Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Norah Jones has been tapped to perform "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from the 2012 feature Ted, Oscar telecast producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron said Monday. This will be Jones' first time performing for the Oscar ceremony.
more »
When the Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday, viewers across the globe were treated to Seth MacFarlane tossing out jokes that were exhausted before they were tried. Every line about how early the nomination announcements were fell flat on the West coast, so I can only imagine how weak they played in time zones that were already awake. His general onstage demeanor wasn’t doing him any favors either. He appeared shaken and unprepared, and while I doubt the nomination announcement was heavily rehearsed, I’m concerned about the man’s ability to compose himself on a global stage. He's good on video and audio, but how is he live? (Recall last year's Emmys, where he couldn't even find his mic.) more »
Also in Friday's news round-up, the studio suits are jubilant on Skyfall's box office prospects; Ted passes a b.o. milestone and a quick look at the weekend's new Specialty Releases including Silver Linings Playbook and Anna Karenina.
more »
Late last week, the box office prognosticators speculated whether The Dark Knight Rises would eek out a triumph over newcomer Total Recall. The pendulum would swing in either direction as the weekend approached, but in the end TDKR easily beat out Total by every measure. In fact, the film only really managed to measure-up to its original, but in 2012 dollars
more »
Also in Friday afternoon's round-up of news briefs, Will Ferrell joins a new comedy. WWE champ gets back in front of the camera and a court in Beijing sends a group of execs from a VOD site to prison in one of the harshest sentences ever.
more »
"A 9/11 joke didn’t go down well during a showing of new movie Ted attended by former mayor Rudy Giuliani and wife Judith in the Hamptons on Sunday night. [...] In one scene, Ted — the misanthropic CGI teddy bear in the film — asks singer Norah Jones about her nationality, then shockingly spits back, 'Whatever. Thanks for 9/11.' 'No one in the theater laughed,' the Hamptons spy said. 'The joke fell completely flat.' They added the audience 'had too much respect for the mayor' to make light of the disaster. But Rudy and Judi were later seen enjoying the rest of their night in the Hamptons." Whew. [NYP via NYM]
The last pre-Dark Knight Rises weekend at the multiplex came and went without much incident, unless you call The Amazing Spider-Man losing his grip on the No. 1 spot after one week an "incident." You decide! Either way, your Weekend Receipts are here.
more »
As expected, The Amazing Spider-Man spun up impressive numbers over the Friday - Saturday weekend, adding to its totals since rolling out in the U.S. on Tuesday ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. The film topped the overall box office and had one of the largest per screen averages in release, though the top PSA went to specialty release Beasts of the Southern Wild in its second weekend, though its screen count is still very limited. Last weekend's number one Ted held steady in second place on the b.o. rankings, while Brave and Savages came in third and fourth respectively.
more »
In Monday afternoon's round up of news briefs, a network has bought the television rights to foul-mouthed teddy bear comedy Ted. Mirren appeals for more female filmmakers at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Andie MacDowell and daughter join a project, and Paramount is pursuing a U.S. version of Inbetweeners.
more »
Audiences headed out to theaters to see a foul-mouthed Teddy Bear and some hot man flesh over the weekend. Universal's Ted grossed over $54.1 million over the Friday through Sunday, while Warner Bros.' Magic Mike came in at just over $39.15 million. The two studio newcomers topped the overall box office for the weekend, while last week's newcomer animation Brave held the third spot. Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection landed in fourth place.
more »
The star of Seth MacFarlane's R-rated comedy Ted reportedly has an entire fetish community agog, only it's not Mark Wahlberg, though plenty of folks are probably feeling his good vibrations. It's the bear.
more »
Also in Friday morning's news round up, it looks like the next round of Hunger Games cast is shaping up. Psychological thriller Gut gets a digital distribution home and perhaps not exactly film-direct news, but the Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal from the FCC over that Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction" back in 2004…
more »
If you’ve seen the red band trailer for Ted, in which Mark Wahlberg plays a grown man whose best friend is his talking teddy bear, you may think you’ve seen the whole thing: Beware the comedy trailer that’s so packed with hilarity that you just know it’s cobbled from the best bits in the movie. But miraculously, Ted manages to sustain itself.
more »
Ridley Scott may or may not be spilling details on how Prometheus factors into the Alien franchise, but a new clip from the film sheds a few shards of light on the connection, and cleverly so: Watch Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland (CEO of Weyland Corporation, to become the future Weyland-Yutani Corp.) give a riveting TED Talk, circa 2023, promising a bright new future to the tech set.
more »
FILM NEWS 