The Latest in Latino Entertainment News

‘Bruno’ astonishingly is #1 at the box office

“Bruno,” British satirist Sacha Baron Cohen‘s latest subversive outing, narrowly claimed the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office in North America, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The “mockumentary,” in which Baron Cohen plays a gay Austrian fashion model seeking fame in the United States, sold $30.4 million worth of tickets during the three days beginning July 10, distributor Universal Pictures said.

But the film lost 39 percent of its audience from Friday to Saturday, a hefty drop given that movies usually see an uptick in that period.

Rival studios pounced on the slide, forecasting “Bruno” would have a short run in theaters. But Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said such a dip “was not unusual in summer.”

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” held steady at No. 2 with $28.5 million, taking the 12-day haul for 20th Century Fox’s prehistoric cartoon to $120.6 million. The film was the top draw internationally over the weekend, with $98 million from 102 markets. Its total foreign haul stands at $327 million.

Last weekend’s North American champion, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” slipped to No. 3 with $24.2 million. After 19 days, Paramount Pictures’ robot sequel has earned $339.2 million in North America, easily the biggest movie of the year. Its international haul rose to $364.5 million.

The one other new entry was Fox’s teen romantic comedy “I Love You, Beth Cooper,” starring Hayden Panettiere in the title role. It came in at No. 7 with $5 million, in line with the studio’s modest expectations.

The opening for “Bruno” was also in line with the forecasts of Universal Pictures, a General Electric Co (GE.N) unit, which paid independent producer Media Rights Capital $42.5 million for distribution rights in North America and eight foreign territories. Media Rights declined to disclose the budget.

Baron Cohen’s previous release, the similarly outrageous “Borat,” opened with $26.5 million in November 2006. But that was from about 800 theaters, while “Bruno” played in 2,756 theaters. “Borat” ended up with $128.5 million in North America and an additional $133 million internationally.

Universal said “Bruno” earned $20 million from the eight international markets, led by No. 1 bows in Britain ($8.1 million) and Australia ($6.1 million).

“Bruno” faced a similar storm of controversy as “Borat.”

In the new film, Baron Cohen’s character sashays across the American landscape, piling on the homosexual activity for unsuspecting co-stars and a squeamish audience. Critics mostly liked the movie, while gay-rights groups were mixed in their reactions.

Both films were directed by Larry Charles, a former writer/producer on “Seinfeld.”

Exit data provided by Universal indicated that men made up 56 percent of the “Bruno” audience in North America, in line with the turnout for “Borat.”

But this time, 54 percent of moviegoers were aged 25 and older, while 53 percent of the “Borat” crowd was aged under 25. Both films were rated “R” in the United States, requiring moviegoers under 17 to be accompanied by an adult.

Universal’s Rocco said the film would be “very profitable” for the studio, which picked up the rights before “Borat” was released.

I Love You, Beth Cooper

Rated: PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language, some teen drinking and drug references, and brief violence.
Release Date: 2009-07-10
Starring: Larry Doyle
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.iloveyoubethcoopermovie.com/

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I Love You, Beth Cooper is a film that blends the satirical and the serious, although the former lacks the edge to give it bite and the latter is only occasionally applied with conviction. The result feels at odds with itself and never fully satisfies. There’s a sense that a much better movie is trying to get out but it never attains escape velocity.

 

It’s graduation day for the seniors of Buffalo Grove High, and valedictorian Denis Cooverman (Paul Rust) is about to deliver an unusual address. In it, he professes unrequited love for the school’s head cheerleader, Beth Cooper (Hayden Panettiere). This delights Denis’ best friend, Rich (Jack T. Carpenter), who is the instigator of Denis’ confession. Beth is conflicted – despite being embarrassed, she finds the whole thing “so sweet.” Her thuggish, drugged-out boyfriend, Kevin (Shawn Roberts), decides that ending Denis’ life might be the best way to resolve an unpleasant situation. Events conspire to group Denis, Beth, Rich, and Beth’s two best friends, Cammy (Lauren London) and Treece (Lauren Storm), together for the night. Their misadventures include avoiding Kevin when he launches an attack on Denis’ house, breaking into the school for some fun in the showers, turning up at the most popular party of the evening, and spending time in a cabin in the woods. Out for blood, Kevin is always in hot pursuit, and both Beth and Denis discover things about their feelings for one another they weren’t expecting.

