Jodie Foster is bullish on ‘The Beaver’
As she has crisscrossed the country tirelessly promoting her latest directorial effort, “The Beaver,” Jodie Foster has been keeping in touch via text with Mel Gibson. When the star of your film is also your close friend and Hollywood’s leading persona non grata, the messages can get a tad awkward.
“Mel said, ‘I will be dragged through gravel for you,'” Foster said in Beverly Hills. “He’s been in Costa Rica. I texted him back, ‘I don’t want you to be dragged through gravel for me. Please do not.'”
Left hanging in the air is what, if anything, Foster does want from Gibson at this point. His personal scandals delayed the film’s release for months, prevented him from participating in the movie’s publicity and threatened to hijack the message of “The Beaver,” a tale of a toy company executive battling depression. Now a famously private feminist icon is in the strange position of making the rounds to defend a man who has become an industry pariah for his racist, sexist, anti-Semitic meltdowns. Yet if she’s angry, sad or disappointed that Gibson’s problems have overshadowed her first work as a director in 15 years, Foster hides it well behind a kind of old-fashioned Hollywood omert‡. “I grew up with the idea that the movie business is a family,” she said. “It’s like the mob. You don’t rat on your friends. Who you are in a business relationship is a reflection of who you are as an artist.”
Whether it’s a code of honor or maybe just the latest manifestation of the savvy that has kept Foster, 48, working in entertainment since age 3, it seems to be succeeding. Whatever their distaste for Gibson, moviegoers and critics appear willing to at least give “The Beaver” a chance.
After the film’s distributor, Summit Entertainment, delayed the movie’s fall 2010 release, Foster began quietly screening it for select press shortly after the new year, showing up in person to introduce it. In March, just five days after Gibson pleaded no contest to charges of domestic battery related to a 2010 altercation with his ex-girlfriend, she took “The Beaver” to Austin’s South by Southwest Film Festival, where its first public audience gave it a relatively warm embrace.
Early reviews have been more positive than negative. Next week, “The Beaver” will debut in 10 theatrical markets including New York and Los Angeles before Foster takes the movie to the Cannes International Film Festival and the film expands to more theaters in the U.S. and abroad. It’s a gamble but one that the two-time Oscar winner may be uniquely equipped to pull off.
“Famous people always kind of have this air,” said Jennifer Lawrence, 20, who plays a friend of Gibson’s character’s son in the film and was nominated for an Oscar this year for “Winter’s Bone.” “They have this certain way of speaking ’cause they’re used to everyone listening to them. Jodie doesn’t talk like that. There’s a pureness about the way she goes around in the world. As I watched her on set, I said this silent prayer, ‘Please let me be like that when I’m older. I don’t want to end up like one of those crazy famous people who go off the deep end.'”
Like Foster’s previous two films as a director, “Little Man Tate” and “Home for the Holidays,” “The Beaver” covers the messy terrain of family relationships. Gibson is Walter Black, a despondent husband and father who begins communicating through a furry beaver hand-puppet he rescues from the garbage. Besides directing, Foster also stars as Walter’s long-suffering wife, while “Star Trek’s” Anton Yelchin is his troubled teenage son, Porter.
Gibson and Foster became friends on the set of “Maverick” in 1994. In early 2009, nearly three years after Gibson was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and delivering an anti-Semitic tirade to a police officer, Foster approached him about playing the role of Walter in “The Beaver” by first-time screenwriter Kyle Killen. The screenplay, which had landed on Hollywood’s “Black List” of the top unproduced scripts in 2008, attracted Foster for its raw depiction of a family amid a catastrophe.
“I make movies that look inward, movies about the tragedy of family dynamics,” said Foster, whose father left her mother shortly before she was born. “But I’m a pretty well-adjusted person, and I just can’t cry in my soup about that.”
When Foster sent Gibson the “Beaver” script, he had just finished shooting the conspiracy thriller “Edge of Darkness,” which was released in 2010, but had not had a movie in theaters since 2002. His personal demons, which include alcoholism and bipolar disorder, did not deter Foster from casting him ó they may have made him even more attractive for the role.
“Walter had to be somebody who could carry a puppet with a certain amount of charm and lightness,” said Foster. “But more importantly, somebody who could really understand that man’s struggles in a way that was visceral and authentic and worn and tired and deep. I just didn’t know anyone else who would be able to do both. And that’s what I know of Mel, not only as an actor but as a person.”
Foster’s casting of Gibson in a film that deals with mental illness ó and contains one particularly disturbing scene of self-violence ó posed challenges from the start.
“There was only one distributor that said yes to two things,” said Foster. “Yes [to the violent scene], and yes it’s Mel Gibson.” That company was Summit, which released the “Twilight” movies and the 2010 best picture Oscar winner “The Hurt Locker.”
