‘Breaking Dawn Part 2’ Big Box Office

‘Breaking Dawn Part 2’ Big Box Office
Entertainment Weekly

Say what you will about the Twilight series, but you can’t fault it for being inconsistent.

The popular vampire franchise’s final installment, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2, scored the eighth biggest opening weekend of all time with a $141.3 million debut. If Summit’s estimates hold up, that’s just a touch ahead of Breaking Dawn – Part 1, which started with $138.1 million last year, and just a touch behind New Moon, which opened with $142.8 million in 2009.

Impressively, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 also earned $199.6 million in its international debut this weekend, giving it an…

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Brad Bird Won’t Direct ‘Star Wars VII’

Brad Bird Won’t Direct ‘Star Wars VII’
Entertainment Weekly

Cross off another director from the line-up of all-stars who’ve been eyed to helm the next Star Wars movie. Brad Bird — who, along with Steven Spielberg and J.J. Abrams, was approached by Lucasfilm to direct the next chapter in the behemoth franchise — tweeted four simple wordsSaturday that no doubt rocked his nearly 50k followers: “Not doing Star Wars.”

Bird (Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol) went on to tweet that “Michael Arndt is a fantastic writer and Kathy Kennedy is a brilliant producer. I will be first in line to see the new STAR WARS.”

Well, so far we know a lot about…

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‘The Wolverine’ Synopsis

‘The Wolverine’ Synopsis
FilmoFilia.com

The film is based on the classic 1982 Japan Saga by comic book writer Chris Claremont and artist Frank Miller. Directed by James Mangold and starring Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto and Svetlana Khodchenkova, this story will be much darker and grittier than the previous X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie.

Synopsis:

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…

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Keith Richards Return to ‘Pirates 5’?

Keith Richards Return to ‘Pirates 5’?
Movie Line

The $3.5 billion Pirates of the Caribbean franchise may see another mega-star reprise in its fifth installment, and it may not just be Johnny Depp. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards may return to the franchise after an invitation from Depp.

Richards has bombarded the franchise in all four installments with his persona alone. Depp made no secret that the superstar musician inspired his flamboyant portrayal of Jack Sparrow since its launch back in 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

With two great, one decent, and one terrible Pirates film out in…

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‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ First 9 Minutes Debut

‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ First 9 Minutes Debut
Entertainment Weekly

Boldly going where only Christopher Nolan has gone before, the first nine minutes of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek Into Darkness will debut on roughly 500 IMAX screens starting Dec. 14, Paramount Pictures announced Wednesday. The 3-D footage will play in front of IMAX exhibitions of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Well what do you know about that…

For those of you not planning to see The Hobbit in IMAX, never fear, Trek Movie later reported that there would be a theatrical trailer attached to non-IMAX versions of The Hobbit.

 

McQuarrie to Possibly Helm Next Mission Impossible

McQuarrie to Possibly Helm Next Mission Impossible
Deadline

After directing Tom Cruise in Jack ReacherChristopher McQuarrie is poised to take on the next installment of Cruise’s signature tentpole. I’m told that McQuarrie is the choice to helm the fifth Mission: Impossible film that is in the early stages of being put together by Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions. They will hire writers before making it official, but he’s the guy that Cruise and JJ Abrams want.

M:I-5 is a big priority for the studio after the Brad Bird-directed Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol grossed just under $700 million worldwide. McQuarrie, who won the Oscar…

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‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ Story Finished By ‘Toy Story 3’ Writer

‘Star Wars: Episode 7’ Story Finished By ‘Toy Story 3’ Writer
Screen Rant

With much bated breath we have waited to learn who will write the next three Star Wars films. Episode VII was announced for 2015, and it has been said that Disney intends to release many other episodes to follow.

Now it’s been made known who is responsible for the story and script for at least the next three films: Michael Arndt. Lucasfilm has confirmed that Michael is writing the Episode VII script and a treatment for VIII and IX as well.

Vulture has been told by its “informed sources” that such a 40–50 page treatment has indeed been finished, by none other than Oscar-winner Michael…

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Tommy Lee Jones Discusses ‘Lincoln’

Tommy Lee Jones Discusses ‘Lincoln’
Moviefone

Tommy Lee Jones’ life story is as interesting to me as his no-nonsense movie characters. It’s not often that we hear about his acting technique, relationship to his fellow stars, or his thoughts on American history.

In Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, Mr. Jones plays Congressman Thaddeus Stevens. Sharon Knolle pinned Tommy down for a fun interview.

As he says of Stevens’s and Lincoln’s often-contentious relationship, “They could laugh together.” Jones also discussed whether Stevens could exist in today’s political climate and the fiery on-screen exchange he has with Sally Field’s character,…

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Christian Bale Stands for Life

Christian Bale Stands for Life
Movieguide.com

“He [Chen] had exposed a program of forced abortion and sterilization in Shandong,” Bale told attendees at a Human Rights First event. “A program of forced abortion means that women are being dragged from their homes against their will. They are being forced to have abortions, sometimes late-term – imagine that – with some women reportedly dying in the process.”

“This is true horror,” he added. “And, in this insane world, this man, Chen, who was helping these women – who was living by some of the most simple, brave and universally admired values – values we teach our children every day,…

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Darth Vader to Rise from the Ashes?

Darth Vader to Rise from the Ashes?
Express.co.uk

Following news that Disney has bought the rights to the lucrative sci-fi franchise and plans to make at least three more movies, industry insiders say the evil Vader will grace the big screen again.

“He’s an integral part of the franchise. Replacing him is virtually impossible,” explains a film mole. 

“The plan is for him to return and play a significant role in the new films.”

Well, I made it all the way to Tuesday without posting Star Wars news…

Also, keep in mind this is a notoriously unreliable British Tabloid. The only reason I’m linking it is to voice my opinion on this…

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