Hammond On Cannes: Robert Redford’s Brave New Role … 
Hot Trailer: Jennifer Aniston And Jason Sudeikis’ … 
Warner Bros Tells Space Story, From The Bra Designers Who … 
Brad Pitt’s Plan B Banner Promotes Jeremy Kleiner To … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Don Jon’ 
Billy Crystal-Starring Comedy From Matt Nix & Larry … 
RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Dancing With The Stars’ … 
Hammond On Cannes: A New Day Comes To The Fest As HBO and … 
Cannes: Fleming Reflects And Finds Talented Trio A Breath … 
Hot Trailer: ‘Man Of Steel’ 
Former Digital Domain CEO & Auditors Sued For Fraud By … 
ABC’s ‘Nashville’ Undergoes Production … 
CBS Wins Season & Ties Sweep In Demo; ABC Tops Adults … 
Alki David Agrees To End Name Games With Aereo And Barry … 
Next-Gen Xbox One Unveiled With Content Including … 
Cannes: Weinstein Co Acquires Keanu-Reese Sci-Fi Pic … 
Hot Trailer: ‘The Wolverine’ 
Ang Lee Departs FX Pilot ‘Tyrant’ 
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SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM UPDATE: There is now a clear consensus over which motion picture was No. 1 at the box office this weekend. Sly Stallone’s action holdover The Expendables for Lionsgate is the easy winner after a nailbiter Friday. It was followed closely by a newcomer, another of those cheap Fox spoofs, Vampires Suck, which opened Wednesday. In fact, the order of the entire Top 10 kept changing more than usual day to day because no studio could agree on the grosses. In all, there were 5, count ‘em, new films opening in North America to almost close out the summer. Yet none of them could break $12.5M by end of Sunday.
Dimension/Weinstein Co’s horror pic Piranha 3D underperformed at the box office despite those higher ticket prices. Warner Bros’ urban comedy Lottery Ticket did a better per screen average considering its middling release. With a CinemaScore of only “B”, The Switch from Miramax (with production costs shared by Mandate/Lionsgate which has foreign) showed size does matter when it comes to theater count and box office order. Jason Bateman steals this rom-com but it’s not likely to stay in play long enough for people to even see his performance. Working Title’s Nanny McPhee Returns barely made a dent in the box office despite an “A-” CinemaScore, but North America is one of the last markets to debut. Universal began opening it internationally in April to grosses over $62.9 million on a $35M budget (with tax incentives).
Top 10 box office grosses:
1. The Expendables (Lionsgate) Week 2 [3,270 Runs]
Friday $4.9M, Saturday $7M, Weekend $17.2M (-51%), Cume $65.6M
2. Vampires Suck (Fox) NEW [3,233 Runs]
Friday $4.4M, Saturday $4.8M, Weekend $12.5M, Cume $18.8M.
3. Lottery Ticket (Warner Bros) NEW [1,973 Runs]
Friday $3.8M, Saturday $4.4M, Weekend $11.4M
4. Eat Pray Love (Sony) Week 2 [3,082 Runs]
Friday $3.7M, Saturday $4.6M, Weekend $12M (-48%), Cume $47.1M
5. Piranha 3D (Dimension/Weinstein Co) NEW [2,470 Runs]
Friday $3.6M, Saturday $3.5M, Weekend $10M
6. The Other Guys (Sony) Week 3 [3,472 Runs]
Friday $3M, Saturday $4M, Weekend $10.1M, Cume $88.1M
7. The Switch (Miramax) NEW [2,012 Runs]
Friday $2.7M, Saturday $3.3M, Weekend $8.1M
8. Nanny McPhee Returns (Working Title/Universal) NEW [2,784 Runs]
Friday $2.6M, Saturday $3.3M, Weekend $8.3M
9. Inception (Warner Bros) Week 6 [2,401 Runs]
Friday $2.1M, Saturday $3.4M Weekend $8.2M, Cume $262.2M
10. Scott Pilgrim vs The World (Universal) Week 2 [2,820 Runs]
Friday $1.6M, Saturday $1.9M, Weekend $5M (-53%), Cume $20.5M
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Damn, Aniston opens up behind Bow Wow. How do your PR people spin that?
Blame Bill O’Reilly for prejudicing conservative fans against her?
Oh, and try to work Angelina in there somehow; it’s worked before.
Noooo! Wait! Blame the low number of theaters willing to show it!!!
Sly be kicking A-Team’s ass!! Hahahaha
Of course it is Angelina’s fault for having those European premieres this week and Aniston’s foot in mouth disease with “retard”–and the biggest reason—it’s a bad movie that Jennifer Lopez already made last spring.
