Is it over yet? Despite fierce opposition from high-profile members, the Screen Actors Guild is still expected to send out ballots for a controversial strike vote on or after Jan. 14. Two factions have quickly emerged:
A-listers like George Clooney and Tom Hanks are urging members to sign a Vote No petition, while celebs like Mel Gibson and Holly Hunter are arguing that colleagues should walk off the job if need be. (Seventy-five percent of paid-up members must authorize a strike before the national board can actually call for one to take place.) SAG, which has been working without a contract since June, and the studio conglomerates remain at odds over DVD residuals and compensation for new-media extras like TV webisodes.
Archive: January 2009 (91-100 of 110)
Jan 9
2009
09:15 PM ET
SAG strike vote: As the date approaches, actors take sides
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Jan 9
2009
05:00 PM ET
Box Office Preview: Will audiences fall in love with 'Bride Wars'?
The new year is already nine days old, but this weekend truly begins the 2009 box office schedule, with a full slate of freshman flicks on tap. Leading the way, no doubt, will be the Anne Hathaway-Kate Hudson comedy Bride Wars — the farce should have an easy time slaying horror newcomer The Unborn, as well as the wide expansion of Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino. Or will fan favorite Marley & Me bark up another victory? My picks are below.
1. Bride Wars — $23 million
With last summer’s blockbuster Get Smart and a possible Oscar nod for Rachel Getting Married, Anne Hathaway’s star continues to rise. And Kate Hudson rebounded nicely about a year ago with Fool’s Gold, after suffering a bit of a career decline. Add in the fact that a wedding-themed title is even more potent catnip to viewers than a marquee bearing the word “Christmas,” and we should have ourselves a big winner. Look for the film to premiere with a sum that falls somewhere between Fool’s Gold‘s $21.6 mil bow and The Devil Wears Prada‘s $27.5 mil opening.
2. Gran Torino — $16 million
Playing for four weeks in fewer than 100 theaters, Clint Eastwood’s latest action drama has already grossed more than $10 mil. As he approaches 80 years old, the star appears to be more bankable than ever.
3. Marley & Me — $15 million
With $111 mil and counting, the big pooch at the box office keeps growing. Just like my sister-in-law’s awesome new Bernese mountain dog, the beast!
4. Bedtime Stories — $13 million
Adam Sandler’s latest comedy should become his third straight $100 million grosser — and second of 2008. Dude is about to have 10 for his career, too.
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button — $12 million
Brad Pitt’s latest drama should also cross the century mark soon, making it the seventh $100 mil grosser on his C.V. More heartening: The fact that people have turned out in droves for a nearly three-hour drama. Too bad that wasn’t the case with Pitt’s last sweeping endeavor, the sadly underseen The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
ALSO OPENING WIDE
The Unborn — $11 million
Horror movies all open in the same general box office range. Even ones with scary-as-f— trailers, like this one’s.
Not Easily Broken — $2 million
Bill Duke’s take on T.D. Jakes’ novel of the same title features why-didn’t-he-ever-become-a-bigger-star Morris Chestnut and Benjamin Button Oscar candidate Taraji P. Henson. Could fare well in just 724 venues.
Now, how do you see the weekend playing out? Weigh in with your picks below.
More Box Office News:
Batman was a blockbuster, but did 2008 bomb?
EW.com’s Box Office Chart
Marley & Me wins for a second straight week
Marley & Me leads the Christmas box office
Yes Man is No. 1 in its debut
addCredit(“Claire Folger”)
Jan 9
2009
04:27 PM ET
Critics' Choice Awards: Quotes from the stars
The awards season officially opened last night with the 14th Annual
Critics’ Choice Awards. Clint Eastwood, Anne Hathaway, Sean Penn, and a herd of other celebrities descended on the Santa
Monica Civic Center to witness a Slumdog Millionaire sweep
(five awards including Best Picture),
dine on cold salmon and “escabeche cosmo” (Yeah, we know: WTF?), and
stare at Brangelina. There was a lot of love on hand, like Milk’s Sean Penn, who beat out The Curious Case of Benjamin Button‘s Brad Pitt for Best Actor, but then tried to make Pitt feel better about the loss by saying in
his acceptance speech, “I trust that you understand that at [its] heart,
this is a beauty contest, so I had an advantage.”
