Brandon Peters says: Watch the Dirty Harry franchise during G4's all-day marathon this Saturday!

Hey Mendelnites (can we use that, Scott?), in the even you've never seen the Dirty Harry series or would like to in order to keep with my dissection, but are unable to find the films or don't want to shell out $$ - you're in luck.

This Saturday (December 1st), the G4 Network (the one that pretty much airs Cops like its 1992) is marathoning the Dirty Harry series all day and probably 2 or 3 times through. So, either plop down and marathon it yourself or set your DVR!

Brandon Peters

She's a politician, not a movie star. Why the box office failure of Sarah Palin's The Undefeated doesn't mean a gosh-darn thing.

However immature it may be, it can be fun to crow when your enemy fails.  Thus we've had two weeks of various liberal bloggers jumping for joy at the financial under-performance of the Sarah Palin halo-agraphy The Undefeated.  The film opened with $65,132 on ten screens for a mediocre $6,532 per-screen average.  It expanded to 14 locations this past weekend but dropped 62%, earning just $24,662 for a $1,762 per-screen average.  The film barely has $100,000 after ten days and has announced premature (?) plans to debut on Video on Demand and DVD release.  This is frankly an out-and-out tank, a genuine bomb even when compared to other political documentaries that aren't directed by Michael Moore (comparing all political documentaries to Moore's work would be like expecting Punisher: War Zone to out-gross Spider-Man 3).  Ben Stein's Intelligent Design documentary, Expelled, ended up grossing $7.7 million in 2008.  Even something as relatively low-key as The US vs. John Lennon opened with $11,523 per-screen on six screens and eventually grossed $1.1 million back in 2006.  What does this mean for the political fortunes of Sarah Palin and/or those who endorse her ideologies?  Absolutely nothing.

Warner Bros. moves Man of Steel to June 14th, 2013. NOT July 19th, 2013!

In what I guess you could call breaking news, Warner Bros. has announced that they are moving Man of Steel (ie - Zach Snyder's Superman film that seems to be based on Superman: Birthright) from December 2012 to June 14th, 2013.  What's shocking is not that the film is being moved (it is apparently being tinkered with at the screenwriting stage), but that Warner is not moving it into its favorite mega-release date, which in this case would be July 19th, 2013.  For those who came in late, a brief history of Warner's favorite weekend:  It started in July 2007. For, among other reasons, a sense that the fifth Harry Potter film would benefit from a release date close to the release of the seventh and final book, Warner Bros. slotted Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to open on Wednesday, July 18th. It grossed $44 million on that first Wednesday and ended up with $139 million over the first five days ($77 million of that from Fri-Sun). Despite being released in the summer (where Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ended with a series-low gross of $248 million) and being based on arguably the worst book in the series, Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix ended up with $293 million, becoming the highest-grossing Harry Potter sequel yet released at the time.

Is Richard Lester available? Disney and Marvel press ahead with Thor 2 for summer 2013, without director Kenneth Branagh.

Well, it looks like summer 2013 is the one where we find out how much the Marvel franchises truly depend on their would-be auteurs.  The summer will kick off with Iron Man 3 (directed not by Jon Favreau but by Shane Black) opens on the same first-weekend in May slot the previous two have debuted in.  And Disney announced today that Thor 2 is scheduled for July 26th, 2013.  The big news is that while star Chris Hemsworth will be back, original helmer Kenneth Branagh will not (Natalie Portman is contracted for a sequel, but we'll see if she makes the choice to return).  This is a surprise to say the least.  This is not a case like the Iron Man franchise, where Jon Favreau butted heads with Marvel throughout the sequel and decided to quit at two.  This isn't a case like Green Lantern, where Martin Campbell found himself a bit over his head with the whole green-screen/CGI action department and will probably fall on the sword for the movie's poor box office (Warner Bros' new habit of micromanaging didn't help either).  Thor withstood a weak marketing campaign and ended up with a rock-solid $437 million worldwide, earning relatively solid reviews in the process.  I don't wish to speculate and will only say that I hope that Branagh's choice to move on was merely a case of not wanting to get tied to the franchise, and not another case of penny-pinching by Marvel or some kind of corporate decision by Disney (which takes over the previously-Paramount owned Marvel films after Captain America).  Anyone want to offer suggestions or guess the release date?  As for replacement directors, it's the same list I always have: Sophia Coppola, Werner Herzog, and Terrence Malick.