The irony of your post is that Aniston’s movie was filmed months before JLo’s, but JLo’s was always scheduled to come out before Aniston’s. I’m sure Aniston’s people would love to blame the late August opening date on Disney’s inability to sell Miramax, but in the early going it was Disney’s intent to keep The Switch and release it themselves. That’s when the August 20 release date was set in the fall of 2009. Disney knew the movie was only going to do minor business from the get-go and scheduled it accordingly. Not once over the course of 10 months did Disney shift the release date of this movie, so blaming the Miramax sale doesn’t float. But, leave it to the brothers Huvane. Between Stephen and Kevin I’m sure they’ll come up with a great excuse for why another Aniston movie tanked at the box office. With Aniston – everything is ALWAYS someone else’s fault and she’s only responsible for 2% of the blame.
Yeah, JLo’s movie which Box Office Mojo listed only her as the actor had a $35M budget, but Turkey Baster with a cast including (alleged) A-list Aniston, Bateman, Lewis, Goldblum only cost $16M? As W Bush said: “FUZZY MATH”. Someone’s lying, no surprise. ..and when you add in the massive 3 pronged promo push. It’s a flop of tsunami like proportions.
It’s funny how all of a sudden The Switch is a Jason Bateman film. When it was first getting discussed it was all Aniston. And I also noticed how little she was featured in the trailer. Can’t stand her films and no on I know wants to see this at all. Bateman is a very good actor and likable but he is not a big BO draw..
Well apparently neither is Jennifer Aniston.
This is ALWAYS what happens when an Aniston film bombs – suddenly it’s someone else’s film or it wasn’t shown in enough theaters or her acting coach tweets ahead of time and blames the marketing or sun was in Aquarius with a descending moon in Virgo or some equally dumb shit. The fact of the matter is – JENNIFER ANISTON IS NOT A MOVIE STAR.
Aniston WAS, and the operative word her is “was”, a sitcom tv star in an ENSEMBLE show. She didn’t carry Friends by herself, so why do studios keep thinking she can carry a movie by herself when she’s spent the last 10 years proving she can’t? Who is that keeps hiring this woman? I know for a fact that she can’t get any of her own projects she pitches greenlighted anymore, so why are other people hiring her for projects and paying her hideously overprices salary of many millions of dollars? They have to know agoing in that unless she’s co-starring with a major actor or book that sold millions of copies or an ensemble – the movie is going to tank.
So again – why keep backing a proven loser? I can’t believe a town as unsentimental as Hollywood are still hiring this woman because Brad Pitt dumped her? The fact is – most people in HW wondered what took him so long. So that can’t be it. Whatever the reason, note to studio executives – STOP HIRING JENNIFER ANISTON UNTIL SHE PROVES SHE CAN BE SOMEONE OTHER THAN HERSELF/RACHEL GREEN. I don’t even think that’s possible. She simply a horrible actress who got lucky three – playing Rachel Green, marrying Brad Pitt and being dumped for Angelina Jolie. The former put her on the map, the second kept her there and the latter she’s turned into a cottage industry worth millions of dollars in bad romcom after bad romcom. Otherwise Aniston would be one of those bit players who bounce around doing guest appearances on everyone else’s tv show. Enough already.
Thank you, Stacy. Jennifer Aniston has never been a movie star. Her biggest hit has been Bruce Almighty and that wasn’t because of her. The other films that she’s done that have made over $100 million can be attributed to her male costar. You could switch Aniston out with any other actress and the movie would have been the same.
I am tired of people giving her sympathy because Brad Pitt didn’t want her. Hollywood needs to know that we no longer care. Brangelina has been together for years. Aniston should move on and stop having fake PR relationships with costars. It makes her look worse.
The Switch looks horrible. I will never pay to see this film. It is something that would have been better as a Lifetime movie. I agree that Aniston needs to go back to TV. Network TV has horrible ratings and crappy shows so she will be at home. She is not now, nor will she ever be a movie star. Please stop shoving her down our throats Hollywood.
One problem as I see it is that as long as the tabloids still rehash the whole story about her being dumped, and how she’s doing so much better without Brad; someone in Hollywood will believe that she’s marketable. BTW; I once heard Joe Scarborough refer to her as “America’s Swetheart” which almost made me fall out of my chair laughing.
Jen needs to go to NBC where the standards for renewal are pretty low…
Wow Stacey & Karina (or the same person), thanks for showing us how passionately someone can hate a person they do not know personally.
I can’t understand what people gain from unrationally hating/wishing ill on others.
