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Your Weekly Guide to
New Movies for May 26, 2006
By Edward Douglas -
Greetings and welcome back to the Weekend
Warrior, your weekly guide to the weekend’s new movies. Tune
in every Tuesday for the latest look at the upcoming weekend,
and then check
back on Friday for final projections based on actual theatre counts.
THE BATTLE CRY!
(If you have anything to say about this or anything else written in the column, feedback and Email is always welcome, and almost always responded to.)
As I've said in past columns, I hate debating about
religion and politics, since they're such subjective topics. After all,
who is to decide whose beliefs are right or wrong, and how on earth can
something that can't be quantified as right or wrong possibly be argued?
That be as it may, both Hollywood and independent producers seem to be embracing these hot topics in movies ranging from no-budget documentaries to the biggest budget blockbusters like last week's The Da Vinci Code with lots of stuff in between. These days, it's impossible to avoid some amount of politics and/or religion entering ones entertainment, which makes me wonder if that's really what people want to see on television or when they go to the movies.
After all the hubbub, who's to say how much of an effect the negative smear campaign by the Catholic Church had on Da Vinci compared to the even more apropos trashing by the critics? Did Christians and Catholics go out to see the movie in order to disprove the material as fiction when the topic arises in conversation? Did they avoid it, having read the book and knowing what to expect? $77 million is certainly not the Passion of the Christ meets Star Wars opening that some people were expecting, but it's nothing to scoff at either. It's almost impossible to decipher that figure into how many were interested in the religious aspects of the story and those who went to see it regardless of them.
The real question is whether Joe and Jill Moviegoer really cares about this stuff when deciding what movie to go see, whether they want to be informed about new ideas in religion and politics, or whether they just want to be entertained. Paul Weitz' American Dreamz is a good example of when politics aren't particularly entertaining, turning off both sides of the equation. About as political as you can get, the comedy didn't even appeal to the most liberal of liberals, who may have felt they didn't need to be spoonfed political humor written to appeal to everyone from teen girls to conservatives alike. Instead, they went with Jason Reitman's Thank You for Smoking, which was far more cutting in its political humor without hitting people over the head. The latter made three times as much as the former despite fewer stars.
Then there's the case of James Marsh's The King, a low-profile indie drama starring Gael Garcia Bernal, which takes place in an ultra-religious setting but tells a story that few right wing Christians would appreciate, which makes you wonder what the point was.
The problem is that politics and religion are become so prevalent in movies that they're becoming reasons for people NOT to see the movies, and that kind of worries me. This week's Chosen One, the documentary An Inconvenient Truth starring former Vice President Al Gore, can easily be seen as a political movie rather than for what it truly is: an environmental warning that should be seen by everyone in the Blue and Red States alike. And then there's the upcoming remake of The Omen. Will it be called to task for all of its religious and political elements or will it just be seen, and hopefully enjoyed, as just another horror remake? Only time will tell, but hopefully, we'll have gotten it out of our system, so we can put politics and religion aside for the rest of the summer… or at least until next week.
THE CHOSEN ONE:
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (Paramount
Classics)
Starring Al Gore
Directed by Davis Guggenheim (television shows like “24,” “Alias,” “The Shield”)
Rated PG (for mild thematic elements)
Genre: Documentary
Tagline: “By far the most terrifying film you will ever see.”
Story: In the last few years, former Vice President Al Gore has toured the world, giving a slide show and seminar on the dangers and effects of global warming. An Inconvenient Truth intersperses this informative show with introspective thoughts by Gore about his past and the world around him.
REVIEW
In a year that already began with some amazing documentaries, this is a fine addition, as director Davis Guggenheim captures on film a globetrotting slide show presented by Al Gore, former Vice President and 2000 Presidential candidate, about the dangers of global warming. Of course, Gore's detractors AKA Republicans will probably shrug this movie off as more “liberal claptrap” but the former Vice President offers a lot of proof and arguments that our earth really is facing potentially devastating hardships at the hands of global warming—imagine The Day After Tomorrow for real!--while offering a few suggestions on how to fix the problems. It's an extremely effective film with all of the facts presented in an informative and entertaining way, edited together with some deep thoughts by Gore, not only about his rocky past in politics but some very personal tragedies from his past. It's one of the few movies this year that is an absolute MUST-SEE by anyone and everyone living on this planet. People in New York and L.A. will get the first chance to see it Wednesday, while the rest of the country will have to wait until it expands nationwide over the course of June. Apparently, Paramount Classics will be donating 5% of the domestic gross (a minimum of $500,000) to a new bipartisan fund, the Alliance for Climate Protection, and you can read more about all of this at the official web site.
NEW THIS WEEK:
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (20th Century
Fox)
Starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, Ben Foster, Patrick Stewart
Directed by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2, Red Dragon, After the Sunset); Written by Simon Kinberg (Mr. And Mrs. Smith, XXX: State of the Union), Zak Penn (Elektra, Behind Enemy Lines, Inspector Gadget),
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rated PG-13
Tagline: “Take a Stand.”
