Tag: Matt Damon (21-30 of 41)

Jan 6 2012 01:18 PM ET

Matt Damon postpones directing; Gus Van Sant steps in

matt-damon

Image Credit: Michael N. Todaro/FilmMagic.com

Matt Damon has postponed the opportunity to direct his first film, handing the project he co-wrote with John Krasinski and Dave Eggers off to Good Will Hunting director Gus Van Sant. Entertainment Weekly can confirm a New York Magazine report that Damon, who will still star opposite Krasinski and Frances McDormand in the film, stepped back when he realized he was unable to commit to the extensive preproduction that would be required of him as the director. Production is tentatively slated to begin this April.

Read more:
Matt Damon to make the leap
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Nov 16 2011 06:38 PM ET

'We Bought a Zoo' gets Thanksgiving sneak peek

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Image Credit: Neal Preston

Writer-director Cameron Crowe’s latest film, We Bought a Zoo, has been given an early preview over Thanksgiving weekend, EW has confirmed. The film, starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson, will preview in more than 800 theaters on Nov. 26. The sneak peek is part of a social media campaign that will allow viewers to post their review online in a contest to win a trip to the San Diego Zoo, and will also include a live chat with Cameron Crowe following screenings. It’s an unheard-of display of confidence for 20th Century Fox execs, who believe the Oscar hopeful is strong enough to generate strong word-of-mouth buzz in advance of its Dec. 23 national release date. Said Crowe, “Holding previews so far ahead of our opening is a bold move — but that’s one of the many reasons I like it.”

Read more:
EW Preview: We Bought a Zoo
‘We Bought A Zoo’ international trailer: Now with more hitting on Scarlett Johansson!
‘We Bought a Zoo’ trailer: Why does Matt Damon need a zoo? He just does, okay?
Cameron Crowe goes animal wild with ‘We Bought A Zoo’

Nov 3 2011 12:07 PM ET

'We Bought A Zoo' international trailer: Now with more hitting on Scarlett Johansson!

Sure, the first minute or so of the international trailer for Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo appears to be exactly the same as the first preview we saw back in September: Matt Damon quits his job in a very Jerry Maguire-like fashion and uproots his family to a new home, a literal zoo, while Tom Petty’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More” hums in the background.

But a few things have noticeably been tweaked for the new preview, including way more of the flying-under-the-radar Scarlett Johansson getting hit on by Damon (“You read me pretty well”) and leered at by Thomas Haden Church and John Michael Higgins (and his tape measurer.) There’s also more Patrick Fugit, more inspirational talk (“No, I don’t have a lot, but I do have enough”), and of course, more animals. (Monkeys! Chicks!) Watch the full trailer below and see if you can spot the differences: READ FULL STORY »

Oct 24 2011 02:57 PM ET

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to reunite for Boston mob movie

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Image Credit: PRN/PR Photos

Fourteen years after Good Will Hunting, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have finally agreed to reunite. Not surprisingly, their new project has a Boston connection. As Deadline first reported, Damon will star as Whitey Bulger, the real-life South Boston crime boss who was recently arrested in California after eluding the FBI for years. Bulger was the inspiration for Jack Nicholson’s character in The Departed, in which Damon also played a mole in the Boston police department.

Affleck will direct, co-star, and produce along with Damon under their production company, Pearl Street Films, through their first-look deal with Warner Bros. Casey Affleck, who co-starred in Good Will Hunting and co-wrote 2002′s Gerry with Damon, will also have an on-screen role. Terence Winter, creator and writer of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire will write the script, which will focus on Bulger’s troubled youth leading to his incarceration at Alcatraz, and through his rise to become one of the most powerful gangsters in America — while secretly serving as an FBI informant.

Read more:
Matt Damon to make directorial debut
The 23 Most Wanted Movie Gangsters

Oct 19 2011 09:53 PM ET

Matt Damon to make directorial debut with small-town drama co-written with John Krasinski

Charles Norfleet/PR Photos; Alberto E. Rodriguez

Matt Damon has been saying for a while now that he’s dying to direct a movie, and given that he’s worked with some of the best filmmakers alive (Steven Spielberg, Steven Soderbergh, and Clint Eastwood, to name just three), it’s easy to understand why. Now he’s finally ready to put everything he’s learned to work. EW has confirmed that, as first reported by Variety, Damon is set to direct an as-yet-untitled drama he has co-written with The Office star John Krasinski.

Damon will star as a salesman who arrives in a small town only to have his whole life called into question. Krasinski came up with the story idea and developed it with A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius author Dave Eggers (who co-wrote the screenplay for the 2009 film Away We Go, which Krasinski starred in). Krasinski pitched the idea to Damon, who agreed to co-write it with him and to direct it. The movie, which is being set up at Warner Bros., will be produced under Krasinski’s Sunday Night Productions banner, and Damon and his longtime producing partner Chris Moore will also produce.

