Directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich, who's previously given us Stargate, Independence Day, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow, 10,000 B.C. offers audiences the prospect of epic action on a canvas as broad as human history; what it delivers is another matter entirely. In an age where computer-generated effects make spectacle possible, and audiences reward blood-and-thunder films like Gladiator and 300 at the box office, greenlighting 10,000 B.C. must have seemed logical. I can imagine someone pitching the film, to paraphrase Team America: World Police, by saying "It's like 300 .... plus 9,700!"

But as Emmerich's films have always demonstrated, suggesting that spectacle can make up for weak storytelling is like suggesting that having a great haircut can make up for being born without a skeleton. And, so it is in 10,000 B.C., where a variety of off-the-rack plot points and generic heroic journeys are decorated with computer-generated baubles like wooly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers and massed mobs, shiny hollow Christmas ornaments hung on a bare, ruined tree. Emmerich co-wrote 10,000 B.C. with Harald Klosser and put an army of technicians to work on the movie, but the end result simply feels like threads and themes and moments borrowed from other films.

Will Ferrell's 70s basketball comedy came in first for the weekend, but pulled in a lot less loot than most people had expected. The Other Boleyn Girl's modest success pushed the flick to fourth place, with the rest of the top five filling out with holdovers from previous weeks. Last week's other new release, Penelope, took in only $3.8 million which earned it the ninth place spot. Here's the rundown:

1. Semi Pro: $15 million
2. Vantage Point: $12.8 million
3. The Spiderwick Chronicles: $8.7 million
4. The Other Boleyn Girl: $8.2 million
5. Jumper: $7.5 million

More after the jump ...

Well look what we have here -- you're back again, asking me to feed your caption contest addictions. I'll do it. Someone has to do it. Just remember, the first one's free. Wait. Scratch that. They're all free! Yes, welcome back to another installment of our universe famous caption contest. While you're probably all dying to find out who won the Vespa we gave away last week (thanks to Penelope and her freaky pig nose), you're gonna have to wait a little while longer. Sorry folks. In the meantime, how about you give us your best captions for the photo below from Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. The top three captions from this week will walk away with (deep breath) one 10,000 B.C. The Legend tee, one 10,000 B.C. beanie, one 10,000 B.C. weathered baseball cap, one saber tooth necklace, one set of 10,000 B.C. photo postcards in a notebook, one set of lenticular buttons and one wooden pyramid puzzle. If all that stuff isn't enough to create your very own prehistoric beast (like the one featured below), then I don't know what is. Sound off folks!

Read the official rules for this contest

Only one short day ago, talk surfaced of a bidding war that was taking place over Roland Emmerich's latest flick, 2012. Emmerich had presented the flick to various studio bosses and let's just say they liked what they saw. Cut to one day later and Variety reports that Sony has emerged victorious, and they are now the proud new owners of Emmerich's apocalyptic flick.

2012 was inspired by the Mayan doomsday prophecy that some unspecified 'change' was afoot and as a result, the world would come to an end in 2012. Emmerich wasn't the first person to come up with the idea of making a movie out of this story. Michael Bay had also made some moves towards his own flick based on a book by Communion scribe, Whitley Strieber. Heck, even Nickelodeon got in on the action and pitched a kiddie version of the end of the world story. But we haven't heard a peep out of those projects, so it looks like Emmerich's film might be the only one left standing, especially since Bay is hard at work on Transformers 2.

So despite what you might think of some of his earlier endeavors, Emmerich does have the distinction of being one of the few filmmakers that can finance a film on his own terms before even approaching the studios. This is probably what makes him so very popular with the bosses. 2012 is still a long way off (it will hit during the summer of 2009), so if you can't wait to watch Emmerich blow something up, at least you can look forward to March 7th when 10,000 B.C hits theaters.

I don't want to be mean, but if Roland Emmerich wants to keep the buzz going on his sci-fl flick 2012, he'll be lucky if he gets to make a deal before the advance reviews for 10,000 B.C. start flooding in. Variety reports that the "doomsday" director has started a bidding war for his next project; the apocalyptic adventure flick 2012. The film will be based on the Mayan doomsday prediction that the world is set to end in 2012.

The whole 'end of the world' thing seems as popular as ever; Nickelodeon is even toying with the idea of a kid's flick that uses that same premise (c'mon kids, let's head to movies and watch civilization become extinct!) Last spring, Michael Bay had also considered directing a film based on the book, 2012: The War for Souls by Whitley Streiber for Warner Bros. Emmerich's project, however similar it might seem, will not be using Streiber's book. Instead, his spec script was written in collaboration with Harald Kloser, who also worked with Emmerich on B.C.

According to Variety's sources, "Studio toppers read the script Tuesday, and indications are that nearly all of them were interested enough to meet with Emmerich and reps Wednesday to hear his budget projection and creative aspirations." Of course, you can't help but wonder if the studios desperation for new projects in the wake of the writer's strike might be the source of their enthusiasm. Well that, and the fact that like it or not, Emmerich seems to be able to rake in the box office. Never underestimate the power of a good opening weekend, I guess.

How do you think Emmerich will destroy New York City in this one?

You know, the more I see of Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C, the more confused I get. ComingSoon.net is now hosting six new TV spots for the prehistoric action flick, and if you are anything like me, you are going to spend half your time wondering whether this movie could be as bad as these commercials make it seem. Well, to be fair -- the shots of hunters battling saber tooth tigers and woolly mammoth bits are pretty awesome, but as soon as somebody speaks a line of dialog, it is game over.

