Alex Cross Trailer

Can Tyler Perry work without the dress and Bible-thumping? You be the judge by the trailer to Alex Cross, the Rob Cohen-helmed reboot of James Patterson's literary copper:

Dropping Idris Elba for Perry made financial sense. Taking one look at Perry in that awkward wig and van dyke gives second thoughts to that decision. Brings back memories of his Star Trek cameo. The film practically stopped for that brief moment when the camera zoomed in on Perry's random mug. Did the folks snickers (They did during my screening!)

Nothing Perry, or original choice Elba, could have done to improve what appears to be another cliché-filled serial killer romp. Perhaps it's for the best Mr. Madea is the sacrificial lamb. At least Matthew Fox looks like he's enjoying himself. To prepare for his role, he reportedly gnawed on a ham-bone for months.

Pixar's The Man of Steel - Sadly Not Real

A year ago came one of the coolest works of fan art I've seen visualizing a Pixar rendered Superman. But that was for Superman Returns. 2006 came and went as did its Man of Steel Brandon Routh and helmer Bryan Singer. Its 2012, darn it and time for Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill to make their mark on Clark Kent. So a poster at the Super Hero Hype! Forum rolled up their sleeves and presented this awesome art of how The Man of Steel's Supes would look.

Too cool to be real unfortunately. Tell me if this doesn't make you wish Time Warner went belly-up and Disney lapped up DC Comics?

Weekend Box Office: June 22-24

  

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Brave - $66.7 million

2.  Madagascar 3:  Europe's Most Wanted - $20.2 million

3.  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter - $16.5 million

4.  Prometheus - $10 million

5.  Rock of Ages - $8 million

6.  Snow White and the Huntsman - $8 million

7.  That's My Boy - $7.9 million

8.  The Avengers - $7 million

9.  Men in Black 3 - $5.6 million

10.  Seeking a Friend for the End of the World - $3.8 million

So who said that Pixar couldn't do a princess movie?  Hope you're enjoying your crow right now, since Pixar's Brave opened with a spectacular $66.7 million this weekend.  That's the fifth-best start for a Pixar film, and it continues their perfect streak of opening in first place.  For those keeping score, that's now 13 movies in a row.

With their first female heroine, a stubborn Scottish princess named Merida who must save her family from a witch's curse, cynics still stinging over the disappointment that was last year's Cars 2 cried foul that we might have another dud on our hands, based on the film's admittedly confusing ad campaign.  Certainly, it appeared the critics rather grumpily agreed.   

But they seemed forget a simple fact:  little girls love princess movies, and that moms (and quite a few dads at the show I saw) love having a movie to take their girls to see, which doesn't happen all that often.  Plus, there was plenty in Brave for the whole family, so it had a much wider appeal than originally predicted.  So that's another win for Pixar, and deservedly so.  Brave should hold up nicely in the next few weeks before Ice Age 4 takes over the multiplexes next month.

The news wasn't that great for this weekend's other new releases:  despite the popular novel it's based upon, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter had all kinds of trouble winning audiences with it's bizarre premise, managing only $16.5 million.  It couldn't even outdo Madagascar 3, which in its third weekend earned another $20.2 million.

But even that looked good next to Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which went almost unnoticed in tenth place with just $3.8 million.

Prometheus passed the $100 million mark this weekend (having sole possession of the IMAX screens at most theaters certainly helps).  At $108.5 million, it's still somewhat of a disappointment domestically, although it has grossed an additional $152 million overseas.  Whether that leads to a sequel is anyone's guess at this point.

Last week's double duds, Rock of Ages and That's My Boy, continued to disappoint this weekend with $8 million and $7.9 million, respectively.  They're also about even with Snow White and the Huntsman, so they may all switch places in the top ten when the actuals come in tomorrow.

Next weekend will be a battle between strippers and foul-mouthed teddy bears (wasn't this what Times Square was like back in the 80s?), as Channing Tatum's Magic Mike and Seth MacFarlane's Ted open in theates.  Also opening is the family drama (comedy?) People Like Us, and the latest in Tyler Perry's Madea saga: Madea's Witness Protection.  So you can't say you don't have some interesting choices next weekend.

Behind the Scenes Look at Keanu Reeves' 'Man of Tai Chi'

Well I'll be dam, the man actually does know Kung Fu.

In case you're wondering what Keanu Reeves has been up to for the past half-decade, he's actually been keeping himself quite busy.  He wrapped production a while back on Universal's 47 Ronin (due out next year) - which tells the story of the legendary Samurai clan who set out to restore their master's honor - and has been hard at work on making his directorial debut, Man of Tai Chi.

For those not familiar with martial arts, Tai Chi is a style of Kung Fu emphasizing self-defense, health, and particularly, slow movements.

Man of Tai Chi is set around a young martial artist's journey through Beijing (to be played by Tiger Chen, who worked on The Matrix stunt team) with Reeves himself playing the picture's villain.

