'Elysium' footage sneak peek: 5 things to know about the follow-up from 'District 9' director Neill Blomkamp

Yesterday, Sony previewed several minutes of footage from Elysium, the Matt Damon-led sci-fi movie that's coming out on August 9. The imaginative project looks like it's on track to be a huge hit like Inception. In a market saturated by derivative content, Elysium is a rare beast: a big-budget
movie derived from a completely original concept. Previously, all that was known about the movie was that Matt Damon and countless other poor people live on a ravaged Earth, while the rich live in a space station free of violence, poverty, and disease. The preview gave some more savory details about the feature, which comes courtesy of District 9 director Neill Blomkamp.

1. On Elysium, they can cure cancer. The clip showed a woman sunbathing, then going into what looks a cross between a tanning bed and the robot surgery machine in Prometheus. "Detecting trace amounts of cancer," the machine chirps. "Cancer cells--cleared!" This comes in handy later, because Damon's character gets exposed to radiation in a workplace accident and has just five days to live unless he can get into one of those cure-all machines.

2. Elysium is about a dystopia, with strong parallels to current social issues. Back to that "workplace accident." Damon is told by his boss that he will lose his job unless he goes into some dangeous machinery to fix a jammed door. He's on parole, making him already barely employable, and received a warning from his boss after his arm was broken by a robot roughing him up. He goes in to fix the problem, but it ends up nearly killing him. Surely, nothing like that ever happens in America...

3. Data can be downloaded from the brain. Hacking into someone's brain appears to be a very of-the-moment sci-fi concept. The first time I recall it happening was in The Matrix, and Inception explored the same concept in a more ethereal way. In Elysium, the plot hinges on Damon's crew downloading brain data from an important official from the space station. The information gives them details about how to break down their system and gain access to the fortress-like utopia.

4. Damon turns into a cyborg to get to Elysium. If you want to fight robots, you have to be part robot, right? Since he only has days to live anyway, Damon consents to having his body robot-ized so he can take on the robots that protect Elysium's residents and keep the Earthlings in place. POV shots show that it turns his vision into a video game, locking him into targets and flashing "reload" in the corner of his vision.

5. Paradise looks like a terrarium. Earth looks like--Detroit? The shots of the space station Elysium show a lush, verdant area with amazing views. Some opening shots of Earth show skyscrapers with crapshoot appendages sticking out the sides (I wouldn't want to live in one of those) that recall skyscraper cities in any number of sci-fi films, including Blade Runner. What's more interesting are flat, rundown warehouse-y areas that are similar to the slums in Blomkamp's District 9. The preview didn't connect the urban and suburban places together, but that will likely be clarified in the film itself.

Despite the sneak peeks, the preview left some of the biggest questions unanswered. How exactly does Damon gain access to the space station? How do the people in Elysium and Earth react to the insurrection? And how did things get so unequal to begin with?

'Evil Dead' frightens, and 'Jurassic Park 3D' still has some roar

Evil Dead showed it could still scare audiences. The remake of the 1981 cult classic earned $26 million over the weekend. Anywhere over $20 million or so is a pretty good sign for a horror remake. However, it's likely the gross-out horror movie will fade fast, especially because it only received a "C+"
rating in exit polls.

Twenty years after Jurassic Park introduced its groundbreaking special effects to audiences, it turns out they still look pretty good--even, and especially, in 3D. The re-release of the Steven Spielberg-directed classic earned $18.2 million. Overseas, it could do even better, though it hasn't released in any key foreign markets yet. Next year, Jurassic Park 4 will hit theatres, and audiences will be primed to
revisit the world of the original film.

With some kids finishing up spring break, animated The Croods showed strong holding power, dipping just 21% for a third-weekend total of $21.1 million and a total of $125 million. That's only slightly off the third-week total for DreamWorks Animation's 2010 hit How to Train Your Dragon, a great sign for the studio after its holiday release, Rise of the Guardians, disappointed.

All three new specialty releases posted debuts in the $30,000 per-screen range, but had different numbers of total locations. Robert Redford-led The Company You Keep unspooled in 5 locations, averaging $29,200 per screen. Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle's thriller Trance averaged $34,000 per screen in 4 locations,
giving it a cumulative total just $10,000 below Company You Keep's. Finally, the cryptic sci-fi romance Upstream Color earned $31,000 at a single location.

The weekend was also good for indies expanding their releases. The Place Beyond the Pines went from 4 to 30 locations and rose 148% to $695,000. The Ryan Gosling-led indie maintained a per-screen average above $20,000, which bodes well for future weeks.

The music-filled feature The Sapphires is also on its way up. As it added 48 locations, it earned 3.5 times its total last week, for a weekend haul of $322,000.

This Friday, 42 tells the story of the first black man in Major Leauge Baseball, Jackie Robinson, and horror parody Scary Movie 5 will give Evil Dead watchers a chance to make fun of the films they love.

