Week in review: 3/17 - 3/21

This week saw two big Hollywood players, Sofia Coppola and Andy Serkis, sign on to direct projects for the benefit of the little people -- kids, that is. A cult classic celebrated its 10th anniversary, we were treated to our first look at classic cartoons in 3D form, and a critic made an impassioned plea for accomplished short films to be taken as seriously as any modern classic feature. While we're on the subject, Golden Era-Hollywood choreographer and director Busby Berkeley, he of 42nd Street fame, will be the subject of a new movie, thanks to producer (and most likely, star) Ryan Gosling. Unfortunately, Gosling's Busby biopic is not a Sony project, which is too bad, as the studio could use a hit, or quite a few, right now.

Our final pick of the week has no direct ties to the world of film, but is nonetheless an interesting read for anyone interested in art and entertainment criticism (and spats) in general.

What have we missed? Let us know by sounding off in the comments below!

Sofia Coppola to helm 'The Little Mermaid,' Deadline Hollywood

Andy Serkis to direct 'The Jungle Book' for Warner Bros., The Hollywood Reporter

Blessed Are The Forgetful: Remembering Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind on its 10th Anniversary, Indiewire

You're a CGI-rendered Man, Charlie Brown in the Peanuts 3-D Teaser, The A.V. Club

Does the Cinema Need Short Films?, The New Yorker

Ryan Gosling Producing Busby Berkeley Biopic, May Also Star, Indiewire

Sony Interactive Group Shuts Down as Layoffs Begin, The Hollywood Reporter

Rosen: In Defense of Pop Criticism, Vulture

Weekend box office to host battle of the remakes

As VH1 would say: I love the ‘80s. Or rather, Hollywood does, rolling out three remakes of films that were popular 30-odd years ago. Even with RoboCop, About Last Night, and Endless Love stacking the bill, however, general consensus has last weekend’s champion, The Lego Movie, once again taking first place.

About Last Night will likely land just behind Lego, with Sony predicting returns somewhere in the mid-20 millions. It’s a romance flick opening on Valentine’s Day, and one that boasts a marquee actor who has already proven his box-office worth with films like Think Like a Man and the recent hit Ride Along, Kevin Hart. Both of which factors have led some pundits to believe Sony’s expectations are a little low. Think Like A Man, for example, opened to $33.6 million in 2012. Chances are good About Last Night will meet, if not exceed, that bar.

RoboCop opened a few days ahead of the weekend this past Wednesday night. Sony had predicted a debut of roughly $35 million for the Wednesday-Monday spread, but RoboCop got off to a rough start on Wednesday night, raking in just $2.8 million. Granted, much of the country was battling poor weather conditions, but underwhelming reviews and diehard RoboCop fan skepticism (the new color of the hero’s suit and the soft PG-13 rating are two points of contention) do not bode well for a considerable uptick through the weekend. It’s more likely RoboCop will earn between $20 and $25 million.

The final 1980s remake, Endless Love, will surely benefit from opening on Hallmark’s National Date Night, or Valentine’s Day, today. Similar titles The Vow and Safe Haven fared pretty well over this same weekend the past two years, and their demographic, teenage girls, will likely help Love earn solid figures. Even given the film’s lack of headlining stars (The Vow had Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum going for it) or recognizable name brand (Safe Haven was a Nicholas Sparks adaptation), eye-candy Alex Pettyfer and a tried-and-true star-crossed lovers storyline should nonetheless help Endless Love gross around $10 million.

Given Winter’s Tale cast – Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly – period setting, and heavily romantic plot, one would think the novel adaptation would be primed to easily beat Endless Love, if not the weekend’s other two new releases. Unfortunately, those stars about which Jessica Brown Findlay spoke so dreamily within the film have not aligned for its likely success. Director-writer-producer Akiva Goldsman’s labor of love has been almost universally panned, and there are many who believe the movie’s marketing has done a poor job explaining just what exactly the time-traveling tale is about. Returns should tally out to less than $10 million, which means Winter’s Tale will probably not crack the long weekend’s Top 5. Monuments Men should earn the No. 5 spot, dropping some 40 percent or so from last weekend to rake in $12 or $13 million.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

‘Anchorman 2’ to have a classy weekend

The man who managed to make the trinity of obnoxiousness – misogyny, dimwittedness and frustratingly perfect hair – hilariously lovable in 2004 is back for another crassly classy good time. Will Ferrell has reprised his role as ‘70’s newsman Ron Burgundy for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, which opened wide in 3,450 locations on Wednesday.