Damn Stacy! How much energy does it take to hate like that! Geez us H! I mean really. What a nasty thing to say about someone. Didn’t your mother teach you if you have nothing nice to say about a person then don’t say anything at all? My God.
KP
Stacy, wow are you sad, pathetic and angry. I can tell the posts from people who don’t work in this business because of their nasty tone towards J Aniston coupled with their idiotic comments.
Why attack her? If you didn’t like the movie, fine. Attack the movie. Would it have been better if Sandra was in it? Nope.
A movie is a directors, editors, producers medium. They shoot it, they edit it. The actors show up to work like every other crew member and then once the film is wrapped, they move on to the next project. The filmmakers then sit in a room and make their movie. Working actors have worked on 3 other films when they are called back for publicity and to help sell the product. So why the attacks on her?
Another thing to all you haters: a movie does well (Bruce Almighty) and it “had nothing to do with her”…a movie tanks and “it’s all her fault”..
Would this have been better with Reese or Julia or Cameron or Drew? Nope.
I’ve worked with JA 3 times as a low level crew member and I’ve pretty much worked with every actor in this business. JA is without of doubt the nicest, most pleasant, polite famous person I have ever worked with and met.
I really don’t understand the hate.
AMEN STACY!!!! Thanks for nailing it!
they promoted this film all over town, ads were everywhere. Anniston is not a movie star & can’t open a film. She’s getting pretty old to play Rachel over and over again.
She seems to get a pass on everything, like someone else said, it’s never her fault. Her “retard” comment was hardly covered..
Her films are just awful.
Please, without that Fox/Bill O’Reilly stunt (which was probably a
contrived set-up courtesy of her monster publicist Stephen Huvane — oh yeah, I’ve seen O’Reilly show up at a CAA party or two), the numbers would have been even worse. Aniston should send him flowers.
You can’t blame O’Reilly for that. The American women have spoken. The elite media is telling women that if you are married then you are a freak, being single and having kids is better, that’s the message they are conveying. That and its an old storyline.
Yep, that darn “elite media” You are an idiot, Jerry.
@Erin
Actually, Jerry has a point.
Many women WANT to be married to the fathers of their children. It’s only in Hollywood that being a single mother by choice instead of due to bad circumstances (widowhood, divorce, etc.) is considered a good thing.
So, it’s not shocking that married American mothers would be disgusted with Aniston’s comments even if O’Reilly had said nothing.
Why do you think “Hollywood” believes that? Because one actress and a minority of movies contain or discuss being a single mother in a positive light.
You are right, many women want to married to the father of their children….but some women don’t and depicting that side doesn’t mean all of Hollywood collectively believes it is a good thing.
Jesus, typical right wing victim mentality. No one has EVER said being married makes you a “freak” or that being a single mother is “better” only that it’s possible.
Again, I wish I had a lie detector to find out which internet right wingers are intellectually dishonest and which are just dumb.
Yeah, that damn elite media! If it wasn’t for those eliteing elitests, those pussy pansy god-hating marriage-despising elite liberal states would have the catastrophically high divorce rates rather than all the “conservative” ones.
The irony is, if there was such a thing as “elite media” it would be owned by the right wing.
By Monday, this will be a Jason Bateman/Juliette Lewis vehicle, of which Aniston was only a mere side piece. LMAO I recall she did something similar with that film she did with Clive Owen, ‘Derailed,’ that tanked. I recalled her saying she was soooo happy to be, ‘IN A CLIVE OWEN MOVIE,’ on the eve of it’s release when it looked like it was gonna do very well. She’s such a fraud. LMAO
It’s already begun. All the ads that I’ve seen over the weekend feature only Bateman and the little kid.
The Cheesecake Factory (FOX) cranks out another one.
Well, Aniston dismissing fathers as unnecessary to raising kids would turn off any rational American parent.
I’m glad more people are quietly boycotting films starring actors like Aniston who mock them and their families.
….Or the movie just didn’t look good and that is why people are skipping it. This movie doing poorly isn’t because people are “quietly” boycotting this movie because actors like Aniston are “mocking” their families…I could go on about how besides for their sperm fathers are not always necessary, but there is no getting through to idiots like you.
Miramax gave this only 1700 screens, had it opened in 3000 screens, it would have gone over 10 million. I don’t think there was much advertisements for it.
GMAFB. I don’t know where you live or what channels you watch on TV but commercials for the Switch have been all over TLC, HGTV, Food Network – and probably all the other “women’s” channels like We, Lifetime and Oxygen. I can’t get away from the stupid commercials. I thought I was safe watching men’s tennis on ESPN2 when right in the middle of an Andy Roddick match the other night up pops the trailer for The Switch. The ads are all over the internet as well. So don’t blame the lack of theaters or marketing. Other movies in fewer theaters did better than The Switch. The problem is that Jennifer Aniston can’t open a movie to save her life. The end.
okay Stacy, bitter much?
