No red carpet for ‘Batman v Superman’ London premiere after Brussels attacks

Movie studio Warner Bros went ahead with Tuesday’s London premiere of “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” its new superhero movie, but skipped the traditional red carpet press interviews following the attacks in Brussels.

“Our hearts go out to the victims of recent terrorist attacks, their families and the communities impacted around the world. Rather than yield to terror, we’ve decided to join the film’s fans and move forward with the London premiere of ‘Batman v. Superman’ this evening,” Warner Bros. said in a statement.

The movie, which stars Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman, is due to open in movie theaters around the world this weekend.

It is one of the biggest movie launches so far this year and is expected to bring in some $300 million at the global box office on its opening weekend, according to analyst predictions.

The London premiere took place in the city’s Leicester Square entertainment hub where Affleck, Cavill and other stars turned up, posed for photos, and signed autographs for hundreds of fans.

At least 30 people were killed and some 230 injured in suicide bomb attacks on Brussels airport and a rush-hour metro train in the Belgian capital. Islamic State claimed responsibility.

Britain, along with other European states, announced extra security measures on Tuesday following the Brussels attacks.

source: interaksyon.com

Batman celebrates 75th birthday in Hollywood style

LOS ANGELES | Ker-pow! Batman is celebrating his 75th birthday this month with a series of comic-book, video-game and other events putting Gotham’s famed Caped Crusader firmly back in the spotlight.

July 23 is officially Batman Day, and to mark the occasion in Hollywood, Warner Bros. has organized a VIP studio tour including Batmobiles, masks, capes and other souvenirs of the Dark Knight.

“The world has no heroes… Batman gives you some hope and some faith,” actor Danny DeVito, who played the caped one’s nemesis the Penguin in the 1992 movie “Batman Returns,” told AFP in an interview.

Batman was born in May 1939, the creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, who were tasked by DC Comics with creating a new superhero in the wake of the success of Superman.

Unlike Superman, the new hero was given a dark side, and rapidly became a global pop culture icon, decades before the latest generation of superheroes like Captain America, Spiderman or Iron Man took to the big screen.

While Superman represents the archetypal hero with super-human powers, a brightly colored costume and appears in daylight, Bruce Wayne is a wealthy tycoon who changes into a mask and dark cape to bring justice to Gotham City.

DeVito said Batman’s success stems from the lack of faith in the political and business class. “We look around at us, our leaders and the young people we are supposed to look to.

“There’s really nobody you can have faith in,” he said.

Bruce Wayne has remained popular through the decades thanks to the varied formats, from the 1960s TV series “Batman” with Adam West and Burt Ward, the success of which re-kindled sales of the original comic books.

“The passion of fans is very, very high, it’s a way of life,” said Jim Lee, artist and co-editor of DC Entertainment, the parent company of DC Comics, at the presentation of the Warner Bros exhibition.

“People tattoo images of Batman all over the body. It’s amazing to see how Batman has become a huge part of pop culture, he has really captivated the imagination of the entire world,” he said.

BATMAN VERY MUCH ALIVE

Film versions have kept the Batman brand alive, including the “Dark Knight” trilogy by Christopher Nolan in 2005, 2008 and 2012, with Briton Christian Bale in the brooding title role.

Overall the seven Batman films (including the first four in 1989, 1992, 1995 and 1997) have made $3.7 billion around the world, according to the boxofficemojo.com website.

In terms of merchandise, apart from the usual T-shirts, baseball caps and posters, Batman video games are apparently all the rage.

At the recent E3 video games conference in Los Angeles, studio Rocksteady tempted fans with their new game “Batman: Arkham Knight,” in which the hero has an ultra-light Bat-mobile which can transform into an armored tank.

In 2016, Batman will be back on the big screen, for the first time along with Superman, in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.” Ben Affleck will play the caped crusader, although some have been skeptical about his casting.

It will be interesting to see how he plays the Dark Knight, three-quarters of a century after Batman’s birth.

source: interaksyon.com

‘Hobbit’ fever beats Tom Cruise at box office

LOS ANGELES – The dwarfs and elves of “The Hobbit” overpowered Tom Cruise to take the box office title for a second time, grabbing $37.6 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales as a crowd of new films fought for pre-holiday audiences.

