Entertainment

Sony Introduces Movie Channel for USA

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 26, 2010 | 18 comments

DISH Network, DIRECTV and AT&T U-verse TV users will soon have a new channel to view: the Sony Movie Channel. Just like pay per view channels, as well as HBO and Showtime, the Sony Movie Channel will provide unedited movies without commercials. Tapping into Sony’s vast library of both old and new movies, the channel will be broadcasted in glorious high definition.

“We’re seeing a strong demand for high definition movie content,” said Andy Kaplan, president, networks, Sony Pictures Television. “In an effort to meet consumers’ needs, Sony Movie Channel was designed specifically for the Hollywood movie fan, bringing our high-quality catalogue of feature films directly to viewers.”

[Via Sony Insider]

Box Office: Paranormal Activity 2, Jackass 3D and Red

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 25, 2010 | 4 comments

As I mentioned last week, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to write future segments of the Box Office section. From the beginning of summer, Sony has been releases a steady stream of movies in two week intervals. But once The Social Network bows out, Sony will be done with releases for this year. Does this mean I should end the series and only report on Sony movies like I had till now or cover the box office in general? Being the film geek that I am, I’ve decided that starting next week, I’ll cover box office results in general and not focus only on Sony releases because no studio frankly releases movies year around.

On its 24th day at the theaters, The Social Network continued to be a popular draw, dropping only 29% from last week to gain another $7.2 million for its gross. With the help of its slowly growing international release, the film now stands at $90.4 million. Sony has officially pulled Resident Evil: After life from theaters world wide after taking in $269 million on a $60 million budget. This makes it the most popular Resident Evil movie to date:

Resident Evil: After Life ($269 million total)
Resident Evil: Extinction ($147.7 million total)
Resident Evil: Apocalypse ($129.3 million total)
Resident Evil ($102.4 million total)

Now for the weekend results.

Box Office Totals:

Paranormal Activity 2 – $40.6 million ($41.5 million total)
Jackass 3D – $21.3 million ($87.1 million total)
Red – $15 million ($43.4 million total)
Hereafter – $12 million ($12.3 million total)
The Social Network – $7.2 million ($90.4 million total)

Rhys Ifans Will Play the Lizard in new Spider-man

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 21, 2010 | 12 comments

Last week, we wrote about how actor Rhys Ifans has been cast as the new villain in the Spider-man movie but we had no idea who he would play. Well, this week, we can confidently report to you that Rhys Ifans will be portraying the Lizard. Originally played by Dylan Baker in the first three Spider-man films, the Lizard was a character who was beautifully and slowly played up, but we never had a chance to see his actual transformation. For those who want to know more about the Lizard, hit the jump for a Wiki Marvel breakdown of him.

[Via the Wrap]

Box Office: Jackass, Red and Social Network

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 18, 2010 | 7 comments

While I still debate if I want t keep this section purely focused on Sony Pictures material or if I want to cover all studios, I will go ahead and keep this weeks simple and still Sony focused. In its third week, the two week No. 1 movie in the US, The Social Network, landed in the No. 3 spot this week with a respectable $11 million. Down 29% compared to last weekend, this puts The Social Network at $63.1 million in 17 days. This now puts the film at $66.3 million in its world wide tally with only $3 million coming from the world wide take. Expect that to grow in the following week as the movie rolls out to more international spots.

Other sold holdover, Easy A continued to hold strong, down a spot to No. 9 with $2.6 million, putting its world wide gross so far at $56.9 million, making it a pure profit picture with a $8 million budget. Resident Evil: Afterlife is finishing out its last days on the big screen, with $258.8 million world wide. Expect this movie to be pulled from the the theaters soon, following in the foot steps of Takers which bowed out last week.

