The first time Ju-on hasn't scared me

While I was looking for a picture for JPX's Grudge post, I came across this, which I assume is a cast/crew photo for Ju-on. Pretty funny seeing little Toshio holding still for a picture instead of turning into a cat or hiding under the table or whatever other thing he does to scare the bejesus out of me. Is one of those nice ladies behind him his freaky mom? Maybe they're the full-body makeup crew. If he is wearing makeup -- maybe he's like that kid in Powder. Anyway, this would be a darn strange photo out of context.

And who's the amazon in the shorts?

Long-lost Star Wars production art discovered!

Quite a find from the vault: an early poster design for “Star Wars II,” indicating that the story ideas kicking around at the time were far more fluid than Lucas and his cronies would have you believe today. Apparently they intended to introduce some third faction, at odds with the Imperial Empire and the rebellion (if the targets of the laser fire are any indication), who flew around in tiny Star Destroyers. Of particular note is the unfamiliar spaceship on the right, which didn’t make it to the final version of the film. Clearly they had some different ideas about ship design on the table; I would speculate there might have been a fan of 2001 A Space Odyssey’s signature spaceship Discovery somewhere on the team.

The biggest discovery for SW fans and poster afficianados is, of course, the confirmation of a decades-old rumor. We finally have proof that the popular graphic element of really wide Roman numerals got its start in ILM’s heyday and not, as widely believed, in the production of Lethal Weapon I I I.

King Kong Makes $100million on DVD

From Moviesonline, "King Kong ascended to extraordinary heights in its first six days in release, selling more than 6.5 million DVDs, the largest six-day performance in Universal Studios history. Fans snatched the blockbuster adventure film off shelves, generating $100 million in consumer spending for the Universal Studios Home Entertainment release.

The spectacular first-week DVD sales continue King Kong's astonishing commercial success as the studio’s fourth-highest grossing film in the studio’s 94-year history. To date, the film has amassed approximately $550 million in ticket sales worldwide, following on the heels of Jurassic Park, E.T. and The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

"Hands down, Peter Jackson’s King Kong ranks as one of Universal's biggest and most successful cinematic triumphs of all time," said Craig Kornblau, President, Universal Studios Home Entertainment. "Home entertainment consumers recognize the singular-event status of this spectacular breakthrough motion picture which has been further bolstered by the film’s stunning technical achievements including its Oscar® win for best visual effects.

The latest larger-than-life spectacle from visionary filmmaker Peter Jackson (the Lord of the Rings trilogy), King Kong enthralled audiences and critics alike, garnering three Oscars® at the 2006 Academy Awards® and appearing on countless "Best Movies of the Year" lists.

Both the original theatrical version and the Special Collectors Edition two-disc set of the King Kong DVD boast collectible package artwork specially created by WETA Digital Ltd., the production company behind the film's impressive Oscar®-winning visual effects. The DVD release of King Kong was supported by unparalleled cross-promotional opportunities with an array of prominent partners including Papa John's Pizza, Glad, Hostess, Orville Redenbacher's® Gourmet® Microwave Popcorn, Kellogg's, Nestle, Toshiba, Chase and Kodak EasyShare.

King Kong recounts the eternal tale of beauty and the beast, with a script by three-time Academy Award® winner Jackson and his longtime collaborators and fellow Oscar® winners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Oscar® nominee Naomi Watts (21 Grams), Jack Black (School of Rock), Oscar® winner Adrien Brody (The Pianist), Colin Hanks (Orange County) and Andy Serkis (the Lord of the Rings trilogy) headline this must-see spectacular, with a cast of mind-boggling, mythical creatures and an arsenal of spectacular visual innovations backing them up.

The Special Collector's Edition DVD features an exclusive glimpse of the creation of King Kong's two unique worlds -- Skull Island, a land forgotten by time, where the actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and the giant, savage ape known as King Kong forge their tragic bond, and 1930's New York City, a different, but not less perilous, kind of jungle. Other extras include almost three hours of exclusive behind the scenes footage with director Jackson, as he finalizes every aspect of post production on this groundbreaking film."

