After 7 weeks at number one, “Avatar” drops to 2nd behind “Dear John”

Romantic drama “Dear John” counter programming to Super Bowl weekend knocks “Avatar” from #1 … the other newcomer “From Paris with Love” was 3rd.

“Avatar” became the all-time leader at the U.S. Box Office last weekend, it now has $630 million total.  “Avatar” falls weeks short of breaking the record for most weeks at the top spot: (since 1982) “Titanic” was #1 for 15 weeks consecutively, “E.T.” had the most weeks at #1 with 16.

Overall, the weekend was down about 7% from last weekend.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):
  1. “Dear John” – $32.40 million (1st week)

2. “Avatar” - $23.60 million
(8th week, was #1 last week, lost 25% of audience from last week)

3. “From Paris With Love” – $8.12 million (1st week)

4. “Edge of Darkness” – $7.00 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 59% from last week)

5. “The Tooth Fairy” - $6.50 million
(3rd week, was #4 last week, lost 35% from last week)

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DREAMWORKS PUTS OUT CASTING CALL FOR HUGH JACKMAN’S YOUNG CO-STAR IN UPCOMING “REAL STEEL” MOVIE TO BE SHOT IN MICHIGAN

 DreamWorks Studios has launched a nationwide casting search to fill a lead role in its upcoming movie “Real Steel” scheduled for a June 2010 production in Detroit area with some scenes planned for West Michigan.

They are looking for young male actor age 10-14 to play “Max” – described as: Male, 10-14 years old.  He’s a street-smart, tough, charming kid with a hard, untrusting outer shell which hides a warm enthusiastic spirit beneath.  He is a complicated, strong-willed and resourceful boy.

Any actors interested in the role can audition two different ways:  by submitting a videotaped audition through www.realsteelcasting.com (complete instructions are available on the website).

There will also be two open call auditions Sunday, February 14, 2010 in Chicago, Illinois and Saturday, February 20, 2010 in New York, New York.  No acting experience is necessary for interested actors, nor are they required to prepare anything for the audition.

Details on the open call auditions:  (more…)

Hangar42 Studios becomes the biggest film production studio in Michigan

(UPDATED WITH MORE INFO, VIDEO, CONTACTS FOR JOBS OR VENDORS)

“I’ve had producers walk into this building and say we need to buy this place … it resonates that hard with them,” said Rick Hert, Film Commissioner of The West Michigan Film Office.

Its a big place… and a big deal… Hangar42 Studios is now officially open for business in the film and tv industry.

The nearly 500,000-square-foot full-service film production studio takes over the former Lear Plant at 2150 Alpine Ave NW in Walker.

Hangar42 Studios says it is Michigan’s first fully-financed major film studio to open utilizing the infrastructure credit as part of the Michigan Film Credit.

The studio expects to create 50-60 administrative positions and 750 – 1,000 additional jobs in its first three years of operation.

“This levels the playing field this gives us the opportunity to sell the largest studio in the state, perhaps the midwest or the United States”, Hert said.  “Its a facility thats for year round filming… its gonna give us a chance to be able to secure a number of projects to our area.”

VIDEO: Hangar42 Studios on eightWest (2/5/10)

VIDEO: Hangar42 Studios on 24 Hour News 8 (2/4/10)

Two small budget movies have already used the facilities… “Genesis Code” (starring Ernest Borgnine, Fred Thompson, Louise Fletcher) used the large building space for sets and green screens summer 2009 and “Gun” (starring 50 Cent, Val Kilmer) shots scenes, including an explosive action scene in January 2010.

Hert and the West Michigan Film Office have been working on getting a permanent building with studio or soundstage space for months – “The exciting thing about it is that as these productions come in, they’re gonna create jobs and what we can look at is tv shows, feature films and these would be year-round job opportunities because of the size of this space we have that opportunity to have three, four, five, six projects going on in here at a time”.

A group of local investors own Hangar42 Studios, investing $45 million to purchase and renovate 450,000 square feet of the former Lear Plant.  150 people on crews working 3 shifts a day 24/7 for about two weeks are renovating it into production-ready studios, office space and post-production suites.  The facility was built in 1942 by the U.S. Government as a military airplane and boat manufacturing facility and later was a General Motors and Lear plant.

