'Narnia' Marquee Spotted at Cannes

The Cannes Film Festival is well underway right now, and the folks at ComingSoon.net have put up a terrific photo gallery of all the various movie ads that are on display around the French Riviera, including what appears to be our first official glimpse at The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

The third Narnia film, set to be released in utterly unnecessary 3D on December 10, will be the first produced by 20th Century Fox, since Disney ditched the series following disappointing box office returns from the last film, Prince Caspian.

I actually really liked the first two films and I'm looking forward to this film, since I thought Voyage of the Dawn Treader was one of the better books in the series.  The story follows Lucy and Edmund Pevensie, who have returned to Narnia via a magical painting in their cousin's guest room and rejoin Prince Caspian for a sea voyage to find Aslan's birthplace at the End of the World.

Both William Moseley and Anna Popplewell, who played the older Pevensie kids, will not be returning for Dawn Treader (as you may recall, both Peter and Susan said their goodbyes to Narnia at the end of the last film).  Bill Nighy has also replaced Eddie Izzard as the voice of Reepicheep.  However, Ben Barnes will be reprising his role as Prince Caspian, and they will be joined by Son of Rambow's Will Poulter as Lucy and Edmund's bratty cousin Eustace Clarence Scrubb...who I think you can just barely see on the right side of the marquee in the bottom picture.

So hopefully this will be good.  The whole Fox involvement makes me nervous, naturally, but I'm liking the artwork we're seeing so far.  (it's much better than the official teaser poster, which popped up on NarniaWeb.com today)

Goldman Joins X-Men: First Class

First was the good news that X-Men: First Class was definitely happening.  Then there was the even better news that Matthew Vaughn would be directing the movie and that Bryan Singer would be returning to the X-franchise as an executive producer.

Then the not-so-good (or at least worriesome) news was that the movie is expected to be released on June 3, 2011.  Which doesn't seem to leave a whole lot of time to get something as big as a new X-Men movie done without it, you know...not being very good.

Well the creative team behind the new X-Men prequel are certainly not wasting any time.  SuperheroHype is reporting that in addition to Thor co-writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman is now also working on some script re-writes.  Goldman has also co-wrote Vaughn's previous films Stardust and Kick-Ass, which she also co-produced.

The news came via Goldman's husband Jonathan Ross' Twitter page, which first caused some confusion when he referred to the film as X-Men 4.  He clarified in a later tweet that it is X-Men: First Class that she is working on, but that it's just "referred to as X-Men 4 around the house."

While I'm apprehensive about such a tight release schedule, I'm still not climbing out on the ledge over it yet, considering who is involved in the project this time.  I'm guessing we're going to see a lot of updates about this film in the next few weeks.

Artwork for Disney's Star Wars Weekends

One of the best parts of visiting Walt Disney World in late May-early June is being there for the Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.  Located right near the classic Star Tours ride, the event is a celebration of all things Star Wars, including parades, games, collector exclusives, meet-and-greets with various actors from the films, lightsaber lessons for the kids (which now runs year-round), and the rare opportunity to see Goofy dressed as Darth Vader.

The other fun part of Star Wars Weekends are the terrific ads they put together to advertise the event.  I have a few from past years, but these are some of the funniest I've seen.  Check out this year's collection by John McCall and Matt Stewart:

 

You can check out the rest here, where you'll find an ad of Darth Maul getting his face painted, and a wind-blown Chewie exiting the Aerosmith Rockin' Rollercoaster.

Star Wars Weekends will run every weekend starting May 21 through June 13.  This is also the last year to ride the original version of Star Tours, which is scheduled to close in August for a long-overdue update and will re-open sometime next year, presumably in time for next year's Star Wars Weekends.

Weekend Box Office: May 7-9

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1. Iron Man 2:  $133.6 million

2. A Nightmare on Elm Street:  $9.1 million

3. How to Train Your Dragon:  $6.7 million

4. Date Night:  $5.3 million

5. The Back-Up Plan:  $4.3 million

6. Furry Vengeance:  $4 million

7. Clash of the Titans: $2.3 million

8. Death at a Funeral: $2.1 million

9. The Losers:  $1.8 million

10. Babies: $1.5 million

Well, this weekend's winner was certainly a no-brainer.  While it didn't demolish The Dark Knight's opening weekend record as early tracking suggested, Iron Man 2 still managed to soar right past the original film's $98 million opening weekend take with an excellent $133.6 million.  Combined with its international box office, where the movie opened last week, its combined worldwide total already stands at $327 million.

The IMAX screenings (which is where I saw it, and want to see it again) did well, accounting for 8% of the weekend's box office.  Even better, the sequel earned an "A" Cinemascore rating from theatergoers, which bodes well for repeat business and another strong showing next weekend.  This should make Marvel and their new owners at The Walt Disney company very happy indeed, although I can't imagine anyone involved with Robin Hood (which opens next weekend) is as thrilled about this news. 

