X-Men: First Class tops the UK box office

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 4th - Sunday 6th June 2011...



The latest installment in Fox's X-Men franchise debuts in first place at the UK box office, but a weekend haul of £5.4m has to be considered less than 'First Class' considering that the figure - which includes over £2m from two days of preview screenings - is just over half the £10.4m opening enjoyed by The Hangover Part II. Discounting previews it's the weakest opening for the franchise but nevertheless, it's good enough to put X-Men: First Class in pole position as Todd Phillips' comedy sequel slips down to second place with another £3.8m, while Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides also falls one spot to third and remains the highest earner in the top ten with a cumulative gross of £26.7m.



Along with X-Men: First Class, there are another three newcomers in the chart this week, the highest of which is the 3D concert movie JLS: Eyes Wide Open, which debuts in fifth (one place behind family comedy Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules), with acclaimed racing documentary Senna and Bollywood comedy Ready opening in seventh and eighth respectively. Meanwhile, heading towards the foot of the chart is animated comedy Rio (down to places to eighth) and Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist (down four two ninth), but the biggest drop of the week is reserved for Thor, which plummets to the bottom of the chart after finishing up in fourth last time out.



Number one this time last year: Sex and the City 2

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	X-Men: First Class	£5,438,386	1	£5,438,386
2	The Hangover Part II	£3,826,158	2	£21,055,272
3	Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides	£2,144,179	3	£26,693,930
4	Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2: Rodrick Rules	£645,196	2	£3,622,991
5	JLS: Eyes Wide Open	£463,914	1	£463,914
6	Senna	£375,173	1	£375,173
7	Ready	£236,868	1	£236,868
8	Rio	£94,127	8	£12,890,750
9	Fast & Furious 5: Rio Heist	£77,874	7	£18,368,657
10	Thor	£59,994	6	£13,849,095

Incoming...



DreamWorks Animation sequel Kung Fu Panda 2 (cert. PG) will likely flying kick its way to the top of the box office this coming Friday and features an all-star voice cast including Jack Black, Seth Rogan, Angelina Jolie, Gary Oldman, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Michelle Yeoh and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Meanwhile other films looking to make an impact include dance flick Honey 2 (cert. PG), thriller Point Blank (cert. 15) and horror Mother's Day (cert. 18).

U.K. Box Office Archive

BBFC refuse to classify The Human Centipede II

The British Board of Film Classification has decided to refuse a certificate to horror sequel The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) from director Tom Six, effectively banning the film from release here in the UK. According to the BBFC, the film - a follow-up to last year's controversial shocker The Human Centipede (First Sequence) - may fall foul of the Obscene Publications Act and "poses a real, as opposed to a fanciful, risk that harm is likely to be caused to potential viewers".

In a statement released by the BBFC, the film was focussed on the "sexual arousal of the central character at both the idea and the spectacle of the total degradation, humiliation, mutilation, torture and murder of his naked victims" and that "there is little attempt to portray any of the victims in the film as anything other than objects to be brutalised, degraded and mutilated for the amusement and arousal of the central character, as well as for the pleasure of the audience".

It's nice to see that the BBFC know what's best for us viewers and we can only thank them for taking this step to protect us from potential harm. Joking aside, unless the 'victims' were actually brutalised, degraded and mutilated for the purposes of making the film, I can't see what the problem is and I'd quite like to know what qualifies the BBFC to decide what is suitable and unsuitable for me to watch - as a responsible adult, I'm sure I can make that decision for myself.

Read the BBFC's patter here.

The Week in Spandex - X-Men: First Class, Captain America, The Dark Knight Rises and more...

Our weekly round-up of all the big talking points from the world of movie superheroes...



The big news is of course the release of Matthew Vaughn's Cold War-era mutant prequel X-Men: First Class, which I have to say I found to be a little over-rated. Don't get me wrong, it's enjoyable, but in my opinion it really doesn't justify all the hype that's been coming its way this past week (you can check out my full review here). Nevertheless, Vaughn's done a good job setting things up for the next two installments in the 'First Class Trilogy', which I'm sure will be announced once the opening weekend figures come in for this first outing, while James McAvoy has been discussing a potential sequel over at Hero Complex.



Anyway, a whole raft of clips and TV spots have made their way online this past week to further promote the release of First Class (I'm sure by now someone could do a pretty good job of editing the whole film together from these), along with a couple of interesting bits and pieces including a three-part roundtable interview with Matthew Vaughn at ObsessedWithFilm, a video interview with screenwriter Jane Goldman at IGN and an insight into the VFX process courtesy of Rhythm & Hues which you can read over at Comicus (scroll down for the English version). Finally, Vaughn and January Jones have also been answering fan questions over on the Facebook X-Perts Q&A (and no, they didn't answer that one).



