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Javier Bardem Joins Wall Street 2 as Villain

Updated April 2026

Javier Bardem will play the villain in ‘Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps’, directed by Oliver Stone. The Oscar-winning actor is set to go head-to-head with Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko, playing a hedge-fund manager who is at the center of the 2008 financial collapse.

Bardem’s presence adds a layer of global prestige to the sequel, which explores the greed and corruption of the modern banking system. With Stone’s signature directing style and a cast that includes Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan, ‘Wall Street 2’ is shaping up to be a defining film of the post-crash era. Expect Bardem to bring a cool, calculating intensity to the role of Gekko’s new rival.

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Adam Rodriguez gets ‘Caught’ with 50 Cents

Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is starring with Chris Klein, Adam Rodriguez and Richard T. Jones in “Caught in the Crossfire,” a police corruption drama. Newcomer Brian Miller wrote the script and is directing.

Lensing is just getting underway in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Jackson’s Cheetah Vision Films partner Randall Emmett is producing with R.D. Miller, who raised the equity to finance the film through his company Miller and Miller Films. Jackson is executive producer with Chris Lighty and Tim Roth.

The drama concerns two homicide detectives who find themselves caught in the crossfire of a gang-related homicide and a group of dirty cops. Jackson plays a gang-banger who becomes a reluctant informant.

Miller went to film school in Grand Rapids and is making his directing debut on “Crossfire.”

Jackson and Emmett launched Cheetah Vision at Sundance. Aside from “Crossfire,” they are producing “Jekyll and Hyde,” the Abel Ferrara-directed retelling of the classic story that will star Jackson and Forest Whitaker. They are also planning another untitled drama they will self-finance as a star vehicle for Jackson, with Benny Boom (“Next Day Air”) directing. Production will begin in October.

‘Where’s Waldo?’ to be found on the big screen

Several studios were in on the search, but Universal and Illumination Entertainment were the ones who found “Where’s Waldo?”

U and Chris Meledandri‘s family film unit have acquired screen rights to turn the “Where’s Waldo?” book series into a live-action family pic. Deal was worth high-six against seven figures. Meledandri will produce.

Among other bidders, Warner Bros. chased the property for Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne’s Unique Features banner. The rights were brokered by Classic Media’s Eric Ellenbogen, who’ll be executive producer.

Written and illustrated by Martin Handford, the “Waldo” books have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide. The books contain complex, full-page illustrations of large crowd scenes in which the main character is somewhere hidden, dressed in a red-and-white shirt, a hat, glasses and a walking stick.

U and Illumination will seek to create a movie with strong global appeal.

Series launched in 1987 in the U.K., spawning a TV skein, comicstrip and videogames.

Handford’s business partner Mike Gornall will also be involved in the film in some capacity.

Deal comes as Illumination readies its first picture, “Despicable Me,” for a July 9, 2010, release via Universal. Voice cast includes Steve Carell, Jason Segel, Danny McBride, Will Arnett, Kristen Wiig and Julie Andrews.

Next up for Illumination is “Flanimals,” an animated film based on the children’s book series created by Ricky Gervais, who’ll voice the lead character in the film scripted by Matt Selman (“The Simpsons”).

"UP" from Pixar is #1 at the box office!

The animated comedy about a widower and young boy who travel in a flying house raked in $68.2 million, according to studio estimates from Nielsen EDI.

And the film delivered on virtually every count, scoring an A-plus from CinemaScore and a recommendation from 98% of the nation’s films critics, according to RottenTomatoes.com.

“Pixar rarely has big stars in its movies,” says Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com. “Ed Asner (the star voice of Up) is not known for opening big. Pixar relies on their reputation for quality. And they’re 10 for 10.”

Chuck Viane, distribution chief for Disney, which distributes Pixar’s films, says that while families drove Up‘s business, nearly a third of the audience was adults without children.

“I think Pixar has a way of turning stories into ‘gotta see’ movies for adults,” Viane says. “They get an unusually even blend of ages.”

Up marked the third-largest Pixar debut, behind The Incredibles‘ $70.5 million and Finding Nemo‘s $70.3 million.

The studio has created anticipation for its films with patience. Up is only the 10th film in the studio’s 14-year history.

“They take their time,” Viane says. “They’ll tweak a story over and over until they’re satisfied. The highest compliment you can pay to them is they’re in no rush and get the job done right.”

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian was second with $25.5 million for a 10-day total of $105.3 million.

Despite stellar reviews, Sam Raimi’s return to schlock horror with Drag Me to Hell managed only third place and $16.8 million. Most analysts projected the horror film, which earned thumbs-up from 94% of reviewers, to collect at least $20 million.

Terminator Salvation ($16.1 million) was fourth, followed by Star Trek ($12.8 million).

Ticket sales dipped 24% from last weekend and 1% from the same weekend last year. Final numbers are out today.

