The Hot Blog Archive for May, 2005
A Reader E-Mail For You To Chew Upon
CG writes: “As someone who has studied both politics and movies at the university level and has logged more hours in a movie theatre than most, I have to say I don
136 Comments »Early Box Office Analysis
Another slow pre-Star Wars weekend…
Things will pick up next weekend with two comedies that could open with more than $30 million each. Crash was sold out through most of the westside of Los Angeles last night in its very limited run. That left almost nothing for an adult to choose from if you
Knowles Loves It… Welles Hates It… A Moment Of Zen
Readers Start Their Own Discussion…
Not quite on this subject, but wanted to discuss it: regarding the story from Variety on Movie City News about “the first openly gay director to make superhero films”…
1. Is Bryan Singer out?
2. Is Joel Schumacher closeted?
3. This is happening after Superman, right? Seems like an odd career move.
Posted by: jeffmcm at May 6, 2005 05:37 PM
I see that Dave (or whoever) has fixed the front page…
I still didn’t think that Singer was out. He spoke at my college a few years back and had some female eye candy on his arm at that time.
Posted by: jeffmcm at May 6, 2005 05:46 PM
I don’t know about the female eye candy you saw him with, but I believe Singer has always been out. He’s even been scandalized and harassed because of it. Among the out events in his professional background, many of you may recall that several years ago he was named in a gay youth pornography scandal relating to the filming of “Apt Pupil.” He vigorously denied the charges, which I believe were later completely discredited, but I recall he was also very open and candid throughout the scandal about being gay.
Posted by: Chester at May 6, 2005 06:44 PM
It's Star Wars Day
The wave of discussion should hit the web at about 3:15…
71 Comments »Monster In Ads
I have to say, the New Line spots for Monster-in-Law are the best spots I’ve seen in months. They are tight, funny, hit the right notes, and move with a slick assurance.
They take the Universal comedy advertising formula, which is to repeat the gags until America is dreaming them. (“My breasts seem bigger…”) Then they do more change-ups. Perhaps it is because they have more material to work with than some films have. But there are enough confrontation set pieces in the movie for three or four spots with pretty much the same theme. I prefer the Wanda Sykes tags, but the spots are really making it seem that we can look for a bigger opening than has been expected.
P.S. Universal is still Kicking & Screaming… “The meek shall inherit the turf.” Funny.
P.P.S. Just realized that there is a Monster-in-Law ad on this blog page… a little awkward… but you’ll have to trust my honorable intentions on this one.
The Revolution Will Not Be Led By Todd Garner
I guess it’s list week here on the blog…
Here are the 30 films from Revolution Studios that led to Todd Garner not being re-signed as a partner in the company…
(gross & rental figures are worldwide… figures don’t account for Home Entertainment, P&A, or the cost to Sony of Revolution’s “housekeeping”)
2001
5 Films, Estimated Rentals – $300 million
Estimated Production Cost – $225 million
America’s Sweethearts – $139 million
The Animal – $85 million
Black Hawk Down – $173 million
The One – $73 million
Tomcats – $24 million
2002
6 Films, Estimated Rentals – $350 million
Estimated Production Cost – $300 million
Maid in Manhattan – $155 million
Master of Disguise $44 million
The New Guy – $32 million
Punch-Drunk Love – $25 million
Stealing Harvard – $15 million
xXx – $278 million
2003
10 Films, Estimated Rentals – $500 million
Estimated Production Cost – $700 million
Anger Management – $196 million
Daddy Day Care – $165 million
Darkness Falls – $48 million
Gigli – $8 million
The Missing – $39 million
Mona Lisa Smile – $142 million
Hollywood Homicide – $52 million
Peter Pan – $49 million (released by Universal domestically)
Radio – $54 million
Tears of the Sun – $44 million
2004
6 Films, Estimated Rentals – $325 million
Estimated Production Cost – $325 million
13 Going On 30 – $97 million
Christmas with the Kranks – $97 million
The Forgotten – $112 million
Hellboy – $100 million
Little Black Book – $22 million
White Chicks – $114 million
2005
2 Films, Estimated Rentals – $125 million
Estimated Production Cost – $150 million
Are We There Yet? – $96 million
Man of the House – $20 million
Just Starting Release
xXx: State of the Union – $14 million to date
Still Due Out This Year
The Fog
Rent
An Unfinished Life
Rosie!!!
If you missed Rosie O’Donnell’s film career… here’s her audition tape for the future.
Welcome back to a true comedy genius.
The Rest Of The Star List
1. Will Smith
2. Tom Cruise
3. Adam Sandler
4. Jim Carrey
5. Russell Crowe
6. Tom Hanks
7. Eddie Murphy
8. Ben Stiller and…
9. Will Farrell
10. Denzel Washington
11. Steve Martin
12. Reese Witherspoon
13. Bruce Willis
14. Nicole Kidman
15. Leonardo DiCaprio
16. Julia Roberts
17. Vince Vaughn
18. John Travolta
19. Sandra Bullock
20. Mel Gibson (semi-retired)
21. Jennifer Lopez
22. Hilary Duff
23. Vin Diesel
24. Halle Berry
25. Drew Barrymore
26. Angelina Jolie
27. Lindsay Lohan
28. Cameron Diaz
29. Johnny Depp
30. Ice Cube
And… (In alphabetical order)
Nic Cage
George Clooney
Matt Damon
Colin Farrell
Harrison Ford
Kate Hudson
Ashton Kutcher
Martin Lawrence
Jet Li
Matthew MacConaughey
Jack Nicholson
Brad Pitt
Keanu Reeves
The Rock
Billy Bob Thornton
Plus…
Jessica Alba
Tim Allen
Kate Beckinsale
Pierce Brosnan
Amanda Bynes
Kevin Costner
John Cusack
Jennifer Garner
Cuba Gooding, Jr
Kate Hudson
Britney Murphy
Chris Rock
Kurt Russell
Wesley Snipes
The Wayans Bros.
Renee Zellweger (added)
Arnold Schwarzenegger (retired)
MORE DETAILS
Defending Richard Roeper
Talk about inside baseball… this one is inside the rubber core… but…
Gossip sheet Defamer suggested today that Rich Roeper was “solidly in Tom and Katie
Who Are The Stars These Days
I started my rundown in The Hot Button today. Not only isn’t this group feeling like Wayne, Stewart, Grant, Hepburn and Tracey… it doesn’t feel nearly as weighty as the group of, say, five years ago… even if some of the same names are on top.
What say you?
The Top Ten
1. Will Smith
2. Tom Cruise
3. Adam Sandler
4. Jim Carrey
5. Tom Hanks
6. Eddie Murphy
7. Ben Stiller and…
8. Will Farrell
9. Denzel Washington
10. Steve Martin
Not Seen At Target
Big Star Wars Section was there… not a single Darth Vader toy to be found… except for one broken package with a darth vader helmet and voice pack which was too small for adults… they should make one for adults… quick…
14 Comments »In The Year Two Thooooooouuuuusand…
Okay, folks… you seem to want to talk about it… how will Kingdom of Heaven do next weekend?
Will anyone actually pay to see Paris Hilton die… will they pay to see the latest horror flick… or will they just skip House of Wax?
Is there any audience at all (other than urban-based critics) for Crash?