In other non-shocking news, the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street crashed and burned in its second weekend, falling a whopping 72% with just $9.1 million.  Its total now stands at $48 million, which is well over its reported $35 million budget, so at this point I think it's done everything it was meant to do at the box office by now anyway.

How to Train Your Dragon continued to do well, dropping only 36% despite losing its IMAX screens to Iron Man 2, hanging in at the #3 spot with another $6.7 million this weekend and crossing the $200 million mark domestically.

Romantic comedies rounded out the top 5, with Date Night and The Back-Up Plan coming in with $5.3 and $4.3 million, respectively. 

The weekend's other new release (in celebration of Mother's Day, naturally), was the documentary Babies, which follows a year of the lives of four mothers in different parts of the world with their newborns.  Opening in only 534, it managed to take the 10th spot this weekend with $1.5 million.

So the summer movie season seems to getting off to a great start.  Now let's see if the rest of this month's big releases can keep up.

McDreamy Joins Transformers 3

The Wrap has confirmed that Patrick Dempsey has joined the cast of Transformers 3.

Dempsey told reporters in Brazil that he'll be shooting his role in the sequel later this month.  Entertainment Weekly is reporting that he will be playing the boss of Megan Fox's character in a role that is "significant to the plot."

A plot?  Transformers 3 will have a plot?  This gives me faint hope that they might be trying to make this movie at least somewhat better than the 2-1/2 hours of noise that was Transformers 2. (then again, it couldn't get much worse)

But will the Grey's Anatomy heartthrob be playing a villian too?  Dempsey says his character will be a "darker character than the other humans in the franchise."  Hmmm...Dr. Shephard as a bad guy?  That could get interesting.  Although with John Malkovich already cast in the bad-guy role, I'm not sure how many other villians they need of the non-robot variety.

Another rumor swirling around the new Transformers film has been confirmed as untrue, for now:  Jamie Kennedy will not be appearing in the film.  In a recent radio interview, Kennedy said he auditioned for a role in the film, but his publicist has confirmed that has not yet been cast.

Transformers 3 will again be directed by Michael Bay, and begins filming this month in the US and Africa.  It is scheduled for release in Summer 2011.

The returning human cast includes Shia Lebeouf, Megan Fox, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, Tyrese, Josh Duhamel, and just about anyone who was not blown up in the first film. 

Matthew Vaughn Back on Board for X-Men: First Class?

Just when we think it's over...they pull us right back in.

Variety is reporting that Matthew Vaughn is now in final talks with Fox to direct X-Men: First Class. Rumors swirled late last week that Vaughn was at the top of the studio's shortlist to direct the X-Men prequel, but that those talks had fallen apart and Vaughn had passed on what would have been his second shot at a directing an X-Men movie (he was originally set to direct X-Men: The Last Stand).

Now it looks like the talks are back on and they are now close to a deal.  According to Deadline, Fox had started interviewing other directors once the talks with Vaughn broke down last Thursday, but then cancelled the remaining interviews this morning when Vaughn came back to resume negotiations.

It sounds like they're finally close to a real deal this time - which is good news.  Vaughn proved he's got comic book movie muscle with Kick-Ass, he's got a good relationship with Bryan Singer, who's going to produce First Class along with Lauren Shuler-Donner and Simon Kinberg, and he's a favorite of the all-important fanboy crowd.  I think he's what the X-Men movie series needs right now.

Now let's hope nothing else goes wrong this time!

Box Office Report: April 30 - May 2

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  A Nightmare on Elm Street - $32.2 million

2.  How to Train Your Dragon - $10.8 million 

3.  Date Night  - $7.6 million

4.  The Back-Up Plan - $7.2 million

5.  Furry Vengeance - $6.5 million

6.  The Losers - $6 million

7.  Clash of the Titans - $5.9 million

8.  Kick-Ass - $4.4 million

9.  Death at a Funeral - $4 million

10.  Oceans - $2.6 million

As expected, the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street ran away with the weekend, grossing an impressive $32 million.  However, the film took a steep 33% drop from Friday to Saturday, which means word-of-mouth on Freddy's return to the big screen was not too good (the Cinemascore rating from theatergoers could only manage a low C+), and it should fall in spectacular fashion when the summer movie season kicks off with the release of Iron Man 2 next weekend.

Regardless, Nightmare's weekend was good enough to make New Line happy - a 3D sequel is reportedly already in the works.  Then again, a 3D sequel was also planned for the Friday the 13th remake, and now that's no longer happening.

Speaking of Iron Man 2, that film has already grossed $100.2 since it was released in 53 territories overseas last week.

How to Train Your Dragon continued to do well at the box office this weekend, claiming the #2 spot and adding another $10.8 million, bringing its domestic total to $192 million.  Expect those grosses to drop a bit next weekend when Iron Man 2 takes over most of the IMAX screens (although it will still dominate the 3D screenings).

Are we noticing an Iron Man 2 pattern here?  This weekend is like the calm before the storm...

