soul men Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When filling out the box office chart that's below the fold, I accidentally mistyped Madagascar as Badagascar. I didn't mean it. Of this decade's slew of random non-Pixar talking-animal cartoons, Madagascar and Happy Feet are far and away the best, so I'm glad that the former, at least, is now a bona fide franchise. (There were rumors of a second Happy Feet, but that project seems to have stalled.) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa opened to a huge $63.5 million this weekend, a $16 million improvement on its 2005 predecessor. Animated films' staying power is unpredictable (though generally stronger than average), but $175 million seems assured and $250 million is not out of the question.

Role Models' $19 million opening is less ginormous, but no less notable. For an R-rated comedy with no real stars and no franchise behind it, that's a major coup. I suspect word-of-mouth will help the film in the weeks to come.

Soul Men, on the other hand, failed to capitalize on the cache of Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac. Black audiences would have turned out in droves for the feel-good comedy. Lionsgate would have gone to town with it.

With last weekend's box office hit on account of Halloween falling on Friday, this weekend's drop figures -- save Saw V's -- looked pretty good across the board. Most notably, people seem to be responding well to Clint Eastwood's Changeling, which held on to fourth place without much of a screen count jump.

The full estimates after the jump.

No matter what else happens in Soul Men, it's hard not to be moved by the posthumous performances of Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, especially when they appear onscreen together, and more so when, in one scene, they leave a room together. At other times, however, Mac is at the top of his comedic game. He has the power to make us forget that anything is wrong in the world, including the fact that it has lost two of its best and brightest.

In Soul Men, Mac plays Floyd Henderson, one third of a legendary 1960s soul music trio. In the 1970s, the group's lead singer Marcus Hooks (played in flashbacks and photos by John Legend) embarked upon a solo career, leaving Floyd and his bandmate Louis Hinds (Samuel L. Jackson) in the lurch. They tried to continue alone, but quickly broke up due to "creative differences," i.e. they fought over a woman. Now Marcus has passed away and Floyd and Louis have been invited to perform in a tribute show at the Apollo. And since Louis doesn't fly, they must drive cross-country, which gives them plenty of time to fight and bicker. (Isaac Hayes appears relatively briefly, as himself, at the tribute.)

As expected, High School Musical 3 hung in there forcing the new Kevin Smith/Seth Rogan comedy to settle for second place. Clint Eastwood's Changeling expanded into wider release allowing it to take fourth place, and last week's other newbie The Haunting of Molly Hartley joined Saw V in scaring the crap out of America over the Halloween weekend. Here's the top five:

1. High School Musical 3: Senior Year: $15.3 million
2. Zack and Miri Make a Porno: $10 million
3. Saw V: $9.7 million
4. Changeling: $9.3 million
5. The Haunting of Molly Hartley: $5.4 million

And this week we've got three new releases:

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
What's It All About: Animated followup to 2005's Madagascar in which our heroes attempt to make their way back to New York City but instead find themselves in Africa where they meet others of their respective species for the first time.
Why It Might Do Well: The original took in $193 million domestically and $339 million foreign, and the sequel is pulling in a 71% fresh rating at Rottentomatoes.com.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Ben Stiller voices Alex and his presence still gives me Zoolander flashbacks.
Number of Theaters: 3,900
Prediction: $38 million

Role Models
What's It All About: Comedy in which Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott play two men who are ordered to take part in a big brother program in lieu of jail time.
Why It Might Do Well: Rottentomatoes.com doesn't have a rating for this one yet, but they list several encouraging reviews.
Why It Might Not Do Well: I personally question the logic of allowing the youth of America to be given guidance by two guys who can barely stay out of prison.
Also, while both stars have been in some hit comedies neither is a box office draw.
Number of Theaters: 2,700
Prediction: $17 million

Soul Men
What's It All About: Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson play soul singers who haven't seen each other in 20 years and have to travel cross country to perform at a tribute to their former band leader.
Why It Might Do Well: Bernie Mac was a funny guy and I'm betting his fans will want to see him perform one last time.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Mac and Jackson are doing their own musical performances. Is this a good thing?
Number of Theaters: 2,000
Prediction: $11 million

For next week I think it will go a little like this:

1. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
2. Role Models
3. Soul Men
4. High School Musical 3
5. Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Not one, not even two, but three perfect scores last week. Boo-yeah! Congrats to Josh, hitesh choudhary and cough (who now has two consecutive perfect scores) and thanks to everyone else for taking part in the fun. Here's how we all did:
1. Josh: 16
1. hitesh choudhary: 16
1. cough: 16
2. Pat Campbell: 13
3. Matt: 12
3. Ray: 12
3. AJ Wiley: 12
3. Vera: 12
3. Bradford Oman: 12
3. NP: 12
4. Alex Farquharson: 11
5. I Eat Robots: 8
5. davebaster1989: 8
5. Herff: 8
5. greatone: 8
6. Gregory Rubinstein: 7
7. AJ: 5

Post your predictions for the top five movies in the comments section below before 5:00PM Eastern Time on Friday. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie.