Box Office Totals:

Jackass 3D – $50 million ($50 million total)
Red – $22.5 million ($22.5 million total)
The Social Network – $11 million ($66.3 million total)
Secretariat – $9.5 million ($27.5 million total)
Life as We Know It – $9.2 million ($28.8 million total)

Breaking: Rhys Ifans Join Spider-man Reboot as the Villain

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 11, 2010 | 2 comments

Another week and another cast member to join the Spider-man reboot. This week, it’s Rhys Ifans who is joining Spider-man, now along side of Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield. Rhys Ifans has starred in films like Notting Hill, Xenophilius Lovegood and you can soon see him in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. It has yet to be announced what villain Ifans will play in the reboot.

Hit the jump for the full press release.

Box Office: The Social Network Gets More Friend Requests

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 11, 2010 | 82 comments

Sony Pictures’ The Social Network continued its reign as the most popular movie around, becoming the number one movie at the box office for the second week in a row. Down 31% compared to last weekend, The Social Network pulled in another $15.5 million, making it the smallest percentage second weekend decline of any No. 1 movie this year. With no international release yet, the movie has gained $46 million on its announced $50 million, making it a sure hit once the film wraps up its box office presence and moves to the eventual home theater market.

A Sony holdover, Easy A, continues to attract audiences, down 3 spots and 38% to No. 8. The comedy pulled in another $4.2 million from the US and another $3.8 million from the international box office to put this $8 million comedy at a $51.9 million gross. Resident Evil: After Life was able to ad another $5 million, mostly from international markets to get the movie to $241 million. Expect this movie to bow out with a $260 million final gross. Sony’s last movie, The Takers, was down to the number 19 spot. The almost 2 month old movie added $400,000 to give it a $56.7 million gross on its $32 million budget. Expect this movie to bow out in the next two weeks. Speaking of bowing out, Sony has finally taken Salt off screens, ending its 5 month run and $286.9 million gross. As expected, Sony pulled the plug on The Virginity Hit, after the dismal opening the indie comedy had.

Weekend Gross:

The Social Network – $15.5 million ($46 million total)
Life as We Know It – $14.6 million ($14.6 million total)
Secretariat – $12.6 million ($12.6 million total)
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole – $7 million ($50.6 million)
My Soul to Take – $6.9 million ($6.9 million)

Uncharted Movie Gets David O. Russell as Writer & Director

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 8, 2010 | 3 comments

It looks like Sony Pictures is going full steam ahead with an Uncharted movie. The movie, which will be based on the award winning Playstation 3 exclusive, now has a director and writer on the helm, David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees, The Fighter). Producing this film will be Avi Arad (Spider-man Trilogy, X-men Trilogy, Iron Man 1 & 2). Although no release date is set, with a writer and director on board now, expect more news in the following months with a probably 2012 release date. Just in time for Uncharted 3? Oh yea!

Hit the jump for an official press release.

Emma Thompson Joins Men in Black 3D

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 7, 2010 | 27 comments

Sony Pictures is starting to ramp up Men in Black 3D for its May 25th, 2012 release date by filling in most of the major cast. Current casts members include Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Jemaine Clement and Josh Brolin. Now Deadline is reported that Academy Award winner Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility, Love Actually, Nanny McPhee) is also set to join the cast. Its currently unknown who her character will be in the film.

[Via Deadline]

Spidey Update: Emma Stone will play Gwen Stacy!

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 5, 2010 | 111 comments

We reported on Sunday that Emma Stone would be offered the role of Mary Jane, but it wasn’t set in stone. (hah, get it?) Anyway, news broke out today from Sony Pictures and Marvel that Emma Stone is officially playing the role of Gwen Stacy. Stone and Sony have a great history together. She has played roles in Zombieland, The House Bunny, Superbad and their film currently in theaters, Easy A, which has been getting very high reviews. Director of the new film, Marc Webb, said:

“The chemistry between Andrew and Emma was stunning and made Emma the clear choice.”

Peter Parker will have two love interests in the new re-boot. The obvious is Mary Jane, but in the comics, Gwen Stacy was Parker’s first love. I thought Stone would have been great as Mary Jane, but she is actually a natural blonde and will be going back to her natural roots for the role. I now wonder who will be casted for Mary Jane, since in the long term, she will play a bigger role in Spider-man’s life. The new Spider-man film will swing into theaters in 3D, July 3, 2012.

