Monica Monroe Gossip

Can’t wait for this to come.. Steven is my fave director ever…

With the latest in Walt Disney Co.’s lucrative series reaping an unprecedented $401 million globally in its debut through the Memorial Day weekend, the question of whether there will be a fourth installment has effectively been answered.

Sure, producer Jerry Bruckheimer is coy, saying he and his mates need a break. But he already has rights to a book that could end up as another installment.

Star Johnny Depp? He hasn’t promised another voyage, but he clearly loves the flamboyant, irreverent Jack Sparrow character, telling one interviewer: “As long as you’re doing it for the right reasons, why not?”

In today’s Hollywood, blockbuster franchises function almost as independent corporations that, once up and running, can’t easily be mothballed. Which is why another “Pirates” is pretty much a given.

“When these franchises become part of the world’s culture, they take on a life of their own,” said Dick Cook, Disney’s studio chairman, who says he’s on board for another “Pirates” if the script is right and the filmmakers are willing.

Enter the era of the unlimited sequel. DreamWorks Animation SKG began developing a fourth “Shrek” film more than a year ago — long before “Shrek the Third” was even finished, said Anne Globe, the Glendale studio’s head of marketing. The next installment is slated for 2010.

A fourth installment of “Spider-Man” — the third one just debuted May 4 — has been in the works for more than a month, with the studio circling screenwriters it may tap.

“If you want the kind of longevity we’re hoping for with ‘Spider-Man,’ you have to think of them as stand-alone movies, not ’1-2-3-4,’ ” said Amy Pascal, Sony Pictures’ studio chairman. “They’re sort of like the James Bond stories.”

One reason the big franchise machines keep operating is the special effects-laden movies have become ever bigger and more costly — making and marketing May’s three megasequels cost more than $1 billion altogether — and they require elaborate planning. Studios also need long lead times to line up marketing alliances.

Disney worked with 13 promotional partners to help spread the word on “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” including Volvo, Verizon, Coca-Cola, Circuit City, Best Buy, Toys R Us and Starwood Hotels. Even the obscure, Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration — which recently made headlines when it reported recovering 17 tons of treasure from a shipwreck in the Atlantic — signed on.

Nonetheless, the sheer size of the summer blockbusters can drain filmmakers. Bruckheimer said there would at least be a respite after the production of back-to-back sequels to the 2003 original “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

“We’ve been working on this trilogy for 5½ years, and the latest one was just a monster,” he said in an interview from Tokyo for last week’s premiere. “It’s always about making sure you have a great story with interesting plots, themes and characters. There is a possibility — we’ll see what happens.”

Though Bruckheimer and Disney executives say the “Pirates” trilogy has concluded, they hint that the series could continue through a spinoff or prequel. In an interview with an Australian film website, screenwriter Terry Rossio said he and partner Ted Elliott would take a crack at another “Pirates” script and see if they could make it work.

Big franchises also take on a life of their own by reaching beyond the multiplex into TV, stage and theme parks. DreamWorks Animation is wrapping up a network special, “Shrek the Halls,” for this holiday season, and the big green ogre is headed for the Broadway stage in a 2008 musical.

The franchise sequels can pay off not just for studios but for the entire industry. For the first time, Hollywood could be en route to more than $4 billion in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales for its extended summer season, thanks largely to momentum from this month’s trio of high-profile “three-quels.”

“Spider-Man 3″ reset the opening weekend standard with its $151-million domestic launch early this month, while “Pirates” this past weekend broke the domestic holiday record with $142 million, according to the research firm Media by Numbers. “Shrek the Third” set a new mark this month for animated films by debuting at $122 million.

On a worldwide basis, Disney says its “Pirates” overtook “Spider-Man 3′s” $382-million six-day haul — a 3-week-old record. Privately, Sony executives questioned Disney’s decision to include Monday’s overseas grosses, as well as Thursday night’s “pre-opening” sales in the U.S., in the total.

In generating the huge box-office numbers this month, studios overcame concerns about the kind of sequel fatigue that in the past plagued such franchises as “Batman” and “Superman” before they were revived.

Using pricey marketing campaigns, Hollywood sought to convince prospective moviegoers that the latest versions of “Spider-Man,” “Shrek” and “Pirates” weren’t just retreads. Reviews were mixed, but fans still went in droves to see all three.

In Southern California, moviegoers interviewed were divided on the prospect of a fourth “Pirates” after watching the latest chapter, which clocked in at nearly three hours.

Elizabeth Lopez, 24, of Long Beach, suspected the latest “Pirates” might disappoint as the third film in the series.

“But it actually was very good,” she said. “Yes, I’m hoping they make another one because of the way it ended.”

But Richard Kirk, 69, of Bellflower, has seen enough.

“It just gets rather complicated, especially the first part of it,” he said. “I really think they should leave it at three.”

