Will 'Iron Man 2' have a record breaking opening weekend?

Well, this article in the Los Angeles Times certainly thinks it's possible:

Exactly one month from Wednesday, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts and the other personalities of "Iron Man" will return to make witty mayhem in the superhero sequel.

And exactly three days after that, we could have a new domestic box-office record.

Stark himself, never lacking in suave self-confidence, probably wouldn't make such a bold boast. But it's entirely feasible.

According to just-released tracking surveys, director Jon Favreau's second installment in the Marvel franchise is showing astonishing levels of interest and awareness well ahead of its three-day opening next month. There are enough statistical indications to think that the first-weekend gross could top the $158.4-million haul for "Dark Knight", the current record-holder for the biggest (non inflation-adjusted) opening weekend and the gold standard for movie debuts.

Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel grossed that amount when it opened over a three-day weekend in July 2008. The same spring/summer period brought the release of "Iron Man." The character was new to mainstream audiences, star Robert Downey Jr. had yet to engineer his Hollywood comeback and Favreau was riding a cold streak ("Zathura: A Space Adventure," anyone?). The movie still opened to an impressive $98 million, and went on to gross more than $318 million domestically. This year's sequel opening on May 7 should pulverize that $98 million figure. Thanks in part to Downey, the Paramount-distributed film is drawing as much (strong) interest among women over 30 as it is among women in their 20s, the tracking surveys show. Males in their teens and 20s are so keen on the film they may as well be dressing up in an iron suit. About the only people who aren't fully sold are teen girls, but there are signs of robustness there too.

All this doesn't even count the intangibles. The movie generated a titanic reception at last summer's Comic-Con International in San Diego, the kind that happens only once every few years, if that. The "Iron Man 2" trailers have practically shut down YouTube. And according to one rival studio, "Iron Man" is now among the most-liked franchises in Hollywood, right up there with "Spider-Man." (It also doesn't hurt that ticket prices have inched upward in the past two years, although the 2-D "Iron Man 2" likely won't touch the domestic record of $742.5 million set by last year's 3-D "Avatar.")

Of course, shattering a box-office record isn't the same as making a creative breakthrough. "Dark Knight" was a singular cultural phenomenon, adored by critics, loved by the public and regarded in the fan universe as the great example of superhero movies, the Giselle Bündchen of the form. Whether "Iron Man 2" will be similarly embraced remains to be seen. From the advance material, we're expecting more humor than we got in the Batman follow-up but not necessarily the same level of grit or complexity.

Still, a combination of pop-culture awareness, hugely appealing (and promotion-minded) actors and a smartly waged marketing campaign could send "Iron Man 2" on the path to a record. That is, for now -- "Batman 3," after all, is currently in development. And given the tendency of superhero sequels to expand audiences as they go, that movie could eventually land with even more box-office force. Your move, Nolan.

-Will Iron Man 2 open to more than The Dark Knight made?

Fan Made "Dark Knight" Sequel Posters

Has the success of Avatar meant doom for a Darren Aronofsky helmed Robocop?

Perhaps, if this story is to be believed. Apparently the powers that be want it to be in 3D, and Aronofsky has been vocal on his distaste for that and preference for more traditional film making techniques. I think this is more or less the divide between trying to make a movie like The Dark Knight and trying to make a movie like Avatar. Both are successful big budget movies made by great directors, but one relies on computers a lot more, and that doesn't seem like Aronofsky's way. It'd be great to still see him tackle this, but who knows if it'll happen. I really just posted this to get a sense of how people feel about the current 3D craze, but comment on this however you like, since I just report the news.
-Which type of movie (Robocop or not) do you prefer?

Nolan has a project coming not involving Batman?

Seems so, according to Variety:

Warner Bros. is tying up a big deal with its "Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan for a big-scale spec script titled "Inception" that Nolan wrote and will direct as his likely next film.
WB is aiming for a summer 2010 release; production begins this summer.
Nolan will produce with Emma Thomas.
Nolan is repped by CAA.

-Not much in the way of details, but this is definitely something worth following...thoughts on what this means for a potential third Batman film?

Lest We Forget....

LA Film Critics Give Out Their Awards!

By way of Variety:

Best Picture: “Wall-E”

Runner-up: “The Dark Knight”
Best Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Runner-up: Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”
Best Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk”

Runner-up: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Best Actress: Sally Hawkins, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Runner-up: Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
Best Supporting Actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

Runner-up: Eddie Marsan, “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Best Supporting Actress: Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and “Elegy”

Runner-up: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Best Screenplay: Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Runner-up: Charlie Kaufman, “Synecdoche, New York”
Best Foreign Language film: “Still Life”

Runner-up: “The Class”
Best Documentary: “Man on Wire”

Runner-up: “Waltz With Bashir”
Best Animation: “Waltz With Bashir”
Best Cinematography: Yu Lik Wai, “Still Life”

Runner-up: Anthony Dod Mantle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Best Production Design: Mark Friedberg, “Synecdoche, New York”

Runner-up: Nathan Crowley, “The Dark Knight”
Best Music/Score: A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Runner-up: Alexandre Desplat, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
New Generation Award: Steve McQueen, “Hunger”
Douglas E. Edwards independent/experimental film/video: James Benning, “RR” and “Casting a Glance”

-Good for WALL-E mainly, though The Dark Knight got a boost as well, and the West Coasters sure seem to love their Happy-Go-Lucky...thoughts?

