Entertainment

Sony Does Well At Box Office (Grown Ups + Karate Kid)

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 29, 2010 | 20 comments

Three weeks ago, when “The Karate Kid” opened, we reported the fantastic box office result of the movie, opening with $55 million, well above the other big releases. 3 weeks later, Sony has followed up with a new comedy, starring Adam Sandler. Though not able to top “Toy Story” at its second week, “Grown Ups” pulled in $40.5 million, making it the #1 comedy in the US and 2nd ranking behind Toy Story 3. The Karate Kid on its 4th weekend held 4th place with a decent $15.5 million, putting its total gross so far at $135.7 Million. Not bad for young star Jaden Smith.

Weekend Box Office Ranking:
1. Toy Story 3: $59.3 million ($226.8 million)
2. Grown Ups: $40.5 million
3. Knight & Day: $20.1 million
4. The Karate Kid $15.4 million ($135.7 million)
5. The A-Team $6.2 million ($63 million)

Sony Brings New Comedy “Grown Ups” To Theaters

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 25, 2010 | 6 comments

Let’s say you’ve had enough of ass kicking and 3D, but you also don’t want to see anything animated. Then Sony would like to invite you this weekend to see their newest comedy, “Grown Ups.” Starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, and Rob Schneider, it is a comedy about five childhood friends who reunite years later to honor the passing of their childhood basketball coach. With their wives and kids, they spend the Fourth of July holiday weekend together at the lake house where they celebrated their championship years earlier. For me, Sony and Adam Sandler always produce gold with my favorite from the duo being “Click.” Other hits from them include “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” “Anger Management” and the classic “Big Daddy” (among many others).

Sony Confirms Karate Kid Sequel

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 25, 2010 | 27 comments

After we reported the amazing box office performance of the Karate Kid, one would only assume that Sony would love to follow up the movie with a sequel. Now, we have word from Sony that they indeed do have a sequel in development and are currently in the process of pitching ideas back and forth to hit the new tone they seek. That’s because the current movie follows the formula of the original very closely, but director Harold Zwart went on to say:

I personally think it’s now so much on its own two feet, given the success, that it would be interesting to see where we could take it without ever thinking about the old ones.

When asked if they might follow the story of the originals again:

Every now and then we discussed it…But the truth is, when you see Jackie and Jaden, they’re like a really good film couple. On and off camera, I was watching how they were pulling practical jokes on each other and throwing rocks in the lake, and you just want to keep looking at them because they have a great dynamic and great humor. We have just been playing with a few different ideas, but we haven’t landed on anything at the moment.

I have to say that I’m a little behind on watching movies. Recently, I’ve only been able to see “The A-Team” (loved it) and I have seen “Prince of Persia” twice now. I am hoping to catch Toy Story 3 very soon, followed by “Knight and Day” (super excited about this). But I promise to sneak in “Karate Kid” sometime! And yes, I’m a huge movie buff.

Men In Black 3D Teaser

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 15, 2010 | 3 comments

We have been reporting plenty about Men In Black 3D; first about getting the cast back together and then setting a release date. Now, we have a little teaser from Will Smith himself and I have to say that I totally believe Big Willy.

Sony Kicks Competition With The Karate Kid

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 14, 2010 | 4 comments

Oh man, you gotta love puns. Sony blocked the competition this weekend with the Karate Kid? Sony roundhouse kicked box office gold, all the way to the bank! Anyway, the puns are endless but the number of viewers were limited and Sony was able to fend off other big movies (like the A-Team, which is a fantastic movie by the way; I recommend checking it out) and be the number 1 movie at the box office by a wide margin.

The Karate Kid ($55,655,805)
The A-Team ($25,669,455)
Shrek Forever After ($15,770,491)
Get Him To The Greek ($9,942,405)
Killers ($8,008,007)

This marks the debut film for Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith and Jackie Chan’s second highest opening, next to Rush Hour 2. The film worked with a $40 million budget, meaning Sony is already clear of costs for the movie and can only have further success here from its international release, as well as continued box office presence and eventual Blu-ray/DVD and download releases. I have to also congratulate Sony on selling the movie. Reviews in general have been extremely positive for the film but what the Sony marketing team was able to do for the film was to convey the story. It didn’t try to relieve the memory of the past Karate Kid films and it didn’t try to sell it on random action scenes. Instead, it told the audience the story conveyed by the film and the audience turned out in flocks to see it.

