Latest Video: FilmCrunch 067: Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, Premonition reviewed
Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, and Premonition in this episode of FilmCrunch.Play Video
Mission: Impossible 4 Breaks Franchise Record
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Paramount, Action, Adaptation, Mystery, Sequels, Thrillers, Box Office, New Releases
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is the most successful film in the movie series' franchise. The Brad Bird-directed film - which sees Tom Cruise return as operative Ethan Hunt, alongside Jeremy Renner and Simon Pegg - has made $571 million worldwide since its release late last year, and studio Paramount has admitted it is delighted with the success.
"Brad Bird, Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams and the entire team who worked on M:I4 created an incredibly entertaining film, one that fans worldwide embraced in record numbers," said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman of Paramount. Mission: Impossible II is the next most successful film in the franchise, earning $546 million worldwide.
Brad has previously joked he was terrified about being the director who killed off Tom when he made him hang off the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai for the fourth installment of the movie: "I think every director that has worked with him in these kinds of films probably has that feeling where your eyes snap open at three in the morning and you go, 'My god, what am I doing?' Definitely."
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Ralph Fiennes’ Filmmaking Pressure
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Weinstein Company, Adaptation, Drama, Thrillers, Celeb News, Filmmaking, New Releases
Ralph Fiennes felt a lot of pressure making Coriolanus. The 49-year-old actor makes his directorial debut with the Shakespearean adaptation and admits it was hard to juggle helming the project and also acting in it.
"There were days when I thought, 'I haven't got the right performance that I should be giving, but I haven't got time, and I have to move on.' And then, the pressure on the head - Got to move on! And even if you think, 'f**k, f**k, f**k' you can't afford to show it."
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Paul Bettany Has No Movie Formula
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Drama, Thrillers, Celeb News, Filmmaking, New Releases, Scripts
Paul Bettany believes that making a good movie is about guess work.
The British actor - who has starred in films including A Beautiful Mind, The Secret Lives of Bees and Iron Man - believes there is no guaranteed way to make a successful film, and he admits many people were surprised at the success of his latest work Margin Call.
"I've never seen more shocked faces. Because nobody could quite believe it had come together so well. I thought it was bright and well-written, which is rare, and it was 17 days of filming so I just thought, 'This is a good punt.' It's just proof that you never know. People are always trying to work out the formula for making a movie that is well-regarded, but it's like looking at f**king tea leaves."
Paul stars alongside Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto and Kevin Spacey in the movie, and he admits it "changed" him because it showed him how professional a set could be: "This movie changed me in that it reminded me of all the reasons why I first became an actor. I can't make movies that I don't care about any more."
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George Clooney Couldn’t Relate to Character
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: 20th Century Fox, Drama, Comedy, Celeb News, New Releases
George Clooney couldn't relate to his character in The Descendants. The 50-year-old actor plays Matt King - a wealthy man who sets out with his two daughters to find the lover of his ailing wife - in the drama and though he had little in common with his alter ego, he doesn't think that is important.
George - who won Best Actor for his role in the movie at last weekend's Golden Globes - said, "This guy is really going through a phase in his life where he wants to do right by everyone, and I don't know that that would be part of my make-up. He's caught p in a strange place in his life and career. I enjoyed playing the character but I don't know that I can relate to him. But part of my job is to do what is asked of me in the script and not have to worry about whether it pertains to me or not. You don't have to actually shoot heroin to play a drug addict, you know."
He also admitted he fears repeating the same career choices over and over and would regard not varying his decisions as a professional "failure": "My biggest fear is doing the same things 10 years from now. That would be a failure. It's something you have to constantly reassess, and asking yourself what you are going to do next makes it a good long full journey."
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Box Office Breakdown: Underworld Takes Over Box Office
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Buena Vista, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Classics, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Political, Science Fiction, Sequels, Thrillers, Box Office, New Releases
Vampire films are still proving to be winning box office material, as Underworld Awakening raked in $25.3 million this past weekend, bumping Kate Beckinsale's other film, Contraband, from its number 1 spot.
Not too far behind was the Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Terrence Howard WWII film, Red Tails, which debuted at number 2 for $18.7 million. Last week's top film, Contraband, was bumped down to number 3 with $12 million while Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close jumped from 36th last week to the number 4 spot -- thanks to the addition of more than 2,000 screens. Lastly, the 3D version of Beauty and the Beast, which came in second last week, secured the number 5 spot with $8.8 million.