Uh, Lottery Ticket opened in LESS theaters than the Switch, and the theater count was well over 2000 not 1700 – stop lying. LOL
This time, Aniston’s failure can be attributed to neither theatre count (Lottery opened in 50 LESS theatres yet made $3 mil MORE dollars) nor lack of marketing (she was EVERYWHRERE, to the ultimate chagrin of everyone subjected to her inane babbling, while the ONLY Lottery star who did the rounds was Ice Cube). Nor can her failure be laid at Bateman’s feet. HE, the kid and Goldblum were repeatedly cited as the ONLY redeeming elements of this … uh … “film” (I often get confused as to whether her movies are actually films, or long-form sitcoms) Last I heard, she was supposedly an “A-Lister,” while the only “star” in Lottery was Ice Cube. Sorry, but this FLOP rests SOLELY at her designer-clad feet.
LOL! So true!!!
I am not surprised that “The Switch” bombed. I am, however, curious about its writer Allan Loeb who seems to be the hottest scribe around in spite of a mixed track record. (His “Things We Lost in The Fire” was a bomb but his “21″ was a modest hit. Next up: The Wall Street sequel.)
All good movies start with a good script. Was this a case of a good writer penning a bad script that became a bad movie for Ms. Aniston?
Or was the script for “The Switch” awesome, thus putting the blame on the director and actors for a celluloid bomb?
Well, the acclaimed short story writer (‘The Baster’) on which the screenplay was based, said the following: That “‘The Switch is to ‘The Baster,’ as Cello is to cellophane.” In other words he wanted NOTHING to do with it. Might be a reason why the name was changed as well.
THE A-TEAM – 76 Million / 73 Days
THE EXPENDABLES – 66 Million / 16 Days
Joe Carnahan’s rants about bad marketing from Fox can officially be moved now into the “yeah right” category.
Bravo, Slambam, bravo.
Expected Lottery Ticket to surprise as number one so its numbers are disappointing. Piranha 3D opened at about where tracking had it (10-11M). Those kind of films are never big theatrical hits. The reviews are very good and it should sell on DVD with an extended Unrated cut. Dimension didn’t advertise it very much though. Practically no ads on network TV. They mostly advertised on ESPN, MTV and VH1.
Hollywood should have learned by now though: Opening 4 or more films on one weekend pretty much always leads to disappointing numbers for all films. It’s just stupid since there’re only two films opening next weekend.
You people sound like these films should’ve been blockbusters. Lottery Ticket is the laziest example of a cable premise I’ve ever seen, one that’s been done to death on almost every network. Then there’s The Switch, bogged down by a disturbing premise and a high concentration of recent pregnancy flicks. Maybe there was demand for another Nanny McPhee in other countries, but obviously it wasn’t going to make a splash in the states, especially when Universal has done practically nothing to market it.
Honestly, I’m surprised Vampires Suck is doing as well as it is, but that’s because not many people realize it’s part of the Date Movie bacterial strand. I didn’t even know it until a week ago, which is when the movie went from “Possible rental” to “Possible cyanide capsule.”
You expected an Ice Cube film to “surprise at number 1?”
This is Ice Cube we’re talking about here, not Eddie Murphy. Granted it came in behind Vampires Suck, but it is vampires up against some urban slackers looking for a quick buck. Vampires all always in season.
Cube makes dirt cheap movies that turn a profit, occasionally spawn sequels and even get made into TV shows (Barbershop). I expected him to slink in at #5 or so, but 3 is respectable for a no-budget late-August opening with almost no P&A outside of urban radio.
Good for Sly! The Switch opens below Baby Mama and Backup Plan, sorry Jen.
RE-Brick not only that but Love Happens had less theater Counts than Switch and it did a little better than this one,even though she was everywhere promoting it.
“Everywhere” is right – God, I was seeing her in my dreams…make that nightmares. Must her promotion be such an awkward, uncomfortable ORDEAL. There’s absolutely no joy in that woman – you wonder if she even LIKES doing this.
I’m hearing Lottery Ticket is in the 4-4.4m range for Friday. Many shows sold out. And no I do not work for Warner Bros.
No! Poor Piranha. I was rooting for that flick. Does that mean Weinsteins are officially dead? Pretty sure every single one of their films has flopped, save for Scary Movies and Tarantino.
Sigh, shame that Inception won’t reach the 300 million mark here in the U.S.
