x2 Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Weekend Box Office: 'Wolverine' Beheads McConaughey
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
It is of course impossible to say whether the much-discussed work print leak damaged Wolverine's box office take, nor whether Fox's cockamamie strategy of tacking on different mid-credits codas to different prints of the film helped matters. All we can conclude is that if piracy hurt, it didn't hurt that much (which really has been the refrain for the movie industry all along), since I don't think too many people will be unhappy with an $87 million first weekend. For those keeping score, that's well ahead of X-Men, marginally ahead of Bryan Singer's X2, and roughly $15 million behind Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand. Wolverine is not likely to hold up well, but it's hard to imagine a scenario where it doesn't get to $200 million domestic. And after all the angst, that's a victory. One thing to consider is what this means for the straight action model of the comic book movie. I didn't dislike Wolverine like a lot of people did, but it undoubtedly did away with the nuance, intricacy and character focus that we've gotten used to seeing in major comic book adaptations. I bet it's much easier to make a Wolverine than a Iron Man or an X2 or a Watchmen, and it seems not to be much less financially rewarding.
I very much enjoyed not watching Ghosts of Girlfriends Past this weekend, and it seems so did a bunch of other people. The Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy picked up $15.3 million, which isn't bad, but puts the film way behind the last three identical Matthew McConaughey romantic comedies. And the 3D-animated Battle for Terra, while not a Delgo-level bust, couldn't break the top 10 and ended up with just over $1 million on around 1,200 screens. It's tough out there for animated features not bankrolled and marketed by huge studios.
The weekend's top 10 after the jump.
The Geek Beat: A Reboot From the Flames
Filed under: The Geek Beat »
Now, it's no secret Fox is looking at every single character in their arsenal and pondering how best to reboot or stage a spin-off. When they're reportedly looking at reviving the Fantastic Four, you know they're just desperate for more of that Marvel gold. (Here's where you can jump to the comments and just slag off Fox if you want, I won't mind.) Well, I have a Marvel character that was grievously mishandled, one that's perfect for rebooting by the very nature of her being, and whose return would earn the studio some major geek girl cred. I'm talking about Jean Gray, the Phoenix.
Here I should back up and say that if you've never read The Dark Phoenix Saga, you owe it to yourself to get a copy. It's dated, but it's pretty special, unique for the time it was penned and all that. Follow it up with a little Grant Morrison New X-Men and Phoenix: Endsong, dodging all the Madeleine Pryor and clone retcons that popped up in between. The Jean Gray story that lies at the heart of all these is a rich one -- a nice normal X-Girl who ends up possessed by an alien entity she can barely control.
Mark Beall's Geek Beat: Eight Things I Learned From The X-Men
Filed under: Action », Fandom », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels », The Geek Beat »
Ready for your lessons from geek movies? Following up on last week's Ten Things I Learned From the Fantastic Four, we're going to pick out a few general pointers for life from the X-Men film trilogy. Without further ado, I give you: The Geek Beat -- Eight Things I Learned From the X-Men (again, movies only, not the comics):
1. Wear hats frequently, particularly ones crafted from special materials. If you are an evil villain, all you need to do to escape the dangers of Charles Xavier, leader of the X-Men and most powerful telepathy on earth, is wear a nice hat. Not only will it keep Professor X out of your brain, it will also keep your head warm during the winter months and dry during unexpected rainfall. If you design it well, it can even be a fantastic addition to your villain ensemble. Nothing says super powers like a matching cape, costume and helmet.
2. Avoid city living, as it is far too complicated and laden with troublesome people. Again, a good note for evil villains -- if you want to conquer the world, try starting someplace other than New York. The crazy city is home to half of the known superheroes in America. I know there are a lot of cool buildings around to serve as labs/headquarters/hanger bays, but country living has a lot to offer you as well. For starters, you won't find the X-Men chilling out in Montana. Granted, your enormous headquarters will probably stand out a bit, but that's why we invented underground bunkers, right?
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