Story: Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his mutant team of X-Men—Wolverine, Storm, Iceman—once again take on Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but this time they both have to contend with the government's decision to offer a “cure” for mutants, something which could end up being used as a weapon against them.
REVIEW
Back in 2000, movies based on comic book characters had hit a bit of a wall after the successful Batman series floundered with two disappointing sequels. At that time, Marvel had yet to achieve any sort of success with their popular characters and the company had sold the movie rights to many of its characters in order to stay afloat. Despite their dwindling comic sales, their mutant superteam, the X-Men, featured their most popular characters, supporting four or five monthly titles with ease.
With a cast of mostly unknowns, unproven box office stars and a director who had mainly done art films at the helm, X-Men must have seemed like a huge gamble for 20th Century Fox. Opening in mid-July, the action-packed movie grossed more than $54 million, just slightly less than Mission: Impossible II made a few months earlier, and made over $150 million total, enough to get into the Top 10 that year. A few years later, its sequel kicked off the summer of '03 with a whopping $85 million opening, though it was overshadowed that summer by The Matrix Reloaded, Pixar's Finding Nemo and Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.
The sequel's success meant that a third installment had to be quickly negotiated with the stars who only had signed contracts for two movies, but Fox went ahead with plans to release the threequel over Memorial Day '06. Within a year, the production became plagued with problems as director Bryan Singer bailed when given the opportunity to fulfill his dream of directing a Superman movie. After a few months of rumors and speculation, British producer/director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) was hired to continue the franchise early last year, but he bailed as soon as he realized what would be involved, and director Brett Ratner was offered the job. Ratner previously directed the two Rush Hour movies, both which were huge hits setting box office records for the months they were released, which he followed by directing Red Dragon, the prequel for Silence of the Lambs with Anthony Hopkins, and the action-comedy After the Sunset.
Oddly, the geek fanbase that were already questioning how they could pull off an effects-driven action movie on the magnitude of X-Men with such a short timeframe, became quite irate when Ratner was announced as director. Former Ratner booster Harry Knowles led the way with a lot of trash-talking taking place on his influential geek site. Regardless of whether Ratner was right for the job or not, he had very little time to complete the complicated action and effects sequences needed for the movie to make its Memorial Day deadline.
Fortunately, most of the previous films' ensemble cast are back, including both Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry (featured in this week's Star Spotlight) as Wolverine and Storm, taking front and center as leaders of the mutant team. British thesps Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are also back as Magneto and Professor X, recreating the on-screen magic that made the first two films so enjoyable as two sides of the mutant coin. Although her character supposedly died in the last chapter, Famke Janssen also returns as Jean Grey, now transformed into the Phoenix, giving her a lot more of the focus in this story compared to the last two. Other regulars like Anna Paquin (Rogue), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) and James Marsden (Cyclops) are back in smaller capacities, while Shawn Ashmore, who first appeared as Iceman in a cameo in the first movie, gets a lot more screen time. The only mutant not returning from the previous movie is Alan Cumming as the popular German teleporter Nightcrawler. While only Jackman, Berry, Stewart, McKellen and Paquin have had any sort of career outside the X-Men movies, it's the collection of actors that appeals to fans of the movies and what will bring them back for another round.
This popular cast is enhanced with a number of new actors and mutants, most notably Kelsey Grammer AKA Frazier Crane, as Dr. Hank McCoy AKA the blue-furred Beast, who works for the government as the Secretary of Mutant Affairs. Grammer has a lot of appeal among older women from his television show and maybe seeing him decked out in a coat of blue fur will bring in that demographic. Other new additions include Ellen Page, the breakout star of Hard Candy, playing the phasing mutant Kitty Pryde and former British football star Vinnie Jones as the unstoppable Juggernaut, while Latina Dania Ramirez (She Hate Me) takes on the role of evil mutant Callisto.
A lot of people, comic and non-comic book readers alike, are anxiously awaiting this threequel. Unlike the recent Mission: Impossible III, the sequel in the franchise was better and even more successful than the original movie. That said, it's still facing tough opposition from the comic book fanboys, particularly on the internet, since they have more confidence in Bryan Singer, whose Superman Returns comes out next month, than they do in Brett Ratner. The reaction to the new casting has been mostly positive, but few people think Ratner could pull off a movie as strong as X2 in such a short time period, and reactions to the early clips have been luke warm, at best. Then again, most regular moviegoers won't know anything about who is directing and probably won't care either. (Then again, both Terminator 3 and Jurassic Park 3 saw substantial drops after getting new directors from their blockbuster predecessors.)
The (presumably) final installment of the franchise is far darker than the previous two, if that's even possible, which means it won't exactly be a great movie for young kids, but for the most part, the X-movies appeal to the teen guys and gals who haven't had a strong movie geared towards them this summer, and older males, who are looking for something a bit stronger. Regardless, the popularity of the X-Men has stretched far beyond the normal comic, sci-fi or genre fans, though not quite to the over 40 crowd.