I think that you are spot on with that assessment but i do think it will come close enough. I say it will end its run around 285-290 mil which is very good for a new concept movie..not the ordinary summer blockbuster. It has made more than enough money for a follow-up sequel if Nolan and Warner & company choose to do so.
Went to see the 7:30 pm showing of “The Expendables” on Friday and the lobby was packed with tweens for “Vampires Suck”.
“Expendables” still had a pretty good crowd, but we were a bit less giggly. Lots of love from the audience for Sly and the boys.
Not one of my friends is interested in Switch, they are not even Aniston haters, so I figured it would not do so well. I did want Piranha to beat Vampires…
I saw Piranha 3D. I was shocked at how good it actually good. It doesn’t make pretend to be something it isn’t, and that’s why it was so refreshing. Gory and gratuitous? Absolutely, but it poked fun at itself, which made it such an entertaining film.
And the reviews have been surprisingly strong. Even with a weak weekend, I think this film will build a strong cult following and holdover well from word of mouth and the overwhelmingly positive reviews.
I really hate those “Movie” movies. They aren’t even parodies; they just take scenes from the original films and add a fart or some other cultural reference. They suck so much I don’t know how Jason Freidberg and Aaron Seltzer are no talent hacks.
Testify!
There are 1000s, no 10s of 1000s of hackteurs in this town who can cherry pick scenes from popular movies and cook up lame spoofs of them.
But those two landed this plum kind of gig years ago and have coasted from there.
What truly sucks is that I love ribald, scatological humor as much as the next generate. Hell, I worship at the altar of the father of lowbrow humor, Aristophanes, but the flicks hacked out by those guys and their acolytes make the humor of Ingmar Bergman look gut-bustingly hilarious in comparison.
Aw, c’mon. Don’t you want to have ‘em make a parody film called “Fanboy Movie”??? I know I do. The mind practially boggles…
“The Switch” — Top 6 ways to open a box office flop: #6. Make the same movie that has already been made and failed miserably (the Back-Up Plan), and make sure you don’t do a discernibly better job the second time around; #5. Open it on a date when every other studio is emptying its end-of-summer cache; #4. Allow your less-than-eloquent star to ramble on in interviews where she reveals her ignorance about the subject matter of her own film (Tonight Show) and then tops things by insulting an entire segment of the population (Live w/Regis); #3. Have said star IGNORE the entreaties of respected organizations like the Special Olympics Committee when they politely ask her to apologize; #2. Allow said star to REMAIN UNAPOLOGETIC as angry mothers of special needs children decide to STAY HOME rather than pay money to see the woman who has insulted little junior; and the NUMBER ONE way to have a box office FLOP — cast Jennier Aniston in the lead.
I love your post even though I am not a Aniston hater!! But she needs to stop making movies. Perhaps a good cable TV show with a strong female lead should do good for her career. If nothing else her agent should put her on Curb your enthusiasm as Larry-that-annoying-guy’s mistress..
Trying to make her a movie star is simply preposterous. I mean, Mary Tyler Moore was one of the best sitcom actresses of her day, yet even she couldn’t make the transition to A-Lister in films. But the notion of Aniston being relegated to cable tv without S. Huvane putting on a fight to rival anything we have seen in the Gaza Strip is simply untenable. She HAS to believe she is a movie star (it is her identity), and S. Huvane HAS to keep her in that position. After all, it isn’t every day that a PR man stumbles upon a client so fragile that she lets him bill ungodly man hours to ensure that not a week passes when she does not see her name in print (besides, he gets to travel the globe with her, on her dime, as her security blanket). We will see an end to what passes for her film “career” only over Huvane’s cold, dead body.
He does seem more like a personal handmaiden than publicist. I saw a pic on popeater, where he was actually standing at a table, passing besotted UK fans of ‘Friends,’ boxes of her new stink water so she could then sign it. I was like what. the. F*. The fact that this guy has Oscar award/nominated ladies in his stable of clients that cannot get arrested (Juilianne Moore, Uma Thurman, Gwyn Paltrow) and yet he dicks around with Aniston and that nasty cable comic Handler, just astounds me. If they’re smart, they’d move on. If he fails to get Moore a nomination for ‘The Kids are Alright,’ because as usual he was wiping neurotic narcissist and TV hacktress Aniston’s bum on her perfume tour at the mall – it will be a tragedy to end all.
Maybe viewers were squeamish about a movie poster that features Anniston, Batemen and a cup of fresh sperm.
