"‘Ghost Rider‘ lights box-office fire

Dunton Springs: "‘Ghost Rider‘ lights box-office fire
2007/2


By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer 2 minutes ago
LOS ANGELES - Satan‘s bounty hunter has looted the wallets of movie-goers. 'Ghost Rider,' Sony‘s comic-book adaptation starring Nicolas Cage as a motorcycle stunt driver moonlighting as a collector of evil souls for the devil, debuted as the top weekend movie with $44.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The movies bumped off the previous weekend‘s No. 1 flick, DreamWorks‘ Eddie Murphy comedy 'Norbit,' which slipped to third place with $16.8 million, lifting its total to $58.9 million. "

X-Men: The Last Stand

X-Men: The Last Stand is the third film adaptation of the Marvel Comics' X-Men superhero comic books. It was directed by Brett Ratner and written by Simon Kinberg and Zak Penn. The previous two movies were X-Men (2000) and X2: X-Men United (2003). The movie revolves around a "mutant cure" that causes serious repercussions among mutants and humans, and on the mysterious resurrection of Jean Grey, who appeared to have died in X2. The film is based on two X-Men comic book story arcs: writer Chris Claremonts and artist John Byrne's "Dark Phoenix Saga" in The Uncanny X-Men (1980) and writer Joss Whedon's six-issue "Gifted" arc in Astonishing X-Men (2004).

The film was released May 26, 2006 in the United States and Canada, and one or two days earlier in approximately 22 other countries. Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans of the comic book series, the film has done extremely well at the box office. Its opening-day gross of $45.5 million is the third-highest on record while its opening weekend gross of $103 million is the fifth highest ever. Currently it holds the record for highest grossing movie during Memorial Day weekend totaling nearly $122.9 million in its first four days.

The film is sometimes colloquially referred to as X3 or X-Men 3.

Bryan Singer, the director of the first two X-Men films, left the project during preproduction in order to direct the film Superman Returns. He was joined by X2 screenwriters Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty and composer / editor John Ottman. Though Singer, Harris and Dougherty had yet to complete a script, the director has revealed that at the time of his departure they had partially completed a story treatment for the film which would have focused exclusively on Jean Grey's resurrection with the new villain Emma Frost, a role intended for Sigourney Weaver.

Simon Kinberg was hired as writer soon after Singer's departure, and speculation arose to Joss Whedon directing the film. Rob Bowman and Alex Proyas were also rumoured, though the latter personally turned it down. Despite the controversy over Singer's departure, the cast and producers were still clearly keen to return.

Matthew Vaughn was hired as the new director for the project. He cast Kelsey Grammer as Beast and Vinnie Jones as Juggernaut, but family issues reportedly led him to withdraw before shooting began. Vaughn was replaced by Singer's friend Brett Ratner, who was among those originally considered to direct the first film — and coincidentally was considered by Warner Brothers to direct the 2006 Superman project before it evolved into Superman Returns.

On June 13, 2005, a review of an incomplete early draft[13] of the screenplay posted by Drew McWeeny from Ain't It Cool News sparked controversy from fans, due to certain main characters' storylines; however, that draft was the very first of over two-dozen drafts the film went through and has had numerous changes happen to the storylines. Most notably the Golden Gate Bridge was originally in the middle of the film, but Ratner decided it would create a more dramatic climax if moved to the end, whereas it was originally to take place at Washington D.C.

Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were made to look 20 years younger through "digital skin grafting".X-Men: The Last Stand began shooting in August 2005 and ended in January 2006. Much of X-Men: The Last Stand was filmed in Vancouver, Canada. According to associate producer Dave Gordon, "This is the biggest production ever filmed in Canada. It used to be X2, now it's X3."

Senior actors Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen had their faces completely "de-aged" by complex keyframing, in which no CGI elements were used. A technique called "digital skin-grafting" was employed to make them look 20 years younger in the first-scene flashback.

The film has extensive wirework, where many of the actors performed some of their own stunts. The whirlwind wire-stunt performed by Halle Berry during one fight scene reportedly caused Berry to become so nauseated that she vomited. The crew actually had to bring in buckets for her before shooting her scenes. Angel's wings were initially too heavy for Ben Foster, and were remade from foam.[18] Despite his fear of heights, Foster performed a single second unit stunt where he escapes Worthington's facility.

