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. Captain America: The First Avenger ( $65 M)
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ( $47.4)
3. Friends with Benefits ( $18.6)
4. Transformers 3 ( $12)
5. Horrible Bosses ( $11.88)
6. Zookeeper ( $8.7)
7. Cars 2 ( $5.65)
8. Winnie the Pooh ( $5.16)
9. Bad Teacher ( $2.6)
10. Midnight in Paris ( $1.8)
Larry Crowne has already slipped out of the top 10 after only 4 weeks in the theater, being surpassed in gross ticket sales this past weekend by Midnight In Paris and Bridesmaids, both of which have been in theaters for twice the length of time. Box office earnings for Crowne have already surpassed their $30 M budget, but will likely not hit the 150% mark (which would be $45)
Source: BoxOfficeMojo.com
Non-Financial News
Agents of SHIELD for the upcoming AVENGERS film (click to enlarge)
A seven-wide poster display for Avengers was released at Comic-Con International. It depicts the major characters from the upcoming film with some artistic design elements behind them, similar to what was released for the second Star Wars trilogy years ago. Some elements include integral scenes from past films, whereas others depict important aspects of the upcoming film. (Source: SpinOff)
ESPN: THOSE GUYS HAVE ALL THE FUN, the book which describes the behind-the-scenes goings-on at the Worldwide Leader In Sports network, is on its way to the big screen, as 20th Century Fox has acquired the rights. (Source: Collider)
Star Wars fans are not only getting a Blu-ray release of all six feature films, but there’s apparently a work-week’s worth of bonus content to be had. If you purchase the pack with all six films (instead of just buying the trilogies together), you’ll get bonus content in excess of 40 hours on three discs. Included is quite a bit of deleted scenes which have yet to be included on any public release. (Source: SpinOff)
Enjoy R-Rated comedies? Universal is working on a project from the guys behind FUNNY PEOPLE which has Seth Rogen and Zac Efron attached. Here’s how it’s being described: “Rogen plays a regular guy who lives near an alpha male fraternity house. Efron is a member of the fraternity, whose raucous behavior wreaks havoc on the other guy’s family life.” (Source: Deadline)
Whether or not you like the movies, the TRANSFORMERS franchise is making boat-loads of money, and both Relativity Media and Atlas Entertainment are hoping that another cartoon from the 1980’s will translate as well to box office success with a live-action film. It was announced that those companies have collectively won a bidding war for the rights to VOLTRON. (Source: Collider)
Sam The Eagle as Captain America
Having already spoofed Green Lantern and The Hangover Part II, the folks behind the new Muppets movie have released yet another promotional poster, this time targeting CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER. Image courtesy SpinOff.
Superman fans anxiously awaiting the MAN OF STEEL franchise reboot will have to wait a bit longer. Collider reports that the initial release date of December 2012 has been pushed back to June 14, 2013.
We previously reported that Kristen Wiig is getting the opportunity to set her IMOGENE project in motion based on the success of BRIDESMAIDS, and now we’ve learned that Annette Benning will star as the mother to Wiig’s character in the film, which sounds to be a fairly significant role. (Source: Deadline)
Samuel L. Jackson has reportedly gotten a deal together with Gonzo Studios and the Indomina Group to produce a live-action version of Afro Samurai. SLJ voiced the character for its 2007 mini-series and 2009 tv movie animated projects. (Source: SpinOff)
GeekTyrant reports that in the upcoming film THE WOLVERINE, at least one of the villains will be The Silver Samurai. This information is based on a direct quote from Hugh Jackman from Comic-Con, where he was promoting Real Steel.
In case you’re super interested in the upcoming BATTLESHIP movie, featuring Taylor Kitsch and Brooklyn Decker, among others, Universal Pictures has put together an official website for the Peter Berg film which includes a countdown timer for its May 2012 release date. (Source: Collider)
On the off chance that you were worried JURASSIC PARK IV wasn’t going to happen, Steven Spielberg has confirmed at Comic-Con that they not only have a story, but a writer is working on the script, so the franchise shouldn’t be considered extinct. (Source: BadAssDigest)
With movie studios trying to find the next Harry Potter / Twilight series, Warner Bros has acquired the rights to A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES by Deborah Harkness, which is the first book in a trilogy, featuring at least one witch, “a vampire love interest and a manuscript that could kick off a war between the supernatural creatures of the world“. (Source: Collider)
