Movie News

Box Office Wizard (5.7.10)

One of the goals we have at Player Affinity is to create an open dialog with our readers. I don’t know how many of you there are yet, probably not much, but it’s never too early to start asking for your thoughts and opinions.

One way we thought to do this was through a weekly competition. We want you to get out your box office crystal balls and tells us which five movies will place in the top five of each weekend’s U.S. domestic box office chart. Simple enough, right? I will make my own predictions here and explain them to you each week to give you some sort of reference point. It’s then your job to enter a comment with your top five. 

“Die Hard 5” finds a writer

Yippee kai yay? According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Risky Business blog, screenwriter Skip Woods will be penning a screenplay for the fifth installment of the classic Die Hard series. Alex Young, a former Fox executive, is set to produce. 

There doesn’t seem to be a story for the project as of yet, but taking Woods on as a writer is certainly interesting considering the critical acclaim of the series as a whole. Woods’ writing filmography includes G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Hitman, Swordfish, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. 

Mission: Impossible IV recruits Brad Bird

To join the important news of Britain’s Election result Mission: Impossible IV is on the move for a 2011 release. Pixar director (and Oscar winner) Brad Bird has been hired for this sequel, beating Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) for the gig.

J.J. Abrams’ secret trailer to play before Iron Man 2

Hollywood doesn’t call its craft the “movie business” for nothing and nobody knows this business like J.J. Abrams. His marketing and viral campaign leading up to 2008’s hit Cloverfield was nothing short of remarkable and he was rewarded with the biggest January opening weekend of all time.

It looks as though Abrams is reaching back into his big bag of tricks. It has been revealed that a trailer, directed by the man himself, will accompany Iron Man 2, premiering this Friday. Those venturing out to the superhero sequel this weekend will be bestowed with a gift-wrapped box (yes, an actual, tangible box) known only as “Super 8” and then they will be able see this mysterious preview.

Trailer Park: Jonah Hex, The American and More

Welcome to the Trailer Park, where we at Player Affinity blindly judge and analyze the newest trailers hitting the web. This week we will take a peek at The American starring George Clooney, the latest comic book adaptation Jonah Hex, the fake-trailer-turned-feature-film Machete, the new 3-D horror film Piranha and the newest teaser for the Sundance hit Buried starring Ryan Reynolds.

Sony eyes David O. Russell for Uncharted movie

Before Nathan Drake can find any treasure, someone has to direct him to it. According to the LA Times, Sony is scouting Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees director David O. Russell for its planned adaptation of its hit Playstation video game, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Sony brought in the writers of next year’s reboot of Conan, Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, to draft the script last fall and they like what they’ve read and are ready to move forward. Russell tops the shortlist for bringing it all to life, something that would likely be ready for a late 2011 or summer 2012 release if initial talks with Russell go well. Sony has already placed Kevin James comedy The Zookeeper in a summer 2011 spot, so greenlighting doesn’t seem likely.

“Kick-Ass 2” planned for 2012

A Kick-Ass sequel, reportedly titled Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall will reportedly begin production next year and be in cinemas in 2012, that’s the word from comic-book scribe Mark Millar. Millar is already writing a sequel to his hit graphic novel creation. The first few pages will be published his new comic-book magazine CLiNT in September in the United Kingdom.

Matthew Vaughn to head X-Men: First Class, June 2011

The X-Men film series still seems to have some appeal to Matthew Vaughn, the director of Layer Cake and Kick-Ass, who is directing X-Men: First Class for 20th Century Fox. This is happening despite reports last week that stated he would not do the project. The film has also been fast-tracked for a June 3, 2011 release date, which will put it in a bit of competition with Warner Bros.’ The Green Lantern, which comes out two weeks later.

X-Men First Class has had a turbulent production, with Josh Schwartz (The O.C.) writing the screenplay but missing out on the directing duties. Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2: X-Men United) was attached to direct and brought in Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to re-write the script. Singer has stepped down as the director but reminds as a producer.

Marvel confirms Weaving is Red Skull

As expected, actor Hugo Weaving was confirmed as the evil Red Skull in Marvel’s upcoming Captain America: The First Avenger. Weaving rounds out the hero/love interest/villain trifecta for next year’s big superhero film, joining Chris Evans (Steve Rogers aka Captain America) and Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter).

Weaving is a consummate villain/character actor, having played countless memorable roles in major geek movies beginning with Mr. Smith in The Matrix films and followed by Elrond in The Lord of the Rings films and the mysterious anti-hero V in V for Vendetta. Not as commonly known was his voice work as Megatron in Michael Bay’s Transformers movies. Yet again he will go virtually unrecognized as Johann Schmidt aka Red Skull. 

DVD/Blu-ray DISCussion (New for 5.4.10)

It’s a bigger week for kid movies and romantic comedies, so I had to dig a bit for some quality Blu-ray opportunities. Here’s what’s up for DISCussion this week:

FIRST RELEASES
–Nine (DVD and Blu-ray)

RE-RELEASES
–Saving Private Ryan (Blu-ray)
–K-19: The Widowmaker (Blu-ray) 
–Escape from L.A. (Blu-ray)