Planet51 Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Sometimes a movie will consume the internet for weeks before its release, and then turn out to be Snakes on a Plane. This is not one of those times. New Moon didn't set the all time opening weekend box office record, but it came uncomfortably close, and -- holy crap -- it now owns the record for the highest single-day gross ever, a $72 million Friday. Twilight opened to almost precisely half of New Moon's $140 million number, and went on to gross $192 million. The sequel should pass that mark by next weekend.

New Moon's staying power is a bit difficult to forecast. On one hand, its grosses may be frontloaded, as is typical when rabid fans of the source material rush out to pack midnight and opening-day showings. On the other, this might just be the kind of film that, even more so than its predecessor, generates repeat business. (Along these lines, I wonder if the egregious objectification of men in New Moon's marketing campaign is a victory for feminism. I vote yes.)

Getting somewhat lost in all the New Moon hoopla is the slightly less dramatic victory scored by the earnest, good-natured tearjerker The Blind Side, which took second place with nearly $35 million, which I suspect is another testament to the enduring box office draw of Sandra Bullock. (As a side note, the enduring box office draw of Sandra Bullock must be a testament to the awfulness of All About Steve, which topped out at $33 million despite her prominent presence.) It was also smart of Warner Bros. to deemphasize the sports angle -- a "football movie" would not have done this well.

More, and the top 10, after the jump.

As voiced by Dwayne "the artist formerly known as The Rock" Johnson, astronaut Chuck Baker is the paragon of all-American achievement -- that is, until he conquers a far off world with an unexpected population, one inexplicably steeped in our '50s-era culture and terrified by the prospect of an alien invader in human form. More unfortunately for us, Chuck has landed smack-dab in the middle of Planet 51, a short-sighted assembly of sci-fi references and scatalogical humor that should nonetheless placate undemanding tots and, by extension, their undiscerning parents for ninety minutes or so.

Despite what the critics thought, people flocked to the end of the world epic 2012 which pulled in $230 million globally. Precious expanded into a modest 174 theaters but still managed to land the number three position. Here's the top five:

1. 2012: $65.2 million
2. A Christmas Carol: $22.3 million
3. Precious: Based on the Novel: "Push" by Sapphire: $5.8 million
4. The Men Who Stare at Goats: $5.9 million
5. Michael Jackson's This Is It: $5 million

And moviegoers have three new releases to choose from this weekend.

The Twilight Saga: The New Moon
What's It All About: Do you really need to be told? This, of course, is the hotly anticipated sequel to 2008's Twilight. Bella's life continues down a dark path after Edward leaves her for her own safety. We've also got hunky bare-chested werewolves this time.
Why It Might Do Well: The first film had a $70 million opening weekend in 3,419 theaters. I suspect owning film rights to the Twilight series is like having a license to print money.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Some folks don't like their vampires to sparkle.
Number of Theaters: 4,000
Prediction: $86 million


The Blind Side
What's It All About: A homeless teen is adopted by a conservative family and matures into a football star with the potential to turn pro.
Why It Might Do Well: From a strictly personal standpoint, sports films don't really interest me, but this grabbed my attention. Also 67% at Rottentomatoes.com ain't bad.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Well, there is that vampire movie coming out this week.
Number of Theaters: 3,100
Prediction: $16 million

Carriers
A decent looking tale of an apocalyptic plague and four friends attempt to survive it. If you've read The Stand or seen the mini-series based on it the idea seems kind of similar. Chris Prine, the new James T. Kirk stars and I thought the faces drawn on the surgical masks were a nice touch. Things start getting germy on September 4.

Couples Retreat
Four couples head to a tropical resort where they learn that couples' therapy is a mandatory part of the program. The impressive cast includes Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristin Davis, and Kristen Bell. The retreat commences on October 9.

Planet 51
There's a new full length trailer for this animated comedy about a human astronaut landing on an alien world that looks strikingly like an American suburb. The residents of the planet see the visitor as a threat and it looks like there's probably a decent message for kids about prejudice, but this one doesn't thrill me. The idea is cute and they get points for the use of The Killers' song "Spaceman" but it didn't have me laughing. Planet 51 touches down on November 20.

