Category: Movies

No Crusher for STAR TREK X
Apparently the Wesley Crusher cameo has officially been cut from STAR TREK: NEMESIS. Wil Wheaton confirmed on his official Web site that his scene has been cut out of the upcoming Star Trek: Nemesis movie. Wheaton had shot a scene in which he reprised his Star Trek: The Next Generation role of Wesley Crusher.
Wheaton said that Trek executive producer Rick Berman personally delivered the bad news to him, saying that the scene was cut as part of 48 minutes of editorial trims to shorten the Nemesis rough cut’s nearly three-hour running time.
Wheaton was philosophical about the cut scene. “The great thing is, I got to spend two wonderful days being on Star Trek again, working with the people I love, wearing the uniform that I missed, and I got to re-connect with you, the cast and the fans,” Wheaton said he told Berman. “Nobody can take that away from me.” Nemesis opens Dec. 13.

WTC Rebuilding to Be Filmed
The long process of rebuilding the World Trade Center site is going to be captured on film.
The New York Times says a group of businessmen plan to record the rebuilding effort with six cameras deployed around ground zero.
Three cameras have been taking pictures of the site every five minutes since late May.
Three more cameras are expected to be added this September eleventh.
The project’s sponsors hope to produce a time-lapse film spanning at least seven years of rebuilding with millions of images.

‘XXX’ Leads Struggling North American Box Office
The Vin Diesel action movie “XXX” led the North American box office for the second consecutive weekend with a three-day haul of $23 million, while Eddie Murphy posted one of the biggest flops of the year with his new film.
“The Adventures of Pluto Nash,” in which Murphy plays a lunar nightclub owner, debuted at No. 10 with ticket sales of just $2.2 million since its Aug. 16 bow, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday. It reportedly cost about $100 million to make.
The movie has collected dust — and bad industry buzz — since its summer 2000 shoot. There were no advance screenings for critics, and Murphy did not do any publicity.
It was produced by Australia’s Village Roadshow Ltd. and Castle Rock Entertainment, and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. Castle Rock and Warner Bros, are units of AOL Time Warner Inc. Ron Underwood (“Mighty Joe Young”) directed.
“It’s a disappointment and we’re moving forward,” said Dan Fellman, president of distribution at Warner Bros.
The top 10 contained one other new release, the female surfing movie “Blue Crush,” which opened at No. 3 with a solid $15.2 million. Budgeted at about $15 million, the teen-targeted drama was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of Vivendi Universal SA.
With the lucrative summer moviegoing season drawing to a close, overall receipts fell for the fifth consecutive weekend when compared with the year-ago period. However, sales for 2002 are on track to beat last year’s record take of $8.4 billion, thanks in part to a strong start to the summer.
‘XXX’ EYES THIRD WEEK ON TOP
Columbia Pictures’ “XXX” will likely benefit from the malaise with a third round at No. 1 next weekend, industry observers said. The only new releases then are “Serving Sara,” a romantic comedy starring Matthew Perry and Elizabeth Hurley; “Simone,” a Hollywood satire starring Al Pacino; and “Undisputed,” a prison boxing drama starring Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames.
“XXX,” with a 10-day haul of $84.9 million, is outpacing Diesel’s 2001 breakthrough film “The Fast and the Furious,” which had pulled in $78 million after the same time and ended up with $144 million, said Jeff Blake, Columbia’s president of worldwide marketing and distribution.
Columbia is a unit of Sony Corp.
The Mel Gibson supernatural thriller “Signs,” which held steady at No. 2 with $19.5 million is also holding up well. After three weekends, it has pulled in $150 million. The film, written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan, was released by Touchstone Pictures, a unit of Walt Disney Co.
“Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams,” fell one spot to No. 4 in its second weekend with $11.6 million. After 12 days, its total stands at $45.7 million. The children’s adventure was released by Disney’s Miramax Films unit.
The super-spy comedy “Austin Powers in Goldmember” fell one spot to No. 5 in its fourth round with $8.7 million. The Mike Myers vehicle has a 25-day total of $183.9 million. It was released by AOL Time Warner’s New Line Cinema unit.
‘GREEK’ HITS $53 MILLION
Sleeper hit “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” jumped two places to a new high of No. 6 in its 18th weekend. Its weekend haul of $5.8 million propelled its total to $52.9 million. The arthouse romantic comedy added 349 theaters for a total of 1,072 outlets, still only a third the reach of the films in the top five.
The film was released by IFC Films, a unit of Rainbow Media Holdings Inc., which is majority owned by Cablevision Systems Corp.
Elsewhere in the arthouse world, director Neil LaBute’s adaptation of “Possession,” starring Gwyneth Paltrow, opened in 270 theaters with a modest $1.6 million. It was released by Focus Features, a unit of Vivendi Universal.
“The Good Girl,” a black comedy starring “Friends” actress Jennifer Aniston, grossed $828,000 after expanding to 56 theaters in 18 cities; it opened last weekend in four locations in New York and Los Angeles, and has grossed $1.2 million to date. It expands to 500 theaters nationally in two weeks, the Labor Day holiday weekend.
The film was released by Fox Searchlight, a unit of News Corp.’s Fox Entertainment Group Inc.
Paramount Classics’ German-language culinary romance “Mostly Martha” debuted in two New York theaters with $42,000. Its screen average of $21,000 ranks as the highest in the Viacom Inc.-owned studio’s history, a spokeswoman said. It expands to the top 10 markets next weekend.