Ferrell and director Adam McKay’s first Anchorman was by no means a box-office success, earning roughly $85 million domestically and failing to generate any international business to speak of. The film only found a dedicated audience once it was released on DVD, quickly becoming the kind of cult favorite many a high-schooler spent his, and her, lunch period quoting.

Hollywood, however, was a little slow to catch up. Anchorman may have found new life post-theatrical release, but given its tepid b.o. performance, studio execs at Paramount were initially hesitant to green-light a sequel. The fact that several of the film’s stars have become more popular over the last decade – most notably Steve Carell, who helmed his own cult hit, TV series “The Office – probably played a large role in overcoming the kind of bottom-line hesitancy that kept Anchorman 2 in limbo for years. Not that Paramount, once committed, minded waging an expensive marketing campaign on the movie’s behalf. Have all those Dodge Durango commercials piqued viewers’ interest? The weekend before Christmas is notoriously tough for new releases, but Anchorman 2 is still expected to earn between $40 and $50 million for the five-day spread.

Actually, so is The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Few pundits have been able to discuss Smaug without mentioning its inability to generate the same kind of boffo revenue as its predecessor, last year’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (even though Smaug has earned superior reviews). Yet Peter Jackson’s second Lord of the Rings prequel is still drawing sizable crowds. It wouldn’t be a Christmas miracle if Smaug managed to out-gross Anchorman 2 this weekend.

CG-animated kids’ film Walking with Dinosaurs will likely land at the bottom of the weekend’s list of top earners. Frozen continues to pose fierce competition, and will probably keep Dinosaurs from grossing more than $10 or $12 million.

Specialty enthusiasts who do not live in either New York or LA (a tough position for a specialty enthusiast) will be treated to Christmas-come-early today. Both American Hustle and Saving Mr. Banks are expanding, to 2,500 and 2,200 locations, respectively. David O. Russell’s Oscar favorite had the fourth-best per-theatre average when it opened in limited release last weekend. Given the loud buzz surrounding the flick, it should earn upwards of $15 million.

Last but by no means the least interesting, Spike Jonze’s Her, about a man who falls in love with a computer operating system (not as crazy as it sounds, considering the computer’s voice belongs to Scarlett Johansson), also bows in six locations today. The film is on track to expand wide on January 10^th.   

Forget piracy, could Google Glass inspire a new film aesthetic?

Google Glass is still in an expanded beta stage. Select people dubbed "Glass Explorers" can pay $1,500 for a pair of the glasses that take pictures and record video, but the equipment is not yet available to the public. Even pre-launch, the combination of the groundbreaking technology and Google's name have made the device a hot topic. The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) has already expressed concern about the glasses, which would make pirating a movie that much easier. That may be true. But after looking at this (must-see) demo video, I think that Google Glass will influence Hollywood in a much more substantial way. Google Glass stands to be a huge influence on film aesthetic in years to come.

Starting with The Blair Witch Project in 1999, the amateur or found footage style has proliferated in movies, especially in the horror genre, because it lent a sense of raw authenticity that married well with scares. The look was inspired by home movies, which had a shakiness and motion that was easily identifiable. Now Google Glass is on track to be the new "home movie," and indie filmmakers will likely be the first to copy this aesthetic.

Movies have long had point-of-view shots, but those taken by Google Glass are at a whole new level. Using what appears to be a wide-angle lens, Google Glass can simulate the exact point-of-view of a person, including realistic shots of hands. Compare that to traditional point-of-view shots. They have a hard time getting close enough to show the body of the actor (plus, how would that work--have the actor be the camera operator?). The Glass shots have a more realistic angle and look even closer than those taken by the popular helmet cams of snowboarders and skiers, the only other widely used POV cameras I can think of.