Angelina Jolie, who talked to reporters on the red carpet solo, as
Pitt shadowed her from a safe distance deciding not to do any
interviews (the same silent strategy that nominee Mickey Rourke
employed for the evening), was just happy for a night out sans her big
brood. “It is the only time we get to go out as adults and have a
laugh. [Red carpets] are always surreal but fun.”
Quotes from Anne Hathaway, Christopher Nolan, and Slumdog Millionaire‘s Frieda Pinto, after the jump.
addCredit(“Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com”)
Also having fun was Slumdog’s Frieda Pinto. “This is my first
American awards show and it has been a brilliant night. I can’t wait to
give Dev [Patel, winner for Best Young Actor, who was unable attend
because he had a wedding to attend in India] his trophy….Angelina and
Brad told me they thought the film was lovely. I was pretty nervous
talking to them, but they turned out to be lovely people. And to top it
all off, our movie won so many awards. Everyone keeps saying that means
good things for Oscar night and the Globes.”
Best Director Danny Boyle didn’t want to count his golden chickens
before they hatched. “Well, you’re talking to a Brit. We call it
half-assed. You don’t want to appear too overconfident. This is one
group of people and the next group could like a different film more
than ours. It would be great to win an Oscar, but even if Slumdog
didn’t get another award, we’ve had the most incredible journey since
Toronto. This is a small film with unknown actors that is partially in
Hindi. I figured it would be a tough sell, but this country has really
embraced it, and that’s all I could ask for.”
Also accepting on a colleague’s behalf was Dark Knight
director Christopher Nolan, who accepted the posthumous (a first in the
history of the show) Best Supporting Actor award for Heath Ledger. “Working with him was
one of the greatest experiences any of us ever had or probably ever
will have,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hathaway, who tied with her Devil Wears Prada
counterpart Meryl Streep in the Best Actress category, had said before
the show, “I’m not going to win. I’m in a dramatic category with Meryl
Streep. No contest. She sets the bar for actresses so it is truly an
honor just to be in the same category.” Her straight face and deadpan
delivery on the carpet made us believe she really was shocked enough to
get choked up on stage. “I don’t know how to win awards, I know how to
not be nominated for awards. I know how to do pratfalls and wear
tiaras. This is very new,” she admitted with tears bubbling up.
Backstage, she called her parents, who will be her date to the Globes
Sunday, to share the good news with them.
For some, the limelight itself will take some getting used to. Viola Davis (Doubt)
explained, “I fell in love with the work. I did not fall in love with
the red carpet or the fame. I am in it for the long haul, but that
doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the experience. And I’m getting used to all
it entails from the girly-girl parts to the constant flash bulbs and
and late nights. These are high-class problems. Don’t feel bad for us.” –Carrie Bell
More Critics’ Choice Awards:
Oscar Watch: Broadcast Film Critics: A ‘Slumdog’ sweep
Jan 9
2009
02:00 PM ET
Broadcast Film Critics: A 'Slumdog' sweep
Slumdog Millionaire began what could very well be a six-week awards run tonight, picking up five Critics’ Choice awards from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. The only other films to score multiple prizes were The Dark Knight, which won Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger and Best Action Movie, and Milk, which was recognized for Best Actor for Sean Penn and Best Ensemble. Meanwhile, one of the two films that went into the night with the most nominations, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, went home empty-handed. The night’s most interesting outcome was in the Best Actress category, which ended up as a tie between Doubt‘s Meryl Streep and Rachel Getting Married‘s Anne Hathaway. Add Revolutionary Road‘s Kate Winslet—who won Best Supporting Actress for The Reader but was left off the BFCA Best Actress list—to the mix, and we’ve got a great three-way race for the Oscar. A complete list of winners is below.
