Thompson On Hollywood

Summer Movies: Universal Kicks Ass at Boxoffice

Universal has scored two $100-million hits so far this summer: The Incredible Hulk ($129 million) and Wanted ($112 million), and this weekend Hellboy II: The Golden Army opened at number one with an estimated $35.9 million. And the pics scored strong reviews as well: Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy sequel earned 88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and looks likely to also score more than $100 million, says Fantasy Moguls. (The Hulk came in at more modest 68, and Wanted at 72.)

Next weekend, while The Dark Knight will score the number one slot, Abba musical Mamma Mia! is expected to open well. And in August, there's still The Mummy 3: The Tomb of the Golden Emperor, which should easily pass the $100-million mark.

According to ace marketer-turned-co-chief of the studio Marc Shmuger, each of these pics has a distinct look, feel and audience appeal. Not one of these movies is like any other movie in the current marketplace. "They all know exactly what they are," he says, "and who they're for."

This helps to cut through the other lookalike pictures and pop the movies out. Could anyone not pay attention to the crazy green giant Hulk, Jolie and those curving bullets in Wanted, or bright red muscle-bound Hellboy, with his cut-off horns? And there's certainly nothing else in the market like Mamma Mia!, which opened well overseas this weekend.

Jolie Has Her Twins

Angelina Jolie gave birth to a boy and a girl by Caesarian section Saturday night. The obstretician who delivered the twins told the A.P. their names are Knox Leon and Vivienne Marcheline. UPDATE: Here's NYDN.

More creative baby-naming.

Trailer Watch: Eagle Eye

What do the movies Wanted and Eagle Eye have in common? They're fish-out-of-water scenarios that posit that an everyday schmuck --James McAvoy in one, Shia LaBeouf in the other--gets caught up in something exciting and scary involving a lot of action and danger and guns. It's the oldest trick in the book.

But the commercial recipe here is also to take a star with cred with the young male demo that opens movies (In Wanted's case, it's actually Angelina Jolie) and add them to the thriller genre mix with an older star (Wanted's Morgan Freeman, Eagle Eye's Billy Bob Thornton).

DreamWorks took this story idea by Steven Spielberg, got it written by John Glenn & Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott, and when Spielberg didn't want to direct, added their Disturbia star-on-the-rise LaBeouf to the mix with his director, D. J. Caruso.

Here's the trailer for Eagle Eye, due in September.

DreamWorks should only dream that Eagle Eye does as well as Wanted--a great match of strong narrative and fab visual style that raises it above the ordinary--otherwise it's just another formula thriller.

Wanted Leads Off LAFF

The LA Film Fest opened with the premiere Thursday night of Universal's Wanted, followed by a Westwood block party. Spirits were high, because the smart director's showcase played.

Wanted is a stylish R-rated, violent adaptation of the comic books by Mark Millar and J. G. Jones. Producer Marc Platt matched up the comics with a series of screenwriters (Michael Brandt & Derek Haas and Chris Morgan) and director Timur Bekmambetov, the established Russian auteur of the stylized, over-the-top horror thriller Nightwatch and its Daywatch sequel, huge hits. Bekmambetov doesn't just do action, he said last night, smiling slyly. He also released a recent hit romantic comedy.

Bekmambetov's WMA agent Mike Simpson was over the moon because this is the kind of director Hollywood studios fantastize about--a Tim Burton with visual flair who can do action. Bekmambetov could do a Mission: Impossible or Bourne movie (that's Universal) if he wanted to. It was Universal that had the guts to put him on a $100-million actioner (Universal's official budget is $80 million)--and lured reliable stars Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman to support James McAvoy. The ads sell Jolie, who's terrific, but McAvoy carries his third American-accented picture--sans dialogue coach. He gives the movie a believable center. And yes, these people are playing actual characters. The movie breathes.

And it delivers action on a Bourne or Matrix level.

Suspension of disbelief is required. But the direction is so controlled, precise, detailed and inventive that you go for the ride. Bekmambetov has another plus: his own visual effects house in Russia, like Peter Jackson does in Wellywood. The f/x by Bazelevs are superb. Jolie and McAvoy skip along elevated subways, do metal-bending aerial car stunts, and boast special skills that enable them to alter the laws of gravity. SPOILER ALERT: Just when I was wondering when they'd stop working so hard and get sexy, the movie delivers a major kiss. And there's a stunning train derailment off a mountain abyss.

