Scarlett Johansson first garnered major notice in The Horse Whisperer 13 years ago, which makes her 27th birthday today a momentous one -- she's essentially been famous (and garnering awards) for half her life. Let's celebrate the well-spoken thespian and Tom Waits cover artist by choosing her her best role. What's your pick?
President John F. Kennedy was assassinated 48 years ago today in Dallas, Texas, prompting what would become the biggest single market in conspiracy theories until 9/11. Many of them came bundled in such staggeringly ambitious work as Oliver Stone's JFK, Don DeLillo's Libra, and Josiah "Tink" Thompson's exhaustive Zapruder film study Six Seconds in Dallas -- the latter of which filmmaker and Movieline favorite Errol Morris reconnects with today for an intriguing new short exploring the legend of that fateful day's "Umbrella Man."
Happy Tuesday! Also in today's edition of The Broadsheet: Chris Evans is cold as Iceman... The other Turkey in the news this week... More on the NYFCC awards vote troubles... All three of Jason Segel's dreams come true... Your student-loan doom explained... and more.
"I'll spend months working with an actor, and I think I spent four months with Ashton," the filmmaker said recently about his time prepping Kutcher for 2005's Elizabethtown. But the actor, who was still starring in That 70's Show at the time, refused to devote a few weeks to the ill-fated project co-starring Kirsten Dunst. At the time, Crowe realized, "This is not meant to be," dropped Kutcher and replaced him with Orlando Bloom. Although the film bombed at the box office, Crowe still remembers it favorably: "Elizabethtown was a movie made for all the right reasons, and people who connect with the movie really connect to it." [THR]
Either Eddie Murphy has a sprightly nephew named Eddie Murphy who is beginning a career in film, or the people behind A Thousand Words Photoshopped the bejesus out of the Eddie Murphy we already know and lament. The new one-sheet for the March release features a mysteriously youthful Velvet Jones gawking at the camera with eyes that look like Henson workshop appliques. One glance at this and James Brown would have a heart attack right in the hot tub.
"I can't wait for the musical!" is what no one thought 35 years ago while watching Rocky Balboa box frozen sides of beef in Paulie's meat locker for the first time. Nevertheless, Sylvester Stallone and boxing brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko are producing a musical version of Stallone's Academy Award-winning film with the help of Tony Award-winning writer Thomas Meehan (The Producers), lyricist Lynn Ahrens and composer Stephen Flaherty. The question is: Three-plus decades later, are you up for seeing 'The Italian Stallion' relive his glory days onstage?
Be Movieline's guest and revisit everyone's favorite tale as old as time, the second release in Disney's quest for total world domination (AKA, The 'See How Much Money Lion King 3D Made Us??' business plan) which brings vintage Disney classics back to screens in limited runs in restored 3-D. Next up is 1991's Beauty and the Beast, a singalong favorite for children of the '90s that's sure to make another bazillion or so dollars. Watch the trailer and decide if you're giddy to see Belle sweep the Beast off his cloven feet with her brainy book smarts or just curious to know what Robby Benson's up to these days...
Remember the scene in Total Recall where our foe's eyes pop out of his head at a climactic moment? Well, your ears will perform a similar feat when you hear Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall DVD commentary with director Paul Verhoeven. It's as monotone, Austrian, and filled with hearty chuckles as you imagine. It is still funny. In fact, it is the best thing I've heard all month.
Empire caught up with Flight of the Conchords comedian Bret McKenzie, who'd recently reprised his Lord of the Rings character in The Hobbit as a musical elf, now named Lindir. "This time, if I make the edit, I'll speak in Elvish. But I don't sing. They haven't asked me to do the theme song yet! Maybe this time it's me and Annie Lennox." More importantly, he revealed that Gandalf himself is a Conchords enthusiast. "Ian McKellen, it turns out, is a big fan of Flight Of The Conchords. He and I had a good time on set, coming up with ideas for Hobbit: The Musical. We're still developing it..." Wizards -- they're just like us! [Empire]
Lots of movie business to tweet about this weekend: Breaking Dawn, Part I made more money than is right for our national health, The Descendants scored a great opening in limited release, Happy Feet Two happened, and everyone is pretending to know who Natalie Wood is. Time to narrow down Twitter's commentary to five of the weekend's best movie-related quips. Robert Wagner, you are not culpable for the hilarity herein.
The actor and his collaborators Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater could be coming back: "Well, I don't know what we're going to do but I know the three of us have been talking a lot in the last six months. All of three of us have been having similar feelings that we're ready to revisit those characters. There's nine years between the first two movies and, if we made the film next summer, it would be nine years again so we're really started thinking that would be a good thing to do. We're going to try write it this year." Hmm. Twilight? [Allocine via The Playlist]
Happy Monday! Also in today's edition of The Broadsheet: The latest on the reopened Natalie Wood investigation... Martin Scorsese may have his next project lined up... Joel Coen digs China... and more.
The Twilight Saga sparkled to another #1 opening, as if you had any doubt; it was just a matter of how many millions Breaking Dawn would rake in, after Friday's $72 million opening day. But while all the excitement over weddings, butter-colored honeymoons, and monster vampire babies couldn't quite help BD eclipse New Moon (groan), it still nudged out Pirates of the Caribbean: The One with the Kraken for the #5 biggest opening of all time. That's forever, baby. Let's get our imprinting on in today's Weekend Receipts.
What to say? The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 soared to the staggering Friday predicted by pretty much everyone: $72 million, to be precise, setting Bill Condon's first installment of the franchise swan song on a pace for a $140 million-plus weekend. The competition didn't stand a chance, with Happy Feet Two choking on Twilight's dust way back around the $6 million mark. Your Friday Box Office is here.
After you watch the horrific repercussions of Twilight's sweet, placenta-chomping vampire romance this weekend, check out the indie drama Bellflower, one of the year's more vivid and gut-wrenching examinations of the more painful side of love. You think delivering a monster baby is stressful, Bella Swan? Just see what happens to poor Woodrow (writer-director Evan Glodell) in the aftermath of puppy love. At least he's got the kick-ass, flame-throwing, apocalypse-ready Medusa car to ride around in... which can be yours, Bellflower fans, for just a few (thousand -- OK, many thousands of) bucks!
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