‘Lone Survivor’ stands tall at no. 1

Looks like audiences agree with Lone Survivor’s marketing team, which has been heralding the Afghanistan combat drama as the best war film since Saving Private Ryan.  It certainly made one of the strongest debuts among its genre cohorts, pulling in higher opening-weekend numbers than both Zero Dark Thirty ($24.4 million) and Black Hawk Down ($28.6 million). Survivor’s weekend haul of $38.5 million also far exceeded Universal’s conservative estimates – the studio had the movie tracking somewhere in the high teens – and, most impressively, has earned the film the title of second-most impressive January bow. The only other movie to have had a stronger January opening was Cloverfield, which grossed $40.1 million in 2008.

Many pundits are attributing the film’s success to a savvy promotional campaign that highlights the real-life heroism of its protagonist SEALs, while downplaying the fraught political implications that still surround the American invasion abroad. Whatever the initial appeal, critics and audiences alike are standing firm behind the movie, which has earned a rare A+ CinemaScore rating. The Mark Wahlberg-starrer should continue to hold strong in the weeks ahead.

It was an older crowd that helped lead Lone Survivor to victory over the weekend (the film’s demographic breakdown was 57% over the age of 30, as well as 57% male), while younger, and one would assume many repeat, viewers were (still) lining up for Frozen. The animated box-office behemoth has earned $317.7 million to date, and can now boast a Golden Globe win for the year’s Best Animated Feature to boot.

It’s unlikely the aforementioned honor will surprise anyone who’s leant an attentive ear to industry buzz of late, but the continued ascent of Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street might. After getting off to an OK start at the box office, the comedy/drama has steadily risen among the weekend’s rankings. Likely benefitting from continued controversy surrounding its debauched subjects, Wolf earned $9 this weekend to bump its overall gross to $78.6 million. Star Leonardo DiCaprio’s Golden Globe win last night may give the movie an additional boost this coming weekend. Estimates surrounding the film’s eventual total cume continue to expand: As of this morning, general consensus has Wolf topping out at well over $100 million by the time it leaves theatres.

David O. Russell’s crowd-pleaser American Hustle has already reached that milestone, officially crossing the $100-million mark as of yesterday. Another big Golden Globe winner (stars Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence both took home statuettes last night, and the film as a whole won for Best Musical or Comedy), Hustle grossed $8.6 million this weekend. The film tied with The Legend of Hercules for fourth place. That amounts to another strong showing for Hustle, but an underwhelming debut for the latest sword-and-sandal epic. Hopefully, The Rock’s take on the oft-adapted Greek legend will fare better this summer.

In fifth place, August: Osage County reaped $7.3 million from 905 locations. Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones performed as expected, slipping roughly 66% to earn $6.3 million. It remains on track to become the franchise’s least successful offering yet.

Unfortunately for specialty enthusiasts, two critically favored films also underperformed. Her earned $5.4 million, which, while in itself not a terrible figure, is nonetheless fairly weak considering the number of theatres in which the film screened (1,729). And although Inside Llewyn Davis seemed to connect with coastal audiences, averaging about $100,000 per theatre when it opened in NY and LA, it struggled to find a wider viewership. From 729 locations, Davis grossed just over $1 million. Let’s see if the continued onward march of awards season can do anything for these two struggling originals.

‘Paranormal Activity’ to scare up weekend business

Though 2013 ended on a high note earlier this week – domestic sales tallied out at almost $11 billion for the year – the first weekend of 2014 will likely be a quiet one.  The Marked Ones, the fifth installment in the popular Paranormal Activity horror franchise, is the only new release opening today. The first PA film was a surprise hit and a testament to the power of word-of-mouth buzz. The micro-budgeted flick, released in 2007, earned $107.9 million and is still the series’ most successful movie. Paranormal Activity 2 grossed $84.8 million in 2010, while Paranormal 3 has come the closest yet to matching the first film’s haul, raking in $104 million in 2011. Paranormal Activity 4, however, which opened in 2012, took in roughly half its predecessor’s total, earning just $53.9 million.