V for Vendetta (2006)

V for Vendetta is a 2006 action-thriller film set in London, England in a dystopian near future. The film follows the mysterious V, a freedom fighter seeking to effect sociopolitical change while simultaneously pursuing his own violent personal vendetta. The film is an adaptation of the graphic novel V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd. V for Vendetta was directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. The film stars Natalie Portman as Evey Hammond, Hugo Weaving as V, Stephen Rea as Inspector Finch, and John Hurt as Chancellor Sutler.

The film's release was originally scheduled for Friday, November 4, 2005 (a day before the 400th Guy Fawkes Night), but was delayed; it opened on March 17, 2006, and was generally well-received by critics and audiences alike. Alan Moore, facing his disappointment in both From Hell and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, refused to view the film and subsequently distanced himself from it. The filmmakers removed some of the anarchist themes and drug references present in the original story and also updated the political message to be more relevant to a 2006 audience. Due to the politically sensitive content of the film, V for Vendetta attracted much attention from groups on both sides of the political spectrum and has received both great praise and harsh criticism in turn.

The cast and film-makers attended several press conferences that allowed them to address issues surrounding the film, including its authenticity, Alan Moore's reaction to it and its intended political message. The responses given at the conferences made it clear that the film was intended to be a departure from some of Moore's original themes. In the words of Hugo Weaving: "Alan Moore was writing about something which happened some time ago. It was a response to living in Thatcherite England... This is a response to the world in which we live today. So I think that the film and the graphic novel are two separate entities." Regarding the controversial political content in the film the filmmakers have said that the film is intended more to raise questions and add to a dialogue already present in society, rather than provide answers or tell viewers what to think".

The film takes extensive imagery from the infamous 1605 Gunpowder Plot, where a group of Catholic conspirators plotted to destroy the Houses of Parliament in order to spark a revolution in England. The film was originally scheduled for release on the weekend of November 5, 2005, the 400th anniversary of the Plot, with the tag line "Remember, remember the 5th of November", taken from a traditional British rhyme memorializing the event. However, the marketing angle lost much of its value when the release date was pushed back to March 17, 2006. Many have speculated that the delay was due to the London tube bombings on July 7 and 21. The film-makers have denied this, saying that the delays were from the need for more time in order to finish the visual effects production. V for Vendetta had its first major premiere on February 13 at the Berlin Film Festival. It opened for general release on March 17, 2006 in 3,365 theatres in the United States, the United Kingdom and six other countries.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze is a 1991 action / family film. It was the second Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film, being the sequel to the 1990 film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The Secret of the Ooze was then followed by a third film in 1993. The film is commonly abbreviated to TMNT II.

The film follows the adventures of the four Turtles; Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo and Raphael. Roughly resuming from the events of the last film, villain Shredder returns to take back command of the Foot Clan, and work towards getting revenge on the Turtles. When he learns the secret behind the Turtles' mutation, he becomes more dangerous than ever. The film sheds some light on the origins of Splinter and the Turtles, introduces two new villains; Tokka and Rahzar. Unlike the first film, this one rarely showed the use of their weapons. Most of the combats were done with their fists.

The film was released in March of 1991, and received mixed reviews from critics and fans. It departed from a lot of the darker feelings of the 1990 film, and in contrast was more light hearted than its predecessor. The film was still very popular, and it became the 13th highest grossing film worldwide in the year of its release

Tank Girl (1995)

British comic character Tank Girl originally appeared in the UK comic book, Deadline.
Tank Girl was drawn by Jamie Hewlett, and written by Alan Martin, with later writing by Peter Milligan.

Tank Girl drives a tank, which is also her home. She undertakes a series of missions for a secret organization before making a serious mistake and being declared an outlaw; later strips were deeply disorganized, chaotic and frequently psychedelic.
The strip was initially set in a stylized post-apocalyptic Australia (indeed, Hewlett and Martin have described her as "Mad Max designed by Vivienne Westwood"), although it drew heavily from contemporary British pop culture.
Real-life celebrities were commonly used (usually B list, from Britpop bands and UK children's TV, although on one occasion Tank Girl did headbutt Princess Diana and steal her tiara).

Tank Girl was also the subject of a 1995 film directed by Rachel Talalay and starring Lori Petty as Rebecca Buck, aka Tank Girl.
Unlike the strip's non-linear, stream of consciousness, absurdist cut-and-paste sort of structure, the film has a standard timeline.
The plot revolves around the fact that Tank Girl and her rebel group are attacked by Water and Power, a powerful force that controls the remaining water on a dystopian Earth.
A young girl named Sam (Tank Girl's boyfriend's daughter) is abducted and the story revolves around Tank Girl's quest to save her and seek vengeance against those who killed her crew with the help of Jet Girl (Naomi Watts), Sub Girl (Ann Cusack), the rippers and Booga (Jeff Kober), who has a noticeably different personality.

