New Trailer 'RED'

The first trailer for the comic book adaption 'Red' has come online. I'm not personally familiar with the comic, so I have no idea how accurately this was adapted. But I doubt the majority of general audiences will know the book either. That being said, this looks all kinds of awesome!

The plot from what I can tell revolves around a group of retired CIA "hitmen" that are having a hard time settling into retired life. Bruce Willis being his usual awesome self, Academy Award winner Helen Mirren mowing people down with machine guns, John Malkovich acting bat-shit crazy, and Morgan Freeman... not sure what he's doing, but who cares its Morgan Freeman! An ensemble cast in a ridiculous plot with a shit ton of action, what more could you ask for?

Disney's Sticking with IMAX

Thanks to the box office success of Alice in Wonderland and Toy Story 3, the Walt Disney Company has signed a deal that will send three more of their big-budget releases to 3D/IMAX in 2011, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal. 

The first film will the animated Mars Needs Moms, which opens on March 11, 2011.  On May 20th, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides will sail into IMAX theaters, which will be followed by Pixar's Cars 2 on June 24th.

In a statement, Disney's president of distribution Chuck Viane says, "The IMAX experience adds another level of impact and excitement to a movie, and with these new films, made by some of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, audiences are in for are real treat."

Presumably, so are Disney and IMAX, who stand to make a ton of money thanks to inflated 3D/IMAX prices.  I didn't think the 3D/IMAX added anything extra special to Alice in Wonderland, which I enjoyed.  I've seen Toy Story 3 in both 3D/IMAX and in 2D, and that was spectacular in both versions...but that's also because it's simply a spectacular movie.

But they've had good results so far with the 3D/IMAX releases - of the $110 mllion Toy Story 3 made on it's opening weekend, 8% of that was from IMAX theaters.  They most likely have two sure things with Pirates just based on Johnny Depp alone, and while Cars might not be the most popular of the Pixar films, it's been hugely successful with kids who will certainly be clamoring for a sequel.  Mars Needs Moms?  We'll wait and see. 

The Bruce Timm Interview That Was, Then Wasn't?

It has happened time and time again. A celeb or in this case a minor celeb, says something they aren't supposed to and then later tries to cover their tracks. Then a site that nobody really cares about reports it. It really isn't surprising, but it definitely can be disappointing. I don't necessarily consider myself a Batman fanboy per say, but I am definitely a fan of the character, as I am regarding other DC characters. When I had the chance to attend the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo I was geeked up that Bruce Timm was going to be there. He is a comic legend among the geekdom and I was excited that he would be answering questions in his very own panel at the CCEE.

Timm took questions from both media and fans. The questions at the panel thrown at Timm were kind of generic and uninspiring, so I proceeded with some questions of my own. My one-on-one interview was posted HERE just days later. I spent about 20 minutes maximum with Timm and he was forthcoming and excited about some upcoming projects. We even talked off the record about some future live action and animated ventures at WB/DC. It was a good time and Timm letting me interview him briefly and bullshitting with me off the record was the highlight of my trip.

It took me by surprise for a moment that Timm now has decided that our interview "wasn't an actual one-on-one interview" and was "taken out of context". Then I thought about it for a minute or two and realized why. Some of what he revealed might not have been embraced like he thought it would by fans. Also DC or WB might not have wanted the info to come out as it did, so Timm is retracting it. Whatever the reason, the interview did happen. Doesn't make much sense that a writer would invent an interview? Even if a self absorbed Batman site that looks as if it was created in the late 90's, would like you to think so.

So I don't blame Timm. I understand why he would have to do that. Heck, I would probably do the same thing. Would you really want WB/DC angry at you, I think not? If I were Timm I would have actually made the statement to a bigger and more relevant site like IESB or Latino Review, but why would they want to talk to him anyway?

New Inception Internet Trailer

Warner Bros has recently released a new feature/trailer not sure what to call it so I'm going with /film on this one and calling it an Internet Trailer. There are no interviews or behind the scenes footage. This is more an individual introduction of each character. We get a lot of new footage from the film, and much more in depth look at the story.

Warner Bros really seem to be pumping out the trailers for this. I'm still not convinced though that this will be the huge smash everyones expecting. it might end up surpising everyone, but I wouldn't exepct a billion dollar hit.

Not enough original ideas are getting recognition in Hollywood anymore. Hopefully the success of this can allow more orginal ideas and less remakes in Hollywood going forward. I wouldn't hold your breath though.

The Lion King Goes 3D

Producer Don Hahn who worked on Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King, among many others. Recently spoke to Empire and confirmed that The Lion King will be converted to and re-released in theaters in 3D. He also added not to expect it any time soon.

