“Thor 2″ is supposedly going to be directed by Patty Jenkins

Variety has apparently confirmed that Marvel Studios is indeed in talks with Patty Jenkins to replace departing Kenneth Branagh in directing Thor 2, which is due for release on July 26th, 2013. I generally don’t comment on news about who is ‘in talks’ or who is ‘on the wish-list’, but Patty Jenkins inclusion on this specific wishlist is worth commenting on. Jenkins is best known for having helmed Monster, which won Charlize Theron a Best Actress Oscar in 2003 for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos. Since that triumph, she has unfortunately been relegated to directing occasional episodes of television, most recently helming the pilot for the AMC series The Killing.

This is a pleasantly out-of-left field choice that plays to Marvel’s greatest strength as a studio, picking talented filmmakers who aren’t necessarily known for comic book spectacle and/or aren’t ‘the hip new flavor of the month’. While much of the coverage will focus on ‘YAY, Marvel is possibly hiring the first-ever woman to direct one of its superhero movies!’, there are two things worth noting. First of all, Lexi Aexander, who directed Punisher: War Zone in 2008 (review) is also of the female persuasion. Second of all, the lack of credits on Jenkins’s IMDB page brings up a troubling double-standard. Had a male, arguably any male, directed a critically-acclaimed and Oscar-winning drama like Monster, they surely would have been on every studio’s wishlist for every major project (see Hopper, Tom or Forrester, Marc). But, Jenkins has barely worked in the last eight years.

The problem is of course not there there is a fiendish conspiracy to keep female directors out of the big leagues. The problem is that there is an expectation that female directors cannot possibly helm the kind of pulpy, big-budget and special-effects-filled genre pictures that currently dominate the landscape. I joke about it quite a bit, but why couldn’t Sophia Coppola helm the next James Bond picture? For that matter, why can’t Drew Barrymore, who juggled a large ensemble cast with the dynamite Whip It, take over for the rebooted Fantastic Four franchise?

Why did it take Kathryn Bigelow winning a bloody Oscar for Hollywood to take her seriously? Hell, why has Mimi Leder, who helmed two big-budget genre pictures (the emotionally engaging Deep Impact and the ahead-of-its-time The Peacemaker) been in the proverbial doghouse for ELEVEN YEARS (!!) following the disappointment of the character drama Pay It Forward? She is only just now prepping for her first big screen feature since 2000, a remake of All Quiet On the Western Front. Not only is it almost impossible for female directors to be considered for films that aren’t stereo-typically ‘womens’ pictures’, but once they do get their foot in the door, it’s One Strike And You’re Out! (as opposed to someone like Marcus Nispel, who fails with Pathfinder and then is given $90 million to fail with Conan the Barbarian).

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Final Destination 5 - Official Trailer [HD]

Final Destination 5 - Official Trailer [HD]

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Hollywood Movie 'Transformers' smashes the box office

Marking the second hugely successful day-and-date global release this summer, Paramount's "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" grossed $379 million at the worldwide box office through Sunday, according to studio estimates. The total will easily exceed $400 million by the of Monday.

'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' Trailer Director Michael Bay returns to wreak more robotic mayhem in this third entry of the "Transformers" franchise. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox reprise their roles, with John Malkovich and Frances McDormand headi… More Director Michael Bay returns to wreak more robotic mayhem in this third entry of the "Transformers" franchise. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox reprise their roles, with John Malkovich and Frances McDormand heading up the supporting cast.
Paramount estimates that the sequel will meet its pre-release domestic projections with $181.1 million by the end of day Monday.

"Dark of the Moon" also set a four-day Fourth of July holiday-weekend record with $116.4 million over the frame -- narrowly beating Sony's "Spider-Man 2" ($115.8 million), pending final tally.

Also on TheWrap: One Billion Dollars! Disney's 'Pirates 4' Is 8th Film to Cross Big Box-Office Mark

But it was the foreign market, 70 percent of which chose to see the movie in 3D, that drove "Transformers 3." Opening up in 58 territories across the globe at the same time it premiered in 4,013 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, the film enjoyed the third biggest foreign Wednesday-through-Sunday opening ever.

Also: Don't miss our Summer Movies Guide

The huge overseas start comes just over a month after Disney's day-and-date global release of "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" yielded a $256.3 million opening abroad. That film went on to cross the $1 billion mark this weekend, largely on the back of the foreign market.

Reviews: What did the critics think?

"If we hadn't chosen to debut the movie later in Japan and China, we probably would have had the all-time record," noted Don Harris, general manager of distribution for Paramount.