If you woke up this Saturday and looked at the box office returns from Friday, you probably noticed something strange. Saw V was cheerfully occupying the top spot despite having slid a whopping 78% from the previous Friday. Last weekend's winner, High School Musical 3, was sitting at number five with $1.7 million, a 90% drop. Ninety percent? What the hell is going on here?

Then you probably thought about it for a second and palm-smacked your forehead. Friday, of course, was October 31st, which meant that virtually all of HSM's target audience was out trick-or-treating. Some comparatively smaller percentage of Saw fans was out partying, or whatever it is the kids are doing these days. HSM recovered admirably, leapfrogging back into first, but Halloween still hurt: that 65% drop isn't great for a kidflick, though it's more in line with the pattern of eagerly awaited franchise sequels. We'll see what happens next week.

As for Saw V, it's currently running about $5 million behind its immediate predecessor, although the Halloween Friday took its toll here too -- it's probably fair to call them even at this point. Even if Saw V continues the franchise's declining trend, it's still a cash cow. My guess is we'll see a couple more theatrical sequels, and then infinite direct-to-DVD entries. Jigsaw will never die.

There were some newcomers. Zack and Miri Make a Porno's $10.7 million take was roughly in line with Kevin Smith's best showings; only 2001's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back fared better, and barely at that. (It's probably worth noting that this is also by far the worst opening for a film starring Seth Rogen.) Changeling respectably, if unspectacularly, expanded to 1,850 screens, landing in fourth with $9.4 million. That would be more auspicious if the film were expected to be an awards player, but that doesn't seem to be the case. The Haunting of Molly Hartley, a horror offering for the tween set, actually managed an okay $6 million -- not bad when you don't even have a real distributor.

The full estimates after the jump.

Here's a round-up of some stuff (and things) currently causing waves online:

-- Moviefone has launched the latest installment of Unscripted, featuring stars Josh Brolin and Elizabeth Banks discussing their new film W. using reader questions and some of their own. Additionally, above you'll find some newly-released art for the film. Heh.

-- After breaking up with Paramount, Dreamworks has officially found a new f*ck buddy in Universal, so says Variety. The two signed a seven-year worldwide distribution deal.

-- Darren Aronofsky's The Fighter looks to be in trouble. Now that the writer-director is working hard on that Robocop remake, seems this other flick is being neglected. Brad Pitt has apparently dropped out, and Mark Wahlberg -- who's been training for the role for over a year -- doesn't seem to know the film's current status. All that being said, Slashfilm claims their scouting locations in Mass.

-- A few photos of Mel Gibson on the set of Edge of Darkness have appeared online, most of which show the man going full-Diddy, forcing some woman to hold an umbrella so the sun doesn't, ya know, shine on the poor man. In case you forgot, this film marks Gibson's return to acting as a homicide detective investigating the death of his daughter. See image to the right, click to see enlarge. [via Crabbies Hollywood]

-- A theme park in the UK is actually moving forward with a ride based on the Saw films, called Saw - The Ride. I bet folks will just kill to get on it. HAR! Apparently, we're looking at a ride with "beyond vertical drop of 100-degree from a height of 100ft, as well as a rather sinister sounding "three inversions" to add to the fun." Who's down? [via IGN]

Guillaume Depardieu, the 37-year-old son of Gerard Depardieu, died today in Paris from a bout of acute pneumonia. Depardieu, who's starred in upwards of 20 films, struggled with drugs and drinking over the years.

A few new images of Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac in the new film Soul Men have arrived in the Cinematical inbox. Check them out in the gallery below.

What a pity it is that we lost both comedian Bernie Mac and musician Isaac Hayes in such short order, and what a stroke of good fortune that they both happened to have completed their roles in the upcoming comedy, Soul Men, in which Mac's character tries to get Samuel L. Jackson to join him for a televised reunion concert.

Yahoo! Movies has released the trailer for the film, and it reflects both the best tendencies of director Malcolm D. Lee and his worst as a writer (though he isn't credited as one here). There's the good-natured nostalgia of something like 2005's Roll Bounce, balanced out with the mean-spirited and utterly un-hilarious antics of this year's Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins (I'm sure that if there could've been room for Jennifer Coolidge in that gem, she would've removed her dentures for fellatio there instead).