Scary seconds: 'Evil Dead' and 'Jurassic Park 3D' to freak out audiences

This weekend brings a bit of an eerie déjà vu for audiences. The two new wide releases tread familiar territory. Evil Dead is a remake of the 1981 horror feature that later turned into a cult hit, and Jurassic Park is a re-release of the 1993 movie, only in 3D.

Evil Dead (3,025 theatres) "will make you comprehensively uncomfortable," warns critic Lianne Spiderbaby, who also urges those with a "weak stomach" to stay away. Horror fans, though,
should be enough to bring the remake to an opening above $20 million. Courtesy of Platinum Dunes (not responsible for this remake), there have been many reboots of horror classics like Texas Chainsaw Massacre in recent years. Some hit, others don't. The updated visuals and characters will undoubtedly draw some people who don't like the washed-out look on their VHS tape. It's likely both people who have seen the original and those that recognize the movie name but just haven't seen the original will be among the attendees. If Evil Dead is a success, a remake of the sequel won't be too far away.

The most terrifying movie of my childhood--and many others'--will re-release in 3D. Jurassic Park (2,771 theatres) isn't necessarily looking for the surprise success of some re-releases. For Jurassic Park 3D, however, there are two things that will make the re-release worthwhile: next
year's Jurassic Park 4 and China. Since Jurassic Park 4 will come out next summer, the re-release of the original now is just free publicity and a way to drive 3D Blu-ray sales.

The money will come from China. When Titanic 3D re-released last year, it earned $285 million overseas. Half of that amount, or $145 million, came from China. Meanwhile, the re-release earned just $57 million in the U.S. That type of box-office breakdown is just unheard of, but it demonstrates why China is such an important emerging market. Audiences in China had never had a chance to see the original on the big screen, making attendance a must.
Jurassic Park 3D should rake up money in China, or else someone's not doing something right.

In between creating the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics, Danny Boyle filmed Trance (4 theatres), a Hitchcock-esque suspenseful tale that received good marks from critic Rex Roberts. The "stylish, diverting thriller," which stars James McAvoy, has an "original idea complemented by a witty script, imaginative direction and appealing cast, and enough sex and violence to keep us from thinking too hard about plot twists." That sounds like enough to whet the appetites of arthouse audiences and make this a spring indie pick.

Also in the mix is The Company You Keep (5 theatres), which stars and is directed by Robert Redford. Critic Doris Toumarkine predicts that the story of "a
former radical forced to go underground but living a quiet,
responsible life under a false identity until a journo outs him" will appeal to an "upscale audience...of the '60s generation" that may welcome the chance to revisit the radicalism in their own youth. With its older star, it will certainly appeal to the aging arthouse audiences--perhaps it will even approach the benchmark set by last year's retiree-fueled hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

On Monday, we'll see which movie audiences chose to terrify them, and if either of the arthouse releases received the biggest push for their platform releases.

 

 

Get your Ryan Gosling fix with the red-band trailer for 'Only God Forgives'

It's safe to say that if you didn't like Drive, you won't like Only God Forgives. Director Nicolas Winding Refn reteams with Ryan Gosling for the crime thriller, and from the looks of the red-band trailer, there will be plenty of violence. This time, though, Gosling doesn't play a sympathetic figure, but a psychopath whose abnormalities were apparent in the womb. In a voiceover, his mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) says doctors "told me to terminate," but I'm pretty sure there's no test for gun-toting psychopaths yet.

Drive had look-at-me cinematography and thrilling car chases. The color saturation in Only God Forgives looks even more over the top, with entire scenes shown in shades of bright red or deep neon blue. Refn set the feature in Bangkok, Thailand, and he's clearly drawing from the aesthetics of East Asian films. That's just one reason the movie will be a must-see among cinephiles.

What's unclear is whether Gosling's followers will appreciate the star in a movie that's not Crazy, Stupid, Love. Gosling is clearly wary of being a matinee idol, taking dark roles in films like Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl, Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines, Drive, and now Only God Forgives. But that doesn't mean his diehard fans wish he'd just cave and star in another movie like The Notebook. In fact, the closest they're likely to get to that is the auteur project from Terence Malick that features a love triangle set in Austin, Texas. I imagine that romance will be far less accessible than the one in The Notebook.

The Weinsten Co. is releasing Only God Forgives through their Radius banner, which emphasizes VOD and simultaneous theatrical/alternative releases. It's likely they'll roll out the feature later in 2013.

 

'Age of Miracles' to come to big screen courtesy of director Catherine Hardwicke

Since she launched the incredibly successful Twilight franchise, director Catherine Hardwicke has moved on to more modest pursuits (though the original film itself was quite modest). She directed Red Riding Hood and recently wrapped the thriller Plush, but hasn't had a project as high-profile
as the vampire franchise. However, the director recently signed on to helm an adaptation of The Age of Miracles, a popular novel last year that received multiple mentions on "best" lists, including a recommendation from O: The Oprah Magazine.

