“G.I. Joe 3” moving forward, gets director

“G.I. Joe: Retaliation” may not have been a bit hit domestically, but it earned more than $365 million worldwide. That’s good enough for Hasbro and the studios because “G.I. Joe 3” is on its way. Director Jon Chu, who helmed the second film, is returning. No word on which if the cast is coming back, but the second film featured D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Stevenson, Channing Tatum, Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: The Rock has taken over the world

Well, not really. But Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has taken over the box office world. You think I’m kidding? EW pointed this out: Take a look at the last 16 weeks. There has been a movie starring Johnson in the top 10 every week since Feb. 22. It started with “Snitch” and most recently continued with “Fast and Furious 6”, which co-stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Luke Evans and more:

Feb. 22-24 – Snitch (No. 2)
Mar. 1-3 – Snitch (No. 4)
Mar. 8-10 – Snitch (No. 5)
Mar. 15-17 – Snitch (No. 6)
Mar. 22-24 – Snitch (No. 10)
Mar. 29-31 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 1)
Apr. 5-7 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 2)
Apr. 12-14 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 4)
Apr. 19-21 – G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 5)
Apr. 26-28 – Pain & Gain (No. 1), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (No. 6)
May 3-5 – Pain & Gain (No. 2)
May 10-12 – Pain & Gain (No. 3)
May 17-19 – Pain & Gain (No. 4)
May 24-26 – Fast & Furious 6 (No. 1)
June 1-3 – Fast & Furious 6 (No. 1)
June 7-9 – Fast & Furious 6 (No. 2)

His last three movies have reached No. one at the box office for its opening weekend and combined, his 2013 movies have earned $956 million. And I thought Channing Tatum had a good 2012. This puts that to shame. Also, Johnson hosts the TNT show “The Hero”.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Guess who may be back for “G.I. Joe 3”

Stephen Sommers’ “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” was a cheerfully dumb mess. The sequel, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” killed off Channing Tatum, brought in Dwayne Johnson, had a cameo from Bruce Willis and…was still a dumb mess. But it is expected to earn more than $100 million worldwide more than its processor. So Paramount is moving ahead with “G.I. Joe 3”. And if screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick expect to see Roadblock back and…the Baroness? That is kind of ironic since she was about the only villain not mentioned in the sequel. She was played by Sienna Miller in the first film.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

“Evil Dead”, “Jurassic Park” fare well at box office

The Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell produced remake of “Evil Dead” scared its way into the top spot at the box office, earning $26 million over the weekend. That’s  the good news. The bad news is it was front loaded on Friday and movie goers gave it a C+ score, which doesn’t bode well for this film having any sort of legs. The Steven Spielberg classic “Jurassic Park 3D” opened in fourth with $18.2 million, which is on par with the other live action 3D re-releases (“Titanic” and “Star Wars”). Second place was a virtual tie between “The Croods” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

G.I. Joe “Retaliates” against box office

After almost four years, a last second delay and some controversy, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” hit theaters. Starring Channing Tatum, Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis and more, the sequel earned $51.7 million during the Easter weekend, just a couple million short of the first film’s opening. That’s quite an accomplishment given the fact that Easter weekend is much more difficult to have bigger openings (Just ask Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez about “Grindhouse”) than in the summer. The other new release, “Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor” became his eighth film to earn more than $20 million with $22.7 million.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Joe off to a strong start at the box office

This is good news for Paramount. “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”, the sequel starring Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum and more earned $10.5 million from its opening day on Thursday. That puts $54 million, the amount that the first film made, well within reach this weekend. The movie also received an A- score from audiences, an improvement over the first film. That bodes well for the sequel.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: 3/29/13

March is nearly in the books, but not before the Joes come back (at least a few of them) for round two and yet another young adult adaptation rolls into theaters as well as a film from a well known director.

“G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” hit theaters in 2009 and earned $150 million in the U.S. Starring Channing Tatum (before he was a star), Dennis Quaid and host of others, the film got critically trashed and fans of G.I. Joe pretty much hated it. Fast forward to 2012 and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” was set to hit theaters in June. And barely over a month before its released it was pushed back to this weekend to convert it to 3D…and many people think to include more scenes with Tatum now that his career has taken off. Jon Chu (“Step Up”) is in the director’s chair this time and the only returning characters are Duke, Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Dwayne Johnson and Bruce Willis are the biggest names added to the cast. That being said, coupled with opening a day early on Thursday, this film likely won’t match the first film’s three-day opening. But it’s four day opening should come close.

Opening weekend (four days): $45-50 million

“The Host”, not the amazing monster film from a couple years ago, but based on the (ugh) Stephanie Meyer novel, hits theaters. But, not even something from the author of “Twilight” will be able to help this film become the next “Twilight”. Studios have been so quick to snatch up these books, but what they’re forgetting is in the case of Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games, each of these books weren’t just popular. They were crazes. They entered popular culture. There were midnight launches for the books. They were a phenomenon. Just because a book sells well doesn’t mean it’s to the same level and that means there is going to be a lot less people coming to the theater. This is going to do far worse than “Warm Bodies”.

Opening weekend: $10-15 million

Finally, another Tyler Perry film hits theaters with “Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor”. Easter weekend has been kind to Perry with his three movies being released on Easter weekend earning between $20 and $30 million. But this could be a true test for the Perry brand. His more serious films generally open slightly below $20 million, so one of those trends has to give this weekend. My guess is it’s the former.

Opening weekend: $15-20 million.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com

Early reviews for “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” are in…what are critics saying?

It’s only 12 reviews, so take this with a grain of salt. But at least based on these reviews, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” could be the first big surprise of the year. The film is sitting on a 75 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. The high points of the film? Critics say the action is fun and this is the G.I. Joe film fans want. The low points? The story. Basically, everything a film like this is supposed to excel in, it is, according to these critics. That’s a good sign. Hopefully this film is as fun as it should be. The movie hits theaters this weekend and stars Dwayne Johnson, Bruce Willis, Channing Tatum and many more.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Dwayne Johnson in “Star Wars”?

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been a busy guy. He’s starred in family films like “Journey 2 The Mysterious Island”. He’s been in “Fast Five”, the upcoming “Fast and Furious 6” and maybe his own spin off film as Luke Hobbs. He’s in “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”. Noticing a trend? He’s taken a lot of franchises and a lot of them have done well after he’s joined. In an interview with Cinema Blend, Johnson shared which franchise he’d like to join, if possible. Here’s his answer:

“Oh easily. Star Wars. And that’s not to say that they need it. Obviously they’re doing very well. And J.J. [Abrams] is just gonna crush it. I’m so excited. There’s a guy, by the way, who’s not just a brilliant director, but honors and respects mythology. You’ve seen that with Star Trek and you’re going to see that with Star Wars. I’m very excited about that.”

Abrams is of course busy preparing for the release of “Star Trek Into Darkness” starring Chris Pine and more. But it could be interesting to see Johnson in some alien makeup or perhaps as a bounty hunter in the new films. I’ve, surprisingly, grown to enjoy a lot of Johnson’s movies, even the recent “Snitch”.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Hercules cast grows

Director Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”, “X-Men: The Last Stand”) is making “Hercules”. The film is said to be a more “grounded” take on the character with Dwayne Johnson (“Fast and Furious 6”, “G.I. Joe: Retaliation”) starring. Now the film has added a few more actors to the cast. Ian McShane (“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”), John Hurt, Aksel Hennie, Rufus Sewell, Joseph Fiennes and Rebecca Ferguson are joining the film.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

 

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