Releasing a film around the world the same weekend it premieres in the U.S. and Canada -- what the industry calls a day and date premiere -- started as a means of combating piracy. The logic: why wait for illicit copies of a film to spoil emerging markets like Russia? Just get the film out there.

More: I, Robot: Our Favorite Movie Robots | Change Up for 'Transformers'

But with "Pirates 4" and "Transformers 3" showing the strategy has a potentially explosive upside, might we see more of these types of worldwide releases? Could be.

"Just from a publicity standpoint, it's easier to get [the cast] together at one time and take them on the road," said Harris, noting that the "Transformers" crew got all its press junkets out of the way in a worldwide barnstorming tour that started in Russia, wound through Germany and ended in New York.

Related: 'Transformers' robots poke fun at 'mean' Megan Fox

In the U.S. and Canada, "Dark of the Moon" got an A grade from movie word-of-mouth researcher Cinemascore, which helped the film overcome the bad narrative aftertaste of 2009's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

About 62 percent of the audience was male, and 55 percent was under the age of 25, making "Transformers 3" one of the few movies this year to truly resonate with young-male moviegoers. Undoubtedly, some of that young-male audience came at the expense of Disney/Pixar's "Cars 2," which dropped 52 percent in its second weekend to $32.1 million.

With director Michael Bay focusing in on the 3D production values and tub-thumping the format during the film's pre-release press run-up, the movie received 60 percent of its domestic revenue from 3D engagements.

It's not the 80-plus percent that "Avatar" enjoyed, but it's enough -- for now -- to give 3D supporters hope that growing consumer backlash against 3D won't snowball right over them.

"I'm of the opinion that 3D has to be for the right movie, and it has to be done the right way," Harris noted.

"Dark of the Moon" wasn't the only film opening widely this weekend. Universal sought to counter-program the weekend with romantic comedy "Larry Crowne," which stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. The film ended up with a disappointing four-day gross of $15.7 million.

Universal distributed the film in the U.S. under service deal with Vendome Pictures, which fully financed the movie to the tune of around $30 million.

With foreign pre-sales, Vendome will likely make its money back. But the film certainly proves that the once formidable drawing powers of Hanks and Roberts have ebbed significantly.

"Larry Crowne" had a decent footprint, opening in 2,973 locations in the U.S. and Canada, and Cinemascore graded it with a lukewarm B grade.

Meanwhile, opening in 2,473 locations, Fox's Selena Gomez vehicle "Monte Carlo" grossed $8.8 million over the four-day frame, missing pre-release forecasts that were closer to $10 million. The film cost about $20 million to produce.

In terms of the art-house scene, newcomer Azazel Jacobs' "Terri" grossed $82,521 playing at six locations in New York and Los Angeles -- a moderate opening for a quirky comedy co-starring John C. Reilly.

But the real story remained Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," which dropped only 7 percent in its seventh weekend to $4.3 million. The film has grossed $34.6 million to date in the U.S. and Canada.

Overall, the domestic market was pretty much flat with last year's Fourth of July holiday, trailing only by about 3 percent, according to one studio's estimate.

Here's how the top 10 finished over the four-day holiday:
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" $116.4 million
"Cars 2" $32.1 million
"Bad Teacher" $17.6 million
"Larry Crowne" $15.7 million
"Super 8" $9.6 million
"Monte Carlo" $8.8 million
"Green Lantern" $8.1 million
"Mr. Popper's Penguins" $6.9 million
"Bridesmaids" $4.4 million
"Midnight in Paris" $4.3 million

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Hollywood News: 'The Muppets' Trailer Debuts, Posing As Rom-Com 'Green With Envy'

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy! After a tremendous amount of build-up, The Muppets is actually happening -- because now, we have a trailer to prove it! Hidden behind a rom-com mask called Green With Envy (which has a poster and all -- check it out below), the film stars Jason Segel (who also wrote it), Amy Adams, Chris Cooper and contains a slew of celebrity cameos, including Rashida Jones and Zach Galifianakis. Here's the official synopsis:

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino house band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.

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Hollywood News: Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart up against former co-stars in MTV Movie Awards

Robert Pattinson is used to seeing “Twilight” franchise films up against his former series, “Harry Potter”, and his former co-star Daniel Radcliffe up for some of the same awards as he. Yet, for the first time this year, Kristen Stewart will see a former colleague’s film, “Adventureland” co-star Jesse Eisenberg’s recent Academy Award-winner “The Social Network”, compete in the same categories as her film–“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”.

