Daniel Craig Wants to Put the Fun Back in Bond

Despite taking James Bond all over Europe, the Caribbean, and South America in the last two films, Daniel Craig wants a change of scenery. Because Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace seem designed to point toward a third film a la a trilogy (something new for the Bond franchise), Craig is making no secret about his desire to do something new the next time.

"No fucking way," said Craig of the rumored trilogy. "I'm done with that story. I want to lie on a beach for the first half an hour of the next movie drinking a cocktail."Speaking to Collider about his new film Defiance, which the National Board of Review named one of the ten best films of 2008, Craig sounded somewhat nostalgic for the good old Bond, even though the past two films broke with most of the character's conventions. "Let's try and find where Moneypenny came from and where Q comes from. Let's do all that and have some fun with it," pushed the Blond Bond.

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Box Office - Tryptophan Causes 50% Drop in Ticket Sales

The weekend box office was really below par as December kicked off. Punisher: War Zone, the weekend's biggest release, only made $4 million, winding up with an eighth-place debut. Ouch. The rest of the top ten, therefore, looks suspiciously like it did the previous weekend, only with smaller numbers. For example, the entire top ten only generated $73 million from Friday to Sunday, and just two weeks ago, Twilight did just under $70 million all on its own. It looks like some studio somewhere missed a golden opportunity to open big this weekend. Four Christmases repeated as the top film in the land, with Twilight and Bolt rounding out the top three. Australia had its last hurrah, earning $7 million, which was good enough for fifth place. It's about a 50% drop from its opening weekend, and because it's only made $30 million in the U.S., the prospects are not good. Baz Luhrmann's pet project was tremendously expensive, and it's unlikely that it can make the kind of money on the international stage that it would need to turn a profit. So, it's on to the DVD market for that one. Quantum of Solace finished the weekend in fourth place, but has slowed down a bit over the past two weeks, and looks less likely to become the first 007 movie to cross $200 million in U.S. ticket sales. It should still get to $175 million without too much trouble, but Casino Royale definitely had a stronger run after its opening weekend. This weekend was particularly bad, as the film lost 65% of its crowd from the previous weekend. If you compare them head-to-head, Casino Royale actually made more money than Quantum of Solace in its fourth stanza - in fewer theaters. The Top Five:1 - Four Christmases ($18.2 million)
2 - Twilight ($13.2 million)
3 - Bolt ($10 million)
4 - Australia ($7 million)
5 - Quantum of Solace ($6.6 million)

Box Office - 'Australia,' 'Punisher' Becoming Holiday Bombs

The big story at the box office right now isn't what's on top, but rather what's stinking up the joint. Four Christmases will win its second straight weekend and Twilight will finish in second place - look for them to make about $19 million and $14 million respectively - but Australia and the new release Punisher: War Zone simply aren't finding audiences.Australia, the new Baz Luhrmann epic, opened over the Thanksgiving weekend and in its first ten days has only made $26 million. For a movie with a price tag over $125 million, that's a terrible showing. At best, it can hope to recoup about one-third of its budget with U.S. receipts. On Friday, Australia made $2.4 million, according to Box Office Mojo estimates, which was good enough for fourth place, but the trend is not good for the expensive, expansive period piece.Punisher: War Zone, which obviously has a much smaller budget, nonetheless can't be considered a success early on, finishing Friday in sixth place, despite being the only new release in over 1,000 theaters. With its paltry $1.6 million opening day, Punisher might make $5 million this weekend, $7 million if it's really lucky. That would indicate an overall gross in the $15 - $20 million range, which clearly isn't enough to keep the franchise going.On the other end of things, Quantum of Solace will be over $150 million by Sunday night, and Twilight might make it to $140 million. We'll have complete weekend numbers tomorrow.

Fearless Forecast - 'Four Christmases,' Round Two

We said a few weeks ago that the real box office action this fall was in November, not December. Just look at the results: Three straight movies debuting with over $60 million, three straight movies setting a new mark for the fourth-highest opening of 2008. Madagascar had $63 million, and it now sits just shy of $150 million, then Quantum of Solace beat that debut by about four million, and its worldwide number is staggering - it'll hit half a billion this weekend, and might still get to $700 million overall. Twilight, of course, was the wild card, and we're looking at at least $150 million for that after a $70 million opening.And December kicks off with...Punisher: War Zone. Meh. There will be a little life in December with The Day the Earth Stood Still, although I don't think that's a $70 million debut, and looking ahead, maybe Seven Pounds and Yes Man will do pretty well, and I think Bedtime Stories will rule Christmas, but are we going to get three movies that combine for $500 million here in the U.S.? Nope.So this week is all about the retreads, because Punisher is not going to make much of an impact at all. In fact, I think the redheaded stepchild of the Marvel hit machine might make half of its total revenue this weekend before falling off the face of the Earth. (The reviews won't help, believe me.) Four Christmases bested projections last week, and I expect the good times to keep rolling for Reese and Vince. Twilight will still be a strong player, though it has lost significant steam. Bolt, the Disney 3-D flick that got overshadowed by teenage vampires two weeks ago, has played Twilight pretty even ever since, and it seems safe now to predict a total box office between $100 - $115 million here at home. It's certainly not one of the studio's big successes, but it may be enough to call it a minor hit.The only other new releases of note are Cadillac Records and Nobel Son, and neither one is popping up in wide enough release to throw the final standings for a loop.The Top Five: 1 - Four Christmases ($15.5 million)
2 - Twilight ($12 million)
3 - Bolt ($11 million)
4 - Quantum of Solace ($9 million)
5 - Punisher ($8 million)

Box Office - 46 Million 'Christmases'

Keep in mind that these are five-day totals we're talking about, but Four Christmases still did better than expected, which based on the reviews of the movie means people were just in the mood to laugh at a loud heavyset guy over Thanksgiving. In some families, that's a holiday tradition. But the Vince Vaughn-Reese Witherspoon flick made $46.7 million from Wednesday to Sunday, and was the clear winner over the five-day weekend, besting projections for the holiday comedy by almost $10 million, or even more in some cases.That doesn't necessarily mean the bloom is off the rose for Twilight. The $37 million movie made more than that in its second "weekend," good enough for second place, and a sign that this was not just an opening night phenomenon. And I promise that's the last time I'll use that word in conjunction with the vampire movie, which has now grossed a cool $120 million in ten days.Both Australia and Transporter 3 failed to scare up much business. They made far less than Four Christmases combined, at $20 million and $18.5 million respectively, and here's another example of being cognizant of the time frame: $18.5 million over five days is under $4 million a day, including a Friday and Saturday. So, Transporter is not a hit. The news is worse for Australia, which cost well over a hundred million bucks and won't make that back here in the United States. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Milk, as we discussed yesterday, have slid into the lower rungs of the top ten, a great achievement considering the number of theaters in which they're playing.The Top Five (Wednesday - Sunday): 1 - Four Christmases ($46.7 million)
2 - Twilight ($39.5 million)
3 - Bolt ($36 million)
4 - Quantum of Solace ($28.1 million)
5 - Australia ($20 million)