By the time production got underway in New York in September 2009, Gibson had undertaken two wildly divergent tasks ó the mechanics of puppeteering the beaver and voicing that comic character in a Cockney accent, and the art of expressing Walter’s pain.
“We rehearsed a cathartic moment,” Yelchin recalled. “We improvised. Mel talked, and I listened. He talked about a lot of pain and suffering, the combination of self-pity and self-loathing. You feel pain and then you feel bad for yourself.”
As a director who prefers to shoot only one or two takes and move on, Foster was a good match for Gibson, who won an Oscar for directing “Braveheart” and who delivers emotional scenes in quick bursts of energy. “Mel and I work in the same way,” she said. “We’re people who focus intensely but for a short period of time. One minute he’s standing there making a joke. And then, bam! He’s in it. It’s all about concentration. What do you need to concentrate?”
During reshoots last summer Gibson confided in Foster about his problems with his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, which were about to become public when some racist and threatening voicemails Gibson had left her leaked online. Foster said she considered Gibson’s problems “not that unusual. People have struggles in life. Most of us don’t have ours expressed on the Internet.” Gibson’s agency fired him and actors on “Hangover 2” ó who had worked with convicted rapist Mike Tyson in the first film ó protested Gibson’s casting in a cameo scene. Foster, however, stuck by him.
“You couldn’t get two people who are more diametrically opposed on everything that they think about religion and politics than what we do,” Gibson said of Foster in an interview with freelance journalist Allison Hope Weiner, the only interview he has granted since the tapes were released. “But there is a core of goodness there that’s undeniable, and I just love her.” For all the melodrama surrounding “The Beaver,” it appears both star and director may emerge from the film with their reputations burnished. Foster has walked the delicate line of supporting a friend and defending a pariah, while Gibson has reminded Hollywood he can act and still has the goodwill of friends in high places. Both have new projects in the works. Gibson has attached himself to a script by “Braveheart” writer Randall Wallace, even though he told Weiner he would be happy even if he never acted again.
“I haven’t really gotten the chance to tell Mel people like the movie,” said Foster. “He’s much more sensitive to his self-worth being about whether people go see his films or not than I am, maybe cause he’s had more success. It hurts him.”
As an actress, Foster just wrapped production on “Carnage,” Roman Polanski’s adaptation of the play “God of Carnage,” and will next appear as a head of state on an alien planet in “Elysium” from “District 9” director Neill Blomkamp. She said she hopes to direct again, perhaps branching into genre films. Whatever type of film she makes, Foster said, its characters will have to be complex. “My bad guys aren’t really bad guys, even if they start out that way,” she said. “I need to know why everybody is the way they are.”
Day: April 24, 2011
Steve Coogan confirms Alan Partridge movie shoots next year
In a chat with The Playlist, Steve Coogan has confirmed that the long-awaited Alan Partridge movie will shoot next year.
While promoting The Trip, which is screening during the Tribeca Film Festival, Coogan claimed that he was in the midst of writing a big-screen spin-off for his best-loved character.
Speaking about the Partridge movie, Coogan stated: “We left it behind for a while, but we came back to it because we got a few ideas.
“Weíre writing it right now, going to shoot it next year. Donít know who will direct it, but Pete Baynham [Borat] and Armando Iannucci are writing it with me. Weíve already started it.”
Alan recently returned for Mid Morning Matters, a series of Fosters-sponsored webisodes that were surprisingly high-quality.
The character was born on the radio and made his first TV appearance on The Day Today. He flew solo in faux-chatshow Knowing Me, Knowing You before coming into his own in I’m Alan Partridge.
As every incarnation has provided endlessly-quotable hilarity, a Partridge movie has been at the top of fans’ wishlists since forever.
Looks like we won’t have to wait too much longer!!!
Categories
No movies for me (again) this weekend!!
‘Rio’ speaks louder than ‘Madea,’ repeats at No. 1
LOS ANGELES ñ Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg’s talking birds have edged out Tyler Perry’s sass-talking grandma at the weekend box office.
Hathaway and Eisenberg’s animated family adventure “Rio” took in $26.8 million to remain the No. 1 movie for the second-straight weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.
“Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family” debuted a close second with $25.8 million, another solid opening for writer-director Perry, who also stars as boisterous, opinionated grandma Madea.
Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson’s circus romance “Water for Elephants” premiered in third-place with $17.5 million.
“It’s nice to have two movies in the top-three,” said Bert Livingston, distribution executive for 20th Century Fox, which released both “Rio” and “Water for Elephants.”
The weekend’s other new wide release, Disney’s nature documentary “African Cats,” opened at No. 6 with $6.4 million.
Morgan Spurlock’s product-placement documentary “POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold” opened with fair but unremarkable business in limited release.