Of course, the assumption will be that this threequel can open much bigger than the very popular '03 sequel, which made $85 million in a non-holiday weekend. A couple things might keep this from happening: The market is down since the last movie and fewer guys 15 to 25 are going to theatres these days. It will also have a harder time making an impact with so many other prominent movies in theatres, something that X2 didn't have to contend with. Many people wait until the holiday weekend to go to the movies, so they could just as well see some of the movies they've missed like Da Vinci Code or M:i:III. 20th Century Fox may have to do a bit of hustling to get screens and theatres away from last week's powerhouse combo of The Da Vinci Code and Over the Hedge. It shouldn't have that much of an effect on opening weekend if they don't, but this installment also has to overcome a lot of advance negative buzz and skepticism about the movie being as good or better than the last movie. Really, it's more about the marketing, which frankly, isn't as strong as the last movie since there aren't as many “oh, yeah” clips, but Fox still has gotten the mutants into everywhere from 7-11 to XM radio, which means awareness and interest will be high going into the weekend.
Why I Should See It: All of your favorite mutants are back in what should be another action-packed ride.
Why Not: There's no way it could be even close to as good as the last movie.
Projection: $94 to 98 million over the four-day holiday weekend on its way to $230 million total.
STAR SPOTLIGHT: Hugh Jackman Vs. Halle Berry
With X-Men: The Last Stand, actors Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry appear
in their fourth film together, including the first two X-movies and the 2001
action-thriller Swordfish, co-starring John Travolta and Don Cheadle.
Berry has certainly had the better career outside the X-Men movies, not only with her Oscar-winning role in the 2003 indie drama Monster's Ball, but also her key role as Jinx in the highest grossing James Bond movie, Die Another Day, in 2002. Since X2, she also appeared in the horror film Gothika and the poorly received superhero movie Catwoman, although in both cases her star power and sex appeal is what got guys into theatres more than the premises.
On the other hand, Jackman's career outside of the X-Men movies has been a bit spotty, as he co-starred in two romantic comedies, Someone Like You opposite Ashley Judd and Kate & Leopold with Meg Ryan, in 2001. Ultimately, the latter did far better than the former, and after X2, Jackman headlined Stephen Sommers '04 action movie Van Helsing, which did well opening weekend, but suffered from terrible word-of-mouth after opening. Wisely, Jackman spent a year on Broadway doing the musical “The Boy From Oz,” for which he won the coveted Tony Award, followed quickly by him winning an Emmy for his popular role as host of 2005 Tony Awards.
Both actors have headlined genre films while taking time off from the X-Men movies, but it's pretty obvious that both of them are going to move more towards dramatic films in the next few years, as they try to be taken more seriously as actors. I know that I won't be surprised if Jackman gets into the Oscar race soon, since he's appearing in movies by Woody Allen, Darren Aronofsky and Christopher Nolan in the next few months. Neither Berry nor Jackman will be receiving many awards for X-Men: The Last Stand, although it's clear that their growing star power will be a bit part of the success in this weekend's threequel.
That be as it may, both Hollywood and independent producers seem to be embracing these hot topics in movies ranging from no-budget documentaries to the biggest budget blockbusters like last week's The Da Vinci Code with lots of stuff in between. These days, it's impossible to avoid some amount of politics and/or religion entering ones entertainment, which makes me wonder if that's really what people want to see on television or when they go to the movies.
After all the hubbub, who's to say how much of an effect the negative smear campaign by the Catholic Church had on Da Vinci compared to the even more apropos trashing by the critics? Did Christians and Catholics go out to see the movie in order to disprove the material as fiction when the topic arises in conversation? Did they avoid it, having read the book and knowing what to expect? $77 million is certainly not the Passion of the Christ meets Star Wars opening that some people were expecting, but it's nothing to scoff at either. It's almost impossible to decipher that figure into how many were interested in the religious aspects of the story and those who went to see it regardless of them.
The real question is whether Joe and Jill Moviegoer really cares about this stuff when deciding what movie to go see, whether they want to be informed about new ideas in religion and politics, or whether they just want to be entertained. Paul Weitz' American Dreamz is a good example of when politics aren't particularly entertaining, turning off both sides of the equation. About as political as you can get, the comedy didn't even appeal to the most liberal of liberals, who may have felt they didn't need to be spoonfed political humor written to appeal to everyone from teen girls to conservatives alike. Instead, they went with Jason Reitman's Thank You for Smoking, which was far more cutting in its political humor without hitting people over the head. The latter made three times as much as the former despite fewer stars.
Then there's the case of James Marsh's The King, a low-profile indie drama starring Gael Garcia Bernal, which takes place in an ultra-religious setting but tells a story that few right wing Christians would appreciate, which makes you wonder what the point was.
