Author: Robert Greenberger

‘High School Musical 3’ First in Class

It proved to be a light weekend for the movies, hampered by Halloween being on a Friday.  Disney’s High School Musical 3: Senior Year repeated in the number one slot, with $15 million despite having very slow Friday numbers as the audience went trick or treating.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno, from Kevin Smith, opened to mostly positive reviews but just $10, 682,000 which rival studios say may be as much as one million over their own estimates.  Final numbers are due out on Monday. The other newcomer, The Haunting of Molly Hartley, scared up just $6,009,000, eclipsed by Saw V’s second weekend haul of $10,110,000.

Meantime, Changeling, written by J. Michael Straczynski, went into wide release and finished in fourth place with $9.4 million.

Disney’s surprise hit, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, slid to sixth place but still brought in $4,747,000, pushing its total to date to $84,061,000. The rest of the top ten were repeat performer with most seeing 40-50% declines from their previous week’s performance. Disappointing performers, such as Pride & Glory, continue to keep audiences at bay, meaning poor final numbers for the studios.  This includes the political film, W., which has just $22,398,000 to show after three weeks. 

Warner is doubly disappointed with Pride and the big budget dud Body of Lies, which has earned a mere $34,612,000 after four weeks – horrible showings for superstars Russell Crow and Leonardo DiPCaprio. Even though Guy Ritchie’s RockNRolla gained 804 screens and earned $1.75 million, its total earnings of $2,374,000 remain yet another failed release.

The mix of subject matter gives people plenty to choose from but clearly, people are electing to stay home.  All of that could change this month as highly anticipated films are ready to roll out starting with November 14’s Quantum of Solace.  Already opening around the world, Daniel Craig’s second go as James Bond has earned huge box office revenue and positive reviews.

Elvis Presley Top Dead Earner

elvis-7702759Forbes released their annual list of Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, who have combined to earn $194 million over the last 12 months, October 2007 to October 2008, despite remaining six feet under.

As you might expect, Elvis remains King, representing $52 million in fees. Colonel Parker would be so proud. Meantime, compare that with the top earnings of Justin Timberlake who brought in a merely mortal $44 million. Of course, he didn’t have the sideburns. Or a 30th anniversary of his drug-induced death to flog.

Second place went to Peanuts creator Charles Schulz since the strip and its related licensing continue to generate income.

The newest addition to the list, Heath Ledger, took third place since his own overdose in January. Forbes is estimating that with his cut of The Dark Knight film and merchandise, his estate will bank about $20 million.

Another unfortunate addition is the great Paul Newman, who died in September. With his Newman’s Own line of products sending its cash right to charities, his revenues from his films and other memorabilia tallied up about $5 million.

Marilyn Monroe, forever a tragic icon, made the list for each of its eight years of existence with $6.5 million earned just this past year. Right behind her was James Dean, another relic from the 1950s, who brought in about $5 million.  Both were featured in an ad from Mercedes-Benz.
 

Will Linda Hamilton Reprise Sarah Connor or Not?

linda-hamilton-t2-4785806Moviehole quoted an incident between actress Linda Hamilton and a member of TheArnoldFans.com and now speculation has heated up again that she will reprise her role as Sarah Connor in Terminator Salvation.

It was that site where the rumor first surface some time back but was quashed by Hamilton’s spokesman.

Apparently, one of the site’s reps ran into Hamilton at a convention and raised the issue once more.

“We’ll see”, Hamilton responded.

Well, that’s all the Internet generally needs to run rampant speculation all over again. After all, she was playing coy and we already know director McG has completed principal photography and is into post-production on the May 2009 release. So, if she really was going to appear in a flashback of some sort, it’s most likely already in the can.

‘Doctor Who – Key To Time: Special Edition’ Announced for March

Warner Home Video announced Doctor Who – Key To Time: Special Edition will be released on March 3, 2009. This was the series’ 16th season and featured a year-long storyline that saw the fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, seek the six segments forming the Key to Time. Although previously released on DVD, this will be a thoroughly upgraded edition for collectors and fans.