The latest from the maker of the hit documentary “Super Size Me” took in $135,139 in 18 theaters, averaging $7,508 a cinema. That compares to an $11,254 average in 2,288 theaters for “Madea’s Big Happy Family,” which had by far the best cinema average among the top-10 movies.
Hollywood scored its second-straight weekend of rising revenues, good news for studios that have been in a box-office slide since last fall.
Receipts totaled $138 million, up 39 percent from the same weekend last year, when “How to Train Your Dragon” was No. 1 with $15.4 million, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.
The upward trend likely will continue next weekend with “Fast Five,” the latest movie in “The Fast and the Furious” action franchise, expected to have a huge opening, said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian.
“I think we’re going to have three up weekends in a row, and for us, that’s a roll. We’ve been down for so long,” Dergarabedian said. “It really points out how cyclical this business is.”
A love-bird story centered on rare parrots, “Rio” raised its domestic total to $81.3 million. The movie has taken in $204.7 million more overseas, for a worldwide haul of $286 million.
“Rio” held on well to its audience, revenues dropping a scant 32 percent in the second weekend, while “Water for Elephants” came in a bit above industry expectations.
Adapted from the best-selling novel, “Water for Elephants” features Witherspoon as the star of a Depression-era circus, with Pattinson co-starring as a veterinarian who falls for her despite her jealous, tyrannical husband.
“It felt like old-time filmmaking for me and I think for the audience,” Livingston said. “I think it’s going to play for a long time. People are going to talk about it.”
While Perry’s latest “Madea” flick was unable to knock “Rio” off its perch, the filmmaker has been a prolific and consistent box-office earner, averaging two movies a year for distributor Lionsgate over the last four years.
“He has the most loyal fan base that I certainly have ever been associated with,” said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate. “They just continue to come out and flock to the cinemas and see his movies, whether it’s a drama or comedy. He knows how to speak to his audience.”
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. “Rio,” $26.8 million.
2. “Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family,” $25.8 million.
3. “Water for Elephants,” $17.5 million.
4. “Hop,” $12.5 million.
5. “Scream 4,” $7.2 million.
6. “African Cats,” $6.4 million.
7. “Soul Surfer,” $5.6 million.
8. “Insidious,” $5.4 million.
9. “Hanna,” $5.3 million.
10. “Source Code,” $5.1 million.
Categories
Next Sunday, baby!!!
Law & Order: Criminal Intent to Take on Spider-Man Musical
The Law & Order franchise continues its headline-ripping ways: Law & Order: Criminal Intent will take on the troubled Broadway production Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark in an upcoming episode, TVLine reports.
The story will focus on a high-flying, fast-crashing show called Icarus, which detectives begin investigating when a botched stunt leads to one of the actor’s death. Suspects include a “high-strung and larger than life” director possibly modeled after Spider-Man’s one-time director Julie Taymor. The episode also features a bisexual rock-star composer named Arno. (U2 front-man Bono is responsible for the music in the Spider-Man show.)
Season 10 of Criminal Intent, which features the returns of Vincent D’Onofrio and Kathryn Erbe, premieres Sunday, May 1 at 9/8c.
The Couch Potato Report – April 23rd, 2011
This week The Couch Potato Report presents love, an Academy Award winning Speech, and a Royal film collection.
When a movieís release date is delayed, it usually means that the studio doesnít have confidence in its ability to do well at the box-office.
And they are usually correctÖvery rarely has a delayed film actually done well at the box office, there have been a few that have found an audienceÖbut not many.
The most notable exception is TITANICÖwhen James Cameron’s film was delayed from July to December of 1997 it was widely speculated that it was going to be a flopÖthen the Canadian directorís movie went on to surpass the billion dollar mark in global box-office receipts, and win 11 Academy Awards ñ including Best Picture and Director.
So not always but usuallyÖusually when a filmís release date is moved, the film is a dud.
This weekís first release ñ I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS starring Canadian actor Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor from TRAINSPOTTING and MOULIN ROUGE ñ is one of ñ if not THE most delayed film ever!!
It was originally shown at The Sundance Film Festival in January of 2009, and was first set for theatrical release in February of 2010, then in March, then on April 30th, then July 30th, and it eventually opened in limited release last December.
And then, even its DVD and Blu-ray releases were delayedÖso how bad must this thing beÖright?!?!
I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS is based on a true story and it stars Jim Carrey as an exceptionally charismatic con man who ñ after coming out ñ decides to leave his life as a married small-town police officer to move to MiamiÖalong the way becoming a flamboyant white-collar criminal, repeatedly finding himself in trouble with the law and on the run.
But it is all in the name of loveÖand Ewan McGregor plays his love interest.
Both Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor give very good performances in I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS, but the movie isnít great. It has some very entertaining scenes, a few laugh out loud moments, and it is even touching at timesÖ but it is never great.