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Madonna’s Lonely Script
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Weinstein Company, Drama, Period, Political, Romance, Celeb News, New Releases, Scripts
Madonna wrote a film because she was lonely. The 53-year-old star's fascination with Wallis Simpson - the subject of her new movie W.E. - stemmed from her interest in English history, which she began to research when she first moved to London with former husband Guy Ritchie.
"When I moved to England after I got married, I really didn't have any friends. I didn't know anybody. I found myself in a strange world and I decided that I was going to find out about the history and culture. So I started studying English history and reading about the monarchy. When I got to Edward VIII, I was transfixed by the idea that a man would give up such a powerful position for love. I started reading books about Wallis Simpson, and I found a lot of them to be really negative and one-dimensional. When women have some kind of power, and we don't understand them, we diminish them."
Madonna related to Wallis a lot and thinks that made her the right person to direct the film: "I think I had an insight into her character that possibly other directors wouldn't have, because I know what it's like to be reduced to a sound bite."
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Michael Fassbender to Take Mother on Oscar Date
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: FOCUS, Drama, Awards, Celeb News, Filmmaking, New Releases
Michael Fassbender wants to take his mother on a date to the Oscars.
The Shame actor - who is widely tipped to be nominated for an Academy Award following a blockbuster year of movies including A Dangerous Method, X-Men: First Class, and Haywire - has his parents to thank for him being able to earn a living prior to making it big, and he would like to take his mum down the red carpet at the event.
"It took me a while to come to grips with how expensive London was. My parents helped me out, but we never had a lot of money. [An Oscar Nomination] would just be a bonus, but of course I would take my mum down the red carpet."
Discussing his role in Shame, the Irish/German star admits he was "worried" about the gravity of playing a man who was dealing with an addiction to sex: "I was a bit worried that I'd perhaps bitten off more than I could chew. But I'm always interested in trying to investigate different personalities. I want to keep myself guessing and keep the fear element alive so that I don't get too comfortable."
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Box Office Breakdown: M:I-4 Continues to Outrun Competition
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Buena Vista, Fox Searchlight, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Mystery, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, New Releases
Despite the major competition over the holiday weekend, Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol took number 1 at the box office for the second week in a row with $29.6 million.
Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows kept its number 2 spot with $21 million, while the family film Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked moved up one spot to number 3 with $16.4 million. The highly-anticipated David Fincher film The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was bumped down to number 4 with $14.8 million, and Steven Spielberg's War Horse rounded out the Top 5 at $14.4 million.
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Angelina Jolie’s History Lesson Hopes
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Drama, Political, Romance, Celeb News, Filmmaking, New Releases
Angelina Jolie hopes her directorial debut is more than just a "history lesson."
The Oscar-winning actress helmed and wrote Bosnian war-set love story In the Land of Blood and Honey, and she hopes the audience think of it as more than just a factual running of events: "I hope for the audience watching that it isn't just a history lesson, it isn't just a political film, it isn't just Bosnia. We tried to tell a dramatic story, we tried to make a good film with great actors, we tried to just to give traditional dramatic storytelling, and somehow in that, we also layered all these other things and it's a part of that."
Despite being pleased with the outcome of the film, she is unsure if she will ever get back in the director's chair again. "Oh I don't know. I'm still very shy about that. I still can't believe I'm even here and we did it."
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Rooney Mara: Dragon Tattoo Made Me More Masculine
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Columbia Pictures, Action, Adaptation, Mystery, Thrillers, Celeb News, Celebrity Gossip, Filmmaking, New Releases
Rooney Mara says appearing in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has made her less feminine. The 26-year-old actress admits aspects of playing the rebellious Lisbeth Salander in the new movie stayed with her and has changed her style.
"Before I got the part I was definitely more feminine and girlie. I wore a lot of pale shades and I haven't really rediscovered that yet. I've kept with the black and dark colors."
In the movie, Rooney's psychologically-damaged character exacts revenge on her rapist, but despite the graphic nature of some of her scenes, the actress insists they didn't affect her because of the physical transformation she underwent for the role: "Because Lisbeth looked so different to me with the tattoos and piercings, it just never really felt like me so I didn't feel strange or embarrassed."
As part of her research, Rooney spent two months in Sweden - where the story is set - before the filming began and found the experience very helpful: "It was incredibly helpful because you can't really understand the characters until you've spent part of a winter there. For me, the cold and the dark were really difficult to overcome."
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