Cruise’s crime drama “Jack Reacher,” a film about a fatal sniper attack, landed in second place with $15.6 million. In third place, adult comedy “This is 40″ pulled in $12 million, according to studio estimates compiled by Reuters on Sunday.

Domestic ticket sales for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” fell by about 57 percent during the film’s second weekend. Movie receipts typically drop 40 percent to 60 percent each week.

In international markets, “Hobbit” sales reached $284 million and brought the movie’s global take to $434 million, distributor Warner Bros. said.

“The Hobbit” is the first of three movies based on the classic J.R.R. Tolkien novel set in the fantasy world of Middle Earth. The films, produced by MGM and Warner Bros.’ New Line Cinema, are prequels to the blockbuster “Lord of the Rings” franchise that brought in box office gold a decade ago.

Producers of “The Hobbit” and other films hope to enjoy a big boost this week around the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The current crop will face competition starting on Tuesday, Christmas Day, from Quentin Tarantino’s Western “Django Unchained,” musical “Les Miserables” and comedy “Parental Guidance.”

Sales over the coming days are expected to push 2012 to a domestic box office record. The year is on track to finish with $10.8 billion worth of ticket sales in the North American (U.S. and Canadian) market, according to a projection from box office tracker Hollywood.com. The current record is $10.6 billion, set in 2009.

Over the weekend, “Jack Reacher” debuted just days after the Newtown, Connecticut, school shooting sparked new debate about the impact of movie violence. “Reacher” begins with a sniper killing a handful of seemingly random victims. A red-carpet premiere and a screening to promote the $60-million production were postponed after the Newtown tragedy.

“We opened pre-Christmas with our eyes wide open,” said Don Harris, Paramount’s president of domestic distribution, adding that he expected the film’s box office take to grow over the coming weeks. He said the Newtown shooting had “no effect” on the movie’s opening.

Before the weekend, the studio had predicted sales of $12 million to $15 million.

Adult comedy “This is 40″ stars Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann as a middle-aged couple. The studio billed the $35 million production from “Bridesmaids” producer Judd Apatow as a “sort-of sequel” to 2007 comedy “Knocked Up.”

The president of domestic distribution for Universal, Nikki Rocco, said the film exceeded the studio’s estimates for opening prior to a mid-week Christmas, and dismissed talk of a Judd Apatow slump since his comedy “Bridesmaids,” which opened to $26.3 million in May 2011.

“Adults have choices at this time of year,” Rocco said, citing the broad slate of films already on

offer and those opening on Christmas day.

Comedy “The Guilt Trip,” starring Barbra Streisand and Seth Rogen as a mother and son on a cross-country drive, pulled in $5.4 million over three days. The movie opened two days before the weekend, on Wednesday, scoring a five-day total of $7.4 million.

Also this weekend, Walt Disney Co re-released 2001 animated Pixar hit “Monsters Inc” in 3D. The movie earned $5 million at domestic theaters. Next June, Disney is releasing a prequel to the film called “Monsters University.”

Another new release, the 3D “Cirque Du Soleil: Worlds Away,” with performances by the famous acrobatic troupe, earned $2.1 million.

In five theaters in New York and Los Angeles, thriller “Zero Dark Thirty” about the hunt for Osama bin Laden grossed $410,000 in what box office analyst for Hollywood.com Paul Dergarabedian

described as a “huge limited release start for the film.”

The movie, considered an Oscar contender, will expand nationwide on January 11.

“The Hobbit” was distributed by Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros. studio. Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc, released “Jack Reacher,” “The Guilt Trip” and “Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away.” Comcast Corp’s Universal Studios released “This is 40,” and Sony Corp’s film studio distributed “Zero Dark Thirty.”

source: interaksyon.com

Why There Will Never, Ever Be Another Great Superman Movie

On Saturday, at San Diego Comic-Con, Warner Bros. will reveal something—a trailer? footage?—from its new Superman movie, Man of Steel.

And maybe the crowd will ooh and aah. (All right, the crowd will ooh and aah.) In any case, when the crowd oohs and aahs, maybe it'll do so because the pitch is great. And maybe the pitch will be great because the movie, directed by 300's Zack Snyder and produced by Dark Knight mastermind Christopher Nolan, is great.