Seeing a hand reach out to grab a fellow trapeze artist, or a spot-on cockpit view, is a huge departure from classical form. But I think that omission is purely related to technological capability. Traditionally, point-of-view shots do not to look  down or directly in front of the actor, but off in the distance, at a character or object. Director Alfred Hitchcock is considered a master of subjective point-of-view shots, but just imagine what this sequence from Psycho might have looked like with a bit of the Google Glass aesthetic. Or Gus Van Sant's 2003 movie Elephant, which featured extreme long takes that followed behind actors, obscuring any emotions on their face. If that movie were made post-Google Glass, I would be extremely surprised if Van Sant didn't strongly consider incorporating this aesthetic. Besides their demo video, Google also partnered with designer Diane Von Furstenberg during fashion week in September, and this video offers a hint at some of Glass' applications. Point-of-view shots have long been a part of Hollywood form, but the visceral sense of closeness imparted by Google Glass unlocks a myriad of opportunities for filmmakers. What about a dance documentary that includes the Google Glass perspective of the dancer? Or an action film where people can see the hero's hands fire a weapon as he looks off into the distance? Or a victim struggle with an assailant in a horror film? One thing's certain: Hollywood will not be ignoring Google Glass.

 

Cloud-based media service M-Go signs on most Hollywood majors

Problem: DVD/Blu-ray sales are dropping. People aren't making up for the lost sales via Apple or Amazon rentals. Solution: M-Go. The joint venture between Technicolor and DreamWorks Animation will let people buy movies (and eventually other content) that will be stored in the "cloud." So just like you can access your Gmail from any computer, people would be able to watch
movies on any of their devices. For families and individuals with multiple TVs, computers, tablets, and cell phones, this sounds like a perfect solution. However, there are still a few hills for M-Go to climb.

One is that all the studios need to make their content available via M-Go. The service just announced a big win in that department. Almost all the major studios have signed on: NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. I don't see any indies in there, but M-Go probably wants to roll out the service with majors first. One noticeable absence is Disney, but that's not a huge surprise. The studio is notoriously protective of its content and rarely follows suit when it comes to new formats or modes of distribution. In fact, it pursued its own service, Keychest, though the status of that project is uncertain. However, if customers really like the M-Go service, I expect Disney to sign on or actively pursue Keychest.

The other big problem is device compatibility. M-Go will also be compatible with UltraViolet, another cloud-based service. However, Apple's iPads and iPhones will not be able to play movies purchased with M-Go. Only Samsung (which has a bit of a beef with Apple right now), Intel, and Vizio devices will be able to play movies with M-Go. That's the disappointing part. People don't like to buy content that can only be played on specific devices or in certain ways. They want freedom. That being said, this is an improvement over earlier DRM (digital rights management) that controlled how much people shared their content. Apple songs used to be only playable on a certain amount of devices. My Windows Media Player used to go berserk whenever I tried to play a DVD on my computer. One time it broke my whole computer. "Yeah, that DRM stuff, it messes everything up," said the techie assigned to fix my laptop. I switched to another media player on his advice.

The third problem is that these projects aren't necessarily great innovations for consumers, but another way for studios to monitor their content and extract fees. If M-Go is anything like UltraViolet, there will be some fine print attached. This editorial is quite scathing, but it points out at least two red flags for consumers. One, under certain circumstances an UltraViolet $15 movie purchase will be subject to upcharges if you play it on, say, more than three devices. The other huge red flag is that digital downloads are only valid for one year. I can't even believe that would be true.  The other part of UltraViolet is WalMart's Vudu service, which allows people to bring in old DVDs and get a digital copy for $2-$5. Which apparently has a built-in self-destruct device. Why would people go through the trouble of converting to a digital copy only to discover they don't really own their movie after all? It's worth pointing out, as author Molly Wood does, that tech-savvy people can easily rip a DVD themselves and enjoy it without restrictions on devices, expiration dates, or fees. But that's illegal, mainly because those ripped DVDs can easily turn up on torrent sites. If people feel like they don't really own their content, they could pay one-fifteenth as much and rent it on Redbox.