This time around, the filmmakers are hoping to utilize the power of demographics. The lead actors in The Marked Ones are Latino, perhaps a direct casting nod to the series’ fans: Latinos tend to make up a large percentage of horror-movie audiences. Not to mention, with the success of recent films targeted toward Latino viewers, such as Instructions Not Included, Hollywood in general seems to be wising up to the power (i.e. the willingness to spend) of this previously underserved group. Besides a shift in players, though, it’s supernatural business as usual, with previews emphasizing unsettling video footage, the franchise’s hallmark.

Pundits are predicting a haul of just under $25 million for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. Expectations have been softened by the weekend’s Northeastern snowstorm, which many believe will keep viewers inside, where their VOD, DVDs and Netflix are more readily accessible.

A good portion of those who are brave enough to weather the elements in search of off-the-couch entertainment, though, will in all likelihood opt for Disney’s grand success story, Frozen. This weekend will mark the animated musical’s sixth in theatres, and it’s still going strong. Strong enough to win the No. 2 slot just beneath The Marked Ones, according to those in the know. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will probably clock in at No. 3, followed by Oscar and fan favorite American Hustle, with Anchorman 2 rounding out the top 5. Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street may be able to leverage recent controversy and prurient interest in its subject matter to sneak its way into the No. 5 slot, just ahead of Burgundy and his much more harmless coterie of buffoons, but given Street’s low Cinemascore rating  of a “C”, that seems unlikely.

 

‘Hobbit’ leads holiday charge, contributes to record b.o.

Five new films may have opened on Christmas day, but it seems audiences preferred to seek out known successes, rather than take a chance on novel fare. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug won the weekend for the third week in a row with its $29.9 million haul, while Disney’s hit Frozen, now in its fifth week, skated past last weekend’s tough competitor American Hustle as well as Anchorman 2 to earn the second highest gross ($28.8 million). Though Smaug continues to track behind last year’s Hobbit prequel, it nonetheless joins Gravity as the only two films this year to have retained their No. 1 standing for three consecutive weekends. As for Frozen, which has surpassed even the most optimistic expectations, it boasted the third highest  fifth-weekend gross ever, just behind the $30 million Titanic earned its fifth weekend in theatres, and Avatar’s $42.8 million.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues chuckled its way to the No. 3 slot with $20.2 million. So far, the comedy has earned $83.7 million domestically. Will Ferrell’s long-gestating sequel should easily surpass the first Anchorman’s $85.7 million cume within the next few days.

In fourth place, David O. Russell’s American Hustle made like stars Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper and danced its way to a cool $19.6 million. The film has so far enjoyed (almost) universal critical acclaim and positive word-of-mouth. More awards nominations seem imminent, which should significantly boost its already impressive $60 million cume. Pundits believe an overall take of $100 million is likely.

The only new release to have landed within the weekend’s Top 5 – and then just barely – was Martin Scorsese’s much hyped The Wolf of Wall Street. The Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer earned $18.5 million, or $34.3 million for the five-day holiday spread. There are those who believe the film’s low Cinemascore rating of a “C” bodes poorly for its continued box office success, predicting a quick flameout within the next week or two. Others, however, think Street’s controversial depiction of stunted adolescence/hubristic debauchery will continue to draw viewers, especially if the rumors prove true and the film earns an Oscar nod or several.

Saving Mr. Banks, which has struggled to find its audience these past few weeks, finally clicked with holiday moviegoers. The true story of how Walt Disney successfully won the film rights to Mary Poppins from persnickety author P.L. Travers earned $14 million, a great uptick of 50%.

Unfortunately, with the exception of The Wolf of Wall Street, the full story of the holiday’s new releases isn’t as uplifting. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty did OK business with its $13 million weekend gross and $25.6 million five-day haul. Those figures are respectable, though they pale in comparison with past Ben Stiller hits Night at the Museum and the Meet the Parents movies. Still, at least Stiller and his collaborators weren’t part of the very, very expensive 47 Ronin, directed by and starring Keanu Reeves, which tanked with $9.9 million ($20.6 million over the five days).  They also had nothing to do with Grudge Match, a flop with $7.3 million ($13.4 million five-day), nor, thankfully, with Justin Bieber’s docu-bomb, Believe ($2 million/$4.3 million). As Mitty himself is well aware, it’s all about perspective.

