the classmates he bullied in high school. However, after a few too many drinks, the jock-turned-family man ends up reverting back to his old ways instead. Meanwhile, longtime rivals Marty (Justin Long) and A.J (Max Minghella) spend the night still trying to one-up each other to impress thecoolest girl in class (Lynn Collins), who now has a secret. The famous one of the group, Reeves (Oscar Isaac) is now well-known musician, but is still too shy to talk to the high school crush (Kate Mara) who inspired his one hit wonder.

"Playing For Keeps" Trailer

Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Dennis Quaid star in “Playing For Keeps,” a romantic comedy about a charming, down-on-his luck former soccer star (Butler) who returns home to put his life back together.  Looking for a way to rebuild his relationship with his son, he gets roped into coaching the boy’s soccer team.  But his attempts to finally become an “adult” are met with hilarious challenges from the attractive “soccer moms” who pursue him at every turn.

"Playing For Keeps" is directed by Gabriele Muccino, the director of "The Pursuit of Happyness."  The film will open nationwide December 7th 2012.