In Contention

Tag: Predators

  • SUNDAY CENTS: On closer ‘Inception’

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

    Alright, let’s talk about “Inception.” People have been salivating over this thing since before it even went into production and the marketing campaign Warner Bros. put together was pretty top notch. The director was coming off the biggest film of the decade (at that time) and the cast was impressively assembled, led by one of the biggest names on the planet. Early reviews were ecstatic and the market was desperate for a live action blockbuster to live up to the hype.

    With all that said, “Inception” opened at the top of the box office this weekend with $60.4 million. Is that any good? Well, it’s less than “The Dark Knight” made in one day, but it’s by far the biggest opening of Leonard DiCaprio’s career. With no previous source material and a tricky sci-fi premise aimed at adults, Warner Bros. was always going to have an uphill battle here.

    As far as summer sci-fi goes, it’s a little less than what “I, Robot” debuted with in July 2004, but well ahead of the $48.8 million launch for “Minority Report,” which had Cruise and Spielberg to help sell. That film had similarly positive reviews and went on to gross 3.7 times its debut with a $180.7 million finish. If “Inception” were to do the same, we’d be looking at a $223 million total.

    (more…)

  • FRIDAY FORECAST: Celebrity ‘Apprentice’

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

    Hey gang, it’s the weekend we’ve all been waiting for. “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” finally opens and satisfies our bloodlust for not one, but two fantasy collaborations between the Walt Disney company and Jerry Bruckheimer per summer. Perhaps only Pixar can rival their impressive streak of quality entertainment which includes “G-Force,” “Coyote Ugly” and “Bad Company.” More like good company!

    Nicolas Cage teams with the two of them for the seventh time and the hope is obviously to pull in “National Treasure” numbers. Actually, all six previous collaborations have earned over $125 million, so they obviously bring out the best in each other. Unfortunately, “National Treasure” looked brisk and fun while “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” looks dark and muddled.

    The film already opened on Wednesday and earned $7 million in its first two days. Not looking good for the old Cagester and Bruckmeister as the weekend should only muster another $18 million or so, becoming yet another summer title reliant on international grosses to make a profit. Maybe Jerry will have to stick to TV producing where he lords over, at my last count, 361 crime or detective shows. And at least Cage is shrewd with his money. Oh wait.

    (more…)

  • SUNDAY CENTS: WTF?

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

    Forget everything I said about it being ballsy marketing your movie with a bunch of unknown, potentially scene-stealing creatures. I forget that if the creatures are at all adorable, then you automatically debut with $60 million at the box office.

    Seriously. What happened with “Despicable Me?” I’m not afraid to admit that three weeks ago I thought this would debut with $15 million. Instead, it’s the number one movie in America with $60.1 million in the bank. That already makes it the biggest computer animated film Universal has ever put out and rivals some of the better openings for non-franchise DreamWorks pictures. It should now have no problem becoming the fourth animated film of 2010 to pass $200 million. No words.

    Speaking of that threshold, “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” raced past it with some conviction, dropping 49% to $33.4 million. It’s about $7 million the running total of “New Moon” by this point and will have a hard time reaching the same peak. Still, it’s more than enough to have provided more work for Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer. Has that not been deemed a war crime yet?

    (more…)

  • FRIDAY FORECAST: I ain’t got time to bleed

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

    Summer keeps puttering along and based on the reaction to Kris’s multiple posts on the subject, we’re all just biding our time until “Inception” comes out. I knew people wanted to see it, but I can’t remember the last time people were refreshing their browsers to see a couple of reviews.

    Nolan’s latest is still a week away though, and we have other business to cover. Mainly, some weird cartoon and the re-imagining of an 80’s action classic. Weeks ago I had this pegged as an easy weekend for “Predators” to win, but Fox has lowballed the screen count and skimped on the marketing for what should have been a no-brainer. So, let’s start with “Despicable Me.”

    Universal has released a grand total of two computer animated films before this week. The first was the $14.4 million grossing Veggie Tales movie, “The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything”, which I didn’t see because I think Christian vegetables are weird, but still think it’s one of the best titles of all time. Their second release was the $56.3 million wonder, “The Tale of Despereaux.”

    (more…)

  • Brody-V-P

    Yeah, not Oscar related at all (well, kinda), but you tell me.  Can you see Adrien Brody as a badass dude fighting some predators?  Really?

  • What the $%@& is up with all the rehashing, Tinseltown?

    Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total RecallDoesn’t it just feel like you’re Arnold over there lately, strapped into that chair and force-fed the disgusting mindwipe that is Hollywood product these days?

    Patrick Goldstein has written a piece that touches on something that has been digging further and further under my skin the last couple of weeks: Hollywood’s disgusting rehashing of previous material.

    It’s nothing new, of course,  Remakes and sequelitis have plagued the industry from its earliest days.  When it comes to economics and brass tacks, the fact is, these places are run by business-minded individuals who look to capitalize on public interest at every turn.  And in an economy such as this, it simply spells disaster for moviegoers who long for something new.  It doesn’t even have to be GOOD but FRESH would be appreciated.  But what’s rather sad is the fact that a number of the pipelined reboots, remakes and sequels have ties to projects that never lit up the box office to begin with, clearly lost touch with audiences over the years, or in some cases, never even found much interest on home video.  How does that math compute?

    For some, it might seem like the oldest complaint in the book, but have you taken a look at what we have in store lately?  Just in the past few weeks a slew of titles have popped up either as newly announced projects or projects landing writers, directors, etc.  Do we really need a remake of “Total Recall” 19 years later?  Is America so deprived of the “Short Circuit” franchise that it needs a reboot as well (no doubt some weird capitalization on “WALL-E”)?  And a new “Scream” trilogy?  Really?

    The “Alien” prequel and “Predators” project (a sequel) have glimmers of promise but they also represent franchises that need to die a quick and merciful death.  Ditto “Robocop,” also getting the reboot treatment.  Did the box office nose dive of “Terminator Salvation” not teach these people anything?  Fox needs to buy the “Terminator” rights (which will be on the market soon) and end it all for us with “Predaterminalien.”  Just get it over with.  Smothered in the night.  There are other stories, folks.

    (more…)