Except the expression on Bateman’s face, seems to say that it’s not too ‘fresh,’ at all. More like ‘a cup of rancid sperm.’ Oh, and FYI – the Jen Aniston profile is not likely to rival Helen of Troy’s any time soon – another mistake. Worst movie poster EVER.
Agreed–this movie’s failure is similar to that of J-Lo’s last bomb: weak casting and a rom-com plot that wasn’t romantic or funny.
God, wasn’t that THE worst poster since … well … since Bounty Hunter? Perhaps paying her $8 mil per flop has forced the producers to save money in other areas, so they have started paying high school graphic arts majors minimum wage to design the artwork. What other explanation can there be?
Somebody had to say it and I’m glad you did! It was an awful poster unleashed so cruelly upon mass transit riders in bus stop hubs. Batemen wincing at the cup of happy endings was a bad move and ugly.
So endeth one of the absolute worst summers for movies that I can recall in a long time. Virtually everything bombed and the few that didn’t were terrible movies (I’m looking at you Iron Man 2). It’s a rather appropriate capper.
Bring on next summer with Thor, Captain America, and Green Lantern. Yeah, I know there’s a deluge of superhero movies but they have culturally replaced the 80′s action film (which Stallone paid homage to in The Expendables) but look at Summer 2008: Iron Man, Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight all in one summer… and look how well that summer’s BO was. 2012 will be the same.
Have zero interest in seeing that superhero triumvirate. If those three movies are what I’m to hang my expectaton hat on, then 2011 could accompolish the unthinkable of being worse than 2010. I’m actually hoping for all of those to underperform or outright bomb, because the superhero bubble needs to burst in order for Hollywood to start becoming more inventive in their output. These goddamn superhero movies are ALL THE SAME.
Let’s see:
Spider-Man: the story of a teenager who learns to become a responsible adult after a tragic selfish choice.
X-Men: A metaphor for the Civil Rights movement in America
Iron Man: the story of a self-absorbed middle-aged playboy (think typical Hollywood star) whose near-death experience sets him on the path of redemption and heroism.
The Dark Knight – a commentary on striking the balance of fighting terrorism without destroying the liberties of those you’re trying to protect.
Yep, superhero movies sure sound alike to me. (rolls eyes)
It’s this diversity of themes, ideas, and moral dilemmas that account for why superhero films are so popular at the box office. This will continue to be the case as long as creators of such films maintain the elements I mentioned.
P.S.
The existence of the excellent sci-fi thriller, Inception, demonstrates that Hollywood can create original fare despite-or perhaps because of-the wave of superhero films.
Good points. Having a story with real character development makes a difference.
I couldn’t agree with you more. If 2010 was the worst for summer movies then 2011 looks to be EPIC bad. I mean THOR, GREEN LANTERN, and CAPTAIN AMERICA, give me break. Can we come up for air from the smothering of these superhero movies. Enough is enough already, I cant take anymore of them. I know many of you may not want to hear this but the most anticipated 2011 summer movie is TRANSFORMERS 3 and the possible prospect of a cybertron inter-galactic war. AS for this summer…well its over and it was a horrible one for the books and that’s a shame because the year 2010 deserves a better fate but we have one last savior, TRON LEGACY. I hate to say it and i know many geeks will have my head for this but TRON LEGACY is starting to remind a little bit of STAR WARS with the whole the father/son saga and the special effects and action looks outstanding. I think TRON is primed and ready to be the new juggernaut monster franchise.
Summer of 2011 will either be the triumph of the superhero movie or the time the bubble burst and the trend/fad ends.
Piranha 3D was such a breath of fresh air. Loved the shlock of it all. I thought it would do better, but it’ll have legs in the home video market. People are just burned out on the 3D onslaught with the way the economy is right now. Its blatant in your face eye gouging. Resident Evil ain’t doing shit, it looks good, but its not gonna do business. Avatar re-release is dead on arrival. 8 WHOLE MINUTES OF FOOTAGE! No thanks. Although the trailers are great for Tron, I’m scared that the fatigue has already set in. Hope I’m wrong about Tron.
Either way TRON:LEGACY has my money for IMAX 3:D already.
Tron it seems to me is like “Lord of the Rings” or “Transformers”. A great concept that wasn’t able to be realized in its time because the technology of movie making wasn’t at a point where it needed to be.
Judging by the success of LOTR and TRANSFORMERS TRON could be a monster.
“Eye gouging” as in price gouging.
I saw “The Switch” yesterday (after having read a draft of the screenplay three years ago). Jason Bateman and the kid were the absolute best things about the movie.
Bateman can carry a line like no other and make things funny that weren’t necessarily intented to be so. He’s just a strong in the dramatic moments as well.
Give the man more movies!!
