Milla Jovovich Eyeing Thriller Mile Zero

Director Marcel Langenegger has signed on to helm and develop Phoenix Pictures' thriller "Mile Zero" as a possible starring vehicle for Milla Jovovich.

"Mile Zero," penned by Holly Brix, centers on a young woman attempting to clear her father's name in a string of gruesome murders at an Alaskan oil refinery.

Phoenix topper Mike Medavoy, Arnie Messer, Brad Fischer and James Vanderbilt will produce, with JC Spink and Chris Bender exec producing.

Langenegger, a veteran commercials helmer, made his feature directing debut last year on Fox's "Deception," starring Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor and Michelle Williams.

Thoughts:

Haven't seen Deception so I'm not sure what director Langenegger is capable of, but I do know that Milla Jovovich is more than capable of kicking butt. Story sounds somewhat intriguing so where going to have to wait and see how this turns out.

Sean Penn Going After Cartel

Sean Penn is in talks to star in "Cartel," a drama for Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment. Asger Leth will direct and Brian Grazer is producing.

Scripted by Peter Craig, the mission movie will follow Ed Marker as he journeys to protect his son after his wife is brutally murdered in the gritty world of Mexican cartels.

The drama took root at Imagine as a remake of 1993 Italian film "La scorta," which followed four cops' struggle to guard a special prosecutor trying to bring mob bosses to justice. It evolved into an action vehicle for Penn.

Robert Stone and Webster Stone will exec produce. Leth makes his dramatic feature directing debut on the film. He previously won a DGA Award for directing the 2006 documentary "Ghosts of Cite Soleil."

The studio and Imagine want to get the picture into production by summer. Start date won't be firmed until Penn's deal is made.

Thoughts:

Sounds kind of like Man on Fire, but with alittle spice. I'm always a fan of Penn so count me excited for this flick.

Fantastic Four Getting A Reboot?

The two films previously released never really caught on with the fans and the studio is reportedly looking to completely retool, recast and recrew the franchise. This means no Tim Story, no Iaon, no Julian (thank the maker, he never sat well with me as Dr. Doom), no Chris, no Chiklis and no Jessica.

The first Fantastic Four in 2005 pulled in over $330 million worldwide and the second film, Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer, opened in 2007 with a total box office take of $290 million. Both made money and were commercial successes but the reviews were lackluster and the fan reaction was mediocre.

The franchise is looking to be "less bubble gum" this time round following the Iron Man template, which was a complete success in reviews and box office take but a bit darker when it came to its superhero. Iron Man was in no way as dark as The Dark Knight but was funny, action-y as well as a bit on the serious side.

Thoughts:

I'm mostly excited about this since the previous two films were garbage and could have been MUCH better. Out of all the cast members, I always thought Jessica Alba was the complete worse choice to play Susan Storm. She didn't even look like the character from the comics and her acting was pretty terrible. I'm not sure what my cast or director would be for this reboot since I would have to think about it, but I sure do hope that this reboot stays more faithful to the comics. The Fantastic Four is a good Marvel property and with the right amount of everything, it could be something special.

Universal Grabs A Perfect Getaway From MGM

Director David Twohy (Pitch Black, The Chronicles of Riddick) has given us a new picture from the movie and has also updated the film's status.

See, once upon a time, APG was going to be an MGM release, and March 14 was the date that worked for that studio’s release schedule. But recently Universal saw the movie, liked its upside, and made a successful bid to cherry-pick it away from MGM. Which is fine by me, since I’ve done two releases with the folks at Uni —PITCH BLACK and RIDDICK. It’s a good team they have in place, led by Adam Fogelson, and they know their shit. Waiting a few extra months for them to get their marketing materials together is a small price to pay for having a major like Uni release your movie.

Anyway, the date that works for Uni schedule is now sometime in August, possibly August 14. And I’ll even caveat that, if only because movies frequently change release dates these days. Sometimes it’s a reflection of the movie itself, sometimes it’s simply about the musical chairs that all studios play with their releases. So don’t get too hung up about it. I don’t.

Thoughts:

Interesting that Universal Pictures made a bid for this film right before the films initial release. I guess the studio saw something they thought would be a killer movie. I'm somewhat interested in this film. Even though I haven't see any of the Riddick films, I heard they were tons of fun and I'm sure this film will be too.

