Friday free for all
It takes a village to adapt a Nighthawk
I'm not actually in the film industry, so I won't pretend to know whether or not Marvel is boning its help or thinking creatively enough to be considered truly innovative. Probably a little schtupping and a little creatively thinking. According to Variety, Marvel is looking to get together a pool of writers, like they do for television shows and used to do for their comic books, to begin writing their movies. Apparently, Marvel will invite up to five writers each year to work on specific projects, the writers will get a salary (which could be as high as $100,000) but that means that Marvel owns whatever the writers produce during that year (which is in line with what they do in the funny books with their contracts but makes sense in that they're given a salary). So, is this a mighty Marvel way to give writers the ol' fist in the posterior handshake, or is this the solution to many of the problems that movies have? Why is it that "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica" are so good and yet so few movies can meet that level of scripting? Why is it that television shows have become the go-to mining ground for movie adaptations? Why am I asking so many questions? Who knows? The point is, IF Marvel manages to take some semi-struggling but very creative writers (or, better yet, pulls from their own comic writing pool who haven't yet penned movies), give them a livable salary, and allows them to actually collaborate instead of the movie-trend of just revising each other's drafts, they could really have something. Just like with Sam Jackson's 9-picture deal, the studio is thinking outside of the expected, and I like that. I just hope this doesn't go the way of previous things in Marvel's past, where the talent takes the high hard one. Oh, and my favorite note in the Variety story was that they want the writers to find ways to adapt their lesser known properties, such as Black Panther (fair enough), Cable (okay), Doctor Strange (yes), Iron Fist (could work), The Vision (interesting), and Nighthawk (bwahaahahahahaahahaha...NIGHTHAWK? you'd have a better chance adapting Spider-ham).
Weekend battle plan: I guess you're seeing Monsters versus Aliens
The title may suggest wacky and madcap fun, but that's a bit of overshooting by Dreamworks, a studio who seems content to play with the toys that Pixar has moved past, both in terms of animation style and story content. Basically, if these studios were potential dates, Pixar would be marriage material and Dreamworks would be an easy roll in the hay. That said, you can't really beat whimsy these days, and the latest from the studio is a whimsical three-dimensional jaunt. Chances are you have or know a child. They will like it. You probably will too. Then you'll forget about it during the drive home, but whatever. You don't worry about how your nice dinner is going to be poo in a few hours, so have fun while you can. The other option is another stupid, pointless, ill-scripted horror movie. Man, this genre used to be about fun and creativity and is now cookie-cutter bullpuckey. The only way I could be physically less interested in this movie is if it was a sequel to Twilight. John Cena also has a movie this week. I know it doesn't matter at all, but we should mention it just in case he's reading this and his feelings get hurt.
That's my recommendation: Don't hurt John Cena's feelings but don't see his movie. Go watch Monsters versus Aliens and don't feel bad about it.
On DVD: I'm actually just outright pissed that Quantum of Solace isn't better received. It's the shit. Honest. It's got the same "oh, I'm so serious and sad" shit from Casino Royale, but also has insane badassness. People FLOCK to go see Taken, which is just a revenge movie, but kind of poo-pooed JAMES BOND doing a revenge movie. Don't be a moronface, rent this if you haven't seen it. I don't care that the name is stupid as hell. Rent it anyway.
Fearless, Flawless Box Office Predictions
The odds of me going three-for-three is the same as my odds of bagging Evangeline Lilly...but much like that impossible endeavor, low chances ain't gonna stop me from trying. As always, spots one and two are pretty much a lock, but past that it's anybody's guess. Trying to get into the psyche of the movie goer lately has been a bigger challenge than you could possibly know (it's dirty in there...dirty and scary).
Here's my best guess:
1.) Monsters vs Aliens - $62 million
The 3D take will push it up a bit (those glasses ain't free, yo), plus it's showing in IMAX, PLUS it's the first kids movie in awhile. Add it all up (Violent Femmes style) and you are left with a damn big opening. I wish that Dreamworks would skew slightly more on the side of better scripting, but it isn't bad really. And with Pixar having that market cornered, somebody has to make the animation for the Paul Blart set.
2.) Haunting in Connecticut - $16 million
These type of movies are just carbon copies in terms of the content and results. It makes me sad because it just reminds me of the business side of all of this so strongly. Anyway, if you see this, you make me sad. So don't tell me about it, okay?
3.) I Love You, Man - $12 million
I think this will hold well because we love comedies right now. Plus, Lou Ferrigno. I mean, if that man doesn't have staying power, don't nobody got staying power.
4.) Knowing - $10 million
A 60% drop seems about right for a movie as overtly sci-fi as this one is. The audiences I've talked to were heavily divided between love and hate. That means it will likely not have the strength to carry high into this week. It may get as high as third. I'm still glad this movie exists, for the record.
5.) Duplicity - $8 million
I'm guessing this will hold at just over 50% on the grounds that old people like it and they don't rush out opening weekend. So that means a lot of them will go see this now. Still crazy how far Julia Roberts has fallen off.
Have a good weekend! I will...so you should just to keep up.