With shooting currently going on in Hong Kong, Reeves recently offered a behind the scenes look on the type of camera work he'll be using to capture the film's fight scenes, known as Bot & Dolly's Iris, the world's most advanced Robotic motion control camera system.

As you can see in the video below, the new camera technology is able to move all-around during a fight scene without sacrificing accuracy, detail, or precision of any kind.

With Reeves having participated in the revolutionary "bullet time" and "wire-fu" shown in The Matrix, it looks like the man wants to take martial arts on film another step further.

Source: TwitchFilm

Taken 2 Trailer Suffers From Sequelitis

The real life version of Taken 2 would involve the baddie digging up dirt on the Irish-sounding "American" Bryan Mulls (Liam Neeson) who killed his son, seeing all the bones he cracked to get his daughter back and saying, "Screw revenge! Leaving this dude alone!" The end.

Not much dough 20th Century Fox could make from that. Funny, and accurate, as it is. We'll have to settle with this feature-length version whose trailer comes our way thanks to Yahoo! Movies:

Karl Urban Is The Law in Dredd Trailer

Half win/half lose results on the Dredd trailer that premiered on G4's Attack of the Show and now online.

If the goal was to act as mouth-wash getting that bit of bad breath left by the 1995 Stallone incarnation, mission accomplished. No one is going to think of "I AM DA LAW!" after seeing Karl Urban's (Our modern answer to Tom Atkins) low-key reading of the same line.

Downside is Dredd looks like every other futuristic-set actioner, same problem facing Len Wiseman's Total Recall remake.

What The "Man Of Steel" Suit Would Look Like Animated

Forums across the interwebs are filled with overzealous fanboys and know it all moderators which creates much conflict but allows for some of us to kill time while debating subjects we know and love. Sometimes, lying in the bowels of these forums intertwined within the various threads, are hidden gems. The mock up of what the "Man Of Steel" suit might look like animated by Kalel Angel of the SuperHeroHype Forums is one such instance. Check out the original below as well as an inked version by Kalel Angel

 

Is "Willow" Finally Coming to Blu-Ray?

According to the Spanish blu-ray site Mubis, it appears that Willow, the still-incredibly-awesome 1988 fantasy film directed by Ron Howard and produced by George Lucas is finally coming out on blu-ray this fall. 

For anyone unfamiliar with Willow, it was a little bit of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Wizard of Oz, Snow White, and Indiana Jones all basically mashed up in the same movie.  It starred a post-Ewok, pre-Hogwarts professor Warwick Davis as Willow Ufgood, an aspiring wizard (and dad) on a mission to protect a baby girl who, according to prophecy, will one day destroy the evil Queen Bavmorda (Jean Marsh).  Willow's adventure takes him far from home where he will meet the smartass reluctant hero Madmartigan (Val Kilmer), a pair of tiny creatures called Brownies (Kevin Pollack and Rick Overton), and the sorceress Fin Raziel (Patricia Hayes).  Then there's the main bad guy, the skull-helmeted General Kael (Pat Roach - a veteran baddie from the Indiana Jones movies), along with assorted trolls, wild dogs, and a two-headed dragon.

Fun fact:  the two-headed dragon, called "Eborsisk", was reportedly named after film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel.

Willow had the misfortune of opening the same summer as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Big, so, sadly, it got a bit lost in the box office shuffle.  But it's still a totally fun movie, so finally getting a decent blu-ray version would be a nice early holiday treat.

And just for old time's sake, here's one of the original trailers:

'Apes' Scribes Enter 'Jurassic Park 4'

In an exclusive TOLDJA scoop from Mike Fleming, Universal Pictures is trying for the umpteenth time to get Jurassic Park 4 out of development hell and into theaters. This time, they've hired Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver, the writers behind last summer's surprise hit Rise of the Planet of the Apes as well as its sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

No telling whether Jaffa & Silver will use elements from previous drafts by scribes like Mark Protosevich, William Monahan or John Sayles. Kathleen Kennedy and Steven Spielberg will produce the film.

Universal will re-release Jurassic Park in stereoscopic 3D on July 19, 2013. 

Lloyd Christmas Has Left the Building

Talk about a change of heart.

It was not that long ago Jim Carrey was happy as a clam for Dumb & Dumber To (Nodding in approval at this title as I type). Bigger cheerleader than even the Farrelly brothers and Carrey is by no means a sequel guy. Save for Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls.

ETOnline says Carrey is, metaphorically, waving the middle-finger at Warner Brothers/New Line Cinema and exiting the sequel:

"According to sources, Carrey grew increasingly frustrated by New Line and Warner Brothers, who he felt showed a lack of enthusiasm regarding the project.

A sentiment seemingly reinforced by a statement exclusively obtained when ETOnline reached out to the actor's publicist for comment. In addition to confirming the story, Carrey exclusively tells ETOnline, 'I would have thought Dumb and Dumber To was a no-brainer, after all it's implied in the title.'"

Sounds like a salary dispute. Foolish move on his part, he needs Dumb & Dumber To more than ever.