Also stepping up the publicity this week ahead of a July release is Marvel Studios' Captain America: The First Avenger, which debuted three new promo images - featuring Chris Evans as Cap, Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter and Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull - along with a few TV spots, one of which featured snippets of new footage. Meanwhile TFA storyboard artist Martin Asbury updated his website with some of his work from the film, which could possibly contain a few spoilers but really is worth checking out. Oh, and while we're on the subject of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, expect The Avengers to have quite a presence at the Licensing International Expo (which runs from June 14th-16th in Las Vegas), with ComingSoon.net delivering a sneak preview of a promo poster for the upcoming superhero ensemble.



Along with The Avengers, another big movie expecting to make a splash at the Licensing Expo is Christopher Nolan's final Batman feature The Dark Knight Rises, with Batman-News.com speculating that it could play host to the reveal of the latest Bat-vehicle in much the same way that the Batpod debuted back in 2007 (oh, and a couple of purported viral videos have sprung up on Youtube, most likely fakes but you can take a look here if you haven’t seen them already).



Wrapping up the best of the rest...



...After confirmation earlier this week that Sony will be taking The Amazing Spider-Man to Comic-Con, there's been talk from directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor that Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance will be the next superhero flick to follow suit...



...New Daredevil director David Slade has been busy on Twitter recently, teasing an announcement on the upcoming reboot while confirming that he was never attached to the proposed Justice League of America movie, nor a potential reboot of The Shadow...



...Green Lantern's arrival in cinemas is now less than two weeks away and Warner Bros. have recently debuted a new website entitled Green Lantern Creator, which features some new shots of the alien characters and gives fans the opportunity to create their own member of the Green Lantern Corps...



...CosmicBookNews have posted an article that gathers together all of the Man of Steel rumours that have been doing the rounds lately, while original Superman director Richard Donner took part in a interesting interview with Hero Complex to promote the release of Superman: The Motion Picture Anthology Blu-ray box set that arrives on June 13th...



...Another DC superhero who looks set to be coming to the big screen is Hawkman, with BleedingCool reporting that the proposed film is "part Indiana Jones / The Da Vinci Code, part Ghost". Head over to the site to read the full logline that's doing the rounds...



...For anyone out there still remotely interested in NBC's Wonder Woman pilot, iFanboy posted an in-depth review which also features some previously unseen images, including what looks to be a shot of Wonder Woman's plane...



......And finally, while it doesn't really have anything to do with movies, DC Comics have announced plans to relaunch all of their titles with new #1s, which one can only assume to be the major announcement that was scheduled for this month's Hero Complex Film Festival.

Gary Collinson

The Hangover Part III? – A trilogy already in the offing after success of comedy sequel

With the dust barely settling after a barnstorming opening weekend for The Hangover Part II, talk of a third instalment of drunken hilarity from “the wolf pack” is morphing into concrete action. The writer behind the script for Part II, Craig Mazin, has been approached by Warner Brothers to craft a story for a possible end to the trilogy.

Director Todd Phillips had already let slip, just before the release of the latest film, that he had an idea for Part III. Presumably, on the evidence of Part II, his brainwave is to copy as closely as possible the events of the opening films, but possibly in a different city.

Critics may have loathed the rehash of 2009’s surprise hit but a loyal and wide fan base clearly can’t get enough. It’s no wonder that Warner Brothers are already getting things moving for a third film with opening weekend figures of £10,409,017 in the UK. Such gigantic starts are usually reserved for British icons like Harry Potter or James Bond, or American superheroes. Successful comedies never reach such stratospheric heights. Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason is the only comic creation ever to better the takings of the latest Hangover (and only fractionally), with past hits like Hot Fuzz and Borat all opening satisfactorily at around £5-6 million.

One huge stumbling block could derail the winning formula for a trilogy however: keeping the wolf pack together. Brad Cooper and Zach Galifianakis in particular, are forging Hollywood careers beyond the franchise. According to Total Film, Galifianakis was “negative” throughout the filming of Part II, no doubt fearing becoming typecast. And as the review here at Flickering Myth points out, the comedic charms of Alan are crucial to the appeal of these crazy capers.

If Part III lost any of the film’s big stars, especially Galifianakis, it would surely not reach the heights of Part II. It might not even get made. But, with piles of money to throw at his actors, Todd Phillips might just get yet another amnesiac night on the town.

