The Wolverine Recommends Adamantium Gum

Natually, chewing on unbreakable adamantium would be a terrible thing to do to your teeth.  But when it's adamantium-flavored gum, it's an entirely different matter.  Or maybe it isn't...do we really want to know what Wolverine's bones taste like? 

Regardless, Wrigley's 5 Gum has a new adamantium-themed edition coming out to promote The Wolverine, which opens in theaters next month.  Check out this new TV spot that's currently airing in the U.K.:

If adamantium gum isn't your thing, then check out your local Red Robin back stateside, where they are currently serving - I kid you not - a Beserker Burger. 

At least we'll all be well-fed by the time this movie opens.

The Wolverine International Trailer

How was this not the first trailer for The Wolverine?  Instead of focusing on bullet trains and Jean Grey cameos, this new trailer, courtesy of our friends at ComingSoon.net, is impressively badass, with Wolverine wielding a sword and pissing off ninjas.  Not only that, it looks like it even has a plot and dialogue that won't make us cringe.  Yay!

The first of the TV spots reportedly turned up during the NBA Playoffs last night, so it looks like they're finally (hopefully) starting to actively promote this one.  With Man of Steel hitting theaters this weekend, it's the last comic book movie of the summer, so it's definitely time.

The Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26.

Raiders of the Lost Atari Game

As an eight-year-old who received a brand-new Atari video game system as a Christmas present in 1982, I remember being thrilled to find the E.T. The Extra Terrestrial game amongst the collection of new games also delivered to our house by Santa that year.  After all, it was the biggest movie of the year (or ever, at the time), which I'd seen three times over the summer.  How cool was it to have a video game version?

It's not like it wasn't heavily hyped as the perfect Christmas present that year.

That commercial would have been perfect if E.T. wound up having to blow on the cartridge before putting it in the Atari console. (That's an 80s thing, kids.  Ask your parents.)

Anyway, the E.T. game turned out to not be a very good game.  Actually, it was historically bad.  It was so terrible that my aunt, who gave us the game for Christmas that year, has yet to be forgiven by mother for bringing that game into our house in the first place.  Even today, at the mere mention of the E.T. game, she'll break into the neverending tap-tap-tap-tap footstep noise that E.T. made as he marched endlessly from blocky, badly-animdated-screen-to-blocky, badly-animated-screen looking for the pieces of his lost communicator that would send his spaceship to take him home.  Sometimes E.T. would fall down a well and just get stuck there.  Other times, the E.T. theme music would get stuck on a single note that would just go on and on...which is why my mom made my sister and me play it with the sound off.

But E.T. wasn't just a crappy game that left us kids bored, and drove our mom up a wall.  It was such a catastrophic bomb that it's been held to blame for the fall of the Atari game system, as the company was essentially bankrupted after being left with millions of unsold copies. 

Those unsold game cartridges have long-believed to have been given the same treatment worthy of a snitch on The Sopranos, after the New York Times reported that the cartridges were dumped in a New Mexico landfill and buried in concrete in 1983, although Atari has long-denied the story.

However, it looks like the mystery of the lost games may be solved.  According to ABC News, a Canadian film company called Fuel Industries has gotten permission to dig up that fabled landfill and see what may or may not be down there in hopes of making a documentary.

Why?  We have no idea.  The game cartridges were likely crushed before they were dumped, so even if they do strike 2600-level gold, none of them will be playable.  I can attest that the E.T. game was unplayable even before it was crushed and smothered in concrete.  But it's also long been rumored that other Atari goodies may have buried along with the E.T. cartridges, so it will be interesting to see what they do end up finding...even if hopes of finding a working 80s-era underground arcade are slim (but would be awesome).

At the very least, Snopes will be able to confirm if the 'buried Atari games' legend is true or not. 

Weekend Box Office: June 7-9

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  The Purge - $36.3 million

2.  Fast & Furious 6 - $19.7 million

3.  Now You See Me - $19.5 million

4.  The Internship - $18.1 million

5.  Epic - $12.1 million

6.  Star Trek Into Darkness - $11.7 million

7.  After Earth - $11.2 million

8.  The Hangover Part III - $7.3 million

9.  Iron Man 3 - $5.7 million

10.  The Great Gatsby - $4.2 million

This weekend was expected to be a quiet one at the box office, with Man of Steel still a week away and no major summer tentpoles set for release, but thanks in part to a rain-soaked East Coast, this turned out to be a very busy weekend at the movies. 