 

The intended raunchy content has been watered down for PG-13 consumption. There is nudity, but it’s of the peek-a-boo variety. Director Chris Columbus, a graduate of the John Hughes school of filmmaking (perhaps best known for handling the first two Harry Potter movies), avoids anything deeply scathing or controversial. Although I Love You, Beth Cooper doesn’t quite fit neatly into the teenage romantic comedy mold, it comes close, with titles like Risky Business and The Girl Next Door being appropriate antecedents. (The Tom Cruise movie is even mentioned explicitly.) 

 

Hayden Panettiere is best-known for her role in the TV series Heroes, although her acting career stretches back much farther. She shows impressive range here, essentially having to play three versions of Beth Cooper: the image that attracts the eyes and stirs the hormones of all the boys in school (including Denis); the scary, reckless one who pushes boundaries and buttons; and the “real” girl behind all the curtains. Panettiere integrates the three into one, which is a more adept task than one might imagine. The performance is better than the movie deserves.

 

There’s a sense that I Love You, Beth Cooper has been smoothed out and dumbed down to reach the broadest audience. (Not having read the novel by Larry Doyle, who also penned the screenplay, I can’t say for sure.) As good as some of the bonding material is, that’s how unfortunate many of the so-called comedic and generic story elements are. I Love You, Beth Cooper is schizophrenic – two very different movies uneasily occupying the same space and time. One of them has promise; the other is annoying and off-putting. The filmmakers lacked the courage and conviction to tell an honest, character-based story and resorted to something that has been massaged into a more comfortable, easily consumable cinematic morsel. Too bad the inevitable result of ingesting this is heartburn.

Shalim Ortiz filming in Mexico

Heroe’s star Shalim Ortiz is currently filiming a movie in Spanish called “Asesinato, amor y reincarnacion” directed by Mexican director Eduardo Rossoff. According to our source, Shalim and crew are one week down, and six to go on the set in Mazatlan, Mexico. The cast and crew will be there until July 18th when they will eventually be moving to the Dominican Republic to finish the film.

On a curious note, “Asesinato, amor y reincarnacion” is the second most expensive Mexican movie in the past 5 years with a budget of $38,000,000 pesos or $2,863,000 dollars. That sounds like a lot for a country who just suffered an economic set back due to the swine flu incident. “Arrancame la Vida” still holds the record as the most expensive film in that country.

Shalim will be keeping busy for the rest of the year as he is set to begin filming 4 new projects: Gardel 2008, The Roel, Tango Late and Riptide.

To see Shalim in action in the set of “Asesinato, amor y reincarnacion” see the exclusive pics below we obtained from the set.

The Unborn

Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images, thematic material and language including some sexual references.
Release Date: 2009-01-09
Starring: David S. Goyer
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country:USA
Official Website: http://www.theunbornmovie.net/

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‘Ice Age 3’ and ‘Transformers 2’ tie for box office gold?

It was a win-win situation at the box office, with “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” raking in record international box office for an animated pic, while “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” became the year’s domestic B.O. champ.

Opening on Wednesday to get the jump on the holiday weekend, 20th Century Fox’s “Ice Age 3” won the five-day sesh with $67.5 million; the “Transformers” sequel took $65 million. The 3-D dinosaurs trampled the world’s box office, with the biggest opening ever for an animated film at $148 million. Worldwide total stands at $215.5 million.

For the three-day weekend sesh, “Ice Age” and “Transformers” raced to a rare tie, with $42.5 million. (The victor will likely be decided when the final numbers come in this ayem.)

