Film Junk » Industry News

Movie Theatre Popcorn is Still Bad for You

Sean — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:03:32 +0000

1,200 calories (and that's without the butter!)... you know, just in case you were wondering.

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Twilight: New Moon Director to Quit Making Movies So He Can Surf and Read Books

Sean — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:59:13 +0000

Apparently he's still upset over what happened to The Golden Compass. What a whiner! "It’s nice to make movies, but it’s also really hard."

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Will Ferrell is Hollywood’s Most Overpaid Actor of the Year

Sean — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 23:32:05 +0000

Every year the folks over at Forbes put together a fun little list of the most overpaid actors in Hollywood. It's fun because it's a chance for people to call out some of the big shots who earn a lot of money but fail to deliver massive box office success. Not surprisingly, at the top of the list this year is Will Ferrell, a funny guy experiencing a fair bit of backlash right now, thanks in large part to the dud that was Land of the Lost (hey, I actually liked it). In order to create this list, they compared actor's earnings versus the budgets and profits from their most recent films, and looked for the lowest return. Since it might be unfair to penalize actors for doing smaller art house films, they only take into account movies that opened in at least 500 theatres. They also only chose actors who had at least 3 such films in the last 5 years. Despite all of this, I still can't help but feel that Leonardo DiCaprio ended up on the list because of his choice to do less mainstream projects. At any rate, it makes for an interesting discussion, particularly since this story comes hot on the heels of yet another headline trumpeting the so-called death of the movie star. Check out the top 10 list after the jump, and for contrast, see also their list of Best Actors for the Buck. Do you think all these A-listers are indeed overrated and overpaid? Are movie stars still necessary in this day and age? 1. Will Ferrell -- $3.29 returned for every dollar spent 2. Ewan McGregor -- $3.75 3. Billy Bob Thornton -- $4.00 4. Eddie Murphy -- $4.43 5. Ice Cube -- $4.77 6. Tom Cruise -- $7.18 7. Drew Barrymore -- $7.43 8. Leonardo DiCaprio -- $7.52 9. Samuel L. Jackson -- $8.59 10. Jim Carrey -- $8.62

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Big Surprise: Top Grossing Movies of the Decade Are Basically All Franchise Films

Sean — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 23:14:18 +0000

Here's another list for you to digest as we approach the end of the decade. Jason Kottke recently took a look at the list of highest-grossing films from 2000-2009 courtesy of Wikipedia, and makes the observation that only one movie in the top 20 is based on an original screenplay. The rest of the movies are all adaptations of books or sequels to existing franchises. Now, it's pretty easy to jump on this list and whine and moan about how it means there is nothing original in Hollywood anymore. While I agree that there is a problem with studios valuing brand over concept, don't forget, we are talking about the movies that made the most money here. OF COURSE familiar characters and titles are going to attract more viewers than strange and unfamiliar ones... doesn't that make sense? A lot of people don't even see movies at the theatre, so they don't discover something until it hits TV or DVD. The first installment is the one that introduces the concept, attracts a following and then builds the franchise. Even the first movie from an existing property needs to build an audience -- notice that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Spider-Man are the only movies on this list that are the first in their series? Anyway, I'm not saying it's good, but it's certainly not surprising. Unfortunately it's this trend that has also resulted in the whole toy and board game movie debacle. Maybe we need a few brand-based movies to fail so that people realize that good stories are also important. Check out the top 20 grossing movies of the decade after the jump. What do you think, is it depressing or deserving? 1. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 3. The Dark Knight 4. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End 6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 8. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 9. Shrek 2 10. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 11. Spider-Man 3 12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 13. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs 14. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 15. Finding Nemo 16. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 17. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 18. Spider-Man 19. Shrek the Third 20. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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Warner Brothers Unveils DVD to Blu-ray Upgrade Program

Sean — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:34:20 +0000

Upgrade from standard DVD to Blu-ray for as low as $7.95 a pop... but only in the U.S., of course!

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Universal Sued for The Fourth Kind Viral Marketing Misfire

Sean — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:37:37 +0000

With all the clever viral marketing schemes being dreamed up to promote movies as of late, you've gotta expect that at least a few of them won't necessarily go according to plan. Earlier this summer we heard about Fox's weak attempt to promote I Love You, Beth Cooper during a high school valedictorian speech. This month, however, Universal may have surpassed them with an even more bone-headed move that has landed them on the wrong side of a lawsuit. When the first trailer was released for the alien abduction thriller The Fourth Kind, it hinted that the movie was based on a true story, and that the city of Nome, Alaska had a history of UFO sightings and abductions. I remember Googling that immediately afterward and finding no evidence to back it up whatsoever. I guess Universal tried to rectify that by posting up some fake news articles about the abductions to support the movie's back story. This might have been clever except for the fact that they used the names of real news outlets... without their permission. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports that Universal has recently come to a settlement, paying $20,000 to the Alaska Press Club as compensation for "eroding confidence in the world of journalism". Surprisingly, they were quick to agree to pay up, admitting that they were in the wrong. What do you think, did they go too far with the viral marketing for The Fourth Kind? Is it worth the effort to try and convince people that a movie really is based on a true story?