The problem is that politics and religion are become so prevalent in movies that they're becoming reasons for people NOT to see the movies, and that kind of worries me. This week's Chosen One, the documentary An Inconvenient Truth starring former Vice President Al Gore, can easily be seen as a political movie rather than for what it truly is: an environmental warning that should be seen by everyone in the Blue and Red States alike. And then there's the upcoming remake of The Omen. Will it be called to task for all of its religious and political elements or will it just be seen, and hopefully enjoyed, as just another horror remake? Only time will tell, but hopefully, we'll have gotten it out of our system, so we can put politics and religion aside for the rest of the summer… or at least until next week.
THE CHOSEN ONE:
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (Paramount
Classics)Starring Al Gore
Directed by Davis Guggenheim (television shows like “24,” “Alias,” “The Shield”)
Rated PG (for mild thematic elements)
Genre: Documentary
Tagline: “By far the most terrifying film you will ever see.”
Story: In the last few years, former Vice President Al Gore has toured the world, giving a slide show and seminar on the dangers and effects of global warming. An Inconvenient Truth intersperses this informative show with introspective thoughts by Gore about his past and the world around him.
REVIEW
In a year that already began with some amazing documentaries, this is a fine addition, as director Davis Guggenheim captures on film a globetrotting slide show presented by Al Gore, former Vice President and 2000 Presidential candidate, about the dangers of global warming. Of course, Gore's detractors AKA Republicans will probably shrug this movie off as more “liberal claptrap” but the former Vice President offers a lot of proof and arguments that our earth really is facing potentially devastating hardships at the hands of global warming—imagine The Day After Tomorrow for real!--while offering a few suggestions on how to fix the problems. It's an extremely effective film with all of the facts presented in an informative and entertaining way, edited together with some deep thoughts by Gore, not only about his rocky past in politics but some very personal tragedies from his past. It's one of the few movies this year that is an absolute MUST-SEE by anyone and everyone living on this planet. People in New York and L.A. will get the first chance to see it Wednesday, while the rest of the country will have to wait until it expands nationwide over the course of June. Apparently, Paramount Classics will be donating 5% of the domestic gross (a minimum of $500,000) to a new bipartisan fund, the Alliance for Climate Protection, and you can read more about all of this at the official web site.
NEW THIS WEEK:
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (20th Century
Fox)Starring Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Shawn Ashmore, Aaron Stanford, Vinnie Jones, Ben Foster, Patrick Stewart
Directed by Brett Ratner (Rush Hour, Rush Hour 2, Red Dragon, After the Sunset); Written by Simon Kinberg (Mr. And Mrs. Smith, XXX: State of the Union), Zak Penn (Elektra, Behind Enemy Lines, Inspector Gadget),
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rated PG-13
Tagline: “Take a Stand.”
Story: Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his mutant team of X-Men—Wolverine, Storm, Iceman—once again take on Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but this time they both have to contend with the government's decision to offer a “cure” for mutants, something which could end up being used as a weapon against them.
REVIEW
Back in 2000, movies based on comic book characters had hit a bit of a wall after the successful Batman series floundered with two disappointing sequels. At that time, Marvel had yet to achieve any sort of success with their popular characters and the company had sold the movie rights to many of its characters in order to stay afloat. Despite their dwindling comic sales, their mutant superteam, the X-Men, featured their most popular characters, supporting four or five monthly titles with ease.
With a cast of mostly unknowns, unproven box office stars and a director who had mainly done art films at the helm, X-Men must have seemed like a huge gamble for 20th Century Fox. Opening in mid-July, the action-packed movie grossed more than $54 million, just slightly less than Mission: Impossible II made a few months earlier, and made over $150 million total, enough to get into the Top 10 that year. A few years later, its sequel kicked off the summer of '03 with a whopping $85 million opening, though it was overshadowed that summer by The Matrix Reloaded, Pixar's Finding Nemo and Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean.
The sequel's success meant that a third installment had to be quickly negotiated with the stars who only had signed contracts for two movies, but Fox went ahead with plans to release the threequel over Memorial Day '06. Within a year, the production became plagued with problems as director Bryan Singer bailed when given the opportunity to fulfill his dream of directing a Superman movie. After a few months of rumors and speculation, British producer/director Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake) was hired to continue the franchise early last year, but he bailed as soon as he realized what would be involved, and director Brett Ratner was offered the job. Ratner previously directed the two Rush Hour movies, both which were huge hits setting box office records for the months they were released, which he followed by directing Red Dragon, the prequel for Silence of the Lambs with Anthony Hopkins, and the action-comedy After the Sunset.
Oddly, the geek fanbase that were already questioning how they could pull off an effects-driven action movie on the magnitude of X-Men with such a short timeframe, became quite irate when Ratner was announced as director. Former Ratner booster Harry Knowles led the way with a lot of trash-talking taking place on his influential geek site. Regardless of whether Ratner was right for the job or not, he had very little time to complete the complicated action and effects sequences needed for the movie to make its Memorial Day deadline.