First up is the 'crime-is-legal' thriller The Purge, which shocked the hell out everyone with a staggering $36.3 million.   The movie only cost about $3 million to make (and whaddya know, it was produced by Jason Blum, who also produces those no-budgeted Paranormal Activity movies), so it's going to make a massive profit and probably spawn some sequels...even with poor word-of-mouth drop of 38% from Friday to Saturday.  It's a good weekend to be Ethan Hawke - his sequel Before Midnight also did some fine business, earning an estimated $585,000 in just 50 theaters nationwide.

The weekend's other new release, The Internship, which reunites Wedding Crashers duo Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, did all right with just $18.1 million, although it still finished the weekend in fourth place behind Fast & Furious 6, which continues to race along, earning another $19.7 million, and surprise hit Now You See Me, which wound up with $19.5 million. 

Fast & Furious 6, in the meantime, passed the $200 million mark this weekend, and will soon pass Fast 5's $209 million domestic haul.  Also passing $200 million this weekend was Star Trek Into Darkness, although at this point that sequel has little-to-no chance of passing the 2009 Star Trek's $260 million domestic total (and booooo!! I loved the new Star Trek).

Rounding out the top five was the animated Epic, which has earned a respectable $84 million in the quiet before Monsters University and Despicable Me 2 arrive to snag those family audiences.

Next weekend sees the long-awaited release of the apocalypse comedy, This Is The End.  Bwahahaha...just kidding. 

Man of Steel.  It arrives.  Next weekend.

Stephen Colbert Is Outraged By Superman's Lack of Underwear

Host of The Colbert Report and noted geek Stephen Colbert interrupted his opening segment last night to take Superman to task for the apparent lack of underwear on his new Man of Steel costume.

And yes, it's a joke.  Colbert is a superfan himself - his set includes a Captain America shield that was given to him by Marvel, and his studio audiences are encouraged to ask Lord of the Rings questions during his pre-show warming (and good luck trying to beat him at that). 

So he's as psyched for Man of Steel as the rest of us, and hilariously so:

Weekend Box Office: May 31 - June 2

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Fast & Furious 6 - $34.5 million

2.  Now You See Me - $28 million

3.  After Earth - $27 million

4.  Star Trek Into Darkness - $16.4 million

5.  Epic - $16.4 million

6.  The Hangover Part III - $15.9 million

7.  Iron Man 3 - $8 million

8.  The Great Gatsby - $6.2 million

9.  Yei Jawaani Hai Deewani - $1.6 million

10.  Mud - $1.2 million

While I think most expected Will Smith's After Earth to underperform this weekend, I don't think that even the most pessimistic box office pundits saw this one coming.  Not only did After Earth's estimated $27 million fail to best Fast & Furious 6's second weekend for the top spot, it was also trounced by the magician comedy Now You See Me.  Yikes.

Now how did this happen?  As easy as it may be to blame director M. Night Shyamalan, it doesn't fall on him this time.  Sony did everything but put a pair of Groucho glasses over his name in all of the marketing materials to hide that the fact that he was directing this movie.  This one falls on Will Smith.  While giving his son multimillion dollar movies to star in, audiences aren't quite as enamoured with the idea, especially when Jaden Smith doesn't quite have the acting chops to pull off a starring role on his own just yet.  Plus they'd rather see the funny, charismatic Will Smith of Independence Day, and not the bland Will Smith from After Earth's trailers.

Combine that with the film's positively toxic reviews, and we have our first box office dud of Summer 2013.  Luckily, Superman is literally flying over in two weeks to bring the box office back where it belongs.

In the meantime, while Fast 6 did drop nearly 65% from its big opening last weekend, that movie has made crazy money already: $170 million domestically, and a whopping $310 million worldwide.  Wow. 

Audiences barely cared about The Hangover 3 last weekend, and they care less now:  that dropped 62% to earn just $15.9 million this weekend.  Star Trek Into Darkness and the animated Epic were tied for fouth place with $16.4 million.  We'll know by tomorrow when the actual figures for the weekend come in.

There's a Bollywood movie in the top ten this weekend: Yei Jawaani Hai Deewani, which earned $1.6 million at just 161 theaters. 

Next weekend, which will be the calm before Man of Steel, sees the release of the Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy The Internship, the thriller The Purge, and Joss Whedon will be taking on Shakespeare with Much Ado About Nothing.

