Wolverine Stabs a Bullet Train

Don't you hate it when you're riding a bullet train through Tokyo, and a bunch of assassins show up to try and kill you?  Wolverine is apparently not a fan of that either, as we see in this new clip from The Wolverine, which opens in theaters on July 26:

According to reports from the footage screened recently, Wolverine is also in the process of not healing from a gunshot wound as that whole sequence is going on.  So that complicates things a bit.  Others have reported back to say that the full train sequence is pretty awesome, so if you're still understandably skeptical after the way the last movie turned out, try to hold that back for another few weeks.  The movie may just surprise you.

International Trailer For DRIVE Sequel: ONLY GOD FORGIVES. Real Human Being in China.

 

In 2011 the internet was graced with director Nicolas Winding Refn's comedy gold-mine DRIVE which inspired many out of shape, hairy, balding losers to buy a cool scorpion jacket (I did, it just arrived on Friday), well, now we have Only God Forgives which will inspire many more fedora-wearing cinema goers to walk around in a suit that doesn't fit and a disgusting patch of facial hair, challenging Chinese businessmen to fight.

Only God Forgives saunters weirdly into theaters  on July 19; and will probably play at one of those weird theaters you kind of don't want to go to; or it will be in the local megaplex in the screen that's furthest down the long maze of hallways. 

Chill, Guys, James O'Barr Is On Board With THE CROW.

 

Q: "How do you make nerds pop blood vessels, over-react, and scream murder?"
 
A: "Have Super Man destroy buildings or kill someone" 

A: "Suggest anyone remake or re-imagine anything"

Well that's what's been going on for the past few years with Relativity Media's planned remake of the classic 1993 film The Crow that starred Brandon Lee, based on the comic book by James O'Barr.

The remake, which was previously brought back from the dead much like it's protagonist after a failed turn with Bradley Cooper attached, is now set to star Luke Evans (Fast & Furious 6, The Three Musketeers, Immortals) with  F. Javier Gutierrez directing and Cliff Dorman writing the screenplay

Variety got the scoop though that a familair face to The Crow's world, the creator himself, James O'Barr, will be on-board the remake.

“It is important for ‘Crow’ fans to understand that Relativity, Javier, Luke and the entire team are working on a new adaptation of the book itself,” said O’Barr in a statement. “I believe that this movie will stand alongside Brandon and his film as a valid work of art, and I look forward to collaborating on the project.”

Variety also reports that O'Barr and Gutierrez are set to appear at Comic Con this summer to talk to fans and audiences alike about the remake.

Excited? Worried? Comment below.

"The Wolverine" Has a Really Cool Japanese Intro

This looks like its meant to go with the Japanese release of The Wolverine (where it's called Wolverine: SAMURAI, and doesn't open until September), but it's pretty neat way to do the 20th Century Fox titles nonetheless:

Cool, right?  Back stateside, the TV spots are hitting the airwaves as well, including these two, which show off a particularly awesome Wolverine sucker-punch:

Be on the lookout for the first official clip from the film, which is supposed to premiere online sometime tomorrow. 

The Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26.

Weekend Box Office: July 5-7

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Despicable Me 2 - $82.5 million

2.  The Lone Ranger - $29.4 million

3.  The Heat - $25 million

4.  Monsters University - $19.5 million

5.  World War Z - $18.2 million

6.  White House Down - $13.5 million

7.  Man of Steel - $11.4 million

8.  Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain - $10.1 million

9.  This Is The End - $5.8 million

10.  Now You See Me - $2.7 million

The July 4th holiday weekend was a very busy moviegoing weekend that was great news for most (party on, Minions), and not-so-great news for others (sorry, Kemosabe). 

The great news:  Despicable Me 2 ruled the holiday weekend, earning an estimated $142.1 million since opening in theaters on Wednesday.  It also knocked Monsters University out of the top spot, which it's held for the last two weekends.  But that film has nothing to be sad about, as its $19.5 million over the weekend pushed it over the $200 million mark, becoming the 11th Pixar film to reach that milestone.

