More Engrossing Directors Roundtable Interviews

A couple of days ago, we shared some video from The Hollywood Reporter from a roundtable interview with six directors who are in the running for awards n' stuff. Missing: David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Sam Mendes, maybe Woody Allen would've added a few things. But we did get Clint, Danny Boyle, Ron Howard, Gus Van Sant, Ed Zwick, and Darren Aronofsky.

And now, those directors have been split into three groups of two to talk a little bit more about their individual projects. So we have Van Sant and Boyle, Aronofsky and Zwick, and two exchanges between Howard and Eastwood, which is only fair because in addition to directing Frost/Nixon, Howard produced Changeling.
Boyle, Van Sant
Aronofsky, Zwick

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Women Film Critics Honor 'Changeling,' Streep

Katey Rich from Cinema Blend voted for the Women Film Critics Circle Awards, which has now named its winners. As you might expect, their categories are slightly different than a typical list. They're intended to celebrate the work of women in the movies, but the group does acknowledge some general film awards, as well.

I'm a man, so I simply can't know, but the odds are there's still an awful lot of room for improvement in the treatment of women in show business, as there is everywhere else. But I'd like to think it's getting a little bit better as we go. And to show there's no hard feelings, the WFCC gave an award to 9 1/2 Weeks and Angel Heart star Mickey Rourke. Talk about progress! (On the flip side, they also list the most offensive male characters of the year.)You can read the full list of awards at Cinema Blend, but here's a starter course:Best Movie About Women:
Changeling Best Movie By a Woman:
Frozen River Best Storyteller (Screenwriting):
Jennifer Lumet - Rachel Getting Married Best Actress:
Melissa Leo - Frozen RiverBest Actor:
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler Best Young Actress:
Abigail Breslin - Kit Kittredge and Definitely Maybe Best Comedic Actress:
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky and Meryl Streep - Mamma Mia! (tie)

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Eastwood May Retire...But Only From Acting

I know a guy who's seen Gran Torino, Clint Eastwood's upcoming drama that Warner Bros. is positioning for an Oscar run. This guy is not what I'd call a real Clint Eastwood fan. I don't think he has anything against Clint, but he's not the type of guy who looked forward to Changeling, say.

Anyway, this guy says Gran Torino is going to be right in the thick of things when the Academy Award nominations are announced. I don't know if he's got a good head for that sort of thing or not, but it was surprising to hear him praising the film so much.Eastwood acts for the first time in four years, coming off his best modern performance (and probably his best overall performance) in Million Dollar Baby. And he had said that acting was probably in the past before making Gran Torino and now, he's at it again. Clint told The Telegraph, "You always want to quit while you are ahead. You don't want to be like a fighter who stays too long in the ring until you're not performing at your best." He added that Gran Torino "will probably do it for me as far as acting is concerned."

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Box Office - 'Quantum of Solace' Shatters Bond Record

As expected, Quantum of Solace completely dominated the weekend box office, setting a new opening weekend record for James Bond film and outearning all but the last five movies in only three days.The $70 million weekend passes last week's Madagascar debut for the fourth-best debut of 2008, according to Box Office Mojo, and it now seems pretty clear that this will be the first 007 movie to exceed $200 million in U.S. ticket sales. We've been covering the film's performance overseas as well, and while the most recent weekend numbers have not been reported yet, we do know that Solace will likely be near $300 million in global receipts by Monday.The debut is even more impressive when you factor in that the film opened in 600 fewer theaters than Madagascar, Indiana Jones, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight. Where would the number be if the film had shown in 4,000 theaters this weekend? Probably in the $80 million ballpark, based on its per-screen averages.Madagascar had another big showing, taking in $36 million, which puts its U.S. total around $120 million in ten days. It will be interesting to see how much of its audience migrates to see Bolt next weekend. Still, it should have no trouble making back its $150 million budget in domestic ticket sales alone.Speaking of being in the black, congrats to Role Models, which now looks poised to make something like $60 million, and now sits well ahead of its budget at $38 million in two weeks. Zack and Miri just turned that corner, too, although the film is generally considered a box office disappointment. Three other movies currently in the top ten are massive moneymakers, as well: High School Musical, The Secret Life of Bees, and Saw V. And Kirk Cameron's Fireproof has still earned more than its $500,000 budget in every weekend it's been in theaters. The faith-based firefighter movie has made a staggering 60 times its budget in two months.The Top Five:1 - Quantum of Solace ($70 million)
2 - Madagascar ($36 million)
3 - Role Models ($11 million)
4 - High School Musical ($5.8 million)
5 - Changeling ($4.2 million)

Box Office - 'Solace' Grabs $27 Million on Friday

Quantum of Solace kicked off its box office run with the biggest one-day total since The Dark Knight's second weekend, collecting $27 million on Friday, according to Box Office Mojo. That sets up a record-breaking weekend for Bond films, as the projected three-day total for Solace now balloons to over $70 million. It seems certain, at the very least, that $60 million will be easy to achieve, a total some $13 million more than the previous best Bond debut (Die Another Day). As always, you can't tell what Friday numbers mean in every case. Sometimes they're the beginning of a trend and other times, they reflect a huge opening night spike that goes away pretty quickly. But because Casino Royale did so well two years ago and audiences seem invested again in the series because of the new grittier approach and new Bond Daniel Craig, it looks as though Quantum of Solace will be the first Bond picture to at least flirt with $200 million in the U.S. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa will cross $100 million this weekend, and will coast into second place with maybe $25 - $30 million. Role Models, High School Musical, and Changeling rounded out the top five on Friday.We'll have the complete box office recap tomorrow, plus a little more analysis on what this weekend could mean for Bond in the long haul.