Best Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Best Director: Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Actor: Sean Penn, Milk
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married, and Meryl Streep, Doubt
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight
Best Supporting Actress: Kate Winslet, The Reader
Best Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Young Actor/Actress: Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Ensemble: Milk
Best Composer: A.R. Rahman, Slumdog Millionaire
Best Song: "The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler
Best Action Film: The Dark Knight
Best Comedy Film: Tropic Thunder
Best Animated Film: Wall-E
Best Documentary: Man On Wire
Best Foreign Film: Waltz With Bashir
addCredit(“Ishika Mohan”)
Jan 8
2009
06:41 PM ET
Directors Guild nominations announced
Has this year’s Best Picture race just gotten really boring or what? Three days after the Producers Guild listed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Frost/Nixon, Milk, and Slumdog Millionaire as its award nominees, the Directors Guild has just cited the same five films in its nomination announcement for best director of the year. So now that David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Ron Howard, Gus Van Sant, and Danny Boyle have made the DGA shortlist, can any film break this quintet’s hold on the five Best Picture slots at the Oscars? A surprise nomination by another film isn’t completely out of the question: Last year The Diving Bell and the Butterfly landed on the DGA and PGA lists but was knocked out of the Oscar race by a film with virually no major guild-award support: Atonement. But there’s no other film this year that even comes close when it comes to across-the-board Academy appeal: Doubt has strong support from the actors branch but doesn’t seem to have gained any traction among below-the-line voters. Some Academy members have been responding strongly to Gran Torino, but the movie was shunned by every major guild. And sorry, Wall-E fans, but your baby seems destined for a Best Animated Feature win.
addCredit(“Stephen Vaughan”)
Jan 8
2009
05:01 PM ET
Box Office: Batman was a blockbuster but did 2008 bomb?
With January now upon us, the obligatory rehashings of the 2008 box office have started to be hashed out, and, well, the news is mixed. Happy new year, Hollywood! Variety, for example, trumpets the studios’ collective ability to avoid the brunt of the recession, but a deeper read reveals that ticket sales actually declined. In other words, fewer people spent more money to visit their local multiplex. Now, that doesn’t sound too good.
Figures vary a bit depending on your source, but a fair tally from
tracking firm Nielsen EDI holds that domestic grosses amounted to
an all-time high of approximately $9.8 billion last year, up about 2 percent from 2007 and
up 7 percent from 2006. Which is laudable. Meanwhile, however, 2008 was definitely a loser as far as admissions were concerned. According to tracking firm Media By Numbers, the average domestic ticket price exceeded $7 for the first time ever (making it easier for studios to set the aforementioned gross-revenue record), while attendance dropped about 5 percent. Recession-proof? Really?
Let’s be honest here: It wasn’t a particularly great year at the box office. To which I say: So be it. You’ve got a lot of company with, uh, the rest of the economy, Hollywood.
Yes, overseas revenues continued to rise: In 2008, a total of $9.9 billion was spent on movies outside of the U.S. and Canada, up 4 percent from 2007. But, I wonder, at what cost? Grosses may increase but fewer
and fewer moderately budgeted dramas (which rarely play well globally) are likely to get made.
Yes, The Dark Knight was a big winner, scoring the best opening weekend of
all time, becoming the second $500 million domestic grosser ever, and
winding up as the fourth movie in history to cross the $1 billion mark
worldwide. But our friends over at E! Online make a good point when they note that, looking at pure return on investment, something like Twilight
(which nearly quintupled its $37 mil production budget in banking more
than $175 mil domestically) was a more impressive success than The Dark Knight
(which cost possibly well in excess of $200 mil to make and market). It
looks great when there are a lot of big grossers on the calendar, sure,
but profitability definitely matters.
That’s why the year’s less-expected/less-heralded/less-flashy box office successes like Cloverfield, the Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana concert film, the dog flicks Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Marley and Me, Get Smart, Twilight, Sex and the City, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Mamma Mia!, Role Models, 21, What Happens in Vegas, 27 Dresses, Baby Mama, and (lest we forget the film that looked like a question mark back when it was greenlit) Iron Man,
all deserve applause. They helped bolster the industry during tough
economic times — and they kept from suffering the same fate as major
flops like Speed Racer, The Love Guru, Meet Dave, and The Spirit, or expensive underachievers like The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Incredible Hulk, and The Mummy 3.