It's nice that Hollywood is acknowledging the reality that people want to watch content on more than just their TV, but studios should be aware that heavy-handed DRM will turn off tech-savvy people who can circumvent regulations while burdening people who simply want convenience and the ability to easily share content in a household.

Hollywood abandons fanboys for baby boomers

In the aughts, it seemed that Hollywood's darling demographic was fanboys. They were considered responsible for the huge increase in superhero movies over the years. Now that Disney owns Marvel and the next Iron Mans and Avengers are planned through 2015, Hollywood is looking for the latest trend. Movie like Bridesmaids have given a kick to the female-driven box office, which is now fielding a number of female friendship-focused movies (like this year's Bachelorette and For a Good Time, Call...). But one demographic hasn't gotten too much credit for their steady movie attendance. They're the baby boomers and retirees who attend movies regularly. Today, THR has a lengthy piece on how Hollywood is finally taking note of the older audience.

THR points out that sometimes the differences can be parsed by region, pointing out retirement communities in Florida that have done tremendous business with Hope Springs and aging-actioner The Expendables 2. Over my years at Film Journal, I've interviewed a couple of theatre owners who revealed their core demographic was the 50+, retiree crowd. Both lean toward indie fare, though they show wide releases from time to time. I think the older market has been overlooked in part because many movies appeal to a broad demographic, so the 50+ people are just one slice of the pie. As journalists, we receive information that's broken down differently each time, either as older/younger than 25, 35, or, for a movie already presumed to have an older audience, over/under 50. That's not good information to deduce trends.

Movies like Red, Something's Gotta Give, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, and Hope Springs only have older stars as draws, so when those movies succeed, people take notice, because they couldn't have been successes without the support of older viewers. But so many more movies use old-young casting, like thirtysomething Amy Adams and sexagenarian Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia. That movie drew just as many older viewers as Hope Springs, but because the movie had an age-diverse cast, it was easy to overlook the demographic breakdown.

However, the dependability of older moviegoers has a downside. Hollywood needs to cultivate those same habits in younger audiences. THR quotes Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore, who says of the boomers, "This is a group that grew up going to the movies. It was before cable TV, before the VCR...At times, Hollywood forgets them but invariably comes back and realizes how steady and dependable they are." While the baby boomer effect will last for decades, especially as people live longer and longer, there's also a young audience to consider, one that has not only cable TV and VCRs, but on-demand, illegal downloading, iTunes, Amazon, smartphones, and social media to entertain them on Friday nights.

Hot novel 'Fifty Shades of Grey' may be turned into a movie

Forget Twilight. The latest female-driven literary sensation is Fifty Shades of Grey, an erotic romance novel that has sold 250,000 copies to date--most of them in discreet e-book form. Now the literary agent of the property is having meetings with major Hollywood studios in preparation for a rights auction. The novel centers on the sexual relationship between a young entrepreneur and a college student who interviews him for her school paper. The novel has become particularly popular among mothers, where recommendations and discussion of the book have become a hot topic. But could Hollywood make an adaptation of a book that's so racy? Twilight, after all, had just one kiss in the first book in the series. The same can't be said for Fifty Shades of Grey.

A friend who loves to download romance novels on her Kindle reports that Fifty Shades of Grey is actually one of the tamer novels in that genre, which may explain why the New York Times describes the book as a crossover success, luring in readers who typically don't read erotica. In its favor, the novel has been something of a viral success. This isn't something that has been forced on readers, but rather something they have embraced and recommended to their friends. It's only recently been picked up by a more mainstream publisher. Shockingly, the original novel started out on a a Twilight fan fiction site. It was spotted by a small publisher, reworked, and was turned into a trilogy. Boding well for the series' success, it's already getting tons of hype with only the first novel published.

