By Jason Apuzzo. • Shrek takes top prize at the box office for the third week in a row, amidst an otherwise tepid weekend. Shrek euphoria tempered by new report that Shrek glasses sold by McDonalds may kill you.
Moviegoers obviously not digging this summer’s offerings. Also: a new report suggests just how much Avatar is saving Hollywood this year. Subtract Avatar, and movie attendance would be down a whopping 12.9 percent this year, and revenue would be off 7.1 percent. If that isn’t alarming enough, James Cameron is still too busy cleaning up the BP oil spill to hunker down to his next Avatar sequel – which is not due out for 3-4 years, and other major franchises are currently in shaky condition. Hollywood has the reverse problem of BP: not enough money gushing anywhere.
• … which is why eyes are currently turned to Christopher Nolan, whose Inception is hoped by many to rescue Hollywood’s summer. In a new interview Nolan is calling Inception his On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which is apparently his favorite Bond film.
This is a problem. Why? Because On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is easily one of the worst films of the Bond series.
Let me be the first – apparently anywhere on the internet – to express some doubts as to whether Inception is going to be the success everyone thinks it will be, either artistically or financially. There are reasons to doubt this film will play well beyond the fanboys; suffice it to say for now that Inception is looking a lot like The Matrix: Reloaded … long on hype, but probably with short legs. Outside the Batman franchise (i.e., someone else’s storyline), Nolan hasn’t shown he can really connect with large audiences yet, chiefly because his themes are too obscure and off-putting, and because he apparently has no sense of humor. [Can DiCaprio implant that, too?]
• Vadim Rizov asks whether misogyny is what made so many critics hate Sex and the City 2. Answer: yes. Govindini has more thoughts on this in response to her readers.
• Joel Silver says the new version of Logan’s Run will be shot in 3-D. At this point I would cast Megan Fox.
• Controversy still raging over whether Robert Rodriguez’s pseudo-controversial Machete should receive Texas tax credits. There’s always carbon credits.
• The Wall Street Journal complains that Hollywood demonizes capitalists. It’s called ‘biting the hand that feeds you.’
• Hollywood currently weighing in on the Prop. 8 court battle. Is that why Miley and Sandra are now kissing girls?
• If you missed the MTV Movie Awards, here’s what you missed: griping about the oil spill, a deluge of f-bombs, Sandra Bullock kissing Scarlett Johansson, Lindsay Lohan wearing a low-cut top to distract from her alcohol-monitoring anklet, and Jennifer Lopez spanking a bald Tom Cruise. Sounds like a pretty tame night, to me.
• Tired of celebrity ‘placement’ at Lakers games? You’re not the only one: see here. Can we go back to real celebrity fans at Laker games, instead of fake ones?
• New billboards are out for Tron. See above.
• Elton John receives $1 million to play at Rush Limbaugh’s wedding. For the same price, it actually would’ve been more entertaining to watch Jennifer Lopez spank a bald Tom Cruise. [While Lopez covers Sir Elton’s “Can You Feel the Love Tonight”?]
• AND FINALLY … Sir Ben Kingsley spoofs Heidi Montag today, recording his own audition video for Transformers 3. File this under ‘things to do after your knighted.’
And that’s what’s happening today in the wonderful world of Hollywood …