Need I Say What's on DVD This Week?

Like it's any shock to people, my PICK OF THE WEEK is absolutely going to be one of the best films of the year:

The Dark Knight

It simply redefined what a blockbuster could be. It's the 2nd highest grossing film of all time currently, so I think I'm not alone in my adoration for this flick. Stop reading this and buy it now!

-Also out we have the fascinating documentary Man on Wire, which could be headed for Oscar glory in the coming months, Horton Hears a Who!, which is a pretty decent retelling of the good doctor's classic kiddie tale, and the dance flick Make It Happen, which shockingly enough, does not in fact make it happen...

-My Vintage pick also makes quite a bit of sense this week. It's Batman Begins, so set aside a 5 hour block of your day and see the (as of now) complete take on the caped crusader that has made Nolan a god to so many film fans.

-Will you be watching The Dark Knight this week?

Update: Third "Batman" Movie Is Still Sorta Kinda Being Worked On

Just in case you've been starving for any real updates on the inevitable sequel to The Dark Knight (for better or worse), here's some tidbits from director Christopher Nolan, via AICN:

"The Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan spoke with USA Today, telling the paper that he is hesitant about starting the third Batman movie, because third installments in franchises don't do very well. Just look at "Shrek the Third," "Spider-Man 3," "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and many others.
"I don't know why they're hard to do," said Nolan. "Maybe there's so much expectation to them. But I wouldn't want to do one if it weren't going to be as good as the first or second. That's not respectful to the fans."
The DVD for "Knight" will be available in stores tomorrow (December 9th) and we already heard that Heath Ledger does not appear in any of the deleted scenes. According to Nolan, it has nothing to do with Ledger's death. "For my past three films, I really haven't had scenes that didn't make it in the movie," he said. "If it's in the final script, I tend put it on screen."
At this point Nolan is jotting notes and oding some rough outlines for a third story, but he hasn't yet found anything he's willing to commit to film, despite Warner Bros' eagerness to get a new film underway. "It was obvious when the box office was so big ($530 million domestically) that we had underestimated how ready fans were to reboot the franchise," he said. "The worst thing you could do now that you've gotten the plane back in the air is mess up the landing."
In addition, Nolan recently spoke during a "Dark Knight" Blu-ray event where he said that he would like to shoot an entire film in IMAX. He explained that shooting with an IMAX camera is very expensive and too noisy to capture dialogue. So, all conversations would have to be shot using a 65mm camera and combined in post-production.

-It certainly seems like his heart is in the right place when it comes to a third film, but he's not wrong about the lofty expectations following Dark Knight. Thoughts?

The Dark Knight Score is Back!

Yes indeed, as this short but sweet missive from Variety confirms:

Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are back in contention for an Oscar nom.
The Music Branch Executive Committee of the Academy has reversed its Nov. 10 decision declaring their score for "The Dark Knight" ineligible for the 2008 Academy Awards.
The score was disqualified due to five names being listed as composers on the music cue sheet.
After reviewing information submitted by the affected parties, the committee concluded that two, Zimmer and Howard, were responsible for the score's authorship.
Neither nomination ballots nor lists of eligible scores had been distributed so there is no impact on the actual voting process.
-Great news...what do you think of its Oscar chances?

Heath Ledger Gets Honored

Read about it in the Daily News, and here's the story:

The late actor Heath Ledger was awarded one of his country's most prestigious film awards Saturday for his final role as the Joker in the Batman movie "The Dark Knight."
Ledger, 28, who died of an accidental overdose of painkillers and other medicines in his New York apartment 11 months ago, was posthumously awarded the Australian Film Institute's international award for best actor.
Guests at a packed awards ceremony in Melbourne's Princess Theatre rose to their feet clapping, but with some in tears, to pay tribute.
"It has been without a doubt the most difficult year, losing such a loved family member," said his sister Kate, fighting back tears. "We are so proud of him and humbly accept this award on behalf of his beautiful daughter [Matilda], whom we will cherish forever."

-He deserves it...

The Dark Knight Returns!