1. “Up”, 68,2 millon

2. “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, 25,5

3. “Drag Me to Hell”, 16,6

4. “Terminator Salvation”, 16,1

5. “Star Trek”, 12,8

6. “Angels & Demons”, 11,2

7. “Dance Flick”, 4,9

8. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, 3,9

9. “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”, 1,9

10. “Obsessed”, 665,000

‘Daredevil’ to make a cinematic comeback

The movie website Comingsoong.net posted the following news story about the remake of Ben Affleck’s Daredevil movie:

The blog for the Los Angeles-based store Golden Apple Comics spotted one such actor when “Battlestar Gallactica” star Katee Sackhoff went there to buy every single comic featuring Typhoid Mary she could get her hands on with “hopes to get a part for a marvel movie.”

Comic fans will realize right away that Typhoid Mary is the longtime foe (and lover) of Marvel’s Daredevil, a mutant with a multiple personality who develops various powers depending on which personality inhabits her at the time. She was created by Ann Nocenti and John Romita Jr., first appearing in their run with Daredevil #254.

That makes one wonder whether 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios are already looking into possibly relaunching Daredevil on the big screen, following the Mark Steven Johnson version starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, which came out in 2003. Natassia Malthe played Typhoid in the 2005 spin-off Elektra with Garner. Typhoid also appeared in the early “Deadpool” comics, so this might be for the Deadpool spin-off with Ryan Reynolds.

‘Night at the Museum 2’ tops Terminator at B.O!

Twentieth Century Fox‘s sequel “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” won the domestic war against Warner Bros.’ reboot “Terminator: Salvation” at the holiday box office.

“Museum 2” grossed an estimated $53.5 million from 4,096 theaters Friday through Sunday, while “T4” grossed an estimated $43 million from 3,530 runs. Opening Thursday to $13.4 million, “T4’s” cume is $56.4 million.

Four-day totals for the long Memorial Day weekend won’t be released until Monday. But even with Monday’s grosses yet to be factored in, “Museum 2” appears to have the race sewn up.

Box observers had expected the contest between “Museum 2” and “T4” to be much closer, despite the fact that one is a family film, the other, a sci-fi actioner.

Benefiting from being the first family summer tentpole, “Museum 2” reps the best live action opening for a Ben Stiller pic.

Overseas, “Museum 2” also made a strong debut, grossing $50.1 million from 8,100 playdates in 93 markets. That puts the film’s worldwide opening at roughly $103 million through Sunday. “Museum 2” came in No. 2 overseas, beat by Sony holdover “Angels and Demons” ($60.4 million).

“Museum 2” saw a boffo 30% jump Friday to Saturday. Also, 52% of the audience were non-family. Film was able to overcome a box office hit in Los Angeles and Denver as sports fans in both cities tuned in to the NBA basketball playoffs.

Sequel easily bested the $43 million opening of “Night at the Museum” over the Christmas holiday in 2006.

In a not-so-good sign for “T4,” “Museum 2” beat it on Friday. Fan-driven pics usually do better on Fridays, while family films do bigger business on Saturday and Sunday.

However, “T4’s” five-day opening number should be in the vicinity of the five-day opening of “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” which clocked in at $68 million.

“T4”–directed by McG and toplining Christian Bale–was produced by Halcyon. Project was a negative pickup for Warners, which invested roughly $50 million in the reboot (not including marketing costs).

Sony, which is handling “T4” overseas, invested roughly $75 million. “T4” doesn’t open at the international box office for another two weeks.

Michael Haneke wins Palme d’Or at Cannes

In awards that ran the gamut from the widely predicted to the jaw-dropping, Michael Haneke‘s “The White Ribbon,” a stark, black-and-white drama set in a rural German village on the eve of WWI, received the Palme d’Or from the jury of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival on Sunday.

Haneke, who had previously won the director award for “Cache” (2005) and the Grand Prix for “The Piano Teacher” (2001), received his first Palme from a visibly delighted Isabelle Huppert, president of the jury. Huppert had won Cannes’ actress gong for “The Piano Teacher.”

“Happiness is a rare thing, but this is a moment in my life when I am truly happy,” Haneke said in his acceptance speech.

The Grand Prix went to French helmer Jacques Audiard‘s tough prison drama, “A Prophet,” which had been a frontrunner for a major prize since screening early on in the fest.

The top two prizes rep a coup for Sony Pictures Classics, which acquired North American rights to “The White Ribbon” before the festival and will distribute “A Prophet” in multiple territories including the U.S.

Sole kudo to an American-helmed film, in a competition light on U.S. fare, was the actor prize for Christoph Waltz for his multilingual tour de force as the Nazi “Jew Hunter” in Quentin Tarantino‘s German-U.S. production, “Inglourious Basterds.” The 52-year-old, Vienna-born thesp was previously unknown outside Germany, where he’s spent most of his career in TV.

“I owe this award to (my role as) Col. Landa,” said Waltz in his acceptance speech, “and his unique and inimitable creator, Quentin Tarantino.”

To a standing ovation in the Grand Theatre Lumiere, French vet Alain Resnais, who turns 87 next month (and was in competition with the elegant tragicomedy “Wild Grass”), received a lifetime achievement award for his work and contributions to the history of cinema. The visibly frail helmer declared it “completely surprising,” a possibly ironic reference to his stormy past relations with the fest (starting with 1974’s “Stavisky … “), from which he’s previously won only one award, the Grand Prix for “Mon oncle d’Amerique.”

