Who’s ready for the first full week back at work or school since the holiday season? Yeah, I didn’t think so, but the Movie News Cheat Sheet is here to make the transition a little easier, offering up a handful of movie talking points to keep you entertained and, if necessary, distracted.
The Producers Guild of America and the Writers Guild of America are the latest organizations to unveil their nominations for awards season and, of course, a number of the usual suspects make the cut including “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Lincoln,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” and more. Meanwhile, Sony snagged top studio honors. The numbers are in and Sony Pictures is the company that took the biggest piece of the marketshare pie.
We’ve got all the details on those stories, the latest from the “Guardians of the Galaxy” rumor mill, one of the most wonderfully grotesque red band trailers you’ve ever seen and much more. Keep on scrolling for all the goods in your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet.
1. Open Road Takes “jOBS:” Not heading off to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival this year? Don’t you worry because come April 2013, you’ll still get the chance to catch “jOBS” yourself. The festival’s closing night film just scored a deal with Open Road Films for a theatrical release this spring. “jOBS” features Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs from 1971 through 2000. Open Road Films describes the piece as “an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs’ life.” (via Open Road Films)
2. J.J. Abrams Screens “Star Trek Into Darkness” for Fan with Cancer: Forget stellar trailers, big stars and an iconic franchise; this good deed alone makes me wish only the best for J.J. Abrams and “Star Trek Into Darkness.” Eleven days ago, a user named ideeeyut reached out to the Reddit community, explaining a friend was diagnosed with leukemia and endured countless procedures only to be diagnosed with a second form of cancer, and a fatal one at that. Despite his condition, his wife took him to a screening of “The Hobbit” so he could catch the preview footage of “Star Trek Into Darkness.” Unfortunately, the footage never screened so this man’s friend, his wife and tons of Reddit users came out to support the cause and managed to catch Abrams’ attention. Five days ago ideeeyut took to Reddit again to relay another message from the man’s wife. Abrams didn’t just share the preview footage with them; he showed them the full film. In the post, the man’s wife said, “It is also so wonderful for his friends & his family to finally hear some good news from us, they know how important film is to Daniel & could not think of a better way to please him. So this gesture really has brought a lot of smiles all around.” Thumbs up to Abrams and all the best to Daniel and his loved ones. (via Yahoo! Movies)
3. “Carrie” Delayed: Counting down to the big release of the “Carrie” remake on March 15th? Sadly your countdown just grew by seven months because Sony Pictures announced that “Carrie” will no longer be debuting on March 15th, rather on October 18th. The studio doesn’t cite a reason for the delay, but if I had to guess (and I mean guess), I’d say the need for reshoots would be the more likely culprit rather than box office competition. The film would have had no trouble going up against “The Call” and “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,” but now faces “The Seventh Son” and “Malavita,” both of which could be more of a challenge. On top of that, “Paranormal Activity 5” and “The World’s End” are both due out the weekend after, which will undoubtedly affect its weekend two haul. (via Box Office Mojo)
4. Sony Takes Most Marketshare in 2012: Regardless of the “Carrie” situation, Sony Pictures is still sitting pretty going into 2013 as the top studio in marketshare for 2012. Sony had its biggest year ever courtesy of films like “Skyfall,” “The Amazing Spider-Man” and “MIB 3,” all of which helped it go on to accumulate $4.44 billion. The #2 spot went to Warner Bros. Pictures, which pulled in most of its $4.25 billion with “The Dark Knight Rises” and “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” while Fox came in at #3 with $3.7 billion. Walt Disney Pictures followed in 4th with $3.6 billion and Paramount took the #5 spot with $2.4 billion. (via ComingSoon)
5. Joseph Gordon-Levitt for “Guardians of the Galaxy?:” And so the “Guardians of the Galaxy” casting rumors continue. Recently is was all about Jim Sturgess and Zachary Levi for the role of Peter Quill, but now Deadline reports that Joseph Gordon-Levitt is in the running, too. On top of that, “Smallville” star, Michael Rosenbaum, is busy tweeting that he’s reading for the role as well. Meanwhile ComicBookMovies.com is reporting that Marvel is also hard at work trying to cast the role of Drax The Destroyer and that it’s come down to Isaiah Mustafa, Brian Patrick Wade and Dave Bautista. These casting updates sound great and all, but clearly “Guardians of the Galaxy” is one of those films that outlets will jump on the second they’ve got even the tiniest shred of news to report, so I’d suggest staying wary until the official word comes straight from Marvel.