Artist renderings of some of the rooms to be built as part of Hangar 42 Studios.

Hert says that Michigan went from $2 million in filming in 2007, to $125 million in 2008 (after passing the state’s tax incentives in April 2008), to $225 million worth of filming in 2009 in the state of Michigan.

“Not just compete in the state of Michigan, this is world class stuff,” Hert added.  ”I mean I’m talking to folks from England, Italy right now… this is world class because of our tax incentives that we have because of this facility because of the locations because of the services we can offer because of our growing crew base, this is world class.”

Anyone interested in jobs can go to the company’s website: Hangar42 Studios website or email: jobs@hangar42studios.com.

Interested vendors can also contact by email: vendor@hangar42studios.com.

Other questions can be addressed to: info@hangar42studios.com.

The investment and the players in this project

From a press release: “This is a project that has been (more…)

New in Theaters (Friday 2/5): “Dear John”, “From Paris With Love”, “The Messenger” (limited), “A Single Man” (limited)

LAST DAYS TO SEE IMAX 3D “Avatar”: “Avatar” in IMAX 3D moving to Celebration Lansing on February 12th.  Last showtimes in Grand Rapids at Celebration North:  February 10, 6:30 pm.

Moving to Woodland Mall this week ($4.00 shows): 
“Invictus”, “Daybreakers”

Playing in limited release in Grand Rapids market:
“The Messenger” (UICA in Grand Rapids) thru 2/11,
“Youth in Revolt” (The Harbor Theater in Muskegon),
“A Single Man” (Celebration! North, The Harbor Theater in Muskegon),
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (The Harbor Theater in Muskegon and Woodland),
Chiaroscuro Film Series 1/17-4/11 at UICA in Grand Rapids

Next Week in Theaters (Friday): “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”, “Valentine’s Day”, “The Wolfman”, “The Young Victoria” (The Harbor Theater in Muskegon)

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New on DVD: “Amelia”, “Cold Souls”, “The House of the Devil”, “Love Happens”, “More Than a Game”, “New York, I Love You”, “Zombieland”

Next Week on DVD (Tuesday): “Couples Retreat”, “Dare” (WFF alum), “Peter and Vandy” (WFF alum), “Endgame”, “I Hate Valentine’s Day”, “A Serious Man”, “Serious Moonlight”, “The Stepfather”, “The Time Traveler’s Wife”

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MY REVIEWS OF OTHER MOVIES CURRENTLY PLAYING IN THEATERS OR AVAILABLE TO RENT/BUY:  (more…)

“Avatar” vs. “The Hurt Locker” – 2010 Oscar Nominations

( UPDATED ) Oscar nominations announced Tuesday, February 2nd.  The big difference for this year’s Oscars is the Best Picture category expanded from 5 nominees to 10 nominees.

“Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” received the most nominations with 9 each… “Inglorious Basterds” has 8 noms… “Precious” and “Up in the Air” have 6 nominations… “Up” has 5… “District 9″, “Nine”, and “Star Trek”
 have 4 noms each.

“Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” will go head-to-head in 7 categories, including Best Picture and Best Director, where James Cameron (“Avatar”) faces off against his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”).

Bigelow becomes just the 4th woman to be nominated for Best Director (“The Hurt Locker”)… she could become the first ever to win.  “Up” becomes only the 2nd animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture (1992- “Beauty and the Beast”).

Some noticeable snubs:  Clint Eastwood and “Invictus” left out of Director and Best Picture categories.   The popular and critically acclaimed “Star Trek” didn’t make it on the Best Picture list – just in 4 smaller, technical categories.   “500 Days of Summer” had attention at the Golden Globes but was locked out of the Oscars… where it received acting and writing nominations.  The popular summer comedy “The Hangover” that many thought could make it into Best Picture… but I’m not surprised it didn’t.  The critic friendly “Where the Wild Things Are” also got some love at the Golden Globes but was shut out of the Oscars.   And the horribly underappreciated “Moon” was also overlooked by Oscar voters.