Liam Trim (follow me on Twitter)

David Fincher options Panic Attack

David Fincher's (The Social Network, Zodiac, Fight Club) newly formed production company Panic Pictures has optioned its first property, an adaptation of the macabre crime novel panic attack. Jason Starr’s 2009 story is a dark thriller about a New York psychiatrist who shoots and kills a home intruder and then has to face a media frenzy and the victim’s accomplice who is seeking revenge.

Screenwriter Ted Griffin (Ocean’s Eleven, Tower Heist) will write the script for the movie adaptation. Novelist Starr’s tenth book The Pack is released next week and four of his previous novels are already in development in Hollywood.

No word yet on whether David Fincher will be directing Panic Attack himself or passing it on to another director. He is currently finishing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (released in cinemas in the UK on December 26th) and may make the next in the trilogy. He is also due to make Cleopatra with Angelina Jolie and has other projects in pre-production.

Emma Hutchings

Neill Blomkamp casts his villain for new sci-fi Elysium

Little is known about Neill Blomkamp’s much-anticipated follow-up to his successful first feature District 9. The sci-fi film Elysium is set on another planet in the future and will feature Matt Damon as an ex-con, as well as Sharlto Copley (who played the lead in District 9) and Jodie Foster. Now, Brazilian actor Wagner Moura has joined the cast as the antagonist.

Moura received praise for his role as Captain Nascimento in the Brazilian action crime films Elite Squad and its sequel, for which he’s most recognisable. Directed by José Padilha, the first film won the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 2008 and Elite Squad 2 holds the record box office gross in Brazil. This new opportunity, which will mark Wagner Moura’s Hollywood debut, is likely to increase his following and launch him into the mainstream. His character in Elysium is said to be powerful, with a crazy sense of humour.

Elysium starts shooting this July in Vancouver and is currently set for release on the much-too-distant date of March 8th 2013.

Sky viewers vote Helena Bonham Carter as Hollywood's top actress

Despite losing out to The Fighter's Melissa Leo in the race for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar at the Academy Awards, BAFTA-winner Helena Bonham Carter has been named as the most powerful actress in Hollywood in a poll conducted by Sky Movies HD as part of their 'Women in Film' season.

Collecting 10.8% of the public vote, The King's Speech actress takes pole position ahead of Natalie Portman (8.3%) and Helen Mirren (8.1%), with Hollywood A-listers and Oscar-winners Angelina Jolie (6.4%) and Julia Roberts (5.8%) rounding out the top five. Other names to make the list include rom-com favourite Jennifer Aniston, two-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep and Oscar host Anne Hathaway, who presumably finds herself included due to her recent casting in The Dark Knight Rises.

Take a look at the full list of results...

1. Helena Bonham Carter (10.8%)
2. Natalie Portman (8.3%)
3. Helen Mirren (8.1%)
4. Angelina Jolie (6.4%)
5. Julia Roberts (5.8%)
6. Jennifer Aniston (4.8%)
7. Meryl Streep (4.5%)
8. Cameron Diaz (4.3%)
9. Drew Barrymore (3.9%)
10. Anne Hathaway (3.5%)

Others (39.6%)

Running until 13th March, Sky Movies Showcase HD’s Women In Film Season is celebrating films by some of the movie industry’s best female directors and leading ladies, including Thelma & Louise, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, It's Complicated, Erin Brockovich and Cleopatra amongst many others.

BAFTA to pay tribute to acclaimed James Bond production designer Ken Adam

On Monday 4th April the British Academy of Film and Television Arts will pay tribute to BAFTA and Academy Award-winning production designer Sir Ken Adam with a belated 90th birthday celebration at a ceremony at London's Royal Institute of British Architects. In a career spanning over five decades, Sir Ken has received five Oscar and nine BAFTA nominations and was responsible for defining the look of the early James Bond films (including Dr. No, Goldfinger, Thunderball, You Only Live Twice, Diamonds are Forever, The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker), while he also created one of cinema's most iconic images, designing the War Room from Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

In celebration of his career - which also includes credits on the likes of Barry Lyndon, The Ipcress Files, The Madness of King George and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - BAFTA will explore Sir Ken's extraordinary body of work, with tributes from colleagues such as Steven Berkoff, Nicholas Meyer, Roger Moore, Lewis Gilbert, Anouk Aimee and Guy Hendrix Dyas.

BAFTA’s immediate past Chairman, David Parfitt, said: “I am delighted that BAFTA is paying Tribute to Ken who is a great artist and one of cinema’s truly brilliant creative minds. I had the great privilege of working with Ken on The Madness of King George for which he won his second Oscar. His sketches of sets are regarded as works of art in their own right and I’m very proud that a couple of them (copies I’m afraid!) hang on my walls at home. Ken has inspired generations of other artists and his influence goes well beyond the reach of most production design for the big screen.”

