The Dark Knight Rises isn't the only 2012 summer blockbuster filming on the streets of an American city: Marvel Studios has staked out Cleveland, Ohio to shoot a climatic battle in The Avengers starting next week. Which would be great, if Cleveland wasn't supposed to stand-in for Times Square. Yes, that Times Square.
How much scrunched face can one detective story take? Mark Wahlberg and Russell Crowe will join forces on Broken City, the story of an "ex-cop-turned-private detective (Wahlberg) who is hired by the mayor (the role Crowe will play) to see if his wife is cheating on him." That investigation leads to murders and cover-ups, but the most intriguing bit of news is that Broken City's script was on the 2008 Black List -- where Inglourious Basterds, Up in the Air, No Strings Attached, and The Beaver (which ranked #1) first appeared. [Deadline]
· Is Tom Cruise releasing a moody rap album in conjunction with Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol? Sadly, not; though if Cruise changes his mind, at least the album art is out of the way. Click through to see a moody Tom wearing a moody jacket in this moody still from the latest Mission: Impossible sequel, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
Big news, Mockingjays -- with their now-filming Hunger Games set for release next March, Lionsgate has gone ahead and staked their flag on November 22, 2013 for the second film in the series, Catching Fire. What does this mean for the as-yet directorless sequel?
The cast of Stand by Me reunited a few months ago to commemorate the film's 25th year, but it's today, Aug. 8, that the Rob Reiner-directed ode to innocence and burgeoning adulthood celebrates its official silver anniversary. Whether in the narration of Richard Dreyfuss or the poignant camaraderie of 12-year-old crusaders Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, or Jerry O'Connell, the movie packs plenty of childhood insight into 88 minutes. What its most underrated moment?
Unless you're a comedy nerd on the level of Jon Hamm, the chances are good that you don't remember much about The Dana Carvey Show. For the uninitiated, the short-lived 1996 sketch comedy series helped launch the careers of Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Louis C.K., 30 Rock showrunner Robert Carlock, and Oscar-winning screenwriter Charlie Kaufman -- who was apparently up to his future tricks in writing an unaired sketch about Weird Al Yankovic and his twin brother.
Thanks to a nearly $26 million debut in China over the weekend -- plus the added $12 million at the U.S. box office -- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 passed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to become the third biggest global hit ever; only the James Cameron two-fer of Avatar and Titanic rank ahead of the final Potter film on the worldwide charts. The Deathly Hallows Part 2 has earned an astonishing $1.139 billion around the globe thus far. Your move, Twilight. [Box Office Mojo]
Hail Caesar! As the surprisingly strong box office results showed over the weekend, audiences went bananas for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. (GROAN!) The film exceeded both critical and financial expectations, and not only launched what could be another large cycle in the apocalyptic franchise, but also a sneaky Oscar campaign. In short, there's plenty to discuss -- so let's discuss!
Another Monday, another bevy of spoilers from the Pittsburgh set of The Dark Knight Rises. (Welcome to event moviemaking in 2011, everyone!) On Saturday afternoon, the Christopher Nolan-directed film took over Heinz Field for a shoot involving Tom Hardy, 10,000 extras, Pittsburgh Steelers players Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward and former Steelers coach Bill Cowher. Click through for some very spoiler-y video.
Also in this Monday edition of The Broadsheet: Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon get dirty... Bryan Cranston may join World War Z... you'll never guess who wrote the possible sequel to Conan the Barbarian... and more ahead.
Sunday night's Teen Choice Awards came down to the eternal, epic battle in the world of young adults: Harry Potter vs. Twilight. Call it the finale vote, or credit sheer force of fandom -- the recently concluded Harry Potter series emerged triumphant over the also-popular Twilight Saga, taking home a collection of coveted, er, surfboards. After the jump, get the full list of movie-related winners and get the answer to the burning question that's been haunting your days and nights: Which duo totally shared the best kiss of the year?
In Ruben Fleischer's upcoming comedy 30 Minutes or Less, Jesse Eisenberg plays a pizza delivery man coerced into robbing a bank by two thugs (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) who strap a bomb to his chest and threaten to detonate him. Comedy ensues, of course, but the real-life 2003 event that loosely inspired the film didn't end so hilariously, as the family of late Pennsylvania pizza man Brian Wells would like to point out.
Well, that settles it -- America loves monkeys! Well, much more than they love Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman and poop jokes. So let's welcome our new simian masters and celebrate what this weekend's box office numbers mean: A) Apes > everything, B) R-rated comedies have to try harder, and C) so do Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig if they want to take back the crown from those damn, dirty Smurfs. Your weekend box office is here!
It looks like all the release date shuffling that Twentieth Century Fox did with Rise of the Planet of the Apes paid off. The critically loved summer entry (with some notable exceptions) exceeded expectations throughout the day on Friday and wound up grossing $19.75 million during its opening day. That puts Apes on track for a three-day weekend tally of over $50 million, making it one of summer's biggest box office surprises. Perhaps not as surprising was that audiences rejected The Change-Up like it was baby poop; the Ryan Reynolds-Jason Bateman body switch comedy earned just $4.5 million on Friday night, bad enough for fourth place. Your Friday Box Office is here.
The first week of August (and the official beginning of the end of summer) rolled by in fine fashion; sure, it was at times an agonizingly slow news week, but the first looks, surprise developments, and WTF? revelations kept things bouncy. Head into the weekend with your head held high, week. You gave us plenty to munch on. For starters: The terms "Brett Ratner" and "Oscars" in the same sentence? You so crazy!
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