The thing is, even if Man of Steel is great, it won't be a great Superman movie.

It can't be.





Miracles are not subjects for duplication, and Superman: The Movie was nothing if not a miracle.

There had never a superhero movie like it. There hasn't been a good Superman movie since.

And come this December, on the occasion of the Richard Donner-directed film's anniversary, "since" will be going on 34 long years.

Superman II, the first sequel from the hero's Christopher Reeve era, is entertaining enough, but its on-screen flaws—the creeping silliness, cheapness and disregard for Lois Lane, whose Fortress of Solitude affair with Superman is insultingly erased with a superkiss—are signs of far worse things to come.

Bryan Singer's 2006 attempt at a reboot, Superman Returns, while far better than any of the Reeve sequels, isn't a good Superman movie, either. Rather, it's a well-meaning attempt at making a Donner Superman.

If Brandon Routh's hero hadn't been so closed-off as to have ceded the movie to Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor, if not some guy named Richard (James Marsden), maybe Superman Returns would've worked better. But even then, it wouldn't have worked entirely because only Donner can make a Donner Superman movie, and only Donner could make it when he made it.

In 1978, Superman: The Movie's flying credits fly because Star Wars, released the year before, had made sci-fi wanted and desired. Metropolis looks like a place that needs saving because its stand-in, New York City, like many U.S. urban centers of the time, was a decaying place that needed saving. The Daily Planet is abuzz because newspapers could still do that then. Lois Lane smokes because she's a Virginia Slims ad come to life.

Above all, Superman is a confident, unburdened hero because Donner and his writers let him be. And Donner and his writers let him be because, all those years ago, they didn't have graphic-novel-prescribed psychoanalysis to answer to or sift through.

Today, the modern movie superhero is a wreck.

He (and it's still almost always a he) must be touched by a form of madness in order to get to the point where he dons a suit.

The Superman in Superman: The Movie, by comparison, just does it.

One scene, a teenager is sifting through his late Kryptonian father's archives. The next, a fully-grown man is decked out in a cape, uniform and trunks, as ready as he'll ever be to fight for truth, justice and the American way.

Because Reeve's Superman doesn't wonder who he is or why he is, the citizens of Metropolis (aside from ever-inquiring editor Perry White) don't wonder, either.

He's a hero, plain and simple. Let the battle with the bad guy begin.

That's how a great Superman movie is built.

And that's how Man of Steel probably won't be built.

Nolan is the last filmmaker who should be expected to let Superman be. He's been given the keys to the franchise precisely because he's been so successful at not letting Batman sleep soundly.

And maybe, hopefully he'll work his magic again on the new film. Maybe, hopefully, together with Snyder, he'll torture the last son of Krypton all the way back to the top.

But remember, no matter how good their movie looks this weekend, no matter how much the Comic-Con crowd oohs and aahs, Man of Steel can't possibly be a great Superman movie.

There's no more like that one back home.

Today, the modern movie superhero is a wreck.

He (and it's still almost always a he) must be touched by a form of madness in order to get to the point where he dons a suit.

The Superman in Superman: The Movie, by comparison, just does it.

One scene, a teenager is sifting through his late Kryptonian father's archives. The next, a fully-grown man is decked out in a cape, uniform and trunks, as ready as he'll ever be to fight for truth, justice and the American way.

Because Reeve's Superman doesn't wonder who he is or why he is, the citizens of Metropolis (aside from ever-inquiring editor Perry White) don't wonder, either.

He's a hero, plain and simple. Let the battle with the bad guy begin.

That's how a great Superman movie is built.

And that's how Man of Steel probably won't be built.

Nolan is the last filmmaker who should be expected to let Superman be. He's been given the keys to the franchise precisely because he's been so successful at not letting Batman sleep soundly.

And maybe, hopefully he'll work his magic again on the new film. Maybe, hopefully, together with Snyder, he'll torture the last son of Krypton all the way back to the top.

But remember, no matter how good their movie looks this weekend, no matter how much the Comic-Con crowd oohs and aahs, Man of Steel can't possibly be a great Superman movie.

There's no more like that one back home.

source: eonline.com