On a weekend congested with reboots, remakes, prequels and sequels, it was a book adaptation that stirred Americans to visit the movie theater. Indeed, week two of The Help sent a message that we might have a sleeper hit in the making, while week three of Rise of the Planet of the Apes suggested we might have a new blockbuster franchise in our midst. The new-release class, meanwhile? Enh. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
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Translated from a French-language publication by The New Yorker's Richard Brody, Sean Penn apparently has issues with Terrence Malick's recent film: "I didn't at all find on the screen the emotion of the script, which is the most magnificent one that I've ever read. A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact. Frankly, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing there and what I was supposed to add in that context! What's more, Terry himself never managed to explain it to me clearly." Join the club, pal. [Le Figaro via The New Yorker]
When The Fighter premiered last year, Lionsgate was sitting on Warrior, another "fighter" film about the deeply rooted rivalry between two working-class brothers. Directed by Gavin O'Connor (Miracle), the action drama features burgeoning stars Joel Edgerton and Tom Hardy (both of whom force fed themselves chicken and trained brutally to attain realistically rock hard MMA physiques) and Nick Nolte as their recovering alcoholic father who so desperately seeks their forgiveness. In anticipation of this gritty Sept. 9 release, O'Connor and his stars Nolte, Edgerton, Hardy and Jennifer Morrison gathered Friday at the Los Angeles press conference to discuss Warrior, their upcoming big budget projects (Dark Knight Rises and The Great Gatsby) and in the case of Nolte, Katharine Hepburn's affinity for drunks and the enduring social message of his '80s Eddie Murphy comedy 48 Hours. Click through for the revelations.
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Hoo boy. The late-summer movie bottleneck has caught up with Hollywood, relegating this weekend's trio of new wide releases to the bottom of the top five at the box office. Above them, a pair of leggy holdovers scrap for the top spot, with the ladies of The Help putting some distance between themselves and James Franco's tenacious Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Your clinically lethargic Friday box office is here.
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It seemed inevitable that Hollywood would turn its gaze on the incredibly dramatic tale of Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley, and Jason Baldwinthe, the men known as the West Memphis 3 who were freed today after spending 18 years serving time for the 1993 murders of three young boys. But this isn't an opportunistic stroke of timing; the film, which will be directed by Atom Egoyan, has been in development since 2006. More after the jump.
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Well, that happened. Has a long, sultry late-August week ever been summed up with a more succinct phrase than Gérard Depardieu's willy-wagging protestation? Maybe so, but that's the theme of the week at Movieline HQ. Let's look back, if you can bear it, with the customary Week in Review. Drop by in the days ahead for updates from the box office and any other breaking news, and have a great weekend!
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Along with fellow documentarians Paolo Cavara and Franco Prosperi, Italian filmmaker Gualtiero Jacopetti helped to birth the exploitation cinema genre known as the mondo film, which took off following the success of their 1962 shockumentary classic Mondo Cane. Jacopetti, aged 92, died this week in Rome; his most provocative films include Africa Addio and Addio zio Tom (Goodbye, Uncle Tom), the latter of which happens to earn a nod in a certain upcoming Ryan Gosling automotive thriller opening next month.
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Disney's D23 Expo just unleashed a delightful tidbit: The Muppets, which we're suddenly craving, will play in theaters this November with a new Toy Story short called Small Fry. Earlier this year, Cars 2 premiered with a Toy Story Toon about Ken and Barbie's Hawaiian Vacation. Any plot guesses for this one? I'm hoping Bo Peep returns bearing, like, 13 Fisher Price Little People children. [/Film]
With his latest film, the well-received four and a half-hour opus The Mysteries of Lisbon, still in theaters stateside, Chilean filmmaker Raúl Ruiz has passed away in Paris following a lung infection. The director, who had made over 100 films in his nearly five-decade career, was 70.
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Let's hear it for all of the readers and fans who participated in our John Carpenter 10-word review contest for The Ward. In just over 24 hours, we received nearly 50 submissions, all thoughtful, creative and hilarious, just like our Movieline readers. Alas, only six could be winners.
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Marijuana empress Nancy Botwin has turned herself over to the fuzz: Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker is in negotiations to join the cast of R.I.P.D., a film based on Peter Lenkov's graphic novel that chronicles "a cop killed in the line of duty (Ryan Reynolds) who is recruited by a team of undead police officers working for the Rest in Peace Department." She'll a play woman who oversees the division. Kevin Bacon, Stephanie Szostak, and Jeff Bridges -- a dude who single-handedly doubles this movie's marijuana cred -- co-star. What other pot icons will director Robert Schwentke (Schwentke!) cast next? I vote for Cheech Marin as the voice of a talking K9. [Variety]
In Lone Scherfig's adaptation of the best-selling novel One Day, Anne Hathaway stars as a British waitress/writer whose romantic and professional pursuits -- as well as her complicated relationship with Jim Sturgess's wealthy womanizer -- are chronicled across two decades. So, how did Hathaway transform herself from a Disney princess to a sardonic working class girl from New England?
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· Artist Richard Sargent has your Friday afternoon time waster: a collage of film and television robots that hides the one lovable collection of bolts you're tasked to find -- WALL*E. The Pixar robot is there -- yours truly found him in a relatively short amount of time -- so click through for a look, and commence goofing off. Your Friday Buzz Break is here.
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"You know, after I had just done A Nightmare on Elm Street 4, one of the first people to call me was Steven Spielberg, and he asked me, 'So is there a movie of your dreams you want to make?' 'Seriously?' I said, 'Tintin.' So I gave him a pile of those books, and his company went after the rights. At that point, the creator was still alive, and he said absolutely not. So it didn't work out, and Spielberg and I went our separate ways. Then, years later, the creator died, and Spielberg went after the rights again, and he got them. So now there's a movie." You crazy for this one, Renny Harlin. [Vulture]
Are you a lifetime John Carpenter fan? Have you been praying at the horror master's altar ever since Dark Star and Assault on Precinct 13? If so, you might want to pay attention. In honor of Carpenter's latest film -- the psych ward-set psychological thriller The Ward -- being released on Blu-ray this week, Movieline is giving away a half dozen one-sheets autographed by the Halloween helmer himself. [UPDATE: Contest is now closed. Check out the reviews after the jump.]
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