The rest of the weekend's box office was fairly unremarkable.  The moronic-looking Furry Vengeance flopped with just $6.5 million and just barely cracked the top 5.  The Back-Up Plan held up somewhat well with $7.2 million, but still couldn't pass Date Night, which held on to the #3 spot and has now grossed a total $73.6 million domestically.

The Losers, which tanked on its opening weekend, continued to do so this weekend.  It's total gross stands at just $18 million after 10 days of release.  Sadly, Kick-Ass seems to be fading from the top ten as well, dropping 52% from last weekend and grossing only $4.4 million.

So now that the weekend is done...start cueing up the AC/DC soundtrack for next weekend, when the box office numbers should be exploding into the stratosphere with the release of Iron Man 2.  And not a moment too soon.

Matthew Vaughn to Direct X-Men: First Class?

Could Matthew Vaughn finally be getting his chance to direct an X-Men movie?  Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Vaughn is officially in talks with Fox to direct the prequel film X-Men: First Class. 

Vaughn, as fanboys remember all too well, was originally set to direct X-Men: The Last Stand, but left the film due to reported family issues.  Or issues with the studio.  Or issues with the script and the lack of time he was going to have to finish the film in time for its Memorial Day 2006 release date.  Or a combination of all of the issues above.  Seriously, pick a rumor.   

Ultimately, Fox hired Brett Ratner to direct X3.  And the less said about that, the better.

The original plan was for Bryan Singer to return to direct First Class, but he was unavailable due to his commitment to direct WB's Jack the Giant Killer.  However, Singer will stay on as a producer for this film, and possibly several other X-Men projects currently in the works.

According EW, Vaughn is not the only person being considered for the First Class job.  Fox is apparently keeping their options open (smart, considering Vaughn did walk last time) and have been speaking to several directors.  We don't know yet who else they are speaking to, but as HitFix reported last month, these other directors are "good names, guys who either have real experience in the comic book movie medium or who have heavy credibility with fan audiences.  Names that would make fanboys happy from the first moment they're announced."

I would say the director of Kick-Ass being considered to direct the next X-Men film definitely sounds promising.  So which other 'names that would make fanboys happy' do we hope Fox is talking to? 

UPDATE:  Deadline is now reporting that Vaughn is most likely passing on the project, claiming negotiations with the studio were "touch and go."  They also report that Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted), Louis Leterrier (The Incredible Hulk, Clash of the Titans), David Slade (30 Days of Night), Daniel Espinoza, and Carl Erick Rinsch are among the directors being considered for the film, which they are hoping to start shooting in the late summer or early fall.  Expect an official announcement soon.

James Cameron Heads to Mars

With the phenomenal success of Avatar both at the box office and in DVD/blu-ray sales, there's really not much left in this world for James Cameron to accomplish.  So his next project will be taking place on an entirely different world altogether.

According to a report from the Pasadena Star News, Cameron has convinced NASA to buy a 3D camera to mount on the space rover Curiosity, which is set to launch its mission to Mars in 2011.

Plans to use a 3D camera had originally been scrapped in 2007 due to budget and scheduling issues, and a regular mast camera for Curiosity had already been built.  But after Cameron lobbied directly to NASA administrator Charles Bolden in January, the 3D camera plan is now back on, although it will be a challenge to get the new camera ready in time for the launch.

Scientists working on the project are excited about the possibility of being able to capture images on Mars such as moving clouds and dust devils in 3D.  Cameron is hopeful that whatever images the 3D camera captures will generate excitement about Curiosity's mission to Mars.

"It's a very ambitious mission. It's a very exciting mission," says Cameron. "(The scientists are) going to answer a lot of really important questions about the previous and potential future habitability of Mars."

It's also interesting to note that Avatar's entire worldwide box office take is actually higher than the $2.3 billion NASA is spending on this Mars mission.  I'm sure that helped convince NASA that using a 3D camera wasn't such a bad idea after all.

So unless Curiosity falls victim to some kind of Martian attack, hopefully we have a real 3D/IMAX Mars movie to look forward to in a few years.  That should be pretty cool.  I really wanted to see the Hubble 3D movie, but unfortunately Avatar's reign of terror at my local IMAX kept it from ever playing there.  This would be a good way to make up for that. 

Steve Carell Leaving "The Office"?

Say it ain't so, Michael Scott!

During an interview promoting his hit comedy Date Night, Steve Carell told BBC Radio that he may be leaving The Office once his contract ends next year. 

Here is the transcript of that portion of the interview, courtesy of OfficeTally.com:

BBC Radio:  How long will you stay with the The Office for?  How many more series?  How long does your contract run?

Carell:  Contract through next season.

BBC Radio:  And will you stay after that?

Carell:  I don't think so.  I think that will probably be my last year.

Carell's contract ends after what will be The Office's seventh season.  But this is the first time he's ever mentioned actually leaving the show.

NBC has not yet commented on the interview, and it's possible this could all just be the start of a long contract negotiation to keep him with the series.  Then again, his movie track record has been good enough to justify his moving on from Dunder Mifflin for good, especially after seven seasons. 

Then the question becomes...can The Office survive without Steve Carell?