Tagged: Variety

The Weekend Numbers, Plus…

According to Variety estimates, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End was the top-grossing film this weekend, earning $43,188,000 over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The hilarious Knocked Up was second with $29,284,20, while Shrek the Third earned $26,704,000.  Newbie Mr. Brooks earned just over $10 million, while Spider-Man 3 took in $7.5 million.

Variety also says that Jack Black will star in Year One, a comedy produced by Judd Apatow and directed (and co-produced) by Harold Ramis.  Ramis is co-writer, and Owen Wilson will executive produce.

Along with the upcoming Superbad, Apatow’s plate is full.  He is producing and in some cases co-writing a series of Columbia projects, including Walk Hard, Pineapple Express and You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, which stars Adam Sandler, a former roommate of Apatow’s.

(more…)

Broadway gets its click-click on

addams_family-7398155In a neighborhood largely berift of new ideas or courage, those creepy. kookie, mysterious and spooky folks from The Addams Family are going to set up house on Times Square, courtesy of  Chicago-based production company Elephant Eye Theatrical.

The Addams Family will be coming to Broadway – in a musical of course, courtesy of writers Marshall Brickman (Sleeper, Annie Hall, The Muppet Show) and Rick Elice (Jersey Boys) and songster Andrew Lippa. The show is expected to open on Times Square in 2009 after debuting in Chicago.

Artwork copyright The Charles and Tee Addams Foundation. All Rights Reserved. Hat tip: Lisa Sullivan, who pointed us to Variety.

Shrek the Third is Number One

header_poster-7216321Even though most movie theaters haven’t opened yet, nor sold Sunday tickets, Variety is already reporting that Shrek the Third will rule the charts this weekend.  They do this because Friday ticket sales were $38.8 million, in 4,122 theaters.  That comes out to a per venue average of $9,423 — just for Friday.

Spider-Man 3, on the otherhand, earned $7.98 million, down 54% from last week.

UPDATE: Variety now says that, for the weekend, Shrek sold $122.9 million.  Spider-Man 3 came in second at $28.5 mil, down 51& over last weekend.  And 28 Weeks Later was third, with $5.1 million this weekend.

New film festival set for Abu Dhabi

Hot on the heels of announcements that Marvel and Nickelodeon will develop theme parks in Dubai, Variety reports that Abu Dhabi, another member of the United Arab Emirates, will host a film festival in October this year.  The announcement was made by several officials, including Sheik Sultan bin Tahnoon al Nahyan, a member of the royal family.  The crown prince, Sheik Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, approved the event.

Dubai already has Dubai Studio City, set up as a filmmaking hub.  The first soundstages are scheduled to open in December when, coincidentally, the Dubai Film Festival takes place.

Magneto Returns To Hollywood

  • News
  • April 30, 2007

goyer_david_02-6540584Sometime following the release of the next X-Men movie – a solo Wolverine feature starring Hugh Jackson – noted comics writer (JSA) and movie producer / director / writer (Batman Begins, Blade, Ghost Rider, The Crow: City of Angels, Nick Fury, The Dark Knight, plus last week’s The Invisible) David Goyer will be directing the second X-Men spin-off, Magneto.

The movie will focus on Magneto’s "origin" – the time he spent in a Nazi concentration camp (as seen in both comics and the X-Men movies) and the years following his liberation. Whereas Sir Ian McKellen has gone on record saying he wanted to star in the movie and that they could "de-age" him with the sort of CGI effects used in X-Men III, it is expected he will only appear in framing sequences and another actor will play the younger character.

Perhaps Christopher Eccleston would do?

(Photo copyright Variety; All Rights Reserved)

Barbarella taken under James Bond’s wing

  • News
  • April 12, 2007

forestb1-4414391The classic French science-fiction comic book character Barbarella will make her return to the big screen, according to Variety. Casino Royale writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade have signed on to write the feature. Occassional comic book writer Jean-Marc Lofficier (Teen Titans) brokered the deal.

The creation of Jean-Claude Forest, Barbarella turned heads in this country by being one of the first “legitimately” published comics to feature nudity and sexual themes. It was serialized in the United States in the avant-garde magazine Evergreen and collected in both hard cover and trade paperback graphic novels back in the 1960s.

In 1968, Barbarella was made into a movie directed by Roger Vadim and starring his wife, Jane Fonda. She was surrounded by a stellar cast, including John Phillip Law, Anita Pallenberg, David Hemmings, and Milo O’Shea as the original Duran Duran.

Maggie Gyllenhaal playing Rachel Dawes in ‘The Dark Knight’

  • News
  • March 9, 2007

maggiegyllenhaal-7437868Cinematical wouldn’t lie to us, and they tell us that Variety says that Maggie Gyllenhaal is in final talks to play Rachel Dawes in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (which, of course, is the sequel to Batman Begins.) Gyllenhaal will replace Katie Holmes as the love interest of Christian Bale.

Me, I’m thrilled. I’ve loved her in everything I’ve seen her in, and I think that she’ll add an edge to the film that Holmes couldn’t. I’m looking forward to it.

“Cavemen” make the leap

  • News
  • March 2, 2007

You know those cavemen who hawk insurance on teevee? Well, now you’ve got to give them proper respect. They’re getting their own sitcom pilot.

According to Variety, ABC announced they are planning to do a series pilot based upon the Geico commercials created by Joe Lawson, the copywriter who created the original spots. If available, Jeff Daniel Phillips and Ben Weber will be offered the chance to reprise their roles in the new series.

No word yet on who might be sponsoring the series. Maybe State Farm?

Writers take on JLA movie

  • News
  • February 25, 2007

jla1turner-8308610Via Sci-Fi Wire, Variety reports that Warner Brothers has hired husband and wife team Kieran and Michele Mulroney to write the script for its hoped-for Justice League of America movie. It’s the first major action the studio has taken on the project, the trade paper reported. The studio isn’t saying which heroes may be included in the film.

Development of the film is complicated by the fact that Warner has already revived its Batman and Superman film franchises, with Christian Bale’s Batman Begins and the upcoming The Dark Knight and Brandon Routh’s Superman Returns and its upcoming sequel. The studio is also developing a Wonder Woman film.

shaw_crewman-7865638Kieran and Michele Mulroney wrote the screenplay for the horror film Mirrors, which is in pre-production with Kiefer Sutherland attached. Kieran is also an actor, with credits in Enterprise, Seinfeld, and Star Trek: The Next Generation, among others.

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