"Move, b****, get out the way!" said Cars 2 to Green Lantern as the Pixar sequel burned rubber over all over the competition this weekend. Hey, if Mater and Lightning McQueen can eat sushi and have car doors and live in a world with sidewalks but no humans with no discernable method of procreation in place, Cars 2 can speak in the parlance of Ludacris in my head. Especially when it defies everyone - skeptics, haters, that 34 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating -- to rake in $68M in its opening weekend. Let's review the weekend receipts!
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Along with the likes of Sir Michael Caine and Eddie Izzard, actress Emily Mortimer gives voice to one of the new additions to the Cars universe across the pond: British intelligence agent Holley Shiftwell, a smart and confident paper-pushing analyst who gets thrust into the field (and into the life and heart of Radiator Springs tow truck Mater) in John Lasseter's globe-trotting Cars 2. For Mortimer, a self-avowed Pixar nut, it was an offer she couldn't refuse. And she's definitely now drinking the Pixar Kool-Aid.
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What does Kung Fu Panda 2 have to do with King of the Hill, Midnight Run, and Animal House? Ask screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, who co-scripted and co-produced the Oscar-nominated 2008 global hit Kung Fu Panda and its sequel, in theaters this weekend. After working their way up the ranks with TV comedy gigs, the duo has emerged one of DreamWorks Animation's strongest writing teams -- and to think, it all started with a stuffy office job in Boston...
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Disney-Pixar has released five new character images from this summer's Cars 2, in which Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) and Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) meet new international friends and foes. Like in England, where they'll bump into none other than The Queen herself (Vanessa Redgrave), along with her son, Prince Wheeliam. Yes, you read that right! Wheel-iam. Question is, will royal daughter-in-law-to-be Kate Middleton get her animated due?
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In a presentation Tuesday at CinemaCon, Disney/Pixar announced that their forthcoming 2012 sequel to the Oscar-winning Monsters, Inc. will be called Monsters University, and is actually a prequel to the original exploring the origins of the friendship between Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sulley (John Goodman). Stars Crystal and Goodman are expected to return along with Steve Buscemi as rival scream-collector Randall Boggs, while a writer and director have yet to be named. Cue the college movie cliché conjecture! What familiar campus experiences might our heroes face -- and what do monsters hang on doorknobs if they don't wear socks? [THR, First Showing]