In all fairness, the writing duo that is credited were last responsible for Man of the House, so maybe we shouldn't be so surprised. I'd like to think that Mac and Jackson could make the most of the material regardless, but we can't say for sure until November 7, when Soul Men tentatively opens opposite Role Models and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa -- for which Mac lent his voice.

Last weekend we lost two great stars, actor/comedian Bernie Mac (1957-2008) and Oscar-winning songwriter/actor Isaac Hayes (1942-2008), who both appear in the upcoming Soul Men (pictured above), out this November. For more on their respective deaths, see Erik's and William's posts.

Actor and playwright George Furth (1932-2008) died August 11 in Santa Monica, California. I'll always remember him best as the anti-Cannonballer spoilsport Arthur J. Foyt in The Cannonball Run. He also appears memorably in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Blazing Saddles and Shampoo. (AP)

Where would the montage sequence be without Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun"? And what about the movie that borrowed the title, Girls Just Want to Have Fun? Robert Hazard (1948-2008), who wrote the tune, died August 5 in Boston. (Variety)

"Love means never having to say you're sorry." This famous line came to us partly by way of Howard G. Minsky (1914-2008) who received an Oscar nomination for producing Love Story. He died August 10 in Palm Beach, Florida. (Variety)

Bernie Brillstein (1931-2008), formerly half of production team Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, executive produced Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, The Blues Brothers, Spies Like Us, The Cable Guy, Bulletproof, Happy Gilmore, Summer Rental, Dragnet, Up the Academy, Neighbors, Doctor Detroit, Continental Divide, The Celluloid Closet, What Planet Are You From? and Run Ronnie Run and produced The Replacement Killers and Jiminy Glick in Lalawood. He died of chronic pulmonary disease August 7, in New York City. (NY Times)

Oscar-nominated record producer Jerry Wexler (1917-2008), who was portrayed by Richard Schiff in the movie Ray, died of congenital heart disease August 15, in Sarasota, Florida. He also worked on soundtracks for The Wiz, The Cotton Club and Pretty Baby (for which he received the Academy Award nom) and co-wrote the Aretha Franklin tune "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman". (AP)

According to the Associated Press, 65-year-old singer-songwriter Isaac Hayes has passed away after being found unresponsive in his Memphis, TN home.

An indelible influence on the world of music, a pop culture icon besides for his work as Chef on "South Park" and in its full-length feature, Hayes will be most fondly remembered in the world of film for his award-winning theme to Shaft and his role as 'The Duke' in Escape from New York.

Hayes showed up in his fair share of other movies, apparently including a cameo as himself in the upcoming comedy Soul Men, starring Samuel L. Jackson and the late Bernie Mac -- this after making an appearance on "The Bernie Mac Show" in 2005 and an uncredited cameo in the 2000 version of Shaft, starring Jackson.

The AP is reporting this morning that actor/comedian Bernie Mac has passed away in a Chicago area hospital from complications due to pneumonia. He's also suffered from an inflammatory lung disease known as sarcoidosis, though that had gone into remission back in 2005. Mac, who won a Peabody Award for his very popular sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, was also well known for his stand-up comedy -- and as part of The Original Kings of Comedy -- as well as his various big-screen appearances in films from the Ocean's series to Bad Santa to Mr. 3000 to his upcoming roles in Soul Men opposite Samuel L. Jackson, and Old Dogs opposite Robin Williams and John Travolta.

Dude was a funny, funny man. He will be missed. What's your favorite Bernie Mac performance/joke/moment? Feel free to share your thoughts on the man in the comments section below ...

I have an unfortunate knee-jerk reaction to the title Soul Men. Almost against my will, my mind is flung back to that 1986 C. Thomas Howell atrocity Soul Man, in which rich white kid Howell tried to pass himself off as black man to secure a scholarship. (Excuse me while I try to calm down the tremors shaking through my body.)

Happily for everybody, Malcolm D. Lee's Soul Men bears no relation to that earlier film. Samuel L. Jackson and Bernie Mac star as two feuding back-up singers who reunite for a tribute concert. Jessica Barnes detailed the plot and gave us a look at the first picture from the production a few months ago, a back stage shot with Isaac Hayes, who is playing himself. Cinematical has received the great-looking image above, showing the Soul Men in performance.

Reportedly, Jackson and Mac are doing their own singing and, even though they're playing back-up singers, I'm hoping we get to hear them solo -- or duet. Jackson was mighty impressive as a blues guitar player and singer in Craig Brewer's Black Snake Moan, even if that movie is better remembered for Christina Ricci's naked display of her physical assets than Jackson's musical prowess. I can't remember Bernie Mac singing in any of his roles, but he's such a great stand-up presence that I can really see him excelling in this part.

Are you ready to watch Sam and Bernie as the new Soul Men when the film opens on November 14?