The Karate Kid "truly a worthy remake"

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 11, 2010 | 4 comments

New in theaters this week from Sony Pictures is “The Karate Kid” which is a remake of the 1984 classic. I’m really curious how this movie will do at the box office against an action packed movie like the A-Team (saw it last night and LOVED it. Cannot wait to see it again). I say this with more of a financial tone for Sony Pictures than a movie review, because Sony Pictures has been fairly quiet the last few months in their movie presence. But after this, they are following up with the release of “Salt” which is another movie I’m excited for. I do have say though that so far the Karate Kid has been getting some excellent reviews with the title quote as one, and praise for Jaden Smith (Will Smith’s son) going on to say “First and foremost, we are completely astounded with how much talent Jaden Smith has in him.” I will hopefully be catching this movie myself tomorrow night so I’ll have a better judge of its box office take but I think if this movie can open in the $40 million range, that it will be a huge win for Sony (and this is actually hard task because Jaden is not really known and Jackie Chan, although I love him, is not a box office-leading actor).

Hit the jump for the movie synopsis and trailer.

Jamie Bell To Join Spider-Man Reboot?

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 11, 2010 | 12 comments

As we have reported in the past, Sony is looking to “peter-parker-told-differently”/” target=”_self”>reboot the Spider-Man franchise with a new trilogy and maybe more. There have been many rumors about cast members and recently, Jamie Bell’s name has been tossed around a lot. Now, I personally remember Jamie Bell from Jumper and I liked him in that movie. However, I don’t believe this is for the main role, aka Peter Parker aka Spidey. So could he be the new Harry? Let the speculation begin!

[Via Slashfilm]

PS3s Heavy Rain becoming a Movie

by Jenni Petot | Jun 7, 2010 | 2 comments

The PS3 exclusive and highly rated game, Heavy Rain, is very close to getting a film deal. The rights are rumored to be sold to Unique Features which is a Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne company. They founded New Line Cinema back in 1967. I hope this will be a good game to film feature that is casted well since it is very character based game. The gameplay of Heavy Rain is very cinematic already with camera angles, music and action placement. For those of you that haven’t played the game, the story follows four protagonist that are involved with the mystery of the Origami Killer. It is a drama-thriller that I can very much picture as a movie if they make the story easy to follow because at times, it can be very confusing in the game.

Sony Bets Big With "Battle: Los Angeles"

by Sohrab Osati | May 29, 2010 | 21 comments

If anybody follows how movie releases work, then you will know that February is a dumping ground of sorts for movies, especially action movies. But with its move from the February release to March 11th 2011, it seems like Sony now has a lot of faith in Jonathan Liebesman’s Battle: Los Angeles. As /Film reports: “Battle: Los Angeles” will go head to head with Disney’s 3D animated film Mars Needs Moms, and will play a week before The Dark Fields and Paramounts animated film Rango, and two weeks before Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch.

The idea of this film, which stars Aaron Eckhart, is “Blackhawk Down” meets “Independence Day” (sign me up). The film itself will follow a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron) who battles the aliens who have attacked Los Angeles.

Here is the official plot synopsis:

“When unknown forces put the City of Angels under attack, it’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to come to the rescue. As the invasion hits the streets of L.A., the Marines become our first and last line of defense against a highly powerful enemy. Bridget Moynahan (I, Robot), Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar) and Michael Peña (World Trade Center) co-star alongside an ensemble cast including Ramon Rodriguez and Ne-Yo.”

Sony Casts Jemaine Clement For Men In Black 3D

by Sohrab Osati | May 27, 2010 | 11 comments

I’ve been bringing you steady news on Sony’s plan for Men In Black 3D. First, they got Will Smith back and then I told you the release date. Well, it’s now really looking like Sony is going full force on this film by now casting Jemaine Clement (well known for Flight of the Conchords). This now means this film has some great and wide ranging talent. Will Smith is the no brainer, but Sony was able to get Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin as well. The guys over at /Film have the full scoop but there is some spoiler related information about the 3rd film, so read at your own discretion.

