Summit Entertainment has reportedly been hashing out plans to re-release Twilight in theaters on Nov. 18 -- a one-night-only event that would precede New Moon's midnight showings in the wee hours of Nov. 19. That would result in roughly a five-hour hostile tween takeover of America's multiplexes, which exhibitors seem to be just fine with.
more »
Initial box-office estimates for Michael Jackson's This is It's opening day have come in at around $12 million -- not quite what you'd call a blistering pace but pretty strong nevertheless for a non-franchise Wednesday opening in late October. That should drop off today, with a Friday surge heading into Halloween weekend. A $65 million five-day gross isn't out of the question; Sony boss Michael Lynton might attribute this to the studio's piracy-busting efforts, but those in the know recognize Phinnessee Power when we see it. [DHD]
· In news that will launch 1,000 headlines even worse than the one above (and millions more aroused fanboy daydreams), Jessica Biel has signed up to co-star in F*cking Engaged. The raunchy comedy follows a couple that decides to have sex every day leading up to their wedding, hoping to avoid their parents' complacency and tweak the MPAA into an unnecessary ratings controversy that will stir press ahead of the inevitable festival debut and help move thousands and thousands more unrated DVD's and maybe even be funny. In any case, every straight male actor in town will have requested a reading of this by lunchtime. [THR]
Tony Scott meets the Chippendales, Vera Farmiga meets Keanu Reeves, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
· Angry Screed Week continues at Movieline with this blistering indictment of NBC (and, implicitly, Jeff Zucker) from Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter -- whose FX series recently became the first cable series to beat The Jay Leno Show in the ratings. Best line: "Let's back off Jay and beat the right piñata. I won't say who that is, but I guarantee you, when he splits open, they'll be gold bullion and Universal stock options pouring out of his ass." THR Feed
more »
Michael Jackson pal Corey Feldman was conspicuously absent Tuesday night among the celebrity guests prowling the This Is It red carpet. Assuming he didn't sneak into the theater with quiet, camera-shy dignity, he had a pretty good excuse for missing the proceedings: His wife Susie divorced him after seven years. The ex-Playboy model had a 5-year-old son with Feldman; both were a fixture on the party/event circuit for years. No longer, alas. Susie's filing cited unspecified "irreconcilable differences," all of which can likely be traced to the night of The Two Coreys' historic Valentine's Day Ear Massacre. Condolences and best wishes to both. [MSNBC]
Celebrities, they're just like us: Some of them get swine flu, and all the rest are freaking out with psychosomatic symptoms. (Seriously: I've got a mild cough right now, and I'm ready to make out my will.) Just today, it was reported -- then retracted -- that Teri Hatcher had come down with the fast-moving flu, so we thought it was time to sift through all the rumors and hospitalizations to answer two important questions: Who in Hollywood has had the swine flu, and who was merely rumored to?
· Jeff Wells has a brief shot of Barack Obama's cameo from the Transformers 2 DVD, confirming our initial report of the president's queasy-making inclusion.
· Add Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green to the long list of Hollywood habitués who may have been burglarized recently.
· If you thought the Sex and the City sequel would match the original's epic, Bollywood running time, Kristin Davis will allay your fears. "This one is not going to be that long. It's like condensed soup." Everyone's a recessionista!
· Consummate onscreen sleazebag William Atherton is going to bring his oily charisma to the final season of Lost.
· Hey Gore Vidal, what do you think of this whole Polanski matter? "Look, am I going to sit and weep every time a young hooker feels as though she's been taken advantage of?" All right then!