Bestselling books don't always catch on at the box office. Another "mommy" film of quite a different variety, Sarah Jessica Parker's I Just Don't Know How She Does It, fell totally flat onscreen. For many busy people, finding time to squeeze in a little reading is a lot different than finding time to see a movie. Could the romance scenes work better on the page rather than on the screen? Whatever studio picks up the property will be moving into less-charted territory. Sexually explicit movies tend to be the province of the arthouse, not the multiplex. Even then, they aren't very common. With so much of Hollywood stuck in the rut of the same-old, I applaud the studio that takes a risk and bets that Fifty Shades of Grey will be a sensation as it steps from the privacy of e-readers to the big screen.

'The End' cements Hollywood's apocalypse trend

By Sarah Sluis

Hollywood is a place of trends. It's not unusual to suddenly see two or three projects covering the exact same subject, like this year's "friends for sex" romantic comedies Friends with Benefits and No Strings Attached, or the earlier animated fish and bug movies (Finding Nemo and Shark Tale; Antz and A Bug's Life). Dante's Peak and Volcano both conveniently chose exploding volcanoes in 1997. And that's just off the top of my head. In fact, sometimes you have to wonder if Hollywood is a haven for trends or a den of copycats and intellectual thieves.

The latest craze appears to be the apocalypse. Lars von Trier's Melancholia, coming out this December, centers on a young woman (Kirsten Dunst) having her wedding on the eve of the end of the world. Abel Ferrara's 4:44 Last Day on Earth has Willem Dafoe and Shanyn Leigh biding time until the final cataclysm.Steve Carell and Keira Knightley are starring in the apocalyptic romance Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, set for release next year. Carell's character's wife abandons him, forcing him to seek friendship with a neighbor (Knightley). The comedy Rapturepalooza, also planned for a 2012 release, will focus on a group's attempt to defeat the Antichrist after a religious apocalypse. What's interesting about all these apocalyptic movies is that they aren't so much concerned about the end of the world as they are with how characters will act in the face of impending doom. It's a pretty big shift from the natural disaster movies in the 1990s (like Armageddon) that were solution-oriented.

The latest addition to the apocalyptic movie trend is The End, a spec script that Warner Bros. recently acquired. The screenplay divides its time between three sets of characters: a teenage couple in Michigan, a television broadcaster in London, and a family man in Shanghai. The word is that the stories won't weave together, in the style of Crash or the more recent Contagion.

Why has Hollywood fixated on doom? The obvious answer is to link these movies to the financial crisis. With so many people facing financial devastation and long-term unemployment, perhaps writers are meditating on how people act in a crisis, and are less focused on solving the intractable mess that our financial systems have become. The skeptic's reply? There could have been just one good script going around Hollywood that everyone wanted to copy.

Rethinking Hollywood do-overs, from 'Scarface' and 'Straw Dogs' to 'The Lion King'

By Sarah Sluis

New York Magazine recently hired producer Gavin Polone (who has pretty solid IMDB credits) as a columnist. His first article's point? Hollywood is making so many bad remakes they're driving everyone away from the theatres. He cites specific movies as examples, concluding that it can be "good" or "understandable" to make remakes, as long as "the filmmaker brings something new to it." (Example: True Grit, Rise of the Planet of the Apes for its special effects). Isn't that self-evident? Yet he brings up movies where scripts have been recycled verbatim (The Omen), and the disappointment of last week's Straw Dogs, which tried to remake a classic.

Indeed, there's a certain irony that in the sea of remakes, a re-release like The Lion King can make $30 million in a weekend. Disney didn't have to reshoot or recast the movie, or turn it into CG animation. They didn't even have to show it in 3D (Disney's one upgrade), since many of the viewers chose to see it in 2D. People want to see a good, memorable movie. They want to be entertained. Yet the only way Hollywood can think of to do that is to make bad remakes of good movies? What about seeing the originals?