Supported by The Albert R. Broccoli and Dana Broccoli Foundation, the event marks BAFTA's annual film tribute, which honours individuals who have made a truly outstanding contribution to the industry, with past recipients including Ray Harryhausen, Douglas Slocombe and Nicolas Roeg. The evening begins at 6.30pm in the Jarvis Hall at the Royal Institute of British Architects (London W1B), with public tickets now available through BAFTA's official website priced at £13.

Keeley Hazell comedy Venus and the Sun set for premiere

If you cast your mind back to November you may recall we posted a news piece about an upcoming British short entitled Venus and the Sun, a comic retelling of the Venus and Adonis myth described as "a mix of live-action and animation that celebrates the power of stories and explores themes of vanity, identity and societies obsession with image".

Directed by Adam Randall (Hooded, Easier Ways to Make a Living) and produced by Andy Brunskill (Tamara Drewe, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Men Who Stare at Goats), Venus and the Sun marks the first foray into acting for page 3 beauty Keeley Hazell, who stars alongside comedian Will Smith (The Thick of It) and Ukweli Roach (StreetDance 3D).

Now completed, Venus and the Sun is gearing up for its premiere on Thursday night (10th March) at the Rich Mix cinema in Shoreditch and will also be available via download and DVD from the official site, and the short is also set to be released as the first ever film iPhone app, which you can download from iTunes.

You can watch a clip from Venus and the Sun here.

Rango takes the UK box office crown ahead of The Adjustment Bureau and Unknown

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 4th - Sunday 6th March 2011.



Three newcomers occupy the top positions in the UK chart this week, although none can really be said to have set the box office alight with their debuts. Leading the way is Gore Verbinski's CG-animated Western Rango, which of course features the voice talents of Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp. Rango banks £1.6m to take the crown, with Matt Damon narrowly fending off competition from Liam Neeson as Philip K. Dick adaptation The Adjustment Bureau takes second place ahead of Unknown.



Turning to the familiar faces, Simon Pegg / Nick Frost comedy Paul slips two places to fourth but adds another £1.1m to its haul, while Tom Hooper's Academy Award-winner The King's Speech climbs one place to fifth of the back of its Oscar success, a feat also matched by True Grit and West is West in eighth and ninth respectively. The King's Speech is yet to fall below seven figures during its nine week run although that streak looks to be in jeopardy next time out.



Less fortunate is the sci-fi actioner I Am Number Four, which falls four places to seventh, while last week's top film Gnomeo and Juliet manages to go one better as it slips five spots to finish sixth in its fourth weekend. However, the steepest decline is reserved for Yogi Bear, with the live-action/CG hybrid plummeting six places to prop up the chart in tenth.



Number one this time last year: Alice in Wonderland

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week
1	Rango	£1,638,613	1
2	The Adjustment Bureau	£1,395,715	1
3	Unknown	£1,356,345	1
4	Paul	£1,109,766	3
5	The King's Speech	£1,076,381	9
6	Gnomeo and Juliet	£842,278	4
7	I Am Number Four	£498,822	2
8	True Grit	£463,320	4
9	West is West	£452,076	2
10	Yogi Bear	£435,564	4

Incoming...



Turning to the new releases this coming Friday, sci-fi and action fans need look no further than Battle: Los Angeles (cert. 12A), which sees a platoon of Marines fighting alien invaders in downtown L.A. If it's laughs you're after then the Farrelly brothers' new comedy Hall Pass (cert. 15) could be worth a shot, while Hammer Films' new thriller The Resident (cert. 15) will look to send chills down the spine. Meanwhile on the drama front there's a choice between The Company Men (cert. TBC) starring Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones, and Fair Game (cert. 12A), which is headlined by Sean Penn and Naomi Watts.

U.K. Box Office Archive

The Week in Spandex - Kal-El gets his Ma as The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers' plots are revealed?

Presenting our weekly round-up of the biggest news stories from the world of movie superheroes…

We’ve quite a bit of catching up to do after skipping our round-up last week to present our 3rd annual Superhero Showdown; the past fortnight has seen plenty of gossip and developments, including movement on the supporting cast for Superman: Man of Steel, possible plotlines for both The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers, some new X-Men: First Class posters, a great shot of the Red Skull from Captain America: The First Avenger and bits and pieces on everything from Thor to Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. So, without further ado (well, maybe just a brief spoiler warning), let’s get the catch-up underway…

Casting rumours have been heating up on Zack Snyder’s Superman: Man of Steel since it was first revealed that British actor Henry Cavill would be donning the red cape for the Christopher Nolan-produced reboot. Midweek brought the first official announcement since Cavill’s casting with the news that Academy Award-nominee Diane Lane (Unfaithful) has secured the role of Kal-El’s ‘Ma’, Martha Kent. This had been preceded by rumours that Kevin Costner was a “person of interest” for Jonathan Kent, and while there’s yet to be confirmation, it looks as if the Kent family will be complete before too long.

