Neveldine Cranked up for 'Crank 3’

 

Apparently Jason Statham will once again be pushing the limits of physical abuse as the one and only Chev Chelios in Crank 3.  Writer/director Mark Neveldine seems to have confirmed that the third installment of his franchise is indeed happening, he also discusses how they’ll deal with bringing back Statham’s Chelios who seemed to die (again) at the end of Crank: High Voltage.  

In a recent interview with Empire, Neveldine was very forthcoming about the prospects of adding to the Chelios myth:

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First Look: 'Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance'

As its being proclaimed by many bloggers and major entertainment website, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is the sequel nobody really asked for, but might end up not sucking at all this time around. The film still stars Nicolas Cage as Johnny Blaze (aka. Ghost Rider), with Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor taking on directing duties. Thanks to this weekend's San Diego Comic Con International, we got our first glimpse of the sequel and a first look.

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'Crank 3' Might Happen, Might Be in 3-D

I say this as...well, not a fan, exactly, but probably as a charitable critic who didn't expect a whole lot out of the first movie and less from the second: I really don't think we need a third Crank movie. There's just no reason. The films have combined to make about $75 million, which is profitable but not convincing. Plus, the sequel only drew $13 million in the US. Translation: Nobody seems to care.

That won't stop Neveldine and Taylor, the filmmaking duo behind these films and Gamer (which also failed to set the world on fire). The Film Stage talked to Brian Taylor and he confirmed that Lionsgate is still keen on more Chev Chelios adventures. "They've approached us for it," Taylor confirmed, "but we wanna make another movie or two before that." To change things up, Crank 3 might, somewhat predictably, be in 3-D. And if there's any reason at all to continue with this franchise, this is it. The visuals are already really cool, and while 3-D couldn't have completely covered up the wide story gaps in Crank: High Voltage, it would at least raise the game a bit. It's like Ashlee Simpson's nose job: Sure, she's still got way too many problems, but at least she looks better than she did before.

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Should Jason Statham Get Another Action Franchise?

It was announced by Production Weekly today that Jason Statham will star in Simon West's remake of The Mechanic, a 1972 Charles Bronson action thrilla. Whether or not Production Weekly is correct in this instance isn't the issue, even though they've been wrong about tons of casting and directing news over the past six or eight months.

But it's interesting to me that Jason Statham is still landing big roles. It's not just that Crank 2 might make $15 million in the U.S., which is far from being a hit for a movie with its budget and marketing expenses, but it's the prevalent pattern of his career. Unless you count The Italian Job, he's never had a $100 million movie. And you shouldn't count it, because he was at best the fifth most important character in the movie. The second Transporter made the most money in America, about $45 million, but his average box office performance over the past decade is $23 million with $9 million opening weekends. Usually, opening weekends account for a third of the overall box office, so the fact that his movies don't hit that mark indicates that they're almost entirely driven by a pretty small core audience that never expands.

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Box Office - '17' Goes for $24 Million

For one of the few times this year, the weekend box office was disappointing. Not if you're Zac Efron's new body swap comedy, 17 Again, but otherwise, there were not a lot of congratulatory cigars being lit. The real evidence was the third place finish by Monsters vs. Aliens, now a month old. There just wasn't much else to watch.

17 Again did finish on top, slowing its $9 million Friday pace to end the weekend just north of $24 million. That's still a very good start, although the trouble is whether Zac Efron can give us any second weekend audience. I kind of doubt it; I think the film will be lucky to hold half its audience from this week. State of Play wound up in second place, with $14 million in receipts. That's about what was expected, so maybe Universal should have put it in a few more theaters, something that won't happen now with summer movies just two weeks away. The other new release, Crank: High Voltage was one of the bigger opening weekend flops of 2009, earning just $6 million plus in three days, despite tons of marketing. A key to its failure was almost certainly Fast & Furious, which managed to outdraw the brand new Jason Statham flick.

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