This Weekends Movie News – Whats Hot This Weekend, What Happened Last Weekend

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Michael Jacksons This Is It Movie Poster

Release Date (everywhere): October 28th, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis: A compilation of interviews, rehearsals and backstage footage of Michael Jackson as he prepared for his series of sold-out shows in London.

This Is It Movie Rating: PG

Starring: Michael Jackson of course

My Thoughts: I’ve got so many…but I’ll keep them to a dull roar if I can.  I believe this movie is just another way to profit off of what was an unfortunate tragedy.  So many people stood to profit SO MUCH money off of what was supposed to be a crazy set of performances in London (which was completely sold out).  There were actually 50 performances that were supposed to take place, all of which were expected to be the most visually stunning performances ever.  It was also supposed to be the highest grossing pop production….ever.  Fast forward to now…and for all those people who expected that, they are instead getting this…This Is It actually.  I have the feeling it will have a very “thrown together” feel and will not be any consolation to those who expected to be going to one of those London performances.  However, I also think this movie is going to be absolutely HUGE.

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Amelia Movie Tagline: Defying The Impossible. Living The Dream.

How Amelia Performed at the Box Office Opening Weekend:  Terribly…that’s how.  Amelia grossed a dismal $4 million opening weekend.  There was simply too much going on at the box office for this movie to even make it into the top 5…in fact, this movie didn’t even make it into the top 10 movies of it’s opening weekend.

Release Date (everywhere): October 23rd, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis: A look at the life of legendary American pilot Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to make a flight around the world.

Starring: Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor

My Thoughts: I’m excited about this movie.  I’m not so sure it is going to blow the box office away or anything, but I would like to see this.  It reminds me a bit of the movie “The Aviator” which was a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and was based on the life of Howard Hughes.  It is actually one of my favorite movies.  I’m hoping this movie comes close to it.  Alright, maybe that is my cynical side coming out.  I haven’t seen it and I’m already assuming that it doesn’t have a shot at being better than The Aviator.  So, let me rephrase, I hope this movie makes it into my favorites list.

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Astro Boy Movie Tagline: "Have a Blast"

Astro Boy Opening Weekend Performance: There is bad news and worse news…I’ll give you the bad first.  This movie only took in about $7 million for its total weekend gross.  The worse news?  It cost $65 million to produce it!!  This movie is a verifiable black hole…no money ever comes back from it.

Release Date (everywhere): October 23rd, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis: When a scientist’s young son dies, he secretly creates a powerful robot child to replace him, however the robot uses it’s incredible powers to become a world famous super-hero, and faces his biggest challenge when an alien race threatens Earth

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Charlize Theron and Donald Sutherland

My Thoughts: When I first saw the previews and started writing this post, I thought “Oh, cool, just another kids movie”.  But I dug a bit deeper and found that adults might actually have a pretty good shot at actually enjoying this movie with their kids.  I was reading up on some reviews of those that had seen this movie at some advance screenings, and it looks like the story line has enough “maturity” to it to actually keep an adult interested in the movie.  It certainly has enough star power behind it (which kids won’t care about) to make an adult at least be interested enough in the movie to go with their kids to see it it.

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Tagline: Meet Darren... He's Sixteen Going on Immortal

The Vampires Assistant Has Terrible Opening Weekend Stats…Here They Are: Personally, I never thought for a second this movie was going to do well…turns out I was right.  This movie brought in just over $6 million on its opening weekend debut.  Yes, you read that right…it grossed only about $6 million.  Not too bad though, considering it only cost about $40 million to make it.  (Hopefully the sarcasm has been picked up by you readers)

Release Date (everywhere):  October 23rd, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis:  A young boy named Darren Shan meets a mysterious man at a freak show who turns out to be a Vampire. After a series of events Darren must leave his normal life and go on the road with the Cirque Du Freak and become a Vampire.

Starring: Chris Massoglia, John C Reilly…

My Thoughts:  Alright, I know this movie is based on a book and has nothing to do with Twilight.  In case you didn’t know, this movie is based on the book series “The Saga of Derren Shaun“.  With that being said, I still can’t help but get a feel from the trailer (and its release date) that it is trying to “spoof” Twilight.  Now I’m not saying the book series is spoofing Twilight, I’m saying this movie is trying to.  It is just shot in a very comical style, and you’ve got John C. Reilly starring in it who has been known to star in spoof films before.  I know there will be some who don’t agree…but just think about it.

The Buzz: Some had the opportunity to see this movie in Austin, TX at the “Fantastic Fest film festival” and most seemed to enjoy it.  One viewer even said “it succeeds in being dark without taking itself so seriously, unlike the Potter movies”.   I don’t know, maybe I’m wrong about it being a spoof type movie, but that is just the feel I get from it.

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Saw 6 Tagline: The Game Comes Full Circle

Saw 6’s Opening Weekend Performance is Worse Than Expected: Just a little information for you before we go any further.  No other Saw movie has ever opened to less than a $30 million debut.  So, how did Saw 6 fit into those stats?  It didn’t.  It opened to a disappointing $15 million (just shy of that actually).  That dollar amount was enough to secure a number two spot out of it’s weekend opening movie competition, but that that doesn’t say much.

Release Date (everywhere):  October 23rd, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis:  Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw’s legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw’s grand scheme is finally understood.

Starring: Tobin Bell and Costas Mandylor

My Thoughts:  When I first saw “Saw”, I was hooked.  I haven’t missed a single one of these movies, but I (as many others) have become increasingly annoyed at the movies.  Each one to be released was detracting from the original “feel and appeal” of the first movie.  The idea was so original and was made even better by a great film based on that great idea.  There is no doubt this movie is going to be the top weekend movie at this weekends movies, but I just really hope that it is because it deserves it and not just because this movie has all its previous hype as the driving force.

One last thought about this movie…I can’t wait to see how Tanedra Howard (the girl who got the role in the movie by winning the reality show “Scream Queens”) does in this movie.  I actually watched that reality show and I was gunning for her to win it the whole time.

The Buzz: There is a lot of it…  Seriously though, this movie is being talked about by everybody “What will the twist be” “Is jigsaw really still alive” “Will it be as good as the first one”…so on and so forth.  There aren’t many details about this movie out there, so I guess we’re all just stuck going to have to see it.

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Tagline - "The System Must Pay"

How it Performed at the Box Office Opening Weekend:  This movie did pretty well opening weekend.  It brought it just over $21 million in ticket sales and viewers are giving it pretty good reviews, talking about how it is a “very serious movie, with a very unlikely set of scenarios that can be a fun movie to watch if you don’t take it as seriously as the film tries to make you.”  This movie would have taken the number one spot if it weren’t for Where the Wild Things Are.

Release Date (everywhere):  October 16th, 2009

Their Plot Synopsis:  An everyday guy decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets his family’s killers free. His target: The district attorney who orchestrated the deal.

Starring: Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx

My Thoughts:  Upon initially seeing the previews for this movie, I wanted to see this movie.  I like Gerard Butler (who is actually a pretty diverse actor) and Jamie Foxx is gaining some credibility in my eyes.  However, I’m a little worried now that this movie may be a bit too much of a “political movie” for my taste.  I still believe this movie is going to open pretty well this weekend and it should be a pretty good fight between this movie and “The Stepfather” to see who takes the higher spot and rakes in more money.

The Buzz: This movie is getting excellent “before release” reviews.  It also looks like the base of viewers already very interested in seeing this movie is pretty strong.  There will undoubtedly be a wealth of movie goers going to see this film….and then we’ll see if it stands the test of time.