Tales from the Crypt (1972)

Tales from the Crypt is a British horror movie, made in 1972 by Amicus Productions. It is an anthology film consisting of five separate segments, based on stories from EC Comics. Only two of the stories, however, are actually from EC's Tales from the Crypt. The reason for this, according to Creepy founding editor Russ Jones, is that Amicus producer Milton Subotsky did not own a run of the original EC comic book but instead adapted the movie from the two paperback reprints given to him by Jones. The story "Wish You Were Here" was reprinted in the paperback collection The Vault of Horror (Ballantine, 1965). The other four stories in the movie were among the eight stories reprinted in Tales from the Crypt (Ballantine, 1964).

In the film, five strangers encounter the mysterious Crypt Keeper (Ralph Richardson) in a crypt, and he tells each in turn the manner of their death. Richardson's hooded Crypt Keeper, more somber than the EC original (as illustrated by Al Feldstein and Jack Davis), has a monk-like appearance and resembles EC's GhouLunatics. However, in the EC horror comics, the other horror hosts (the Old Witch and the Vault Keeper) wore hoods, while the Crypt Keeper did not.

The screenplay was adapted into a tie-in novel by Jack Oleck, Tales from the Crypt (Bantam, 1972). Oleck, who wrote the novel Messalina (1950), also scripted for EC's Picto-Fiction titles, Crime Illustrated, Shock Illustrated and Terror Illustrated. A sequel, The Vault of Horror, was released in 1973.

The Return of Swamp Thing (1989)

The Return of Swamp Thing is a low-budget horror movie made in 1989. It was directed by Jim Wynorski, and had a running time of 95 minutes. The film is based on the DC Comics title Swamp Thing, and is a sequel to the 1982 Swamp Thing film directed by Wes Craven.

After her mother's mysterious death, Abby Arcane (Heather Locklear) travels to the Florida swamps to confront her evil stepfather, Dr. Arcane (Louis Jourdan). In an attempt to stave off the affects of aging, Dr. Arcane combines genes from a series of swamp animals and human beings, creating an army of monsters. Dr. Arcane tries to use his stepdaughter Abby Arcane in his genetic experiments, but she is rescued by the Swamp Thing (Dick Durock), a scientist turned into a bog creature after a battle with the evil doctor.

The film is primarily a silly comedy-adventure for young children. Most notable is the comedic performance of nine-year-old Daniel Emery Taylor as one of two children who play the comedy relief.

A novelization of the film was written by Peter David. It may have been written from an earlier script, as the novelization has a considerably more serious attitude and would have taken a much larger budget had the story been filmed. The tale draws more openly from the Alan Moore era of Swamp Thing comics which influenced the final movie only on the most basic level. The novelization includes a scene in which Swamp Thing takes control of an entire hillside.

The film was issued on DVD with a commentary by Wynorski which suggests both that some of the comedy may not be as intentional as it seems, and that Wynorski had some degree of contempt for the material. It also includes two environmental public service announcements for television recorded with Durock in character and the two children featured in the movie. It is unknown if the PSAs were ever aired.

Swamp Thing (1982)

Swamp Thing is a 1982 film written and directed by Wes Craven.
It starred Louis Jourdan, Adrienne Barbeau and Ray Wise as the scientist who was transformed into a monster by a laboratory accident. The film was based on the DC comics character of the same name by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. A late coming, low-budget sequel entitled The Return of Swamp Thing appeared in 1989.

Filming occurred primarily on location in Charleston, South Carolina, and nearby Johns Island, South Carolina due to the region's picturesque swampy scenery.

Superman Returns (2006)

Superman Returns is a 2006 superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Superman. It was directed by Bryan Singer and stars Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey. The screenplay was written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, based on a story by Bryan Singer, Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty.

Filming began in February 2005, and the movie was released in the United States on June 28, 2006 after sixteen months of filming and production. It was the first theatrical Superman film since 1987's Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. The film received mostly positive critical reviews and grossed over $391 million worldwide.

The film revolves around Superman's return to Earth after a five-year absence. He re-assumes his secret identity of Clark Kent, and discovers that Lois Lane—now in a "prolonged engagement"—has a five-year-old son. Superman's nemesis, arch-villain Lex Luthor has devised a new plan to defeat Superman. Director Bryan Singer has said that the continuity is "taking off from the first two Superman films with Christopher Reeve"which serve as its back-story, or as he put it, a "vague history". The late Marlon Brando's role as Superman's biological father Jor-El is reprised with the help of computer-generated imagery and earlier footage.