Iím glad I finally got the chance to see it after all of the delays, but I will never sit through it again.
One movie I will sit through againÖis this yearís Academy Award winning Best PictureÖ THE KINGíS SPEECH!
Best Actor Oscar winner Colin Firth top lines the exceptional cast in this film based on a true story of King George The Sixth of Britain and his desire to overcome his stutter while working with an unconventional speech therapist, played by Oscar nominee Geoffrey Rush.
THE KINGíS SPEECH remains a fantastic film, and I loved it. Film lovers will discuss for years whether or not it was actually deserving of the Academy Award as the best film of 2010, but there is no disputing how good it is.
This is a picture that I highly recommend!
Back in early 2007 I highly recommended Spike Leeís documentary WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE, about Hurricane Katrina, and those who lived to tell about it.
Spike has now delivered a sequel, looking back on New Orleans and the people there five years later. It is called IF GOD IS WILLING AND DA CREEK DONíT RISE
The sequel starts with images of New Orleans in the wake of Katrina before fast-forwarding to last yearís Super Bowl ñ won by the New Orleans Saints ñ and then back to many of the people we met in the first filmÖand all of it is compelling, heartbreaking and still hard to believe that it all actually happened.
While I do highly recommend IF GOD IS WILLING AND DA CREEK DONíT RISE, the one thing about it that I didnít like was that fact that it also includes coverage of the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
While that story is also unbelievable, and completely connected to New Orleans, I would have preferred more about Katrina and the relocation of residents and their desire to return home one day, the rebuilding of the city, the current status of the levees, and the lasting impact of the hurricane on New Orleans.
But that small criticism aside, I do suggest that you see IF GOD IS WILLING AND DA CREEK DONíT RISEÖand if you havenít seen WHEN THE LEVEES BROKE, you should pick that up as well!!
We are off to foreign lands for the rest of this weekís Report, and weíll be concluding our adventures with Gulliverís Travels and some time spent in England, but right now we are heading to Switzerland so I can review a thriller called DIRTY MONEY about a Swiss policeman who infiltrates an international money laundering business moving millions of Swiss Francs between Switzerland and Turkey.
DIRTY MONEY is based on a true story and it all adds up to a very good film that is smart, full of great twists and turns.
Plus, it features the great Quebecois actress Lucie Laurier from BON COP BAD COP in a supporting role.
I really enjoyed DIRTY MONEYÖand I thought I would also really enjoy the Italian film LA NOSTRA VITA, which competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and includes a performance by Elio Germano, who shared the Best Actor Prize at Cannes with Javier Bardem.
Yes, I thought I would enjoy itÖbut I only liked it. LA NOSTRA VITA is very good, but it isnít great.
LA NOSTRA VITA is the story of a construction worker in Rome. He loves his wife, who is pregnant with their third child, but tragedy strikes his ñ and another family ñ and he struggles to succeed, when everything seems stacked against him.
As I said, LA NOSTRA VITA is a very good movie, and I did connect to it and the characters in itÖbut the story really isnít anything that we havenít seen before ñ and have even seen done better ñ in other movies and television shows.
If it had a few more unique scenes, some stuff we had not seen before, it would get higher praise from me, but since it doesnítÖit doesnít.
Another release that doesnít offer up anything that we havenít seen before ñ and have even seen done better ñ in other movies and television shows is the two part British Television production COLDITZ.
And donít confuse this with the British television series that aired between 1972 and 1974, this COLDITZ is a two-part 2005 production that is good ñ at times ñ but never great.
COLDITZ is mostly about British and Allied prisoners in World War II and their attempts to escape the supposedly escape-proof Colditz Castle.
It also features the story of one POW who successfully escapes to Britain only to steal the girlfriend of a fellow prisoner.
Once in Britain, he tries to prevent his fellow POW from returning and reclaiming his girlfriend.
I like war movies and television showsÖpossibly due to the fact that my Father was in the Military and I was surrounded by it my whole youthÖand while I didnít dislike COLDITZÖI had seen it all before.
As I said, it is good ñ at times ñ but never great.
How about some music nowÖI love music, and the hills are now alive with the sound of musicÖas performed by a group of children living in a slum in Mumbai, India.
THE SOUND OF MUMBAI is a documentary about a group of young children living in a slum in Mumbai who are given a chance to experience a different world as they perform The Sound of Music with a classical orchestra.
But it isnít just the opportunity to perform that has them excited, they are also excited because this concert gives them all hope that it could change their lives and get them out of the slums forever.
That causes some friction between friends.
THE SOUND OF MUMBAI is the type of documentary where you want the best for everyone in itÖyou want them to have their dreams come true ñ each and everyone of them ñ and you would hope that they can get out of the slums in IndiaÖbut lifeÖand lives told through documentariesÖdoesnít work that way.
