Good evening, Shockya readers! Yes, it’s Sunday again and that means it’s back to school or work tomorrow, but at least we’ve got some great movie-related conversation starters to brighten up your day.
Amongst the mass of information this week comes a few release date changes, some casting updates and news from the Cannes Film Festival. On top of that, Hunger Games addicts rejoice, because this week brought us our very first look at Jennifer Lawrence as the film’s heroin, Katniss Everdeen and she looks fantastic.
Check out Lawrence all suited up for the arena as well as a shot of Tom Hardy rocking the Bane costume and more in this week’s Movie News Cheat Sheet.
1. Release Date Changes: Hopefully you wrote these films down in your calendar with pencil because Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Colombiana and Snow White and the Huntsman are all getting new release dates. Transformers is making the shift from July 1st to June 29th giving it the five-day first weekend opening advantage. Colombiana is making the move from August 26th back a week to September 2nd while Snow White is giving itself an extra half a year shifting from its planned debut from summer 2012 to Christmas 2012, December 21st to be exact. (via Box Office Mojo)
2. Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron Join Forces with Ramin Bahrani: Okay, I’ve got to be honest; this news tidbit makes the list because Ramin Bahrani is my directing professor at Columbia University and I’m eager to support anything he’s working on. However, there is a reason for that and that ties back into why you should be aware of this item. Bahrani is a damn talented director. Need proof? Go check out Man Push Cart, Chop Shop and Goodbye Solo. Bahrani’s upcoming production is still untitled, but we do know it “tells the story of a farmer whose manic expansion alienates his sons and devoted wife.” While Bahrani has received a momentous amount of praise on the festival circuit for his past productions, hopefully, with famous faces like Quaid and Efron aboard, Bahrani can increase his audience significantly. (via Variety)
3. Scream Isn’t Over Just Yet: Scream 5? Really? Despite the fact that Scream 4 only debuted with $18.7 million, Harvey Weinstein is committed to making more. While at Cannes, Weinstein said that he’s sure director Wes Craven will be back for round five. He justified the plan by explaining that while Scream 4 didn’t hit it big domestically, it did do quite well overseas and that overall, the film could earn $110 million. I’m not going to lie; should there be a Scream 5, the diehard franchise fan inside me would be absolutely thrilled. However, logically speaking, making another Scream makes no sense at all. In terms of quality, Weinstein, Craven and the crew pulled off their return to Woodsboro, but not as an honest sequel; it was more of a cheap shot, scrambling for laughs by poking fun at itself. That likely won’t fly a second time around and even if they did opt to return to the tone of the original, it’d be nearly impossible to develop something that could live up to its predecessor. It’s a lose-lose situation. (via MTV)
4. Katniss Everdeen in the Flesh: Not only is Jennifer Lawrence busy making the talk show rounds for her upcoming film X-Men: First Class, but things are starting to really take off for the Oscar nominated actress with The Hunger Games, too. On the 20th, a brand new edition of Entertainment Weekly hit stands and Lawrence graced the cover in full Katniss Everdeen attire, Mockingjay pin and all. As one of many who were skeptical of Lawrence’s casting as opposed to a younger option like Chloe Moretz or Hailee Steinfeld, this cover comes as a nice surprise. Lawrence is Katniss. She looks absolutely perfect. What do you think? Check out the image for yourself right here.