New At The Multiplex
Well here we are; a rare August weekend that doesn’t have a huge big- budget blockbuster opening in theatres. Instead we have an Eddie Murphy movie that is reportedly so bad that it’s studio wouldn’t let anyone see it until it opened in theatres; a surfer chick movie from the producers of A Beautiful Mind; a small Gwyneth Paltrow movie from the director of Nurse Betty and In The Company Of Men and a small, little movie that has been slowly gaining steam and is on it’s way to becoming one of the most profitable films of all time.
So lets get to it!
Eddie Murphy stars in The Adventures Of Pluto Nash a flick that has been sitting on the shelf at Warner Bros. for the last 18 months, normally a sign that a movie is pretty bad. Warner also didn’t screen the film for critics or theatrical bookers either, another sign of a movie’s horrendous nature. BUT even though no one has seen it, I have.
The Adventures Of Pluto Nash is a waste of film, time, effort and everything else you can think of. It even has the luscious Rosario Dawson and it just isn’t worth your time.
Man does that movie suck!
Blue Crush doesn’t suck, and the chicks are tasty, but I just didn’t care. Produced by Ron “Opie Cunningham” and Brian Grazer the flick is entertaining, but as I said, I just didn’t care. Although it did cement my love of the bikini.
My love for Gwyneth Paltrow was cemented a few years ago, and I would tell you about her new movie Possession but it is only opening in a few select cities and I don’t live in one of the selected ones so I haven’t seen it. But if it is as good as the Sarah McLachlan song “Possession” then I will love it.
Love, yours, mine or otherwise, is at the center of My Big Fat Greek Wedding a tiny, small little film written by a woman from Winnipeg, Manitoba, that cost $5 million and has so far grossed $45 million. It has been playing in only selected cities as well, but the powers that be have finally added my city to the lucky batch of places where the flick is now playing. So I will be seeing, and probably enjoying My Big Fat Greek Wedding this weekend. And I’m not even Greek!
So enjoy the popcorn, or the souvlaki, and I’ll see you at the movies!