Even given the aforementioned string of less-than-boffo bows, though, the day’s big news is all about 2013’s box-office success. Final numbers have yet to be tallied, but as of yesterday the domestic box office was just $1.6 million shy of the $10.837 billion record set in 2012. With today and tomorrow still to go, it’s safe to assume 2013 will be another one for the books.

Preserving Ebert's legacy

“See you at the movies.”

It’s easy to understand the unprecedented popular success movie critic Roger Ebert enjoyed when you take a look at his signature signoff. Whether or not he liked the films whose merits he had just spent the past half-hour debating, at the end of each episode of “At the Movies” with fellow critics Gene Siskel or Richard Roeper, Ebert would leave his audience with an invitation. His was an inclusionary approach to viewership. “You” were sitting beside him in the theater and therefore it was “you” to whom he was speaking. The cinema was an “empathy machine” so far as Ebert was concerned, with the ability to transcend, engage and connect disparate sensibilities. It’s a nice way to look at any work of art, if one that sometimes trips along the fault lines of prequels, sequels and arty delusions of grandeur. More importantly, with its allusion to a future full of sights yet unseen, it’s an eminently hopeful phrase.

All of which is a fancy way of saying Roger Ebert was a likable guy, the People’s Critic. Hoop Dreams director Steve James, along with executive producer Martin Scorsese, has taken it upon himself to film the first documentary on Ebert, who died last spring. James began shooting before Ebert passed away and is now well into post-production on the film that shares a title with the reviewer’s memoir, Life Itself. Now, James is calling upon Ebert's fans to help finish his paean to the industry luminary.

The director has set up an Indiegogo campaign to help raise funds for costly movie polishes: the documentary’s soundtrack, animation work, and archival footage licensing, among others. Crowd-funding sites like Indiegogo are inherently inclusionary and communal, but James is taking these ideas so important to Ebert’s legacy several steps further. If you donate $25 to the campaign, you’ll be sent a private link that will enable you to live stream the movie ahead of its premiere. After he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2006, Ebert was eventually forced to relinquish hosting duties of his TV show. Instead of retiring, however, he continued to review and build out his fan base via social media. James’ chosen tech angle is apt for a man who used the Internet as stage for his third act.

 

Depending on how much they donate ($25 is at the lower end of the price points), contributors can receive a variety of prizes. You can attend a screening in New York or LA, chat with the filmmakers, even receive a private editing tutorial from director James. My favorite reward, however, is that which is sent to every participant regardless of how much she donates. Throughout his career Ebert wrote 7,202 reviews. The first 7,202 people who contribute will be sent a review corresponding to their member number (if you’re the 57^th person to give, you’ll receive the 57^th review Ebert wrote). Pretty cool.

Click here for the link to the Indiegogo campaign.  You have until December 20^th to help James, on behalf of Ebert, be able to say with confidence: See you at this movie.

DiCaprio plays another rich criminal in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’

Paramount has begun building hype for Leonardo DiCaprio’s
latest project, The Wolf of Wall Street,
directed by Martin Scorsese. The first trailer for the film, slated to hit
theaters November 15, released on Sunday. The
Wolf of Wall Street is based on Jordan Belfort’s 2007 memoir of the same
name. Belfort, a hedge fund manager, made hundreds of millions of dollars in
the 1980s and ’90s through his brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont, until it was
discovered that the firm was inflating stocks and committing fraud, as well as
perpetrating other financial crimes. Belfort was arrested and spent nearly two
years in prison.

The Wolf of Wall
Street trailer bears several striking similarities to DiCaprio’s most
recent movie, The Great Gatsby, both
thematically and in terms of promotional materials. It’s clear that, like Gatsby, Scorsese will devote much of Wolf’s screen time to the protagonist’s
startling displays of wealth. Girls, drugs, wads of cash, luxurious
settings—all are featured prominently in the two-minute-fifteen-second Wolf trailer. The promos for both films
are also carried by a DiCaprio voiceover, explaining his character’s meteoric
rise in wealth and reputation.

