Monday Morning Mixer: No bustin' for this 'Ghostbuster'

Posted Monday, August 6, 2012 at 11:41 AM Central
Last updated Monday, August 6, 2012 at 11:43 AM Central

It's another Manic Monday here in the world of entertainment, and yet all eyes continue to focus on London. That's only natural as this great sporting event only happens once every four years.

While this weekend was a bit slower than usual, you started to get a feel that things are starting to crank back up. August and September tend to be the slowest months of the year when it comes to movies as the Summer blockbuster season ends and it's still a bit early for the awards season and fourth quarter home entertainment bonanza.

There are still plenty of cool trailers hitting the megaplexes as studios position their awards-caliber films in front of feasting eyes. The Fall months are always ripe with new film projects and casting news as many films prefer to shoot in the Autumn months either for foliage choice or because of availability of talent who generally like to vacation with their families during the Summer.

In other words, there's still plenty going on for us to talk about. And plenty to digest in today's MMM.

Box Office 411

For the third straight weekend, it was a Batman world and we're just living in it. The Dark Knight Rises brought in an estimated $36.4 million as it starts to show the signs of vulnerability. While there isn't a surefire hit coming out in the coming weeks that is guaranteed to take its crown, there are plenty of good enough flicks that will overtake the superhero on his way down.

The film continued to lag behind The Dark Knight, but with the lack of quality competition through August, I still think it will reach the upper echelons of $400 million before stalling completely.

Total Recall opened with $26 million which has to be disappointing for the film with a reported budget north of $100 million. Ironically, as Tim tweeted, the remake/reboot/reimagining whatever you want to call it does not go to Mars, but yet it opened on the weekend that we landed a robot on that planet.

Oh, the irony.

Apparently another Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie opened this weekend too. It brought in $14.7 million which I would have considered great, but they tell me that's a $10 million drop from the previous incarnations. I guess that's why we are up to the third movie in the franchise already.

In the leftovers category, congratulations are due to Ted which broke the $200 million barrier joining rare territory as an R-rated comedy. Brave continues to add to its total and making its way up the Pixar ladder of box office hits. It should pass WALL-E this week.

Sequels on Parade

The Hollywood Reporter ran an interesting piece last week looking at the fallout of the Summer season and the necessary sequels that it will spawn. The list of films is shocking, both for the films getting a sequel and those that are being allowed to "die" gracefully.

Universal is no stranger to milking a franchise long after the well has run dry, but it is a bit surprising that they have killed any thoughts of a sequel to Battleship despite its box office "performance." Don't feel bad for Uni though, they still have other films that they will sequelize.

The first of which is Ted. Yep, the foul-mouthed teddy bear will be back for more drunken misadventures in Ted 2. I can only hope that they go for the obvious subtitle Ted 2: Electric Boogaloo.

In a bit of surprising move, Universal announced that it's moving forward with another piece of the Pie. Despite the tepid response to American Reunion and the natural closure that the film gave the franchise, Universal just feels that there's always room for a little pie.

Fox, on the other hand, isn't going to leave its Sci-Fi fans hanging. They have confirmed that Prometheus 2 is coming in either 2014 or 2015.

In completely expected news, Warner Bros. made it official. There will be a The Hobbit: Part 3. How on Middle Earth Peter Jackson expects to squeeze three movies out of the paltry "The Hobbit," I'll never know, but I suppose it's good to get the official word out of the way.

The Oscar Host Politics

I've heard about politics playing a huge part in who wins (and who is nominated for) the Oscars, but this is the first time I've heard of active politicking for the hosting job. I'm not talking about campaigning for the gig, there has always been plenty of that.

No, the LA Times is reporting that Jimmy Fallon and his old SNL chief Lorne Michaels are in talks to host and produce the upcoming Oscar telecast, respectively. Personally, I think it's a great idea and I think the duo would breathe in a bit of fresh air to the stodgy awards show. There's just one hitch.

Both Fallon and Michaels' current shows air on NBC while the Oscars is aired on rival ABC. It's an interesting conundrum because while the telecast is aired on ABC, the network has no say over who is given host or producer duties. The telecast is put on by the Motion Picture Academy, but you would have to think that upsetting the network that airs your show and promotes the hell out of it doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

It seems that while Fallon would be a hit with the social media elite, they still hold out hope that awards show hosting wunderkind Neil Patrick Harris will get the nod. NPH has garnered rave reviews for his hosting turns at the Emmys and Tonys, so one would think that he would be a logical choice.

This burgeoning story is worthy of keeping an eye on and we will have the latest news on the site as it breaks or something becomes official.

What's a Foley Artist?

For those of you out there that see the credits of a movie whoosh by and wonder what all those people in the small print do, this movie trailer is for you. Nobody Walks is a movie that finally, FINALLY gives the foley artist the center stage.

A foley artist is the person who captures the ambient noises in a film. Everything from a door creaking to the sound of water dripping is courtesy of a foley artist. Think of all the background noises that you hear in a movie, that is their work.

Sadly though, when a foley artist does their job expertly, you hardly notice their work. But trust me, you would notice if their contributions were taken out of a film.

Anyhow, that's a lot of buildup for this trailer from the Sundance Film Fest darling, but I think it's worth it. I've basically included this trailer for two reasons. First, it's written by Lena Dunham, you know that current "It girl" who wrote and starred in the new HBO series Girls, so there's immediate hipster points just by watching this trailer.

Second, there's a great scene in the trailer where John Krasinski gets all Rage Against the Machine and throws a bike into a pool. It's priceless and makes me hold out hope that we'll get to see John spread his wings one day and play a creepy, evil baddie.

One can hope, right? Until then watch this trailer. It is seeping with what the kids these days call sexual tension.

He's Really Afraid of a Ghost

This is sad, but expected, news. Dan Aykroyd talked with Metro and confirmed that Ghostbusters 3 will be moving forward without Bill Murray's participation.

It seems that this third incarnation of the franchise has been cursed since day one. Personally, I don't think it makes much sense to have a film without Murray's involvement, but it seems that we are going to see Ghostbusters 3 one way or another.

Naturally, there is still time for Bill Murray to change his mind, but I wouldn't bank on it. He has been against this project for decades, so I really don't think a couple of weeks will change his mind.

What do you think of a Murray-less Ghostbusters movie?

On that sad note, I will close up the MMM for this week. Remember friends, until I see you again, mix well.