In Contention

Tag: Iron Man 2

  • SUNDAY CENTS: Taking ‘Hood’ stock

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott helped steal $37.1 million from the poor on behalf of the rich as “Robin Hood” enters the chart in second place this week. The humorless duo courted the older adult audience, and in that respect, this is a solid enough debut. Not quite up to the snuff of “Gladiator,” but a better start than the $22.7 million summer 2005 launch of Crowe’s “Cinderella Man,” a film which is often cited as the one that killed big budget adult dramas being released in the heart of summer.

    Where the film goes from here is up to the word of mouth which, from what I can gather, is mediocre. It’ll need a healthy push to reach $100 million, but I think we’re looking at another “Public Enemies” situation where the film stalls out just under the mark around $95 million. But before you bring Universal some hankies to cry in, you can expect that number to be almost tripled in overseas territories. Crowe lives to leave another interview!

    So that means that “Iron Man 2” is the number one film again this week. Good job Iron Man. The comic book superhero dropped a perilous 59% and continues to do the absolute bare minimum to avoid being called a disappointment. These grosses are perfunctory and little else and it’s sad that we’ve reached a point that a possible $350 million finish is blasé. Again, the film has already topped the $200 million mark overseas as well so this is a very profitable venture for Marvel. The third film is already in pre-production and Martin Lawrence has entered negotiations to replace Don Cheadle.

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  • FRIDAY FORECAST: ‘Robin’ of schlocksley

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    Fresh off a tepid debut at Cannes, Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe have unleashed their fifth collaboration upon the world. Forget Scorsese and DiCaprio, these guys are taking actor-director bromance to another level. Together, they’ve given us Oscar winning hits (“Gladiator”), non-Oscar winning hits (“American Gangster”) and non-Oscar winning non-hits (“A Good Year” and “Body of Lies”). Which category will “Robin Hood” fall under?

    The one comparison everybody can’t stop making is to “Gladiator” so let’s start there. The sword and sandals epic also launched in May, of 2000, and slashed up a $51.4 million debut. That was at the very beginning of May with no other summer movies out in competition it should be noted. Both director and star have become much more prolific and popular since then so maybe we should assume that “Robin Hood” could do a little better.

    Not so fast! Medieval/historical epics have had a torrid last few years at the box office. Scott’s own “Kingdom of Heaven” was supposed to kick off the 2006 summer season with a bang but only managed a $24.4 million debut and $58.8 million finish. Oliver Stone gave it the old college try with “Alexander” and found $17.5 million to start en route to a $43.9 million total. Granted, people hated that thing.

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  • SUNDAY CENTS: The ‘Iron’ is still hot

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    “Iron Man 2” landed with a softer than expected $133.6 million to easily win the weekend. Now, is it even possible for $133.6 million to ever be disappointing? That’s the ninth biggest opening weekend of all time for crying out loud. Plus the film has already racked up more than $300 million worldwide so there is no danger of it not being extremely profitable for Paramount. Still, I think this just about the bare minimum it could have possibly made without raising some eyebrows. The original film opened on the same week two years ago to $109.2 million, which at the time made it the third biggest debut ever for a non-sequel.

    Being as popular as it was, a bigger debut for the sequel was an absolute requirement. Films in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Shrek” franchises took enormous leaps from the debuts of their first film to second, but to be fair, those original films both opened with much more modest numbers than the first “Iron Man.” With “Spider-Man 3” proving that you can open in the beginning of May and earn more than $150 million without breaking a sweat, there’s really no reason why “Iron Man 2” shouldn’t have done the same.

    There’s certainly no competition. They brought back all the ingredients that made the first film likable (except no one will mind if we replace the black guy, right?). Some might be quick to say the lack of 3D hurt it, but that’s nonsense. Whatever the case, I’d now say that surpassing the $352.6 million of the original is not a foregone conclusion and ending the summer as the number one film is also unlikely. Your move, “Twilight!”

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  • Tell us what you thought of ‘Iron Man 2’

    The summer movie season launches today with the high octane, multiplex-flexing “Iron Man 2.” I’ve already offered up a few comments in today’s Oscar Talk special, and Guy gave it some ink last week, but cut loose with your own views here once you see it today, over the weekend, whenever.  Thumbs up?  Thumbs down?  In fact, while you’re at it, vote in our new sidebar poll.

  • OSCAR TALK: Ep. 26 — Special Edition! — Catching up, Cannes on the way, ‘Iron Man’ kicks off the summer season

    Oscar TalkWelcome to Oscar Talk, your one-stop kudocast between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood.

    It’s been a while, so there was plenty to cover in this, the first of three off-season podcasts we’ll offer up through the summer. On the docket today…

    • With Cannes around the corner, we briefly size things up. Guy will be covering for us this year and indieWIRE will be heavy on coverage as well, so we talk about what to expect, the rigors of festival coverage, etc.

