Denzel and Russell: American Gangsters
Denzel and Russell: American Gangsters
It’s no secret that two of Hollywood’s hottest hunks are combining their efforts on one of the most talked about movies of the year. And at the premiere of American Gangster, Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington were looking fine.
The Aussie actor spoke with press about what it was like to work with Denzel, dispelling rumors that it was an ego-fest.
“It’s not about a heavyweight fight. What it is, is much more like two (guitarists) playing together, two people singing together…. If you can blend, if you can harmonize and you can sing together still from two completely separate points of view, now you are talking.”
It’s also no secret that with Crowe and Washington’s powers combined, this film is nothing short of amazing. American Gangster is already generating Oscar buzz.
To see the entire gallery of stars at the American Gangster Premiere (October 29) - !
Eddie Murphy & Scary Spice: Family Time
Eddie Murphy’s annual family vacation in Hawaii is always the same: just a little R&R for the actor and his five children, ages 4 to 16, at his favorite $10,700-a-night luxury suite at Maui’s Four Seasons Hotel.
Except this year, he brought along someone new who’s been spending a lot of time with him lately: singer Melanie Brown – also known to ’90s pop fans as Scary Spice of the Spice Girls – and her 7-year-old daughter Phoenix Chi, PEOPLE reports in its new issue.
During the weeklong trip in late August, the party of eight bonded while lounging poolside in private cabanas and dining out together at the island’s branch of Spago.
Brown even took the entire blended brood by herself to the beach one afternoon to go body surfing and boogie boarding. Says one onlooker: “There was a lot of togetherness between the families.”
Could they be one big, happy family soon? Murphy – who divorced his wife of 12 years, Nicole Mitchell, in April – met the Leeds, England-bred Brown, who split from dancer Jimmy Gulzar in 2000, at a party in June. Since then they have kept their relationship quiet, but it’s no secret that they’re smitten.
At a Fourth of July BBQ Murphy hosted at his Beverly Hills home, the pair “were very loving and cute together,” says a source.
And Murphy, 45, recently escorted Brown, 31, to his favorite haunt, L.A.’s Laugh Factory, where “they were very cozy,” says a witness. Says Brown’s mother, Andrea: “They are both very happy.”
And quickly getting serious. The British singer is spending more time at her L.A. house to be close to the actor. Murphy – who is earning early Oscar buzz for his turn in Dreamgirls – already has his family on board.
“(Eddie) seems very happy with her, and that’s what’s important to me,” says Murphy’s big brother Charlie. “He’s in a good place. If she does that (for him), then that’s great.”
Saturday Box Office: Tyler Perry’s Married targets $23M 3-day; Game Plan, Michael Clayton, We Own the Night
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate) got a solid 21% upturn from its excellent opening day, and, although the movie won’t reach $25M for the weekend, its expected $23.07M haul will be more than enough to win the 3-day. It also marks the 2nd-best opening of Perry’s filmmaking career, trailing only 2006’s Madea’s Family Reunion ($30M opening).
Amazingly, Tyler Perry’s poorly-reviewed relationship comedy will more than double the estimated 3-day performances for George Clooney in Michael Clayton (Warner Bros) and Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix in We Own the Night (Sony), and Married will more than triple the business of Universal’s Elizabeth: The Golden Age starring Oscar winner Cate Blanchett.
As I fisrt reported Friday night (see below), Disney holdover The Game Plan will finish #2 for the weekend. After delivering another $5.13M on Saturday, the family comedy starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will finish the frame with about $11.59M putting the pic just shy of $60M domestic. After outperforming Michael Clayton on Friday, the younger-skewing We Own the Night got just a 14% Saturday bump. I’m projecting that Michael Clayton will finish 3rd for the weekend with an estimated $11.13M followed by the gritty James Gray-directed crime thriller with a likely $10.7M.
Universal cannot be happy with its Elizabeth: The Golden Age, which, despite solid reviews, managed only an 18% Friday-to-Saturday increase for $2.41M. This period biopic will require steady Oscar buzz in order to survive its estimated opening weekend of $6.37M.
EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS EARLY SATURDAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW - Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate) - $9.31M - $4,633 PTA - $17M cume
2. The Game Plan (Buena Vista) - $5.13M - $1,641 PTA - $56M cume
3. Michael Clayton (Warner Bros) - $4.58M- $1,825 PTA - $8.9M cume
4. NEW – We Own the Night (Sony) - $4.27M - $1,810 PTA - $8M cume
5. The Heartbreak Kid (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $3.04M - $943 PTA - $23.8M cume
6. NEW – Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal) - $2.41M - $1,206 PTA - $4.5M cume
7. The Kingdom (Universal) - $1.99M - $703 PTA - $38.7M cume
8. Across the Universe (Sony) - $1.51M - $1,592 PTA - $11.6M cume
9. Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony) – $1.11M - $497 PTA - $47.2M cume
10. The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (Fox) - $954,000 - $301 PTA - $6.4M
EXCLUSIVE FANTASY MOGULS REVISED 3-DAY ESTIMATES
1. NEW - Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married? (Lionsgate) - $23.07M -
$11,473 PTA - $25.3M cume
2. The Game Plan (Buena Vista) - $11.59M - $3,706 PTA - $59.5M cume
3. Michael Clayton (Warner Bros) - $11.13M - $4,433 PTA - $12.2M cume
4. NEW – We Own the Night (Sony) - $10.7M - $4,556 PTA - $10.7M cume
5. The Heartbreak Kid (Dreamworks/Paramount) - $7.15M - $2,212 PTA - $25.7M cume
6. NEW – Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Universal) - $6.37M - $3,186 PTA - $6.37M cume
7. The Kingdom (Universal) - $4.82M - $1,701 PTA - $40.2M cume
8. Across the Universe (Sony) - $3.68M - $3,863 PTA - $12.5M cume
9. Resident Evil: Extinction (Sony) – $2.63M - $1,171 PTA - $48M cume
10. The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (Fox) - $2.2M - $696 PTA - $7.1M
Read more at FantasyMoguls.com
Saturday Box Office: 3:10 To Yuma w/$5.2M; Shoot ‘em Up #6
James Mangold’s remake of the classic Western 3:10 TO YUMA rustled up another $5.23M on Saturday, and the well-reviewed genre pic will finish the weekend with a respectable $14.23M. That’s right in line with industry expectations, but Lionsgate was almost certainly hoping for an upside surprise. That number will give YUMA the 3rd-best opening weekend for a true Western in the past 20 years, trailing only 1990’s MAVERICK ($17.2M) and UNFORGIVEN, which opened to $15M back in 1992.
I suspect this picture will hold exceedingly well in coming weeks because it skews 25 , and that crowd never turns out en masse for opening weekend, but it will be an uphill battle at the box office. 3:10 TO YUMA could conceivably get to $35M domestic, but its budget was a reported $50M. Year-end recognition from critics organizations and some Golden Globe and Oscar buzz would dramatically improve the commercial prospects of this title, but it may have been released to early to hold onto many screens into the awards season.
HALLOWEEN (MGM/Weinstein) finished 2nd for the day with $3.84M, and Michael Myers is #2 for the weekend as well with an estimated $8.79M. SUPERBAD (Sony) picked up $2.9M on Saturday, and its likely $7.31M weekend lifts the Judd Apatow-produced, Seth Rogen-written comedy above the $100M mark. THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM (Universal) was 5th on Saturday with $2.44M, but the Matt Damon thriller will most likely be #4 for the 3-day with $5.89M or so. Holdover BALLS OF FURY (Rogue Releasing) was stronger than expected Saturday with $2.47M, but it appears that the ping-pong comedy will be forced to settle for 5th for this frame.
New Line’s SHOOT ‘EM UP was up by a few percent Friday-to-Saturday, but its estimated $2.07M made it only #7 for the day. I’m projecting that the Clive Owen-Paul Giamatti action pic will have banked $5.73M by Monday morning, making it only the 6th-best 3-day performer. That is, however, a far better fate than THE BROTHERS SOLOMON (Sony) has suffered. Playing on 700 screens, this misguided comedy will wrap the weekend with just $510,000 or $728 per location.
As for new specialty releases, the PTA winner will be a surprise. John Turturro’s ROMANCE & CIGARETTES, a musical starring James Gandolfini, Kate Winslett and Susan Sarandon, opened on 1 screen on Friday, and the film has grabbed a blazing 3-day weekend PTA of $16,000. Because this movie is being released independently, I didn’t catch it in time for my column Friday night. The long-shelved IDP comedy FIERCE PEOPLE will likely finish #2 in PTA followed by Thinkfilm’s Oscar contender IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON from Ron Howard, the Tibetan fantasy film MILAREPA: MAGICIAN (Luminous Velocity) and 3:10 TO YUMA.
Read More at Fantasy Moguls.