It is a mix bag of releases this week, with history, children’s fantasy, social realism, crime and dancing for our entertainment. Some of these films even mix some of these elements and all of are at various levels of quality. Three of this week’s releases are direct-to-DVD features.
Anyone else out there dying to know what J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 is actually about? Unfortunately, we might be in the dark for awhile, but we are one step closer to figuring it all out, as principal photography for the film has begun. Photos from the set, if and when released, should help us determine at least something about the story, right?
Karaoke fans of the world unite! Peter Morgan, writer of The Queen and The Last King of Scotland, is set to script an untitled biopic of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. Now Deadline reports that Sacha Baron Cohen, of Borat fame, is set to star as the legendary rock singer.
Ben Affleck scored a critical and commercial comeback this weekend with The Town. The crime drama carried strong early buzz and a positive rating on RottenTomatoes.com. Some websites underestimated the film, predicting Easy A would easily win the weekend. In a drastic turnaround The Town opened at $23.8 million, only $3 million shy of The Departed a movie richly referenced in the advertising. Easy A got a B; it landed in the runner up spot with $18.2 million.
Kyle Chandler and Elle Fanning have been cast in J.J. Abrams’s upcoming science-fiction thriller Super 8. Chandler is most famous for his role in the television dramaFriday Night Lights, for which he has received an Emmy nomination. Fanning stars in Sofia Coppola’s upcoming drama Somewhere, which won the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. She also leads the upcoming Nutcracker film.
Director Gary Ross is reportedly in negotiations to direct the film adaptation of the hit novel sci-fi dystopia novel The Hunger Games. The famous trilogy penned by Suzanne Collins is believed to become a film franchise that could be “the next Twilight” despite its slightly gruesome nature
There are six new DVD and Blu-ray releases for you lovely people this week: four of them are comedies, whilst the others are a big action blockbuster and a horror/thriller. Plus, it is an excellent week for re-releases, with classics like Se7en, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Breathless making it on to Blu-ray.
When one mentions the genre of “crime drama,” Martin Scorsese almost instantly comes to mind. After delving back into his thriller roots with Shutter Island, putting together the HBO drama Boardwalk Empire, Scorsese could reportedly be making his way back to the genre that makes him a film legend with his upcoming crime dramaThe Irishman, based on the book I Heard You Paint Houses.
If you thought that Resident Evil: Afterlife would be the last installment of the Resident Evil series, think again. According to ComingSoon.net, the film’s leading lady Milla Jovovich says that a fifth movie is happening.
“This new ‘Resident Evil’ is the first one to ever open at No. 1 worldwide. It’s the biggest movie in the franchise. So we’re definitely going to make another one.”
Hollywood has a model for a successful video-game-to-film franchise. The “Resident Evil” franchise has consistently performed, though not to huge returns. Resident Evil: Afterlife easily led all films this weekend with $27.7 million in sales. Both Resident Evil: Extinction and Resident Evil: Apocalypse both grossed around $4 million less. However, neither of the previous entries benefitted from inflated 3D ticket prices.
