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Box Office: Angels and Demons Is No. 1

BuzzSugar — Mon, 18 May 2009 07:15:54 -0700

The film adaptation of Dan Brown's bestselling novel, Angels and Demons starring Tom Hanks, is a global sensation after earning an estimated $104.3 million at the international box office over the weekend.

Here in the US the holy thriller swiped the top spot from Star Trek, which still performed strongly, coming in at No. 2 with an estimated $43 million domestically. According to Variety, positive word-of-mouth thanks to stellar reviews is probably the reason Star Trek continues to be quite the box office powerhouse.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and Obsessed rounded out the rest of the box office top five coming in third, fourth, and fifth respectively.

Photo courtesy of Sony Pictures

Box Office: Trek Hits No. 1 at Warp Speed

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:30:33 -0700

J.J. Abrams' reboot of Star Trek was a smash success this weekend with an estimated $76.5 million (including $4 million Thursday night), taking the top spot at the box office (though not surpassing X-Men Origins: Wolverine's opening weekend take of $85 million, as so many of you thought it would). This was "the biggest Trek opening yet, soaring past the previous high of Star Trek: First Contact, which started at $30.7 million or the equivalent of over $50 million adjusted for ticket price inflation."

Meanwhile Wolverine "wilted to an X-Men franchise low" in the wake of Star Trek, coming in at No. 2 with an estimated $27 million. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past took the third spot, followed by Obsessed and 17 Again in fourth and fifth place.

Sounds like good word of mouth quickly spread about Star Trek. Were you swayed by the stellar (ha, ha) reviews? Did you head out to see it?

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Will Star Trek Beat Wolverine's Opening Weekend Box Office Earnings?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 07 May 2009 08:30:50 -0700

Last weekend X-Men Origins: Wolverine opened to the sweet tune of $85 million, officially marking the beginning of the Summer blockbuster season. Do you think this weekend's newbie, Star Trek, will surpass $85 million at the box office?

Wolverine one-sheet courtesy of Fox and Star Trek one-sheet courtesy of Paramount

Box Office: Wolverine Slashes the Competition

BuzzSugar — Mon, 04 May 2009 09:24:17 -0700

Summer movie season has officially arrived, folks, and it looks like American audiences were ready for it. Hugh Jackman's X-Men Origins: Wolverine easily took the No. 1 spot over the weekend and grossed an estimated $87 million. This is good news for X-Men fans because the success of Wolverine is a "key victory for Fox, Marvel Entertainment and star Hugh Jackman, since it likely keeps the franchise alive." Woohoo!

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past also did solid business over the weekend and came in second place with an estimated $15.3 million. The top five was rounded out by Obsessed, 17 Again, and Monsters vs. Aliens in third, fourth, and fifth place respectively.

Were you one of the millions who saw Wolverine? Do you agree with the reviews?

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

Wolverine: Fun, If You Don't Mind That It Makes No Sense

BuzzSugar — Fri, 01 May 2009 10:00:14 -0700

I'm a big fan of the first couple of X-Men movies and of the comic in general. Maybe it's the ensemble cast full of cool mutant powers or the fact that the gang of superheroes includes lots of women, but I've always found this Marvel comic to be totally entertaining - not to mention great source material for movie adaptations.

Definitely one of the better parts of this franchise so far has been Hugh Jackman's take on the surly and brutishly funny Wolverine. This isn't sissy stuff - and the machismo action star gets even more extreme in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. With favorites like Storm and Rogue long gone, we zoom back in time (way back, actually: 1845) to learn how the hot-tempered Logan came to be a lot of things: a mutant with a skeletal system reinforced by adamantium, a very angry mutant, and, in the end, a hero. It's a lot of big, blockbuster fun, as long as you don't mind plot holes you could drive an 18-wheeler through. To see the rest of my thoughts, read more.

The movie starts us out somewhere in the far Northwest Territory in Canada, where a young James Howlett (later known as Wolverine) is very sick. In the first of many head-scratching moments, there's a strange paternal mixup that results in James killing a man with his mutant claws who turns out to be his father. James and his brother, Victor (later played as an adult by Liev Schreiber), then flee to the woods. Apparently the two boys, both afflicted with mutant powers (Victor sprouts catlike claws that one character later describes as "homeless lady" fingernails), grow into men who can live a long time and choose to fight in almost every American war up until Vietnam. You might have a nagging question at this point: but I thought they were Canadian? That's the voice you're going to have to turn off to enjoy this movie.

Eventually the boys become enemies - but it's revealed that all mutants in this pre-X-Men world are simply vulnerable pawns to William Stryker (played by the excellent Danny Huston), a military man who's the friend turned foe in this flick. While this is definitely Wolverine's show (we see him fall in love, lose love, seek revenge, undergo freaky scientific experiments, etc.), he assembles a crew of friends along the way, including Gambit (Taylor Kitsch), John Wraith (will.i.am), and a very funny Wade Wison (played by Ryan Reynolds, who should have had more screen time because he's so good).

Everyone turns in great performances, but Jackman, known these days for being extremely easy on the eyes - not to mention very talented at singing and dancing - slips into the role of moody lumberjack wolfman with a surprising ease. It's awesome and - not gonna lie - extremely hot. There's a lot of talk about "counterprogramming" right now, with Ghosts of Girlfriends Past offered up this weekend as an alternative for women who aren't in the mood for a superhero movie. But for the record, Jackman is shirtless and/or naked in many scenes, and that's all the counterprogramming I need.