Martha Kent is presumably one of the three female roles that were mentioned a few weeks back, with another said to be Ursa, the villainous right-hand-woman of fan favourite General Zod. According to Variety competition for the part has been whittled down to either Alice Eve (She’s Out of My League) or Diane Kruger (Inglourious Basterds) now that Rosamund Pike (Barney’s Version) has signed up for sword and sandals remake Wrath of the Titans. Other names banded about - presumably for Lois Lane, unless Snyder goes all Smallville with his origin story - include Rachel McAdams (Sherlock Holmes), Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Jessica Biel (The A-Team) and Olivia Wilde (Tron: Legacy).

Although Snyder had previously denied that General Zod would appear as the villain, THR also reported last weekend that Viggo Mortensen is currently first choice to step into the role made famous by Terrence Stamp in Superman II. Mortensen’s involvement is far from confirmed however, particularly as he’s in final negotiations to join Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron in Universal’s Snow White and the Huntsman, and has also long been linked with a return to Middle-Earth to reprise his role as Aragorn for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit. Elsewhere, there’s also been talk that Daniel Day-Lewis could be in contention for an as-yet-unspecified-but-no-doubt-evil role.

Turning now to Christopher Nolan’s other project and the director has confirmed to MTV what pretty much everyone suspected anyway… The Dark Knight Rises will be his last Batman movie: “We're very much excited about really finishing a trilogy and giving a conclusion to our story. And that's what we're doing.” So, there we have it from the horse’s mouth, although you could argue that finishing the trilogy is not the same as finishing up with the Batman universe, and I’m sure that Warner Bros. will do their utmost to tempt Nolan back if and when The Dark Knight Rises storms the box office next July. Will they succeed? I’d wager no.

Elsewhere in Gotham City, Anne Hathaway was talking to Oprah earlier in the week when she referred to her character in The Dark Knight Rises as ‘Catwoman’, rather than the official line of ‘Selina Kyle’. First cinematographer Wally Pfister, now the actress herself. I guess the secret’s out then and, if the recent ‘scoop’ from Badass Digest is to be believed, Catwoman will be an ally of Christian Bale’s Dark Knight who teams up to fight against Talia al Ghul’s League of Shadows and her enforcer love-interest Bane (Tom Hardy). Quite the mixed tag-team match-up but nothing new really as fan speculation has been going down these lines for quite some time and, with Marion Cotillard on board, Talia is certainly looking like a strong possibility. Finally, Batman on Film also received word on possible new toys for Bruce, including an "aerial Bat-Vehicle" of some kind.

With all this DC talk you’d be forgiven for thinking Warner Bros. has a monopoly on 2012 but Marvel Studios will of course fire back with their own superhero epic The Avengers from director Joss Whedon. Although the film isn’t due to start shooting until April, word came this past week that a teaser trailer has already been shot and could debut alongside this year’s Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger, while LatinoReview dropped some possible info on the villains. Specifically, that the main bad guy will be Loki (Tom Hiddleston), who uses the cosmic cube from The First Avenger to summon the Skrulls to invade earth and square off against the likes of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), The Incredible Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).

While we're on the subject of The Avengers, Captain America director Joe Johnston gave an interesting interview to InsideMovies earlier in the week, which also included an exclusive first look at Hugo Weaving's Johann Schmidt in all his Red Skull glory. Everything about The First Avenger is looking pretty great at the moment and I'm expecting good things from the first trailer, which is said to be arriving any day now.

Meanwhile two new posters have debuted for Thor over at IGN, one of which is a character banner featuring Thor, Odin (Anthony Hopkins), Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Heimdall (Idris Elba), and the other, well it's an overly red one-sheet featuring the Mighty one himself.