Imagine you're a green alien living happily among other green aliens on a tiny planet somewhere. Then one day an astronaut from Earth shows up and starts terrifying everyone. And he has the voice of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson! Except maybe contractual stipulations demand that he not be called "The Rock" anymore. Still! Scary!

That's the premise of Planet 51, a computer-animated comedy that has finally, after some shuffling, been acquired by Sony and scheduled for a Thanksgiving 2009 release. The voice cast includes Johnson, Gary Oldman, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, John Cleese, and Jessica Biel. The directors are a trio of video game programmers named Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad, and Marcos Martinez, and the script is by Joe Stillman, who co-wrote the first two Shrek films.

As we reported last November, Planet 51 was originally picked up by New Line and would have been that studio's first CG release. Then New Line was folded into Warner Bros., so the film became that studio's property, and they planned to release it next summer. But according to Variety, Planet 51's producers wanted it to come out this November instead -- and that didn't work for Warners because they're already releasing a Harry Potter film in that slot. So they let the film go, and now Sony has it. The producers will get their November release date, but it'll be 2009, not 2008. Presumably, everyone's happy now.

But should they be?

When Christopher Campbell blogged about the upcoming CG-animated film Planet 51 last November, he suggested 3D and a few actors for the lead. Well, the actors are different, but when the film hits screens next year on July 24, it will travel to the third dimension. As for the cast, Variety reports that the voices taking this space adventure are Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, and Seann William Scott.

The Rock leads the cast of voices as the astronaut Chuck Baker. He lands on Planet 51 and thinks he's the first to step onto the surface. Not so, naive space traveling man. He soon discovers "green people who live in an innocent world right out of the 1950s, complete with the paranoia that they will be overrun by alien invaders." Whoops. There is no word on who the rest of the actors will voice, but I'll go out on a limb and say that planet's various greenies.

Now, when Christopher talked about the flick, he mentioned that the dude looked a little like Buzz Lightyear. He's definitely not far off -- Chuck looks like the typical CG lead. It's too bad they couldn't try to change up the look a bit, instead of continuing the goofy white boy look. I know, it's hard to come up with different looks since we all look alike, but as artists, that's their job! Argh... Maybe the next animated flick will mix things up a bit.

It seems a bit late, but New Line has finally joined the animated film business. Fortunately for them, they've avoided the attempt to set up something in-house, choosing instead to acquire something already in the works. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio has picked up Planet 51, which is being produced by Spain-based Ilion Animation Studios. Scripted by Shrek and Shrek 2 co-writer Joe Stillman, the film is about the titular planet, which is visited by an "alien" from Earth. I guess it's kinda like a reverse E.T., where NASA astronaut Chuck Baker befriends a young native of Planet 51 and must avoid capture. According to the film's IMDb page, in which it's titled Planet One, Stillman is co-directing with Jorge Blanco. However, The Hollywood Reporter lists the co-directors as Blanco, Javier Abad and Marcos Martinez, all of whom apparently worked together on a video game titled Commandos.

Planet 51 is currently in production but doesn't seem too far along. Ilion hasn't yet cast the voices, which typically come first. Considering that at first glance I thought the promo image was of Toy Story's Buzz Lightyear (yeah, my eyesight is bad), I suggest they just go ahead and get Tim Allen for the lead. And then they should cast Henry Thomas as the alien kid, because all animated films these days need to be full of referential jokes. I also have to add another suggestion to New Line and Ilion: make the film in 3D. With an expected release date of March 2009, Planet 51 is teetering on the edge of the future, as Dreamworks Animation has already declared 2009 to be the year it begins releasing all its films exclusively on 3D screens. It's first, Monsters vs. Aliens, is even set to come out that same month. Now, Planet 51 may not need to be too competitive if it can hit theaters a few weeks earlier (MvA is set for end of month), though chances are audiences will forget about a lame-old 2D release once the real attractions arrive. With a budget of $60 million, Planet 51 probably can't afford to be so easily dismissed.