Welcome to this week’s edition of “Movie News Monday!” (“MNM!”)
What is ‘MNM’ all about?
In case this is your first time here, “Movie News Monday!” (MNM) is the place to visit on Mondays for a quick recap of trending entertainment news! I’ve collected info, rumors, etc from all over just for you to keep you updated on movies being released, actors/actresses in roles, dvd releases to keep a lookout for, which movie won in the box office over the weekend, etc! Are you ready for your weekly update? Here it is!
FYI- posts for the next couple of weeks may be a bit delayed and/or abbreviated as I am adjusting to a new schedule. Bear with me. Your content will still be here…just perhaps a little later in the day than you are used to! (On a side note: Hooray for not being unemployed any longer after being laid off 6 weeks ago by my employer of the past 8 years!)
This Just In!!…
#1- “The Weekend Winner.” Last weekend, the box office arena welcomed 2 major new wide releases and one of them was a GIANT success. Godzilla stomped into the arena and knocked the R-rated comedy Neighbors down a notch in order to make room for its grand entrance. The 2nd biggest opening of the year so far (Second to Captain America: The Winter Soldier and JUST beating The Amazing Spider-Man 2) this is the first non-sequel of 2014 to open above $90 million!
Over the weekend, Captain America: The Winter Soldier surpassed a total domestic gross earning of $250 million and still remains in the top ten after 7 weekends!
Here are the weekend’s actual results for Fri, May 16-Sun, May 18:
- Godzilla ~$93M
- Neighbors ~$25M
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ~$16.8M
- Million Dollar Arm ~$10.5M
- The Other Woman ~$6.3M
- Heaven is for Real ~$4.4M
- Rio 2 ~$3.73M
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier ~$3.7M
- Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return ~$1.95M
- Mom’s Night Out ~$1.7M
Congratulations to Godzilla (Click HERE for my review)
What did YOU watch this weekend?
#2- “Coen Brothers prepare to Hail Caesar” The Coen Brothers have a loyal following but not always a great reception when it comes to their projects. Not that many people seemed to rave about the musically-inclined 2013 release Inside Llewyn Davis that was snubbed during award season. Hoping to climb back to the popularity they had with other projects such as (IMO the over-rated) No Country For Old Men, here are the details of their latest project soon to come entitled Hail Caesar.
Courtesy Deadline:
Joel and Ethan Coen are putting together their next film, and it’s about a fixer in Hollywood circa 1950s who works for the studios to protect the stars of the day. Entitled Hail Caesar,the comical yarn centers on a man named Eddie Mannix who sounds a lot like the Fred Otash of his day — the famed 1950′s private investigator who worked for Confidential magazine and was the muckraker of the time using wiretaps to spy on movie stars and gather dirt. Otash was a former lifeguard who became a cop, lost his job as a cop and became a private eye who wiretapped.
It was not unusual during the time for studios’ internal security to protect their assets to construct and manage the squeaky clean image of their stars. The big stars of the day were under contracts for a certain number of pictures so the powerful studios had their own go-to guys (and sometimes hired outside private investigators) to deep-six scandalous stories, whether it be romantic dalliances, drug use, DUIs, arrests, you name it. For the more serious threats, the fixers used pay-outs, strong-arming, and took care of “problems” (real or perceived) by any means necessary. It was the day of the old Hollywood star system.
Currently in development, I expect more to release about this project as time goes on. Hopefully it will be received much better than some of their previous efforts because they are talented filmmakers. I loved True Grit!
What are your thoughts on this next Coen project?
#3- “Expendables 3 Rating Reduced.“ This past week Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming star-studded action film, The Expendables 3, was reported to be receiving an MPAA rating of PG-13. In contrast to the previous installments that were both rated R, this one, according to Stallone, will be more accessible to the younger audiences.
Also via Deadline, Stallone stated:
“We want to reach as many people as possible. It’s very close to an R, believe me, it’s right there. But I think we owe it to the next generation. We thought we’d join that club for a while.”
Of course, with the second film performing much lower than the first in theaters ($85 million vs the first Expendables’ $103 million), this seems to be a maneuver to gain more dollars from a wider audience range and then possibly disappoint fans of the first two. Who knows? We’ll see when the third of the fight-filled franchise releases on August 15.
What do you think of this rating news? Will it make a difference?
#4- “Cannes Catches the Craze of Foxcatcher.” The film stars Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo and more and has had my attention ever since I first saw the trailer last year. Foxcatcher -pushed back from its earlier scheduled release date of Dec2013- has debuted at Cannes Film Festival and the response from critics was overwhelmingly positive, including the early calls for Steve Carell to receive an Oscar nomination!!! (for early reviews full of praise, click HERE)
Here’s the official synopsis:
FOXCATCHER, a psychological drama directed by Academy Award® nominee Bennett Miller (MONEYBALL) and starring Golden Globe® winner Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Academy Award®nominee Mark Ruffalo, Academy Award® winner Vanessa Redgrave and Sienna Miller, will have its World Premiere on Friday, November 8 as the Opening Weekend Gala. The film was written by E. Max Frye and Academy Award® nominee Dan Futterman. FOXCATCHER tells the story of Olympic Gold Medal-winning wrestler Mark Schultz (Tatum), who sees a way out from the shadow of his more celebrated wrestling brother Dave (Ruffalo) and a life of poverty when he is summoned by eccentric multi-millionaire John du Pont (Carell) to move onto his estate and train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Desperate to gain the respect of his disapproving mother, du Pont begins “coaching” a world-class athletic team and, in the process, lures Mark into dangerous habits, breaks his confidence and drives him into a self-destructive spiral. Based on actual events, FOXCATCHER is a gripping and profoundly American story of fragile men who pinned their hopes for love and redemption on a desperate obsession for greatness that was to end in tragedy.
Check out the recently released poster and teaser trailer for the upcoming film.
Foxcatcher releases on November 14th and also stars Vanessa Redgrave, Sienna Miller, Anthony Michael Hall and more.
Are you looking forward to this one?
#5- “This Week’s Blu-ray release.” Here’s what blu-ray.com shows:
My pick of the week out of the NEW releases is…well…NONE of them :( BUT, if you have to check out something, I will admit to wanting to see Grand Piano, starring Elijah Wood and John Cusack. So, maybe I’ll rent that. It currently has an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, but I don’t expect it to be phenomenal. Reminds me of Phonebooth. What do you think?
Which will you pick up?
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Well, that’s it for this round of “Movie News Monday!”
Thanks for reading! Happy Watching!
-T, The Focused Filmographer