Other recent bits and bobs that caught the eye…

…Nicolas Cage spoke to FEARnet about Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, revealing that the upcoming superhero sequel will see him portraying Johnny Blaze and Ghost Rider as separate entities after the stunt daredevil undergoes an exorcism…

…An unsubstantiated Wikipedia edit suggested Marvel had regained the rights to Daredevil after Fox cooled interest in their recently announced reboot. Given the lack of fanfare around such a major reacquisition you should probably flag this one for deletion…

...Matthew Vaughn’s upcoming 60s-set prequel X-Men: First Class received a couple of new character posters featuring Professor Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender), while Empire debuted a new image featuring Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) and Emma Frost (January Jones) of the Hellfire Club in their swinging secret lair…

...In an interview with Empire, Ryan Reynolds discussed his costume for the upcoming superhero flick Green Lantern, while ComicBookMovie posted a couple of new images taken from Empire’s feature (they aren’t that exciting, believe me)...

...Staying with Reynolds, he also had a few words about the proposed Deadpool movie stating that the X-Men Origins: Wolverine spin-off / reboot is “still in the works”. Robert Rodriguez is said to be attached to direct from a script from Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick (Zombieland), although scheduling could prove tricky with Reynolds also contracted to Green Lantern 2...

...Elizabeth Hurley and Cary Elwes have signed up for David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman pilot starring Friday Night Lights' Adrianne Palicki as the Amazon Princess, and will be joined in the cast by Tracie Thoms (Death Proof) and Pedro Pascal (The Adjustment Bureau)...

...Details were revealed on the forthcoming arena spectacular Batman Live, which kicks off its world tour here in the UK in July and will tell the story of Dick Grayson's origins as The Boy Wonder...

…And finally we got our first look at Marvel Entertainment’s new X-Men anime via a brief Japanese teaser trailer (which does look rather ‘anime-y’, doesn’t it?). The upcoming half-hour series set to be joined by Blade, Iron Man and Wolverine later this year. Check it out...


Gary Collinson

British film studio 'Valleywood' facing an uncertain future

Valleywood, the informal shorthand for the Richard Attenborough-chaired Dragon International Film Studios, is facing financial uncertainty in light of debts to creditors and a lack of productions coming to the Welsh movie studio. The £330 million complex boasts 4 silent stages, an office building and a replica of a Norman Castle.

The castle was recently put to good use in the filming of the James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti starrer Ironclad (released today) which, so far, is the only feature film to make use of the studio. Future plans for the site include a grand total of 14 sound stages and a housing development of 2,000 homes.

It had originally been hoped that the lower costs associated with filming in Wales would tempt filmmakers from London, but this has not yet proved to be the case. This could be partly to do with the fact that administrators Price Waterhouse Coopers have been in fiscal control of the studio since 2008, with the studio owing £15 million to creditors right on the upsurge of the economic crisis. The adminstrators admit that this has held the studio complex back from being able to expand and entice film projects and could see the complex sold off for re-development.

It's Robin Begins as the Batman Live storyline is revealed

The final installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, may be over a year away but fans in the UK are set to enjoy plenty of Bat-action in 2011 as the action packed arena spectacular Batman Live tours the country from July. The storyline, which has just been released today, will focus on the young Dick Grayson's quest for justice after the loss of his parents to organised crime, following in the footsteps of his hero, the vigilante known as the Batman.

Described as "an affecting coming of age story", the live show will see the Dynamic Duo square off against the combined forces of The Joker, The Penguin, Catwoman, The Riddler, Two-Face, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Mixing acrobatics, daredevil stunt work, illusions and cutting-edge design, Batman Live will take in iconic Gotham locations such as the Batcave, Arkham Asylum and Penguin's Iceberg Lounge to present an unparalleled visual spectacle.

Batman Live is written by Allan Heinberg (co-creator of Marvel Comic’s Young Avengers and former writer on JLA, Superman/Batman, Wonder Woman, and Uncanny X-Men) and is based on an original story by Stan Berkowitz (The New Batman Adventures, The Batman, Spider-Man, Batman Beyond, Justice League and Spider-Man) and Alan Burnett (Batman: The Animated Series, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Batman: Gotham Knight and Green Lantern: First Flight).

Batman Live will open in Manchester on July 20th and take in Newcastle, Glasgow, Sheffield, Birmingham, London, Liverpool, Nottingham, Dublin and Belfast before moving on to Europe and North America in 2012.

Tickets for the UK leg of the world tour are available now from the official site.

Quentin Tarantino Western to finally get rolling?

Talk was rife last week after Quentin Tarantino once again expressed his desire to explore the Spaghetti Western and juxtapose the traditional Western elements to a slavery-era American South.

Tarantino has been kicking the idea around for a few years and once again he was spilling the beans after the Oscars. He has stated that the project may no longer include the slavery element but instead be a more traditional Spaghetti Western (well, as traditional as it could get with QT).

