1.) While Rupert Sanders‘ future with the Huntsman sequel/spinoff seems to be Deadline]
2.) Compliance hits limited release this weekend, but it has already caused quite a stir just from its trailer and Sundance premier. Now director Craig Zobel has booked Tobey Maguire for his follow-up, the post-apocalyptic drama Z for Zachariah. The film is based on the novel by Robert C. O’Brien, which follows a teenage who lives alone and maintains a farm in the only valley with breathable air in the wake of a nuclear war. Then two strangers pay her a visit and disrupt her peaceful lifestyle. Maguire will play a scientist she nurses back to health after he comes into contact with a contaminated stream. [Variety]
3.) I don’t usually cover box-office news, but I found this bit on Bachelorette rather interesting. The raunchy comedy starring Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher and Lizzy Caplan doesn’t open in theaters until September 7, but it has already pulled in over $500K in just one weekend being available On Demand. It also hit the #1 spot on the iTunes Top Movies chart, becoming the first pre-theatrical release to do so. That $500K is similar to what indie hits like Moonrise Kingdom make on their first weekend in a handful of art house theaters, but you have to wonder if the on-demand release generates the same amount of buzz and word of mouth. And by the time the film hits theaters, wouldn’t everyone who wanted to see it already have done so with the film sitting on their fingertips for nearly a month?
And how many people are watching each of these $9.99 rentals? If the average number is two or more, they’re missing out on some earning potential. The question then becomes how many people were willing to watch it at home that wouldn’t be willing to do so in the theater. Personally, I had a few hours to kill over the weekend so I took advantage of Bachelorette‘s convenience. Did you do the same? Would you have made the trip to the theater to see it if that was your only option?
Either way, it’s a great start for The Weinstein Company’s new VOD-based subsidiary Radius, which also has Only God Forgives, the latest collaboration between the Drive tandem of Ryan Gosling and director Nicolas Winding Refn, coming out in the spring. [Deadline]
4.) Moving on, Terry Crews spoke to Black Film and revealed his busy slate:
I will also be in Scary Movie 5. That’s being directed by my man Malcolm Lee, who I love from The Best Man. I plan on coming back for the second season of “The Newsroom” and I have a couple of things in the works. I do plan on being in Expendables 3, which is really popping up really quick. A lot of people are talking about it, but it depends on how [The Expendables 2] does.
5.) Speaking of Scary Movie 5, THR has revealed the two celebrities who will get killed in the opening scene are:
***SPOILER ALERT***
Seriously, I’m about to tell you…
Charlie Sheen and Lindsay Lohan
