The Soloist

The Beyonce Knowles thriller Obsessed topped the box office over the weekend earning an estimated $28.5 million—kind of amazing given the critical reaction wasn't pretty. Zac Efron's 17 Again came in at No. 2 followed by Fighting, another movie that debuted much better than expected.

The Soloist, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx had a somewhat disappointing debut at No. 4. and earned about $9.7 million. According to Variety, "box office observers had expected Soloist to debut in the $10 million-$12 million range. They say the pic could have been dinged by so-so reviews." Interestingly, Disney's Earth rounded out the top five, earning an estimated $8.6 million.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

I'll be honest with you: If it stars Robert Downey Jr., I'm probably going to like it, at least a little. Such is the case with director Joe Wright's (Atonement) new movie, The Soloist. Honestly, I'm not sure I would like this movie as much were it not for this excellent casting choice. It's amazing, the guy never disappoints, and in this movie he is a revelation. Downey digs deep to find the humanity and nuance in this true story and knocks his performance out of the park.

His costar Jamie Foxx gets an "A" for effort for fading into his character and successfully achieving what is no doubt a difficult job: realistically portraying a mentally ill man. For the most part, this is Downey's show, though the two actors work well together to give this already sentimental movie its heart. That said, it's not without some missteps. To find out what they are, read more

Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. laughed on the red carpet at at the LA premiere of The Soloist yesterday. RDJ, who has been hard at work on Iron Man 2, took a night to focus on this film saying he's happy to be getting such positive reactions since he "really put his heart into it." Halle Berry joined the boys dressed in a colorful floor length gown, which she paired with sandals. After railing into Miley Cyrus last week and later apologizing, Jamie looked happy to focus on the movie and his real life and onscreen friendship with Robert Downey Jr.

To see more photos including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Catherine Keener, and others just read more

• The upcoming movie The Soloist is inspiring at least 174 orchestras in 46 states to participate in food drives. — AP
• Showtime has renewed United States of Tara for a second season. — Variety
• In other renewal news, Ugly Betty, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, and Brothers and Sisters are rumored to be getting early pickups from ABC. — TV.com
• Mark Valley will star in a Fox pilot called Human Target, while Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Johnston are officially cast in the Absolutely Fabulous remake. — TV Guide
• Woody Allen has set Josh Brolin and Anthony Hopkins to star in the film he wrote and will shoot in London this Summer. — ComingSoon
• Tom Cruise is in talks to star with Denzel Washington in the David Cronenberg-directed thriller The Matarese Circle. — Variety
• Brad Paisley leads the Academy of Country Music Awards nominations with six nods. — AP
• Sam Rockwell has joined Hilary Swank in the legal drama Betty Anne Waters. — The Hollywood Reporter

Photo courtesy of Paramount

• Legendary superhero creator Stan Lee has won the National Medal of Arts. — Washington Post
• Thanks to ongoing legal wrangling, Project Runway most likely will be off the air till Spring — or beyond. — New York Times
• Taylor Swift has topped this week's album sales chart, followed by David Archuleta. — Billboard
• The release date for The Soloist has shifted again, this time from March 13 to April 24. — Variety
• Beauty and the Geek could move to MTV. — The Hollywood Reporter
• The 15 finalists for documentary film Oscar nominations have been selected. — LA Times
• Patricia Heaton will star in a comedy pilot called The Middle for ABC. — Zap2it
• Young adult literature is all the rage for film adaptation lately: The comedic novel Vibes about a 17-year-old cheerleader who suddenly gets the ability to read minds, and the "vampyre" series House of Night will both be made into movies. — Variety
• Does nobody want the Daytime Emmy Awards? — The Hollywood Reporter
• Warner Bros. will produce the movie Control-Alt-Delete, which "is described as Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure meets The Matrix." — ComingSoon

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• Though many people thought The Soloist (and its lead actors, Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr.) would be up for Oscars this year, Paramount has pushed the movie's release from Nov. 21, 2008 to March 13, 2009. — Variety
• Hugh Grant is bowing out of the romantic comedy Lost for Words due to differences of opinion on the script. — ComingSoon
• Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles has been picked up for a full second season. — Broadcasting and Cable
• Hope Davis and John Mahoney are joining the cast of In Treatment. — Zap2it
• The Grammys nominations announcement will be an hourlong TV special this year, airing Dec. 3 on CBS. — Billboard




• Survivor host Jeff Probst has created a new reality show in which dying people live out their final wishes. — Entertainment Weekly
• Liza Minelli is returning to Broadway for two weeks in December performing a show called Liza’s at the Palace. . ! — Variety
• Luke Grimes has been cast as Ryan on Brothers and Sisters. — E! Online

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About a year ago, when I first heard about the casting news for The Soloist, I thought it sounded similar to a movie in theaters at the time, Resurrecting the Champ. Both feature a white guy helping an exceptionally talented black homeless guy. So, I created a helpful chart pointing out some of the similarities and differences between the two movies. Resurrecting the Champ didn't do too well in box office sales (approximately $3 million total) and received a so-so critical response.

I'm sure The Soloist will find more success. Though it seems like an extremely familiar story (and not just because of the Champ), it may be aided by its director (Atonement's Joe Wright) and the two acclaimed actors at the center of it all: Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. In the real life story, RDJ plays journalist Steve Lopez who "discovers Nathaniel Anthony Ayers (Jamie Foxx), a former classical music prodigy, playing his violin on the streets of L.A. As Lopez endeavors to help the homeless man find his way back, a unique friendship is formed, one that transforms both their lives." The drama opens Nov. 21. To check out the trailer, read more

Today there came news that Robert Downey Jr. will be starring opposite Jamie Foxx in the musician biopic The Soloist. Reading up on the movie's plot, however, it sounds awfully similar to a movie currently out in theaters that stars Josh Hartnett and Samuel L. Jackson, Resurrecting the Champ. Thus, I've made up the following chart so the two don't get too confusing:

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