The summer of comedies continues! Buoyed by a Hangover-friendly marketing campaign and some happily strong reviews, the Seth Gordon-directed Horrible Bosses earned $9.9 million at the box office on Friday to land in a solid second place; if the numbers hold, Bosses will be the fourth R-rated comedy to open with more than $25 million this summer. Fellow newcomer Zookeeper landed in third place, with a solid $7.4 million -- roughly $2 million less than the Kevin James-led Paul Blart earned on its first Friday. That film received a family friendly bump throughout its opening weekend, and you can bet Sony executives are hoping the same holds true for this one. Oh, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon dominated again. Your Friday box office is here.
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A short work week didn't necessarily make for any less work at Movieline HQ, where midterm report cards were issued, political skirmishes ensued, radical mood swings were outlasted, and all the news that was fit to print -- which is to say, in a slow summer news week, everything -- made our pages. Check out the highlights below, and drop back by on Saturday and Sunday for box-office updates and more reports as movie-culture event warrant. Have a great weekend!
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In this weekend's Horrible Bosses, Kevin Spacey plays Jason Bateman's sadistic supervisor, a business director so despicable that he kind of deserves the extreme punishment Batemen, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day would like to inflict. How did Spacey transform himself from the guy simply credited as "Subway Thief" in Mike Nichols' Heartburn to a two-time Oscar winner and summer blockbuster draw?
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I didn't make the rules, girls, but it appears that Kevin James has reached a point in his career where he can look back and say, "I'm like if Chris Farley had it together!" I'm going to get out this comparison's way and let the late SNL star and Zookeeper topliners' careers speak for themselves.
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According to The Hollywood Reporter, MGM will team up with A Solitary Man writer Brian Koppelman and director David Levien to bring Neil Strauss's dating how-to book The Game to the big screen. Others have tried before to make Strauss's best-selling pick-up tome into a film, but maybe Koppelman and Levien are the right guys for the job; after all, they gave Michael Douglas a great vehicle playing a skeevy womanizer in A Solitary Man. Maybe they can do the same for magician-turned-pick-up artist Mystery?
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Hold onto your capes, Bat-fans: According to SuperHeroHype, the first teaser trailer for Chris Nolan's summer 2012 sequel The Dark Knight Rises will play in front of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 in theaters next week. Also expected to play for the Potter crowd: Your first look at December's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and November's Happy Feet 2. Accio, Batman! [SuperHeroHype]
Last week Movieline spat a little blood when looking at the chilling new poster for Final Destination 5. Pretty freaky! Too bad the real horror still awaited: This week, double over in a spastic ulcer when looking at Rob Lowe in full make-up as alleged wife murderer Drew Peterson for Lifetime's upcoming TV movie Untouchable. And look: Here are 10 horrifying images it calls to mind.
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Unofficial Hobbit Dwarf Week continues! Yesterday, Peter Jackson gave us our first glimpse of brothers Dori, Nori and Ori (played by Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy and Adam Brown), and today we're treated to a photo of the other set of brothers in his Company of Dwarves, Óin and Glóin (played by John Callen and Peter Hambleton). If you weren't scared off by me declaring it Hobbit Dwarf Week, you're brave enough to click through.
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By the midpoint of any moviegoing year, the previous January seems like ancient history. Was it really just six months ago that I trudged off to witness the stupendously dumb spectacle that was Season of the Witch? Seems like eons.
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On this day in 1958, a baby boy named Kevin Norwood Bacon was born in Philadelphia. Seventeen years later, he would leave home to pursue a career in theater, only to find his way onto the big screen via a role in Animal House. Over thirty years after making that film debut, Bacon has established himself as one of America's most beloved actors (and the subject of one of our favorite parlor games). Now let's celebrate Bacon's birthday the only way we know how -- by pinpointing his finest onscreen moment.
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· Because he's handing out the Capitol One Cup at the 2011 ESPY Awards on July 13 -- the inaugural award will be given to the top men's and women's Division I college athletics programs in the country -- Friends With Benefits star Justin Timberlake decided to embark on a little college crash course. Ahead, watch a six-minute (!) video of Timberlake trying his hand at various college sports to increasingly terrible results (think: crotch shots), then stick around for more Buzz Break.
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As part of this week's midpoint celebration, Movieline has already run through the 2011 films that are most likely to contend in this year's Academy Awards race. But what about the titles that completely fell short of moviegoer and studio expectations? Ahead, Movieline recalls the five biggest box office disappointments of 2011 thus far.
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It's the pop culture marriage you never wanted! "Hey Harry Potter fans!!!" Larry King excitedly wrote on Twitter. "You could win pair of suspenders signed by me & Daniel Radcliffe!" Well, then. The giveaway will happen during King's Potter special on CNN this Sunday, where fans will be encouraged to tweet the answer to a trivia question at the semi-retired host, accompanied by the hashtag #larrypotter. If you're muttering some unforgivable curses right now, it's understandable. [@kingsthings]
A funny thing about low-hanging fruit: it's easy to pick! As such, it's not surprising that critics are piling on the latest Kevin James vehicle, Zookeeper. The "comedy" sports an impressively poor 14 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, worse even than previous summer punching bags Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer and Green Lantern. Ahead, the nine best of the worst reviews.
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