 

The double-dipping doesn’t end with the competition—at times, Pattinson and Stewart have competed against themselves for a single award. In the 2010 awards, Kristen Stewart was nominated twice for Best Kiss—once for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and once for “The Runaways” and in 2011, she has been nominated for Best Kiss with both Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner. Similarly, Robert Pattinson was nominated for his performances in both “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” and “Remember Me” in early 2010 voting. Twilight Saga supporting actress Anna Kendrick also found both her Twilight Saga film as well as her performance in “Up in the Air” nominated that year, though for different awards (and, both won in their respective categories: Kendrick for Best Breakout Star and “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” for Best Movie).

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Movie: Box Office Guru Wrapup: Hop Rules First April Weekend

New releases all fared well as the April box office kicked off with the Easter-themed hit Hop which powered its way to number one playing well to family audiences. Older adults drove the action thriller Source Code to a second place debut while fright fans lined up for the new horror pic Insidious which finished in third. But overall ticket sales continued to struggle as last year's top four films alone grossed more than all films this weekend combined.

Universal delivered the biggest opening ever for a kidpic in April with its Easter Bunny flick Hop which bowed to an estimated $38.1M. The PG-rated hybrid of animation and live-action averaged a potent $10,650 from a very wide launch in 3,579 theaters and connected with its target audience of children and their parents with a debut that exceeded pre-release expectations. Universal and its promotional partners attacked the marketplace from all angles with marketing tie-ins designed to engage consumers - and especially those all-important decision-making moms - in numerous ways. The estimate matched the bow of Rango which currently holds the record for 2011's largest opening weekend. Final numbers to be released on Monday will determine if the rabbit film can edge Johnny Depp's lizard toon.

With no huge stars appearing on screen or providing voices, the $63M-budgeted Hop was promoted as being from the producer of Despicable Me and the director of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Those overachievers grossed a combined $469M from North America alone and were crowd-pleasers with kids so families felt safe coming out for this new offering. A familiar Easter Bunny storyline and colorful trailers helped too as did a release date a few weeks before the family-friendly holiday. With a CinemaScore grade of A- and no new kidpics slated for next weekend, the road ahead looks promising although the 3D toon Rio will cause a major distraction on April 15. Overall, Hop enjoyed the fifth-biggest opening ever for April which generally is a slow month at multiplexes.

The well-reviewed sci-fi film Source Code opened in second place with an estimated $15M from 2,961 theaters for a good $5,076 average. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as a soldier that takes multiple trips back in time in hopes of preventing a train disaster, the PG-13 film attracted some of the best reviews of the year for an action film and debuted just a few notches behind recent adult-skewing thrillers like Limitless ($18.9M), The Adjustment Bureau ($21.2M), and Unknown ($21.9M). But its B CinemaScore suggests that the coming weeks may not be smooth sailing. Produced for $32M, Source Code played to older men with studio research showing that 54% of the audience was male and 64% was over 30.

New distributor FilmDistrict got off to an encouraging start with its first release, the horror picture Insidious, which bowed to an estimated $13.5M in third place. The PG-13 chiller averaged a good $5,605 from 2,408 locations and took advantage of a severe lack of competition as 2011 has barely seen any scary movies be released. Marketed as being from the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw helped it to reach its target audience and the rating certainly broadened the appeal to younger teens looking for a non-gory scare. Reviews were quite good for this genre and Saturday sales enjoyed a 12% bump - something not often seen with horror titles. Insidious debuted ahead of expectations establishing FilmDistrict as a distributor to watch for.

Tumbling 57% from its top spot debut was the kidpic sequel Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules which took in an estimated $10.2M in its second weekend for fourth place. The Fox release, which cost just $20M to produce, has grossed a solid $38.4M in ten days and is headed for the vicinity of $55M, or just slightly below the $64M of its predecessor from last spring.

The Bradley Cooper-Robert De Niro hit Limitless followed with an estimated $9.4M, off only 38%, for a $55.6M total in 17 days for Relativity. Lionsgate's Matthew McConaughey legal drama The Lincoln Lawyer also held up well in its third round slipping only 34% to an estimated $7.1M for a $39.6M cume to date. Both films are benefiting from strong word-of-mouth.

On the other hand, audiences abandoned the stylish action fantasy Sucker Punch which collapsed in its sophomore outing falling a steep 68% to an estimated $6.1M. The pricey $75M production has banked just $29.9M in ten days and is not likely to collect much more with a $35-40M final likely for Warner Bros. Rango, the year's top-grossing title, dropped 53% and took in an estimated $4.6M pushing Paramount's sum to $113.8M.

