Forget comparisons to Twilight -- will Lionsgate's The Hunger Games hit Dark Knight-level opening weekend success? So sayeth some experts who peg the PG-13 action pic's tracking in the $85 million - $115 million range on par with Iron Man, Spider-Man, and franchise sequels usually featuring wizards or robots. What's more, The Hollywood Reporter cites "insiders" who think those figures are conservative and say the Suzanne Collins YA adaptation could even bank as much as $140 million thanks to its four-quadrant appeal, which would propel it not only ahead of all but one Twilight sequel in the record books, but into the Top 5 weekend openings of all time. [THR]
With Lionsgate's big screen adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ teen-centric sci-fi survival-adventure The Hunger Games hitting screens this week, it’s kind of impossible not to draw comparisons to that other YA juggernaut series, which concludes its billion-dollar run on pop culture this fall. So how does The Hunger Games measure up to Twilight?
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It may be indicative of Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders’ fearlessness – or his newness, this being his feature debut – that, after presenting much-anticipated footage to fans yesterday at WonderCon, he nonchalantly dropped the vivid phrase “dwarf gangbangs” into a discussion about his dark (and yes, likely PG-13) allegorical fairytale actioner. (Now that’s how you get the attention of a certain demographic.) For the record, there are no such scenarios in June's action-packed SWATH, but there were many more revelations and key insights to be had into Sanders’ take on the age-old tale, which stars Twilight’s Kristen Stewart and debuts two months after that other Snow White movie dances into theaters.
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Kristen Stewart should finally get to have some fun this November in Summit's franchise-ending The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2, which sees heroine Bella Swan finally blossom into the hot lady vampire mom she was always meant to be. A new teaser reveals your first full look at Stewart as Vampire Bella flexing her new superpowers, making out with Robert Pattinson, worrying about the hordes who want to kill her baby -- you know, the usual new parent routine.
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Congrats aren't just in order for the winners of tonight's Film Independent Spirit Awards; major props go to Adam Sandler for an outstanding showing in today's Razzie nominations announcement, which found the Jack & Jill/Just Go With It star breaking the previous record for most personal Razzie nominations earned in a year. (Sandler won 11 nominations, while Jack & Jill itself earned 12.) Eddie Murphy, guess you're off the hook for the Year of Norbit. See the full list of fairly obvious nominees vying for Golden Raspberry (dis)honors after the the jump and leave your predictions below.
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First day advance ticket sales (i.e. sales on the first day tickets are made available) for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse had held the number one spot in Fandango history until this week, when the YA adaptation The Hunger Games took the crown. You hear that? It's the sound of Lionsgate execs exhaling a month ahead of their franchise-starter's March 23 debut. The Hunger Games could still drop off considerably after its first week of release, but this is a great early sign for Katniss & Co. [Deadline]
"What the box office success of the re-released Special Editions told Hollywood is that the only way to create another global phenomenon is to make a new STAR WARS movie. 1997 was the start of the modern-day fanboy/geek culture that now runs Hollywood. Fanboy culture (Comic-Con, Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games, The Lord of the Rings, J.J. Abrams, Joss Whedon, Marvel comics, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Glee, Aint-It-Cool-News, Attack of the Show) is a groupthink mentality that claims to be democratic, what with its we-know-what’s-best-because-we’re-fans ethic, but is really pop culture fascism. And it’s the fans’ demand (remember, fan is short for fanatic), that led to Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace — the most hyped (and possibly most reviled) blockbuster in movie history." [Some Came Running]
File under "Duh": Summit and new overlords Lionsgate say they'd totally be interested in making a sixth Twilight movie, y'know, if author Stephenie Meyer is into it. I get it! It's hard to pass up another shot at making hundreds of millions of dollars, not to mention fortunes in merchandising. And it's not like we didn't see this coming; with a first trailer for Breaking Dawn Part 2 set to be attached to Lionsgate's Hunger Games in theaters next month, the studio's pushing hard to make the most of its newfound YA synergy. How can it not try and keep the Twilight cash train rolling?
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Let's be honest: Nobody watches the People's Choice Awards for the actual awards. As awards season proper kicks off it's a populist popularity contest, a loose warm-up to this weekend's Golden Globes, a pit stop on the tour of red carpet photo ops for celebrities and TV stars and actors with upcoming movies to pimp. But events like this give us lovely little gifts, random social snapshots that peek behind the curtain of celebrity. Last night they gave us Hunger Games tingles. Cute coupledom. And, perhaps best of all, Robert Pattinson having a ball with Betty White.
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The problem with Taylor Swift’s Hunger Games single “Safe & Sound” is – sorry, Swifties – Taylor Swift. Taken on its own it’s a perfectly lovely slice of discordant Americana pop that wisps beautifully with Swift’s reedy warbling as she sings about protecting loved ones as a war rages outside. But as a Hunger Games song… as what promises to be the Hunger Games song associated with the movie (besides Rue’s iconic ditty within the film), it leaves something to be desired precisely because Swift is singing in the spirit and voice of Katniss Everdeen. And you, my adorable little Taylor, are no Katniss Everdeen.
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Traditionally a "guilty pleasure" is something you'd be embarrassed for the world to know you secretly enjoyed or for your Facebook friends to see you clicked on, but you know what? Around here we embrace the bad-to-godawful movies we love, and besides; what the heck does it even mean to like something ironically, you insufferable hipster? Toss away your pretentious hat, sit down in the circle of trust, take a deep breath, and join Movieline in unabashedly celebrating the inane, misguided, off-the-mark, and downright B-A-D but nevertheless shamelessly entertaining movies of the year - the Top 9 Not-So-Guilty Pleasures of 2011. Because we all love some terrible things, don't we?
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In the decade or so since Nick Frost first made a name for himself on the BBC comedy series Spaced, much has happened. For starters, he's not waiting tables at that Mexican restaurant. He's moved with ease from television to film, most famously in genre riffs Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (with Spaced comrades Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg), and in the alien geek ode Paul (which he co-wrote and stars in with Pegg). Also notably, Frost has ventured out from the fold in films like Pirate Radio and the forthcoming Snow White and the Huntsman. And, with this week's The Adventures of Tintin, he notches another milestone: Working with his hero, Steven. Steven Spielberg.
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With the nasty back and forth between William Shatner and Carrie Fisher arguing the eternal question -- Star Wars or Star Trek? -- it seemed peace was all but a fantasy in the world of science fiction. Enter George Takei, the erstwhile Mr. Sulu and the voice of reason in this galaxy-splitting debate, to unite both fandoms in the hatred of their "ominous, mutual enemy" -- Twilight. "And it is really, really bad."
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Earlier this fall, Forbes figured out which dead celebrities are still making millions from the grave. In the continual spirit of measuring Hollywood stars by their bank accounts, Forbes has calculated which of today's actors and actresses provide studios with the best return on their investments. Can you guess the five most bankable stars in Hollywood today? I'm betting that you can name at least two...
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Breaking Dawn sparkled to the top slot yet again on the quietest weekend of the season, but just take a gander at the healthy size of Shame's art house opening! Meanwhile, the latest offerings from Martin Scorsese and Alexander Payne enjoyed a boost. But I've got to ask: What happened to the Muppets' mojo?
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