Speaking at the Los Angeles Italia film festival, Italian actor Franco Nero (Django) stated that talent was already being considered for the project. Alongside himself, Franco says that Treat Williams (Once Upon a Time in America), Keith Carradine (Southern Comfort) and Christoph Waltz (the deliciously diabolical Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds) are being sized up for roles.

Tarantino has yet to officially confirm that the film will be going ahead but with a script completed and Spain and Italy being mentioned as filming locations, it would be wise to watch this space for further announcements and updates in the near future.

After Dark Originals: Horrorfest hits the UK this weekend

The popular US genre festival After Dark Originals: Horrorfest comes to the UK this weekend as Empire Cinemas plays host to seven brand new horror films across the country. Participating Empire cinemas include London's Leicester Square, Basildon, Newcastle, Poole, Sunderland and Swindon, and will give fans the opportunity to get dressed up and participate in exciting in-cinema activities and competitions.

The festival runs from Friday March 4th to Sunday March 6th - take a look at what's on...

Husk (dir. Brett Simmons)

When a murder of crows smashes into their car windshield, a group of young friends are forced to abandon the vehicle, leaving them stranded beside a desolate cornfield. Hidden deep within the cornfield they find a crumbling farmhouse – but they soon discover that instead of a sanctuary, the house is actually the centre of a terrifying supernatural ritual that they are about to become a part of…

Prowl (dir. Patrik Syversen)

Amber dreams of escaping her small town existence and persuades her friends to accompany her to find an apartment in the big city. When their transportation breaks down, she and her friends gratefully accept a ride in the back of a semi. But when the driver refuses to stop and they discover the cargo is hundreds of cartons of blood, they panic. Their panic turns to terror when the truck disgorges them into a dark, abandoned warehouse where blood-thirsty creatures learn to hunt human prey, which, the friends realize, is what they now are...

Seconds Apart (dir. Antonio Negret)

Seth and Jonah are murderous twins who share an evil kinship. Damned from the moment of their births, the brothers possess a gruesome talent for telekinesis – a power they use in the most horrific ways imaginable. As their fellow students meet gory fates, the local law enforcement begins to suspect the twins’ connection to the depraved murders. What started as a jealous rage escalates into a supernatural showdown – pitting brother against brother, evil against evil.

Scream of the Banshee (dir. Steven C. Miller)

When a college Professor opens up a strange, ornate box discovered in the basement of a University, she and her students hear a horrifying scream belonging to that of a bloodthirsty banshee. They think nothing of it, until that scream begins to haunt all that heard it in strange and surreal ways. According to Irish lore, if you hear a Banshee scream, you will die – which is what starts happening to them one by one, as the creature starts taking their lives…

Fertile Ground (dir. Adam Gierasch)

Emily and Nate Weaver leave the city for the rural comfort of Nate’s ancestral home in the country. Once there, Emily is plagued by horrifying visions and haunted by the ghosts inhabiting their isolated new home. When Nate’s behaviour undergoes a strange and fearful metamorphous, Emily fears she might be the latest target in a murderous tradition.

The Task (dir. Simon Fellows)

Something diabolical is taking place on the set of “The Task” a new reality show in which players complete terrifying missions within the confines of an abandoned prison hoping to win a hefty cash prize. As six young students explore their new environment, malicious spirits make their presence known in the most gruesome ways imaginable, unable to escape the labyrinthine prison, the contestants become unwitting pawns caught at the centre of a blood-soaked night of terror.

51 (dir. Jason Connery)

Due to political pressure from the American public, the Air Force has decided to allow two well-known reporters limited access to the most secretive base on the planet. But when one of the base’s "long-term visitors" exploits this unprecedented visit as a chance to liberate himself and his fellow alien captives, Area 51 turns from a secure government base to a horrifying destination of terror.

After Dark Films was formed in 2006 by director/producer Courtney Solomon (An American Haunting, Captivity) and Hong Kong based real estate magnate, Allan Zeman. In November of that year they launched Horrorfest, playing eight never seen before acquired horror films in an annual weekend-long theatrical event in 500 theatres across the US. After Dark expanded its grasp on the horror genre in 2010 creating After Dark Originals, tapping into the vast and innovative talent of directors and filmmakers from Horrorfest’s four years and producing new features themselves.

For more information visit the official site and Facebook page.

Nicholas Hoult lands the lead in zombie romance Warm Bodies

Nicholas Hoult, one of Britain’s best young talents in Hollywood at the moment, has signed on to yet another project. Last month it was announced that the star had been chosen as the lead in Bryan Singer’s take on the Jack and the Beanstalk tale, Jack the Giant Killer.

