deja vu Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Say all you want about Mel Gibson's driving, audiences were curious enough (about another Gibson film? about the Mayan civilization? about whether or not there would be a slew of Jewish jokes -- like that one about the Rabbi who wondered into the forest and was chased by a tribe for a little over two hours?) to show up and help Apocalypto finish in the number one spot this weekend. Granted, it's $14.2 million didn't break any records, and just barely beat out a film with one helluva odd cast (Jack Black, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz? Who cast this film -- identical twin sisters who hate one another?), but it still managed to finally knock Happy Feet and Casino Royale out of the top two spots.

Now comes the fun part -- did Apocalypto generate enough buzz to carry it onward and upward? Or will it crash after people realize they have to read words on the bottom of the screen for a really long time? My personal prediction? Depending on whether Oscar throws him a bone, I'd say Apocalypto tops out at around $43 million domestically. As previously noted, The Holiday ($13.5 million) took the weekend's second spot, while Happy Feet ($12.7 million) lingered around in the third position. Casino Royale continued to feed off penguin leftovers; it took fourth with $8.8 million. Perhaps the idea of Leonardo DiCaprio with a strange accent hurt its opening, or maybe the competition was just too tough (I know folks must have been dying for a nice, wholesome chick flick) -- regardless, Blood Diamond finished fifth with $8.5 million.

Unaccompanied Minors ($6.2 million) gut stuck duking it out with Deja Vu ($6.1 million), while The Nativity Story ($5.6 million) dipped a bit more this week, despite the fact that it's playing in 3,083 freaking theaters. This year's two dreadful Christmas comedies, Deck the Halls ($3.9 million) and The Santa Clause 3 ($3.3 million), rounded out the top ten.

Full numbers after the jump.

While browsing around online this morning searching for a good poll topic, I happened upon The Movie Blog where our buddy John was pondering (when is he not pondering?) the decline of Denzel Washington's career. Sure, Deja Vu opened third this weekend with a respectable $20 million, but there was a time when it was all about Denzel -- you couldn't mention the words 'black actor' without his name coming up, while women everywhere fantasized about Denzel sweeping them off their feet. However, and John points to this as his possible downfall, ever since the man took home a Best Actor Oscar for Training Day, his star power has slowly faded and, now, his appearance in a film does not guarantee it a number one slot at the box office. That's not to say his acting has gotten worse -- in fact, he's one of the only actors who consistently makes good films. But something is missing. Denzel is no longer Denzel.

Personally, I feel we're at an interesting time right now, and those huge, A-list box office champs are slowly fading from power. In its fourth week, Babel has only grossed $12 million, despite the fact that Brad Pitt is in it. Granted, it's only played in over one thousand theaters for two of those four weeks, but that's still a low figure for such a big name. They're offering Will Ferrell $29 million to do Elf 2, but Stranger Than Fiction tanked in theaters (only $22 million). Pretty soon George Clooney will find his way back onto the big screen in The Good German, though there's a pretty good chance that film won't do too well either. And what about Blood Diamond -- will Leo DiCaprio attract a decent audience for that pic? Probably ... not. So, is it that these men are still popular, but only when surrounded by three or four other supposed A-listers? Have we gotten so used to ensemble pieces (Ocean's Franchise, The Departed), that one man just can't carry a film anymore? Or, are our favorite hot shots on their way out?

So, I ask you: Does the power of an A-List actor still exist? Or, does it only exist when it's surrounded by two or three other A-list actors?

New Line decided to push back the release of Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny by one week in order to steer clear of Casino Royale and Happy Feet's openings, as well as to capitalize on a five-day Thanksgiving weekend. Did the move pay off? Hardly. Pic, which debuted on Wednesday, fell short of even landing in the top ten taking home a measly $3.3 million (counting Friday through Sunday only). So much for that whole destiny part, huh?

The big winners this weekend were, not surprisingly, Happy Feet ($37.9 million) and Casino Royale ($31 million) -- both of which finished number one and two respectively. The animated penguin flick crossed the $100 million mark in only 10 days, grossing an estimated $51.5 million over the course of all five days. Bond was not far behind, racking up $94.1 million throughout its first 10 days. The names Tony Scott, Jerry Bruckheimer and Denzel Washington were enough to land Deja Vu ($20.8 million) in third place, while the abysmal (according to Kim, at least) Deck the Halls captured the fourth spot with $12 million. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan continued to impress, as it too jumped into $100 million territory -- pic rounded out the top five with $10.4 million, for a grand total (so far) of $109.3 million after four weeks. As expected, Darren Aronofsky's latest trippy adventure, The Fountain, didn't do too well in its opening weekend, yet managed to snag the ten spot from Tenacious D with $3.7 million.