In ChristWire.org's blistering exposé The Golden Girls: How One TV Show Turned A Generation Of American Boys Into Homosexuals, noted cultural theorist Stephenson Billings ("an Investigative Journalist, Motivational Children's Party Entertainer and Antique Soda Bottle Collector all in one special, blessed package!") blows the lid wide open on how Miami's beloved quartet of man-hungry retirees converted an entire generation of American males to practitioners of the slinky, sinful, apliquéd-sweater-dress-wearing homosexual lifestyle. This is powerful stuff, and certainly going to ruffle some feathers, but with passages like this one -- "Played by noted liberal activist and Archie Bunker-foe Bea Arthur, Dorothy had a hard, masculine voice. She was cold and quick-tempered. She taught our modern butt rompers to disparage everyone in their orbit" -- it simply demands to be read. [christwire.org]
On November 8th, Hamilton and Movieline will present the 2009 Behind the Camera Awards. It's a night for anyone who loves and respects the craft of filmmaking, when the unseen stars of production -- directors, producers, screenwriters, cinematographers, costumers, property masters, stunt coordinators, productions designers, and visual effects artists -- are recognized for outstanding achievement in their respective specialties. And we'd love to have you attend! Enter now, and win two round-trip airfares to Los Angeles courtesy of Jet Blue, accommodations at Starwood Hotels, and tickets to the Behind the Camera Awards and after-party on Nov. 8. The sweepstakes entry form is here.
At a recent San Francisco Democratic fundraiser, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger showed up unannounced, only to be greeted by a chorus of heckles and boos, plus at least one invitation to "kiss my gay ass" -- that last sentiment coming from State Assemblyman/instant folk hero Tom Ammiano. (Schwarzenegger's veto-happy record, particularly of a bill that would make Harvey Milk's birthday a day of significance, has rendered him something of a pariah in the greater Castro St. area.) Professional thespian that he is, Arnie retained his composure, joking later that the reception was no more hostile than the one he got from the Kennedys upon announcing his engagement to Maria Shriver. But a Governator never forgets.
more »
Some directors bounce back from a roster of cinematic turkeys, but the combined effect of Cutthroat Island, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, and Driven seem to have invoked a "three strikes and you're out" rule for Renny Harlin. The onetime top director has spent the last few years making films like The Covenant and the John Cena starrer 12 Rounds, and he's now set Val Kilmer and Emmanuelle Chriqui to star in Georgia, a war film about last year's military conflict between Russia and Georgia. Which one of them is playing the explosion? [THR]
Last night, Sony dropped curtains worldwide on Michael Jackson's This Is It -- the massively hyped, posthumous concert film pulled from 80 hours of rehearsal footage (purchased by the studio at a cost of $60 million). With a mixture of curiosity, trepidation, and genuine, Thriller-era excitement, Movieline's S.T. VanAirsdale and Seth Abramovitch attended some of the first screenings on either coast. Would the icon restore his legacy with this comeback bow? Or would this be but a sad coda to the life of a performance genius who'd long since lost his way?
Our first impressions, in instant message form, follow.
Two days after Sean Penn showed up in Cuba attempting to snag an interview with Fidel Castro, Michael Douglas dropped by Havana with decidedly less ambitious plans for his own Cuban visit. On a walking tour of the city, he reportedly posed for photos with construction workers, learned how to roll a cigar and ducked local peasants' pervasive questions about Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan's relationship on the set of Wall Street 2. [AP]
· Zach Galifianakis is in talks to star in Town House, a comedy about an agoraphobic man shut inside the Boston residence he inherited from his rock-star father. Amy Adams is negotiating to play the call girl who befriends him. Ridley Scott is reportedly co-producing with his brother Tony, thus setting up an epic behind-the-scenes battle between the workaholic Galifianakis -- for whom Town House would be the fifth film or TV series in development for 2010 -- and Scott, who is likely just looking to bring his total of stalled projects to a nice, round 10. [Variety]
Adam Sandler goes both ways, January Jones's agent cashes in, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
· I don't think Taylor Lautner can stress this enough: He's been trotting out those tummy moguls since before his voice dropped. From here on out, the shirt stays on and it's his bulging acting ability that we drool over, capice? (Unless it's required for the role -- then the shirt comes off again. But only then.) [via Where Is Edward Cullen?]
more »
FILM NEWS 