The movie has plot holes and logic gaps to spare. It also suffers from a lack of imagination in the fight sequences, with actors tumbling through the film like some kind of poor man's Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Yet, somehow, despite those glaring flaws, this movie isn't completely brain dead and succeeds at being totally entertaining popcorn cinema. When stuff didn't make sense, my audience snickered, but then Wolverine came screaming, adamantium claws out, charging the screen, and we were jolted back into enjoying this fun flick.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Wolverine Character Videos . . . Well, They're Kind of Hot

BuzzSugar — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 11:30:27 -0700

For a movie like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, these brief little videos in which the characters speak directly to camera about themselves is way more intriguing to me than an ordinary old trailer. In the trailers we get glimpses of these guys, and of course there's more of an emphasis on Wolverine and Sabretooth, but with individual videos we can actually take a good look at Gambit, Wraith and Deadpool (speaking of whom, holy cow, Ryan Reynolds, all that working out seriously paid off).

I've included all five of the character videos after the jump, but I personally think the ones for Gambit, Deadpool and Wraith are by far the most interesting. To check 'em out, read more.

Wolverine

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Sabretooth

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Gambit

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Deadpool

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

Wraith

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

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Would You Watch a Leaked Movie Before It Opens in Theaters?

BuzzSugar — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 13:30:25 -0700

Recently an unfinished version of the highly anticipated Hugh Jackman movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, leaked onto the Internet.

This security breach could be disastrous for the folks in charge of this movie because, as one blogger put it, it could have "a dramatic and negative impact on this film's opening and overall box office performance."

Ugh. Poor Hugh.

Big leaks like this don't happen too often, but when they do I try to resist the temptation to watch because I prefer my initial viewing of a movie to be on the big screen. On the other hand, knowing that a movie I really want to see is out there on the Internet, it can be so tempting to go searching for it.

So what do you think? Would you watch a leaked movie?

Photo courtesy of 20th Century Fox

Bring Wolverine and His Mutant Friends to Your Town!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:30:33 -0700

As marketing ploys go, this one for the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie is pretty good. If you click here, you can enter a contest to bring the movie's world premiere to your town - and yes, the premiere includes Mr. Hugh Jackman himself! Cool, right? If you don't want to submit a specific town you can just vote for the town you want to win. The place with the biggest "X" (i.e. most votes) come April 17 will win, and the big winner will be announced April 20.

As much as I'd love to see the gorgeous Hugh Jackman here in San Francisco, I'm kind of rooting for a tiny town to win this big eventful night. Mr. Jackman himself explains the details of the contest after the jump and aside from being informative, I'm not gonna lie, I just like watching him talk. Sigh. Just read more.

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X-Men Origins: Wolverine Trailer Now Online!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 11:34:40 -0800

Have you had enough of this year's sexiest man alive? Ha! Who am I kidding? The more Hugh Jackman, the better. Now we've got the official trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine that screened before The Day the Earth Stood Still over the weekend and it's pretty awesome. I've been psyched for this movie for a while (especially since I saw Jackman bound into the Comic-Con audience to personally thank Len Wein, the person credited with co-creating the character of Wolverine) and whether it's all the crazy action or the great X-Men story being told or the, you know, beautiful man at the heart of it - this trailer made my pulse race.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine opens May 1. To watch the trailer, read more.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

Comic-Con Surprise - Hugh Jackman Shows Up With Wolverine Footage!

BuzzSugar — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:10:54 -0700

Ho-ly smokes, people, this has been a ridiculously exciting day. More on the Max Payne and The Day the Earth Stood Still panels later - it's what immediately followed the Max Payne panel that is blowing my dome right now!

As soon as the panel was over, Hugh Jackman - looking freaking fine - appeared onstage and the crowd. Went. Wild. First off, as I said, he looked amazing. He's got some long-ish wavy locks, a lovely tan and distractingly shapely arms. Anyway, he started off (in his adorable Australian accent) thanking the fans of comic book movies, without whom, he thinks he would not have a career (ha!). Then, he bounded down the steps (amid super high-pitched screaming from attendees, many of whom have gotten to the hall early so they could get good seats for the Twilight panel later today) to shake the hand of Len Wein, the person credited with co-creating the character of Wolverine. It was a really inspiring moment, actually. Jackman leaned over a bunch of people and shook Wein's hand.

There was another little speech from Jackman about the next X-Men movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and then - roll footage! We were treated to a bunch of scenes from this Wolverine movie, which isn't due in theaters until May 9, 2009. But from what we saw - so far, so awesome. To find out some of the stuff I spotted, read more.

As the title promises, we'll see the origin story of Wolverine, and to some extent, it seems, that of Sabretooth (played by an also-very-manly Liev Schreiber). We see Stryker, who's putting together "a special team" of superheroes, and from there we get glimpses at some of the other characters, including a great-looking Gambit, played by FNL's Taylor Kitsch. Toward the end of the montage, there are some brief, but cool-looking fight scenes between Wolverine and Sabretooth.

Surely this stuff will be online soon, but I'm kinda overcome with adrenaline right now - it was such a cool surprise!

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