Box Office: The Social Network Connects

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 5, 2010 | 6 comments

This weeks big film, The Social Network, made tons of friends at theaters, bringing in $22.4 million on its $50 million dollar budget which is slightly higher then the original $40 million reported budget. Although a highly-talked-about film on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace where the movie was ironically heavily advertised, Sony did not rely just on that; marketing the movie was the “dramatic, generation-defining rise of the world’s youngest billionaire” (“You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies”). Distributor Sony Pictures’ exit polling indicated that 53 percent of the audience was female and 55 percent was aged 25 years and older. The movie also fared much better thanWall Street: Money Never Sleeps $19 million open which had much greater star power behind it.

Sonys other hit, Easy A continues to please audiences, down only 36% and gaining another $10.9 million for a $44.7 million world wide total. Resident Evil: After Life has also added another big chunk, $31 million, to sit at a worldwide total of $236.2 million, well ahead of other Resident Evil titles while it calms down at U.S. box offices. Action and crime flick, Takers lost more then 50% of its audience this weeks, but still well beyond its $32 million budget with a cool take of $56.1 million. Holdovers The Other Guys is at $139.9 million, Eat Pray Love hits $119.4 and Salt near a new milestone with $284.5. The Virginity Hit continued to miss, grabbing another $48,623, down 83.9% for a whopping total of $535,249 on its $2 million budget. I don’t expect the movie to cross the $600,000 mark too easily, if at all.

The Social Network ($22.4 million)
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole ($41.2 million)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps ($58.9 million)
The Town ($77.1 million)
Easy A ($44.7 million)

Spider-Man: Emma Stone offered the role of Mary Jane

by Jenni Petot | Oct 3, 2010 | 17 comments

Deadline’s Hollywood report confirmed that Emma Stone will be offered the role to play Mary Jane Watson in Marc Webb’s Spider-Man reboot. I think Stone , age 21, has a very bright career future. She is known for her roles in Superbad, Zombieland and The House Bunny. Her recently released comedy, Easy A, has been receiving very high reviews and great buzz. I think she would be a great Mary Jane for the new films. If Stone takes the role, she will play one of two love interest for Peter Parker. Gwen Stacy (who is not casted) will be Peter’s lady, but we all how important Mary Jane plays in Parker’s love life.

I’m still a little skeptical about this reboot, and wish they just continued the franchise with the original cast and directors, but would be happy with this choice for MJ. We’ll be keeping you posted with more Sony news on the new Spidey movies.

This Week at the Movies: The Social Network

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 1, 2010 | 14 comments

Out this week from Columbia Pictures is The Social Network, aka the Facebook movie. Based around the alleged life of Mark Zuckerberg, the movie chronicles the rise of Facebook and how Mark went through Harvard and Silicon Valley to because the worlds youngest billionaire and the life of those around him. I had a chance to see The Social Network last night at Arclight Sherman Oaks here in LA, which is directed by David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club, Curious Case Of Benjamin Button) and scored by Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails). Even with its two hour running time, the movie never seems to drag on as each shot, scene and dialogue is masterfully crafted with intent. For those who want to inspire and become the next big hit or for those who simply want to see an adult movie, capturing the early 2000s, I cannot recommend this enough. Especially for those of who who went to college in the early 2000s, as the movie progresses and shows the expansion and tale of Facebook, I can look back and say “Yea, I remember that and I wast part of that”.

Sony Pictures Planning on a $30 Home Film Viewing Option

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 28, 2010 | 10 comments

Three of the biggest studios, Sony, Disney and Warner Brothers are in talks to offer consumers movies for $30 a showing after their run in theaters. The plan is to partner up with In Demand, Time Warner and Cox Communications to offer movies to view at home right out of theaters, instead of waiting three to four months for their Blu-ray and DVD release. Also in talks is the possibility of offering a streaming option for internet-linked consoles like the PS3 and Xbox. The CFO of Time Warner said they will likely experiment with this service early next year.