I'm not actually in the film industry, so I won't pretend to know whether or not Marvel is boning its help or thinking creatively enough to be considered truly innovative. Probably a little schtupping and a little creatively thinking. According to Variety, Marvel is looking to get together a pool of writers, like they do for television shows and used to do for their comic books, to begin writing their movies. Apparently, Marvel will invite up to five writers each year to work on specific projects, the writers will get a salary (which could be as high as $100,000) but that means that Marvel owns whatever the writers produce during that year (which is in line with what they do in the funny books with their contracts but makes sense in that they're given a salary). So, is this a mighty Marvel way to give writers the ol' fist in the posterior handshake, or is this the solution to many of the problems that movies have? Why is it that "Lost" and "Battlestar Galactica" are so good and yet so few movies can meet that level of scripting? Why is it that television shows have become the go-to mining ground for movie adaptations? Why am I asking so many questions? Who knows? The point is, IF Marvel manages to take some semi-struggling but very creative writers (or, better yet, pulls from their own comic writing pool who haven't yet penned movies), give them a livable salary, and allows them to actually collaborate instead of the movie-trend of just revising each other's drafts, they could really have something. Just like with Sam Jackson's 9-picture deal, the studio is thinking outside of the expected, and I like that. I just hope this doesn't go the way of previous things in Marvel's past, where the talent takes the high hard one. Oh, and my favorite note in the Variety story was that they want the writers to find ways to adapt their lesser known properties, such as Black Panther (fair enough), Cable (okay), Doctor Strange (yes), Iron Fist (could work), The Vision (interesting), and Nighthawk (bwahaahahahahaahahaha...NIGHTHAWK? you'd have a better chance adapting Spider-ham).
Weekend battle plan: I guess you're seeing Monsters versus Aliens
The title may suggest wacky and madcap fun, but that's a bit of overshooting by Dreamworks, a studio who seems content to play with the toys that Pixar has moved past, both in terms of animation style and story content. Basically, if these studios were potential dates, Pixar would be marriage material and Dreamworks would be an easy roll in the hay. That said, you can't really beat whimsy these days, and the latest from the studio is a whimsical three-dimensional jaunt. Chances are you have or know a child. They will like it. You probably will too. Then you'll forget about it during the drive home, but whatever. You don't worry about how your nice dinner is going to be poo in a few hours, so have fun while you can. The other option is another stupid, pointless, ill-scripted horror movie. Man, this genre used to be about fun and creativity and is now cookie-cutter bullpuckey. The only way I could be physically less interested in this movie is if it was a sequel to Twilight. John Cena also has a movie this week. I know it doesn't matter at all, but we should mention it just in case he's reading this and his feelings get hurt.
That's my recommendation: Don't hurt John Cena's feelings but don't see his movie. Go watch Monsters versus Aliens and don't feel bad about it.
On DVD: I'm actually just outright pissed that Quantum of Solace isn't better received. It's the shit. Honest. It's got the same "oh, I'm so serious and sad" shit from Casino Royale, but also has insane badassness. People FLOCK to go see Taken, which is just a revenge movie, but kind of poo-pooed JAMES BOND doing a revenge movie. Don't be a moronface, rent this if you haven't seen it. I don't care that the name is stupid as hell. Rent it anyway.
Fearless, Flawless Box Office Predictions
The odds of me going three-for-three is the same as my odds of bagging Evangeline Lilly...but much like that impossible endeavor, low chances ain't gonna stop me from trying. As always, spots one and two are pretty much a lock, but past that it's anybody's guess. Trying to get into the psyche of the movie goer lately has been a bigger challenge than you could possibly know (it's dirty in there...dirty and scary).
Here's my best guess:
1.) Monsters vs Aliens - $62 million
The 3D take will push it up a bit (those glasses ain't free, yo), plus it's showing in IMAX, PLUS it's the first kids movie in awhile. Add it all up (Violent Femmes style) and you are left with a damn big opening. I wish that Dreamworks would skew slightly more on the side of better scripting, but it isn't bad really. And with Pixar having that market cornered, somebody has to make the animation for the Paul Blart set.
2.) Haunting in Connecticut - $16 million
These type of movies are just carbon copies in terms of the content and results. It makes me sad because it just reminds me of the business side of all of this so strongly. Anyway, if you see this, you make me sad. So don't tell me about it, okay?
3.) I Love You, Man - $12 million
I think this will hold well because we love comedies right now. Plus, Lou Ferrigno. I mean, if that man doesn't have staying power, don't nobody got staying power.
4.) Knowing - $10 million
A 60% drop seems about right for a movie as overtly sci-fi as this one is. The audiences I've talked to were heavily divided between love and hate. That means it will likely not have the strength to carry high into this week. It may get as high as third. I'm still glad this movie exists, for the record.
5.) Duplicity - $8 million
I'm guessing this will hold at just over 50% on the grounds that old people like it and they don't rush out opening weekend. So that means a lot of them will go see this now. Still crazy how far Julia Roberts has fallen off.
Have a good weekend! I will...so you should just to keep up.
posted by Ryan at
8:25 AM
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