The “The 82nd Annual Academy Awards” will air Live Sunday, March 7, 2010 on ABC.
(Links to more reviews coming soon)

Best Picture:
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9″
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglorious Basterds”
“Precious”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

Best Actor in a Leading Role:
Jeff Bridges – “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney – “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth – “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman – “Invictus”
Jeremy Renner – “The Hurt Locker”

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Matt Damon – “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson – “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer – “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci – “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz – “Inglorious Basterds”

Best Actress in a Leading Role:
Sandra Bullock – “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren – “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan – “An Education”
Gabourey Sidibe – “Precious”
Meryl Streep – “Julie & Julia”

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Penelope Cruz – “Nine”
Vera Farmiga – “Up in the Air”
Maggie Gyllenhaal – “Crazy Heart”
Anna Kendrick – “Up in the Air”
Mon’Nique – “Precious”

Best Animated Feature Film:
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
“Up”

Best Directing:
James Cameron – “Avatar”
Kathyrn Bigelow – “The Hurt Locker”
Quentin Tarantino – “Inglorious Basterds”
Lee Daniels – “Precious”
Jason Reitman – “Up in the Air”

Best Foreign Language Film:
“Ajami” – Israel
“El Secret de sus Ojos” – Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow” – Peru
“Un Prophete” – France
“The White Ribbon” – Germany

Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
“District 9″
“An Education”
“In The Loop”
“Precious”
“Up in the Air”

Best Writing (Original Screenplay):
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglorious Basterds”
“The Messenger”
“A Serious Man”
“Up” (more…)

“The Genesis Code” debuts first trailer online

We’re still waiting for the Grand Rapids premiere and release of “The Genesis Code”, but here’s a good sign.. our first official look at scenes from the movie that filmed at Calvin College and around the Grand Rapids area for five weeks last summer (Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Lowell).

The premiere and opening was planned for the first week of February in Grand Rapids, but is being postponed to later in the month while the crew finishes up visual effects… some of those can be seen in the trailer.

In the trailer for “The Genesis Code” you can see the scenes shot on the campus of Calvin College, at the Patterson Ice Center, at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, the River Walk along the Grand River, and at the Silver Bullet shooting range in Wyoming.

The movie stars Logan Bartholomew and Kelsey Sanders as lead characters “Blake” and “Kerry”.  

In order of appearance in the trailer:
Jerry Zandstra, Pastor at Wayland CRC and Vice President of American Saga Productions (the local production company) plays the pastor and Kerry’s father.   
Ben Murphy is the Professor in the class teaching about Darwin.
Adam Chambers is Marc” the physics guy talking about science versus faith in scenes at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.
C.R. Lewis is one of Blake’s best friends and hockey teammate.
Catherine Hicks plays “Myra” (trying to give Kerry some advice in the trailer).
Rich Franklin and Roger Garcia are the hockey coaches.
The movie also stars local actor Armon York Williams plays a legal adviser to Blake (brief cameo in the trailer).
Oscar Winners Louise Fletcher and Ernest Borgnine are Blake’s grandparents.
Fred Thompson plays the judge presiding over the family battle of life support.
Lance Henriksen is the doctor in the trailer, Rance Howard’s character also has “Dr.” in the title.
The movie also stars Susan Blakely, Michael William Freeman, Jamie Kramer, Chris Yen, and more.

Here’s a link to 4 minute, 33 second online trailer, the first trailer for the movie on twitter, YouTube, and Facebook.

The movie is directed by C. Thomas Howell.

I’ll post images from the trailer as soon as I can.

Previous posts on “The Genesis Code”: (more…)

New in Theaters (Friday 1/29): “Edge of Darkness”, “When in Rome”, “Crazy Heart” (limited), “Coyote County Loser” (limited), “Afterdark’s Horrorfest” (Rivertown/Lansing), “A Single Man” (limited), “Homeless for the Holidays” (Woodland)

Moving to Woodland Mall this week ($4.00 shows): 
“Broken Embraces”, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”, “Homeless for the Holidays” (as seen on eightWest)

Playing in limited release in Grand Rapids market:
“Crazy Heart” (Celebration North, Rivertown),
“Coyote County Loser” (Rivertown),
“Afterdark’s Horrorfest” – 8 movies playing starting 1/29 (Rivertown/Lansing),
Chiaroscuro Film Series 1/17-4/11 at UICA in Grand Rapids,
“The Damned United” (UICA in Grand Rapids) thru 2/4,
“To Save A Life” (Celebration North, Rivertown, Carousel),
“Nine” (The Harbor Theater in Muskegon),
“A Single Man” (The Harbor Theater in Muskegon),
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (The Harbor Theater in Muskegon)

