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Prometheus Sequel Confirmed?
In a recently published article looking back at this summers blockbusters, Hollywood Reporter er… reports that Ridley Scott and Fox are apparently pushing ahead for a Prometheus sequel. Noomi Repace and Michael Fassbender are already on board apparently but Scott is having to look for a new writer as Prometheus co-scribe Damon Lindolf may not be available (may not be available or may not be wanted?).
Fox president of production Emma Watts is quoated as saying “Ridley is incredibly excited about the movie, but we have to get it right. We can’t rush it,” No kidding! Hopefully a change in the writing staff will work to the prospective sequels advantage although there were so many loose threads left dangling at the end of Prometheus it is pretty hard to see how anyone could even begin to untangle them. Anyway the sequel would most likely be released in 2014 or 2015 so there is plenty of time for them to figure it out, or not, RUMORS!
Weekend Box Office Round up
So what was expected to be a tight race for the number one spot turned out to be less competitive than expected with Madagascar 3 finishing $10 million better than Prometheus. But even if it finished at number 2, it was still a strong weekend for Ridley Scott’s latest with it earning $50 million over the weekend, which is one of the best performances for a film opening at number 2 (4th best behind Wanted, Sherlock Holmes & The Day After Tomorrow). Madagascar 3′s opening total of $60.3 million is the 4th highest of the year and only $3 million short of the series best opening total for Madagascar 2.
One of the main reasons why Madagascar 3 has been so successful is it’s only the 2nd film of the year really aimed at kids with the other being The Lorax. Another reason is it’s horrifying ‘wig out’ marketing campaign alongside the torture of the Afro Circus song (ladies & gentlemen, I present the 7th circle of hell…you’re welcome!).
HULK SMASH NO RECORDS THIS WEEK!?
Anyway, moving on to the rest of the chart, Snow White & the Huntsman is 3rd making $2 million (bringing it’s US total to an impressive $98.5 million), MIB3 is 4th making $13.5 million, Avengers 5th with $10.8 million (sadly no records broken this weekend, but it could break the $600 million mark in the US next week), the surprise hit The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is 6th making just over $3 million, What to Expect When You’re Expecting is 7th with $2.7 million, Battleship & The Dictator continue to disappoint in 8th & 9th respectively making just over $2 million with the top 10 completed with Wes Andersons latest Moonrise Kingdom making $1.5 million.
Other Box office news includes The Hunger Games breaking the $400million mark and Tim Burtons latest falling out of the top 10. Next week will probably see a new number one with Pixar releasing their latest movie Brave but don’t expect too much from the R-Rated genre tribute Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter.
Scott Says No to Prometheus Directors Cut
Ridley Scott has been talking to the press recently to promote Prometheus and has spoke about making cuts for the BBFC/MPAA ratings and the possibility of a directors cut. First his thoughts about the cuts he made…
“It has to be be about the movie, so I’ve made concessions. There’s a moment where you don’t want to harm the movie, it could be the difference of $80m or more.”
Nothing too interesting in that quote as pretty much any film-maker is under a lot of pressure to deliver good box-office records, particularly in the large budget blockbusters. The cuts also didn’t have too much effect on the violence/gore. However having watched the film myself, I was under the impression that there’s got to be something missing in terms of story as there more questions than answers, so I thought there may have been a directors cut. Not likely to happen it seems…
“No, I think this is a good length. But that said, I think that now the fashion of actually putting out a couple of discs is here to stay, which will comfort you on all other kinds of conversation about how the movie was made. All you’ll really do is see extended scenes in the menu. Other than that I think this is a pretty good length, the dynamics of this are about right.”
Now I take that quote with a pinch of salt as it’s Ridley Scott, he’s pretty much the master of the directors cut! I also think there is a lot missing as a lot of the film doesn’t make much sense (won’t go into too any details). which just made for a disappointing watch overall. I do hope he goes back on what he has said as this is a film that could really benefit with a directors cut.
Summer Movie Previews: June
So with May coming to an end it seems that Avengers aside, this years blockbuster season has so far come up a little short. As we move into June however we get one of the most hyped films of the year plus one or two other interesting prospects, so here are the films that have caught my attention most…
Snow White & the Huntsman
Ok so this is pretty much a fantasy adventure featuring Snow White played by Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron as the Wicked Witch/Queen and Thor (aka Chris Hemsworth) as the titular huntsman. You know what, I can get behind this. Yeah the whole premise is daft and there are some bad lines of dialogue in the trailer but there are some really nice looking effects in it and overall it looks like it could make for some cheesy fairy tale based fun. Snow White is set to be released May 30th.
Prometheus
If you’ve been reading this blog long I shouln’t really need to type anything here. This much anticipated film sees director Ridley Scott return to the Alien series to answer all the burning questions that fans have had for over 30 years now. It also features very high calibre talent in the acting pool featuring the likes of Noomi Rapace, Micheal Fassbender, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce. Nothing else to say really other than that Prometheus will hit theaters June 1st in the Uk and June 8th in the US.
A Fantastic Fear of Everything
Simon Pegg’s latest film sees him play a reluctant children’s book author who has to confront his fear of just about everything. If the trailer is anything to go by, this film is going to be pretty bizarre and feature a serious candidate for the strangest laundrette sequence ever! I really look forward to seeing this film which could certainly be one of the most memorable films of the year. Fantastic Fear of Everything is set for a June 8th release.
Other releases for this month include probably the cheapest looking version of Top Cat ever that will be released June 1st, on June 15th we also have potential guilty pleasure Rock of Ages, a dose of David Cronenberg insanity with Cosmopolis and Olympic cash-in Fast Girls. There are also various films that have had US releases making their way to the UK including Red Tails, Casa De Mi Padre, Think Like a Man, The Five-Year Engagement and Chernobyl Diaries released throughout the month. Happy watching!
New Prometheus Trailer
A new international trailer for Sir Ridley Scott’s Prometheus was released yesterday evening and it is stuffed full of new shots, dialogue and definitely a few spoilers. For those wishing to go in to the film without any prior knowledge, click away now. For the rest of us the new trailer is below, as with most of the Prometheus trailers I recommend bumping up the sound (for added scary) and don’t blink as there are tonnes of flashing images that just beg for closer inspection.
This film is looking more and more like Alien with each trailer i.e. things look to be going well but pretty soon lots of people terrified out of their minds and caught in the midst of hugely destructive forces, oh and Weyland Industries have a hidden agenda, Surprise! My initial thoughts were that this film was going to somehow tackle the origin of the Xenomorph species and humanity’s role in their creation. After watching this particular trailer I feel certain of this though I hope the trailer hasn’t spoiled too much of this aspect of the story.
As always the film looks amazing and terrifying and there is plenty in the trailer to get excited about, my picks though have to be the weird snake thing, screams of ‘cut it off’ whatever ‘it’ is oh and melty glass face. Prometheus is set to release on June 1st, until then I will be re-watching all of these trailers as well as Alien, Aliens and Alien 3 (it was good I don’t care) in the dark.