This is a very good film, a really nice film and if you see it on the shelf in a store, or find it on-demand, check it out.
Not good, not nice, not full of people you root forÖnot worthy of your timeÖnot anything is the latest film version of Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swiftís 1726 publication GULLIVERíS TRAVELS about the land of Lilliput and its tiny inhabitants.
The original tale of Gulliver’s Travels was first published in 1726 and it is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the “travellers’ tales” literary sub-genre. It is a classic of English literature and a must read.
This latest film stars Jack Black from SCHOOL OF ROCK and it is pointless!! It would like to be irreverent, but it is just irrelevant and quite crass. I wouldnít recommend it for kids, teenagers, adults or anyone.
If you have a desire to take part in GULLIVERíS TRAVELSÖsimply read the book!! I love that book, I did not even like this movie!!
Finally this week The Blu-Ray Beacon shines on a fantastic new Five Disc Box Set that includes four Academy Award winning films ñ THE KINGíS SPEECH, THE QUEEN, THE YOUNG VICTORIA and SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. It also features VANITY FAIR starring Reese Witherspoon as a woman who aspires to be royalty.
THE ROYAL COLLECTION has been released to coincide with the Royal Wedding on Friday, but that commercial reason aside, the reason that I am proud to now have the set in my movie library is because of the filmsÖespecially THE KINGíS SPEECH, THE YOUNG VICTORIA and THE QUEENÖalthough that latter film ñ sadly – doesnít look all that great in HD as the transfer is not pristine. The movie is still great, but the Blu-ray is not.
That said, I decree that I will keep this box set forever, and may Prince William and Kate Middletonís life together be as memorable as the films in THE ROYAL COLLECTION.
The very entertaining Five-Disc Box Set THE ROYAL COLLECTION, the not great GULLIVERíS TRAVELS, the documentary THE SOUND OF MUMBAI, COLDITZ, LA NOSTRA VITA, DIRTY MONEY, Spike Leeís second Hurricane Katrina documentary, IF GOD IS WILLING AND DA CREEKS DONíT RISE, the fantastic Academy Award winning film THE KINGíS SPEECH and the not great, but not awful romantic comedy I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS are all available now for you to watch and own.
Coming up on the next Couch Potato Report
THE STRIKING TRUTH is a documentary about charismatic Saint-Isidore, Quebec born Ultimate Fighting Champion Georges St-Pierre and dynamic Montreal raised MMA fighter David “The Crow” Loiseau.
Also next week, Kevin Spacey stars in CASINO JACK, weíll hear from lottery winners ñ and losers ñ in the documentary LUCKY and the boys are backÖKyle, Stan, Kenny and CartmanÖin THE COMPLETE FOURTEENTH SEASON of SOUTH PARK.
I’m Dan Reynish. I’ll have more on those, and some other releases, in seven days.
For now, that’s this week’s COUCH POTATO REPORT.
Enjoy the movies and I’ll see you back here again next time on The Couch!
Categories
Woo hooo!!!! Summer is almost here!!!
The 2011 summer film preview
“Summer begins!” declares the marketing for Fast Five — and who are we to argue with Vin Diesel?
Although the Fast and Furious sequel opens Friday — April 29, in case you didn’t have a calendar — that’s not stopping Hollywood from waving the flag on the summer movie-going season.
Still, if studios can’t quite decide when summer begins — it used to be the U.S. Memorial Day weekend — they know what’s at stake.
So far 2011’s box office is lagging behind the year prior, and the industry is counting on its summertime line-up of sequels and superheroes to provide a much-needed boost to its bottom line.
From adorable animals and cheating spouses to blood-sucking neighbours and soul-sucking employers, here’s what else moviegoers can expect for the next four months. As always, release dates are tentative.
Thor
Who: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo
When: May 6
What: Arrogant Thor (Hemsworth) is exiled from the kingdom of Asgard to Earth, where he has to defend both worlds from his sinister sibling, Loki (Hiddleston).
Why: Marvel (and new owner Disney) can’t rely on Robert Downey Jr. forever.
How will it fare: Depends on whether or not Marvel can convince audiences its god of thunder is as cool as Iron Man.
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Who: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ian McShane and Geoffrey Rush
When: May 20
What: Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley have walked the plank, meaning Depp’s Capt. Jack Sparrow has new fiends and foes to contend with. Among them: Cruz as a con artist from his past; McShane as the nefarious Blackbeard; and Rush, back as Captain Barbossa.
Why: The last Pirates film grossed $960 million worldwide. Whatever they’re paying Depp, it’s still a bargain.
How will it fare: Despite a new director (Chicago’s Rob Marshall), it’s still a pirate’s life — and Disney already has plans for more Sparrow-centric sequels. Plus, it’s in 3D, meaning higher ticket prices.
