April 19, 2012

Box Office Beat: Weekend of April 19

Danny Baldwin's Box Office BeatHello and welcome to the inaugural Box Office Beat column here at Critic Speak, a weekly post in which I will predict/analyze the monetary prospects for the upcoming weekend’s crop of new films. To those of you who have read variations of this column in the past at BucketReviews.com and on the Hollywood Stock Exchange forums, I’m glad we have been reunited here, where I plan to crunch the numbers for some time to come.

This weekend, three new films open in wide release, two of which have a strong shot of unseating The Hunger Games from the #1 slot, where it has dominated for a stunning four weekends straight. They are the Zac Efron tearjerker The Lucky One and the African-American targeted comedy Think Like a Man. Joining them on the marquee is Disney’s annual nature documentary, Chimpanzee, which is unlikely to be a real competitor.

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Ruby Sparks trailer: Another dose of Sunshine

What would you do if your soul mate, exactly as you imagined them, sprang to life from your imagination? That’s one of the questions posed by Ruby Sparks, the upcoming film from Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the directors of Little Miss Sunshine.

The film stars Paul Dano as Calvin, a novelist who writes his dream girl (on a typewriter, which means he might be a poseur) and is justifiably shocked when she materializes in his house.

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Mel Gibson decides against crucifixion, sics lawyers on Joe Eszterhas

Mel GibsonMel Gibson, furious that Joe Eszterhas has released a tape confirming what pretty much everyone already knew (he’s a lunatic), is considering bringing in the lawyers. It could be worse; the man behind The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto can certainly think of worse things to do to his enemies.

Sources in the know have told TMZ that the actor is beyond livid that Eszterhas released a recording of him ranting and raving during at dinner party at his Costa Rican palace. Gibson’s minions are reportedly studying Costa Rican law to see if laws were violated, and even if not if the breach of privacy would constitute grounds for a lawsuit.

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Life after Twilight: Stephenie Meyer options Down a Dark Hall for big screen production

Stephanie MeyerAuthor Stephanie Meyer is preparing for cinematic immortality beyond her wildly popular Twilight films.

Meyer and Megan Hibbett’s Fickle Fish Films have optioned the young adult thriller Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan to be made into a feature film. The 1974 novel concerns a student sent to a boarding school haunted by evil ghosts. Wyck Godfrey, a producer on the Twilight films, is in talks to produce.

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Cannes Film Festival Announces 2012 Lineup

Cannes 2012The prestigious Cannes Film Festival, which runs May 16 to 26 on the French Riviera, announced its complete lineup at a press conference early Thursday. Joining Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom, previously announced as the Opening Night Film, are the following hotly anticipated films spanning 26 different countries (list after the jump)…

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