5. No More Cannes for Lars von Trier: While Lars von Trier’s latest, Melancholia, premiered at Cannes to decent reviews, the success of the film is entirely overshadowed by its writer-director’s poor behavior. During a press conference held just after the screening, von Trier said a little something about sympathizing with Adolf Hitler. Okay, clearly it wasn’t a little something because the festival went as far to label von Trier a “persona non grata at the festival.” While one star of Melancholia, Kirsten Dunst, was understanding of the festival’s decision, admitting, “It’s unfortunate, but he, you know, joked about that. It’s very inappropriate,” her co-star, Stellan Skarsgard wasn’t as accepting of von Trier’s sentencing. He said, “It’s a storm in a teacup, and it’s absolutely silly. And that the festival doesn’t have more spine than stand against all those upset feelings that have no ground, that is ridiculous, and it’s unworthy of the festival to do something like that.” (via NY Times)
6. Titanic to Sail in 3D on April 6th, 2012: As someone who isn’t even a fan of 3D films to begin with, there’s nothing more unappealing than a film that’s converted in post. Then again, James Cameron wouldn’t turn one of his masterpieces into a mere gimmick, right? I certainly hope not because as he promised right after the success of Avatar, Titanic will hit theaters again with an extra dimension on April 6th, 2012, nine days before the 100th anniversary of the tragedy. The process has been underway for a number of years as opposed to the typical shoddy rushed conversion process we tend to see. Then again, regardless of the quality of the conversion, do we really need to see Titanic in 3D anyway? I’d check it out simply just to see Titanic back on the big screen. (via Cinema Blend)
7. The Dark Knight Rises Cast Grows By Three and Gives Us a Look at Bane: Clearly adding Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, Juno Temple, and Josh Pence to the franchise wasn’t enough; now Christopher Nolan has added Matthew Modine, Tom Conti and Joey King to the roster for The Dark Knight Rises. Sure enough, there’s no word on who the newcomers will play, except for the fact that Modine’s character is named Nixon, but we’ve got a little something that might satiate that itch for more information for the time being, our very first look at Hardy as Bane. Thanks to Batman & Robin, it’s easy to forget that Bane could very well be the film’s primary villain as he’s capable of much more than following Poison Ivy around like a puppy dog as Joel Schumacher suggested. In the comics, Banes is actually not only one of Batman’s toughest opponents physically, but intellectually, too. Check out the image of Hardy as Bane over at Wired.com where you can also learn about the viral campaign fans had to navigate through to uncover the image. (via Variety)
8. Tree of Life Wins Big At Cannes: Just before the 2011 Cannes Film Festival came to a close, a special ceremony was held to honor this year’s top films. The first award of the evening went to Maryna Vroda for her short film Cross Country. Polisse by French actress, writer and director, Maïwenn Le Besco, which snagged the Jury Prize while best screenplay went to Israeli filmmaker, Joseph Cedar, for Footnote. Lars von Trier’s experience at the festival may not have ended on a high note, but it certainly did for one of the stars of his film Melancholia. Kristen Dunst was awarded the best actress honor while Jean Dujardin was named best actor for his work in The Artist. Nicolas Winding Refn took home the best director honor for Drive and, lastly, Terrance Malick’s The Tree of Life made off with the prestigious Palme d’Or. (via Yahoo! News)
9. Trailers: Tintin, Green Lantern, Good Neighbors: Steven Spielberg gives animation a shot with his upcoming performance capture film The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn. While only a teaser, this new trailer doesn’t come packed with info for those unfamiliar with the source material, but certainly shows off the high quality of the visuals. The exact opposite is true of the brand new Green Lantern trailer. Actually, this trailer was made for folks in need of a little Green Lantern 101 prior to the film’s release detailing the origin of the Green Lantern Corps as well as how Hal Jordan snagged a ring of his own. Lastly, we’ve got something that shows Jay Baruchel in a brand new light, something that’s not a comedy, the violent thriller Good Neighbors. While the voiceover is painstakingly cliché, the rest of the trailer suggests the film might have an intriguing and compelling mystery to offer.
10. Box Office: It looks as though Fast Five’s claim to fame as 2011’s highest grossing opener of the year was rather short lived because Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides managed to top it this weekend with its $90.1 million intake, beating Fast Five’s start by about $4 million. Bridesmaids held up impressively well, only losing a mere 19.8% of its week one profits, adding another $21.1 million to its haul. As for Thor and Fast Five, the summer season is heating up, so they’re already starting to make room for the new entries, Thor dropping 55.3% for $15.5 million in week three and Fast Five losing 48% of its week three earnings to come in with $10.6 million. Rounding out the top five is Rio, which managed to snag another $4.7 million before the arrival of animated heavyweight Kung Fu Panda 2 this weekend. (via Box Office Mojo)
By Perri Nemiroff
