Box office battle: 6/21/13

Tow big releases face off against “Man of Steel”. Marc Forster’s and Brad Pitt’s troubled zombie film “World War Z” finally hits theaters while Disney/Pixar goes back to the well again with “Monsters University” featuring John Goodman and Billy Crystal. Which film will come out on top?

The Pixar brand has taken a hit lately. After the masterpiece that was “Toy Story 3” we got “Cars 2” and the disappointing “Brave”. Now comes “Monsters University”, a prequel to “Monsters, Inc.” That movie is considered one of Pixar’s better movies. But prequels are inherently unnecessary .We already know Mike and Sully become best friends. And, as I’ve written before, without Boo, I think you take away the catalyst to the first movie’s charm. Reviews have been OK, but not great and with “Despicable Me 2” looming, one has to wonder if this will fail to reach the heights of other Pixar films. Opening weekend, however, should be strong.

Opening weekend: $75-80 million

“World War Z” has had such a troubled past with various rewrites and reshooting the third act. But reviews have been surprisingly decent and the trailers play up the end of the world aspect instead of the zombies. Brad Pitt is a big star, but “Inglourious Basterds” was the last film he was in that opened to more than $20 million, and he was really part of an ensemble. The film should battle it out with “Man of Steel” for second place.

Opening weekend: $45-50 million

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

Brad Pitt attends “World War Z” and reactions were…

Brad Pitt attended a special screening of “World War Z” in New Jersey. The film, directed by Marc Forster (“Quantum of Solace”) has had its fair share of stories about production problems.

“If you’ve heard any of the production problems the film has had, don’t believe the hype: World War Z isn’t a disaster. But as a disaster movie, it’s actually pretty good,” Pitt told the crowd.

And reactions? ScreenCrush described the film as a “crowd pleaser” so maybe this zombie movie won’t be such a disaster as we thought?

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

Fascinating look into “World War Z”

Pretty much ever since Marc Forster came aboard to direct “World War Z”, problems have ensued. And while Forster and star Brad Pitt don’t share anything particularly surprising, there’s a few other interviews in a piece by Vanity Fair that makes it a must read. You can check it out here. Writer Damon Lindelof, who rewrote the entire third act is one of the people interviewed. There’s stuff about shooting an entire action scene in Russia when no one felt it was right for the film, millions of dollars in debt went unpaid because of lost forms and more.

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

New “World War Z” trailer

Here’s the new trailer for “World War Z” starring Brad Pitt.

Based on the novel by Max Brooks, Marc Forster (“Monster’s Ball”, “Quantum of Solace”) is directing.

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

Video game movie news!

Here we go video game fans. Though none of this news is likely to get excited. First up is the “Resident Evil” series. Frankly, the movies stink. They’re bad. Like really bad. “Resident Evil: Retribution” saw Alice (Milla Jovovich) and Wesker at the White House with a whole lot of trouble headed their way. Paul W. S. Anderson is returning to direct and now the film is set for a September, 2014 release. That would mean they’d have to start filming this year, which makes Anderson’s other project “Pompeii”, starring Emily Browning (“Sucker Punch”) questionable about when that film will start.

In other video game news, get ready for more “Tomb Raider”. Angelina Jolie played Lara Croft in “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” and “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life”. But now reports are that the studio behind the reboot is looking to do what “Batman Begins” and “Casino Royale” did for those respective franchises and focus on a younger Lara Croft. Why exactly are they making these films? I say again, there are TONS of great video games that could make great movies. These aren’t two of them.

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

More “World War Z” rewrites

Being a big fan of the book, this continually makes me more depressed about this project. But, Marc Forster’s adaptation of Max Brooks’ book “World War Z” looks worse and worse. Drew Goddard, who wrote “Cabin in the Woods” was brought in to rewrite the ending. Now, Paramount isn’t sure it wants to use it and is eyeing Christopher McQuarrie, who directed the upcoming “Jack Reacher” starring Tom Cruise. However, McQuarrie might not have the time as he is going to work on another project. Basically? This adaptation starring Brad Pitt looks DOA. From the moment it started and announced it was basically ignoring the plot and structure of the boo, this project has looked doomed.

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

“28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later” sequel coming?

In short, we don’t know. But a teaser image was posted on the series Facebook page. Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) directed “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later” came out in 2007. Solid film, but not a commercial smash. However, there have been rumors and speculation about “28 Months Later” since then.

What do you think?

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

Box office battle: Is World War Z going to be any good?

“World War Z” by Max Brooks was one of the more popular novels of the last decade, and certainly a case can be made that its the most popular zombie novel in a long time. The film adaptation hasn’t gone so smoothly so far. Brad Pitt is starring in it, that’s a plus. Director Marc Foster is a more than capable person to guide the project. But when news surfaced that the storyline was changed, and I don’t mean small changes or things left out that every adaptation has to make, but that the story is far different than the book, people began to complain and worry. Now, the film has been delayed from December of this year to June of 2013.

This whole project smells like a stinker to me. Don’t get me wrong, I want this film to be good. But, from the changing of the story to the delays in production, to having this go from a unique zombie story to sounding like…well every other zombie movie ever made, this just seems like this is going to be a major disappointment. Also, the longer they delay this film, the less its going to bring in. “Word War Z” may have been all the rage when it came out, but books like “The Hunger Games” have replaced it as the “it” books of the moment. The whole point of what made “World War Z” unique as a book was its oral history approach to storytelling, the seriousness of its approach and the fact that it was down right spooky commentary on society. I’m not sure the way Foster, Pitt and company are approaching this film will allow them to have the same sort of impact. If this adaptation stayed true to the book and was done well, I could see it easily making $200 million. But, the fact that the script is going to be polarizing to people and that its popularity won’t be at the same level it was a year or two ago, it might be lucky to crack $100 million now.

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