Suggested New Year’s resolution: Bring ticket prices and movie-making costs down, already! In this tough economic climate, doing that makes even more sense than ever — especially when, as 2008 showed, cheaper films can get the job done just fine.
Jan 8
2009
12:39 AM ET
Stephenie Meyer confirms Taylor Lautner will be in 'Twilight' sequel
In a post on her website, Twilight author Stephenie Meyer confirms that Taylor Lautner will reprise his role as Jacob in the hit vampire romance’s sequel, New Moon. As EW first reported last night, this news
ends months of curiosity about whether Lautner would return. The full text of the announcement, which includes a statement from New Moon director Chris Weitz, is after the jump and at StephenieMeyer.com.
January 7, 2009
Good news about New Moon from director Chris Weitz:
I’m very happy to announce that Taylor Lautner will be
playing Jacob Black in New Moon and that he’s doing so with the
enthusiastic support of Summit Entertainment, the producers, and
Stephenie Meyer.The characters in Stephenie’s books go through extraordinary changes
of circumstance and also appearance; so it is not surprising that there
has been speculation about whether the same actor would portray a
character who changes in so many surprising ways throughout the series.
But it was my first instinct that Taylor was, is, and should be Jacob,
and that the books would be best served by the actor who is emotionally
right for the part. I think that fans of Twilight the book and the
movie will be surprised by the Jacob Black that Taylor will bring to
the screen in New Moon; and I’m looking forward to working with him and
the rest of the cast in realizing the film.very best
Chris Weitz
I’d just like to add that I was very much a part of this decision.
My first priority was always what was best for New Moon—what was going
to give us the best possible movie. I’m truly thrilled that Taylor was
the one who proved to the director, to Summit, and to me that he is the
best possible Jacob we could have. And I’m very much looking forward to
seeing what he’s going to bring to Jacob’s character this year.
- Steph
Jan 7
2009
11:01 PM ET
'Rudo y Cursi': Bernal-Luna reunion comedy picked up pre-Sundance
Y Tu Mama Tambien costars Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna are reuniting in Carlos Cuaron’s Rudo y Cursi. And while the the Spanish-language comedy is set to make its U.S. premiere at next week’s Sundance FIlm Festival, it is now guaranteed to visit the U.S. multiplex, too: Sony Pictures Classics has bought the film early, fighting off a bid from one other studio.
The movie, which stars the two actors as dimwitted brothers recruited by rival soccer teams, is also doing big business in Mexico, where it opened in December. The success of the film is a boon to producers Alfonso Cuaron (Carlos’s brother, director 2006′s Children of Men and, of course, Y Tu Mama Tambien), Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu (Babel), and Guillermo del Toro, the principals behind Cha Cha Cha, their new company, for which Rudo y Cursi is the first film.
Jan 7
2009
10:54 PM ET
'Bedtime Stories' star Teresa Palmer cast in 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice'
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer has cast Aussie actress Teresa Palmer (Bedtime Stories) opposite Jay Baruchel (Tropic Thunder) and Nicolas Cage in Walt Disney’s upcoming family film The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Inspired by Mickey Mouse’s animated short in Fantasia, the live-action adventure will be directed by Jon Turtletaub, who worked with Cage on the National Treasure movies.
addCredit(“Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic”)
Jan 7
2009
10:48 PM ET
Ashton Kutcher and Anne Heche in 'Spread': Exclusive sneak peek!
In the sex comedy Spread (showing later this month at the Sundance Film Festival), Ashton Kutcher stars as a lothario who sleeps his way to the top of the L.A. food chain while living at the Hollywood Hills home of an attorney played by Anne Heche. Here’s an exclusive clip!
For more sneak peeks at next year’s movie offerings, check out our exclusive first-look gallery, featuring Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Watchmen, Wolverine, and more.
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