“Revenge of the Fallen” lit up the holiday box office frame by becoming the highest-grossing pic of the year, with a domestic cume of $293.5 million in its 12th day in release. The only film to have amassed a higher gross in such a short time is “The Dark Knight.” Worldwide tally for “Transformers 2” is a massive $591 million.

Universal’s Johnny Depp gangster pic “Public Enemies,” which also opened Wednesday, served as solid counterprogramming to the two tentpoles. Period piece, directed by Michael Mann, grossed $41 million in its first five days at the domestic B.O. and $5.3 million from five territories overseas, bringing worldwide cume to $46.3 million.

Distribs and exhibs were expecting a slow holiday Saturday, but the drop was even bigger than expected at 30% or more.

Yet the weekend was still up over the same domestic frame last year as there was something for everyone on the marquee. There had been concern that “Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and “Public Enemies” might get lost in the shadow of “Revenge of the Fallen,” but both came in on the upper end of expectations.

The third “Ice Age” pic’s five-day domestic debut of $67.5 million nearly matched the $68 million opening of the previous installment, “Ice Age: The Meltdown.”

Fox took a calculated risk in opening the threequel in summer. The first two films debuted in March, when there is far less competition, but the third is benefiting from summer vacation.

“Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” opening on 11,652 screens in 101 markets, saw the sixth best international opening of all time behind (“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” tops the list).

“Ice Age 3” likely took a bite out of “Transformers 2” internationally, although the latter still pulled in $55 million for the sesh.

Fox co-prexies of international distribution Paul Hanneman and Tomas Jegeus said “Ice Age 3” played incredibly broadly, fueled by a massive international marketing campaign that included numerous promotion partners.

“We had a great date, and we think we will keep playing and playing. The ‘Ice Age’ franchise has become an institution, and we powered through any disadvantages we had, such as weather,” Hanneman said.

The film scored the biggest international opening ever in numerous territories, led by Russia at $18.9 million, Brazil at $10.3 million and Mexico at $10 million. Other countries included Austria, Chile, Peru and Colombia. In Mexico, the opening was 100% ahead of the “Transformers 2” debut and 81% ahead of “Dark Knight.”

“Dawn of the Dinosaurs” broke the record for the biggest animated opening in several individual territories as well, including France at $11.1 million.

“Ice Age 3’s” worldwide gross was boosted by its 3-D runs, which repped the widest opening to date for a 3-D title, both domestically and abroad. In the U.S. toon played on 1,606 3-D screens. Overseas, the 2,126 3-D screens grossed a combined $51 million, repping 34% of the entire gross, even though the screens comprised only 18% of the entire run.

Fox VP of domestic distribution Bert Livingston said the studio was elated with the overall result.

“I think we are in rarefied air. To be in a virtual tie for the weekend with one of the biggest event films ever is a great start,” Livingston said.

“Ice Age 3” represents a sizable victory for Fox Animation topper Vanessa Morrison.

Meanwhile, Universal was pleased with “Public Enemies,” which overcame concerns that a more serious drama wouldn’t play in summer.

“Everyone questioned whether this film would do good business. It turned out to be a great holiday weekend for fans of adult titles,” said U prexy of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson.

The “Public Enemies” opening, the best ever for Mann, is a testament to Depp’s appeal, proving he can open a pic even when not dressed as a pirate.

Among holdovers, Disney’s romantic comedy “The Proposal” ended the weekend with an impressive worldwide gross of $123.7 million. Coming in No. 4 domestically, pic dipped just 31% to an estimated $12.8 million from 3,099 runs; cume is $94.2 million. Overseas, the Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds starrer grossed $4.2 million from 1,753 runs in 15 territories for a cume of $29.5 million.