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Blockbuster to Start Renting Movies on SD Cards

Sean — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:34:35 +0000

The movie rental market is about to get a whole lot smaller. As Blockbuster continues to try to compete with the success of Redbox by launching their own Blockbuster Express line of DVD rental kiosks, they've come up with an idea that they hope will give them an edge in this cutthroat business. They've begun rolling out digital kiosks that now distribute movies on 24x32 mm SD Cards. As wacky as it might sound, they are hoping that this new format will combat two of the biggest inconveniences with DVD rentals: scratched discs and the necessity to return the movie to a store or kiosk. The SD cards will not need to be returned, and instead the content on the card will expire after a certain period of time. Also, a kiosk would never run out of copies of a particular movie since the machine would simply be transferring data to a blank card on the fly for every customer. Obviously the big problem with this idea right now is that the average person still has no way to play movies from SD cards, but they are hoping that as cell phones, portable media devices and laptops continue to add SD card readers as standard hardware, along with new TV models, this may become more attractive to the general public. What do you think, is this forward thinking or will everyone be streaming their movie rentals before this ever catches on? Can you see yourself bringing home a tiny memory card when you want to watch a movie on the weekend?

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Fox Launching Interactive iPhone App to Provide Pop Up Trivia During Movies

Sean — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:08:06 +0000

It's no secret that Hollywood is looking to stay hip and connected to the teen demographic in any way it can. We've seen MySpace, Facebook and Twitter all figure heavily into movie marketing campaigns as of late, and also the introduction of various BD-Live features on Blu-ray discs including the ability to watch movies with friends online. Now Fox is planning to launch a new social networking feature that incorporates pop-up trivia into the movie-watching experience. They are hoping this will appeal to the viewer's need for instant gratification, and also boost dwindling DVD sales as well. The feature is called FoxPop, and it will come as a freely downloadable application for the PC, Mac, and iPhone. While watching a compatible movie, the program will auto-detect and sync via audio input, then present trivia, photos and other content as the movie plays. Now before you get worried about distractions in theatres, this will be available for DVDs only, not current theatrical releases. The idea was prompted by research that revealed that 80% of DVD watchers go to the internet to research a movie after the fact, or pause it while watching to look something up. FoxPop will debut on December 1st with the release of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (an appropriate title due to the historical references, I suppose), followed by (500) Days of Summer and Jennifer's Body. Does this sound like a cool feature to you, or are they way off the mark with this?

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Armond White At It Again: Hates on Multiple Award Winner Precious

Sean — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:44:55 +0000

Everyone's favourite contrarian critic Armond White has once again made his presence felt this week, after delivering a scathing review of the Lee Daniels film Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire. The movie, which hits select theatres this weekend, is riding a massive wave of Oscar buzz after picking up awards at Sundance, TIFF and the San Sebastian Film Festival earlier this year. (Last year's People's Choice Award winner in Toronto was Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire.) Precious is currently sitting at 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, so of course White doesn't like it. However, the fact that he gives it a negative review isn't all that surprising -- it's what he says about it that will blow your mind.

"The hype for Precious indicates a culture-wide willingness to accept particular ethnic stereotypes as a way of maintaining status quo film values. Excellent recent films with black themes—Next Day Air, Cadillac Records, Meet Dave, Norbit, Little Man, Akeelah and the Bee, First Sunday, The Ladykillers, Marci X, Palindromes, Mr. 3000, even back to the great Beloved (also produced by Oprah)—have been ignored by the mainstream media and serious film culture while this carnival of black degradation gets celebrated. It’s a strange combination of liberal guilt and condescension."

Did you catch that? He actually calls Meet Dave, Norbit and Little Man "excellent recent film with black themes". It also goes without saying that he thinks they are better films than Precious. Well, I have yet to see Precious, but I am now entirely convinced that this man is insane. Read his full review over at the New York Press, and check out a trailer for Precious after the jump.

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Fox Searchlight Reins in Release Plans for Gentlemen Broncos

Sean — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:14:01 +0000

Things aren't looking so good for Jared Hess' latest comedy Gentlemen Broncos. The movie hit theatres last week on just 2 screens, and despite plans to expand further in the coming weeks, it appears that the movie's release is now being scaled back as a result of bad reviews. A number of critics have received a notice this week from Fox Searchlight stating that the movie will no longer be opening in their market. It is unclear if they will still follow through with the previously scheduled roll out for the next two weeks, but it certainly won't be progressing beyond that. DVD will likely be the venue for most of us to see it. Truth be told, there were signs of trouble when the movie premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin back in September; it received a wave of negative reviews and was quickly forgotten. Now it seems that Fox Searchlight is hoping that it will stay forgotten. (As pointed out by Get The Big Picture, 2009 hasn't been kind to Fox Searchlight, which hurts even more because this is the same studio who put out Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler last year.) Still, I can't help but want to witness Gentlemen Broncos with my own eyes. Hess has always been a bit of an acquired taste, and most people will tell you that Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre only get better with repeat viewings. Plus I refuse to believe that anything starring Jemaine Clement can be all bad. Has anyone out there seen Gentlemen Broncos yet? Are you surprised by this news?

