While the trailer for Jonah Hex has yet to appear, Warner Brothers did its best today to remind audiences that this movie not only exists, but will get released as planned on June 18. And what better way to do that than with a great poster, right? Or, in this case, a completely ridiculous mess that looks borderline fake. After the jump, the full poster and its five oddest design choices. Imagine what treats the movie holds. The mind reels.
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After a slow start, How to Train Your Dragon has hung in there, grossing $180 million so far while returning to the top of the box office this past weekend. "[Dragon] has become DreamWorks Animation's next franchise," CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg announced today while discussing the company's first quarter financials. "We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013." It will be in 3D, though you didn't need us to figure that one out, did you? [Coming Soon]
When you're hot, you're hot, and Tim Burton is pretty damned hot. With his $875 million-grossing Alice in Wonderland not too far in the background, the Museum of Modern Art announced today that its just-closed Burton exhibition was MoMA's third-biggest ever, with 810,500 visitors in five months -- a figure trailing only retrospectives of Picasso and Matisse. And you can't even attribute it to 3-D ticket inflation! Amazing. [NYT]
Tonight, MTV premieres its sixth and final season of The Hills, an iteration that the network has mercilessly teased as the franchise's cattiest and teariest yet. But before we waste an entire season hoping that Speidi divorces, Audrina finds a boyfriend that is not a complete parasite and a cast member battles an actual addiction that is not plastic surgery-related, let's remember back, way back, to when the show had a heart. Cue the milky dissolve.
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When the backlog of DVD's congesting your office is so troublesome that A&E sends a Hoarders camera crew to film an episode, then you know you've got a problem. That's why we went to a professional for some discriminating intervention. So! Please welcome the esteemed Michael Atkinson, who, starting today, joins Movieline as our resident DVD columnist and all-around video guru.
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· HBO has finally issued its for-real cast poster for the upcoming third season of True Blood. I think we're all very proud of Pam, aren't we?
· What does Oprah smell like? "Money," says Glee's Chris Colfer, who recently appeared on her show. "Actually, I don't think I was breathing when I actually met her, so I'm just guessing."
· In honor of Bill Hader's giggle-fit on Saturday, Best Week Ever presents SNL's Top Ten Cast Member Crack Ups.
· Finally, we know why Gwyneth Paltrow has been touting her workout regiment for Iron Man 2 so much, despite the fact that she wears power suits throughout: "Originally there was a fantasy scene where I had to get in lingerie," she told Moviefone.
· We may have to add Brendan Fraser's bizarre appearance on The View to our "Promoting Under the Influence" feature. Yikes.
The Iron Man 2 reactions embargo was lifted today, and though you'll have to wait until next week for Stephanie Zacharek's review at Movieline, the trades, the geek press, and the British tabloids are all weighing in. The verdict? All over the map.
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David Bergstein, who ran one studio into bankruptcy before going on to hilariously advise a potential Disney buyer, now has a bench warrant issued for his arrest. The "financier" failed to appear in court Monday to resolve the matter of a $1 million debt he owes to Mandalay Bay Casino; he blamed his former lawyer (whom he's suing) for failing to tell him about an outstanding judgment for the amount. She's countersuing, arguing she doesn't even have a license to practice law in Nevada. Horrendous. [THR]
We'd like to take a moment to welcome Movieline's newest sibling in the growing MMC brood: Boy Genius Report. This morning MMC's fearless leader, Jay Penske (also known as a boy genius to many), announced this terrific partnership between Movieline's parent company and Jonathan Geller's BGR.com. For those who don't know BGR.com, it was launched by Geller in October 2006 and has quickly become one of the top three sites in the mobile category. And it all started, as so many tales of young men who go on to rule the world do, in his parents' basement. Lesson here: Think twice before mocking that cellar-dweller brother of yours. He very well may be the only one with the money to bail you out later on.
Let's go back about three months to the snowy, chilly climes of Park City, Utah, where holy crap the Ryan Reynolds thriller Buried had Sundance audiences squirming with its concept (not to mention its execution) of an abducted American contractor in a box somewhere beneath the Iraq desert and held for ransom of $1 million. And now it's got a nifty poster to freak out a general audience. Click through for a bigger version almost as surprising as the film's ending. (Don't worry -- no spoilers.)
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It turns out that Lindsay Lohan did see last week's Madonna-themed episode of Glee, in which McKinley High's guidance counselor (Jayma Mays) lamented that today's teenage girls only have role models like Lindsay Lohan, who "looks like something out of Lord of the Rings," to emulate. Lohan responded on Sunday night via Twitter: "#gleecast i hope that the show was referring to me looking like a fairy! with the- and the 'guidance couselor' [sic] she's not a natural redhead." Your move, Ryan Murphy. [@lindsaylohan]
· Jennifer Connelly is in talks to join the cast of Cheaters, the Ron Howard comedy about a man (Vince Vaughn) struggling with whether or not he should tell his best friend (Kevin James) that his wife (Winona Ryder) is being unfaithful. Connelly would play Vaughn's own spouse. Perhaps she and Ryder can run away together -- if that's not already an unspoken twist in Allan Loeb's script. [Deadline]
Lionsgate grabs the next one from Matthew McConaughey, Paramount returns to the Ring well, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
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· In preparation for tonight's episode of United States of Tara, dig this Funny or Die item written by the show's main scribes Diablo Cody and Jill Soloway. I don't know how a female-centric response to the penis-exalting Hung called "Tight" hadn't been attempted before, but at any rate, it's perfected here. Viva Michaela Watkins! [Funny or Die]
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After nearly choking with excitement at the prospect of starring in David Fincher's English-language remake of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, it looks like Carey Mulligan will get her wish: A report in the Times says she's received Fincher's blessing for the thriller's punky female lead. Moreover, Fincher is said to want Brad Pitt for the film as well -- which could theoretically scuttle the star's other, lower-paying Sony effort Moneyball depending on scheduling. If this doesn't affirm the surging Moneyball curse, then nothing will. [The Times via TOH]
Ten years after Survivor first aired, the craze of reality-competition still hasn't plateaued in terms of sheer ingenuity or fervor. What's just begun, however, is formal appreciation of the reality-competition host. The Emmys began awarding reality emcees only in 2008, meaning an entire televised profession is unaware of its greatest practitioners. That's why Movieline is stepping in to rank the 10 greatest reality-competition hosts working today, from chef skewerers to tribal council tribunals. Our No. 1 gives an unforgettable performance.
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