The Hangover Part II
Who: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike Tyson, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong
When: May 26
What: The Wolf Pack — Phil (Cooper), Stu (Helms), Alan (Galifianakis) and Doug (Bartha) — travel to Thailand for Stu’s nuptials where a pre-wedding brunch goes off the rails. In the aftermath, they try to piece things together and locate Stu’s missing future brother-in-law.
Why: The original is one of the highest grossing comedies in history.
How will it fare: A massive opening is guaranteed, but can it match the surprise of its predecessor? And there are signs of trouble. First Mel Gibson was cast in a cameo as a tattoo artist, then he was replaced by Liam Neeson, and now he’s been cut too. Is there time to reshoot it (again) with Charlie Sheen?
Kung Fu Panda 2
Who: Jack Black, Gary Oldman, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen
When: May 27
What: Po the Panda (Black) has mastered kung fu. But now he has to protect it from a new arch-villain (Oldman).
Why: The original grossed $630 million worldwide and redeemed Black (sort of).
How will it fare: Better than Gulliver’s Travels.
X-Men First Class
Who: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon and January Jones
When: June 3
What: Future frenemies Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Magneto (Fassbender) battle a mutual foe (Bacon) during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Why: Because a prequel might be able to restore the X-franchise after the lacklustre X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
How will it fare: The only proven commodity among this summer’s superhero adventures. The trailer scored huge online, showing there’s still plenty of interest in Marvel’s mutants.
Super 8
Who: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning and Kyle Chandler
When: June 11
What: E.T. meets Cloverfield. In the 1970s, a train derailment in small-town U.S.A. unleashes mysterious cargo from Area 51. Writer-director J.J. Abrams (Star Trek) intends this as a homage to Steven Spielberg’s classic films from that era. Spielberg, not coincidentally, is a producer. The title refers to the “Super 8” camera the kids in the story are shooting a home-made movie with.
Why: Because Abrams and Spielberg can do whatever they want.
How will it fare: As Inception proved, audiences actually appreciate originality.
Green Lantern
Who: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Saarsgard, Mark Strong
When: June 22
What: Star Wars meets Superman. Air Force test pilot Hal Jordan (Reynolds) becomes an intergalactic superhero, armed with an energy ring.
Why: Because Warner Bros., which owns DC Comics, wants to capitalize on its characters as well as Marvel has.
How will it fare: A giant green question mark. Director Martin Campbell has launched two James Bonds (Pierce Brosnan in Goldeneye and Daniel Craig in Casino Royale) but he’s never helmed a CG-heavy production like this before. The first trailer underwhelmed, but more recent footage marked a significant uptick.
Cars 2
Who: Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine
When: June 24
What: While participating in the world grand prix, Lightning McQueen (Wilson) and tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy) are recruited to be spies.
Why: 2006’s Cars made $460 million worldwide.
How will it fare: As a brand, Pixar is unbeatable and the sequel, with its emphasis on action and humour, should perform just as well as the original. Still, did anyone want a Cars sequel?
Transformers: The Dark of the Moon
Who: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey, Tyrese Gibson, John Malkovich, Frances McDormand
When: July 1
What: Giant freaking robots, that’s what.
Why: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen earned more than $800 million worldwide.
How will it fare: LaBeouf and director Michael Bay have admitted the last sequel was crap. Imagine how much loot they’ll rake in if this one is just OK.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part II
Who: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman
When: July 15
What: The teen wizard battles Lord Voldemort in the second half of the two-part adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s climatic book.
Why: Potter is the highest grossing film franchise ever.
How will it fare: A lot better than the studio executives who have to figure out what they’re going to do without future Potter movies to pay the bills.
Winnie the Pooh
Who: Jim Cummings, Craig Ferguson, John Cleese, Bud Luckey
When: July 15
What: A traditionally animated tale based on the enduring honey-loving bruin.
Why: Because the world needs a Disney movie that doesn’t feature the voice of Larry the Cable Guy.
How will it fare: Winnie the Pooh is beloved, but, as Eeyore would point out, times are tough for 2D cartoons.
Cowboys & Aliens
Who: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Adam Beach, Sam Rockwell
When: July 29
What: Probably safe to assume there’ll be both cowboys and aliens.
Why: Because no one had thought to combine westerns and extraterrestrial invasion movies before.
How will it fare: Hopefully better than Wild, Wild West. The casting of Craig and Ford is irresistible. And director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Zathura) knows how to marry story with special effects.
Crazy Stupid Love
Who: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone
When: July 29
What: Newly divorced Steve Carell is taken under the wing of perpetual player Ryan Gosling. But their best-laid plans are soon in ruins. Carell, for one, still loves his wife, Julianne Moore. And Gosling meets his match in Emma Stone, who refuses to fall for his eight-pack.
Why: Because sometimes adults go to movies.
