1. "Dear John" ($13.8 million)
2. "Avatar" ($6.1 million)
3. "From Paris With Love" ($3 million)
4. "Edge of Darkness" ($2.3 million)
5. "When in Rome" ($2 million)
After seven straight weekend victories, is it possible that "Avatar" is finally about to fall to a romantic comedy? That's certainly how the weekend is shaping after "Dear John," Sony-Screen Gems' adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' romance novel starring Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried, took first place on Friday night with $13.8 million. Read more...
Title: "Voyage of Temptation"
Writer: Paul Dini
Director: Brian Kalin O'Connell
Tagline: "Fear not for the future, weep not for the past."
Story: "Voyage of Temptation" is the second episode in a three-part arc notable for introducing Mandalorians -- Boba/Jango Fett's people -- to the "Clone Wars" TV universe. In the last episode, Obi-Wan Kenobi (James Arnold Taylor) successfully protected Duchess Satine of Mandalore (Anna Graves) from the Death Watch, a Mandalorian terrorist led by Pre Vizsla (Jon Favreau). Now enroute to Coruscant on a diplomatic mission, Satine and Obi-Wan are joined by Anakin Skywalker (Matt Lanter) and a quartet of Republic senators. The routine trip is disrupted when Death Watch assassin probes are set loose aboard the ship and one of the senators is implicated in the attack. Read more...
Title: "The Reins of a Waterfall"
Writer: Michael Angeli
Director: Ron D. Moore
Story: "Caprica" opens this week on the heels of Amanda Graystone's (Paula Malcomson) shocking, yet ironically untrue, public revelation of her daughter Zoe's (Alessandra Torresani) participation in the terrorist bombing of the Mag-Lev train. Like last week's post-pilot premiere, "Reins" is all over the character map, giving us brief glimpses into the assortment of developing events that grew out of the incident. The Graystones are in the media doghouse, the police continue to hound them, Zoe's friend Lacy (Magda Apanowicz) is still being courted for information about Zoe by the school headmistress and secret member of The Soldiers of the One, and the Adamas remain players in Caprica's criminal underworld. A new player joins the party, in the form of popular talk show host Baxter Sarno (Patton Oswalt), and he's not a fan of the Graystone revelations. Read more...
It was the greatest movie cameo of 2009, possibly among the greatest of all time. It was a top-secret series of scenes that had such actors as Abigail Breslin and Emma Stone sworn to absolute secrecy. Now, “Zombieland” is on DVD, and the hilarious subplot involving Bill Murray is on display for all to see.
So, with the gag order officially lifted, we had to ask the makers of the film: How did the cameo by the reclusive, eccentric star come to be? And the story, it turns out, is as hilarious as the movie itself.
“We started with Patrick Swayze,” co-writer Paul Wernick told us when he stopped by the MTV studios recently. “Patrick Swayze was the original celebrity cameo [in the script] when we wrote it, but he unfortunately got sick, and we didn’t have the opportunity to present him the script. So, once he got sick, the producer Gavin Polone and us and [director] Ruben [Fleischer] all sat down and figured ‘Who can we go to next?’” Read more...
There's some big event on TV this Sunday. A ton of shiny, new movie trailers are going to premiere! I think there's a football game going on too, but who cares about that?
As is the case every year, this year's Super Bowl will bring the usual helping of commercials and trailers that probably cost more to secure airtime for than they did to produce. And while most of the commercials aren't really going to drive you movies fans into a frenzy, some of the trailer premieres certainly will. You'll get glimpses of some of the biggest movies this year. I've tried to compile a complete list for you based on reports floating around the Internet, though I wouldn't be surprised if a few others sneak in there as well. We have no idea if this list is 100% accurate; hopefully it's wrong and there are more. One thing is certain though: we'll know on Sunday. Read more...
At least one voice in the Twitter-Wood feed was happy to Mike Dunleavy depart from his role as head coach of the Los Clippers this week. Most of TW's citizens veer toward the Lakers in the basketball tweets, so it's always great to get some variety when someone like Danny Masterson speaks up to acknowledge L.A.'s other NBA team.
It was a big day for criticism off the court, too. Michael McKean didn't seem too impressed with "Spartacus: Blood & Sand" on Starz, Tinsel Korey chimed in to weigh in against her "Twilight" co-star Alex Meraz's comments from yesterday about Taylor Lautner's film "Valentine's Day" and Steve Agee shouted back after Rainn Wilson launch a snark bomb at him about "The Sarah Silverman Program." All of those tweets and some Jackie Chan fan artwork await you after the jump in Twitter-Wood for February 5, 2010. Read more...
Promo Police reporting for duty. Get ready to leave reality behind, because every culprit facing interrogation this week is as fantastical as they come. On the other hand, anything is possible, right? “Harry Potter” may be all fantasy, but Universal provides a taste of the real world incarnation, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, in a Super Bowl TV spot. Also debuting during the big game, a short ad for M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Last Airbender.” “The Crazies” and “Heartless” have a go at creeping us out and “Alice in Wonderland” tacks on two more character posters. Read more...
While Sony and Lionsgate fight a bidding war for the rights to the "Terminator" franchise, "Terminator Salvation" director McG is looking for his next movie in lieu of not going on to helm the series' fifth installment. Though he's still linked to the Broadway musical adaptation "Spring Awakening," according to Variety he has also been in talks to helm a "priority project" for Fox titled "This Means War."
The comedy already has two stars in place, Bradley Cooper and Reese Witherspoon. It is expected to begin shooting this spring, which would make it the director's next movie, rather than the musical. The screenplay for "This Means War" has reportedly been rewritten so many times that it's difficult to say who the author is anymore, but the most recent draft is by "Role Models" scribe Timothy Dowling (who interestingly enough acted in a "Terminator" movie -- the third one). Read more...
FROM MTV.COM: "Dear John" is a movie that tells all you need to know right in the title: soldier boy meets perfect girl; they bond, kiss, irritate a jealous suitor; boy ships out for combat, girl pines at home; love letters criss-cross the sea in torrents; she suddenly stops writing; months pass; then he receives ... one last letter. I'm afraid the boy's name is in fact John.
The most interesting thing about this picture — the thing that might make it work for a viewer in a certain woozy frame of mind — is the deadpan sincerity that director Lasse Hallström brings to the material. He doesn't see the story as a shop-worn anachronism (it's set in 2001, but it feels like 1944), and he doesn't milk it for heart-wringing sentiment (the plot does all the milking on its own). He plays it straight, and invites us to sniffle along if we want. There's something kind of admirable about this, I guess, in a going-down-with-the-ship sort of way.
'Dear John': Dead Letter, By Kurt Loder
All week long, we’ve been giving you an exclusive look at the new “A-Team,” featuring peeks at B.A. Baracus, “Howlin’ Mad” Murdock, the villainous Lynch, Face-Man and Hannibal. Now, we bid adieu to the crack commando unit with the main new character of the bunch: Sexy Jessica Biel as Lieutenant Sosa.
“Jessie, she's a captain with DCIS, which is the Defense Criminal Investigative Service,” director Joe Carnahan explained of the new character, who shares an uncomfortable dating history with Bradley Cooper’s Face. “They’re basically the department of the defense, and she supersedes [military officials] - if she goes on a base, it doesn't matter if you’re a general, she can supplant you.” Read more...