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Monday Mixer: More Chuck Palahniuk on the big screen?

Posted Monday, March 23, 2015 at 11:55 AM Central
Last updated Wednesday, March 25, 2015 at 9:51 AM Central

by John Couture

It's March Madness. Can you feel them coming for you?

It is March and the annual exercise in futility known as filling out brackets got off to a fiery start this past weekend. Being two Indiana boys (Tim born and raised and I via school), you know that basketball is a favorite pastime of ours.

Ever since college, and before actually, I was simply awed by the whole March Madness experience and now, as an adult, I plan my vacation time around it so that I can be at peace in front of the TV binge-watching live craziness.

So, excuse me if I'm ever so brief this morning. There were a lot of late nights and an adult beverage or two the last few days, so I apologize if this MM is not up to the high standards that you hold me to.

But it's March and every good underdog has his day, so I will press on and see how it turns out.

Box Office 411

Divergent was one of those enigma films last year. It was the latest in a long line of dystopian teen films that were surefire hits ready to fill the void left by the end of the Harry Potter and Twilight series. It was supposed to become the next Hunger Games.

In short, it did not.

And yet, the film wasn't a complete failure, so it's not surprising that exactly one year later its sequel Insurgent invaded theaters across the land. Also not shocking is that Insurgent didn't suddenly acquire a cult following like Twilight and see a huge sequel bumb.

In fact, Insurgent's $54 million opening is practically identical to Divergent's $54.6 million opening mark. The first film ended up with $150 million and it's looking like the sequel will be close to that, if not a bit less.

The other new film this weekend was The Gunman. Despite its high profile cast of Sean Penn, Javier Bardem and Idris Elba, it was no competition at all for the Shailene Woodley-starrer Insurgent. The Gunman only took in $5 million and it looks like it will struggle to $15 million.

Last week's top girl at the ball Cinderella fell a spot to second place with $34.5 million. The film has already put $122 million in its coffers and its looking good that Cinderella will earn right at $250 million before the clock strikes midnight.

Quick Hitters

  • I'm a huge Chuck Palahniuk fan. He's easily my favorite author, but his off-kilter novels have had a hard time finding purchase on the big screen despite having hordes of fans. In fact, only two of his books have been adapted for the screen to date, the indie film Choke and the studio film cult classic Fight Club.

    That may soon be changing though as The Wrap reports that there's a deal in place to bring his novel 'Lullaby' to the big screen. While this sounds promising, there have been a plethora of deals surrounding Chuck's works that have failed to come to fruition. Here's hoping though, because 'Lullaby' could be a pretty cool flick.

  • Did you like last week's news that Kevin Smith is working on Mallrats 2? Well, this week, he returns with some potential casting news. I, for one, can't wait to see Michael Rooker reprise his Mr. Svenning role.

    Would you like a chocolate-covered pretzel?

    Update. Surprisingly, Shannen Doherty is on board too. Kevin has always stated that the claims of feuds between them have been overblown. This would tend to prove that correct.

    Update. It seems that Smith is furiously lining up his returning cast. I was wondering all morning what Jason Lee has been up to lately and how his refusal to participate could sink this ship. Looks like he's in.

    For those counting at home, that's six to go. By my count, here are the most likely six that we are waiting for: Jeremy London, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Ethan Suplee and Renee Humphrey. From that group, it would seem that Affleck is going to be the toughest to nail down. With his emergence as a serious director and his role as Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the Justice League films, it's safe to say that his schedule is jam packed.

    But Affleck and Smith have a history together. Hell, Kevin lives in Ben's old house. I would argue that Shannon Hamilton might not be as vital to Mallrats 2 as he could easily be explained away as still being in prison, but I would imagine that the most logical story would revolve around Shannon's revenge.

    This is getting interesting. Time will tell.

    Update. And so it did. Ethan Suplee is going back to see the sailboat. Of course, maybe Kevin will finally be able to use Mallrats 2 to explain Willam's great weight loss overnight between Clerks and Mallrats, especially considering that Ethan Suplee lost of ton of weight himself the last few years.

Well, the madness is all worn out. Off and on to better and bigger things. Until next week, Mix Well!