Prepare yourself for sequel madness! Actually, it’s not just sequels; there’s reboots and re-releases in the mix, too.
Not only is Jurassic Park due to return to theaters in 3D, but Leprechaun is making a big return, getting a reboot from Lionsgate and WWE Studios. Meanwhile, Universal is giving The Cat in the Hat another go.
There’s also this little film called The Hunger Games, which while only the first film in a new franchise, is tracking as though it’s a sequel, with bigger numbers than The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1. Then, call it what you want – the Alien prequel, an unrelated idea, whatever – but Prometheus absolutely kills it in the trailer department.
Want to check it out? You can find that and much more in your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet!
1. MTV – The Movie: Sure MTV makes movies, but now Brett Ratner is making a movie about MTV. As reported by Variety, Ratner might team up with Sony to make a movie about the rise of MTV. Should the deal go through, the plan is to adapt I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution, an oral history of MTV in the 80s and early 90s, by music journalists Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum. Ratner will definitely produce alongside Mosaic’s Jimmy Miller and there’s a chance he’ll direct, too.
2. Jurassic Park Due Back in Theaters in 3D: My favorite and least favorite things collide – Jurassic Park and 3D. As reported by the LA Times, Universal Pictures will rerelease Jurassic Park with an extra dimension in July of 2013. Financially, the move clearly makes sense. The Lion King in 3D blew everyone away when it scored a whopping $30 million its opening weekend. Beauty and the Beast followed that up with a solid $17.8 million start and then Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace with $22.5 million. Sure there’s money to be had, but even as a diehard Jurassic Park fan, I’m having a hard time getting psyched about the occasion. If Universal had just opted to rerelease the original film for the fun of it (sans the additional dimension, of course), I’d be on board. Then again, Jurassic Park is my favorite film of all time; how could I miss this?
3. Leprechaun Returns: Leprechaun is getting lucky again. Variety reports that Lionsgate and WWE Studios are teaming up to reboot the 1993 flick about an evil leprechaun that torments Jennifer Anniston. The studios plan to split the production costs, but Lionsgate will manage distribution. The duo is aiming for a 2013 release, but still has no writer, director or stars attached. The Leprechaun project is part of a two-picture deal between the companies, the second of which is still undetermined.
4. The Cat in the Hat – Again: I didn’t care much for the 2003 version of Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat and the large majority of moviegoers didn’t either, the film costing $109 million to make and then only earning $133 worldwide. However, with the success of The Lorax, it’s no wonder Universal and Illumination Entertainment are interested in giving it another go. According to Deadline, this time around, the big screen version of The Cat in the Hat will be 3D CG-animated, a much smarter move as it’s still a little disturbing to recall Mike Myer’s version of the Cat.
5. The Wolf of Wall Street Finally Nears Production: I read this book four years ago in preparation for the big screen version and it’s only now that Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio are finally getting moving on The Wolf of Wall Street. The film is based on Jordon Belfort’s memoir recounting his rise as a stockbroker, his wild partying and cash-spending days up until his collapse when he was indicted for security fraud and money laundering. Come August, the film will go into production marking Scorsese and DiCaprio’s fifth collaboration. While there’s currently no distribution plan set, Deadline suggests that it’s likely that Red Granite Pictures will sell territories during the Cannes Film Festival.
6. The Hunger Games on Track for $100 Million+: It’s been pretty clear that The Hunger Games was going to be big, but The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 big? That might be the case according to THR. When the buzz first began, there was talk of a $70 million opening, but then that number was boosted to $100 million. Well, Breaking Dawn Part 1 opened with $138.1 million, so clearly that prediction has risen yet again. The numbers are directly related to how the film is tracking, which at the moment, is better than Breaking Dawn Part 1. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll trump that film’s opening earnings especially because The Hunger Games isn’t opening near a holiday weekend like Breaking Dawn. So while $138.1 may be out of The Hunger Games’ reach, somewhere between $100 and $120 million isn’t and that’ll still make for an incredibly strong start to what’ll undoubtedly be the next big YA franchise.
7. WonderCon: With WonderCon 2012 just wrapping up in Anaheim, we’ve got a slew of new information to share regarding some of the biggest upcoming features. Wired has the goods on the Looper panel where director Rian Johnson and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt hit the stage to answer questions and reveal some footage that shows the feature will have “plenty of gunplay” and also suggests Emily Blunt will be kicking some major ass. Entertainment Weekly was at the Snow White and the Huntsman event where Charlize Theron apparently stole the show. Of her character, the actress explained, “Everybody has an idea of her.” She added, “and there’s something nice about f—ing with that idea.” ComingSoon.net live blogged the Lockout panel during which a five-minute sneak peek was shown, a sneak peek that’s now available for everyone to check out. Collider covered the Resident Evil: Retribution event and reported that a clip was shown featuring Milla Jovovich’s Alice taking out a horde of zombies after which both she and Paul W.S. Anderson discussed the film’s cast, shooting in 3D, the relationship between the films and the videogames, and more.
8. Gerard Butler Defends the White House: Perhaps this is because I’m still on a Homeland kick, but, according to Variety, Gerard Butler just scored a cool new gig. Shortly after snagging Creighton Rothenberger and Katrin Benedikt’s spec Olympus Has Fallen, Millennium Films recruited Butler as the film’s star. The piece is about a struggling ex-Secret Service agent who winds up becoming the country’s only hope when the White House is taken over by terrorists. Not only is Butler headlining the project, but he’s producing, too, with the help of his manager, Alan Siegel, and Millennium’s Mark Gill. The plan is to begin shooting in September.
9. Trailers: Dark Shadows, Prometheus, Chernobyl Diaries: Having never watched the original Dark Shadows, I’ve had little to no interest in the feature film version, but after catching the first trailer, I’ve got to admit, it kind of looks like fun. Then there’s Prometheus, which not only is something I’ve been looking forward to since day one, but has upped the anticipation ten fold with its latest trailer. We’re finally getting a better sense of exactly what’s going down in this movie and not only is it a wildly intriguing tale, but the trailer itself is absolutely infectious! Now on to the Chernobyl Diaries; yet another film I can totally get behind. Call me a found footage sucker, but it’s tough to imagine Oren Peli not delivering when it comes to shaky cam-style horrifying fun.
10. Box Office: Whoa, 21 Jump Street. Who saw that coming? We haven’t had a strong March opening in the comedy department in years and then 21 Jump Street comes in and blows everything away with a whopping $35 million start. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax still managed to hold on pretty strong, only losing 41.3% of its week two profits for a $22.8 million haul. As expected, John Carter’s opening earnings were slashed in half, leaving it with just $13.5 million for weekend two. Project X took an even bigger hit, 64.1% to be exact, only letting it take another $4 million to the bank. A Thousand Words closes out the top five with a fairly minimal drop, 39.3%, but when the film only took a little over $6 million its first weekend out, that’s really not saying much. (via Box Office Mojo)
