Month: March 2014

Jason Sudeikis Will Play Fletch For A New Generation

There’s a certain sort of tradition that comes with being a part of Saturday Night Live. Often, the only comedians with a bad word to say about the show have sour grapes that they had very little screen time (Jay Mohr wrote a book about this). Only one star, Eddie Murphy, has declared himself bigger than the show himself (arguable), neglecting to discuss it or appear at SNL-themed events. But most people who use the show as a springboard to success acknowledge they’re walking in the shadows of giants, and Jason Sudeikis is about to walk under one right now.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Sudeikis has signed on to star in Fletch Won, the first of a planned franchise. This role was of course originated onscreen by original SNL cast member Chevy Chase, whom Sudeikis mirrors in some ways. Chase was the star of the much loved Fletch and the lesser-loved Fletch Returns, but the source material stretches back to a dozen novels written by Gregory McDonald. Sudeikis is strapping himself into a prospective series that potentially has no shortage of concepts.

Unlike Chase’s sarcastic (and, let’s admit, dated) movies, the Fletch concept is more of a mystery with comedic elements, and the studio claims they’re looking for a Beverly Hills Cop or Midnight Run vibe. The WB grabbed the rights in February 2011 after years of false starts, particularly an ongoing flirtation with director Kevin Smith, and a collection of potential new Fletches like Jason Lee and Ryan Reynolds. As befitting the (terrible) title, this film takes the character back to his roots, beginning the saga with the start of Fletch’s career. The studio is on the hunt for a director.

Sudeikis smartly gambled on a couple of projects after a decade on SNL, signing sequel deals for Horrible Bosses 2 and We‘re The Millers Again, despite both seeming like less-than-sure things. But both originals grossed $210 and $270 million respectively, showing surprising muscle overseas (rare for an American comedy), and the actor is heavily in-demand as a result. Like Chase, he’s a rogue-ish leading man, but his comedic persona is more schticky, whereas Chase could act somewhat convincingly. It’s early in Sudeikis’ career, and his film roles haven’t really stretched him all that far, but he seems like more of an Aykroyd than a Murray, if you get my drift.

Box office report: ‘300: Rise of an Empire’ conquers the weekend with $45 million; ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ sets record

300: Rise of an Empire speared its competition and kept on raking in the dollars on its opening weekend.
Warner Bros. and Legendary’s hyper-stylized 3-D sequel earned an estimated $45 million from 3,470 theaters. Despite lackluster reviews, audiences turned out in droves to watch Eva Green’s Atremisia and the rest of the scantily clad warriors take to the sea for battle in the $108 million pic. Smart People director Noam Murro took the helm from Zack Snyder this time around — though Snyder produced and wrote the film. Audiences (62 percent male) slapped the epic with a B Cinema Score.

The lure of IMAX helped. The 342 IMAX screens brought in $6.8 million (or 15 percent) of the film’s weekend earnings, while 3-D showings accounted for 63 percent of the grosses. 300: Rise of an Empire is also performing quite well internationally with $87.8 million from 58 markets. Still, it doesn’t even come close to Zack Snyder’s $70 million March 2007 opening for 300. Nevertheless, the sequel should enjoy a healthy box office life.

DreamWorks Animation’s Mr. Peabody and Sherman (Cinema Score: A) opened in the No. 2 spot this weekend with an estimated $32.5 million from 3,934 theaters, exceeding studio and analyst expectations for the $145 million movie. Audiences were slightly more female (54 percent) and 52 percent were over 25. Despite the stellar A Cinema Score, it seems younger audiences were even more enthusiastic: The 25 and under crowd gave it an A+. The brilliant dog and his eager young companion will likely enjoy at least one more good weekend at the box office before Muppets Most Wanted screams into theaters on March 21.

Liam Neeson’s tense thriller Non-Stop snagged the third place spot with $15.4 million — a 46.7 percent drop from its debut. The Jaume Collet-Serra pic now boasts a $52.1 million domestic total. Meanwhile, The Lego Movie dropped 47 percent and claimed the No. 4 spot with $11.1 million. The animated building blocks have made about $225 million domestically in five weeks in theaters. Finally, in fifth place, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey’s biblical epic Son of God fell 60 percent and took in an estimated $10 million in its second weekend in theaters, bringing its domestic total to $41.5 million.

