Movie News

Box Office Boosted by Bunnies, Bombs, and a Boogeyman

Two of the three new movies this weekend outperformed studio expectations. Hop was the number one film with families earning $38.1million. Talking CGI animal pictures typically don’t have great earning power, but the makers of Despicable Me assumed at least $30 million on their investment. One only needs to look at Marmaduke and Yogi Bear as two unfortunate examples. However, for every ten Hollywood goofs in this aggravating subgenre, every so often an Alvin and the Chipmunks comes along to give Tinseltown a reason to continue pumping knock offs down the factory line.

Romantic Comedy Revamp of “Silence of the Lambs” in the Works

Drew Pearce Will Write “Iron Man 3” Script

According to Deadline Hollywood, Drew Pearce, who wrote the script for Marvel’s Runaways, has hopped on board to fill screenwriting duties. He and Black will work close together on the script, which could mean that Black gets some co-writing credit in the end. Disney still plans for the film to be released on May 3, 2013.

“Gangster Squad” Gets Go-Ahead, Penn and Gosling Offered Roles

Gangster Squad, the next planned film for Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer, finally got the green light from Warner Bros. The studio currently eyes Sean Penn to play the film’s central character, mobster Mickey Cohen, and offered Ryan Gosling a role as a cop pitted against Cohen. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger Next Role Is … “The Governator”

With Arnold Schwarzenegger’s exit from politics as Governor of
California, many in the industry have been courting him to return to
filmmaking; courtship Schwarzenegger was happy to recieve. Would he
return to his “Terminator” franchise? Would he move forward with “True
Lies 2”?

Hailee Steinfeld Attached to “Sleeping Beauty”

Think back to when you were 14 and then get jealous that whatever you were doing, chances are your life wasn’t like young Hailee Steinfeld’s currently. After blowing near everyone (in and out of Hollywood) away with her Oscar nominated turn in last year’s True Grit, Steinfeld has moved to her next project: the titular role of Sleeping Beauty.

Bryan Cranston May Play Villain in “Total Recall”

When he is not tearing up the screen in AMC’s Breaking Bad, Bryan Cranston is turning his considerable abilities to the big screen. Now, The Hollywood Reporter’s Heat Vision blog is reporting that Cranston will appear opposite Colin Farrell in Len Wiseman’s remake of Total Recall, as one of the film’s primary villains, Vilos Cohaagen.

“World War Z” Film Comes Back From the Almost-Dead

Author Max Brooks has claimed fame with his zombie-based literature, most particularly The Zombie Survival Guide andWorld War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. Paramount has movie rights to the latter book and is currently holding conversations with three financiers, one of which is Skydance, to finally get the project (which has Brad Pitt attached and Marc Forster directing) off the ground. If that happens, production of World War Z could begin as early as June.

Stuart Beattie to Direct Kevin Grevioux’s “I, Frankenstein”

Lakeshore Entertainment looks to cash in on the public’s current obsession with the supernatural with a project based on I, Frankenstein. This project has more or less been in the pre-production stage for the past two years, but after several ups and downs, we’ve finally got someone to pen and direct the film.

Future of DC Film Includes “Justice League” and a “Batman” Reboot

While Marvel will release its (potential) magnum opus The Avengers next year, DC looks to up the ante with its motion picture releases. Jeff Robinov, President of Warner Bros.’ film department, discussed plans for the future of DC in film withThe Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex blog.