How will it fare: Could just be the hit Carell needs, post-The Office. Ditto Gosling, who hasn’t strayed from the indie world for awhile. The trailer looks heartfelt and hilarious without being either syrupy or stupid.
The Smurfs
Who: Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria, Katy Perry, George Lopez
When: July 29
What: The Smurfs are transported to New York City, where they befriend a human played by Harris.
Why: Because if Alvin and the Chipmunks can gross more than $700 million worldwide, there must be room for blue creatures who are three apples high, right?
How will it fare: Smurfed if I know. As Yogi Bear demonstrated, just because Alvin has done spectacularly well doesn’t mean every live-action/CG-animated movie based on an old television cartoon is a sure thing.
The Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Who: James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton and Andy Serkis
When: Aug. 5
What: Ever wonder how primates took over the world? Experiments to increase brain capacity, led by Franco’s misguided scientist.
Why: Because The Planet of the Apes, despite that dismal Tim Burton outing in 2001, remains one of the most venerable brand-names in Hollywood history. And Peter Jackson’s WETA — the special effects house behind Lord of the Rings and Avatar — doesn’t need those damn dirty rubber masks.
How will it fare: Footage of the CGI Caesar (performed by Serkis), the ape who leads a revolt against humanity, is stunning. District 9 proved there’s an audience for smart, socially provocative science-fiction.
ALSO COMING OUT
APRIL
Fast Five
Dwayne Johnson joins the franchise as a federal agent hunting Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Kind of like Tommy Lee Jones in The Fugitive if Tommy Lee Jones used to be a wrestler. (April 29)
Prom
Teenagers at a crossroad during a climatic high school dance. (April 29)
MAY
Something Borrowed
Adapted from the chick-lit novel, Kate Hudson and Ginnifer Goodwin are best friends caught between the same guy. (May 6)
The Beaver
Mel Gibson is a man so troubled he has to communicate through a beaver hand puppet. As we all know, nobody does unhinged psycho as convincingly as Gibson, so it’s no surprise his full-bore meltdown performance is said to be exceptional. (May 6, limited)
The Bang Bang Club
Combat photographers chronicle the last days of Apartheid. Ryan Phillippe, Malin Akerman and Taylor Kitsch star. (May 6, limited)
Bridesmaids
Kristen Wiig and Rose Byrne fight for the right to plan their friend’s wedding party. (May 13)
Last Night
A married couple confronts temptation. With Sam Worthington and Keira Knightley. (May 20, limited)
The First Grader
Based on a true story. An 84-year-old Kenyan villager attends school for the first time. (May 20 limited)
June
Good Neighbours
Canadian filmmaker Jacob Tierney (The Trotsky) directs Emily Hampshire, Jay Baruchel and Scott Speedman in this dark comic thriller about a series of homicides in Montreal. (June 3)
Tree of Life
Brad Pitt and Sean Penn headline the latest lyrical drama from revered director Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line). (June 10, limited)
Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer
Definitely not a bummer: How much cash the Diary of a Wimpy Kid films have raked in. The folks behind third-grader Judy Moody’s first outing are undoubtedly hoping for a similar kids-driven windfall. (June 10)
Mr. Popper’s Penguins
In this family comedy, Jim Carrey stars as Thomas Popper, a flinty business mogul whose life is upended by the arrival of six unruly — but lovable — penguins. (June 17)
Beginners
Ewan McGregor discovers his father (Christopher Plummer) 1) has cancer and is 2) gay. (June 17)
Bad Teacher
Cameron Diaz’s profanity-prone teacher decides she needs breast implants to woo the school’s new substitute teacher (Justin Timberlake). When she learns the teacher with the highest class average gets a bonus, she finds herself competing with a perky nemesis. (June 24)
Homework
Freddie Highmore and Emma Roberts are teenage kindred spirits. (June)
July
Larry Crowne
Tom Hanks, who also directed, stars as the title character, a middle-aged man who goes back to school after losing his job. Julia Roberts is the community college teacher he falls for. (July 1)
Monte Carlo
A girl vacationing in Europe is mistaken for a princess. Selena Gomez and Leighton Meester star. (July 1)
Horrible Bosses
Office Space meets Strangers on a Train. Friends conspire to murder their bosses. The ensemble includes Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman and Colin Farrell. (July 8)
One Day
Jim Sturgess and Anne Hathaway are friends whose relationship is charted over the course of two decades in the adaptation of the bestseller. (July 8)
Zookeeper
The animal population of a zoo decide to help their kindly zookeeper (Kevin James) win over the woman of his dreams (Rosario Dawson). Because there’s nothing a caged animal identifies with more than a lost cause. (July 8)
Friends with Benefits
What would No Strings Attached have been like with Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis? We’re all about to find out. (July 22)
Captain America: The First Avenger
During the Second World War, weakling Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is transformed into a star-spangled do-gooder, then pitted against his Nazi counterpart, the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving). Can a hero even more square than Superman overcome comic-book movie fatigue? (July 22)
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
