Screenhead

Michael Jackson’s spirit keeps shining at the box office in This Is It while Paranormal Activity takes second place.  The holiday season is approaching and The Christmas Carol opens today.  Let’s hope for a great Christmas with wonderful movies to entertain us.

1. Michael Jackson’s This Is It
$32,646,810 — $43,855,342

2. Paranormal Activity
$20,589,825 — $88,829,870

3. Law Abiding Citizen
$10,618,948 — $54,700,598

4. Couples Retreat
$8,985,755 — $89,551,510

5. Where The Wild Things Are
$8,324,373 — $65,043,335

6. Saw VI
$6,956,487 — $24,220,442

7. Astro Boy
$4,628,934 — $12,484,701

8. The Stepfather
$4,267,061 — $25,615,070

9. Amelia
$4,233,878 — $9,539,710

10. Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
$4,132,385 — $11,844,175

(Source)

Today I want to personally thank the Miller-McCune Group for blowing a whole lot of time and personnel dollars to engage in some serious spreadsheet fun, all meant to reveal one of the greatest truths of the media universe–not all critics are created equal, and some of them just love or hate things unaccountably.

As a token of my appreciation, the Miller-McCune Group will be receiving a large novelty pre-voided check for one hojillion dollars.

Anyway, they’ve built a whole lot of interesting graphs here revolving around a smattering of data from Metacritic, the critic amalgamation site that gives you a general idea of what a whole bunch of critics said.  On a side note, as though anyone would want that–I mean, come on…half the point of reading film criticism is to enjoy the wordplay and the clever comparisons and whatnot.  If you wanted raw numbers you’d play with a calculator.  You want the advance word from a person you can trust.

Some other interesting points include that Michael Wilmington might want to sleep with one eye open lest he be branded a quote whore sometime in the future (most of his work seems to be positive, and interestingly, so does Roger Ebert’s!  Ebert a quote whore?  Say it ain’t so!), Marc Savlov is a tough act to please, and Rene Rodriguez and Mick LaSalle seem to have the best balance of positive and negative work.

Look, I’ve said it before–the best thing you can do is find a critic you can trust.  And the only way you can do that is not with charts and graphs, but rather with a long term commitment and regular readings.  Find the one you know you can trust, and stick with them.  It doesn’t matter if it’s here at Screenhead or somewhere else (though we’d prefer it if it were here at Screenhead), just as long as you can trust it.

Excuse me if I’m not even VAGUELY surprised by this bit of news because, frankly, I saw it coming from a distance of several miles, metaphorically.

This chunk of news, that the national release of Gentlemen Broncos has been cancelled following an opening weekend best described as dismally mediocre, taking in just over six grand a theater for the weekend, and it essentially only opened in New York and Los Angeles.

If you’ve seen the trailer for this, what looks like a hallucinogenic pile of suck, you’ll know that it was 1. made by some of the same people who brought you Napoleon Dynamite, and considering how godawful that sludge was, that’s not exactly a promotional bell-ringer, and 2. it involves some of the most baffling science fiction since L. Ron Hubbard.

So it’s not a huge surprise that it went clean over most people’s heads (when’s the last time you heard someone say, man, I’m dying to see Gentlemen Broncos! in the same tone they said that about, say, Paranormal Activity?) and many of the ones who got it didn’t want it, so the opening was a slump and they pulled the plug on wide release, knowing they were about to get their hats handed to them by a slew of big name movies coming soon.

In the end, it was probably for the best.

Johnny Depp may join Angelina Jolie in The Tourist, a film that is experiencing many, many casting and directing changes – yet is set for production this February.   

If Depp joined Jolie, he would play an American tourist drawn into a web of intrigue and danger by a female Interpol agent (Jolie) as she attempts to locate a criminal who was once her lover.

You may be asking yourself, wait…I thought Sam Worthington was playing this part or Tom Cruise.  You’re thoughts are correct but changes happen in the film biz fast and furious.  Even Charlize Theron was attached to play Jolie’s part.

I am not sure about all the directors, but Alfonso Curaron is at the head of the line to take on this juicy and plum gig.

I like the idea of Depp and Jolie working together on a spy thriller. Don’t you?