Give the man more movies, just don’t put Aniston in them. Too bad for you she’s in his next one, and shamefully asked in some interview I saw recently, if she could be in the Arrested Development movie too. Hahaha. Poor Jase. is payback for cutting in line at the Apple store, having Aniston as barnacle on your asss for all time?
The Switch did as much as it did because of Jason. Aniston acting in the movie is terrrible as always and was bashed by many critics. It seems like as long as the rags sell her victimhood and stir things up which they also called ( what makes her relatable) she will continue to get roles sorry for us.
I saw Switch, and have to disagree with all the negative press…it is a very good romantic comedy. I know men hate to admit they’re even remotely entertained by these, but it is a very cute movie and deserves a chance.
Even women aren’t going to her films, so it isn’t a gender issue. She repeatedly plays the same character (same mannerisms, voice inflections, hair flips) from a nearly two-decade old tv series. THAT is what has turned off audiences. More importantly, if she wants anyone to give her movie “a chance,” she had better climb down off her high horse and get Huvane to write a believable apology statement by Monday AM. She might also want to consider responding to the Down Syndrome organization that has sent Huvane a letter requesting that she do a PSA (I would suggest she also make a sizeable donation, but who are we kidding? This is Aniston we’re talking about.) If not, the R-Word debate will continue to rage and eclipse the Switch. I can’t believe Huvane is employing the “wait out the storm” tactic, since PR 101 dictates otherwise.
I would not pay a penny to see Jennifer Aniston on the big screen. All her movies remind me of a Lifetime movie.
If you really want to see a funny and adult comedy on a related subject matter go see The Kids are Alright. Now this is a great film. Sad that The Switch got all that press and this film didn’t. Plus don’t be surprised by some Oscar buzz around Julianne Moore and Annette Bening. Funny thing is Moore and Aniston have the same PR rep. I don’t see him doing any of the Big scale push for Moore that Aniston gets. Moore is about or the same age.. difference is she is coming off an OSCAR nominate film.. The Single Man. YET she gets none of the attention Aniston gets. Aniston who has NEVER OPENED A FILM to BO success based on her name. NEVER..Hollywood is so unfair that talents like Bening and Moore don’t get recognized..and untalented TWITS like Aniston do.
Aniston is a ONE trick Pony. and if anyone else had 4 BOMBS in a row. They would not get work. Now she wants to work on Stage in New York and Direct.. hmmm two more avenues to Bomb in too.
Please make her go away.
Moore uses Huvane quite differently than does Aniston. Moore has a life — husband, kids — and a career that has garnered critical acclaim. She is a serious actress who uses PR only to promote her films (a shocking concept, I realize). Moore isn’t trying to get the public to see her and her personal life in a particular way.
Aniston’s life is calculatedly lived out in the press, in full view of the world. There is a concerted effort to make the public see her in a particular way. Call her “America’s Sweetheart” long enough and people will believe it (though she is now on her way to 50). Call her “classy” enough, and women will repeat it, no matter how often she strips naked at the slightest provocation. Repeatedly say she is in a “new romance” she will be viewed as “desirable” (despite the loud denials by the men named — poor Bradley Cooper). This “defy logic” PR approach is one that assumes a hignly gullible and not very bright female populace.
The goal is two-fold: to keep the number of press mentions high enough to ensure that she remains on certain “lists,” and to keep interest high enough that she will continue to get work even in the face of a film that made only TWO MILLION DOLLARS WORLDWIDE (Management).
Jennier Aniston is no longer a “girl.” She is also not an A-List actor by any measuring stick — neither by single-name earning power (as opposed to an ensemble or powerhouse male lead) nor by critical acclaim for her work. And 72 hours after the fact, her failure to be courteous enough to address the storm surrounding her use of teh R-word reveals she is not the “Sweetheart” many THOUGHT she was.
Aniston’s name appears FIRST on the masthead of the Lili Claire Foundation, and respected organization dedicated to improving the lives of special needs children. Her use of a pejorative that has been so destructive to the special needs children was therefore particularly outrageous. It is interesting that a PR machine that works so tirelessly to craft her image did not even attempt a response to a mini-crisis that broke on the even of the Switch’s opening. It offers a telling look into the woman herself (why not simpy apologize?) and into Huvane, the man who shapes the manner in which she is perceived.
I will be curious to see which production company signs her in the face of both her lack of earning power and her new public image.
To clarify, she is first on the list of Honoray Board Members of Lili Claire.
I believe Moore is based in New York and only makes films that can be scheduled there round about her kids lives.
She’s not presently chasing every role she can get.
