Final ‘Hunger Games’ Movie Does $101 Million, Still Disappoints, Just Like Pretty Much Everything Else
Hunger Games: Mockingly Part 2 wins the weekend, as expected, but falls short of expectations. Meanwhile, Spectre came in second after two straight weeks on top, getting $14.7 million and showing serious fall off from 2012’s Skyfall. The Peanuts Movie came in third with $12.8 million, while two other new releases, The Night Before and Secret In Their Eyes rounded out the top five with $10.1 million and $6.6 million, respectively. (BO)
Sundance Announces Its First Selections, Releases Names Of Nine Midnight Movies
Johnny Depp, Malcolm McDowell and Luke Wilson are among the cast members of the first announced movies of Midnight section of the 2016 festival. Last night, the Robert Redford-founded indie cinema shindig made public the nine features films that will make up the late night/early morning lineup of next year’s festival. Among the offerings of World Premieres is the Depp starring and Great White North set Yoga Hosers directed by Kevin Smith. (DH)
With His ‘Transformers’ Writers Room a Seeming Success, Akiva Goldsman Will Now Run Them For ‘G.I. Joe’ and ‘Micronauts’
As he did with Transformers, Paramount is hiring the writer-producer to choose and supervise the team of scribes to come together to spin new stories of real American heroes, while also reviving a toy line that died in 1980, on the big screen. Attempts to revive Micronauts in the early aughts largely failed, and of all these ideas, that one might prove the most daunting to crack. (TP)
Today In Remake News: ‘Lost In Space’ Is Getting a New Life On Netflix
Reports have the pilot being written with the intention of a straight-to series order happening quickly. Some of the team behind the new Lost in Space has been made public as well. Namely, writers Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless will be writing and executive producing, and sci-fi director Neil Marshall is expected to direct. (COL)
More Remake News! Kenneth Branagh To Take On Double Duty For ‘Murder On the Orient Express’
Filmmaker will direct and star in the new adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery as Detective Hercule Poirot. It’s not uncommon for Branagh to cast himself in his directorial projects—he did so recently with Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit when he took a liking to that film’s villain role. (AVC)
Bad News For ‘Gravity Falls’ Fans, as Disney XD Decides To Call It Quits After Two Seasons
The Mystery Shack is shutting its doors, with the animated series only having two more episodes: “Weirdmageddon II: Escape from Reality,” airing Friday, and the hour-long series finale, “Weirdmageddon III,” to follow sometime in 2016. Series creator Alex Hirsch shared the news via his Tumblr, saying it was his decision. (TVL)
But Good News For Riddick Fans, as Vin Diesel Announces Plans For a Fourth Film In the Series
In an Instagram post, the actor-producer announced that David Twohy, who wrote and directed Pitch Black — which first introduced the character — and each of the other two films in the series, Chronicles of Riddick and Riddick, is about to start writing the next chapter in the series, tentatively called Furia. (CB)
Inside “The Bunker”: Twentieth Century Fox’s Futuristic VR Innovation Lab
In the middle of what otherwise appears to be a standard-issue ritzy Los Angeles movie industry office complex—complete with a multi-story parking garage, a tall office building, and meticulous landscaping—a narrow walkway abruptly ends at a security gate so forbidding that it rivals many military installations in conveying a very clear message: Don’t even start to think about coming in here. (FC)
First Look: ‘Wonder Woman’
Warner Bros. has released the first image from its upcoming superhero film, with the help of star Gal Gadot’s Twitter account. The actress, who is playing the title role, has begun principal photography on the film, alongside fellow cast members Chris Pine, Robin Wright, Danny Huston, David Thewlis, Ewen Bremner, Elena Anaya, and Lucy Davis. Patty Jenkins is directing the film, which hits theaters June 23rd, 2017. (CBR)
Screenwriters: Breaking & Entering — I Want To Taste Your Longline
Over the course of Barri Evins’ career in production and development, she’s been exposed to countless loglines, and now that she has a website that offers writers a free “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” on their loglines, a steady stream passes through her inbox. Sad to say, but many are not in good enough shape for even a “yea” or “nay” response. Quite simply, they are bland. (SM)