“I’m actually trying to work out a 3D conversion of The Lion King. I’ll be doing that when I go back to the States in a couple of weeks,”

By the sounds of things they'll be re-animating the entire movie as well to accommodate the 3D technology. The Lion King for a lot of people is considered to be a Disney classic. I don't think having it re-animated and re-released in 3D will add anything more to the film. This sounds more like another way for Disney to milk 3D for all its worth while people are still willing to pay 16 dollars for a movie.

First Trailer "Green Hornet"

The first actual trailer for Sony's Green Hornet Starring Seth Rogen is finally online. You can watch below.

I can't say it looks all that much better than the 60's TV show it's based on, but it does look better than I expected.

The plot as described by Seth Rogen himself is as follows:

To explain it, I guess, briefly, I'm an irresponsible kind of idiot (as one might imagine) and my father dies and I form a friendship with someone else who did not have the highest opinion towards him. One of his employees, Kato. Through that friendship, we realize that maybe we can create this kind of thing that will help us both live out our dreams. In time, we realize that each other's personalities are the most difficult thing to overcome and try to form this thing. That's how the story goes.

Marvel Developing "Dr. Strange"

According to deadline Marvel Studios has hired Conan scribes Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer to write Dr. Strange.This is said to be the first marvel hero to appear under the Disney banner. I just find it weird they would choose Dr. Strange from such a large catalog of heroes.

Originated in 1963 by Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, Dr. Strange was a self-centered New York surgeon robbed of his touch after a car accident. After a stint as a wandering derelict, he found his way to a healer in the Himalayas, where he learned to tap into psychic powers to battle evil wizards and other wrongdoers. His mind is his weapon, rather than the brute force that distinguish most memorable Marvel heroes.

Box Office Actuals June 18-20

Toy Story 3 as expected dominated the weekend Box Office with 110.3 million coming in slightly higher than estimated. The karate Kid had a nice second weekend as well bringing in another nearly 30 million bringing it's total to over 100 million domestic. The A Team came in with third making only 14 million, a disappointment in terms of the amount it cost to make the film.

My predictions for this weeks Box Office were actually quite close to the actual numbers, with the exception of Jonah Hex which tanked much worse than I think anyone expected coming in at only 5 million.

Next week look for Knight & Day and Grown Ups to take maybe second and third place behind Toy Story. You never know though karate Kid may climb back into second again in it's third week. Both Sandler and Cruise have lost a lot of popularity in recent years, and karate Kid is on a roll right now. Right now Jaden Smith is proving to everyone he follows in his dad Will Smith's foot steps.

1. Toy Story 3 (Disney/Pixar) - $110.3 million

2. The Karate Kid (Sony) - $29.8 million

3. The A-Team (20th Century Fox) - $14.4 million

4.  Get Him to the Greek (Universal) - $6.1 million

5. Shrek Forever After (DreamWorks Animation/Paramount) – $5.6 million

6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (Disney) - $5.5 million

7. Killers (LIonsgate) - $5 million

8. Jonah Hex (Warner Bros.) - $5.3 million

9. Marmaduke (20th Century Fox) - $2.4 million

10. Sex and the City 2 (New Line/WB) - $2.4 million

Be sure to check back on Wednesday for this weeks predictions, and again on Sunday for the estimates from Jen.

M. Night Shyamalan Selling New Secret Script

 

M. Night Shyamalan is currently putting the finishing touches on The Last Airbender. The project is the first for Shyamalan based on material that he didn't originate. Which also happens to be a franchise starter. All of his previous work has been written by him, and were stand alone films.

In recent years his films haven't garnished the same success they once did. But with the release of Last Airbender that's likely to change putting him back on the top. In the mean time Shyamalan has been shopping a top secret script around Hollywood with three stars already attached to star. Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow and Bruce Willis are loosely attached. This would mark the third time Willis has collaborated with the director. They previously worked together on The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, which were both financially and critically successful.

As per usual the secrecy around the script has been very intense. Only top studio execs have read the script, and they were required to allow a Shyamalan assistant to supervise the process. When the execs finished reading, the assistant took the script back and left.

I just hope this is better then The Happening where people were running away from wind.

First Photos from "Green Hornet"

Columbia Pictures has released the first two photos from The Green Hornet that you can view below. The trailer will debut tonight on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and then will be available online, so check back later tonight.

Nothing too revealing in the photos, but something never the less. This is the first time anyones seen anything from the supposedly doomed film. I'm still not saying anything until after I see the trailer.