Warner Bros. and Peter Segal Doing Jonny Quest? Supermax Now Titled Green Arrow
IESB speculates that director Peter Segal, currently attached to helm a Shazam feature for Warner Bros., might also be the man who brings the studio’s planned tentpole, Jonny Quest, to the world as well for Summer ‘09. Apparently the script by Dan Mazeau is quite strong and in better shooting condition than Billy Batson and the Legend of Shazam. Moroever, the site spoke to Segal recently, who was enthusiastic about the latest screenplay, noted his involvement with getting a Quest flick off the ground in the past, and even discussed casting preferences (The Rock for special agent Roger “Race” Bannon). As you might recall, for over a year now Dwayne Johnson has been attached to play Shazam’s Black Adam.
At the center of the Jonny Quest franchise is the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, about the titular young boy, his scientist father, his adopted Indian brother, a spastic bulldog, and a snowy haired special agent/bodyguard who hop around the globe pursuing epic cryptozoological and sci-fi adventures. Quest is one of several retro tentpole projects on Hollywood’s burner, including Buck Rogers, Spielberg/Jackson’s Tintin, the now filming Transformers 2, and another live-action He-Man flick (also buzzing loudly at Warner Bros.). Of course, the recent wipe-out of the similarly cheeky/mothballed Speed Racer is no doubt being taken into consideration when updating Quest.
Also of note: David Goyer’s Supermax, which now looks to have broader box office potential after the success of Iron Man, has been retitled Green Arrow. The well-reviewed script, which sees Green Arrow facing off in a high security prison with DC villains like The Riddler, is by Justin Marks, who wrote the aforemenioned He-Man script that’s driving the Internet nuts right now.
Beat Ben @ the Box Office: Jonesing for Indy
Indy’s back, and the timing couldn’t be better. Look for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to set the all-time, five-day box-office record.
Indy is iconic. Older audiences who never felt much for Pirates of the Caribbean’s Captain Jack Sparrow, or even Spider-Man’s Peter Parker, connect with Indy. And younger audiences have rediscovered the franchise on HD-DVDs and flat-screen TVs, just as my generation did on dusty videotapes and, god forbid, LaserDiscs.
Also, there’s the Shia Factor. Dude could read the phone book, and young America would line up and buy a ticket.
Coming off two slower than expected weekends for family films (Speed Racer stunk, and nobody cared much about Chronicles of Narnia), the stage has been set for a massive Indy opening.
Think I’m too gassed on one of film’s last living franchises? Think Shia won’t get the kids to show up? You’re bugging! Put your numbers up….
Who’s an Indy Fan? Hey, Who Isn’t?
Indiana Jones fans, the theory goes, are different.
“They’re not like Trekkie fans, and they’re not like Star Wars fans,” says filmmaker Brandon Kleyla, choosing his words carefully. “They’re more humble.”
Or maybe not.
Fans of the George Lucas-Steven Spielberg adventure franchise are expected to help Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, opening on nearly 4,000 screens at midnight tonight, to a five-day debut of a very unhumble $150 million. Or more.
“It looks to be the movie that all other blockbusters will try to beat for the summer box-office crown,” Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com, said in an email interview.
Pandya foresees a Thursday-Monday, extended Memorial Day weekend opening “north of $150 million.”
Box-office analyst Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations Co. is thinking $175 million, a figure that would match the record set by Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode IIIRevenge of the Sith, which collected nine figures over the same span in 2005.
Both see Kingdom of the Crystal Skull doing what Speed Racer and, to a lesser degree, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian couldn’t dodominate the family market.
Sketchy buzz over the weekend that gave way to solid reviews in the past few days seemingly has fueled expectations. A nearly 20-year wait between movies clearly has fueled anticipation.
And when pent-up demand meets opening day? Bock predicts that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the fourth film in the Indiana Jones series, will gross as much as $50 million tomorrow. That would again put it in the neighborhood of Revenge of the Sith, currently the all-time Thursday king.
And that’s only the tip of the bullwhip. The real money for the new Indiana Jones lies overseas where the iconic Harrison Ford archaeologist is, well, extra iconic.
“This is Indiana Jones and the Quest for Worldwide Domination,” Bock says. “Make no mistake, this is going to be a hit worldwide.”
Kleyla is not surprised by the lofty expectations. The actor-director is, after all, something of an expert on the appeal of Indiana Jones. He’s a fana child of the ’80s who first discovered the good Dr. Jones at a theme park. He’s a collector. And he’s a documentarian.
His new film, Indyfans and the Quest for Fortune and Glory, profiles more than 50 devotees of Henry Walton Jones Jr., Ph.D.
If the documentary sounds like Trekkies for Indiana Jones followers, then it is, sort of. And it isn’t, sort of. For one thing, there aren’t any Indiana Jones convention scenes because, according to Kleyla, there aren’t any Indiana Jones conventions.
“It’s just a different breed of fan,” Kleyla says. “…Some of them have really amazing careers, and huge jobs, and you wouldn’t know it until you walk into their office and see the Indy mannequin.”
The stealth nature of the fandom stems, in part, Kleyla thinks, from Jones’ penchant for the workaday ensemble of khakis, leather jacket and fedora.
“The thing with the Indy outfit is,” Kleyla says, “you can wear it around, and nobody knows.”
Actually, Kleyla acknowledges, the hat usually is the tip-off. And he expects to see quite a lot of them in the coming days.
“No doubt they’ll be there opening weekend,” he says of the faithful. “They’ll show up dressed and ready to go.”
And in that respect, Indiana Jones fans are just like Star Wars and Star Trek fans.
“They plunk down their cash,” says Bock. “And that’s what counts.”
Beat Ben @ the Box Office: Narnia Mania!
After recovering from its Speed Racer hangover, Hollywood is hoping to bounce back in a big way with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.
The first Narnia flick was a hit ($65 million opening weekend, nearly $300 million overall), and this one will be, too. Nothing else of great importance opens this week, and after family audiences avoided Speed last weekend, the kids are getting antsy.
Look for Prince Caspian to come in just under $70 millionlet's say $68.7 million for opening weekend. This movie will make its real coin overseas, so whatever it rakes in Stateside is pure icing.
What do you think? Am I selling epic battles, Minotaurs and fresh-faced kids short? Or giving them too much credit? Sound off in the comments.