An interview with the new Supes

From AICN,

QUINT: So, with the movie just a couple months away now it looks like they're just starting to put you through the ringer leading up to release...

BRANDON ROUTH: Yes. (laughs) This is ringer number one today.

QUINT: I noticed the Weta Collectible SUPERMAN RETURNS statues just popped up online and have seen a lot of the merchandising for the movie previewed out of Toy Fair. Is it weirding you out to see yourself starting to pop up all over the place?

BRANDON ROUTH: Yeah, it's crazy. I've seen some of the stuff online and some of the things look like me and some of the things don't really look so much like me. (laughs) Like they had to make the jaw bigger because it has to fit on the neck joint on these things. I've heard these things, I understand. Maybe it's good that not everything looks like me. But it's pretty crazy, especially those Weta things. I know Bryan (Singer)'s really excited about those things happening. I'm eager to actually see one in person.

QUINT: I just saw the footage WB brought to ShoWest...

BRANDON ROUTH: Oh! Was it great? I haven't seen it.

QUINT: Oh, man... It looked fantastic.

BRANDON ROUTH: Cool. Good.

QUINT: I mean, I was psyched by the Comic-Con footage... that had you up in that Alex Ross pose up in the...

BRANDON ROUTH: Up in space...

QUINT: Yeah, just kind of floating there... I thought it was great. Classic Superman pose... but then this footage they just showed had so much more of Superman in action...

BRANDON ROUTH: Good.

QUINT: The highlight of the footage was the airplane sequence. Do you think that sequence will be the centerpiece of the movie?

BRANDON ROUTH: It's very intense. There's... there's more than that. Definitely more than that, but that is an incredibly intense scene and... I tell ya'. We did so much work on that. That was the bulk of my green screen work was making that look real. We shot and reshot that stuff.
But it's incredible. Kate (Bosworth) did such an amazing job. She's getting thrown around in that thing. I had no idea because I'm off in another stage and she's in one sound stage getting thrown around in a 777 and I'm floating on green screen. But that definitely kicks the film off.

QUINT: Was that your favorite sequence to shoot?

BRANDON ROUTH: There's a day, actually... I can't really... I don't know how much you saw, I don't know how much is in there, so I won't talk about it too much, but one of the best days I had, one of the most fun days I had flying was shooting that plane sequence. I went flying down onto the plane and they actually had me elevated at a weird angle up above a piece... They actually threw me down onto it and I had to grab ahold of it, which is really cool.
A lot of stuff was just me flying around with nothing there. That was a hands on thing that was just fantastic.

QUINT: Besides the plane sequence, which scene are you most anxious for the fans to see... I'm talking about the scene that'll play to the midnight audience, first show... Which scene would you be waiting to see them react to if you were standing at the back of the theater?
BRANDON ROUTH: Well, I can't really talk about it, but it's towards the end of the film. It's very...

QUINT: Can you hint at it... at least throw a landmark out there so people who read this will know which scene you were talking about after they see the movie?

BRANDON ROUTH: It's basically my... When Superman has his confrontation with Lex.

QUINT: Kevin Spacey is such a great pick for Lex Luthor...

BRANDON ROUTH: Incredible presence. It's great, I mean the presence of that guy. I mean, I didn't have to do any sense memories for that. (laughs) He brought it every day. Everybody will know when they see that. And from then the film... nobody is going to blink from that point on in the film.

QUINT: What's next for you? Obviously if Superman does well you're in for a sequel...

BRANDON ROUTH: Superman's definitely been opening up a lot of doors for me. As opposed to two years ago when I was knocking on doors. I don't have to knock on doors now, it's just about finding a role that'll be different enough from Superman to continue my career... you know, for the rest of my life.

QUINT: Christopher Reeve did that really well, I thought.

BRANDON ROUTH: Yeah! That's the challenge. Been reading lots of scripts.

