What If Michael Bay Wrote The Dark Knight?
“Bruce: We hack the internet.
Alfred: Hack the internet?
Bruce: Yes, hack the internet.
General: No one’s ever hacked the internet before.
Bruce: Well, there’s a first time for everything.
General: Okay, I like it. But which one of the internets do we hack?
Bruce: All of them.”
Sound like a Michael Bay film? Wait, there’s more!
“We pan to a beautiful woman: platinum blonde with a huge rack. She is the hottest woman in the world, but she wears glasses because she is also the smartest woman in the world.”
That is a description of Rachel Dawes, played by Maggie Gyllenhaal in the soon to be released Dark Knight. These golden nuggets of humour come from Michael Bay’s version of The Dark Knight…which Michael Bay did not write. Spill.com did. Although, they do capture the spirit of a Michael Bay film. Lots of nonsense, good looking females and explosions. Oh and cars.
To read the script by ‘Michael Bay’ click here!
Thanks to Steve for the tip!
Britney Spears Reveals Blackout Cover, Plans Tour?
Britney Spears Reveals Blackout Cover, Plans Tour?
Britney Spears is pushing forward with her music career, with video shoots and a rumored comeback tour to accompany the release of her first album in years, Blackout.
According to Us magazine reports, Britney is scheduled to start auditioning dancers today at Millenium Dance Studio in North Hollywood, California.
When Millenium owner Robert Baker was asked about the auditions, he said, “They are for the video of the second track from her Blackout album. I heard but I can’t confirm that it might be the slightly slower song she was thinking about doing for the VMAs, and for a tour. She wants male and females for both. It’s an all day schedule, 9-5, open call.”
Besides the dancer audition/tour news, excitement is growing for the October 30th release of the pop tart’s latest work.
And just today, fans have been treated to the release of the cover art for Blackout. Now it’s only a few more weeks til the disc drops in stores and online.
Britney’s new cover art (click to enlarge):
Box Office Tracking: Chuck & Larry, Harry Potter and Hairspray
I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry will probably challenge Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix for the weekend crown, but Hairspray is the movie that holds the most box office intrigue. Directed by Adam Shankman (Bringin’ Down the House), Hairspray is getting the widest opening for any film musical in the modern box office era with 3,121 locations (and an even higher print count with a fair number of multiple screen locations). I have no doubt that Hairspray will deliver the biggest opening weekend for a movie musical in the past 30 years.
This musical’s tracking puts it at about 90% Total Aware with Definite Interest in the low 30’s. That’s a huge chunk of the audience, mostly men, with absolutely no interest whatsoever. In fact, Definite Interest with Males Under 25 and Males 25 are both below 20%. Meanwhile, Definite Interest with women is through the roof, with Females under 25 above 50% and Females 25 Plus above 40%.
Complicating things for Hairspray is the fact that Definite Interest for I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry with that same Female Under 25 demo is in the mid-50’s. In fact, the strongest quadrant for the Adam Sandler-Kevin James gay spoof in terms of Definite Interest is young women. When Under 25’s show up at the multiplex on Friday and Saturday night for their weekend dates, they’ll have a choice. There’s one movie that only Under 25 Females have any interest in seeing (Hairspray) or another picture that has appeal with both genders (I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry). My guess is that Chuck & Larry wins out in a high percentage of cases.
This gender-split dynamic makes Hairspray a real box office wild card. It could open anywhere from $15M to as much as $30M, but I’m putting the movie on the low end of that range, maybe $20M-$23M. Less than $20M will mean that New Line should have been more judicious in its opening week screen count. I, for one, am rooting for this picture’s success. It’s a cut-above an awful lot of the cookie-cutter blockbuster-wannabes that have hit the marketplace this summer.
The fact is that reviews don’t help or hurt an Adam Sandler comedy, and the tracking is solid, if not spectacular. Chuck & Larry has a Total Aware right at 90%, Definite Interest approaching 50% and a double digit First Choice score. That should add up to $35M-$38M and a #2 finish right behind Harry Potter’s 2nd weekend.
Here are my predictions for the top 5 at the box office for Friday, July 20 thru Sunday, July 22.
1. Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix (Warner Bros) - $40M
2. I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (Universal) - $35.7M
3. Transformers (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $22.5M
4. Hairspray (New Line) - $21.75M
5. Ratatouille (Buena Vista) - $11M
Read More in my in-depth column at Fantasy Moguls.
Claire Danes: Fairytales Meet Reality
Claire Danes: Fairytales Meet Reality
Once again, Claire Danes has been able to take a complex character study and reduce all of the issues to their most basic elements. In her recent role in Stardust, directed by Matthew Vaughn, Claire plays a fairytale star come to life and cast down to Earth.
Stardust is about the journey that Claire’s character takes as she is forced to tackle several real life issues while on the run with a handsome prince (It’s Hollywood). Central to the story is how Danes’ character deals with: adolescence, adulthood, trust and independence.
Since her early success as a child star on the 1994 series My So Called Life, Claire has often been cast in roles that portray sophisticated women, influenced heavily by their environment. “They’re all kind of self-possessed and determined and energetic and frustrated, as smart people tend to be,” she said. Claire also adds that they’re all females in male worlds. “Women tend to live in male constructs. Even stars. Even celestial beings live in male constructs.”
With three different movies scheduled for release this year, Ms Danes is going to be extremely busy. Not only is she filming and promoting her new flicks, but she’s also acting in her first stage drama, George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, in which she’ll play Eliza Doolittle.