Fortunately, most of the previous films' ensemble cast are back, including both Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry (featured in this week's Star Spotlight) as Wolverine and Storm, taking front and center as leaders of the mutant team. British thesps Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart are also back as Magneto and Professor X, recreating the on-screen magic that made the first two films so enjoyable as two sides of the mutant coin. Although her character supposedly died in the last chapter, Famke Janssen also returns as Jean Grey, now transformed into the Phoenix, giving her a lot more of the focus in this story compared to the last two. Other regulars like Anna Paquin (Rogue), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) and James Marsden (Cyclops) are back in smaller capacities, while Shawn Ashmore, who first appeared as Iceman in a cameo in the first movie, gets a lot more screen time. The only mutant not returning from the previous movie is Alan Cumming as the popular German teleporter Nightcrawler. While only Jackman, Berry, Stewart, McKellen and Paquin have had any sort of career outside the X-Men movies, it's the collection of actors that appeals to fans of the movies and what will bring them back for another round.
This popular cast is enhanced with a number of new actors and mutants, most notably Kelsey Grammer AKA Frazier Crane, as Dr. Hank McCoy AKA the blue-furred Beast, who works for the government as the Secretary of Mutant Affairs. Grammer has a lot of appeal among older women from his television show and maybe seeing him decked out in a coat of blue fur will bring in that demographic. Other new additions include Ellen Page, the breakout star of Hard Candy, playing the phasing mutant Kitty Pryde and former British football star Vinnie Jones as the unstoppable Juggernaut, while Latina Dania Ramirez (She Hate Me) takes on the role of evil mutant Callisto.
A lot of people, comic and non-comic book readers alike, are anxiously awaiting this threequel. Unlike the recent Mission: Impossible III, the sequel in the franchise was better and even more successful than the original movie. That said, it's still facing tough opposition from the comic book fanboys, particularly on the internet, since they have more confidence in Bryan Singer, whose Superman Returns comes out next month, than they do in Brett Ratner. The reaction to the new casting has been mostly positive, but few people think Ratner could pull off a movie as strong as X2 in such a short time period, and reactions to the early clips have been luke warm, at best. Then again, most regular moviegoers won't know anything about who is directing and probably won't care either. (Then again, both Terminator 3 and Jurassic Park 3 saw substantial drops after getting new directors from their blockbuster predecessors.)
The (presumably) final installment of the franchise is far darker than the previous two, if that's even possible, which means it won't exactly be a great movie for young kids, but for the most part, the X-movies appeal to the teen guys and gals who haven't had a strong movie geared towards them this summer, and older males, who are looking for something a bit stronger. Regardless, the popularity of the X-Men has stretched far beyond the normal comic, sci-fi or genre fans, though not quite to the over 40 crowd.
Of course, the assumption will be that this threequel can open much bigger than the very popular '03 sequel, which made $85 million in a non-holiday weekend. A couple things might keep this from happening: The market is down since the last movie and fewer guys 15 to 25 are going to theatres these days. It will also have a harder time making an impact with so many other prominent movies in theatres, something that X2 didn't have to contend with. Many people wait until the holiday weekend to go to the movies, so they could just as well see some of the movies they've missed like Da Vinci Code or M:i:III. 20th Century Fox may have to do a bit of hustling to get screens and theatres away from last week's powerhouse combo of The Da Vinci Code and Over the Hedge. It shouldn't have that much of an effect on opening weekend if they don't, but this installment also has to overcome a lot of advance negative buzz and skepticism about the movie being as good or better than the last movie. Really, it's more about the marketing, which frankly, isn't as strong as the last movie since there aren't as many “oh, yeah” clips, but Fox still has gotten the mutants into everywhere from 7-11 to XM radio, which means awareness and interest will be high going into the weekend.
Why I Should See It: All of your favorite mutants are back in what should be another action-packed ride.
Why Not: There's no way it could be even close to as good as the last movie.
Projection: $94 to 98 million over the four-day holiday weekend on its way to $230 million total.
STAR SPOTLIGHT: Hugh Jackman Vs. Halle Berry
With X-Men: The Last Stand, actors Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry appear
in their fourth film together, including the first two X-movies and the 2001
action-thriller Swordfish, co-starring John Travolta and Don Cheadle. Berry has certainly had the better career outside the X-Men movies, not only with her Oscar-winning role in the 2003 indie drama Monster's Ball, but also her key role as Jinx in the highest grossing James Bond movie, Die Another Day, in 2002. Since X2, she also appeared in the horror film Gothika and the poorly received superhero movie Catwoman, although in both cases her star power and sex appeal is what got guys into theatres more than the premises.
On the other hand, Jackman's career outside of the X-Men movies has been a bit spotty, as he co-starred in two romantic comedies, Someone Like You opposite Ashley Judd and Kate & Leopold with Meg Ryan, in 2001. Ultimately, the latter did far better than the former, and after X2, Jackman headlined Stephen Sommers '04 action movie Van Helsing, which did well opening weekend, but suffered from terrible word-of-mouth after opening. Wisely, Jackman spent a year on Broadway doing the musical “The Boy From Oz,” for which he won the coveted Tony Award, followed quickly by him winning an Emmy for his popular role as host of 2005 Tony Awards.