QUINT: You are open to the Superman sequels, right?

BRANDON ROUTH: Well, I'm sure when the film comes out and if Warner Bros is really happy... they're really happy now, but I'd be really excited to do another movie. We've got it down now. We've got it down.

Samuel L. Jackson checks Cusack into King's evil room, 1408!

From AICN, "a bit of interesting casting for the adaptation of Stephen King's short story, 1408, which was adapted by Matt Greenberg and is currently being polished by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski.
For fans of Stephen King's short story, there really was only two major characters. There's the ghost chasing author, Mike Enslin, who makes a living writing about supposedly haunted places. He hears rumor about a haunted room in the Hotel Dolphin, room 1408. He goes to investigate and the horror begins. Enslin is being played by John Cusack... great pick and the first King adaptation for Cusack since STAND BY ME.
The short story isn't very long, the second half of which is just Enslin "experiencing" the room. Just him and the room. The first half is the hotel manager trying to talk him out of staying in the room. I know that won't translate the same to the film... I'm sure we won't have the first half of the movie being an argument about whether or not to stay in a certain hotel room. But there were only two characters we get any great exposure to. Cusack is one and it lookes like Sam "The Man" Jackson is the other.
I love Samuel L. Jackson and I'd love to see him in every movie, but I have to be honest... I don't think he's the right pick for this character. At least as he was written in the book. Sam Jackson has a level of control and strength in his personality, in his eyes, and this character isn't nearly that strong. When I read the character I was thinking more along the lines of Paul Giamatti. The character has a little strength, but certainly not the kind of control.
That being said, I don't know how Greenberg or Alexander/Karaszewski are handeling the character in the feature film. I'm happy to see Samuel L. Jackson in anything, so I will look forward to him in this flick and he is an actor afterall. It's his job to pretend to be some other kind of person, but my knee-jerk reaction is above. I still get a really good vibe off this project. Love the short and love the talent attached."

Even by flop standards I'm embarrassed for Basic Instinct 2

"With Ice Age: The Meltdown's mammoth $70.5 million opening this weekend, don't look for Manny, Sid and Scrat to go extinct any time soon.
Basking in a weekend showing that beat even Fox distribution chief Bruce Snyder's hopes by $15 million, Fox animation chief Chris Meledandri vows there will be a third Ice Age. (Related chart: See the weekend's top 10 films)

Meltdown boasts the biggest-ever March opening, topping Ice Age's $46.3 million in 2002. Fox's Blue Sky animation studio also holds the third-biggest March opening, last year's Robots, with $36 million

"We had hoped and prayed for $55 million," Snyder says.

Meltdown shows that "the communal (moviegoing) experience cannot be replaced," Meledandri says.

Brandon Gray of Box Office Mojo notes it was the biggest opening since December's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The biggest animated-movie opening belongs to Shrek 2, with $108 million in 2004. Final numbers, out today, will show whether Meltdown tops Finding Nemo ($70.3 million) and The Incredibles ($70.5 million).

A weekend flop: Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct 2, $3.2 million, No. 10."

Dead blue people scare me

From Moviesonline, "This just in, the sequel to 2004's scary thriller The Grudge, is well underway shooting. The Grudge, who in 2004 saw Sarah Michelle Gellar battling a mysterious and evil force, left audiences wide eyed and gripping their seats. The sequel, will have Gellar back, but will focus on Gellar's younger sister, who is played by Amber Tamblyn. The story is about Tamblyn and a host of new characters that return long enough to pass on the supernatural curse. The characters find themselves connected by the same terrifying curse that has plagued and taken the lives on other innocent people. The plot is rumoured to mainly be based around the Tokyo house, as a film crew do an investigation on the 'haunted' house for a TV special. And well, one by one, they all fall prey to the mysterious force. Horror director, Takashi Shimizu returns to direct the sequel.

