Deadline reports that Paula Patton is in talks to star with Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg in 2 Guns, a crime pic directed by Contraband's Baltasar Kormakur based on the graphic novel by Stephen Grant "about a DEA agent and an undercover naval intelligence officer who unwittingly investigate each other as each steals mob money." Patton will play Washington's love interest, though I feel like they've already been here before... or maybe I just have DEJA VU. HONK! Yeeeeah. Sigh. [Deadline]
Everything old was new again this weekend at the box office, with a third sequel and a WWII film cruising to the lead opposite pockets of crummy weather and a pair of NFL playoff games that were about as good as they could possibly be. What hit? What kind of didn't? Your Weekend Receipts are here.
more »
A slightly above-average weekend at the box office abated further talks of a moviegoing slump (for now), with a proven star and a buffed-out Disney classic teaming up in the top two. Mission: Impossible continued its formidable hold, meanwhile, barely suppressing a certain Joyful Noise. Your Weekend Receipts are here.
more »
Savvier and less cartoonish than those posters of Mark Wahlberg with stacks of cash taped to his famous torso might have you believe, Contraband is a remake of the 2008 Icelandic smuggling thriller Reykjavík-Rotterdam, directed by the original's star, Baltasar Kormákur. The action's been transported to New Orleans-Panama City, the goods upgraded from bootlegged liquor to counterfeit cash, and the whole enterprise daubed with some Hollywood gloss, but it's still an obligingly tense, scruffy addition to the one-last-crime genre.
more »
Remember Oscar season 2010-11? Remember we had to keep caring about The Fighter? I can't believe how long we had to care about The Fighter. For me it was the Cold Mountain of 2011. The louder you squawked, the better your Oscar chances. Did you wave your hands frantically a lot of the time? Did you steal your accent from an SNL table read? See you at the dais. Anyway, I'm still sore with Mark Wahlberg, and I'm approaching the international trailer for his new movie Contraband with that rancor. It comes out in January, so it has to be laughable. Let's laugh.
more »
Did you guys realize that Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale were starring in a little heist movie called Contraband? Me neither, but that's probably because Universal has quietly scheduled the film, from Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur, for a quiet box office death release next January. But we're going to need something to watch during that winter wasteland month so let's take a look and see if super-angry Mark Wahlberg, his abs, and and Kate Beckinsale undressing for the camera can't motivate us to buy tickets.
more »