Both actors have headlined genre films while taking time off from the X-Men movies, but it's pretty obvious that both of them are going to move more towards dramatic films in the next few years, as they try to be taken more seriously as actors. I know that I won't be surprised if Jackman gets into the Oscar race soon, since he's appearing in movies by Woody Allen, Darren Aronofsky and Christopher Nolan in the next few months. Neither Berry nor Jackman will be receiving many awards for X-Men: The Last Stand, although it's clear that their growing star power will be a bit part of the success in this weekend's threequel.
|
Title |
Release Date |
Theater Count |
Previous Box Office (in millions) |
Weekend Box Office (in millions) |
Average |
Total Box Office |
|
X2: X-Men United |
5/2/03 |
3,741 |
$85.56 |
$22,871 |
$214.95 |
|
|
Swordfish |
6/8/01 |
2,678 |
$18.14 |
$6,776 |
$69.72 |
|
|
The X-Men |
7/14/00 |
3,025 |
$54.47 |
$18,007 |
$157.30 |
|
|
Van Helsing |
5/7/04 |
3,575 |
$51.75 |
$14,480 |
$120.03 |
|
|
Kate & Leopold |
12/28/01 |
2,452 |
$7.57 |
$9.73 |
$3,966 |
$47.10 |
|
Someone Like You |
3/30/01 |
2,345 |
$10.01 |
$4,269 |
$27.23 |
|
|
Catwoman |
7/23/04 |
3,117 |
$16.73 |
$5,367 |
$39.78 |
|
|
Gothika |
11/21/03 |
2,382 |
$19.29 |
$8,097 |
$58.95 |
|
|
Die Another Day |
11/22/02 |
3,314 |
$47.07 |
$14,204 |
$158.63 |
|
|
Monster's Ball |
3/1/02 |
660 |
$11.38 |
$1.80 |
$2,727 |
$31.25 |
|
Why Do Fools Fall in Love? |
8/28/98 |
1,369 |
$3.95 |
$2,885 |
$12.51 |
|
|
Bulworth |
5/22/98 |
2,051 |
$0.23 |
$8.75 |
$4,266 |
$26.53 |
THIS WEEK'S "GUEST-PERT":
This week, we once again have Pete Kilmer, managing partner of Indianapolis' own Downtown Comics, offering his opinions on this week's comic book based movie, one that has received mixed reactions from fans after the departure of Bryan Singer.
“ I'm cautiously optimistic about this movie,” Pete told me. “Brett has a nice record of movies, a couple of huge blockbusters in Rush Hour and some nice character movies in Family Man and Red Dragon. I really am hoping for the best here. Everyone I've talked to hope it rocks...and many plan on seeing it at midnight shows or Friday night.”
Obviously, Pete hasn't seen the movie, but he told me which of the new mutants he is looking forward to. “I like the casting of Angel and I'm sure Callisto will be cool,” he said. “Would have loved to have seen Sabretooth again but I'm hoping for that in the Wolverine movie. I think the only problem I see is that there are too many characters to really give us any real depth of character outside of the main cast.”
And how does the buzz at the comic shop compare to movies like Hulk and Fantastic Four? “Much, much bigger buzz,” he replied. “Hulk had a lot of initial buzz and so did FF, but with the lackluster movies that arrived that weekend, that buzz went away. We've had two really good X-Men movies with great casts, and everyone expects more from this. I think the Singer/Ratner factor though has the hardcore fans a little cautious. I honestly don't know how the Singer factor will play with the mainstream fans who might not know who the directors are.”
I also asked Pete which of the two summer superhero movies is getting the most buzz at the shop. “Right now, X-Men, but we will see how that plays out after the second weekend. I've had several people who used to collect [comics] back in the day come in to get back into it, or at least inspect what comics are about these days, people I've not seen before, so that's a good sign.”
ALSO IN LIMITED RELEASE:
Alexandra Shiva's documentary STAGEDOOR (Gidalya
Pictures) follows the journey of five very different teenagers through
the ultra-competitive three-week theatre program at the prestigious Stagedoor
Manor in the Catskill Mountains. It opens at New York's Film Forum on Wednesday. Mini-Review: A
witty and entertaining look at a fascinating microcosm of social behavior,
mixing the politics of Broadway with that of high school. Half the time,
you expect Christopher Guest to show up and reveal the surreal situations
as part of some secret mockumentary—the “Emergency Cabaret Meeting” is
a classic example—but this effectively acts as the “Rock School” to Todd
Graff's 2003 indie musical comedy “Camp,” and is a great behind-the-scenes
look at some of tomorrow's Broadway stars. Rating: 8/10
In the thriller CAVITE (Truly Indie),
an American returns home to the Philippines to find out that his mother and sister
have been kidnapped by Muslim terrorists, leaving him to fare for himself in
trying to meet the kidnappers' demands. Opens at the Cinema Village in New York
and the Landmark Nuart in L.A.