Personally, The Grudge had its moments, and to be honest the best part of the movie is seeing Buffy back on the screen, but I felt even though the movie had its creepy parts, it almost didn't make much sense. We'll see what The Grudge 2 holds in store for us, and most likely will lead up to the trilogy which has totally never been done before, especially in the horror genre."

Boa Thai movie posters

From, Iwatchstuff, "Asia is ahead of us in so many areas. For example: mathematics, video games, and snake aviation movies. While America gets all all up-in-arms for a movie about some snakes on a plane, in Thailand they've got this giant fucking boa taking down a helicopter by crushing it. How embarrassing for us."

Simpsons "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" movie teaser

From Iwatchstuff, "Shown with Ice Age 2 and on Fox last night, a teaser for the currently in-production The Simpsons movie revealed that the release date for the film is July 27, 2007. Who's not excited about this one, eh? I just wish they'd made this a decade ago, when the show was in its prime, instead of now, when I'm ten years older. Man, back then I was really something. Getting pussy every night, rolling in money, crazy on drugs, and the pussy. Now I'm living mostly in the stock room of a Circuit City, and the only pussy I get is in the medical illustrations I secretly cut out of some teenager's anatomy textbook. If this movie doesn't cheer me up, I'll probably end up making a half-hearted attempt at killing myself, just for the attention."

Go here for teaser.

From USATODAY, 'LOS ANGELES — The Simpson's are finally d'oh-ing the big screen thing.
Here's the problem with waiting nearly 18 years for a much-anticipated movie: People expect it to be good.

With last week's announcement that The Simpsons Movie will arrive in theaters July 27, 2007, expectations are running high for TV's longest-running sitcom to deliver on the big screen.

"If I were feeling any more pressure, I'd be a diamond," show writer/producer Al Jean says.

Since it premiered in 1989 and grew into a cultural icon, The Simpsons has been fodder for movie speculation.

"We've been running a little behind schedule," Simpsons creator Matt Groening says. "But only by about 15 years or so."

A 20-second trailer attached to the weekend box-office smash Ice Age: The Meltdown hinted at the movie to come, as did Sunday night's Simpsons episode.

In 2001, the cast signed new contracts that stipulated they could be in a movie. Since then, "we'd been working to get a script that would be worthy of people actually paying to see the Simpsons," Groening says.

The screenplay is finished and voice recordings began last month, but creators are saying very little about the plot. Dummy scripts might be circulated to keep Internet spies off the track.

Here's what they did say:

• The film probably will be rated PG-13 for language a bit coarser than you see on TV, though Groening says creators are considering using the freedom of film to "exploit all the degenerate standards of today's moviegoing culture."

• Guest stars will include Albert Brooks, Minnie Driver and the real-life Erin Brockovich (whom Bart Simpson once called "the prostitute with the heart of gold").

• Nearly all the series regulars are in the movie. "We've got a lot of time to fill," writer/producer James Brooks jokes.

Never fear, this won't be the end of the TV series, signed to air into 2009.

"We felt the time was right for a movie," Groening says. "And for Milhouse to win an Oscar."'

Internet only trailer for Kevin Smith's CLERKS 2

From Aintitcoolnews, "a link to the internet only trailer for Kevin Smith's CLERKS sequel. STAR WARS, LOTR, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS... lotsa geeky references, plus some internet approved profanity, a Mrs. Smith bra flash and Rosario Dawson looking hotter than ever. Lots to like in the below. Enjoy!!!"

Go here for the trailer.

"master of horror"?

From Darkhorizons, "We've got some extremely shocking news for you guys, which I'm sure will start one hell of an uproar. According to sources close to us, the infamous director Dr. Uwe Boll will be joining the growing list of famous directors who will take part in Mick Garris' Masters of Horror: Season 2, which will air on Showtime later this year. Uwe became a household name after delivering us Artisan's House of the Dead, Lionsgate's classic Alone in the Dark and this past January's release of BloodRayne. Inside we have word directly from Dr. Boll about this monumental announcement, along with some pictures of props being used in his film, which is entitled 'Plan 8 from Outer Space'..."