Jim Henson: The Movie
Empire Film Group has acquired the motion picture production and distribution rights to Henson, an original screenplay by Robert D. Slane that tells the story of the life and achievements of Muppets/Sesame Street creator Jim Henson. Empire plans to hire a major director, such as Penny Marshall, and name talent for this $30 million production which is aiming for a Summer 2008 start. The screenplay follows Henson’s rise from a teenager to entertainment mogul.
This biopic has tons of potential. I wish I could get my hands on a copy of the script. I wonder if they handle some of the moments with fantastical sequences (ala Miss Potter) but with puppets, with humor like Shakespeare/George Lucas in Love, or if the whole thing is played more traditionally.
source: comingsoon
Christmas in Wonderland Movie Trailer
I can imagine that someone went around Hollywood pitching this movie as “Home Alone meets Blank Check, but in a mall.” And it’s just that. Christmas in Wonderland is about three kids who just moved to to Edmonton with their Dad. When they go shopping at West Edmonton Mall they find counterfeit cash. They inadvertently help catch the crooks, and later make a discovery about Santa. The film stars Patrick Swayze, Carmen Electra, and Chris Kattan. James Orr isn’t a good director by any stretch of the imagination, but Mr. Destiny is one of my all time guilty pleasures (again, I agree - isn’t a good movie).
Does anyone know if the mall in the trailer actually exists? Is it in Edmonton? Because it sure looks like a lot of fun (the mall, not the movie). I’m surprised to see Yari Film Group are the ones releasing this film, as they are usually responsible for smarter niche films. Check out the trailer thanks to moviefone.
Christmas in Wonderland hits theaters on November 21st 2007.
Friday Box Office: SuperBad #1 Again
The raunchy Judd Apatow-produced teen comedy SUPERBAD will, as expected, hold off flock of “lame duck” releases for a second consecutive weekend win. Written by KNOCKED UP star Seth Rogan and directed by Greg Mottola (THE DAYTRIPPERS), SUPERBAD added another $5M on Friday, bringing its 8-day cume to $55.5M. I’m targeting a 15.5M 3-day, which would be an estimated 53% weekend drop.
The rest of the top 5 is a photo finish both for the day and the weekend, but I’m giving the Lionsgate action pic WAR the Friday edge with approximately $3.4M, followed by THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (Universal) with $3.3M, Universal’s MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY with a better-then-expected $3.25M and holdover RUSH HOUR 3 (New Line) with an estimated $3.2M. Currently, I’m calling for BOURNE and RH3 to finish #2 and #3 for the weekend with $12.1M and $11M respectively. Rowan Atkinson’s BEAN will likely finish fourth with $10M, and the Jason Statham-Jet Li flick will finish with a softer $9.7M. (This is a jumbled field, and there’s probably a higher margin of error in these 3-day numbers than usual.)
As for the other new wide releases, THE NANNY DIARIES (MGM/Weinstein) will miss the top 5 altogether. The Scarlett Johansson vehicle managed only $2.8M on Friday, and it’s headed for about $7.8M by Monday morning. The well-reviewed RESURRECTING THE CHAMP (Yari Film Group) opened in disappointing fashion with just $500,000 on opening day and $1.5M or so for the weekend. That’s a 3-day PTA of just under $1,000. Universal’s ILLEGAL TENDER is on a more limited 512 screens, and it grabbed an estimated $450,000 on Friday, which will translate to a possible $1.3M weekend. That would be a solid $2,500 PTA.
Finally, the misguided SEPTEMBER DAWN (Slowhand Releasing), a dark western about a brutal massacre in the mid-19th
century starring Jon Voight, sold just under $200,000 in tickets on Friday, and it will struggle to a tick better than $700,000 for its opening 3-day.
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