Most obviously, both trailers are ushered along by a Kanye
West song—or, in Gatsby’s case, a
West-Jay-Z collaboration. “No Church in the Wild” (Gatsby) and “Black
Skinhead” (Wolf) both feature wild
yells, pounding drum beats, and West’s emotive, angry rapping. The songs provide
a thrilling adrenaline rush, and breathlessly shuttle viewers from shots of
over-the-top parties and all the trappings of excessive wealth, to hints of
DiCaprio’s characters’ downfall and emotional collapse. In fact, Wolf could easily be seen as the latest
in a trilogy of DiCaprio films which explore the indulgence and devastation
created when men from humble beginnings turn to crime and gain incredible
wealth, starting with 2002’s Catch Me if
You Can and continuing with Gatsby.

Wolf looks like a
skillful and highly entertaining drama, far closer in quality to the excellent Catch Me if You Can than this year’s
disappointing Gatsby. Jonah Hill and Matthew
McConaughey (who has shown himself to be terrific in smaller comedic parts,
from Dazed and Confused through Magic Mike) also promise to deliver memorable
performances in supporting roles.

Wolf screenwriter Terence
Winter already has plenty of practice creating devious, charismatic crooks, as
a writer and executive producer on “Boardwalk Empire,” which like Gatsby, is set in the 1920s. Scorsese, of course,
built his career on depicting such characters in award-winning films like Goodfellas, The Departed, and Gangs of New York. It will be quite interesting to
see what parallels the pair draws between the white-collar criminals of the
Roaring Twenties and those of the 1990s.

Scorsese casts Andrew Garfield in 'Silence'

In Hollywood, sometimes projects take decades to make. Then if they're hits, everyone admires the persistence of those involved. And if it's a miss, well, then there was a reason it took all those years to pull together. Filmmaker Martin Scorsese has finally pulled financing together for Silence. He first had interest after reading the book by Shusaku Endo 25 years ago. Nine years after that, a script was completed, and now it's been another decade and a half without a movie. One reason the project has been on the back burner is because it's a tough sell--an introspective story about religion, and the person who wanted to helm it suffered a good degree of backlash from his 1988 movie The Last Temptation of Christ.

The early 1600s-set story will see Andrew Garfield playing a Portuguese Jesuit who travels to Japan to find out if rumors are true that his mentor has abandoned the Church. At that time, Christians were forced to go underground due to religious persecution. In the unfamiliar land, he ponders questions about what it means to be faithful when you are suffering for your beliefs, and whether it is worthwhile to proselytize. Ken Watanabe will play his translator.

Production is set to start in June of 2014, a year from now. Scorsese is currently in post-production on The Wolf of Wall Street, which will come out Nov. 15.  In terms of style, I suspect Silence will look like Kundun or Last Temptation, not his more stylized (and populist) works like Goodfellas. It's been a while since the filmmaker has done a spare, serious drama, so it will be a pleasure for many arthouse lovers to see someone like Scorsese stretch himself and work in less familiar territory.

I'm also curious if there's any chance this movie might catch the eye of the faith-based community. Certainly, the book seems more doubtful and reflective than a kind of evangelist movie that has more easy answers, but if this subject matter does resonate with Christians, that will certainly make it that much more impactful at the box office. The backlash over a movie like Last Temptation, which supposedly caught Scorsese by surprise, certainly does not bode well for a positive reception. At the Cannes Film Festival, Scorsese may drum up more interest (and investors), further securing that Silence will be next up on his production slate.

Will Scorsese's post-'Hugo' project be the serial killer pic' Snowman?'