(Source)

This was a point advanced in Cinema Blend that I just about dropped my jaw when reading.  See, I had forgotten that, way back in the long long ago, the brothers Weinstein owned Miramax, but they sold it to Disney back when it was doing a lot better.  Now that Miramax is bleeding cash like a stuck piggy bank, are the Weinsteins plotting to buy the name off Disney’s hands?

There’s no doubt they’d get a bargain for it–with Miramax putting out just a handful of titles a year and generating precious little revenue for Disney, a cash infusion would probably be welcome there.  And if the Weinsteins want it–and it’s been suggested that they definitely DO want it–now would be the prime time to get it back for a song.

Does that mean they’d make it better?  Well, considering that it’s currently been hobbled and is only putting out slim numbers to begin with, chances are the Weinsteins would crank it to full production again, and considering some of the awesome pieces it’s come out with since they sold it to Disney, they might be able to get something good out of it again.

In what may well be the single most ominous portent at the theaters in quite some time, apparently the only thing standing between us and Blair Witch 3 is Lions Gate.

See, they own the movie rights right now, so it’s their call as to whether or not the project goes anywhere.  But the current word is, that if it does actually go to a movie, that the original cast will be brought back (it’s not like they’re doing anything anyway except maybe Josh Leonard who occasionally shows up in direct to video horror but usually does at least a passable job, credit where credit is due), and they will continue on as if all our fondest dreams had come true and Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows never actually existed.

Sigh…if only…

While I have to admit that the thought of a third (really second) Blair Witch leaves me somewhat cold, I suppose it could possibly be good if done properly, but I don’t imagine it likely.  But the success of Paranormal Activity will likely not be lost on Lions Gate, and a shot at Paranormal Activity cash will be plenty welcome in a down economy.

And I don’t mean A Terminator, either.  I mean the whole shooting match. Lock, stock, boxtop and rights.  You too can own the rights to a pretty successful franchise that usually costs plenty to exploit, though it usually makes its money back.

Interestingly, though, Joss Whedon actually made an offer for the Terminator rights, but it was significantly less than the current owners wanted:  a whopping ten grand.

He even had some pretty sweet ideas, including branching out into porn (cue that wa-wa pedal guitar!) and even doing a musical.  He thought twice about the musical, but I say it could work.  I’ve actually got part of the opening song already written and would be happy to contribute for the low, low cost of ten percent of the grosses.  You’re welcome, in advance.

But seriously, this is a move that might actually end well, assuming the right people get a hold of the rights.  I doubt they’ll get the twenty five million they want for them, though.

Okay, remember when I talked about how Miramax was pretty much getting castrated by Disney, seriously downsized, with only one release every other month?  Well, it’s getting worse out there.  A lot worse.

Miramax’s current president, Daniel Battsek, recently announced that he would step down as the head of Miramax following the recent defanging of same.  Disney had said that Battsek would remain in charge of day to day operations, but Battsek wasn’t having it, and left after a month.

Excuse me if I don’t smell a rat bugging out of a sinking ship.  After all, Battsek’s career looks pretty prime right now; he DID release No Country For Old Men, after all, not to mention Gone Baby Gone, so if this isn’t a move to go find greener pastures at another studio, I’ll be plenty surprised.

Stranger things have happened, of course, so it’s a move worth keeping an eye on.

A very smart move by the Michael Jackson’s clan to take all the rehearsal footage during his preparation for his This is It Tour — and then some – to create a documentary depicting Jackson’s extraordinary and multi-level talent.  The Sony release grossed an estimated $101 million at the worldwide box office, including a U.S. take of $21.3 million over the Halloween weekend.

Results:

1. This Is It
$21,300,000

2. Paranormal Activity
$16,540,000

3. Law Abiding Citizen
$7,303,000

4. Couples Retreat
$6,097,000

5. Saw VI
$5,560,000

6. Where the Wild Things Are
$5,081,000

7. The Stepfather
$3,400,000

8. Amelia
$3,000,000

9. Astro Boy
$3,000,000

10. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant
$2,809,000

(Source)

Michael Jackson’s This is It topped the box office Friday and I am very happy for him. Such a talent is worth seeing.  Paranormal Activity took second while Law Abiding Citizen took third.  Saw VI is nowhere to be seen. On that note, Happy Halloween!

1. This Is It
$ 7.9

2. Paranormal Activity
$ 6.0

3. Law Abiding Citizen
$ 2.42

4. Couples Retreat
$ 2.38

5. Where the Wild Things Are
$ 1.95