After reading Polone's article, I came across a short announcement in Variety. Universal plans to remake Scarface, that epic 1983 gangster movie. Will it contribute anything new? According to the article, it "will take elements from the 1932 Howard Hughes pic and 1983 Al Pacino version, wherein a refugee or immigrant rises the ranks of the criminal underworld to eventually become a kingpin." How much does a change of scenery actually mean? From a cultural perspective, it will be interesting to frame the violence in the context of another immigrant group's struggle, but it's not like we have our doors wide open to immigrants anymore, thanks to 9/11-related policies. If the first 1932 film centered on Italian immigrants and the second Cubans, where do we go after that?

It's also worth noting that 51 years elapsed between the first and second Scarfaces. If this project goes into development/production quickly, it will be around 30 years between the second and third films. The speed at which projects are recycled has increased to an untenable point. I can understand non-cinephiles not wanting to see the black-and-white Scarface with production code-level violence. But 1983's Scarface is still incredibly watchable, if a little heavy on the cheesy excess of the era. I just saw it for the first time last year! Taking an iconic, much-loved, still-watched movie and remaking it is a recipe for disaster. It didn't work for Straw Dogs, and it won't work for Scarface unless it dramatically overhauls the entire movie--and then, at that point, why do a remake? Why not just start fresh using different plot points? Because that, my friends, is how Hollywood works.

Today in zombie movies: 'Warm Bodies,' 'Kitchen Sink'

By Sarah Sluis

Since the success of Twilight, supernatural romances have been all the rage. Into this mix comes Warm Bodies, which replaces Edward Cullen the Vampire with R the Zombie. Nicholas Hoult, who I adored as the kid in About a Boy and who put in a memorable performance in A Single Man, will star. The concept, however, is not for the squeamish. After perusing Amazon reviews of the book, I came across this gem of a meet-cute. "R meets Julie when he eats the brain of her longtime boyfriend Perry, and appropriates his memories of this wonderful girl," Amazon reviewer xBE states."In the middle of the feed, R sees her in the room, and manages to keep himself and the other zombies from attacking her and then brings her back to the airport where they live." The reviewer compares the zombie to Edward Scissorhands, a notable comparison given that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp really made that concept work. On a story level, though, Scissorhands is closer to Beauty and the Beast than the I-want-to-eat-you-but-I-love-you Twilight. The Summit project has also found a director, Jonathan Levine (The Wackness), who also led the screenplay adaptation. One test for Twilight-inspired projects will come up in just a couple weeks. Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) directed Red Riding Hood, which pairs a feral, bloodthirsty werewolf with Amanda Seyfried in a red caplet.

While supernatural romances have seen a huge spike in popularity, horror comedies have been coming at a pretty regular pace the past several years. The latest may mark the directorial debut of multi-hyphenate star Jonah Hill, who also has writing and producing credits to his name. Kitchen Sink will center on teen zombies and vampires who must band together and avoid eating each other in order to fight off an alien invasion. I guess the title is the reference to that saying, "Everything but the kitchen sink..?" Sony will finance, but given Hill's busy schedule (he's also starring in The Sitter, appears in Moneyball and is writing/starring/exec producing 21 Jump Street), it may be a while before this project hits theatres.

Hollywood makes another trip to the toy store

By Sarah Sluis

Toy-inspired movies have been the latest symbiotic relationship in Hollywood. Monopoly, Transformers, Clue, Candyland, and a plethora of action figures have all been picked up by various

studios, often with eye-raising by those covering them. Sure, there have been successes--who would have thought a movie based on a theme park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, could have been so compelling? Or that the truly awful Transformers 2 could make so much money? While Hasbro has been the main seller for these toy-based adaptations, Mattel has just joined the scene, and one of the most iconic--and culturally contested--American icons will have her own movie: Barbie. No stranger to direct-to-video movies, the blonde, 39-23-33 doll will be played by a real person, since Universal has decided to make the movie live-action. No word on whether Barbie will be a doctor, cowhand, superstar singer, or any of her other chosen occupations. Since Columbia is also pursuing a deal to make a movie out of He-Man with Mattel, I decided to pick my top ten toy adaptations that haven't been made yet. In some cases, it's scraping the bottom of the barrel, while others might just show up in a new deal--I was about to put Hot Wheels on the list, but turns out back in 2003 McG put his directing dibs on the project.