Source

Maria Bello will replace Rachel Weisz in the third installment of “The Mummy.” She joins Brendan Fraser, Luke Ford, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh in the Rob Cohen-directed film for Universal Pictures. Bello will play Evelyn Carnahan O’Connell, the adventuress played in the first two films by Weisz. After Weisz declined to reprise, Cohen and the studio cast a wide net for a replacement. Scripted by “Smallville” creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough, the film brings the O’Connells and their full-grown son (Ford) to the forbidden tombs of China and the Himalayas, where they battle a shape-shifting mummy, a former Chinese emperor (Li) cursed by a wizard (Yeoh).The first two films grossed more than $830 million worldwide for Universal, which will release the third installment next summer. Sean Daniel, Jim Jacks, Stephen Sommers and Bob Ducsay are producing.Most recently seen in “A History of Violence” and “Flicka,” Bello next stars in “The Jane Austen Book Club” for Sony Pictures Classics, and “Butterfly on a Wheel,” which Lionsgate will release in August. She’s repped by CAA and manager John Carrabino.

Source: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117964831.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&query=weisz

“Vacancy”

“Perfect Stranger”

“Spiderman 3″

“Oceans 13″

Can’t Wait for all em..

It wasn’t even a fair fight between computer-generated imagery on the big screen. On Friday, 100% CGI-created Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles easily knocked those 300 CGI-helped hardbodies off their No. 1 pedestal. So who benefits the most? Warner Bros., which has bragging rights to both hit pics. Turtles fought their way to a $24.5 million weekend from 3,110 theaters, compared to 300‘s $20.7 mil weekend from 3,280 venues. At issue was just how much nostalgia there would be among teens who grew up with TMNT the first time around. But the Turtles‘ fourth feature is grittier than the previous live-action films, and that worked for PG audiences. (TMNT is produced by Imagi Animation Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and The Weinstein Company — the latter two bought the rights from New Line.) The blockbuster 300 dropped only 38% starting its 3rd week out for a hot new cume of $162.5 mil. This R-rated gorefest has exploded into a cultural phenomenon judging from all the smart parodies now available on YouTube. Mark Wahlberg’s so-so reviewed thriller Shooter from Paramount opened in 3rd place, making $14.2 mil for Friday-Saturday-Sunday from 2,806 playdates. Disney’s Wild Hogs continues its long motorcycle ride in 4th, with a $14.1 mil weekend from 3,401 theaters and a hefty new cume of $123.6 mil. The Top 10 at the movies this weekend were filled with new product. Holdover Premonition, a Sandra Bullock thriller from Sony, climbed to 5th place (only a drop of -42%) with $10.1 mil for the weekend from 2,831 theaters. Its new cume is $32.1 mil. Fox Atomic’s horror film sequel The Hills Have Eyes 2 debuted #5 Friday but dropped to #6 in final weekend numbers of $9.8 mil from 2,447 venues. Hollywood was especially curious to see how New Line’s newcomer The Last Mimzy fared this weekend because the kiddie pic was directed by the studio’s chairman Bob Shaye. New Line spent a fortune marketing it as a result (complete with toy-bribed sneaks) but Mimzy only mustered 7th place and a $9.6 mil weekend from 3,017 venues despite the usual Saturday matinee bounce. Sony’s 9/11 drama Reign Over Me was intended all along as an opportunity for Adam Sandler to show his acting chops since he makes so much $$$ for that studio in his comedies. So it didn’t matter that the pic finished 8th after an $8 mil weekend in 1,671 theaters. Lionsgate’s PG African-American targeted sports pic Pride placed 9th, with a $3.7 mil Fri-Sat-Sun weekend in 1,518 playdates. Finishing the Top 10: Lionsgate’s horrorific Dead Silence dropped 56%, making only 3.5 mil from 1,806 venues this weekend for a new cume of $13.2 mil. Meanwhile, Chris Rock’s bomb at the box office I Think I Love My Wife (Fox Searchlight) dropped out of the Top 10 altogether its second week out.

1. TMNT did $8.6 mil Fri, $9.3 mil Sat and an est $6.5 mil Sun.
2. 300 earned $6 mil Fri, $8.3 mil Sat and an est $6.3 Sun.
3. Shooter made $4.7 mil Fri, $5.7 mil Sat and an est $3.7 mil Sun.
4. Wild Hogs earned $4 mil Fri, $6.4 mil Sat and an est $3.7 mil Sun.
5. Premonition took in $5.2 mil Fri, $4.2 mil Sat and an est $2.6 mil Sun.
6. The Hills Have Eyes 2 made $3.8 mil Fri, $3.5 mil Sat and an est $2.6 mil Sun.
7. The Last Mimzy did $2.7 mil Fri, $4 mil Sat and an est $2.8 mil Sun.
8. Reign Over Me earned $2.5 mil Fri, $3.1 mil Sat and an est $2.3 mil Sun.
9. Pride made $1.2 mil Fri, $1.5 mil Sat and an est $925K Sun.
10. Dead Silence did $1.1 mil Fri, $1.4 mil Sat and an est $900 Sun.

Expect an entire movie series of The TNMT now…
Source

Save your damn money the movie is horrible…
~Monica Monroe