Full numbers (Friday through Sunday only) after the jump.

I've always been a big fan of director Tony Scott. While his big brother Ridley is the one who seems to get all the awards and respect (which is what'll happen when you direct Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator), Tony seems more than content to keep churning out his own distinct brand of hyper-stylized, ultra-slick and testosterone-heavy action flicks. Two of Tony Scott's biggest hits, Top Gun and Days of Thunder, rank among my least-favorites examples of the man's work, but if you look back through his filmography you'll notice titles like Man on Fire, Spy Game, Enemy of the State, Crimson Tide and True Romance, all films that improve upon repeat viewings and always have a welcome home in heavy rotation on HBO and Showtime. Even the guy's relative failures (The Last Boy Scout, The Fan, Domino) are entirely watchable and strangely compelling failures.

So when I noticed that the latest Denzel Washington cop flick was directed by Mr. Scott, I immediately switched over from mildly interested to actively intrigued. Toss in the fact that Deja Vu was co-written by one of my favorite Popcorn Movie scribes (Terry Rossio, of Shrek, Zorro and Pirates), and I was officially looking forward to Deja Vu -- and that's even before the trailers switched over from "cop thriller" to "cop thriller with a sci-fi twist." (Rossio's co-writer, Bill Marsilii, makes his big-screen debut here.) Also helping to stir the pot is producer Jerry Bruckheimer, which basically means a movie might be really dumb, but there's very little chance it'll be dull.

When is it inappropriate to use Christ's name in vain? When you're around Jim Caviezel, of course. It isn't that the actor disapproves, but due to the fact that he played Jesus in The Passion of the Christ, cursing the name can have an unintended comical context that changes the meaning of such an exclamation. Tony Scott recently found this out during test screenings of his new movie Deja Vu and had to take out a line of dialogue as a result. During a scene in which Denzel Washington's character comes face-to-face with his foe, played by Caviezel, he says, "Jesus." At that moment, the test audience burst out laughing -- with good reason.

How did Scott and the rest of the makers of Deja Vu overlook such a double meaning with the scene? It is understandable that the line was probably in the script before Caviezel's casting and wasn't noticed after he came on board, but how could it not come to anyone's attention during filming? The only thing I can think of is that the production realized the gag, thought it was fine as a seemingly subtle throwaway and kept it in not anticipating the reaction it would receive. If this is the case, Scott and the rest must never have seen Mel Brooks' History of the World Part I, in which Comicus (Brooks) curses the name Jesus in vain, only to have the real Jesus (John Hurt) reply, "Yes?"

Wow, I can't be the only one pleasantly surprised to find a trailer already online for Tony Scott's upcoming thriller Deja Vu. The film doesn't land in theaters until Thanksgiving, but it seems folks behind the scenes want to get this one off to a running start alongside some of the big summer films. Hey, I'm down.

Pic, which stars Denzel Washington, tells the story of an ATF agent who travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered, then accidentally falls in love with her. You may remember, back in February, Deja Vu became the first narrative feature film to be shot in New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina. Though, right after Katrina, director Tony Scott initially left the project, causing some to fear Denzel would also bail out, leaving Deja Vu very much up in the air. However, Scott jumped back onboard and the filmmakers re-worked the story to include a post-Katrina New Orleans. Now, five months after filming started back up, a brand-spanking-new trailer has hit the internet -- one that looks and feels like vintage Tony Scott, all gritty and what not. Man, am I glad he came back. Deja Vu is set to open on November 22.

Adam Goldberg has joined Denzel Washington and Jim Caviezel in Tony Scott's Deja Vu, a project that has faced problem after problem, but now seems to have come to life. Things went bad as soon as Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, as that's where production was originally supposed to take place. Soon after the storm, Scott abruptly dropped off the film causing some to speculate that Denzel's departure was not far behind.

However, Scott then came back on board, Denzel remained its star, Caviezel snatched a part and now Goldberg joins the team. The story itself has some worried (including Martha) because its "This sounds just like the Terminator" vibe is too hard to ignore. In Deja Vu, Washington will play an FBI Agent who travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered, then ultimately falls in love with her.

As usual with these kinds of stories, Goldberg will take on the role of wacky scientist, though we're not exactly sure where he fits into the plot (I'm guessing in some sort of deranged comedic way). I'm a fan of time-travel stories when done right and knowing Tony Scott, Denzel Washington and screenwriter Terry Rossio (Hey, where's Ted Elliott?) are involved gives me hope that this thing will be different enough so that we're not screaming "rip-off!" upon leaving the theater.