10 Toy Adaptations just waiting for a buyer

1. Nerf
2. Easy Bake Oven: a modern adaptation of Hansel and Gretel

3. Tonka trucks
4. Chutes and Ladders: an adventure game, with kids trapped in a maze and required to use their smarts to break free.
5. Mr. Potato Head (a Toy Story spinoff?)
6. My Little Pony (this property may be firmly entrenched in direct-to-video)
7. Trivial Pursuit: like Inception, a thriller that takes place "in the architecture of the mind."
8. Operation: If botched surgery works on network television, why not in movies?
9. Play-Doh. Like the upcoming Lego adaptation, but with Play-Doh instead of Legos.
10. Strawberry Shortcake: this one could actually get made

When it comes to toy adaptations, you never know...

Remake special: 'The Tourist,' 'Harvey'

By Sarah Sluis

Soon-to-be A-lister Sam Worthington (I'll count him as one after Avatar comes out) has signed on to play opposite Charlize Theron in The Tourist, a remake of the 2005 French romantic thriller Anthony Zimmer. Worthington replaces Tom Cruise, who recently opted for a supernatural/Midwestern romance project with Cameron Diaz, to be directed by James Mangold.

Those hoping to find out the ending in advance by renting the French film will be disappointed, as there are hints that the script has changed. The French film's trailer heavily emphasizes romance and seduction, aided by the presence of Sophie Marceau (who has appeared in American films as well, including as a Bond girl). She's the mistress of a criminal so successful, the police don't even have a photo. To throw the police off track, she seduces a stranger on a train, leading them to believe that he is the criminal. The man (who's rather nerdy and less attractive than Marceau) finds himself pursued by both the police and by criminals seeking revenge. In the American script, Theron will play an Interpol agent who once had an affair with the criminal. If she's a government official, does that mean she will be a rogue agent, or will the ruse be a part of some master plan? The choice of director is also worth noting. Bharat Nalluri most recently directed Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, but most of his credits come from dark action movies like The Crow: Salvation and Resident Evil (where he was the second-unit director). Nalluri will have the chance to combine his action and screwball credentials in this film, which, if done right, could make for an exciting ride. The Spyglass Entertainment film will start shooting in January and release later in the year.

Yesterday, Steven Spielberg announced he will helm a remake of Harvey, the 1950 film starring Jimmy Stewart as a man with an imaginary, six-foot rabbit friend. Many suspect that Tom Hanks, who has starred in three Spielberg films, will play the Jimmy Stewart role, given his resemblance to Stewart as well as the similarity in their screen personas. I can't help but wonder if this action-free project (i.e., low budget) has anything to do with DreamWorks' financial situation. The studio had difficulty securing financing in the wake of the recession, and a low-budget, high-yield comedy could be a wise choice for the newly unaffiliated studio. As it is, the project will be co-financed by Fox, and fast-tracked into production early next year. The project also seems culturally relevant. The story brings to mind hot 2008 Black List project The Beaver, which will star Mel Gibson and be directed by Jodie Foster. Both involve delusional main characters accompanied by imaginary "friends." Spielberg would certainly be aware of the script, and its positive reception could indicate that the Harvey story is just as fresh as ever.

Horror & romcom go head to head on Superbowl weekend

By Sarah Sluis

It's Super Bowl Weekend, when studios shy from male-oriented fare at the box office and usually lob a

chick flick. Although the Sunday afternoon/evening event doesn't seem like the biggest deterrent against a Friday or Saturday night movie, for some, the pre-game anticipation makes other events verboten: it's also the least-booked weekend for weddings.

Still, Fox has decided to release male-oriented Taken (3,183 screens), hoping to generate enough business Friday and Saturday to make up for a weak Sunday. Our critic Jon Frosch called the Liam Neeson kidnapping thriller a "toxic combination of grim and

silly" that he "alternately yawned and scoffed" his way through before realizing "the real hostage in this mess is you." Viewer beware.

