Weekend @ the Box Office

Movies, movies, movies. That is what definitely was in theaters this weekend. There wasn’t really anything new so we’re just going to ignore that and look at how everything else is doing. Mockingjay Part 1 took a pretty big hit, dropping 62.1% at the box office this week to $21,600,000. Penguins of Madagascar waddles by with a 56.4% drop to $11,100,000. Horrible Bosses 2 continues to disappoint with $8,600,000. Big Hero 6 and Interstellar continue to duke it out as the animated superhero movie took a 56.8% drop to hit $8,130,000 while Interstellar dropped 49.2% to reach a flat $8 million.

Movie News

Any tried and true Bond fan knows of the villainous organization, SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion). At an EON press release, there was a synopsis, cast and title reveal. 

“A cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind SPECTRE.”

The cast includes Daniel Craig (Bond, James Bond), Rory Kinnear (Bill Tanner, who was Bond’s bff in the books), Ben Wishaw (Q), Naomi Harris (Moneypenny), and Ralph Fienners (M). On the new cast members: Dave Bautista (Mr. Hinx), Monica Belluci (Lucia Sciarra), Léa Seydoux (Madeleine Swann), and Christoph Waltz as some person named Oberhauser. The new additions to the cast are particularly exciting as we reintroduce henchmen, classic looking Bond Ladies (please don’t make them objects for Bond to have a sex on), and a moderately serialized story. Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace’s Jesper Christensen will be returning as Mr. White, the “Man Behind the Curtains” of the Craig Bond franchise. As the only person in the world who likes Quantum of Solace *dodges trashcan* I’m interested in seeing how these two villainous organizations interact with each other.

In more good news, it’s an early Christmas miracle! Roberto Orci is officially out of the director’s chair for Star Trek 3. Rumor has it the script was problematic, with Paramount ending pre-production a month ago. This confirms a lack of magic blood and convoluted conspiracy plots. According to Deadline, Edgar Wright is on a shortlist of directors to take over. Sean wrote a good bit on potential Star Trek 3 directors (my pick is Joe Cornish). Orci may stay on as producer. http://deadline.com/2014/12/star-trek-roberto-orci-1201311255/

In superhero casting news, two people who we were pretty sure were going to be cast were cast as characters. Benedict Cumberbatch is definitely 100% Doctor Strange. Cumberbatch is a good choice. He’s not an inspired choice but a good one. Even if the movie is crap, tumblr probably *ahem* literally won’t even, all while having orgasm after orgasm. Personally, I’m bummed Marvel didn’t get more broad with the casting and go for a John Cho or Pedro Pascal. Joaquin Phoenix was obviously the number one choice for the studio. Cumberbatch is still a solid choice.

Ryan Reynolds is Deadpool/Wade Wilson. Reynolds has the charm and charisma of any big movie star. Why he hasn’t found huge mainstream popularity is beyond me. Reynolds is a perfect fit for the character. Now please, use this popular character to create a true satire. Not just a walking internet random xD lolz memes CHIMICHANGAS. Please.

Trailer of the Week


I’ll say this about the new Terminator Genitals trailer: It was infinitely better than anything we had seen yet. Maybe movies should stop doing EW cover shoots. They usually end up looking cheap. Having seen the trailer a few times now, I’m liking it a little bit more each time. It’s like the Stark Trek 09 soft-reboot, throwing out old canon to try and jumpstart a dying franchise. If you follow me on twitter, you know how much I love Star Trek 09. Maybe this movie will have a similar effect on me? One thing that will always irk me: “We have to stop Judgement Day from happening” but you did in Terminator 2: Judgement Day so this is all null and void? This isn’t a great trailer. It’s just one worth talking about. What side of the fence are you on?

Tweets of the Week