The not-so-great, but also not-so-unexpected news was that Disney's The Lone Ranger tanked over the weekend, earning just $48 million since its Wednesday opening.  Scorched by awful reviews, and with audiences tiring of Johnny Depp's offbeat-character routine, it's going to be impossible for the film to earn back its bloated $215 million budget, much less kickoff a new Lone Ranger franchise.

Opening in just 876 theaters, Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain earned an excellent $17.5 million, making it the fifth-highest stand-up comedy film of all time.  It gives Kevin Hart two films in the top ten, as he also appears in This Is The End (actually, that applies to someone else in the top ten as well, but that's too good of a This Is The End spoiler to give away).  Audiences looking for laughs this weekend were also still enjoying The Heat, which earned another $25 million this weekend. 

World War Z is still doing quite well, earning a solid $18.2 million.  The same can't be said for White House Down, which hasn't really picked up from its disappointing opening last weekend.  The second White House takeover film of the year has earned just $50 million.

For those looking for non-summer blockbuster fare, there was The Way, Way Back, which only opened in 19 theaters nationwide, but still earned a decent $575,000.  That film will going into wider release over the next few weeks.

If you haven't seen Man of Steel at the IMAX yet, you'd better hurry up and catch it this week, since Pacific Rim will be taking over the giant screens on Thursday night.  Joining it will be Grown-Ups 2, and Fruitvale Station. 

Could Christopher Nolan's Syncopy Be The Next Legendary Pictures?

There is a "whole lotta' shakin' going on" over at The Brothers Warner. Even Batman can no longer protect the studio that seemed without weakness the past decade plus. Jeff Robinov has exited his post as Warner Brothers Pictures Group President while Kevin Tsujihara has been appointed Warner Bros CEO & Chairman. On top of that Thomas Tull, founder and CEO of Legendary Pictures, has broken off talks with Warner Bros. which could result in the dissolution of Hollyweird's most lucrative film partnerships.

Legendary has co-financed most all of WB's biggest hits since signing a deal with the studio to co-produce and co-finance up to 40 films over seven years in 2005. The company that teamed up with WB to bring Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Man of Steel and The Hangover, is now looking for other options. According to DEADLINE Tull has made his choice to replace Warner Bros and the winner is Comcast/NBC Universal. Although, there is always a possibility that another suitor could sweep Tull off his feet at the last minute.

Where does Legendary's exit from Burbank leave Warner Bros? The answer could lie with WB Golden Boy Christopher Nolan. It's possible that Syncopy could be positioning itself to be the next Legendary. The production company has partnered with Legendary to product Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Man Of Steel, and the upcoming Interstellar. Warner Bros obviously wants to be in business with Christopher Nolan, the studio gave Paramount the rights to co-finance the next Friday the 13th as well as its piece of a possible future South Park movie.

Syncopy being the sole co-financier & co-producer on some of Warner Bros' biggest future films could be a step in the right direction to keeping Nolan in Burbank for years to come.

Russell Crowe Would Star In "Man Of Steel" Prequel So Stop Asking

Facebook is for people to complain and Twitter gives people a chance to be awesome. I am really tired of going on Facebook to witness people crying about being lonely or sad because they didn't have steak sliders at Applebees. That is why I tend to favor Twitter. Better entertainment value and for some an easier outlet to annoy celebs.

Russell Crowe did a solid job in Man Of Steel as Kal-El's Kryptonian father Jor-El. My guess is that the studio would want to use him in a cameo for a possible Man Of Steel sequel. Maybe a floating head like Marlon Brando? For some reason the Twitter universe believes that The Brothers Warner would want to do a prequel and keep harassing Crowe about starring in it.

"A lot of you are asking about a KRYPTON prequel, if that's something you feel strongly about let @Legendary pictures know your thoughts,"

"Just getting sick of reading the same question mate, however, if it came up, i'd give the tights another go."

Why would the general public, or even fans for that matter, want to see a Superman film without Superman? No thanks. Some "hyperbolics" already claim that Man Of Steel didn't feature Superman, so I wouldn't think that this would be a good idea.

Probably shouldn't keep asking him either Twitter nerds, I think he's had enough. Just let him ride bikes and enjoy his life.