Aniston, on the other hand, can make a movie anywhere the work takes her.
Don’t get me wrong, she does play the same role over and over, but let’s not pretend that doing so can’t work for a career. Adam Sandler is a one-trick pony as well. He just has the ability to persuade more idiots to see his dire movies than she can her dire movies.
But both are earning a fortune anyway out of it.
give THE SWITCH a chance.. had no interest.. checked it out and its fucking GREAT.
It’s so funny when Aniston’s PR flack gets his employees to start posting.
As I’ve stated before I was once challenged to see a movie with a star I hated and what sounded to be a storyline that I would not be interested in seeing; being told I would be pleasently surprised. I wasn’t. Ticket prices are too high to just throw down the money and hold my nose.
No one talks about a film like single parenthood as “fucking GREAT” unless they work on Avenue of the Stars…
I heard Lottery Ticket scored an A- on Cinema Score and was the highest per screen average in the top 10.
Julia Roberts is the wrong person for epl movie.
First, most of us are sick of her and the spin forced onto everybody; Second; no one relates to her as this character, it should have been a next door neighbor type, someone that’s everyone sees shopping at a supermarket, that has a NEED to get away from the same old comfortable life. Who ain’t gonna be lookin like a beauty queen!!!! How many disadvantaged rejected desolate desperate dismissed beauty queens has anyone seen sitting at a bus stop. Yes, even in this scifi world of pocket computers the minds still ruled by prehistoric animalism we choose the best looking male/female to imagine as a partner or successful in life and so it is.
Yes Julia was miscast but so was Ryan Murphy. The script sucked. Running with Scissors sucked. How could Sony not read the writing on the wall? This movie could have been huge but the word of mouth is so bad that people who love love love the book are choosing not to see the movie.
Julia isn’t a beauty queen. She was that girl next door. You’ve just seen her dolled up at the Oscars one too many times.
@ A: your comment “Yes, even in this scifi world of pocket computers the minds still ruled by prehistoric animalism we choose the best looking male/female to imagine as a partner or successful in life and so it is” made my day!
If the weekend numbers hold up, Vampires Suck is close to making back its production budget, Piranha 3D and Lottery Ticket should eventually make their budget back, and info for The Switch is N/A, but I’m guessing it will NOT make back its budget.
Yes! RJ, you’re the voice of reason. Finally, some common sense. While the media portrays this as a throwaway summer weekend, four of the five new movies will soon turn a profit. That’s an 80% success ratio. How many weekends this summer have seen 80% of the openers turn out to be successful? I believe it’s probably zero, or close to zero.
I saw both Pirhana and Vampire Sucks, the first for fun and the second out of curiosity. The first was enjoyable and the second, wow, it looked like it cost about $5 million. It’ll probably end up grossing around $50 million. Not to mention that spoofs usually do above average rental busibess, as they’re mindless fun for the home.
Hollywood, get back to making more cheap movies, more parodies, and fewer bloated action movies, and let’s put this damn town back to work again.
While they may not suit the pseudo-intellectual needs of the elitist Hollywood crowds, movies geared toward AFrican American audiences, and parodies of other genres, are a successful formula to make money.
Janice Min reported today Switch’s budget was 16 million. Made half first weekend. Nothing’ wrong with that.
Nikki, thanks for getting this right. Friday’s L.A. Times had Vampire Sucks estimated to take in 7-8 million for the weekend. It also reported a $4 million gross for the Wednesday opening. (Not an estimate, the final tally for Wednesday.) I said to myself, “$4 million for a Wednesday opening? Not bad at all. That translates into more than a $7 million weekend.”
Like ‘em or not the “Movie movies” are cheap and make money. Imagine how good another Naked Gun or Airplane! would do today? This movie that’s winning the box office is probably crap considering who made it.
“The Switch” looks like a huge disappointment. Maybe cuz it sounds like 100 similar films to open in the past 2 years? And please stop already with the Nanny McPhee’s. Families are more discerning and won’t just go because it’s a “family pic.”
I agree with everything except for the comment about Nanny mcPhee. This isn’t “Cats and Dogs” or “Marmaduke” we’re talking about. Nanny earned good reviews (76% at RottenTomatoes).
Personally, I’d never go to a parody film, at least as long as Seltz-berg are making them. That said, considering what they cost and how they perform if done halfway well – and usually even if they’re not done halfway well – it’s surprising every third film isn’t a parody.
But..but..but, the fanboy webmasters told me their great word-of-mouth campaign was going to propel Scott Pilgrim to number 1. You mean having the echo chambers of internet movie sites leading your word-of-mouth campaign leads to a 64% DROP? How can this be?