6. Pixar Preview: We may be left to drool over the stunning concept art for the canceled film “Newt,” but Pixar also unveiled some designs for upcoming projects that are still expected to hit theaters in the coming years. “Monsters University” is the sure thing and the shot of Mike and Sulley at the gates of their new school will make you eager to follow them inside come June 21, 2013. A little further down the road for the summer of 2014 is Bob Peterson’s “The Good Dinosaur,” a piece that asks, what if that asteroid missed Earth and the dinosaurs were never killed off? Peter Docter’s “Untitled Pixar Movie That Takes You Inside the Mind” is still heading towards a June 19, 2015 release while “The Untitled Pixar Movies About Dia de los Muertos” is expected to drop in 2016. It’s the waiting game all around, but this concept art is pretty nice to look at for now. (via ComingSoon)
7. Writers Guild Awards Nominees: The Writers Guild of America is the latest organization to unveil the nominees for its awards ceremony. “Flight,” “Looper,” “The Master,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” and “Moonrise Kingdom” are all vying for Best Original Screenplay honors while “Argo,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” and “Silver Linings Playbook” are up for Best Adapted Screenplay. In the documentary screenplay category we’ve got “The Central Park Five,” “The Invisible War,” “Mea Maxima Culpa,” “Searching for Sugar Man,” “We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists,” and “West of Memphis.” Winners will be announced on Sunday, February 17th.
8. Producer Guild Awards Nominees: We’ve also got the list of films fighting for top honors at the 2013 Producers Guild Awards. “Argo,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln,” “Les Misérables,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Skyfall,” and “Zero Dark Thirty” all made the cut for Best Theatrical Motion Picture while “Brave,” “Frankenweenie,” “ParaNorman,” “Rise of the Guardians,” and “Wreck-It Ralph” make up the Animated Feature contenders. Head on over to the Producers Guild of America website to check out the individual producers in the running and the organization’s picks in the documentary and television categories.
9. Trailers: “Ginger & Rosa,” “Side Effects,” “Evil Dead:” Hot on the heels of locking a March 15th US release date comes a brand new trailer for Sally Potter’s “Ginger & Rosa.” The piece stars Elle Fanning and Alice Englert as a pair of best friends growing up in London in the 1960s. We’ve also got a new trailer for Steven Soderbergh’s “Side Effects,” giving us a more in-depth look at the mysterious and dangerous ramifications that come from taking a new anti-anxiety drug. However, none of those twisted consequences come anywhere close to the mayhem that goes down in the red band trailer for “Evil Dead.” We’ve got downright sick and disturbing imagery galore ranging from blood vomit to face mutilation and it’s all powered by a booming soundtrack and wicked pace to make it that much more enthralling and unsettling.
10. Box Office: “Texas Chainsaw 3D” may have maintained the stigma that horror remakes, reboots and sequels are generally not very good, but it also proves that we’ll still go and see them. The franchise’s latest iteration kicks off its run with a strong $8,666 per theater average and $23 million total haul to win the weekend. “Django Unchained” follows close behind, only dropping 33.3% for another $20.1 million while “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” took a tougher hit, losing 45.1% of its weekend three profits for $17.5 million this time around. I’d like to bet Universal was hoping “Les Misérables” would be a top contender at this point in its run, but a 40.9% weekend two to three fall for another $16.1 million is still fairly solid. “Parental Guidance” rounds out the top five, holding on stronger than expected, only slipping 30.4% and taking another $10.1 million to the bank. (via Box Office Mojo)