Warner Bros.’ “The Hangover” jumped the $200 million mark domestically, grossing an estimated $10.5 million from 3,070 theaters for a cume of $204.2 million. Overseas, film grossed $8.7 million from 1,975 screens in 30 markets for a cume of $61.5 million and worldwide tally of $265.7 million. That’s within earshot of the global take for “Wedding Crashers” at $285.2 million.

At the specialty box office, Summit Entertainment’s “The Hurt Locker” secured the best per-location average of any film. The Kathryn Bigelow-directed war drama grossed an estimated $126,000 from nine locations for a per-screen average of $14,000 and cume of $365,000 in its second sesh. Its holding power will be tested when it expands into smaller markets.

Focus Features’ “Away We Go,” from Sam Mendes, ended its fifth sesh with an impressive cume of $6.1 million after posting a weekend gross of $1.1 million from 506 locations.

Sony Pictures Classics’ sci-fi drama “Moon” grossed $300,485 in its fourth weekend from 47 locations, raising its per-screen average to $6,393 with a cume of $982,527.

Sony Classics’ Woody Allen pic “Whatever Works” grossed $1.1 million from 355 locations for the weekend, putting its cume at $2 million in its third frame — an improvement on Allen’s “Cassandra’s Dream” last year.

Miramax’s “Cheri,” directed by Stephen Frears, failed to catch on in its second sesh, with an estimated $388,000 from 140 locations and cume of $1 million. Magnolia’s had more success with docu “Food, Inc.,” which grossed $240,000 from 83 screens for a $1.28 million cume.

Among openers, Magnolia’s “The Girl From Monaco” grossed $90,000 from 21 theaters for a per-location average of $4,286.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Movie Review)

Rated: PG for some mild rude humor and peril.
Release Date: 2009-07-01
Starring:
Director(s):
Distributor:
Film Genre:
Country: USA
Official Website: http://www.laeradelhielo3.com/

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With each release, Pixar explores new themes and ideas. Meanwhile, animation studios like Fox retread tired “franchises” like Ice Age. Never representative of more than mediocrity from a technical or story-based standpoint, the Ice Age series has reached a new nadir with its third entry. Rather than adding an extra dimension to the entertainment, the decision to release Dawn of the Dinosaurs in 3D merely gives the animators an opportunity to be more slipshod in their design and execution. For the most part, the movie plays out like a demo for the video game, careening from one improbable action sequence to the next. I can see how the challenge of mastering some of these puzzles might be fun in an interactive forum, but they’re deadly dull in a movie.

The story has Manny the Mammoth (voice of Ray Romano) and his mate, Ellie (Queen Latifa), about to embark upon parenthood. Diego the Sabertooth Tiger (Denis Leary), feeling he has lost “it,” elects to leave behind the herd and strike out on his own. And Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo) decides that, like Manny, he wants a family of his own. He achieves this goal not by finding a female and doing it the old fashioned way but by discovering three unhatched dinosaur eggs. Soon, he is being followed by three newly hatched T-Rexes, which is okay until a perturbed mother shows up wondering where her babies are. It turns out that there is a lost world of dinosaurs under the ice and, when Mama T-Rex kidnaps Sid and transports him down there, Manny, Ellie, and Diego follow. They are soon joined by a crazy weasel (Simon Pegg) denizen of the underworld who spends his days and nights hunting the biggest, baddest dinosaur of them all: a gargantuan carnivore called “Rudy.”

In the previous Ice Age movies, the best reasons to watch were related to the misadventures of Scrat the Sabertooth Squirrel, the prehistoric equivalent of Wiley Coyote. In Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Scrat is the only reason to watch. 

Very little happens over the course of the film. What passes for a “story” is nothing more than a thinly-veiled excuse to incorporate dinosaurs into the proceedings, presumably because they’re popular with little boys. 

The most disappointing thing about Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the movie’s look. Everything in this world is bland and generic. There’s no texture in the foreground and no detail in the background. It’s a small step up from Saturday morning cartoon quality. The excuse, I suppose, is that the “3D experience” compensates, but it also mutes the colors and dims the brightness. Dawn of the Dinosaurs looks awful. If I was one of the CGI animators, I’d be embarrassed to be associated with the film. I have seen amateur filmmakers do better work on their Macs.