Weekend Box Office: May 10-12

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Iron Man 3 - $72.4 million

2.  The Great Gatsby - $51.1 million

3.  Pain and Gain - $5 million

4.  Tyler Perry Presents: Peeples - $4.8 million

5.  42- $4.6 million

6.  Oblivion - $3.8 million

7.  The Croods - $3.6 million

8.  The Big Wedding - $2.5 million

9.  Mud - $2.3 million

10.  Oz The Great and Powerful - $802,000

Iron Man 3 easily took first place in its second weekend (as expected), and once again, Hollywood recoils in shock (as expected) as it discovers that women actually attend movies too, as the The Great Gatsby earned a whopping $51.1 million, making it the third-highest second-place opening weekend of all time.  It's also star Leonardo DiCaprio's second-highest opening after Inception, and it will pass Moulin Rouge! as director Baz Luhrmann's highest-grossing film.  All in one weekend.

Meanwhile, Iron Man 3 dropped 58% from it's big opening last weekend, but still pulled in an impressive $72.4 million.  Its domestic total currently stands at $284 million, and will pass the $300 million mark before Star Trek takes over the IMAX screens on Thursday.  Marvel's favorite son continues to do gangbuster business overseas, where it currently stands at $664 million.  Its worldwide total should pass the $1 billion mark within the next week.

The weekend was not so kind to the Tyler Perry's latest film, as Peeples stalled out with only $4.8 million.  That's a rare flop for Tyler Perry, whose films usually do quite well. 

Another big weekend looms ahead, as Captain Kirk and crew return in Star Trek: Into Darkness, which arrives in theaters on Thursday.  Until then, Happy Mother's Day!

Weekend Box Office: May 3-5

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Iron Man 3 - $175.3 million

2.  Pain and Gain - $7.6 million

3.  42 - $6.2 million

4.  Oblivion - $5.7 million

5.  The Croods - $4.2 million

6.  The Big Wedding - $3.8 million

7.  Mud - $2.1 million

8.  Oz The Great and Powerful - $1.8 million

9.  Scary Movie 5 - $1.4 million

10.  The Place Beyond the Pines - $1.2 million

Now that's kicking the summer movie season off in style.  Iron Man 3 rocked the box office this weekend with an estimated $175.3 million, which is the second-highest opening weekend of all time.  First place, of course, was The Avengers, which opened with $207 million on this same weekend last year.  It also blew away the openings of the previous Iron Man films ($98 million for Iron Man and $128 million for Iron Man 2) - which is rare for a third film, although that was definitely helped by the megahit that was The Avengers.  It certainly bodes well for Marvel's upcoming sequels for Thor and Captain America, although without that Robert Downey Jr. awesomeness that audiences really love, neither of those films should see opening weekends like this.

Overseas, Iron Man 3 has earned a staggering $504 million since opening last weekend.  At $680 million worldwide, the threequel will absolutely hit the $1 billion mark, which is pretty damn amazing.  And despite some plot twists that have left fans of the comics somewhat disgruntled, the film still managed an "A" Cinemascore rating from audiences, which bodes well for its longevity...at least until the end of the month, when it will have to compete against Star Trek: Into Darkness and Fast and the Furious 6.

No one paid much attention to anything else in theaters, as Pain and Gain sunk more than 62% from last weekend to earn just $7.6 million.  After losing its IMAX screens to Iron Man, Oblivion is also becoming a distant memory with just $5.7 million.  42 is still holding up well against a sea of action movies, earning another $6.2 million, and Mud expanded its theater count and earned $2.1 million in just 576 locations.

Expect another big haul for Iron Man 3 again next weekend, as its only competition is Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby, and the Tyler Perry comedy Peeples. 

Silver Samurai Poster Art for The Wolverine

Director James Mangold has revealved, via Twitter, the new one-sheet poster artwork of the Silver Samurai from The Wolverine:

That's pretty cool.  The Wolverine opens in theaters on July 26.

Based on the celebrated comic book arc, this epic action-adventure takes Wolverine, the most iconic character of the X-Men universe, to modern day Japan. Out of his depth in an unknown world he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.

CinemaCon Footage from The Wolverine

Courtesy of AMC Theaters, here is the footage from The Wolverine that screened at CinemaCon last month.  It's just a minute long, but it's got lots of ninjas (seriously, lots of ninjas), explosions, impressive leaping, a bullet train, motorcycles, a shirtless Hugh Jackman (hello, 3D!), plenty of adamantium-clawed badassery...and whoa, is that the Silver Samurai??

Cool.  The Wolverine arrives in theaters in all of its 3D-glory on July 26th.  Any questions?  Just ask Hugh Jackman, who will be hosting a live Q&A chat via Twitter at 12pm EST tomorrow.