Girls in 19th century China forge a friendship while in present-day Shanghai their descendents have struggles of their own. (July)
Another Earth
Sundance entry about an astrophysics student whose obsession with a newly discovered planet leads to tragedy. (July)
AUGUST
The Change Up
It’s not a remake of a 1980s comedy; it just feels that way. Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman swap bodies. From the director of Wedding Crashers. (Aug. 5)
The Devil’s Double
Based on the actual account of the ordinary man (Dominic Cooper) who was forced to be the double of Saddam Hussein’s son. (Aug. 5, limited)
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark
When a young girl (Bailee Madison) moves into a new home with her father (Guy Pearce) and new girlfriend (Katie Holmes), she learns they are not alone. Guillermo del Toro produces. (Aug. 12)
30 Minutes or Less
A pizza delivery driver is forced to rob a bank in 30 minutes. Or else. Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) reunites with the director of Zombieland. (Aug. 12)
The Help
Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer star as three women in 1960s Mississippi who become unlikely friends. Based on the bestseller. (Aug. 12)
Conan the Barbarian
By Crom! Hoping to avoid hearing the lamentations of fans and critics is Jason Momoa (Stargate: Atlantis), replacing Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Cimmerian warrior in this remake of the 1982 cult classic. (Aug. 19)
Fright Night
Before there was Buffy the Vampire Slayer, there was 1985’s Fright Night. In this redo, Anton Yelchin is a high school senior who learns his seemingly cool next-door neighbour (Colin Farrell) is a vampire. He enlists a Vegas magician (David Tennant) to help him stake the undead smooth-talker. (Aug. 19)
Spy Kids 4
All the Time in the World:
Jessica Alba and Jeremy Piven join the series for this instalment, again directed by Robert Rodriguez. (Aug. 19)
Final Destination 5 3D
Do you really need a plot synopsis? (Aug. 26)
Our Idiot Brother
Free spirit Paul Rudd crashes the lives of his three sisters — Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Elizabeth Banks — in this indie comedy. (Aug. 26)
London Boulevard
The Departed meets The Bodyguard. Ex-con Colin Farrell is recruited to protect reclusive actress Keira Knightley. (August)
The Whistleblower
Rachel Weisz stars as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia faced with widespread corruption in the rebuilding of the country. Inspired by actual events. (August)
Categories
For the record, I am not going!!
Beckham, Elton, Mr. Bean to attend royal wedding
LONDON ñ David Beckham, Elton John and Mr. Bean actor Rowan Atkinson will mingle with dozens of royal guests at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, according to an official guest list released Saturday that includes one uncomfortable presence ó the Bahraini crown prince accused of a brutal crackdown on protesters.
St. James’s Palace also released the seating plan at Westminster Abbey, which showed that relatives of William’s mother Princess Diana are sitting across the aisle from the royal family, joining the Middletons in an exception to the traditional division of a church into a bride’s side and groom’s side.
There was no explanation of the seating arrangement, but the Spencers have not had a good relationship with the royal family, especially after Diana’s brother Charles Spencer attacked the royals during a speech at her 1997 funeral.
More than 46 foreign royals are seated behind the British royals. They include Bahrain’s Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, an invitation that could prove awkward in light of his government’s rough treatment of mainly Shiite pro-democracy protesters.
Some human rights campaigners have started to petition Foreign Secretary William Hague to revoke the invitation, saying the prince should not be allowed to attend the occasion. At least 30 people have died in Bahrain since mid-February, including four who died while in official custody, and many well-known activists and lawyers have been imprisoned.
Other foreign royals who are attending include those from Denmark, Norway, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Thailand and Morocco. Only a handful of celebrities are invited, including the Beckhams, director Guy Ritchie, soul singer Joss Stone, and Atkinson ó a close friend of William’s father Prince Charles.
Although about 1,900 guests have been invited to the couple’s wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey, half of them will sit in the section of the abbey where views of the altar are restricted, and they will have to rely upon video screens to follow the service.
Queen Elizabeth II and other royal family members will sit in the front row across the aisle from Middleton’s parents and brother James. They will be closest to the abbey’s sanctuary, where William and his bride will stand.
Foreign dignitaries, the Middletons’ family friends, British government and defense officials, families of British soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, William’s army colleagues, and people who work for William’s charities will be seated around the abbey.
Palace officials said that only crowned heads of states are traditionally invited to royal weddings, and that political leaders who are not from the 54-member Commonwealth of nations, such as President Barack Obama or French President Nicolas Sarkozy, weren’t sent invitations.
About 600 of the guests will then attend a champagne and canapes reception at Buckingham Palace hosted by the queen.