Alien flicks Paul and Battle: Los Angeles were once again neighbors on the box office chart and this time rounded out the top ten. Universal's comedy collected an estimated $4.3M, down 45%, and has taken in $31.9M to date. Sony's action pic fell harder with a 54% decline to an estimated $3.5M. The invasion film's domestic total stands at $78.5M while the overseas tally crossed the century mark this weekend with $100.7M putting the global cume at $179.2M.

In limited release, Sony Classics platformed this year's Oscar and Golden Globe winner for best foreign language film In A Better World in four sites in New York and Los Angeles and grossed an estimated $35,400. The Danish film averaged a respectable $8,850 per theater and earned mostly good reviews from U.S. film critics. The bullying drama played numerous film festivals like Toronto and Sundance and was released in Scandinavia last fall.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $111.8M which was down a sizable 33% from last year when Clash of the Titans opened in the top spot with $61.2M; and off 24% from 2009 when Fast & Furious debuted at number one with $71M. The two films still stand as April's biggest opening weekends by a wide margin.

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Shahid Kapoor News - New follower of Perfectionist Aamir Khan

Latest Shahid Kapoor News 2010:-

Shahid Kapoor Upcoming Movies 2010:-

Badmaash Company Release Date 7 May, 2010, Milenge Milenge, Mausam

(1) As per Current Bollywood News, Shahid Kapoor shows towards his work and his sudden change of behavior from a very hyper active guy, to a balanced and thoughtful guy, is fast making people in the industry compare him with the deadly Aamir Khan. Even Bollywood Bold Actor Shahid Kapoor’s style of talking, his mannerisms and his dedication towards his job, all point to the distinct similarity between the two.

(2) In Latest Shahid Kapoor Interviews 2010 about his Bollywood Upcoming Movies 2010 named “Badmaash Company”, he said that,

“I think I always wanted to be a good boy, but I think inherently I have a 'badmaash' (naughty) streak in me. That's why I love doing this role. This is my escape route. What I couldn't do in my childhood, (I'm) doing it in films”

(3) As per Latest Bollywood Gupshup, the Shahid Kapoor Next Film with Hottest Sonam Kapoor named “Mausam”, which is being directed by his father - veteran actor Pankaj Kapoor -, will be shot in Edinburgh. The first shooting schedule will be two months long at Edinburgh, after which the film will be shot in Punjab and Mumbai. Shahid plays the role of an air force pilot in the film, which is slated to go on floor by end May, 2010.

As per Hot Shahid Kapoor Comments about Bollywood Upcoming Hindi Films 2010 named “Mausam”, he said that, “I am really looking forward to working in my dad's film. I play the role of an air force pilot in the film.”

(4) Shahid Kapoor Next Movie will be 'Milenge Milenge' opposite Hot Kareena Kapoor. He is also working in his father Pankaj Kapoor's directorial venture 'Mausam'.

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Hollywood actress Milla Jovovich together with John Abraham

John Abraham’s sculpted physique and Greek-god like looks has not just swept Indian beauties off their feet, it has also floored international hotties. Believe it or not, but acclaimedHollywood actress Milla Jovovich , who is one of John’s many fans, requested filmmaker Deepa Mehta to cast the hunk opposite her in her next film ‘Beeba Boyz’.

Buzz has it that Mehta had signed Milla in April 2010 for Beeba Boyz, a film on Punjabi gangsters. When Milla came onboard she expressed her desire to work with John, so Deepa decided to cast him. However with John’s jam packed schedule, Deepa could not get immediate time from the actor. But instead of hunting for another male lead Deepa decided to John’s dates. So now the director will first complete ‘Midnight’s Children’ and then return to ‘Beeba Boyz’.

Speaking about John, Deepa said, “John was always my first choice for the part. Ever since we did Water, we’ve been waiting to work together again. Beeba Boyz is perfect for John. I need someone who will look menacing but attractive, sexy and earthy, speaking those Punjabi lines fluently.”

As for Milla’s admiration of John, Deepa said, “Milla asked about John the minute I offered her my film. I think she had seen John’s film and loved him in it.”

Confirming his involvement in the project, John said, “Yes, Deepa and I have met about the project with Milla. I’m doing it. We’ve sorted out the dates issues. I’m really fond of Deepa. I think we did something special in `Water`. We’ll do it again.”

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