The book uses science fiction as an entry point for family drama and a coming-of-age story. Inexplicably, the Earth's rotation starts to slow, elongating the days and nights and leading to gradual changes that upend both how the world functions and the friendships and family of an 11-year-old girl. If Karen Thompson Walker's novel had a film parallel, it would be the indie Another Earth. That movie used a sci-fi concept but then focused on the interpersonal drama. There's also an "Is-the-world-ending?" element that's reminiscent of Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, where people look for solace in one another in unusual ways. River Road Entertainment is producing the drama.

It's possible that Hardwicke was selected for the project because she's specialized in works for young adults, but The Age of Miracles is definitely an adult novel that happens to star an 11-year-old girl, at least in the book version. The screenwriter for the project, Seth Lochhead, scripted Hanna, which centers on a young girl who is also an assassin, so it's safe to bet that this project will also keep its adult bent intact. The Age of Miracles is one of the more interesting and unusual books to come out in recent years, and seeing the perils of a slowing world come to life on the big screen will undoubtedly draw plenty of its devoted readers to theatres.

 

 

Where's Dory? 'Finding Dory' will be the 2015 follow-up to 'Finding Nemo'

The long-anticipated sequel to Finding Nemo has a name: Finding Dory. That means that the goofy, scatter-brained Dory (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) will be the star of the show in the CG-animated feature, which will release November 2015.

DeGeneres made the announcement about Finding Dory on "The Ellen Show" this morning. The talk-show host has been a huge advocate for moving the sequel forward, voicing frustration when Pixar went ahead with Toy Story 3 and Cars 2 instead of developing a follow-up to the 2003 animated feature. Now, twelve years after the original, Dory will release in November 2015. That's actually earlier than the 2016 date originally projected.

 

 

The shift from the serious father-son relationship in Finding Nemo to a project centered on its primary source of comic relief, Dory, is something of a trend in animated features. The minions in Despicable Me weren't used too heavily, but they were a comic highlight. They will be featured more prominently in this summer's Despicable Me 2, and they're also getting their own spinoff. Minions will release through Universal in December 2014, and focus entirely on the tiny peanut-like creatures.

DreamWorks Animation is also trying to give its comic characters a role in the spotlight. After appearing in three Madagascar films, its penguins will finally get to star in their own movie in The Penguins of Madagascar, which is set for a release in March 2015. It's worth noting that the penguins also have their own show on Nickelodeon with the same name, which is very popular.

While Dory was a great comic character, she managed to be multi-dimensional even in the brief span of the movie. Andrew Stanton (Wall-E, Finding Nemo) will be directing the feature, and he's one of Pixar's best. Especially with how far animated technology has come in the last decade, the visuals, so stunning in the original, will likely reveal even more luminous oceanic plants and animals.

'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' shocks and awes with $40 million weekend

G.I. Joe: Retaliation is having the last laugh.
After Paramount moved the release date from last summer to this March, many in
the industry suspected they were trying to salvage a stinker. Instead, G.I. Joe:
Retaliation earned $41.2 million over the weekend, and
$51.7 million since its
Thursday opening. The budget for the follow-up feature
was slightly lower, yet including the overseas totals, the movie is already
pacing ahead of the 2009 original. The studio's decision to convert the feature
to 3D also paid off: 45% of tickets sold were for 3D showings, which is better
than many other recent films, including The Croods.

The Easter weekend was also kind to Tyler Perry. His film Temptation:
Confessions of a Marriage Counselor opened to $22.3 million
and received high marks from its older female, African-American viewers. The
general critical community, however, was not impressed. Perry is definitely a
workhorse, and though he's never had the kind of massive hits of Steven
Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis, he joins their ranks by having nine films open
over $20 million. Perry's mix of romance, drama, and humor has thrived with little variation at the box office--talk about evergreen returns.

If only young adult sci-fi romances were so predictable. The Host,
which came courtesy of none other than fantasy-romance queen bee Stephenie
Meyer, who wrote the Twilight series and produced this adaptation of
her book, showed that teen girls are picky--and fickle. It's the latest twist
on the genre to be greeted by a tepid reaction at the box office. That's what
happened to Beautiful Creatures, which recently opened to $7.5
million. The
Host did slightly better, debuting to $11 million,
but that's still nowhere near the original Twilight's $70 million opening. It's time for studios to look at other content that appeals to teen girls that doesn't recycle the same elements. That's what worked for The Hunger Games, and coming up with the next idea like that is what will lead to a billion-dollar franchise.

The Place Beyond the Pines averaged $67,000 per screen in four locations in NYC and LA. While critics found flaws in the movie, it does star Ryan Gosling, who has turned into a sort of tongue-in-cheek feminist icon and blog meme. There was also a spontaneous Ryan Gosling-themed Easter egg hunt that undoubtedly turned a few eyes near his work. Another specialty feature, The Shining documentary Room 237, got a good start with $18,000 per screen in two locations.

This Friday, the horror classic Evil Dead gets a reboot and the original Jurassic Park returns to theatres in 3D.