Sunday's news from President Barack Obama that Osama bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan brought closure to a nation still grieving the tragedy of 9/11. Deadline reports that Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow has been prepping her follow-up to the Iraq-set The Hurt Locker, entitled Kill Bin Laden, which could become the first feature film to depict the historical events of May 1, 2011.
With Thor poised to kick-off the next chapter in Marvel's superhero empire this week, the film's stars and creatives found themselves looking to the future at a press conference Sunday in Los Angeles. Though actors Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston were loath to drop details on the currently-filming Avengers, they gave a teaser of what to expect when their godly alter egos collide with human superheroes like Iron Man and Hulk in the Joss Whedon-helmed 2012 pic.
Yowza. Fast Five exceeded all projections this weekend with a stunning $83.6 million opening -- the best ever for a Universal release, and a nearly 18 percent jump over the debut haul of its 2009 predecessor Fast and Furious. Its competition, meanwhile -- including a pair of new, badly underperforming family films -- was left behind like so much roadkill. Your weekend receipts are here.
Every month at Movieline, we collect the best interviews, smartest features, and most compelling reviews we've produced, and curate them in one easy-to-use table of contents called the Virtual Newsstand, which pays tribute to our print magazine history. Here's the Virtual Newsstand for April 2011.
The developing Quentn Tarantino project alternately described as a spaghetti Western and/or, in Uma Thurman's description, a "Southern," appears to have a completed script, a partial cast attached, and now a title that will take us all back a ways.
If you had any doubt that the franchise that spawned this weekend's Fast Five remains as relevant as ever, maybe Friday's eye-popping $34 million windfall will change your mind. The muscle-car opus is on track for a three-day total of $80 million, leaving fellow newbies Prom and Hoodwinked Too and the incumbent champ Rio choking on its exhaust. Your Friday Box Office is here.
It's Friday evening, which is the perfect time to release a celebrity-fronted music video to convince those undecided ticket buyers to opt for Hoodwinked Too, right? After the jump, watch an earnest Hayden Panettiere sing her heart out in a studio, intercut with footage from the animated sequel. Watch out, Vin!
What a fine, fresh and fierce week April closed out with: the Royal Wedding, Donald Trump's idiotic face, more Transformers promotional materials than you could shake a stick at, and Fast Five helping kick-off the summer in earnest. Tune back here over the weekend for the latest movie news, and click ahead for our patented week in review.
Start your weekend off right with new set photos from Men in Black 3, which appears to be the single shiniest film about aliens since Sex and the City 2. LED-lightful.
Although he's avoided public appearances and kept press engagements to a minimum in the lead up to the premiere of The Beaver, Mel Gibson might yet show up at the Cannes Film Festival. According to a rep for The Beaver's French distributor, Gibson "is coming to Cannes," though his camp says it's still up in the air. Gauging public support, perhaps? Will the French lead by example and embrace the embattled filmmaker with open arms? [THR]
Ariel who? Kicking their Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides marketing campaign up a notch, Disney has released a brand new character poster featuring newbie lovers Philip Swift (Sam Claflin) and the mermaid Syrena (Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey) -- excuse me, the topless mermaid Syrena. Ingenious marketing execs, consider the male teen demographic covered!
While at a screening for Kenneth Branagh's superhero adventure last night, Celebrity Apprentice alum Stephen Baldwin suggested that members of the press skip the screening altogether in favor of, well, finding salvation. "You should go home right after this," Baldwin told Vulture. "Don't even see Thor and get down with the gospel of salvation and have fun with it." So yeah, there's that option this summer. [Vulture]
Here at Movieline, we believe in summer movies and their ability to cleanse the palate after a humorless Oscar gauntlet. Plenty of our best film memories involve summer, and we decided they were worth revisiting ahead of the coming season. What are your favorite summer moments au cinéma, dear Movieline children? Contribute yours and reads ours.
The mercurial Alec Baldwin has written up a diary of his last week of social events over at Huffington Post, which includes seeing The Motherf***er With the Hat on Broadway and potential summer sleeper film L'Amour Fou at the Tribeca Film Festival. Notably absent from his blogged recounting? That wildly funny Q&A Baldwin did with Doug Liman at Tribeca. [Huffington Post]
What was rumor earlier on Friday has taken a sharper focus as happy hour draws closer on the East Coast: Deadline reports that CAA is in negotiations with financier QED International to pay Arnold Schwarzenegger "top dollar" to star in Cry Macho. Translation: He's back.
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