Weekend Boxoffice Numbers

In Order

Watchmen
Studio: Warner Bros.
This Week: $55,214,334
Last Week: -
Total: $55,214,334
________________________________________________________
Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail
Studio: Lionsgate
This Week: $8,532,412
Last Week: $16,175,926
Total: $76,237,739
________________________________________________________
Taken
Studio: 20th Century Fox
This Week: $7,334,814
Last Week: $9,864,197
Total: $117,933,922
________________________________________________________
Slumdog Millionaire
Studio: Fox Searchlight
This Week: $6,808,383
Last Week: $12,026,343
Total: $125,324,813
________________________________________________________
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Studio: Columbia Pictures
This Week: $4,146,316
Last Week: $5,602,392
Total: $133,588,995
________________________________________________________
He's Just Not That Into You
Studio: Warner Bros.
This Week: $4,017,326
Last Week: $6,011,405
Total: $84,644,583
________________________________________________________
Coraline
Studio: Focus Features
This Week: $3,255,852
Last Week: $5,261,129
Total: $65,627,777
________________________________________________________
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
This Week: $3,100,298
Last Week: $4,634,534
Total: $38,335,114
________________________________________________________
Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
This Week: $2,832,454
Last Week: $12,510,374
Total: $16,838,775
________________________________________________________
Fired Up
Studio: Columbia Pictures
This Week: $2,478,381
Last Week: $3,701,562
Total: $13,238,432

Thoughts:
Zack Snyder's Watchmen took the number one spot this week with an estimated $55.2 million. The film was easily going to bring in alot of money this week especially since no other studio was releasing a wide release, but I'm surprised the film opened with such low numbers. I'm not saying $55.2 million is low, but its low considering Snyder's 300 opened with $75 million when it released. Watchmen also had more hype than 300 and was even released in more theaters than 300. I guess the films average reviews and long run time had a factor in this.

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail finally fell to the number two spot with $8.5 million. The film is already at $76 million and has become the biggest hit in Perry's career. The movie has more than made its budget back and has pleased Lionsgate enough for them to sign him up for two more movies. Coming in at number three was the Fox action thriller "Taken", with an impressive $7 million. The film has sure become a sleeper hit of the year and continues to amaze me every week that its on this list. The film is already at $118 million and should cruise past the $130 million mark. The much talked about Oscar hit Slumdog Millionaire, took number four on the top ten list with an estimated $6.8 million. The film is already on its way to become Fox Searchlight's biggest hit and should pass Juno's $143 million gross.

Sony's Paul Blart: Mall Cop climbed up one spot and brought in $4 million. The comedy flick starring Kevin James is already at $133 million and has made well over its budget. I expect Sony to announce a sequel soon since the film has become a big hit for the studio. The romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You from Warner Bros. is also doing pretty well and brought in $4 million over the weekend. The chick flick starring Jennifer Aniston and a bunch of other top celebs is already at $84 million. I can see it reaching $100 million or close to that before its run. Coraline from Focus Features didn't change spots and held the number seven spot with $3.3 million over the weekend. The stop-motion animated flick from the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas is already at $65 million and will probably ends its run with $70-$75 million.

Confessions of a Shopaholic moved up one spot from last week with $3 million for a total of $38 million. Disney's Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience took a BIG drop this week with only $2.8 million. The film opened in second place last week, but fell to number nine this week. Maybe this will tell Disney to stop releasing these dumb concert films theatrically when they should be direct-to-DVD releases. Sony's Fired Up also didn't change spots and still held on to the number ten spot with an estimated $2.4 million over the weekend.

New Star Trek Trailer Hits Online

The full new trailer for J.J. Abrams' Star Trek is here! Opening in conventional and IMAX theaters on May 8th, the anticipated film stars John Cho, Ben Cross, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Winona Ryder, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana and Leonard Nimoy.

Thoughts:

This trailer was really eye popping and had me sucked in. Really weird that were getting a bunch of trailers today, but since most of them are really good, I'm not going to complain. This Star Trek trailer is probably the best one I have seen which means alot since the previous ones have also been good. Its amazing how alot of non-trekkie fans with myself included, are getting really excited about a Star Trek film. I haven't seen anything Star Trek related, but I'm definitely interested in this film. I think director J.J. Abrams has a visionary idea for this film and its looking better and better with each new footage. This is easily in my top 5 films I'm excited for in 2009.

A Poster And Trailer For Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Warner Bros. Pictures has debuted the poster and a full new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince online.

Opening in conventional and IMAX theaters on July 17th, the David Yates-directed sixth installment stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Jim Broadbent, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Timothy Spall, David Thewlis, Julie Walters, David Bradley, Jessie Cave, Frank Dillane, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, Evanna Lynch, Helen McCrory, Natalia Tena, Hero Fiennes Tiffin and Bonnie Wright.

Thoughts:

Poster looks pretty cool, but the trailer looks really awesome. I'm really starting to enjoy the Harry Potter movies and how their getting darker with each new movie. I'm counting the days till this film gets released because its suppose to be big in terms of story. For those who have read the book know whats coming and its going to be exciting to see it on the big screen.