The Rock Journeys to the 'Center of the Earth' Sequel

I'm giving up on Dwayne Johnson. It was OK to take bad movies earlier in his career, when he faced the hurdle of transitioning from WWE wrestler to movie star. I thought after The Rundown and a good stint hosting Saturday Night Live that he could be a new action hero. He had the physical attributes as well as better charisma and a quicker wit than almost anybody in that category, certainly among guys of his generation.

But Johnson has done way too many kids' movies in the past couple years and the kind of action flicks he's getting aren't very inspiring. Here's a guy who could do a lot of things but it appears he'll just do B-grade action flicks and stuff like Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. Heat Vision reports that The Rock will co-star with Josh Hutcherson in the sequel to Journey to the Center of the Earth, portraying the boyfriend of Hutcherson's mom. Thee other characters will be cast in the next few weeks. The 2008 Journey, I was reminded, is one of three case studies in quality live-action 3-D during its resurgence. Worldwide, it made almost a quarter-billion off a $60 million budget, so that's why we're here again. Brendan Fraser won't be returning and that is of no consequence to me in any way.

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Warners Sets Dates for 'Sherlock,' 'Potter,' and More

Some new release dates from Warner Bros. have been revealed, and since that studio is the top dog in the business these days, it's likely we'll see other studios place their movies around this list.

Heat Vision Blog has the details behind the details, and I'm sure you might be interested to learn that on top of the movies that have release dates, the studio is embracing The Flash, which doesn't yet have a release date or anything else. Wonder Woman? Anyone? Anyone? Yes, it appears that development on that movie is finally starting to happen again. So here's what we know for 2011 from Warners. The studio plans to release about 25 movies, probably a little less than that, but certainly a couple movies on month on average. You can do that when you're the first studio to gross $2 billion in the US alone in 12 months. Some of these aren't brand new, but it's good to see a more complete picture of what the studio has up its sleeve for next year.

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Oscar Visual Effects Candidates Narrowed to Seven

The first Oscar short list for the highly competitive visual effects award has been whittled from fifteen films to seven, and the three most likely winners, at least in my opinion, are still in the running. This award is quickly becoming one of the biggest Oscars handed out every year. It's not in the Big Five - picture, actor, actress, director, screenply - but it has probably become the most coveted technical award every year. That prominence should only grow as visual effects become a more integral part of what we wouldn't traditionally think of as "effects" movies. For example, I think Benjamin Button is the runaway choice this year. Last year, David Fincher's Zodiac was loaded with them, but you'd never notice. And because he's using effects to create more commonplace things, the challenge is much greater than making an army of skeletons. Here are the seven potential nominees, and remember that this list will eventually be cut to three: Australia
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Iron Man
Journey to the Center of the Earth
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor Voters of the Academy's Visual Effects branch will see 15 minutes of each film on Thursday, January 15th, after which, they'll nominate the three finalists. Those movies will be revealed the following Thursday when all the Academy Award nominations are announced.

Box Office - 'Hellboy' More Super Than 'Hancock'

We knew it would be a dogfight for the top spot at the box office this weekend, and it turned out to be closer than we even expected. Hellboy II: The Golden Army, which opened strong on Friday, needed that leverage to fend off a charge from Hancock on Saturday and Sunday. Although Hellboy finished right around $36 million for the weekend, according to Box Office Mojo, it only won the battle on Friday and Sunday; Hancock outgrossed the new Guillermo del Toro film on Saturday and finished the weekend with $33 million, which I believe makes this the closest finish of the summer. For Hancock, the weekend puts Will Smith closer to another $200 million movie; it has now earned over $165 million in 12 days. Hellboy still has a decent shot to break $100 million, although a lot of that depends on how it can weather the storm once The Dark Knight arrives next weekend. If it can put up a $15 million second stanza, it should be on its way. The other new releases, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Meet Dave, are headed in opposite directions. Journey did better than expected and was the weekend's third $20 million earner, not bad at all considering the family-friendly competition it's facing with Wall-E and Kung Fu Panda. Meet Dave, as we touched on yesterday, is a tax write off. $5.3 million is a terrible way to start if your movie costs $100 million, although the good news for Eddie Murphy is that it made $2 million on Saturday. Woo hoo! Where does this put Meet Dave historically? We'll go into more detail later today on just how a big a bomb we're dealing with. The Top Five 1 - Hellboy II ($36 million) 2 - Hancock ($33 million) 3 - Journey to the Center of the Earth ($21 million) 4 - Wall-E ($19 million) 5 - Wanted ($12 million)

Update on Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 7:42PM by Get The Big Picture

Meet Dave has an incredibly shrinking budget. What was once believed to be a $100 million effort by this website and several other reports, has been reduced to either a $60 million and a $55 million film in recent days, depending on what you believe. We'll go with the $55 million, the number Fox is selling. So, this will not be a bomb of monumental proportions, just a good old fashioned flop.

Box Office - 'Hellboy' Rules Friday, Nobody Wants to 'Meet Dave'

There's good news all around with the Friday box office estimates. We'll begin at the top and work our way down.

It appears that Hellboy II: The Golden Army may be headed towards the $37 - $40 million range this weekend, which a near $14 million Friday, according to Box Office Mojo. That should mean a $100 million run for the Hellboy sequel, maybe upwards of $120 - $130 million depending on how it plays in the next couple of weeks. This number may be a touch higher than projections, although the Saturday numbers will tell us a lot not just about the weekend in particular but well this might play down the line. Hancock finished in second place on Friday, and should wind up with another $30 million or so after its second weekend, proving Will Smith's new movie isn't just critic proof, but to a large extent, it's audience proof, too. Average to below average reviews may have hurt it a little bit, but Hancock will still be a $225 million movie. Journey to the Center of the Earth, which is a slightly better show than it lets on, did slightly better on Friday than I would've thought. With nearly $7 million in ticket sales, this film should reach $20 million for the weekend, not bad when you consider the 3-D feature only cost $45 million. Wall-E, Wanted, and Get Smart continue to do nice business. If I had to forecast U.S. totals based on what we've seen so far, I'd say Wall-E - which will have the longest life of the three because of the way it plays to family crowds - will wind up with about $215 million, Wanted will finish in the $130 - $140 million range, and Get Smart might hit $125 million. Wall-E, of course, is the biggest investment, with production costs exceeding Wanted and Get Smart combined, so its bar is set quite a bit higher. Both Wanted and Get Smart have made their money back already, and Wall-E still needs help.

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