Couldn't resist using the title of the graphic novel here, since it's just a great title, but apt since Warner is in fact re-releasing The Dark Knight, as well all know by now. Here's the story from Variety:

Warner Bros. will re-release "The Dark Knight" on Jan. 23 in a nationwide launch, guaranteeing that it will become the fourth film to take in more than $1 billion in worldwide box office.
"Knight" has cumed $530.3 million domestically and $465.9 million internationally, leaving it less than $4 million short of the billion-dollar milestone. Only "Titanic," "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" have topped that mark.
"Knight" also is the second-highest domestic grosser of all time, trailing only "Titanic."
The re-release will come six weeks after the DVD launch of "Knight," set for Tuesday.
Dan Fellman, president of Warner's domestic distribution, made the announcement Thursday. "We wanted to provide one more opportunity for moviegoers to experience it on the bigscreen as it was meant to be seen," he added.

-Count me in, one more time

The DVD Calm Before The (Dark Knight) Storm

This week there's not much on DVD that's really good, but there's plenty of things that are just ok. It's tolerable because The Dark Knight comes along next week, so take note of that It's really almost a coin flip on the PICK OF THE WEEK, but in the end I decided to go with the least offensive of the group, which is:

Wanted

It's big, loud, and dumb as all hell, but if you can successfully turn your brain off, it makes for a very tolerable home video viewing. Angelina Jolie does here thing, James McAvoy plays the unlikely hero, Morgan Freeman looks and sounds important, and a lot of people brutally die. If that's your thing, you'll dig it just fine.

-Also out this week we have the fairly weak comedy Step Brothers, which has a few funny lines, but not nearly as many as it should, the second Narnia flick The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, which is not bad at all, but is a little too workmanlike for my taste, the sports film The Longshots, which is very average and notable mainly for being directed by singer Fred Durst, the mediocre animated film Fly Me To The Moon, the unamusing comedy Lower Learning, and last but not least the much anticipated return for The X Files with The X Files: I Want to Believe, and I wanted to believe that this would be a good film, but it turned out to be only average and not nearly as good as the show could be at times.

-My Vintage pick this week is last year's Once. The music in the film has stayed with me almost a full year later, and watching the film again only reminds you how great the romance is. If you've never seen it, now's your chance!

-What will you guys (and gals) be watching?

In Case You Thought The Dark Knight is Going Away...

I received an email today pointing me towards a grassroots campain for the film in terms of awards buzz (http://www.darkcampaign.com/). It really does work as a great FYC ad, and it shows just how popular this film is with people. One of the biggest things we've been looking for is to see if this film ends up being rewarded with a nomination or not, and movements like this one only point it in the right direction.

-Do you think this helps TDK at all? And just to ask one more time...do you think The Dark Knight will get a Best Picture nomination?

No Nod for The "Dark" Score

Variety's Awards Central writes of how the score to The Dark Knight will not be able to compete at the Oscars:

The score for "The Dark Knight" has been disqualified by the executive committee of the Academy music branch.
Formal letters to that effect are expected to go out this week to composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard, who collaborated on the music.
Their previous collaboration, on "Batman Begins," was similarly disqualified in 2005.
Sources inside the committee said that the big issue was the fact that five names were listed as composers on the music cue sheet, the official studio document that specifies every piece of music (along with its duration and copyright owner) in the film.
Zimmer said, in an interview with Variety prior to this week's Acad action, that listing multiple names on the cue sheet was a way of financially rewarding parts of the music team who helped make the overall work successful. (Performing-rights societies like ASCAP and BMI use the cue sheet to distribute royalties to composers.)
Zimmer, Howard and the other three individuals -- music editor Alex Gibson, ambient music designer Mel Wesson and composer Lorne Balfe -- reportedly signed an affidavit stating that the score was primarily the work of Zimmer and Howard.
That apparently wasn't enough for the majority of the committee, which was also supplied with documentation indicating that more than 60%, but less than 70%, of the score was credited to Zimmer and Howard.
The "Dark Knight" score -- and the whole issue of multiple-composer collaboration, which is on the rise in Hollywood these days -- has occupied about four hours of discussion over the past two executive committee meetings.
Some members sided with Zimmer and Howard; citing the originality and cutting-edge nature of the music, they urged others to keep the "Dark Knight" score eligible despite the cue-sheet issue.
Both Zimmer and Howard declined comment on the ruling. Both are seven-time nominees; Zimmer won for "The Lion King."

-Tough break, I know...thoughts?

The Oscar Race meets The Presidential Race...

A nice change of pace, I think

The Dark Knight Revisited

The chances of the The Dark Knight receiving a nomination seem to grow by the weekend. Some of the movies that we expected to compete are receiving terrible reviews (Changeling, Body of Lies, and Blindness); Some are getting push backed (Soloist, and the Road); and the decent films are not receiving as much buzz as the Dark Knight (Rachel Getting Married, Happy-Go-Lucky, The Wrestler). If the month of October is any indicator, the Dark Knight remains the picture to beat. Obviously, it is too soon for certainty, considering there are major contenders that have yet to be seen. But with the re-release, the Dark Knight looks like it is in prime position to show why it should get a nomination. As the trees continue to fall, there is always one that grows stronger. The Dark Knight is the tree that continue to grow. Let's see if any of the other trees continue to fall.