hellboy II Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The awards ceremony might not air until Tuesday, but thanks to the beauty that is the Internet (and Ace Showbiz), read on to see the winners for Scream 2008.

Being a fanboy's wet dream, there's really no surprise that The Dark Knight was insanely victorious -- it's probably more of a surprise to list what the film didn't win, rather than what it did. Nevertheless, after earning 21 nods, it nabbed 12 of them, including Ultimate Scream Movie, Best Sequel, Best Hero and Villain, and Best F/X. But the man who follows the bat signal wasn't the only victorious hero -- Hellboy II got Best Fantasy Movie, and Iron Man scored Best Sci-Fi, as well as a Best Actor win for Robert Downey Jr. The other big winner was Tim Burton's music-filled blood-letting Sweeney Todd, which grabbed Best Horror Movie and Best Actor for Johnny Depp. But it must be said -- kudos to Teeth for biting its way into a vagina dentata award -- Most Memorable Mutilation.

Sure, this is a fan-centric sort of awards ceremony, so it doesn't necessarily hint at the future, but maybe this is just a nice warm-up for the man with wings, and his utterly enticing villain who might be gone, but left on one hell of an impressive high note. ...one can hope!

If you alone were in charge of handing these awards out, would you make any changes?

Not to be a snake in everyone's boot, but the all-time opening weekend record is not in the bag for The Dark Knight just yet. The $155.3 million weekend estimate is just that -- a studio estimate -- and when the final numbers come out later this afternoon, Spider-Man 3's $151.1 million may still be on top of the heap. So everyone should chill for a few more hours.

Still -- $150 million! In one weekend! For a movie that's dark and scary and complicated and dead serious! That's pretty amazing, though my hopes for this wonderful film's box office staying power were dampened somewhat when I saw it a second time yesterday and heard the banter of the couple next to me, which consisted of statements like "Do you know what's going on? I don't know what's going on," and "I don't even understand who the bad guy is." (?!??) I guess you can't please everyone.

Anyway. $150 million +. First person to call it a disappointment because it's not the world's first $200 million opening weekend gets a kick in the crotch.

The weekend's counterprogramming saw mixed results. Mamma Mia!'s $27.6 million is an undeniable victory, though I think the market was begging for something not action- or family-oriented. I'm not sure what to say about Space Chimps' $7.4 million, seventh-place bow. I don't think anyone could have expected much more from a movie called Space Chimps.

The Dark Knight did a number on the superhero-themed holdovers, kicking Hellboy II down to the tune of 71%, and Hancock a somewhat gentler 57%. Hancock should see $200 million by the end of the week; Hellboy II probably won't get to $70 million domestic, though it should beat its predecessor's $60 million take.

The full top 10 estimates after the jump.

I'm still a little iffy on the way this whole Dark Knight thing was handled; how it was screened for press three weeks prior to its arrival in theaters, with Warners letting folks go crazy with regards to reviews, interviews and all that jazz. The pre-hype has reached an epic level, sure, but doesn't it sorta take away from films like Hancock or Hellboy II: The Golden Army? Shouldn't they get their time to shine? I feel like The Dark Knight kinda stomped into town, shoved off a bunch of other films and said, "I'm here now ... a little early, so deal with it."

Well, we are dealing with it. And it's interesting to see how different forms of media are handling the promotion of the Bat-quel. Online, of course, you're getting all the geeky reviews -- with some folks stopping just short from calling it the greatest thing to ever happen to cinema in the history of the universe. Last night on TV, my local news did a whole piece on Heath Ledger's performance and how everyone is talking Oscar and how, ya know, he's dead and stuff. I wasn't paying too close attention, but some of the ridiculous things they said -- about Ledger being dead and how that's the only reason why people want to see the film -- were just so overtly offensive to anyone with even a half an ounce of respect for the man. I was a tad disgusted, but then again I kind of expected it -- these news organizations don't look at people as human beings, they look at them as stories. Sensational stories.

But back to the hype ...

A whole crop of new Hellboy II: The Golden Army photos have popped up over at Yahoo Movies. Like, a lot of them. There's also the promise of a new trailer premiering tomorrow, so make sure you head back there for that. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, of course, is the sequel to Hellboy -- and it's directed by the always-nutty Guillermo del Toro. Starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones and Luke Goss, Hellboy II once again follows the planet's toughest, roughest superhero as he goes to battle against a merciless dictator and an unstoppable army of creatures. This just has awesome written all over it. You can check out another image below, then click on either to check out Yahoo's gigantic gallery.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army hits theaters on July 11.

(Note: Above image was chosen totally at random. Yup. We'll go with that.)

It's beginning to look a lot like summer blockbuster season everywhere you go.

I've heard the words "calm before the storm" mentioned more times in the past week than I have all year. That's because it's almost April, which means the official start to the summer movie season is only one month away. One month! That's it! Are all of you as excited as we are? (Don't all stand up and cheer at the same time.) Anyway, pretty much all of the big summer flicks have released trailers by now (with the exception of The Mummy 3 ... and maybe something else that I'm forgetting -- it is Monday after all).

We've seen trailers for The Dark Knight, Iron Man, Speed Racer, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, The Incredible Hulk, WALL-E, Prince Caspian, Hellboy II, The X-Files, Wanted, The Happening, Hancock ... and so on. Of course, some films have been a little more aggressive than others -- like Iron Man (which comes out first), WALL-E (a few trailers, teasers and a very early viral campaign) and The Dark Knight (one teaser, one trailer and 50 billion viral sites). Indy's shoveled out a bunch of videos, as well as a trailer, and The Incredible Hulk has given us one trailer and a few images. One imagines all of these films will ramp up their marketing as their release dates draw closer.

But here's our question today: Which summer blockbuster trailer pumped you up most to see the film? Feel free to answer the poll below or write in your favorite in the comments section. (Me? I'm going with The Dark Knight.)

Universal Pictures and Dark Horse Entertainment have struck a three year production and distribution deal. Universal now has creative access to Dark Horse's entire stable (pardon the pun) of characters and properties, as well as anything the company aquires in the hopes of turning it into a film. In return, Dark Horse gains a permanent studio home for all future properties, and the option to distribute their own films through Universal.

Dark Horse has been responsible for publishing some of the cooler comics in the past few years -- but their movie output has been less than stellar. For every Hellboy, there's been a Son of the Mask and Alien vs Predator. Maybe a partnership with Universal will change that.

So many Dark Horse properties are in creative limbo now that I am really curious to see what's going to happen to them. Can Universal buy back the rights to Sin City so the sequel can be made? Lone Wolf and Cub? I know I am going to be wrong on who owns what, it's one of those days where Google is providing nothing in the way of reliable information -- and Dark Horse Entertainment only lists Hellboy II as their upcoming project, which is no help. Feel free to refresh my memory.

At any rate, I wonder if it means we'll see Frank Miller directing Martha Washington one of these days. I don't think that's been optioned yet.

[via Superhero Hype]