Assuming Wanted plays widely when it opens June 27 (a lot of arguments Thursday night were about whether it was a two-or-four-quadrant movie), McAvoy is signed up for two sequels. But, he predicts, "There won't be more than one. I don't want to do action movies." Bekmambetov was mum about whether he would return. (They will likely have to pay him.) He's setting up something called Saga, I hear. (Is it a movie version of the videogame?)

Here's Variety's review.

Universal could have a big summer. Marvel's remake of The Incredible Hulk dropped dramatically on its second weekend, but should be steady as they go. Next up is Guillermo del Toro's $100-million sequel, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which closes the LA Film Fest. The movie musical Mamma Mia! has global pull with women thanks to its long-touring theater show. And Rob Cohen's $170-million (official studio budget is $150 million) reinvention of the Mummy franchise, The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, shot in China with Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and an army of Terra Cotta warriors, opens in August. A test screening this week yielded a positive AICN posting.

What these movies have in common--and this will be an interesting test of what the box office will bear--is that "they all know exactly what they are," says Universal co-chairman Marc Shmuger, "and who they're for."

Weekend Boxoffice: Sex and the City Messes with Zohan and Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda will hit solidly with families. (It's pretty damned good.) Panda scored great reviews Friday, with an 85% fresh Rotten Tomatoes score, while Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess with the Zohan nabbed a piddly 37 % rotten. It should reach a few of the poor neglected males out there.

Sex and the City should hold well based on good word-of-mouth and may even pull in a few men. (Is it a one-shot anomaly? Or can Hollywood continue to harness the femmes?) Others have weighed in: The Women's Media Center, The Philly Inquirer, Newsweek, EW Popwatch and Cinematical. [Hat Tip: Women and Hollywood.]

Here are Variety's Zohan and Panda reviews, and our weekend boxoffice report.

Fandango's ticket sales (as of 6/6/08 10:00 a.m. PT) are:

Movie Fandango User Rating % Fandango Sales

Sex and the City “Must Go” 52%

Kung Fu Panda “Go” 23%

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull “Go” 8%

You Don’t Mess with the Zohan “Go” 8%

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian “Go” 2%

Jolie Has Not Yet Given Birth to Twins

According to Us and People Magazine, Entertainment Tonight jumped the gun on reporting that Angelina Jolie has given birth to twins in the south of France, where she recently promoted two upcoming films, Kung Fu Panda and Clint Eastwood's Changeling.

This morning, I was scanning pregnancy photos and reading about the names Jolie had given her children. My first reaction was that given that she's carrying twins and was working the red carpet ropes like a pro just last week, it was early to be giving birth. What gives? In the rush to be first, are people just making this shit up?

Clooney's Consigliere

George Clooney and his father Nick have come to rely on civil rights attorney David Pressman for advice and support on his various political activities, writes the LAT's Tina Daunt:

Then the elder Clooney met one of Pressman's relatives at a party and learned of the extensive connections the young lawyer had made in the region through his work as a special assistant to then-Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and, later, as a Sudan expert for the United Nations. The elder Clooney called Pressman the next day. Both Clooneys quickly came to view Pressman as a member of the family. "I call him 'Cuz,' " Clooney said. "My dad seems to think we're related. I'm not sure how he came up with that."

The idea makes Pressman chuckle. "He's an Irishman, and I'm a Jew. Go figure."

Over lunch recently at a fashionable bistro near his Chelsea law office, Pressman recalls that a female friend reacted in horror when he told her that he was taking George Clooney into Darfur. "She said, 'You realize if anything happens to him, you will be committing the greatest crime against womankind,' " Pressman said.

Since the first trip in 2006, Pressman and Clooney have gone on a number of missions to Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa to lobby for peace in Darfur.

[Photo courtesy of the LA Times]

Pitt Fires PR, Decides to Go It Alone

Radar reports that Brad Pitt has let go his long-time PR rep Cindy Guagenti. He's going to take it alone, like his partner Angelina Jolie. I've long thought that Pitt's PR was well-handled; we'll see where it goes from here. Remember what happened when Tom Cruise and Pat Kingsley parted ways?

Here's Pitt's latest announcement.

Pitt/Jolie Wedding Rumors Rampant

This Huffington Post report about the various tabloid and celeb mag reports this weekend about the possible New Orleans wedding of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is fascinating. The New York Daily News, for example, reported Saturday that they were married, citing The Star website. But Sunday, Fox News relies on People Magazine's assertion that it's not true.