Damon is also attached to direct Father Daughter Time: A Tale of Armed Robbery and Eskimo Kisses, about a criminal on the lam with his daughter, but a source tells EW the project with Krasinski will be his directorial debut.

Oct 4 2011 04:01 PM ET

'Margaret,' the long-stalled drama starring Anna Paquin, pulls in just 624 moviegoers total

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Image Credit: Myles Aronowitz

Writer/director Kenneth Lonergan couldn’t count on moviegoers to show up for his long-delayed drama Margaret, despite having an impressive cast that includes a much younger-looking Anna Paquin, Mark Ruffalo, and Matt Damon.

Lonergan collaborated with the likes of Martin Scorcese on the film — a post-9/11 drama about a 17-year-old New York City high-school student, played by Paquin, who strongly believes she inadvertently played a role in a traffic accident that killed a woman — shooting the picture way back in 2005. After its complicated journey to the big screen, it seems moviegoers lost any interest they once had in his follow-up to the Oscar-nominated You Can Count On Me. Playing on just two screens — Landmark’s indie house theaters in New York and Los Angeles – Margaret earned just $7,500 at the box office in its opening weekend. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 14 2011 04:31 PM ET

'We Bought a Zoo' trailer: Why does Matt Damon need a zoo? He just does, okay?

Cameron Crowe’s We Bought a Zoo (in theaters Christmas) has a trailer, the gist of which is “Don’t Come Around Here No More, civilization.” It’s got Matt Damon dramatically quitting his job and uprooting his family, at Thomas Haden Church’s suggestion, to a place with sunshine. Curb Your Enthusiasm marvel J.B. Smoove shows Matt Damon a lovely house for sale, then informs him, “It’s a zoo.” What? That’s almost never the case!

Then suddenly Scarlett Johansson, who already lives at the zoo with Elle Fanning, is yelling at him to “take charge of this place or else we and all these animals are gone.” So Matt Damon gets super into it, spouting motivational lines like “All you need is 20 seconds and insane courage, and I promise you something great will come of it.” And then the tiger kills him after all. (No, it doesn’t.)

“Do something crazy” and “embrace your wild side” by watching the trailer: READ FULL STORY »

Sep 11 2011 03:26 PM ET

Box office report: 'Contagion' leads slow weekend with $23.1 mil, while 'Creature' sets record lows

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Image Credit: Claudette Barius

It was not a pretty weekend at the box office. According to studio estimates, this was the lowest-grossing weekend of the year, with the top 10 movies collectively earning just $66.4 million. Only one of four new wide releases, the Warner Bros. thriller Contagion, opened to encouraging numbers.

The Steven Soderbergh film, about the outbreak of a deadly virus, swabbed a solid $23.1 million, with $2.3 million coming from IMAX theaters. The PG-13 movie, which featured an Oscar-endorsed cast including Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, and Gwyneth Paltrow, drew an adult crowd — 81 percent of the audience was at least 25 years old. Made for about $60 million, Contagion garnered positive reviews from critics, but settled for a mediocre “B-” rating from CinemaScore moviegoers. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 10 2011 02:34 PM ET

Box office update: 'Contagion' consumes weak competition with $8 mil on Friday

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Image Credit: Claudette Barius

In what’s shaping up to be possibly the slowest weekend of the year at the box office, the only bright spot was the new viral thriller Contagion, which topped the charts with an estimated $8 million on Friday. Warner Bros.’ PG-13 film, which was directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars a who’s who of Oscar winners and nominees, received mostly positive reviews and is on pace for a solid $22 million opening. But its success cannot distract from the box office’s overall dismal performance. The top 10 movies grossed an estimated $19.6 million on Friday — the lowest Friday figure so far this year. READ FULL STORY »

Sep 8 2011 08:34 PM ET

Box office preview: No stopping 'Contagion' from dominating the weekend

Contagion

Image Credit: Claudette Barius

After topping the box office for 24 straight days (and a likely 25th today), The Help will finally have to step aside for a new No. 1 movie: Steven Soderbergh’s viral thriller Contagion. Also debuting this weekend is the mixed martial arts drama Warrior, and two films that shouldn’t even crack the top five: the R-rated comedy Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star and the R-rated horror flick Creature.

The former movie, which stars Nick Swardson as a Midwestern nerd who heads to Hollywood to become a porn actor, was produced and co-written by Adam Sandler. But Swardson isn’t a big box-office draw, and the $10 million Sony release is only debuting in about 1,500 theaters, so count on an opening between $3 million and $4 million. Creature, about a half-human, half-alligator monster named Lockjaw (ManBearPig was apparently already booked), should fare even worse. Let’s say $1 million from 1,507 theaters.

Here are my box-office predictions for the top five: READ FULL STORY »

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