Jacob Hall
No one expected 'The Great Gatsby' to take number one at the box office over 'Iron Man 3' this weekend, but it did the next best thing: it opened huge at number two. There is no shame in this silver medal.
Ray Harryhausen, who pioneered the world of stop motion effects and changed visual effects in cinema forever, passed away today. He was 92 years old.
A few days ago, a special screening of 'Return of the Jedi' was held at Entertainment Weekly's CapeTown Film Festival and audiences found themselves treated to a special appearance by Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. Over the course of two Q&As, the beloved actor spoke about his involvement in 'Star Wars: Episode 7' and the 'Star Wars' franchise as a whole confirming some information we already unofficially knew and revealing a bit more about the new trilogy.
After an early marketing campaign that did everything in its power to hide plot details, 'The Hangover Part 3' has started revealing its secrets at a rapid-fire pace. First, there was the recent trailer that finally let us in on the plot of the film. Now, we have the first clip, which sheds some light on what appears to be the film's main conflict.
Look, we all knew that 'Iron Man 3' was going to make a whole bunch of money and open at number one at the box office and kick the summer movie season off in style. The question was never "Is 'Iron Man 3' going to make any money?", the question was always "What absolutely absurd amount is 'Iron Man 3' going to make in its opening weekend?"
Some will call this a slow weekend, but it may be better to think of it as the calm before the storm. Next week, the summer movie season begins and people are saving their pennies for 'Iron Man 3,' so it's not really surprising that this was an uneventful couple of days at the multiplex. At least the folks behind 'Pain and Gain' can be glad that their film led an otherwise quiet weekend.
'Iron Man 3' may not have opened in the United States yet, but it's already a smash hit overseas, earning more money in its opening weekend than 'The Avengers' did. There's a reason why movie studios are starting to think internationally when it comes to their blockbusters -- people in other countries want to see these movies just as much as Americans and a successful international release can double or triple a domestic gross.
Tom Cruise and science fiction are a powerful combination. Although the opening weekend of 'Oblivion' didn't break any records big or small, it's a more than solid start for a non-franchise, non-sequel, non-reboot. That's a sad statement on the current state of Hollywood, but that's another topic for another day.
This is the trailer you've been waiting for!
Well, it looks like we have an answer to the question of whether or not audiences are interested in a historical, racially charged baseball movie. Brian Helgeland's '42' opened at the top of the box office this weekend, instantly breaking the record for biggest opening for a baseball movie. Sure, it's a minor record to break, but a record is a record.
Jonathan Winters, a titan of comedy on both the big and small screens, passed away at the age of 87.