The film stars Steven Strait as D'Leh, a mammoth hunter who is on a mission to save his tribe when his girlfriend (played by Camilla Belle) is kidnapped by a warlord. After discovering a group of warriors long thought to be extinct, D'Leh leads them to take on the oppressive warlord. Meanwhile, the new TV spots throw in plenty of Braveheart-esque moments of storming the battlements and lots of shouting and chest beating.

After you watch the first couple of trailers you might be wondering why I'm assuming that 10,000 B.C is going to be so uproariously bad. I know that it might look good, but let's consider the evidence. For starters, it's written and directed by Roland Emmerich, the man behind such gems as Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow -- not to mention that most of the so-called pre-historic extras are just way too 'modelized' to look even remotely authentic. Finally, I've been going to the movies long enough to know that when a film's release date is pushed back not once, but twice, that it is never a good sign. 10,000 BC will finally hit theaters on March 7th, 2008.

OK, so it's not like Roland Emmerich is known for making the best movies. But one thing is for sure, he does know how to make the most of his FX budgets. ComingSoon.net has the new poster for Emmerich's prehistoric adventure flick, 10,000 B.C. If nothing else, at least this latest poster is a step up from the last one . Sure, it might be similar (and borrowing heavily from 300), but at least this one definitely has a little more style to it. As Scott had pointed out last week, there is definitely the potential for some truly cheesy moments, and after that trailer you can't blame him for coming to that particular conclusion. But who knows? Maybe Emmerich is going to surprise us all with this one. But if you're considering the fact that the film's release date has already been pushed back twice, it's not likely this movie is going to be anything other than a guilty pleasure for most audiences.

10,000 B.C stars Steven Strait as D'Leh, a young hunter and favored son of a tribe on the brink of extinction. Our hero is on a mission to save his girlfriend (Camilla Belle) from a warlord, all the while battling Mammoths and other prehistoric beasties. ComingSoon also has a pretty impressive photo you can check out of a face off between our fearless mammoth hunter and a sabre-toothed tiger. Like I said, you can't fault Emmerich when it comes to the spectacle of movie making. But for those of you out there (myself included) who had the misfortune of sitting through The Day after Tomorrow, then you know just how lame an Emmerich film can get. So keep your fingers crossed until March 7th, 2008 when 10,000 B.C. hits theaters.

Not that the films represented here are knock-offs, but each of them reminds me of a movie I've seen before.

10,000 B.C.
The title makes me think of 1966's One Million Years B.C., the only film to combine the way cool stop motion animation of Ray Harryhausen and the presence of Raquel Welch in a fur bikini. This new film about the early days of human civilization lacks the entertaining anachronism of ancient humans fighting dinosaurs, but there's some pretty decent CGI woolly mammoths and saber tooth tigers here. The story focuses on a mammoth hunter and his quest for a secure future for his tribe. Historically accurate? Doubtful, but it looks like an entertaining bit of eye candy.

Machine Girl
I had heard nothing about Machine Girl prior to seeing the trailer, but I want to see this one RIGHT NOW! This over the top and gory Japanese martial arts revenge movie contains elements culled from more kung fu flicks than you'll be able to count. A young girl embarks upon a path of vengeance when Yakuza murder her family and cut off her arm. Yakuza! Ninjas! Severed limbs! The Flying Guillotine! A man is forced to eat his own fingers as sushi and there's something called the "drill bra" that you just have to see for yourself. You've also got a big honkin' machine gun and a chainsaw at work. The trailer is extremely graphic, so if crazed kung fu carnage upsets you I suggest avoiding this one. As for the rest of us, the line forms behind me. I don't see this getting a wide U.S. release, so I suspect we may have to wait for the DVD. Scott Weinberg also seem enthusiastic about this one.

Can Roland Emmerich's 10,000 B.C. survive if it doesn't feature New York City either under water, under ice or being attacked by aliens and/or giant lizards? That's the question I had after watching the first teaser trailer for 10,000 B.C. -- Emmerich's latest epic, effects-laced extravaganza. From the guy who brought us Independence Day, the updated Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow comes a film that ... I don't even know what to say. It's like Apocalypto, but extremely Hollywood-ized. Once you get past all the running and animal-fighting, the first question you'll probably have is ... what language will this film be in? I can't answer that for sure, but since it's coming from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures (300), I assume everyone spoke English back in 10,000 B.C. I mean, the Spartans did, so why wouldn't these prehistoric mammoth hunters?

It's a no-brainer; I really can't see a major studio like Warners taking a chance on a big-budgeted flick that either doesn't have dialogue or is in a different language. It just wouldn't make sense. But we're used to seeing the historical facts smudged a whole lot when it comes to huge Hollywood flicks, so I won't hold that against the film. That being said, this is only a teaser. Does it look cool? Yeah. But that's as far as I can go. All of Emmerich's films "look" cool, but I've always found the stories are told on a third grade level. Hopefully this one will carry a bit more substance, instead of two hours worth of half-naked men chasing mammoths around with spears. I have no problem checking my brain at the door for certain things, but I'm getting tired of people using that excuse for every other film that gets released. But perhaps I'm in the minority on that one. Who knows. 10,000 B.C. arrives in theaters on March 7, 2008.