While many other Cannes fave auteurs were completely passed over by the jury — including Pedro Almodovar, Ang Lee and Palme laureates Ken Loach and Jane Campion — Danish maverick Lars von Trier‘s latest headline-grabber, “Antichrist,” at least walked away with an actress kudo for Charlotte Gainsbourg‘s performance as a mother whose grief over her child’s death takes a psychotic turn.

Sharing the jury prize were Brit director Andrea Arnold‘s slice-of-lifer “Fish Tank” and South Korean helmer Park Chan-wook‘s vampire meller, “Thirst.” Arnold scooped the same award three years ago with her debut feature, “Red Road.”

Australian helmer Warwick Thornton’s well-received Aboriginal teen drama, “Samson and Delilah,” nabbed the Camera d’Or for first film.

Though several of the awards had largely been predicted and were generally seen as well deserved, many of the others were seen as among the quirkiest in recent memory.

All three of the Asian kudos drew heavy booing from the assembled press corps. Biggest scorn was reserved for the director prize for Filipino Brillante Mendoza‘s rape-and-dismemberment drama “Kinatay” (of which even admiring jury member Hanif Kureishi admitted, “I don’t ever want to see it again, myself”), followed by jeers for “Thirst” and mainland Chinese director Lou Ye’s “Spring Fever,” which copped screenplay (generally seen as its weakest element).

These awards appeared to have reflected deep divisions within the nine-member jury, which, apart from Huppert, included directors James Gray, Nuri Bilge Ceylan and Lee Chang-dong, writer Kureishi, and actresses Robin Wright Penn, Shu Qi, Asia Argento and Sharmila Tagore.

Before the awards ceremony, rumors were already circulating that jury discussions had been particularly fraught. One member described it as the worst jury experience he’d ever had, while another was said to have described Huppert as a “fascist.” Onstage, Huppert, looking visibly tense, referred to “an unforgettable week” and “several hours, uh, several moments of deliberation.”

Show’s host, comedian Edouard Baer, jokingly suggested that the onstage jury might “perhaps exchange telephone numbers and addresses” before parting. However, at the press conference afterward, several members went out of their way to stress that deliberations were “harmonious” and democratic.”

Somewhat less harmoniously, the ecumenical jury, which gave its annual award for spiritual values in filmmaking to Loach’s “Looking for Eric,” bestowed an “anti-prize” on von Trier’s “Antichrist.” Cannes fest director Thierry Fremaux was quick to denounce the dubious honor, calling it a “ridiculous decision that borders on a call for censorship,” particularly from a jury headed by a filmmaker, Romania’s Radu Mihaileanu.

INTL. COMPETITION JURY PRIZES

Palme d’Or

“The White Ribbon” (Michael Haneke, Germany-France-Austria-Italy)

Grand Prix

“A Prophet” (Jacques Audiard, France)

Lifetime achievement award

Alain Resnais, “Wild Grass” (France)

Director

Brillante Mendoza (“Kinatay,” France-Philippines)

Jury prize

“Fish Tank” (Andrea Arnold, U.K.), “Thirst” (Park Chan-wook, South Korea-U.S.)

Actor

Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds” (U.S.-Germany)

Actress

Charlotte Gainsbourg, “Antichrist” (Denmark-Germany-France-Sweden-Italy-Poland)

Screenplay

Mei Feng, “Spring Fever” (Hong Kong-France)

UN CERTAIN REGARD JURY AWARDS

Main Prize

“Dogtooth” (Yorgos Lanthimos, Greece)

Jury Prize

“Police, Adjective” (Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania)

Special Prize

“No One Knows About Persian Cats” (Bahman Ghobadi, Iran), “Father of My Children” (Mia Hansen-Love, France)

OTHER MAIN JURY AWARDS

Camera d’Or

“Samson and Delilah” (Warwick Thornton)

Special Mention

“Ajami” (Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, Israel-Germany)

Critics’ Week Grand Prix

“Farewell Gary” (Nassim Amamouche, France)

FIPRESCI AWARDS

Competition

“The White Ribbon” (Michael Haneke, Germany-Austria-France-Italy)

Un Certain Regard

“Police, Adjective” (Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania)

Directors’ Fortnight

“Amreeka” (Cherien Dabis, Canada-Kuwait-U.S.)

SHORT FILMS JURY PRIZES

Palme d’Or

“Arena” (Joao Salaviza, Portugal)

Special Mention

“The Six Dollar Fifty Man” (Mark Albiston, Louis Sutherland, New Zealand)

CINEFONDATION

First Prize

“Baba” (Zuzana Kirchnerova-Spidlova)

Second Prize

“Goodbye” (Song Fang)

Third Prize

“Diploma” (Yaelle Kayam)

“Don’t Step Out of the House” (Jo Sung-hee)

ECUMENICAL PRIZE

“Looking for Eric” (Ken Loach, U.K.-France-Italy-Belgium-Spain)

PRIX VULCAIN TECHNICAL AWARD

Aitor Berenguer, sound mixer (“Map of the Sounds of Tokyo,” Spain)