Martin Scorsese's currently riding the critical (but not box-office) success of Hugo, which received double-digit Oscar nominations. However, with Scorsese passed up for the Directors Guild Award in favor of The Artist's Michel Hazanavicius, it looks like Hugo won't be as much of a winner as some of the director's earlier works. For his next project he may be returning to what he does best--suspense and crime.  After receiving approval by author Jo Nesbø, Scorsese will direct The Snowman, an adaptation of a Scandinavian crime novel. Interestingly, the book is the seventh in the series starring this character, unusual given that most adaptations start at number one. The anti-hero at the center of it all is Norwegian detective Harry Hole. He's a smoker and drinker, and generally only put up with by his police department because he's such a brilliant detective. The case he'll solve is also quite chilling. It involves a boy who wakes up one morning to find his mother missing and her scarf wrapped around a freshly-built snowman. It turns out this incident is just one of many, but Hole's pursuit of the case may be playing directly into the serial killer's hands.

Despite having virtually no violent crime, Scandinavia has been a hotbed for thrilling books, movies, and television shows, perhaps to replace all that drama its people aren't getting in real life. The media that has crossed over to the U.S. includes The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden), "The Killing," (Denmark/Sweden), Let the Right One in (Sweden), and, loosely, Reykjavik-Rotterdam (Iceland), just remade as Contraband and currently in theatres. Another adaptation of Nesbø's work, Headhunters, has become one of the most successful Norwegian films of all time. The material and movement Scorsese's working with must be good.

Matthew Michael Carnahan (World War Z) is scripting the Working Title production. Scorsese has seven directing projects listed on his IMDB page, so there's no word on whether or not it will be his next project. I doubt Scorsese will set a date for anything until after the Oscars at the end of February.

Scorsese fans rejoice, Marty's directing DiCaprio in 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

By Sarah Sluis

The spectacular crash of Wall Street's investment banks and the ensuing recession had the drama of a movie plot--but for real. As the banks were bailed out, Hollywood started mining the topic. Wall Street 2 released last year, the Oscar-nominated documentary Inside Job investigated what went wrong, and the Sundance feature Margin Call, which was picked up by Lionsgate, gave a look at a bank in crisis over 24 hours.

Now Martin Scorsese's next project, shooting as early as this summer, appears to be The Wolf of Wall Street. It's not merely an opportunistic decision--the movie was on track to shoot in 2007, but was sidelined after the success of The Departed. Leonardo DiCaprio, who was originally attached to the project, will star. The movie centers on Jordan Belfort, a Wall Streeter who scammed investors during the late 1980s with pump-and-dump and penny stock schemes. He later became a motivational speaker--an epilogue I doubt (but hope) will be included.

What makes this a typical Scorsese project?

One, a flawed hero. No one does this better than Scorsese--from his numerous depictions of mobsters, gangsters, and heads of organized crime, to his vigilante taxi drivers and abusive boxers, Scorsese has a knack for showing people committing pretty vile acts that are still somehow understandable or even likeable to the audience.

Two, excess.

The Reed Business review of the book states that the "main topic is the vast amount of sex, drugs and risky physical behavior Belfort managed to survive." Perfect. In addition to their criminal acts, Scorsese heroes favor nightclubs, drinking/drugs, and having a good time. There's also an element of After Hours in here--the movie will take place in New York City, Scorsese's hometown, and he's great at lending a sense of place to his movies.

Three, DiCaprio.

DiCaprio's so thoroughly escaped the fate that seemed destined by his breakout film, Titanic (that is, becoming a leading man in forgettable romances) that it's hard to imagine him doing much else than character biopics and serious dramas. Like Robert De Niro before him, DiCaprio has become a favored Scorsese lead, starring in Scorsese's past four consecutive feature films: Gangs of New York, The Aviator, The Departed, and Shutter Island. That's a lot of movies.

Scorsese latest directing effort, Hugo Cabret, will be seen this December, and DiCaprio's currently filming Clint Eastwood's biopic of famed FBI head Hoover in J. Edgar.

Scorsese assembles cast for 'The Invention of Hugo Cabret'

By Sarah Sluis

As a big Scorsese fan with high expectations of his work, I, like many others, was disappointed by Shutter Island. It did well enough at the box office, so at least he gets points for making a profitable picture, but the movie itself was smoke and mirrors followed by a fairly obvious revelation.