New in Town, the Renee Zellweger film that underwent a name change in hopes of giving a facelift to the soulless comedy, releases on a concentrated 1,941 screens. With more people in a theatre, maybe the laughter will seem louder and more contagious? According to our reviewer Harvey Karten, who saw the film in a fairly packed theatre of critics, the "shortage of laughs comes close to emulating our current budget deficits."

Joining the parade of Japanese horror remakes, The Uninvited (2,344 screens) seems a promising if



formulaic remake of Korea's A Tale of Two Sisters. The idea of an evil, infiltrating stepmother is compelling and delicious to teen audiences, and is my pick for number one at the box office this weekend. As an added bonus, the cast includes Elizabeth Banks. Making her fourth appearance in the past four months (following Role Models, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and W.), she just might be the new Kevin Bacon.

For those living in New York, a trio of somberly titled movies releases: Blessed is the Match: the Life and Death of Hannah Senesh, Medicine for Melancholy, and Shadows. Each qualify for my loose definition of "somber" in a different way. Shadows is a Holocaust documentary "bereft of...emotion and fire," Medicine for Melancholy could be loosely described as Before Sunrise, plus depressing racial commentary conducted with "self-indulgence and sluggishness," and Shadows is a creepy Macedonian-language thriller whose villain "Monster Mom," "dug up a few graves of refugees, suicides and unbaptized babies to

use for medical research." All in all, a charming array of options for those looking to complement their weekend of hot wings and seven-layer dip.

'Max' is painful, 'Bees' has too much honey

By Sarah Sluis

Safely clear of the September dumping ground, this week has four wide releases--with only one, Max Payne, a phone-it-in stinker.  Our critic Ethan Alter wrote this of Max Payne: "a profound feeling of
laziness hovers over the entire picture, suggesting that it was as
joyless to make as it is to watch."

Poor Mark Wahlberg.  While 3,376 theatres will be out of commission screening this video game
adaptation, hopefully teen and twentysomething guys who bought the video game will instead choose to see Sex Drive, a Summit Entertainment release opening on 2,421 screens.  In a vote of confidence on its quality, the marketing campaign released the first ten minutes of Sex Drive (warning: this is R-rated material), and the film carries a brisk momentum out of the gate.  Director/writer Sean Anders does an understated, cinematic representation of an IM conversation that's worth checking out, projecting the conversation to the side in a way that feels natural and real.  The L.A. Times review also spoke to the integration of social technology in the movie, noting that "teen comedies that are remembered tap into something fundamental
about their time, and here Anders smartly finds a way for many of the
characters' most embarrassing moments to be somehow caught on tape" and end up on YouTube.

"Honey-glazed," "too much honey," "not the bees knees," The Secret Life of Bees also opens today on
1,591 screens--a strategic move that will pack or sell out theatres and encourage word-of-mouth reviews.  Critics haven't been able to resist using "honey" to describe this film, though some find the film exceeding their tolerance for glucose.  As a book club pick for groups across the country, the movie adaptation will undoubtedly attract women who've read the novel.  If they hold true to marketers' perceptions of female audiences, they won't make it a priority to see the film opening weekend, but will likely see it once the reviews from the friends start trickling in.  What is too sweet for reviewers is often just right for the Milk Duds crowd, so I predict this film will look better in its third week than its first.

Fewer Americans may have tuned in for the third presidential debate, but W., opening on 2,030 screens, plans to capture their attention at the box office.  In a surprising consensus, reviewers of W. have noted that the film goes out of its way to come off as--let me borrow a catchphrase from Fox News--fair and balanced.  Wisely limiting the scope of the film to origins, Stone portrays Bush's ascent to the White House as a bumbling and at times tragic accident.

The diversity of this week's lineup makes predictions a tough call.  I predict a pleasantly surprising take from Sex Drive, a top three finish for W. (this is pushing it), and for Max Payne to burn brightly this week before falling sharply.  As an action picture opening on over 3,000 screens, a number one finish seems probable, but I would like nothing better than for another one of these three pictures to make a statement by coming in at number one.