    • Speaking of indieWIRE, Todd McCarthy joined the site a few weeks back and Anne welcomes him aboard on the podcast, excited to be working with her former colleague again.

    • Since it’s been a few months since we last did one of these, we look back at the year to date and what stands out so far. We both agree on the year’s best American film.

    • Today is the start of the summer movie season with the release of “Iron Man 2.” We talk about our disappointments with the film.

    • Finally, we kind of wander around a forecast of the summer to come, looking at a few of the key titles on the way.

    Have a listen to the latest podcast below. We go on a bit long, but it’s been a while, so forgive us. The next installment of the summer edition will drop, we think, June 11. Until then, remember to subscribe to Oscar Talk via iTunes here.

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    Subscribe to Oscar Talk

  • FRIDAY FORECAST: ‘Babies’!

    *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars.

    The babies are finally here guys! You’ve oohed and ahhed at penguins and oceans and Michael Moore, but this documentary finally gives you the chance to ooh and ahh at humans. Specifically, little ones. There’s also a silly sounding movie about a man who wears a suit made of armor, but it’s not even set in medieval times. He also fights some Russian villain, but it’s not even set in Cold War times.

    Most importantly, it’s officially summer according to Hollywood! Go to the beach, confess your love to your crush and cash in those time shares people!

    “Iron Man 2” is opening in 4,380 theaters today. That’s the biggest number for a debuting film in history. The first film in the franchise kicked off the 2008 summer season with a $109.2 million debut, en route to a fantastic $352.6 million total, earning more than supposed-summer titan “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” in the process. As far as sequels go, you can add as many stars, villains, explosions and cameos that you want but the most potent weapon in your arsenal will always be the popularity of the original, and “Iron Man” was extremely popular. An improved debut figure is a virtual certainty but the all time record of $175.4 million for “The Dark Knight” is probably safe.

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  • Stunningly stupid

    FINAL UPDATE (5/11/10): JoBlo has now posted an apology letter from Tom Perkins, the accused.  It’s as dubious as you might expect but at least the whole thing has some closure.

    UPDATE (5/9/10): You’ll notice that the video is now indicated as “private” and can’t be viewed.  But this guy got his comeuppance on the unforgiving internet, so it’s pretty much over.  This post does a good job of summarizing what went down.

    EARLIER: First, read JoBlo’s review of “Iron Man 2.” Then, watch FilmXTRA’s virtually word-for-word plagiarized video review below, and tell me these guys shouldn’t be hung up by their short and curlies:

    Apparently a good portion of it was also stolen from Den of Geek’s review.

    By the way, my opinion: the film fails across the board. More in today’s Oscar Talk special, coming in a few hours.

  • SHORT TAKE: “Iron Man 2” (**1/2)

    “Good is the enemy of Great,” wrote Jim Collins, in one of the more high-maintenance self-help plans you’re likely to encounter. As nice a thought as it is, this law appears to have no place in the world of the Hollywood franchise blockbuster, where Crap is the enemy of pretty much everything, and Good is usually one courtesy too many for time-strapped, dollar-eyed producers.

    With myriad noisy-yet-joyless “Transformers” types littering the release schedule each summer, then, the bar for commendability is set rather low: it often takes but one redeeming feature to launch such products into critics’ good books in addition to the box office charts.

    It’s in this way that Jon Favreau’s “Iron Man” carved a reputation as one of 2008’s pleasant surprises: narratively choppy, technically perfunctory and indifferently performed in support, it nonetheless boasted a star turn from Robert Downey Jr so fleet-footed and gleefully off-message that it made all the surrounding elements seem wittier by sheer association.

    It should come as no surprise to students of the Hollywood mainstream that Favreau’s swiftly delivered sequel, already raking in the cash on its European release, aims no higher, and reaches no wider, than its predecessor. By and large, Favreau and his collaborators have figured that the shortcuts they got away with in the first film are still fit for purpose.

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  • Because it made me laugh

    Is “Iron Man 2” really just 10 days away? This is the buzziest thing I’ve seen about it.

  • ‘Iron Man 2’ trailer

    And now for something completely different…

  • My most anticipated films of 2010

    InceptionAnnually I put together a hasty list of my most anticipated films of the New Year on January 1.  I got rid of the pomp and circumstance around the perennial post a while back and just stuck with the list.  But a couple of things…

    I’m not sure if Kevin Macdonald’s “The Eagle of the Ninth” will make it to theaters in 2010, but that would definitely be a consideration.  And it’s difficult not to be interested in product from major filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Peter Weir and James L. Brooks, but, alas, they didn’t speak up for me when putting this together.

