War Of Gods vs. Clash Of The Titans!
As well as discussing 300, producers Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann spoke to Collider about another upcoming project of theirs, War of Gods. The movie (not to be confused with the game God of War) is another Greek epic about a war between Gods and humans. They are aiming to start filming at the beginning of 2009, and it will be filmed in a similar style to 300.
Yesterday Variety reported that Warner Bros. have signed The Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier to direct their remake of Clash of the Titans. While both War of Gods and Clash of the Titans will have different plots, storylines and subject matter, they both evolve around Greek mythology. This has inevitably caused a battle of epic proportions, with both movies wanting to be released first. If the general public see two trailers for two different movies about similar things, they usually go to see the movie released first. Everyone saw Madagascar over The Wild, and Finding Nemo over Shark Tale. There were also two movies released within a year of each other about Truman Capote. Which one got all the attention and Oscars? The one released first staring Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Obviously other factors contribute, such as the actors and marketing. However, if two movies both include Zeus, Gods and monsters then the one with the earliest release date will have the advantage. At the moment it seems War of Gods has the advantage, as a filming start date is in place, while Clash of the Titans has only just been greenlight with the arrival of Hulk director Louis Leterrier.
May the battle commence!
Heigl says she’s staying on Grey’s
Reports of Katherine Heigl’s exit from Grey’s Anatomy have been greatly exaggerated, and that comes straight from the actress’s mouth. Heigl’s staying on Grey’s Anatomy for the foreseeable future.
In recent weeks, since choosing not to submit her name for Emmy consideration because she was critical of the material she had this past season, speculation has been that the star wants out of the show. Fueling the fire is the fact that in the past year, thanks to Knocked Up (and a lot less to 27 Dresses), Ms. Heigl’s getting many, many offers to jump to the big screen full time.
Life & Style caught up with her last week at L.A.’s Hotel Cafe, where she was watching her husband Josh Kelly, performing. When asked if she would be on Grey’s this season, she said, “Of course, absolutely. Those people are like my family.” She described the set as a happy, joyful place where there’s lots of laughter despite the serious storylines they’re playing.
Well, what do they think she was going to say? She’s contracted for the 2008-9 season and is already filming episodes. If there’s no actor’s strike — we hope — she’s committed to playing Izzie unless and until the producers choose to write her out.
Heigl strikes me as a smart cookie. If she does want to move on, she’d be wise to work with Shonda Rhimes to come up with a way to write Izzie out that’s beneficial to both her and the show. It’s happened on other shows in a positive way, remember George Clooney and ER?
He actually came back (for a scene) to help Juliana Margulies when she left the show. The bottom line is this, you get more with honey than you do with vinegar, so I suggest Heigl think things out carefully before coming to a decision, then playing nice to get what she wants. Whatever that is. Grey’s Anatomy has been good to her. Thanks to that show, she’s now an Emmy-award winner. Sure, she earned it, but they gave her the stage.
[via TVTattle]
Get Smart a Hit; Love Guru a Nude Bomb
The Incredible Hulk wasn’t exactly Hulk, which was good. The Love Guru was vaguely Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, which wasn’t.
And Get Smart, which was absolutely not The Nude Bomb, was No. 1.
The weekend box office did not lack for storylines or dollars, with the Steve Carell spy comedy leading the way with $39.2 million, according to Exhibitor Relations estimates today.
Get Smart’s three-day take was nearly three times what the first big-screen crack at the sitcom classic grossed during its entire run. Not that taking out the bomb that was the 1980s The Nude Bomb, which starred original Agent 86 Don Adams, was either the plan or an accomplishment.
More to the point, Get Smart goes down as the biggest opener of Carell’s still fledgling leading-man career, and helps mitigate the disappointment of his last live-action comedy, Evan Almighty.
Elsewhere, The Incredible Hulk, last weekend’s No. 1, fell to third with $21.6 million. But it retained bragging rights over Ang Lee’s Hulk by falling “only” 61 percent in its second weekend, rather than the 70 percent plunge suffered by the 2003 film.
As for The Love Guru: It settled for fourth place and $14 million, two stats unbecoming a film that was promoted far and wideand uncomfortably on the season finale of American Idol.
For star Mike Myers, the debut wasn’t far off from the modest $9 million that his first Austin Powers grossed in its opening weekend. Eleven years ago. Before the spoof franchise took off on home video. Before Myers took off as a comedy brand name.
On the upside of a disappointing weekend, The Love Guru did outgross Get Smart, Again! Which was actually a TV movie. And therefore didn’t gross anything.
In any case, it should definitely surpass The Nude Bomb any day now. Which really wasn’t the plan. And honestly won’t be an accomplishment.
Drilling down through the standings:
- Fact No. 1: In The Incredible Hulk’s first weekend, 82 percent of the audience was comprised of people who’d seen Ang Lee’s Hulk. Fact No. 2: After two weekends, the two films have nearly identical cumulative grosses, with Lee’s holding the slight edge, $100.6 million to $96.5 million. Possible conclusion: There are only so many Hulk fans to go around. For all the drubbing that Lee’s Hulk took over its box office performance, The Incredible Hulk is doing almost exactly the same, except it’s doing it slightly smaller.
- Kung Fu Panda has strong, stubby legs. In its third weekend, the CGI comedy was only down 35 percent from the previous weekend. It held on to second place with $21.7 million, bringing its overall take to $155.6 million.
- In its second weekend, M. Night Shyamalan’s The Happening (fifth place, $10 million; $50.3 million overall) suffered a Hulk-like fall, with ticket sales down 67 percent.
- Iron Man (ninth place, $4 million), indeed. The comic book movie passed the $300 million mark overall. It currently stands at $304.8 million.
- Tween girls do not live by Camp Rock alone. Those with access to Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, the new Abigail Breslin movie based on the popular doll line, helped it to a huge little opening weekend. Debuting at five theaters, the film grossed $222,697 for a per-screen average of $44,539. (Get Smart, by comparison, made $10,012 off each of its screens.)
- Prince Caspian ought to write Speed Racer a thank-you note for serving as the pre-Love Guru poster man for summer disappointments. Were it not for Speed Racer’s spectacular crash at the box office, more attention might be paid to the washout that has been the Chronicles of Narnia sequel. In its sixth weekend, the $200 million movie grossed $1.7 million, fell out of the Top 10 and stood at $135.5 million overall.
- In its sixth weekend, per Box Office Mojo stats, the first Narnia movie, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, finished fourth, grossed $10.1 million and stood at $261.3 million overall.
Here’s a recap of the top-grossing weekend films, based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
- Get Smart, $39.2 million
- Kung Fu Panda, $21.7 million
- The Incredible Hulk, $21.6 million
- The Love Guru, $14 million
- The Happening, $10 million
- Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, $8.4 million
- You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, $7.2 million
- Sex and the City, $6.5 million
- Iron Man, $4 million
- The Strangers, $1.9 million
Meow! Details on Gossip Girl’s New Cougar
Nair, we hardly knew ye.
Inside sources are spilling on the latest romantic entanglements on Gossip Girl’s Upper East Side, including news that the show’s original golden couple, Nate and Blair (”Nair”), aren’t reconciling any time soonthanks to a certain new cougar who’s ready to pounce.
This pretty (older) kitty is none other than Mädchen Amick (Twin Peaks, ER, Viva Laughlin), who, according to CW insiders, will appear in the season premiere on Sept. 1 and is expected to hang around for four or five episodes.
Word is, Madchen is heavily involved in Nate’s storylines and also has “a surprising connection to another new character on the show.” Get all the details in the Watch With Kristin TV blog.