Scott Mendelson      

Stating the obvious: photo-shopping Hillary Clinton and Audrey Tomason out of an historical photograph is sexism, no matter who does it.

Certain sects of Christianity disenfranchise women because 'they are too vulnerable and fragile'. Certain sects of Islam disenfranchise women because 'they are wicked, morally dangerous creatures'. Certain sects of Judaism disenfranchise women because they think they are 'putting women on a pedestal, as a sign of respect'. Different excuses, same result: women are marginalized and not allowed to fully participate in the society in which they exist. It is no more anti-semitic to criticize such practices and attitudes as when it appears in those representing Judaism than it would be unpatriotic to criticize the actions of your country's government. It's sexism when people we don't like do it, and it's sexism when people we like do it as well.

Scott Mendelson

STUNNER! Animated film studio makes LESS money when it doesn't have new animated film in marketplace!!!

In a 'no shit, Sherlock' development, Dreamworks Animation is reporting a 60% drop in profits for the first quarter of 2011, when compared to the first quarter of 2010. What could have caused this astonishing statistic? Dreamworks Animation was most burdened this quarter by the lackluster box office performance of... oh wait. That's right... Dreamworks Animation had a surprisingly strong first quarter of 2010 when they were feasting on the unexpectedly strong box office performance of How to Train Your Dragon, which grossed $494 million worldwide. And in the same quarter of 2009, Monsters vs. Aliens had a robust worldwide take of $381 million. But for the same quarter of this current year, Dreamworks saw softer-than-expected grosses from the theatrical release of... NOTHING!!! They didn't have an animated film out this quarter!! They haven't had a theatrical release since Megamind back in November of 2010. Los Angeles Times calls that one a 'misfire', which I suppose is what you call a $130 million picture than grosses $321 million worldwide (it was much cheaper than the other recent Dreamworks animated films, which all cost about $170 million). Point being, let's not sell off your Dreamworks stock and/or demand that the company be sold yet again. I'm sure once the theatrical animation film studio will be just fine once they actually have a theatrical animated film (such as Kung Fu Panda 2 opening in exactly one month) to offer.

Scott Mendelson

Scott Mendelson: Quote Whore!

Am I the only one excited? Albert Pyun's 1990 Captain America to get 124-minute director's cut, Blu Ray release in May.

Thanks to The Playlist who spotted this iO9 article, but it appears that I may have to put my intended random thoughts/review of the original 1990 Captain America on hold. Yes, I still have a copy of it, taped off of Cinemax or HBO in the early 1990s. Point being, yes Albert Pryun's legendary cheapo Steve Rogers epic (starring Matt Salinger, son of JD) is all kinds of bad, but I've always had a soft spot for it. Maybe it's because it's often obscenely violent for a seemingly kid-friendly PG-13 adventure film (it opens with a machine gun massacre of civilians and kills off several major characters during its 90 minute running time), maybe because Scott Paulin makes an oddly affecting Red Skull, maybe because it gets the finale just right (good guy and bad guy, both in their proper super-costumes, fighting to the death atop a castle), or maybe it's just because I was ten years old when I first saw it and I haven't been dumb enough to watch it in at least fifteen years. Anyway, according to director Albert Pyun (who was the Ewe Boll of his direct-to-VHS day) claims that there is a 124 minute director's cut, and that said version will be released on Blu Ray in May. So yes, count me as among the few (the not-so-proud) actually looking forward to getting a decent copy, in a director's cut no less, of this childhood treasure. Don't worry, I won't make Allison watch it with me. Well, not unless she REALLY misbehaves.

Scott Mendelson

Burying the lead: Justin Bieber is against abortion, but he may not be 'anti-choice'.

This is the first, and hopefully last article I'll be writing about Mr. Bieber that doesn't involve his present and future film projects. I have nothing against the kid, but I have no more business discussing Bieber's worth as a musician than I do discussing LeBron James's first year on the Miami Heat. But there is much huffing and/or puffing about released excerpts of his Rolling Stone interview, including one bit that deserves a bit of analysis. First off, kudos for him for his defense of Canada's single-payer government-run health-care system. It's what we damn-well should have gotten last year, as it's the right moral thing to do (health should be classified under 'commons') and it would have solved the unemployment crisis in a heartbeat (quick, how many older people do you know who are still working purely for the health insurance?). But his thoughts on abortion are a little trickier, and the condemnation that followed is yet another example of how hard it is to express a nuanced opinion in the era of the one-sentence soundbite.