I'm more enthusiastic about his next venture, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which has assembled its lead cast, pending final deals. Twelve-year-old Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas) would play an orphan living in a French train station. He steals mechanical parts from different merchants in an

attempt to bring to life an automaton. The robot-like being intrigued his late father, a clockmaker who worked in a museum, and the boy wants to carry on his legacy. When he steals from a toy store, he ends up entangled

with the owner, Georges Mlis (Ben Kingsley), who in actuality was the pioneer of French cinema and special effects. Fellow kid Chloe Moretz (upcoming Kick-Ass, Let Me In) becomes Butterfield's sidekick, and Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) plays a station inspector who must deal with the trouble-prone boy.

The Sony-distributed movie is based on a young adult book of the same name and winner of the Caldecott Medal in 2008. The award goes to illustrated books, but this one is unusual in that it is a 550 pages--great source material from which to craft a meaty plot and visual style.

Why would Scorsese be interested in a project like this? The most obvious reason is its tie to film history. Scorsese is a passionate lover of film and advocate for film preservation. He would jump at the chance to depict Mlis, who was famous for films like A Trip to the Moon, which employed what were at the time cutting-edge special effects. Hopefully, part of the movie involves recreating some of Mlis' trick photography.

From a character and plot perspective, Scorsese is attracted to morally ambiguous heroes. The boy, who resorts to stealing to fulfill his goal of re-creating this robot, is typical: a good person doing a bad thing. Expect the danger of his actions played up for the cameras.

Left unclear is whether this movie will be a PG-rated family film or something darker. I suspect the former. Tim Burton has had great success drawing a wide audience to his children's tales (Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) with very adult sensibilities. If The Invention of Hugo Cabret has a PG rating and a Scorsese feel, adults and kids alike will be interested in seeing the movie.

Nichols to take on Kurosawa's 'High and Low'

By Sarah Sluis

Mike Nichols, director of classic The Graduate and, most recently, Charlie Wilson's War, has signed on
to direct a remake of Akira Kurosawa's High and Low (in Japanese, the double meaning is Heaven and Hell).  Screenwriter David Mamet already wrote the adaptation for Martin Scorsese.  Originally on board to direct, Scorsese will remain on the film as an executive producer.  The premise reminds me of the tough questions asked in the "Would You Rather?" party game/coffee table book, in a good way:  a business executive's son is kidnapped, leading him to divert money from a business endeavor in order to pay the ransom.  Then he finds out the kidnappers took his chauffeur's son, not his own.  As a Kurosawa film--I'm thinking of the many permutations of a crime he explored in Rashomon--I imagine this dilemma is not the central question of the movie but a starting point for additional moral issues to be explored.  In fact, because I cheated and read a synopsis online, I know that the idea of corporate responsibility weighs heavily in the movie (clue to why the film is moving forward now?).  With the country in a recession, I think a film like High and Low, which peripherally explores the business world, drawing unlikely parallels between familial and corporate responsibility, will resonate with audiences.

Scorsese to direct 'Goodfellas II'--I mean 'I Heard You Paint Houses'

By Sarah Sluis

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro plan to team up for the gangster flick I Heard You Paint Houses. In
mob parlance, a "house painter" is someone who carries out mob hits, splattering the walls with blood and "painting" them.  Thanks to Amazon's "Search inside this book," you can read the first few pages.  Written in the first person, the style has the roguish bravado of a Scorsese narration voiced by De Niro.  If I were Steve Zaillian, who will pen the screenplay, I would lift straight from the book.

Former prosecutor Charles Brandt wrote the book based on the tape-recorded confessions of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, who claimed to have killed Jimmy Hoffa, the mobster/teamster who disappeared shortly after being pardoned by President Nixon (go figure).  It's ripe material, if familiar, but in the hands of Scorsese I cannot think of a better project.  If he holds true to the source material, we will have a cocky, glamorized gangster in the style of Goodfellas and Casino, not The Departed.

Scorsese has over eleven development credits in IMDB right now, so I cannot say I expect to see this film soon (please do your Teddy Roosevelt movie next, you can beat Spielberg and his Abraham Lincoln film!), but I will be eagerly anticipating the shimmery gunpowder and stylistic swagger that characterizes a Scorsese gangster film.