Mike Judge Takes On Live Action Again
Mike Judge, creator of the wildly successful KING OF THE HILL and BEAVIS AND BUTTHEAD, has committed to directing his first live action film since 1999’s OFFICE SPACE.
The first up is 3001, a film Judge wrote with Ethan Cohen. It centers around a man that wakes up 1,000 years in the future to find that the world is so dumbed down that he is the smartest man alive.
The second is MEAT IN THE FREEZER, a script he conceptualized with Steve Zahn and wrote with Clay Tarver. Zahn will serve as technical consultant and likely star as a hunter. Judge hopes it will do for hunting what CADDYSHACK did for golf. The story arose out of a differing opinion that the three had on hunting, as Zahn is the only real-life hunter. Judge explained, “Steve’s the real deal, like just about all of my friends in high school who hunted and who get all charged up with this primal hunter-gatherer thing that apparently grips everyone outside of Manhattan and Hollywood.
“I remember once being in a camera shop where this woman was getting a photo framed of her eight-year-old son, standing next to this dead buck, with all this blood running down its neck. She thrusts it at me, saying with all sincerity, ‘Oh, my God, isn’t that the cutest thing?’ Clay got a couple of videos they advertised on hunting shows on the Outdoor Life Network. There’s this laid back musical score which accompanies footage reminiscent of the Zapruder film.”
Judge said they have found a way to satirize the sport without offending any who participate, “It revolves around these hunting guides and this 18-point albino buck, a trophy of a lifetime, that everybody is trying to get during a two-week season.”

TROJAN MAN
Director Wolfgang Petersen putting his much-anticipated Superman vs. Batman project on hold in order to direct and produce Troy, an adventure based on Homer’s The Iliad slated for a 2004 release, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Spielberg Makes an Indy Promise to Lucas
Despite the fact that he once said that compared to digital filming, shooting on film is like “is like an impressionist painting,” Steven Spielberg says that he would shoot INDIANA JONES IV digitally if partner George Lucas asked him to. “I’d do anything for George,” said Spielberg, “and if George asked me to shoot Indiana Jones 4 on digital, I’d do it. But my duties will always be to shoot on film.”

Elfman Joins LOONEY TUNES
Jenna Elfman (DHARMA AND GREG) has committed to starring alongside Brendan Fraser in the new live-action/animation film LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTION. In the story, the Looney Tunes characters enter the real world and travel from Hollywood to Las Vegas to Africa in search of a diamond. Director Joe Dante willl work from a script by Larry Doyle (THE SIMPSONS).

Weekend Box Office Results
Explosions, excitement and extreme sports combined for a $46 million dollar box office debut for “XXX,” a thriller starring nascent action hero Vin Diesel.

Can Diesel Drive Weekend Box Office?
The box office notion of a rising tide lifting all boats has been debunked of late, with “Austin Powers in Goldmember” and “Signs” opening spectacularly as the overall marfket has shrunk.
A similar recipe could be cooking for this weekend, with expectations sky-high for “XXX.” The Sony release, arriving Friday, is the kickoff to the first major franchise for Revolution Studios. A sequel is already green-lit, and star Vin Diesel’s stock is the anti-WorldCom.
At 3,374 playdates, the picture is wide for mid-August, but a few hundred runs short of “Spider-Man” level. Still, like Spidey, Diesel’s Xander Cage alter-ego offers a new wrinkle to an industry obsessed with them.
Tracking suggests it has a good shot at surpassing the $45.1 million pulled in last year by “American Pie 2” in the identical weekend. But will it actually serve as a catalyst? Time will tell.
Despite all the big numbers lighting up the scoreboard, the pace of summer has slowed. Overall grosses have posted year-over-year declines for three successive frames.
The only thing preventing a fourth straight slide could be demographic diversity.
Debuting with “XXX” are Warner Bros.’ “Blood Work” and Miramax/Dimension’s “Spy Kids 2.” The latter got a head start on the weekend by collecting a stellar $4.5 million in its Wednesday bow.
As a Clint Eastwood vehicle, “Blood Work” should have plenty of room to operate among adult audiences. “Spy Kids 2” will vie with carryover “Master of Disguise” for young moviegoers and families.
Summer now stands 6% ahead of the 2001 edition, with year-to-date B.O. up 15%. Like the Dodgers, however, grosses have slumped since the All-Star break.
August is not usually a season for rallies. The month tends to see grosses contract, and there are indications of similar inertia this year.
Universal, producer Imagine and even some rivals liken next weekend’s babes-in-bikinis surf movie “Blue Crush” to the classic August sleeper “Bring It On.” The other wares on display through Labor Day, however, seem suspiciously discounted.
Attendance has spiked up this summer, to the relief of embattled studios and exhausted exhibitors. Still, the next couple of weeks figure to be a somewhat anxious time at the box office, unless your initials are “XXX.”