The seven-disc set will collect all six serials as a box set ($99.98) or six separate serials (first five for $24.98 each, the sixth is a two-disc affair for $34.98).

Over 450 minutes of new extras are being packed into the mix along with remastered episodes.
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Beatles to Front Video Game in 2009

Better start your 2009 Christmas letter to Santa now because you’re going to want The Beatles video game.

MTV has managed something unique: getting the rights to turn the fab four into a video game in an age when you cannot download their music catalogue.

Apple Corps, EMI Music, Harrisongs and Sony/ATV Music Publishing have, according to Variety, signed a deal allowing MTV to work with Harmonix on the game.  The announcement occurred Thursday in London. Harmonix, known for Rock Band, has been granted permission to us 45 songs from the Beatles’ playlist from EMI.

Everyone made certain to stress that this game will be apart from Rock Band and no Beatles music will be heard there or even Activision’s Guitar Hero.

"The game is in development," said Apple Corps CEO Jeff Jones. "We don’t want to talk about how it will turn out a year from now. We’re in the process of creating the game."

Yes, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono Lennon have all been made aware of this development and have been apprised as to the design, layout and rollout of the game. This was the culmination of a 17 month process and the contracts were finally signed four weeks back.

Giles Martin, son of legendary Beatles’ producer George, will be overseeing the music for the game and stressed, "We are trying to present the songs as they were played, adhering to the (original) mix."

Does the game announcement mean the influential music from 1962-1969 will finally be made available in mp3 format?

It’s "the biggest puzzle and so illogical that the Beatles music is not available for use on MP3 players," Martin Bandier, chairman-CEO of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, told Variety. "Maybe the fact that this deal is done will offer an impetus to Apple and EMI" to finalize a deal, he added.

The article noted that with this deal in place, Led Zeppelin remains the final major musical act to eschew lending their songs for commercial exploitation.

‘Real Adventures of Jonny Quest’ Headed to DVD

Late in the week, Warner Home Video announced that The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest will finally come to DVD on February 17, 2009.

To date, just "Escape to Questworld" has been released as part of their TV Premiere sampler line and that was back in 2004.

The two-disc The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest – Season 1, Volume 1 will contain the first 13 episodes and retail for $26.99. The set will offer a bonus interview with show producers and retrospective on the impact of the original animated series.

The revival ran a total of 52 episodes airing from August 26, 1996 through April 16, 1997. It had a long, troubled gestation period which saw talent come and go during the production of the episodes leading to varying quality.  Jonny and Hadji were joined by Race Bannon’s heretofore unseen daughter Jessie. It failed to live up to the quality of the original adventure series form the 1960s.

Place your Bets on the Next Doctor Who

The announcement of David Tennant’s withdrawal from Doctor Who overshadowed his win for Outstanding Drama Performance at the National Television Awards this past week.  He beat out costar Catherine Tate although the series won the Most Popular Drama award.

Tate, who collected the Drama series award alongside Executive Producer Russell T. Davies, said "I know it’s won the award for the last three years, but I was sweating that we wouldn’t the year I joined!"

Meantime, the UK press has been in overdrive handicapping who might be the next Doctor, a game ComicMix indulged in not that long back. Tennant himself joined in the fun saying, "I’ve always been a big supporter of Wee Jimmy Krankie and I, you know, if it wasn’t me it was gonna be him, her, him. So the campaign starts here for me, to get wee Jimmy Krankie in the TARDIS and big Ian Krankie as the companion. I think that works." (more…)

NYCC Announces First Round of Guests

It’s been a good week for J. Michael Straczynski.  First, his Changleing film opened to good notices and box office.  Then he was announced as the writer for the forthcoming remake of Forbidden Planet.  Now, the New York Comic-Con has announced him as its first Guest of Honor. The growing convention will be held at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan the first weekend of February.  Featured guests announced to date include Mark Brooks, Bob Budiansky, Cliff Chiang, Tommy Lee Edwards, Larry Hama, Kris Justice, ComicMix’s Frank McLaughlin, Robert Place Napton, Ivan Reis, Alex Robinson, Christian Slade, Herb Trimpe, Ron Wilson, and Leinil Yu.
 