[Via /Film]

Roller Coaster Tycoon Coming To Theaters Via Sony Pictures Animation

by Sohrab Osati | May 22, 2010 | 15 comments

Hey, why not? There is going to be a “Battleship,” “Candyland,” “Risk” and “Smurfs” movie, so why the hell not a “Roller Coaster Tycoon” movie? Sure, something like “Uncharted” might be a more obvious choice, but we’re no movie exec here. Now, the good news is that director Harald Zwart (director of Sony’s upcoming “Karate Kid”) will be the executive producer and possibly the director, and the new “Karate Kid” is getting some fantastic early buzz. Another factor that will help is that this is Sony Pictures Animation department. This means that this movie will be a Live Action/CGI Hybrid. It’s aimed at the kids, so it might just work. Also, Herald Zwart will be joined by screenwriters David Ronn and Jay Scherick, who recently worked on “The Smurfs” and “The Zookeeper” starring Kevin James.

[Via Heat Vision]

Men in Black 3-D Set for May 25, 2012

by Sohrab Osati | May 18, 2010 | 8 comments

So a week or so ago we talked about how Big Willy had signed on for a 3rd Men in Black which would be filmed in 3D. Well now, the movie also has a release date set for May 25th, 2012. Now thats going to be a crazy time for movies as The Avengers hits May 4, Battleship comes May 25. Other movies planned for the following weeks are Star Trek 2, the “peter-parker-told-differently”/” target=”_self”>Spider-Man reboot and Batman 3.

Now lets get nostalgic.

Sony Pictures Picks Up Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist

by Sohrab Osati | May 15, 2010 | 4 comments

Nothing crazy here but it’s sometimes sad to see smaller, more beautiful films and cartoons go by, unheard of, because of their lack of mass appeal. With this, comes news that Sony Pictures Classic has picked up Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist which is a beautifully had drawn cartoon, taking us back to the old days of Disney hand drawn films.

[Via Variety]

New News On Uncharted Movie

by Sohrab Osati | May 13, 2010 | 15 comments

First, it should be no surprise that if an Uncharted movie were to get adopted (which it is), that Sony would be doing it, sense Sony owns the game. But now some details on this project. Sony originally had a goal of having this ready for a summer 2011 project but it seems like that is no longer the case and nothing more on that front. Now we found out that Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer (Sahara, Conan) had been tapped to write a script based on this bestselling PS3 video game. Over all, there has been good news behind the upcoming Conan production and I have to say, I love Sahara. I think it has the perfect tone of humor and action which is exactly what the Uncharted series has brought to gamers. The director for this project is currently David O. Russell who is wrapping up work on The Fighter, the boxing movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale, which according to /Film, has been garnering some good buzz.

One of my wishes with this series is that Sony treats it with respect and does do a $40 million budget. Take a cue from Jerry Bruckheimer who has been over seeing the Prince of Persia movie. Make it a film that will appeal to all, not some cheesy adaptation. Plus, the premise of a charming action adventure movie is pure gold. Look no further then Indiana Jones and National Treasure. So I really do think Sony can create an entirely new and large franchise for themselves with this property. Only thing, Please have Nathan Fillion as Drake. For anybody who has seen Nathan in Firefly or his current work Castle, you will know that the man not only looks like him, but can deliver the lines like no other.

Sony To Make Ghost Rider 2 Without Nicolas Cage?

by Sohrab Osati | May 10, 2010 | 6 comments

Sony has been very slowly working on the idea of a Ghost Rider 2. Granted the first film wasn’t a Spider-man or Iron Man surprise, but it made it’s own decent amount of cash to be considered a success. Now Nicolas Cage himself has talked about the idea of a second film here and there but it looks like Sony might have to move a long without him.

According to Slashfilms, Cage’s schedule for National Treasure 3 will likely interfere with Ghost Rider 2, and that the studio is ready to go forward on the film without him. Writers Scott Gimple and Seth Hoffman (Flash Forward) worked with David Goyer on a script, which has just been turned in.

Now the reason for this semi rush (which studio would want to drop it’s Star from a sequel if it didn’t have to) is that unless the film goes into production by November 14th, 2010, Columbia Pictures (Sony) will lose the rights of the film and Marvel will regain them, which means Disney will gain them (Disney last year bought Marvel for somewhere around the $4+ billion mark).

I personally got my kick out of the first one and wouldn’t mind seeing a second film WITH Nicolas Cage in it. One of the reason is that I hate movies with inconstancy. The Batman series is well known for this that there is always a cast shuffle from one flick to the other. This also happened to Iron Man. Sony itself did a great job for Spider-man 1-3 and I hope that Sony can work this out that Cage does indeed return. Hell, start shooting the scenes without Cage in them until he wraps up production on National Treasure 3?

[Via Slashfilms]