At the IFC Center on Wednesday is LA
MOUSTACHE (Cinema Guild), the directorial debut of French novelist
Emmanuel Carrere, based on his own novel about a man who decides to shave
off his moustache and freaks out when his wife (Read My Lips' Emmanuelle
Devos) and frineds not only don't acknowledge the change, but insists
that he never had a moustache to begin with. Mini-Review: A
little slow at times, but this is the type of thriller that Michael Haneke
only dreams of making. While the concept of whether the main character
did or did not have a moustache seems silly at first, it's handled with
all of the tension and drama of Hitchcock's best films, and it just gets
better as more is revealed. Of course,
it
doesn't
hurt to
have
such
an excellent
cast, particularly Vincent Lindon, but Devos pulls out a brillian supporting
performance that far overshadows her role in Arnaud
Desplechin's overrated Kings
and Queen. Rating: 8/10
Oddly, the next day, New York's Pioneer Theatre
gets Hrvoje Hribar's WHAT
IS A MAN WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE? (Doors Art Foundation), a romantic
comedy about a young widow who falls in love with a priest in the rough
post-war environment, forcing him to choose between her or the church.
Not exactly
sure what that has to do with moustaches, though.
The latest from Bollywood is Kunal Kholi's FANAA (Yash
Raj Films) follows a blind girl named Zooni Ali Beg (superstar Kajol
in her first film role in three years), who encounters a flirtatious
tour
guide played by Aamir Khan, and ends up falling for him as they travel
across the country. Opens in select cities.
SHEM (HP
Releasing) stars British TV star Ash Newman as Daniel, an arrogant
Londoner, who treks across Europe trying to find the grave of his Jewish
great
grandfather, putting him into contact with all sorts of strangers from
Paris and Berlin
to Prague and beyond. Opens at the Village East in New York City. Mini-Review: While
I always try my best to give concessions to movies made on a shoe-string
budget, there's just no way to excuse this grueling and inexcusable
disaster of a movie from the cheesy synth soundtrack to the ridiculous
use of
sex to try to make this guy's spiritual journey more interesting. It's
honorable that filmmaker Caroline Roboh wanted to make a movie about
a guy looking for his roots, but did Ash Newman's Daniel have to be
such a
prick, sleeping
with just about anyone he meets, man or woman? Basically, he hooks
up in every country he travels through, though there's nothing romantic
or sexy about any of it. Ash
Newman is really a terrible actor, and the only reason he doesn't off
that bad
is because
of the even worse actors that surround him. It almost seems as
if the director grabbed whoever was around and asked them to
read
the
lines
opposite Newman, regardless of whether they spoke English or not,
making you wish they just kept their native tongues and used subtitles.
Regardless,
if
you really must see one sexy homoerotic Jewish romp across Europe this
summer, I still couldn't recommend this movie, because it's as offensive
to homosexuals as it is to Jews. Rating: 1/10
THIS MEMORIAL DAY IN BOX OFFICE HISTORY:
It's here again, the busiest moviegoing weekend of the year and the holiday that always was the official kick-off to the summer as universities and colleges start letting out for the summer and people flock to theatres to catch up on the movies they've missed.
It's pretty amazing that after nine years, Steven Spielberg's dinosaur sequel The Lost World still holds the record for the best four-day opening over the Memorial Day weekend ($90.1 million), although both Roland Emmerich's disaster film The Day After Tomorrow and Jim Carrey's comedy Bruce Almighty have come close.
Kid and family films have often done very well over the Memorial Day holiday, which may be why DreamWorks has often jumped on the weekend, either releasing movies on it or the weekend before. Classic cases are Shrek and Shrek 2, which did great business over the four-day holiday after impressive opening weekend in the week before. As a matter of fact, their hit sequel Shrek 2 holds the record for the highest grossing movie for the holiday, making $95.6 million in the four days. Another example is last year's Madagascar, which made $61 million against the serious competition of Star Wars: Episode III and Adam Sandler's remake of The Longest Yard,
helped greatly by the excess of family audiences who go to the movies over Memorial Day.
In the past, the weekend has been the mainstay for a number of franchises including Tom Cruise's first two Mission: Impossible movies and the last two Indiana Jones movies, a franchise, which looks to be returning soon. Big budget action and effects movies are very typical of the weekend from the dinosaurs of The Lost World to Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor and Roland Emmerich's Godzilla.
In 2002, three new movies opened against the second weekend of Star Wars: Episode II and third weekend of Spider-Man, an unstoppable duo that none of those movies could get past. Christopher Nolan's crime drama Insomnia, starring Robin Williams and Al Pacino, ended up doing the best of them. Despite the number of movies that have opened huge, there also have been plenty of bombs including the remake of The In-Laws, Soul Plane and the horror film The Thirteenth Floor, none of which met up to the standards set by the bigger budget blockbusters.