Review: ‘Popeye the Sailor Volume Three’

By 1935, [[[Popeye the Sailor Man] was considered more popular than Mickey Mouse and his animated exploits thrilled theater goers year after year as the Fleischer Studios continued to churn them out almost monthly. When they began running on television, the animated exploits delighted a new generation of viewers and keeping the character viable long after his comic strip passed its peak.

Warner Home Video finally cleared all the legal problems and began to restore and collect these classic cartoons on DVD.  The first volume, four discs and 60 episodes, came out to great acclaim in 2007.  A second two-disc set came out earlier this year and on Tuesday, the third volume will be released.  On this set, another 32 cartoons are collected, covering 1941-1943.

By this time, there was evolution to characters and the content.  First, in May 1941, Paramount bought out the Fleischers and by year’s end fired the feuding brothers and changed the name of the outfit to Famous Studios. Along the way Popeye was softened and made less ugly and more adorable.  His dark sailor suit was also traded in for Navy whites as he enlisted when America entered World War II (an outfit he’d wear through the 1960s).  As a result, much of the content has patriotic themes and imagery.  Interestingly, we often saw the Sailor Man confounded by the complexity of modern warships leading to much fish out of water humor. There’s one, “Many Tanks” where Bluto is seen in the Army, swapping uniforms with Popeye so he can date Olive, leaving a confused Popeye manning a tank. Being the war, of course, the depiction of the Japanese opponents are stereotypical and offensive to today’s eyes but a product of their times.

In the end, though, Popeye always comes out on top and is recognized for his heroism.

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AMC Seeks Best Monster Hunters

While we disapprove of AMC’s decision to air their movies with ad breaks, we do admire their original series, Mad Men, and their various online features.  Today, in honor of the holiday, they have launched the Master Monster Hunter Tournament. Readers are being asked to nominate their favorite hunters and the top 16 will be facing off in a voting death match between November 10 and December 12.  Finalists are being named on November 6 so you have a week to give this some deep thought as you munch your Halloween treats.

Nominations to date:

  • Van Helsing (Peter Cushing)
  • Riddick
  • Seth Gecko, From Dusk Till Dawn
  • Blade (Wesley Snipes), Blade, Blade II, and Blade: Trinity
  • Jay & Slient Bob (Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith), Dogma
  • Ashley (Bruce Campbell), Evil Dead
  • Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Alien, Aliens and Alien 3
  • Jack Crow (James Woods), Vampire$
  • Hellboy (Ron Perlman)
  • Alice, Resident Evil
  • Dr. Alan Grant from Jurassic Parks 1 and 3
  • Charlie Brewster (William Ragsdale) and Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowell), Fright Night
  • Quinn (Christian Bale) and Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey), Reign of Fire
  • Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar)
  • The Winchester brothers, Supernatural
  • Casper Van Dien, Starship Troopers
  • The Ghostbusters
  • Jamie Lloyd, Halloween sequels
  • Harry Potter
  • Shaun and Ed, Shaun of the Dead
  • Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland), Wizard of Oz
  • Beowulf
  • Laura Croft (Angelina Jolie)
  • Godzilla
  • The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton)
  • Chris McCormick (David Arquette), Eight Legged Freaks
  • Jack Burton (Kurt Russell), Big Trouble In Little China
  • Fox Mulder (David Duchovny), The X-Files
  • Lloyd Gallagher (Kyle McLauchlan), The Hidden
  • Doctor Who
  • John Constantine (Keanu Reaves)
  • River Tam (Summer Glau), Serenity
  • Ronon Dex, Stargate Atlantis
  • Captain Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), Torchwood
  • Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Pirates of the Caribbean