‘Games’ to make child’s play of weekend b.o.

It’s a foregone conclusion the second installment in the Hunger Games franchise, opening today in 4,163 theatres, will prove victorious at the box office this weekend  – and the next weekend, and the one after that, and so on and so forth, until Catching Fire has not merely broken but incinerated most sales records set before it.

If our expectations sound a tad hyperbolic, consider the context. The first Hunger Games film opened to an awe-some $152 million. It continued to hold strong through the duration of its theatrical run, resisting any significant downturn in sales thanks to strong word-of-mouth and favorable reviews. By the time it finally closed, The Hunger Games had amassed $408 million. That makes it the 14th highest-grossing movie of all time. Surprisingly, it out-earned any of the Harry Potter or Twilight films, which had previously set the bar for frenzied-fan fare.

Then there’s that small, shiny pated statue perched somewhere in Jennifer Lawrence’s house. The actress who plays Katniss Everdeen has seen her star rise and rise since 2012’s Games. She won an Oscar for her turn as a stubborn yet compassionate (we spy a theme) dancer in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook last year, and stood out within an ensemble cast of pretty mutants in Marble’s lucrative tentpole X Men: First Class. Add to the mix all those viral videos of her acting lovely, like the one in which she comforted a crying fan, and Jennifer Lawrence is capable of calling upon quite a large group of faithful for support.

However, there are those pundits who believe it would be difficult for any film, even this one, to surpass a $152 million weekend opening. There’s little doubt Catching Fire will match its predecessor – beyond that, it may eke out another $8 million or so for a staggering $160 haul. Odds are favorable.

Less so for the latest Vince Vaughn comedy, Delivery Man. Once a bankable draw, Vaughn has taken his lumps of late. Neither The Internship nor The Dilemma (no, can’t remember them either) was very successful, with the one opening to $17.3 million and the other $17.8 million. Man is tracking for an even poorer debut.

Specialty release Philomena also opens in four locations today. The film has seen a small boost in publicity in recent weeks, thanks to Harvey Weinstein’s successful campaign to change the movie’s R rating to PG-13. Weinstein’s hoping the softened label will reap dividends when Philomena opens wide and becomes accessible to family and church-going audiences, but for now, its largely positive reviews should appeal to the weekend’s arthouse viewers.

In all, between Catching Fire and the still popular Thor: The Dark World and The Best Man Holiday, this coming weekend could be one of the cinema’s best ever.

'Just when you thought I was dead...'

Harvey Weinstein was back in the media and the MPAA’s bad graces this morning after appearing on "CBS This Morning" to announce the launch of yet another attack on the ratings system. This time, the MPAA managed to incite the very, very public irritation of Weinstein by giving one of his awards-season contenders, Philomena, an audience-restricting R instead of a PG-13 rating. Like that time they tried to give Blue Valentine an NC-17 instead of an R rating (Harvey won that one), or that time they gave The King’s Speech an R instead of a PG-13 rating (Harvey did not win that one), the MPAA has apparently once again acted in a manner that could hurt the success, of the fiscal or Academy Awards variety, of a Weinstein film. A thing not to be borne.

But this particular campaign has gotten off to a remarkably likable start. The hullabaloo managed to transcend a typical Weinstein publicity blitz the moment Judi Dench, in character as James Bond’s late boss M, swiveled to face the camera in a 20-second video spot and pronounced herself resurrected. “Just when you thought I was dead,” M (or PhiloMena) wink-winks, before telling the audience she has an important mission for them. “Are you familiar with M-P-A-A?” she asks at video’s end. Presumably, when the next spot airs tomorrow, we’re to be charged with virtually accosting the MPAA as Weinstein brow-beating stand-ins until the bad guys relent and stop picking on poor old PhiloMena. It’s silly, but also fun, as Weinstein himself acknowledges (“I’m having fun with them”). One would think after 20-odd years – Weinstein launched his first attack on the MPAA back in 1994 when they tried to give Clerks an NC-17 rating (Harvey won that one) – the organization would be a little tired of the Weinsteins’ kind of fun. But the rest of us can enjoy the video clips.

A special M.essage:
 

Weinstein on "CBS This Morning:"
 

I do think Weinstein has a point. The difference between one F-word and two F-words in a film that doesn’t otherwise feature unduly adult or mature material seems negligible. I’m less sure how all those Southern church-going families will react to the negative portrayal of the movie’s nuns, but perhaps Philomena’s embodiment of Christian ideals will salve the wound. The ratings appeal is scheduled for next Wednesday, but count on at least another video or two before then.

Bradley Cooper and Omar Sy pair up for 'Chef'

Omar Sy starred in the French hit The Intouchables. Bradley Cooper segued from The Hangover to Silver Linings Playbook and The Place Beyond the Pines. And thanks to a fortuitous set of connections, the two will star in Chef. The Weinstein Co., which released both The Intouchables and Silver Linings Playbook, has international distribution rights to the comedy, which centers on Cooper as the disgraced chef of a Michelin-starred restaurant in France. He absconds to London, where he
opens up a new restaurant with the help of Sy. Cooper has not only played a chef before, in the sitcom "Kitchen Confidential," he speaks fluent French. That may come into play if there is a smattering of French dialogue (and I bet Cooper dubs himself), but it also may help him and Sy strike up conversations on the set.

Yet another connection ties the project together. Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), who directed Cooper in The Place Beyond the Pines, will helm. Cianfrance has mainly focused on dramas, so the move to comedy is a surprising one. My bet is that this is the kind of movie where plot comes before comedy, my favorite kind. Right now, Cooper's the one with the busiest schedule, though Cianfrance and Sy also have projects on the table. Steven Knight (Eastern Promises) a screenwriter whose works are often set in London or involve immigration, will pen the tale--considerably lighter than his usual fare. With no set production start date, it might be a while before Chef takes off, but it has all the ingredients needed to cook up another specialty hit from the Weinsteins.

Weinstein preps film of 'August: Osage County'

By Sarah Sluis

August: Osage Country, the Tony- and Pulitzer-winning Broadway play, will be a 2011 film produced and
distributed by The Weinstein Company. The prestigious drama already has actors' agents calling, smelling
Oscar material.  A sort of "family reunion" story, Letts' play centers on an
Oklahoma family that finds itself under one roof after the
family patriarch goes missing.  Featuring a pill-popping mother and her
three secretive daughters (you can rest assured these secrets are revealed), the play uses liberal doses of acid humor to
make its commentary on life in the Midwest. Harvey Weinstein, already an investor in the play, acquired the worldwide film rights and will oversee the project in a producer role.  Of the four current theatrical producers, Jean Doumanian and Steve Traxler will produce, and Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel will executive produce.  Author Letts, forewarned of a possible deal, has already been working on the screenplay and plans to finish in a few months.  Weinstein's currently filming another stage adaptation, Nine, a musical based on Fellini's 8 1/2 about a film director's struggles with his (nine?) relationships, including his wife, mistress, muse, agent, mother...