Weekend Preview: Into Darkness

For the second time this month only one new film is being released nationwide for the weekend, because nobody is dumb enough to try to compete with the sequel to J.J. Abrams' wildly successful 2009 Star Trek reboot.

Star Trek Into Darkness beams into around 3,800 theaters, starting with tonight's limited engagement Fan Sneaks, and will have no trouble becoming the box office's flagship for the weekend. Three years ago Chris Pine led the crew of the Enterprise to the franchise's highest grossing opening weekend by earning $75 million domestically. Three years of anticipation and the intrigue surrounding Benidict Cumberbatch's villain should help propel Into Darkness above $100 million for its five day opening (Wednesday through Sunday), though the fanboy in me wants to make a prediction closer to $150 million for that time frame. Either way, I don't think the sequel should have any trouble reaching its predecessor's $257 million final domestic gross, and it may even end up closer to $300 million.

As for the old releases, Iron Man 3 should earn around $35 million this weekend if it continues to hold similarly to Iron Man 2. This would bring the domestic gross of Stark's third outing to around $340 million, while its worldwide gross will probably already have surpassed $1 billion, making it the sixteenth film to ever reach that milestone. Gatsby should hold onto its audience better than Iron Man since not as many of them will be flocking to see Into Darkness, but with very mixed audience and critical responses it could see more than a fifty percent drop from last weekend. But even if it only makes $20 million this weekend, its total domestic gross should still be close to double Luhrmann's previously highest grossing film. And as for poor old Peeples, well people was definitely something it had a hard time attracting. With less than $5 million as of May 13, I doubt it will even be able to reach $2.5 million for its second weekend.

So is anybody else seeing Star Trek Into Darkness tonight? I'm seeing it at 11 PM in IMAX 3D, so I'm sure some related posts should pop up on my tumblr blog and on my twitter account.

Tune in next week for a proper Memorial Day battle between established franchise films Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part 3, as well as Blue Sky's newest animated adventure Epic.

Star Wars Episode VII

So J.J. Abrams is officially directing Star Wars Episode VII!!!!!!!!!!!!!

J.J.
+
Star Wars
=
brb becoming dead from the feels. Can it be 2015 yet? Please?????

Can you tell I'm excited? (it should be pretty obvious...)

If the Star Trek reboot has proven anything, it should be quite obvious that J.J. knows how to take a revered franchise and re-invigorate it and make it more accessible to a new generation of potential fans.

Episode VII should arrive in theaters in May of 2015, a full ten years after the the end of the disappointing prequel trilogy, and almost thirty years after the release of the original.

Whether you love J.J. or think he's overrated, you have to admit that he will give us an Episode VII worthy of following the original trilogy.

Disagree with me? Well then shut up you ignoramus Jar Jar loving nerf herder. :) Leave a well-informed reason why and I'll try to restrain myself from reaching through the internet and strangling you.

Super 8

Super 8 (2011)
Directed by J.J. Abrams

I have probably seen Super 8 at least ten times already, in big theaters, small theaters,  in IMAX, and on cable, but I just recently got my own copy of the film on DVD. What better way to spend a lazy saturday than by rewatching great movies?

One of my favorite things about Super 8 is how much I can personally relate to the film.  My mother is alive and the small town I grew up in doesn't have any aliens, but I grew up making films with my friends, admiring Spielberg and Abrams, and I definitely get turned on by girls in zombie makeup.  Although my experiences were much different than Joe Lamb's and Abrams', the film still elicits some great memories from my childhood.

And I think that is the greatest strength of the film.  Yes it tells an intriguing story of a group of kids, a small town, and a lonely alien; yes it tells a painfully beautiful story of loss and acceptance; and yes it has the most amazing special effects ever seen in a $50 million film, but it's greatest strength is its ability to connect people of all backgrounds, generations, nationalities, and socio-economic status through common childhood experiences.

Let's call it a modern Goonies. Amirite?

5 out of 5 stars
Viewed May 19, 2012.