There has been testing for a similar service. Sony tested the market with the movie “Handcock” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” in 2009 for $24.95. The Tokyo-based owner of Sony Pictures hasn’t announced plans for another movie through its TV sets and I didn’t find any results of the testing.

We all know that DVD sales are declining but I honestly would rather buy a Blu-ray for around $20-$25 on the first week of its release instead of paying $30 to view it once at my house right after the movie is pulled from theaters. This is obviously a very premium service which has good potential, but I’m not sure how many would pay for it. A service where movies that are still in theaters that can be viewed at home would be a better solution and be more profitable I believe. Grab five or six friends, split the cost and enjoy a new movie at home that’s still in theaters.

I personally am a huge movie lover. I go to see movies in theaters almost weekly and the high cost of ticket prices aren’t fun but that doesn’t stop me from going. This home film viewing service isn’t one for me because if I don’t catch a movie in theaters, I’ll rent it or buy it on Blu-ray. Would any of you guys pay $30 to see a movie that’s in between movie theater and Blu-ray/DVD release? We’ll see if it happens.

Box Office: The Virginity Miss (Sept. 24-26)

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 27, 2010 | 7 comments

During the last weekend of September, Sony released The Virginity Hit witch turned to be a giant miss while its other hold-overs continued to do well with titles like Resident Evil: After Life and Eat Pray Love continuing their worldwide expansion. The Virginity Hit made a total of $301,885 at 700 locations which is considered to be one of the worst openings on record. The plot centered around a comedy about three pals documenting the progress of their socially-awkward friend who tries desperately to lose his virginity. The selling point of this film was how these friends would film and upload their friends life on YouTube and the humor and drama that it would cause. But as many YouTube videos that fail to get their 15 seconds of fame, this film failed to capture the audience that it was intended for as well.

Slipping to the number 4 spot, Sony’s Easy A continued to be a draw to audiences, grabbing another $10.6 million, down 40% from last week, putting its total earned to $33.8 million on the $8 million budget. Down 3 spots to number 7, Resident Evil: After Life is officially the highest grossing in the series, capturing $4.9 million this weekend, putting its world wide total to $205 million on its $60 million budget. This puts it ahead of Resident Evil: Extinction, the prior record holder Resident Evil title that sat at $147.7 million for its world wide total. Other Sony titles like Takers is down to number 9, down 46.4% from last week, putting its total to $54 million on its $32 million budget. No worldwide release yet for this title. Speaking of worldwide, The Other Guys has added a total of $8 million from its international release, putting it at $125.8 million gross. Eat Pray Love, the Julia Roberts drama, has an even bigger worldwide gain, adding $19.9 million to its gross, putting the title at $98.8 million total. Expect Sony’s early summer hit Salt to bow out of theaters soon with $279.8 million bagged already.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps ($19 million)
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole ($16.1 million)
The Town ($15.6 million)
Easy A ($10.6 million)
You Again ($8.4 million)

Resident Evil 5 Movie Ideas Begin to be Thrown Around

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 23, 2010 | 6 comments

It’s sequel week here! First we talked about how Angelina Jolie might be coming back for a round 2 of Salt and now news of a 5th Resident Evil movie. Of course, with such a big opening which is rare for a 4th movie in a franchise to sustain, it’s not a surprise to see talks of another one. Plus, what’s wonderful about the Resident Evil franchise is that series director/producer Paul W.S. Anderson and wife and star Milla Jovovich took their own direction with the series. This meant that from the beginning, the series was not based around 1 movie or trilogy arc and the rest felt like a tacked on story.

Talking with Vulture, Milla Jovovich said “This new Resident Evil is the first one to ever open at number one worldwide. It’s the biggest movie in the franchise,” she went on “So we’re definitely going to make another one.” When the fifth movie does happen though, don’t expect it to be just from the stand point of Paul W.S. Anderson because as the series creator he wants to talk to fans on “Twitter and stuff” about what characters they want in the film”. Personally from a fan perspective who has enjoyed the series both as games and movies, I would love for them to go back a little to the more survival and mystery that the first film had.

[Via Vulture]