Now, it has been announced that he has the role of the protagonist in Summit Entertainment’s adaptation of Isaac Marion’s forthcoming novel, Warm Bodies. A script has been written by Jonathan Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, The Wackness) who will also direct.

Warm Bodies tells the story of a zombie known as R, who starts to fall for the girlfriend of one of his victims and stops himself and his undead brethren from attacking her. This zombie apocalypse love story could be an interesting, darkly comic, existential film with hints of Edward Scissorhands, or it could turn out to be Twilight with zombies.

Since starring in About a Boy alongside Hugh Grant, Hoult has appeared in the UK TV series Skins, Tom Ford’s film A Single Man with Colin Firth, and last year’s Clash of the Titans. As well as Jack the Giant Killer, he is due to star in George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road and can next be seen in this summer’s hotly anticipated X-Men prequel X-Men: First Class as a young Hank McCoy/Beast, which opens in the UK on June 2nd.

Will Smith to star in biblical tale Joe

Movie star Will Smith hasn’t starred in a film since his 2008 offerings Hancock and Seven Pounds but he seems set to make a comeback. Currently filming Men in Black III, he is now attached to the forthcoming project Joe.

The film is an updated version of the biblical story of Job, written by screenwriting duo Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson (The Fighter) who have sold the script to Sony Pictures and Will Smith’s production company Overbrook Entertainment. The writers are said to be keen to sign David O. Russell as director (who received an Oscar nomination for The Fighter) and Smith is to star as the protagonist.

The Book of Job in the bible tells of Satan being granted God’s permission to test Job’s faith and loyalty. Job loses his family, wealth and health but remains devoted to God even though others insist his suffering is punishment for his sins. Job questions God and learns valuable lessons before his health, happiness and prosperity are restored.

Despite his three year break from starring in films, Will Smith has been keeping busy. He has produced films like The Karate Kid for his son Jaden and has been looking into opportunities for his daughter Willow, including the proposed remake of the musical Annie. This year we will see him return to our screens, reprising his popular role as Agent J in the third Men in Black film, which is due for release on May 23rd here in the UK.

Gnomeo and Juliet reclaims the UK box office crown

UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 25th - Sunday 27th February 2011.



The half-term school holidays meant that it was a bumper weekend for family films at the UK box office; leading the way was CG-animation Gnomeo and Juliet, which leapfrogged the Simon Pegg / Nick Frost comedy Paul to reclaim the number one spot in its third weekend, banking £2.5m to push its cumulative gross to £12.9m. Meanwhile Paul dropped over 60% from last weekend's hefty opening, adding another £2.1m to take second place ahead of D.J. Caruso's I Am Number Four, the highest-placed newcomer in third with £1.6m (including two days of preview screenings).



Along with I Am Number Four two other new releases placed in the chart, the highest of which was rom-com No Strings Attached, which only manages to claim eighth despite a decent return of £978k. Brit comedy sequel West is West also enjoyed a solid opening of £758k in tenth, but less fortunate was Drive Angry 3D, with the Nicolas Cage actioner placing outside of the top ten with takings of £651k.



This week's chart also saw a couple of films moving up the table with Yogi Bear and Tangled climbing two places apiece to fourth and fifth, while Best Picture winner The King's Speech fell three places but could rebound well next time out in the wake of its Oscar glory. Other films looking less likely to halt their declines are Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son (down two to seventh) and the Coen brothers' True Grit (tumbling five to ninth).



Number one this time last year: Avatar

Pos.	Film	Weekend Gross	Week	Total UK Gross
1	Gnomeo and Juliet	£2,502,806	3	£12,901,447
2	Paul	£2,073,462	2	£10,110,433
3	I Am Number Four	£1,682,523	1	£1,682,523
4	Yogi Bear	£1,465,863	3	£7,635,574
5	Tangled	£1,352,104	5	£19,130,723
6	The King's Speech	£1,207,963	8	£39,850,419
7	Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son	£993,485	2	£4,080,907
8	No Strings Attached	£978,974	1	£978,974
9	True Grit	£862,260	3	£6,426,424
10	West is West	£758,226	1	£758,226

Incoming...



The big release this coming Friday is Gore Verbinski's Rango (cert. PG), the first CG-animation from Industrial Light & Magic which features the voice talents of Johnny Depp, Isla Fisher and Bill Nighy. Meanwhile alternatives include Philip K. Dick adaptation The Adjustment Bureau (cert. 12A) starring Matt Damon and Emily Blunt, action-thriller Unknown (cert. 12A) with Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and January Jones, and Ironclad (cert. 15), a medieval actioner featuring James Purefoy, Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox and Jason Flemyng.

U.K. Box Office Archive