In Theaters This Weekend: November 6, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, Universal, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Animation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Independent, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• The Box (PG-13): starring James Marsden, Cameron Diaz, Frank Langella (directed by Richard Kelly)
• Disney’s A Christmas Carol (PG): starring Jim Carrey, John Cleese, Gary Oldman (directed by Robert Zemeckis)
• The Fourth Kind (PG-13): starring Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton (directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi)
• The Men Who Stare at Goats (R): starring George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges (directed by Grant Heslov)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: November 6, 2009

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 30, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Magnolia, Sony, Adaptation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Music, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG): starring Michael Jackson (directed by Kenny Ortega)  **in theaters now**
• Aladin* (NR): starring Ritesh Deshmukh, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt (directed by Sujoy Ghosh)
• The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day* (R): starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly (directed by Troy Duffy)
• The Fall* (NR): starring Benny Ciaramello, Scott Kinworthy, Erica Shaffer (directed by John Krueger)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: October 30, 2009

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Paranormal Activity May Get Sequel

Posted by Kathleen Kane Categories: Paramount, Horror, Independent, Mystery, Thrillers, Box Office, Filmmaking, New Releases, Rumors

Its first week in national release, Paranormal Activity raked in an astounding $22 million, coming to a total of $64 million. For a movie that was made for $15,000 and did those numbers at the box office, you know that those higher-ups will want more out of such a successful franchise.

“We have the rights on a worldwide basis to do ‘Paranormal 2,’ and we’re looking to see if that makes some sense,” Paramount chairman Brad Grey said.

Many fans fear (myself included) that we’ll get another Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 on our hands if a sequel does get made.

Director Orsen Peli seems to be a bit more cautious about the idea: “Even if we had some ideas for sequels, we wouldn’t be talking about them in advance.” When asked if a prequel was a possibility, he slyly replied, “Maybe.”

Check out a short video after the jump of Peli talking about the overwhelming success of the film.

Click to continue reading Paranormal Activity May Get Sequel

Read More | MTV

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Antichrist Lacks Scares, Boasts Biblical Allegory

Posted by Kathleen Kane Categories: IFC Films, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Religious, Thrillers, Casting, New Releases, Trailers

For a film whose trailer advertises a critic hailing it as “The most shocking film in the history of Cannes Film Festival,” you’ve at least got to wonder—if not for a mere moment—what a movie like that has to offer. While some remarkable trailers go on to pull back the curtains on so-so films (Where the Wild Things Are, anyone?), a plethora of descriptive words come to mind as I write about Antichrist and “so-so” is hardly one of them.

Opening on a handful of screens in the midst of Halloween season, Lars Von Trier’s latest achievement seemed the perfect pick for the indie lover (or at least those sick of the Saw franchise and/or already viewed Paranormal Activity, the little horror film that could). A fan of the ever-adroit Willem Dafoe and alluring French singer/actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, I find myself drawn to limited casts (Hard Candy); with that, I cannot imagine that Von Trier’s history with Dogme 95 had little to do with this. There was also the slight fact that the director himself was clinically depressed during the writing and some of the production process. Here marks more of an appeal and effort to view the film—did Von Trier meet the challenge of a two-person cast?

Aside from the slight deceit of its “scary movie” marketing poised for shocks (i.e. the bombarding, sanguine title atop corpses intertwined with a tree on the film’s poster), I believe that Von Trier does just that.

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 23, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: IFC Films, Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, Universal, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Foreign Language, Horror, Independent, Period, Sequels, Comedy, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Amelia (PG): starring Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor (directed by Mira Nair)
• Astro Boy (PG): starring Nicolas Cage, Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell (directed by David Bowers)
• Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (PG-13): starring John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Josh Hutcherson (directed by Paul Weitz)
• Saw VI (R): starring Costas Mandylor, Tobin Bell, Shawnee Smith (directed by Kevin Greutert)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: October 23, 2009

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Justin Timberlake Indirectly Funds British Horror Film

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Horror, Independent, Celeb News, Filmmaking, Rumors, Upcoming Releases

Justin Timberlake helped fund Colin, an ultra-low budget British horror movie, without even knowing it!

Marc Price, who claims that he made his debut film for just $70, said he never bought any make-up for the zombies and instead relied on what his makeup artist friends could donate from jobs where they hadn’t used everything up.

“The girl who was our head of makeup was cool because she was doing a lot of pop promos at the time—she didn’t need much liquid latex for Justin Timberlake so she was able to leave quite a lot with us.”

Marc also said his team had a few run-ins with the general public when they were filming some of the film’s gorier scenes: “The most crazy was when we had a scene with a guy having his face ripped off. I had the video camera in one hand and I was ripping off the face with the other hand, then all of a sudden this woman peered over, and said, ‘excuse me…’—she ignored the camera and ignored the fact I was ripping his face off, she thought it was real—and she said ‘excuse me are you ok? Do you want any help?’”

Colin is due in theaters on October 23 and is available on DVD on October 26.

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Casting Corner: Kristen Bell, Justin Long and More

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Columbia Pictures, Disney, Universal, Action, Biopics, Classics, Drama, Independent, Musicals, Period, Remakes, Casting, Celeb News, Upcoming Releases

Here’s a quick look at some of the casting announcements made recently:

Kristen Bell: Who knew Veronica Mars was a dancer? Kristen Bell has just been added to the cast of Burlesque, a film that will see Christina Aguilera playing a small-town girl working at a cabaret-esque club in Los Angeles. The film, which stars Cher as the establishment’s owner, will feature Bell as the soon-to-be former lead dancer. Dancing with the Stars’ Julianne Hough will also do what she does best.

Click to continue reading Casting Corner: Kristen Bell, Justin Long and More

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 16, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Warner Bros, Adaptation, Adventure, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Political, Remakes, Romance, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Law Abiding Citizen (R): starring Gerard Butler, Jamie Foxx, Leslie Bibb (directed by F. Gary Gray)
• The Stepfather (PG-13): starring Dylan Walsh, Sela Ward, Penn Badgley (directed by Nelson McCormick)
• Where the Wild Things Are (PG): starring Catherine Keener, Max Records, James Gandolfini (directed by Spike Jonze)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: October 16, 2009

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Remake News: Predator, Highlander and More

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, Paramount, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Classics, Drama, Foreign, Independent, Music, Remakes, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Casting, Celeb News, Rumors, Upcoming Releases, Videos

Predator: Who better to play the new Arnold Schwarzenegger…than Adrien Brody? The Oscar winner (The Pianist) was recently announced as the star of Predators, a reboot of the 1987 sci-fi thriller. The movie, which is being produced and co-written by Robert Rodriguez, will have Brody leading the group being hunted down by alien trackers. Others cast in the Nimrod Antal film include Topher Grace, Alice Braga, Walt Goggins and Danny Trejo. The production will debut on July 9, 2010.

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Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Escape to Couples Retreat

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Documentary, Family, Independent, Music, Political, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists

Depending on how you look at the numbers, the winner this weekend was either Couples Retreat or Paranormal Activity.

In the comedy corner, we have a Peter Billingsley-directed film that earned $35.3 million and a first-place finish. The movie - which combined the efforts of Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Jason Bateman - pulled in the best numbers for any Columbus Day weekend entry ever. It also gave Vaughn his 2nd best opening behind The Break-Up.

Meanwhile, on the horror front, Paranormal Activity made a huge splash despite being in limited release. The Blair Witch-esque movie scared up a shocking $49,000 per screen average. It also raked in nearly 500 times more than its budget. (It only cost less than $16,000 to produce.)

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Escape to Couples Retreat

Read More | Variety

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