Yes, Marc Webb's reboot will indeed be titled The Amazing Spider-Man.

I guess this means that the inevitable sequel in summer 2014 will be titled The Spectacular Spider-Man. Sony made official what had been reasonable speculation since the reboot project was announced last year. They also released a nice new photo of Peter Parker in full Spidey gear. Nothing to stop the presses over, but it's a nice photo (yes, those do appear to be mechanical web-shooters). Now only the Star Trek sequel remains untitled amongst the mega-pictures of summer 2012 (Star Trek 2, Amazing Spider-Man, The Avengers, and The Dark Knight Rises).

Scott Mendelson

Actual Batman 3 news! Warner Bros confirms: Anne Hathaway to play Selina Kyle, Tom Hardy to play Bane.

Well, chalk it up to one part 'duh', another part 'huh?'. After months of obnoxious speculation, Warner has onfirmed that Anne Hathaway will indeed be playing Selina Kyle in The Dark Knight Rises. It's a pretty no-brainer casting decision, as she is one of the bigger and more respected stars of her generation, and she amongst the various alleged front-runners had the least amount of tentpole, genre film experience. Nolan had stated months ago that it was indeed his intent to have a female antagonist, and really there are only three major baddies to choose from: Catwoman, Talia Al Ghul, and Poison Ivy. Of those, Catwoman is by far the most recognizable and/or popular. Of course, the press release makes no mention of 'Catwoman', so it's completely possible that Hathaway will merely be playing Ms. Kyle with no appearance by her costumed alter-ego.

"The weekend before Christmas is a terrible time for movies". It's apparently opposite-day yet again over at Nikki Finke's Deadline Hollywood.

Here's a not-so dirty secret: the weekend before Christmas weekend is the very best weekend to open a film, bar none. With a full two weeks of 'weekend days' and families spending much of that time together and looking towards a movie theater, anything that can open on this weekend has a decent shot at huge legs. Sure, you've got the obvious smash hits like Avatar ($77 million opening/$750 million domestic), Fellowship of the Ring ($47m/$313m), The Two Towers($65m/$341m), Return of the King ($83m/$373m), Titanic ($28m/$600m), Tomorrow Never Dies ($25m/$125m), The Pursuit of Happyness ($26m/$163m), Jerry Macguire($17m/$153m), and I Am Legend ($77m/$256m). But you also have the films that maybe didn't open as well as they could, but used the holiday period to make up for it with insanely leggy runs. I'm talking about King Kong ($50m opening weekend/$218 million domestic total), The Prince of Egypt ($14m/$101m), Mouse Hunt ($6m/$61m), Sabrina ($5m/$53m), and The Emperor's New Groove($10m/$89m) among many others.

So when Nikki Finke claims that "the last full weekend before Christmas is traditionally a lousy time for North American grosses", she obviously has no idea what she's talking about. And that 'unnamed studio mogul who exclaims: "They're not rushing out to see movies. What you tend to forget, going into this weekend, is that the pool of people who are available, and don’t have a lot of commitments on their time in terms of parties and presents and vacations, is small", well he obviously has no recollection of the oh-so-recent past either (or he's just covering for the under-performances of Yogi Bear and How Do You Know). How vexing it is when the people who get paid to know this stuff get it so obviously wrong.

Scott Mendelson

Chris Evans as Captain America debuts in Entertainment Weekly.

For a sneak peak at the actual article from tomorrow's issue, click here. No complaints here, it's a surprisingly solid look that combines a certain period-realism with the gee-whiz aspect of the character. Purists may carp over this or that detail, but Matt Salinger wore a costume EXACTLY like the comic book version back in 1990, and it didn't make that movie any better. This should be a fun time for geeks, as we'll soon start seeing real screenshots and actual trailers for the geek-centric films of next summer. We already know that we're getting a Green Lantern trailer before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I, and there's a good chance that we'll see trailers for Thor and/or Captain America before Paramount's Megamind or Morning Glory (or everyone could just pile on behind Mr. Potter). Captain America is arguably the biggest question mark of the comic pictures. It's the best known property but also faces an uphill battle with its period setting and it's release date smack in the middle of July, a week after the Harry Potter finale and a week before Jon Favreau's Cowboys vs. Aliens. Once again, why oh why didn't Paramount schedule Captain America to open over July 4th weekend?

