There’s so much going on in movie news right now that instead of covering it in a dozen separate articles, I wanted to give some summaries all in one spot. While the second half of this article contains several stories and (at least partially substantiated) rumors, we’ll first start with the money…
Box Office Top 10:
1. The Hangover Part II ($85.9)
2. Kung Fu Panda ($47.6)
3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ($39.8)
4. Bridesmaids ($16.5)
5. Thor ($9.4)
6. Fast Five ($6.4)
7. Midnight in Paris ($1.9)
8. Something Borrowed ($1.8)
9. Rio ($1.825)
10. Jumping the Broom ($1.825)
11. Priest ($1.7)
12. Water for Elephants ($1.08)
Source: BoxOfficeMojo
The gross revenue of $85M+ from Bridesmaids has almost tripled its budget of $32.5M.
With the 2011 Memorial Day Weekend earnings, Thor surpasses its budget of $150M.
In its fourth weekend at the box office, Jumping The Broom continues its huge earnings, hitting the $34M mark on a budget of just $6.6M.
Dropping 64% in earnings from last weekend, Priest will not likely recover its $60M budget and looks to be one of the biggest flops of the season. The Paul Bettany action flick has grossed just $27.2M thus far and only took in $1.7M this holiday weekend.
Non-Financial News
Whether you liked The Hangover Part II or thought it was another terrible sequel… word is that The Hangover series is extending to an always fun (*groan*) third installment. According to various sources, Craig Mazin has been signed on to pen the screenplay for The Hangover Part III, and BadAssDigest recently did an interview with Mazin where he revealed how he would end the series (assuming it ended with the third installment).
The cast of OZ: THE GREAT & POWERFUL continues to grow, as Deadline reports that Zach Braff joins the cast in a role being described as “the loyal but under-appreciated assistant” to James Franco’s Oz.
The popular video game series UNCHARTED will need a new writer and director for the upcoming film project focusing on the game. Initial reaction from fans of the game is elation that David O. Russell (THE FIGHTER, THREE KINGS, I HEART HUCKABEES) is leaving the project. Apparently his voiced intentions were to stray considerably from the source material.
The live-action remake of AKIRA has also lost its director, with Albert Hughes walking away from the project after being associated with it for over a year. His departure is potentially because Keanu Reeves turned down the lead role last week, leaving the project in considerable “search mode”. (Source: SpinOff)
As confirmed via Facebook, Orlando Bloom WILL, in fact, be included in the filming of THE HOBBIT. Though Bloom’s character Legolas wasn’t specifically referenced in the Tolkien source material, the character’s father played a significant role in the plot. No word as of yet to the size (or importance) the role will have in Peter Jackson’s retelling. (Source: Deadline)
Superman is getting the reboot with Christopher Nolan guiding the way the same way he did with Batman (That’s not news). Wonder Woman won’t be coming to NBC this fall, as the network wasn’t thrilled with the Adrianne Palicki project (not news either). Green Lantern is on its way, and in looking for another project, apparently DC Comics and Warner Brothers are actively working on a project for Hawkman (pictured below), a member of the Justice League along with those aforementioned characters. (Source: BadAssDigest) According to SpinOff, the proposed storyline is a mixture of “Indiana Jones, Da Vinci Code and Ghost”.
Though technically “Television News”, it is noteworthy to mention that in a recent interview, George Lucas stated that scripts are already written for episodes of a Star Wars television series. FIFTY hours worth of scripts, to be exact! The hold-up? Finding ways to decrease the necessary production costs involved in bringing those scripts to fruition. From what I’m hearing, the series is live-action and will apparently benefit by fans being familiar with the prequel flicks (Star Wars fanatics, feel free to scream now). (Source: Deadline)