Next Week in Theaters (Friday): “Dear John”, “From Paris With Love”, “The Messenger” (UICA),  “Crazy Heart” (limited)

2/12/10 – “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief”, “Valentine’s Day”, “The Wolfman”

New on DVD: “The Boys Are Back”, “Bright Star”, “Fame”, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell”, (Michael Jackson’s) “This Is It”, “Saw VI”, “Surrogates”, “Whip It”

– (more…)

New on DVD: “The Boys Are Back”, “Bright Star”, “Fame”, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell”, (Michael Jackson’s) “This Is It”, “Saw VI”, “Surrogates”, “Whip It” 

 Best Bets: Here ya go Michael Jackson fans, if you didn’t see it in theaters, or were waiting to buy it…  “This Is It” … is now available on DVD.  Also the filmed in Michigan roller derby comedy “Whip It”… a good rental if you missed it in theaters!!!

Next Week on DVD (Tuesday): “Amelia”, “Cold Souls”, “The House of the Devil”, “Love Happens”, “More Than a Game”, “New York, I Love You”, “Zombieland”

(more…)

DreamWorks film starring Hugh Jackman coming to Michigan, planning filming locations in West Michigan

 Hugh Jackman will star in a futuristic drama about robot boxing, the movie titled “Real Steel” will be filmed in Michigan and wants to shoot some locations in West Michigan.

In November/December 2009, a DreamWorks location scout (based in Detroit area) spent three days checking out locations around Hastings and Barry County.   The Hastings Chamber of Commerce president said that DreamWorks contacted the city, interested in a “rural and historic-looking locations”.

DreamWorks producers apparently “like what they are seeing” – that’s what my sources were hearing when the location scout was here.

But the production wasn’t just looking around Hastings, the scout was looking at any locations within a 1 hour drive of Grand Rapids… which could mean the crew may set up a production office in Grand Rapids.

The production is scheduled to begin in June.

“Real Steel” is scheduled for a November 18, 2011 release.

Rick Hert, Film Commissioner of The West Michigan Film Office says it has been “working with the company for the past three months finding west side locations”.

With an expected budget of $80 million, “Real Steel” would be the biggest production to date to come to West Michigan.

The Associated Press reports that the movie applied for the state’s film incentives and those were approved by the Michigan Film Office.  “Real Steel” is expected to be filmed primarily in Michigan at locations in the Detroit area and across the state.

Steve Molen, DreamWorks Studios’ president of physical production, told the Detroit Free Press in an e-mail that incentives and cooperation of the state were factors in the decision to film in Michigan.

Michigan has been drawing more movie productions since April 2008, when the state’s tax incentives took effect… incentives that are among the nation’s most generous (up to 42%).

According to several different published plot summaries:

(more…)

“Avatar” wins 6th weekend in a row… now 2nd highest grossing movie all-time… set to pass “Titanic”

“Avatar” tops #1 for the 6th weekend in a row and with $551.74 million, its now just $9 million behind “Titanic” for #1 all-time domestic box office (”Titanic” – $600.79 million). With $1.84 billion,   “Avatar” is about $4.5 million from breaking the all-time worldwide box office, a spot also held by “Titanic”.

“Avatar” still has several weeks to break records for most weeks at #1… since 1982, “E.T.” had the most weeks at #1 with 16, but those weren’t all consecutive… that is held by “Titanic” with 15 weeks consecutively at #1.

“Legion” debuted at #2, “The Tooth Fairy” opened at #4, and “Extraordinary Measures” was 8th in its first weekend.

Overall, the weekend was down 18% from last weekend.

TOP MOVIES AT WEEKEND BOX OFFICE (actual results):
 1. “Avatar” - $34.94 million
(6th week, was #1 last week, lost 18% of audience from last week)

2. “Legion” – $17.50 million (1st week)

3. “The Book of Eli” - $15.73 million
(2nd week, was #2 last week, lost 52% from last week)

4. “The Tooth Fairy” - $14.01 million (1st week)

5. “The Lovely Bones” - $8.42 million
(7th week, was #3 last week, lost 51% from last week) (more…)