Scott Mendelson

Weekend box office (10/17/10): Jackass 3-D sets October, documentary records, while Red opens strong.

Jackass 3-D grossed a whopping $50.3 million in its debut weekend, setting several records and setting punditry tongues wagging in the process. First of all, the film bested the $48.1 million opening weekend for Scary Movie 3 in 2003, taking the October opening weekend record. Second of all, the opening figure is far and away the best opening weekend for any kind of non-fiction/documentary film in history. If you count this series as a documentary franchise (which I do), then the third entry is now the fifth-highest grossing documentary in history in just three days. It stands behind Jackass: The Movie ($64 million), Jackass Number Two ($72 million), March of the Penguins ($77 million), and Fahrenheit 9/11 ($119 million). While the franchise has mediocre legs (part one had a 2.9x weekend-to-total multiplier in 2002 and part two had a 2.4x multiplier in 2006), thus making $100 million+ not quite a sure thing yet, there is little doubt that the film will end its domestic run as the second-highest grossing documentary/non-fiction film of all time. Still, 3-D films seem to have better legs than average (witness the useless My Soul to Take dropping just 54% in weekend two, as well as the inexplicably strong holds of Legends of the Guardians, now at $46 million), partially because they keep the bigger auditoriums for longer periods of time. If it can manage a mere 2.4x multiplier, it will in fact surpass the Michael Moore anti-Bush epic.

Tyler Perry Oscar Bait? For Colored Girls moved to November 5th.

As David Poland correctly predicted just a week ago, Lionsgate has moved the newest Tyler Perry film, For Colored Girls, from its original January 14th, 2011 slot into the heart of the awards season. It will now open wide on November 5th, which is incidentally the same weekend that Precious (which Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey put their names on after the fact to insure a Lionsgate distribution) debuted in limited release, wracking up a record $108,000 per each of its eighteen screens. The film is a change of pace for Perry, as it is the first time that he is directing a film based on a prior source, the 1975 Ntozake Shange play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf. The play itself is a collection of twenty poems dealing with various social issues (rape, abortion, etc) that are performed by seven women known only by a color ('Lady in Blue', etc). The cast is pretty huge, and includes a handful of Perry veterans (Kimberly Elise, Janet Jackson, etc), along with Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, Loretta Devine, Phylicia Rashad, and Thandie Newton making their debut in the Tyler Perry sandbox. To be blunt, nothing would make me happier than seeing a Perry film as a possible Oscar contender.

FYI - Avatar returns to IMAX 3D at AMC...

If you care, AMC is having late-night IMAX Avatar showings, if only for this weekend. Unless you need one last hurrah before the April 22nd DVD/Blu Ray release, I suggest you wait for the all-but-announced re-release that will likely commence either at the end of this summer or sometime in the fall. Said re-release will likely have a chunk of new footage, so in this case, fortune favors the patient. None the less, if you want it, here you go...

Scott Mendelson

Wall Street 2 moves to September. MPAA updates, release date musical chairs...

As always, thanks to Box Office Mojo for being up-to-the-minute on this stuff. There isn't too much to report on the ratings front. As expected, Shrek Forever After has received a PG (for mild action, some rude humor and brief language) while Robin Hood has snagged a mandatory PG-13 (for violence including intense sequences of warfare, and some sexual content), which means it will likely be at least as violent as the Kevin Reynolds version that caused such an uproar over its darkness and violence back in 1991. The Amanda Seyfried romantic dramedy Letters From Juliet has received a rare (for a live-action picture) PG rating, which is for "brief rude behavior and sensual images, some language and incidental smoking". Both live-action films open on May 14th, so which is the most promising depends on which directors brought their A-game. Gary Winick helmed the shockingly good 13 Going On 30, but also the ghastly Bride Wars. Meanwhile, Ridley Scott is pretty much 50/50 these days, with a Hannibal for every Kingdom of Heaven.