Russell Crowe's Twitter

New Image from 'The Wolverine' Pushed to the Limit

 The Wolverine is a film that I think will be leaps and bounds better than it's absolute awful predecessor, X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

However, I think due to the poor reception of the 2009 film - both with critics and audiences - it won't do nearly as much business as the first one.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine did roughly $180 million domestic with a wordwide total of about $375 million at the box office.  A lot of that was upfront  business from people who were psyched to see Hugh Jackman finally getting his own solo film (though that can be argued because it was basically X-Men 4).

It seems poor taste lasts a while, because even though The Wolverine - from all accounts - looks and is fantastic, audiences (besides the core fan base) will say 'thanks, but no thanks' after being burned last time.

Look at Batman Begins for example.  That film was great, but didn't do nearly as much business as it should of because the average moviegoer still had Batman & Robin on the brain (and that film came out 8 years prior!).

It was only after audiences discovered it on the home video market did many realize how good it was.  It's one of the reasons The Dark Knight did so well; people were left with a great impression.

I think this will be the same case with The Wolverine, though I doubt we will see another solo film after this as Jackman has stated numerous times this is a stand-alone entry and besides next year's X-Men: Days of Future Past, one of his last appearances as the famous character.

I do hope though that I'm wrong and The Wolverine does great.  It most definitely deserves it.

Source: Twitter

'The Lone Ranger' Bombing at the Box Office

According to early reports, Disney's The Lone Ranger has taken in just $19.5 million in two days at the domestic box office with 5-day estimates for the holiday weekend ranging from $50-55 million overall.  For a film that cost $215 million to make (though I've read it was was more like $250 million), that is absolutely terrible.

Honestly though, should this really be a surprise?

Take away all the production troubles this project went through - from being put on hold to lower its budget to then going over-budget anyway because of production issues - this film just never grabbed anyone's attention.

Of all the movies coming out this summer, I really don't think you could find a single person who had The Lone Ranger at the top of their must-see list.

Sure, Johnny Depp is a great actor, but I'm pretty sure that fire he ignited in his career over a decade ago with Pirates of the Caribbean is fading.  He's just not as popular as he use to be with casual moviegoers.  That has nothing to do with his films nor his personal life, it's just after a while, people lose interest.

The one I feel bad for though is Armie Hammer.  I saw him on The Tonight Show and he genuinely seems like a great dude - and from all accounts - a fantastic actor.  I only hope Hollywood gives this guy another chance to become a star because he really seems to have that IT quality (unlike say, Ryan Reynolds, who keep getting chance after chance.  Seriously, how bad does R.I.P.D. look?).

Who knows, maybe The Lone Ranger can find an audience and somehow get to say $150 million domestically, backed by big overseas numbers (Depp is a huge draw internationally) and not be such a disappointment (from what I've read, it's not as bad as critics make it out to be, which really shouldn't come as a surprise).

As of now though, the movie is a absolute bomb, in every sense of the word.

Source: Box Office Mojo

Colin Trevorrow Wants To 'Honor What Came Before' in JURASSIC PARK IV

 

Schmoes Know got the chance to ask Colin Trevorrow a few things about the upcoming Jurassic Park IV, at the 2013 Saturn Awards. The continuation of the franchise, which has had a strange few months from being put on hold (people assumed cancelled) to being brought back with a 2015 release and (supposed) plot-synopsis leak.

Well, Trevorrow is working with Spielberg to make you guys happy, and like all directors to are set to take over a franchise, he wants to honor what came before.

"It's incredible to have Steven [Spielberg], who's done this for decades and has such an incredible filmic knowledge and just understands the language of story in a way that for us is very refreshing," says Trevorrow. "It's not like getting notes from a studio executive; it's really just trying to crack this and make it the best it can be."

"We don't want to create a new scoop here, but we definitely want to honor what came before us,"Trevorrow continues. "We are very aware of how much a certain generation especially cares about this movie, and we talk about it all the time, and really the conversation is: It’s not about us, it’s not about our careers, it’s 'How do we make something that can stand with the first one?'."

Jurassic Park IV roars into theaters in 2015, more news will likely find it's way online when Comic-Con rolls around.