Superman Returns has similarities with the James Bond series of films in that it is implied that it shares common continuity with earlier films, despite the change of actors in key roles and time-setting. The most noticeable of these links is the use of John Williams' original themes from Superman: The Movie, much as Bond films continued to reference the original "James Bond Theme", and the use of Brando's voice and archive footage. A more subtle reference is the appearance of a photograph of Glenn Ford as Clark's now-deceased adopted father Jonathan Kent (a deleted scene included on the DVD release gives a clearer view of this image); Ford had played the role in the original film. Other links to the previous films include Luthor's "affinity for beachfront property" (his quoting of his father's words of advice echoes similar dialog spoken by the Gene Hackman version of the character in the first film), and Superman's encounter with Lois on the rooftop which similarly echoes their first romantic encounter. Luthor also shows knowledge of the workings of the Fortress of Solitude, as he had previously visited the place in Superman II. The kryptonite meteorite in the museum is labelled as having been found in Addis Ababa in 1978 -- the same location where the kryptonite meteorite was accessed by Luthor in the first film (released in 1978). The revelation that Jason is Superman's son ties in with the sexual encounter between Superman and Lois that occurs in Superman II. The presence of Martha Kent indicates that at the events of Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, in which Martha is implied to have died (a fact confirmed by a deleted scene from that film) have been discounted.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is a 1987 film, the last of the Superman theatrical movies starring Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel. In this film, Superman battled Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) and his creation, a solar-powered evil clone of Superman called Nuclear Man.

Unlike the previous three movies, which were produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, the fourth movie was produced by Golan-Globus' Cannon Films, in association with Warner Bros.

In 1983, following the mixed reaction to Superman III, which nontheless made $60 million at the box office, Reeve and the producers, father and son team Alexander and Ilya Salkind, assumed that the Superman films had run their course. Reeve was slated to make a cameo in 1984's Supergirl but was unavailable; that film (technically the fourth in the series) was a box office failure. Four years later, Ilya Salkind sold the Superman franchise to Golan & Globus of Cannon Films.

According to Reeve, Golan & Globus Films did not have a script in mind when they first approached him about doing the fourth installment; they simply wanted him to reprise his role. Reeve himself admitted in his autobiography Still Me that he really wasn't sure that he wanted to do another Superman film, especially if it was going to be treated as a farce, which had been the case with the third film, an approach that Reeve felt was disrespectful to fans and the source material. The new filmmakers then offered Reeve a deal he couldn't refuse – in exchange for starring in the fourth Superman film, they would produce any project of his choosing, and also promised him story input (there was also talk of having Reeve direct a fifth Superman film in case the fourth one proved successful). Reeve accepted, and in exchange, Golan & Globus produced the gritty crime drama Street Smart.

After reviewing various scripts, Reeve suggested the storyline of Superman becoming involved in the global political issue of nuclear warfare, in order to give the film a more serious feel to distance itself from the previous film. Unfortunately, Golan and Globus had so many other films in the pipeline at the time that their money was spread too thinly to properly accommodate what became Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, released in 1987, forcing the film's veteran director Sidney J. Furie to cut corners everywhere. The film was universally panned by critics and fans alike, who were disgusted by the film's cheap special effects, which paled in comparison to the earlier films, and performed poorly at the box office.

The movie was not well received by either the general public or movie critics. Some critics considered the film to be one of the worst of its year. The movie suffered from poor sound and visual effects, believed to be caused by Cannon using much of the film's intended budget on their other projects. Reportedly, Warner Bros. gave Cannon approximately $40 million to produce Superman IV but in the end, Cannon used only $17 million for Superman IV. Most feel that the first movie had superior effects when compared to the fourth film, despite being ten years old at that point.

Of the four Superman films starring Reeve, this one fared the worst at the box office, and the series, as it turned out, went dormant for 19 years. Reeve himself admitted that both this and the third installment were very poor and did not live up to the potential that had been established by the first two films, and his 1995 paralysis made the development of any further sequels involving him impossible. Time Warner let the Superman feature film franchise go undeveloped until the late-1990s when a variety of proposals were considered (see: Superman Reborn), including several that would reboot the franchise altogether with substantially different versions of the characters and setting, rather than attempt to follow up on this film.

The final words in this film, "See you in twenty," proved to be prophetic. The next Superman film Superman Returns arrived at cinemas in June 2005, nineteen years after this film premiered at the box office.