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Joss Whedon Puts in a Bid for the Terminator Franchise!!!

Sean — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:49:19 +0000

In case you haven't heard, the rights to the Terminator franchise are once again going to be up for grabs when they are auctioned off later this month, and a number of studios are said to be interested including Sony, Summit Entertainment and Media Rights Capital. It's unclear what this will mean for the future of the franchise, but apparently big media corporations aren't the only ones hoping to get a chance to repackage and resell the robot apocalypse. Believe it or not, there are a few other interested parties out there, including one... Joss Whedon? In a somewhat humourous and irreverent open letter posted on Whedonesque and Deadline Hollywood, the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and Dollhouse offers up a tidy sum of $10,000 for the franchise, and proceeds to give some of his ideas about what to do with it. As expected, there is at least one reference to his good friend Summer Glau, who appeared in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and must have been part of the inspiration for this little write-up. Oh Joss... must you always be the class clown? I'm not sure what the point of all this is except that he thought it would be a real gas. It seems like he is implying that the Terminator franchise isn't worth very much anymore, but maybe in some sly way he's saying that he really does want to get involved with the next movie? I'm sure the Browncoats are already raving about the possibilities! Bask in the comedic genius of the full letter after the jump.

An Open Letter to the Terminator Owners. From a Very Important Hollywood Mogul Dear Sirs/Ma'ams, I am Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind Titan A.E., Parenthood (not the movie) (or the new series) (or the one where 'hood' was capitalized 'cause it was a pun), and myriad other legendary tales. I have heard through the 'grapevine' that the Terminator franchise is for sale, and I am prepared to make a pre-emptive bid RIGHT NOW to wrap this dealio up. This is not a joke, this is not a scam, this is not available on TV. I will write a check TODAY for $10,000, and viola! Terminator off your hands. No, you didn't miscount. That's four -- FOUR! -- zeroes after that one. That's to show you I mean business. And I mean show business. Nikki Finke says the Terminator concept is played. Well, here's what I have to say to Nikki Finke: you are a fine journalist and please don't ever notice me. The Terminator story is as formative and important in our culture -- and my pretend play -- as any I can think of. It's far from over. And before you Terminator-Owners (I have trouble remembering names) rush to cash that sweet cheque, let me give you a taste of what I could do with that franchise: 1) Terminator... of the Rings! Yeah, what if he time-travelled TOO far... back to when there was dragons and wizards? (I think it was the Dark Ages.) Hasta La Vista, Boramir! Cool, huh? "Now you gonna be Gandalf the Red!" RRRRIP! But then he totally helps, because he's a cyborg and he doesn't give a s#&% about the ring -- it has no power over him! And he can carry it AND Frodo AND Sam AND f@%& up some orcs while he's doing it. This stuff just comes to me. I mean it. (I will also offer $10,000 for the Lord of the Rings franchise). 2) More Glau. Hey. There's a reason they're called "Summer" movies. 3) Can you say... musical? Well don't. Even I know that's an awful idea. 4) Christian Bale's John Connor will get a throat lozenge. This will also help his Batwork (ten grand for that franchise too, btw.) 5) More porn. John Connor never told Kyle Reese this, but his main objective in going to the past was to get some. What if there's a lot of future-babies that have to be made? Cue wah-wah pedal guitar -- and dollar signs! 6) The movies will stop getting less cool. Okay. There's more -- this brain don't quit! (though it has occasionally been fired) -- but I think you get my drift. I really believe the Terminator franchise has only begun to plumb the depths of questioning the human condition during awesome stunts, and I'd like to shepherd it through the next phase. The money is there, but more importantly, the heart is there. But more importantly, money. Think about it. End this bloody bidding war before it begins, and put the Terminator in the hands of someone who watched the first one more than any other movie in college, including "Song of Norway" (no current franchise offer). Sincerely, Joss Whedon.

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Paranormal Activity Becomes Most Profitable Movie of All Time

Sean — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:20:06 +0000

Well if you needed any further proof that the Paranormal Activity clones are going to start getting greenlit in droves, this week the low budget horror flick apparently surpassed The Blair Witch Project to become the most profitable movie of all time. It's not too surprising, especially considering that the movie supposedly cost way less to make than The Blair Witch Project in the first place (filmmaking tools are just getting more and more inexpensive). Still, it can be hard to fairly judge these things... a movie that cost $15,000 to shoot initially still has to pour tons of money into marketing and distribution before it hits the big screen. According to The Wrap, Paranormal Activity has earned approximately $65 million thus far, which works out to a 433,900% return on investment! And it's only going to make more money since it expands to more theatres again this weekend. That's pretty crazy. Don Harris, executive VP of distribution for Paramount is quoted as saying that, "For Viacom, this movie is probably more important than one that does $300 million or $400 million." So hopefully all the studio execs do take notice and consider giving more smaller productions a shot at getting a wide release. What do you think, is the success of Paranormal Activity a good thing for Hollywood? What other effects do you think it will have?

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