This weekend, X-Men: the Last Stand is the only new movie, and though it has to contend against the second weekends of Da Vinci Code and Over the Hedge, it will be striving to beat the current Memorial Day records held by Shrek 2 and The Lost World. Being another long-awaited sequel to a popular movie will certainly help.
|
Title |
Release Date |
Theater Count |
Previous Box Office (in millions) |
Weekend Box Office (in millions) |
Average |
Total Box Office |
|
The Lost World |
5/23/97 |
3,281 |
$2.57 |
$90.16 |
$27,480 |
$229.09 |
|
The Day After Tomorrow |
5/28/04 |
3,425 |
$85.81 |
$25,053 |
$186.58 |
|
|
Bruce Almighty |
5/23/03 |
3,483 |
$85.73 |
$24,614 |
$242.60 |
|
|
Pearl Harbor |
5/25/01 |
3,214 |
$75.18 |
$23,390 |
$198.54 |
|
|
Mission: Impossible 2 |
5/26/00 |
3,653 |
$21.00 |
$70.82 |
$19,385 |
$215.35 |
|
Madagascar |
5/27/05 |
4,131 |
$61.01 |
$14,769 |
$193.66 |
|
|
The Longest Yard |
5/27/05 |
3,634 |
$58.61 |
$16,129 |
$193.14 |
|
|
Mission: Impossible |
5/24/96 |
3,012 |
$18.10 |
$56.81 |
$18,861 |
$180.98 |
|
Godzilla |
5/22/98 |
3,310 |
$18.53 |
$55.73 |
$16,835 |
$136.31 |
|
The Flintstones |
5/27/94 |
2,498 |
$37.18 |
$14,884 |
$130.53 |
|
|
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade |
5/26/89 |
2,327 |
$9.90 |
$37.03 |
$15,913 |
$197.17 |
|
Notting Hill |
5/28/99 |
2,745 |
$27.69 |
$10,087 |
$116.09 |
|
|
Insomnia |
5/24/02 |
2,610 |
$26.19 |
$10,034 |
$67.26 |
LET'S LOOK AT THE NUMBERS:
As mentioned above, this should be a very interesting Memorial Day weekend, because you essentially have one potential juggernaut (as well as a bunch of other mutants) taking on two returning champions. The highly anticipated X-Men: The Last Stand is opening in a busy market against movies that have been taking up a lot of screens and theatres, but it's also the sequel to such a hugely popular action movie that it's likely to be an instant first choice for many people, particularly in the 13 to 30 crowd, both guys and gals, this weekend. Taking the top spot is a given, but the big question is whether it will do enough business to break the current Memorial Day records held by Steven Spielberg's The Lost World and Shrek 2 (see above).
Since family films also tend to do well over Memorial Day, expect DreamWorks' Over the Hedge to see an increase after its rather lackluster opening against The Da Vinci Code. It should make more in the four-day holiday weekend than it did last week, while The Da Vinci Code should have a more significant drop, but still do a decent amount of business after its strong opening.
What might be the most amazing thing about this Memorial Day weekend is the disconnect between the top 3 movies and the rest of the pack, as well as the fact that a few movies might be able to get into the Top 10 with less than a million dollars, something that has not been seen in a very long time.
(Note: The numbers below are all four-day grosses for the holiday weekend.)
|
TW |
LW |
Title |
Weekend (in millions) |
Change |
# Of Theaters |
Average |
Week |
|
1 |
New |
X-Men: The Last Stand |
$96.9 |
N/A |
3,688 |
$26,274 |
1 |
|
2 |
1 |
The Da Vinci Code |
$49.3 |
-36% |
3,754 |
$13,133 |
2 |
|
3 |
2 |
Over the Hedge |
$41.8 |
8% |
4,093 |
$10,231 |
2 |
|
4 |
3 |
Mission: Impossible III |
$7.3 |
-36% |
3,053 |
$2,391 |
4 |
|
5 |
4 |
Poseidon |
$5.5 |
-40% |
3.245 |
$1,695 |
3 |
|
6 |
5 |
RV |
$3.8 |
-24% |
2,481 |
$1,532 |
5 |
|
7 |
7 |
Just My Luck |
$2.2 |
-35% |
1,604 |
$1,372 |
3 |
|
8 |
6 |
See No Evil |
$2.1 |
-54% |
1,270 |
$1,654 |
2 |
|
9 |
9 |
United 93 |
$0.9 |
-29% |
769 |
$1,170 |
5 |
|
10 |
8 |
An American Haunting |
$0.8 |
-47% |
748 |
$1,070 |
4 |
|
11 |
12 |
Ice Age: The Meltdown |
$0.7 |
-35% |
633 |
$1,027 |
9 |
| Est. Weekend Total |
Est. Avg. Drop-Off |
Est. Average PTA |
Next week, June kicks off with JenniVince Vaugniston, or whatever they're called today, in the romantic comedy The Break-Up. Let's start the pool on whether their so-called “non-relationship” lasts past the Monday after this baby opens, okay?
Copyright 2006 Edward Douglas
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