    Typically, the blockbusters will show up in numbers on something like this, because for me, that’s what I tend to anticipate.  When art seems to be skillfully married to commerce (like my #1 selection — which is most people’s #1 selection), all the better.  But it’s tough to really know what the art house product could have in store until we’re in the thick of the year.

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  • 9/2 Web Round-up

    Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious Man• “A Serious Man,” a glossary. [Focus Features]

    • Peter Knegt writes up 10 things the fall fests could tell us about the awards season. [indieWIRE]

    • Julian Fellowes talks Robert Altman eight years after “Gosford Park,” bringing back memories (old school Oscar Central readers know). [The Wrap]

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  • One more parting shot…

    Snapped by Jon Favreau on the Hall H stage during the “Iron Man 2” panel discussion:

    (from left) Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International

    And a taste of Kevin Smith at the Con, where he talks about the fact that the title “A Couple of Dicks” may not hold (My camera lost battery power half-way through.  Apologies):

  • COMIC-CON: Wrapping it up

    2009 San Diego Comic-Con InternationalI wish I could tell you how awesome the “Iron Man 2” footage form yesterday’s Paramount panel was, but Hall H was packed to the gills and even us schmoes int he VIP line couldn’t get in because it was at capacity.  Without a doubt, the event was the most popular attraction at this year’s Comic-Con.

    It sounded good muffled through the walls.  That’s all I got.  Hoping for another screening in LA soon.

    By far the highlight for me was the Entertainment Weekly Visionaries panel with James Cameron and Peter Jackson.  It’s a pretty big leap from last year’s set of Zack Snyder, Frank Miller, Kevin Smith and Judd Apatow.  Let’s hope next year isn’t a step backwards at the crew responsible for this momentous occasion gets creative and puts a few equally brilliant minds together on that stage once again.

    Speaking of Jackson, “District 9” made a major splash here.  The screening was very well-received on Thursday and the Saturday panel got the crowd chomping at the bit.  In this community anyway, the film is sure to be a runaway hit.

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  • The intersection, nay, collision of art and commerce

    (from left) David Fincher and Sigourney Weaver on the set of Alien 3This morning has been quite the disenchanting read on the internet.  Everywhere I turn, it’s all the same content: “Nightmare on Elm Street” set visit reports, ogling nothing images released from “Iron Man 2,” Comic-Con preparations with the requisite trappings, “OMG, Sam Raimi’s gonna direct ‘World of Warcraft,’” etc.  Bleak indeed.  It seems to be an ever-growing symptom of the net as studios, more than ever, understand how to use various outlets as an extended mouthpiece.

    That mini-rant out of the way (apologies for that), I was nevertheless excited to stumble across — shock and awe — some intriguing exclusive content.  Over at Filmonic, the discussion of the economy’s affect on studio decisions has reared its head in the form of a retrospective on David Fincher’s trials and tribulations putting together “Alien 3” at 20th Century Fox.  It’s a nice summation of what went down (for the most part), with particular emphasis on the lingering anxiety over how today’s environment will hinder some of the talented new filmmakers in our midst.

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  • Comic-Con on the way

    San Diego Comic-Con InternationalLike the rest of the web geek world, I guess, I’m gearing up for this year’s San Diego Comic Con International, which begins with preview night on Wednesday.

    All eyes, of course, are on Thursday’s slew of events, a treasure trove of goodies that made for a ton of Sophie’s choices when putting together my personal schedule.  I’ll definitely be at the Disney panel, with glimpses of Robert Zemeckis’s “A Christmas Carol” in 3D and a taste of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland,” among other things.  Speaking of 3D, perhaps the most anticipated panel will be James Camerons “Avatar” event.  I’m definitely looking forward to that, but the likely crowd of humanity that will be doing same?  Not so much.  Trying to wrangle some VIP consideration as we speak.

    The Peter Jackson-produced “District 9” isn’t as high on my to-do list as most, but I’ll probably park it for Paramount’s “Iron Man 2” Panel on Saturday.  The film just wrapped a 72-day shoot over the weekend, by the way.  Warner Bros. also has a panel, on Friday, but Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are” is the only thing that has me interested there.  Focus Features also plans a considerable presence with “Coraline” (the Blu-ray and DVD of which hits shelves tomorrow) and “9.”

    Oh, and Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.”  I suppose I should check that out.

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  • First look at Mickey Rourke in ‘Iron Man 2’

    Courtesy of USA Today, Screen Rant and Jon Favreau’s Twitter page, we get our first peek at Mickey Rourke as Whiplash in “Iron Man 2.”  Quite low-tech, which is interesting.  Thoughts?

    Mickey Rourke in Iron Man 2

    Side-by-side comparison with a comic depiction of Whiplash after the jump.

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  • Downey suits up one more time

    Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 2

    (Courtesy: USA Today)