Like Madagascar and Shrek (both Dreamworks properties), Ice Age is a brand-name and people will see it for that reason alone. Quality doesn’t come into it. It’s another example of something that offers a passable diversion for kids and a restless 90 minutes for the adults who accompany them. The 3D surcharge is a rip-off: the movie doesn’t do anything with the effect and there are even a few instances when it appears to be improperly applied. The best option is to ignore the existence of Dawn of the Dinosaurs altogether and see Up a second time. A repeat viewing of the Pixar film will be more rewarding than a first viewing of the latest Ice Age entry.

Spanish director Fernando Trueba set to shoot new film

Spanish director Fernando Trueba, who won the foreign-language Oscar in 1994 for “Belle Epoque,” is set to helm French-language pic “L’Artiste et son modele.”

From a screenplay by Trueba and Jean-Claude Carriere, who co-authored many late Luis Bunuel‘s films, including “Belle Toujours” and “The Phantom of Liberty,” the comedic drama will topline vet Gallic thesp Jean Rochefort (“The Hairdresser’s Husband”) as a painter of female nudes, and up-and-coming Spanish actress Aida Folch, who first caught notice in Trueba’s 2002 “The Shanghai Spell,” as his model.

Lensing spring/summer 2010, “Artiste” is produced by Cristina Huete for Fernando Trueba P.C., Trueba’s Madrid-based label.

Set in occupied France in 1943, it turns on an ageing hedonist painter and his relationship with beauty and with beautiful women, Huete said. She aims to structure “Artiste” as a co-production with France.

“Artiste” is the third project to come together after Trueba spent much of 2002 to 2007 writing a bevy of feature screenplays.

Trueba’s genre-hopping “The Dancer and the Thief,” from a novel by “Il Postino” writer Antonio Skarmeta, is in post, and looks set to be one of Spain’s big fall bows.

Animation romancer “Chico y Rita,” which is co-directed by Trueba and Javier Mariscal, should be ready for delivery spring 2010. Pic, which is set in the late 40s Cuba and New York jazz scene, is produced with London’s Magic Light Pictures and Mariscal’s Barcelona-based Estudio Mariscal.

Javier Bardem still being talked for ‘Star Trek 2’

Javier Bardem, Oscar winner for best actor 2 years ago is a strong candidate to play Khan in the next Star Trek sequel.

Collider caught up with the director and Bad Robot honcho on the red carpet of the Saturn Awards and tried to back Abrams into corners about whether or not he’ll direct part two or walk away from that much responsibility, as well as picking his brain about potential villains.

Abrams is a master of a few things, but his greatest strength may be revealing as much as possible in an interview. Will he direct? “We just started talking about ideas…we’ve just begun this process so it’s so early that it’s insane to, you know – I have no idea,” he tells Collider.

“(B)ut I would say that it’s that kind of feeling that as we’re talking about stories you start to salivate, like ‘oh my God I can’t wait to do that!’ and so that feels good and my guess is that as we continue it will become clearer how we will plan out what will happen.”

So…will he direct? Question dodged. And regarding the villians, which Collider also asked writers Orci and Kurtzman about and were told it could be something very non-traditional, like nature – Abrams was enthusiastic but not very helpful:

“Well, I’m open to anything. We’ve had some really interesting discussions so far but, you know – you have to be open to everything to find the right thing so the answer is sure, I’m open to that. I think in a story it’s important to personify, somehow, what you’re up against so it’s a tricky one to figure out how to, like, fight evil wind!”

Well, that’s a little more informative, but it sounds like a ruse to me. I much prefer the concept Abrams and company spouted off a couple months ago, that Javier Bardem would make a good Khan. Now that…that’s a subject I hope he answers sooner than later.