Here’s the top five:
1. 300: Rise of an Empire – $45.05 million
2. Mr. Peabody and Sherman – $32.5 million
3. Non-Stop – $15.4 million
4. The Lego Movie – $11.1 million
5. Son of God – $10 million

In the speciality box office world, Wes Anderson’s art caper The Grand Budapest Hotel earned an estimated $800K from four theaters. Its $200K per-screen average is the highest ever for a live-action film. According to Fox Searchlight, sell-out crowds even caused extra showings to be added on the spot. For those not in New York or Los Angeles, the film will open in 17 new markets this weekend.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master was the previous record-holder with $147K per theater. Budapest’s debut also pushes Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (opened to $130k per theater average) to the No. 3 spot.

Best Picture winner 12 Years a Slave also expanded into 1,000 theaters this weekend, earning $2.2 million and a spot in the top 10.

Box office report: ‘Non-Stop’ stops ‘The Lego Movie’ in its tracks with $30 million debut, edging out ‘Son of God’

Liam Neeson may not have become a full-fledged action star until he was in his mid-50s, but the man is proving downright unstoppable at the box office. Neeson’s latest action outing, Non-Stop, bested the competition this Oscar weekend with a stronger-than-expected $30 million opening, knocking The Lego Movie out of the No. 1 spot it had held for three straight weeks and topping the weekend’s other major debut, Son of God, which took second place with $26.5 million.

While Non-Stop‘s opening fell well short of the $49.5 opening weekend haul of Neeson’s last action flick, 2012′s Taken 2, the cat-and-mouse thriller scored a bigger debut than several of his earlier films, including The A-Team, Battleship, and the first instalment in the Taken franchise. Reviews were mediocre, but moviegoers gave the film an A- CinemaScore. Interestingly, the audience skewed 51 percent female and 65 percent over the age of 25, suggesting that Neeson’s appeal extends far outside the stereotypical young, male action-movie demographic.

No one was quite certain how the latest big-screen take on the life of Jesus Christ, Son of God, would perform going into this weekend, since tracking for religious-oriented fare is notoriously dicey. Adapted from the smash History Channel miniseries The Bible, the film received an aggressive, months-long grassroots marketing push targeting Christian audiences, and some wondered whether it could replicate the phenomenon that was Mel Gibson’s 2004 The Passion of the Christ. In the end, Son of God didn’t prove the second coming of Passion, pulling in just a fraction of that film’s staggering, nearly $84 million opening. Still, the film’s $26.5 million debut — and its A- CinemaScore — proved that the core churchgoing audience will enthusiastically turn out for a film that, in their view, faithfully represents their beliefs. As for exactly what Son of God‘s performance may portend for this year’s other major upcoming biblical movies — Darren Aronofsky’s Noah and Ridley Scott’s Exodus, each of which is hoping to capture a broad audience of believers and non-believers — well, God only knows.

The Lego Movie may have fallen to third place, but don’t feel bad for the brick-tastic animated hit. The film continued to perform (everything is) awesomely in its fourth weekend with a $21 million haul. The Lego Movie has now passed the $200 million mark domestically and the $300 million mark worldwide, making it by far the biggest release so far this year. Even that impressive performance, though, pales a bit next to the other recent animated blockbuster, Disney’s Frozen, which crossed the $1 billion global box office mark this weekend — only the 18th film to hit that milestone.

Last week’s second place finisher, the Kevin Costner-starring action pic 3 Days to Kill. dropped to fifth place with an estimated $4.9 million haul, while the Mount Vesuvius epic Pompeii sank a steep 60 percent from its already disappointing opening last weekend, falling to seventh place. Meanwhile, George Clooney’s The Monuments Men continued to hold better than expected, clinging to a spot in the top five with an estimated $5 million weekend. This brings the film’s cumulative grosses to a solid if not quite monumental $65 million, proving that Sony was probably smart to move the film out of its initially slated Christmas release, where it may have gotten lost in the shuffle.

Paramount’s re-release of Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues in an R-rated, extended cut with all new jokes mopped up $1.3 million in 1,317 theaters, bringing that film’s total gross to $126 million — well beyond the original Anchorman‘s $85 million haul.

1. Non-Stop: $30 million
2. Son of God: $26.5
3. The Lego Movie: $21 million
4. The Monuments Men: $5 million
5. 3 Days to Kill: $4.9 million