Medea's World

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail locked up the top spot this weekend



Dade Hayes of Variety.

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail" took in $41.1 million, giving Lionsgate its biggest opening weekend during a time of instability for the company.

The Tyler Perry bow far surpassed the previous Lionsgate high of $33.6 million on "Saw III" in 2006. Perry and Lionsgate have been a potent combo, with the multihyphenate's seven pics grossing $300 million to date at the domestic B.O.

Overall B.O. continued its remarkable hot streak, gaining about 30% thanks to strong carryover frames for "Taken" and "Coraline," which finished No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. "Madea's" per-screen average of $20,236 was the highest for any pic since last November's "Twilight" phenom.

The only other wide bow on Oscar weekend, Screen Gems comedy "Fired Up," collected $6 million from 1,810 locations. Fox's Liam Neeson thriller "Taken" notched another $11.4 million, dipping just 40% to reach a cue of $95.2 million.

The "Madea" numbers, coupled with January low-budget 3-D release "Bloody Valentine" hitting $50 million, gave Lionsgate a positive finish to a bumpy February.

The company reported a quarterly loss, badly missing Wall Street estimates, and also announced significant cuts in production spending and release output for fiscal 2010. As its stock price spiraled downward, activist investor Carl Icahn upped his stake in the company by scooping up bargain-priced shares.

"To have the second biggest hit of the year after less than two months is really a good feeling," said distrib chief Steve Rothenberg.

Joshua Rich of EW:

If anybody had a reason to doubt whether Tyler Perry has become one of the most bankable brands in all of movies, be skeptical no longer.

To beat poorly reviewed Fired Up is not a shock--but to break the company record holder of Saw III--Wow!

Mere Immortal

It looks like actor Kevin McKidd is NOT going to play Thor after all...



Corona Coming Attractions says that a casting call has been sent out for the lead role.

McKidd had been attached to the film since the Fall of '07

They are looking for someone 6-foot or taller in his mid-late 20's.-who must be "Physically powerful, very handsome, occasionally egotistical, petulant, and wild. A natural warrior with a quick charming wit who must be genuinely and severely humbled before becoming the compassionate, mature hero of our film."

Kenneth Branagh calls the shots when production starts this July.

McKidd is has also been circling another tentpole role...Maybe they conflicted?

Stand Up And Boo

Honoring the worst films of 2008-- the Golden Raspberry Awards were handed out last night.

And the "winners" are:

The Love Guru nabbing 3 awards...And The Hottie & the Nottie grabs 2.



Mike Myers, Paris Hilton and helmer Uwe Boll for not one, but three movies--all three of these folk made the industry proud!

Not Even Close

An actors strike update:

SAG rejects 'final offer' from AMPTP

The Screen Actors Guild turns down feature-primetime deal...

From The AP:

The Screen Actors Guild board of directors on Saturday rejected the "last, best and final offer" by Hollywood producers for a new contract.

The contract was rejected by 73 percent of SAG's board members, spokeswoman Pamela Greenwalt said in a statement.

SAG called the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers' demand for the contract to run for three years instead of two, "regressive and damaging."

Producers insist the three-year contract would start when it is ratified, instead of when the last one expired, which would mean SAG would not be able to join with the writers' and directors' guilds to increase their bargaining power when their contracts expire in 2011.

A statement released by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers aid its offer was strong and fair and it had always sought a three-year deal, just as it had negotiated with other guilds and unions.

"We simply cannot offer SAG a better deal than the rest of the industry achieved under far better economic conditions than those now confronting our industry," the statement said.

AMPTP spokesman Jesse Hiestand declined to comment beyond what was in the statement.

UPDATED: Will CEOs chime in on SAG impasse?

So much for a harmonious Oscar weekend...I wonder if the subject will come up during the telecast...?

Stay Tuned....

Wolve Spots

As X-Men Origins: Wolverine star Hugh Jackman prepares to take the stage as Oscar host tomorrow night..Here's a trio of extended TV ads for the comic book flick that aired this week...



TV Spot #1



TV Spot #2



TV Spot #3

Those Wolvie "reshoots" looked like they worked...(?)

The film claws into theaters on May 1st.

Voices From Future's Past

The rumors have been out there for months now, would actress Linda Hamilton return to the role that made her a star--as the original Sarah Connor in May's Terminator Salvation?

Indeed Hamilton confirmed that she's in talks to reprise her role in the sequel.!!!

"We are talking. I haven't read it yet. I don't know what direction they will go in" she tells MTV News,

She won't appear on screen though.

"My contribution would be voice over. I would probably be very happy to loan my voice depending on what the material is. Wait and see. They're already writing it. We've been negotiating it".

Still I think that it's a great idea just the same! I like Terminator -The Sarah Connor Chronicles Lena Headey in the TV series but there's only one Sarah for the big screen.

Expecting Fockers

John Hamburg will rewrite Larry Stuckey's screenplay for "Little Fockers", the third film in the "Meet the Parents" and "Meet the Fockers" comedy series according to the Risky Biz Blog.



Jay Roach, who called action on the first two films in the series, will not be back though--Producers are already in talks with Paul Weitz (American Pie,) David Wain (Role Models) and Peyton Reed (Yes Man) ") to helm.

Stars Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo and Owen Wilson are all in talks to reprise their roles.

I really thought MTF missed the mark. Can the series rebound? I just don't know...The cast has good chemistry...That leaves director and script....

Hamburg also worked with Stiller on the rom-com "Along Came Polly". And has I Love You Man due March 20.

Dead Spy Writing

Stephen Gaghan (pictured) will write the script adaptation of Jon Stock's upcomming espionage novel "Dead Spy Running" says The Hollywood Reporter.

The story is the first in a trilogy and aims to reinvent the spy genre by telling the origin story of a newly trained spy using Robert Ludlum's grit and John le Carré's wit.

McG is attached to direct the first film--dispite a full plate-- which kicks off with the protagonist running the London Marathon, where a fellow racer is strapped with explosives. That leads to a globe-trotting adventure to clear the name of the man's father..

Franco Ready To Howl

After some financial/distribution woes, the pic "Howl", is moving forward...

Taking its story from Allen Ginsberg's poem Variety says the project centers on the 1950's obscenity trial over Ginsberg's infamous work, as well as an animated reimagining of the poem itself.

James Franco (pictured) plays Ginsberg.

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman direct from their own screenplay.

Production begins next month...

Franco can do any genre...From other biopics like Milk crowd-pleasers Spider-Man 3 and comedy...the uproarious Pineapple Express

Winning Loser

Watchmen co-star Jeffrey Dean Morgan is in negotiations to join another comic book adaptation--this time it's "The Losers" reports Variety.

The DC /Vertigo series by Andy Diggle follows a special forces team that's betrayed by their handler and left for dead.

Calling themselves The Losers-they regroup in the interest of revenge and the opportunity to remove their names from a secret CIA Web Site death list and to conduct covert operations against the CIA and its interests.

Morgan would play Clay, the group's leader, whose signature look favors black suits without ties.

Sylvain White is calling the shots as director.

Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt worked on the script.

Morgan sounds perfect for this.

Morgan is also filming "The Resident" with Hilary Swank around the same time...schedules are being accommodated.

Countdown Clock

With the release of Watchmen just two weeks away....(yippee!!)



Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons talks the film's running time:

[We] first broke the story of a three-plus hour director's cut of "Watchmen" coming to DVD back in November and now it looks like said cut may be making it to the big screen as well.

Talking with VH1, Director Zack Snyder says that the 190-minute director's cut will be hitting DVD & Blu-ray shelves in July and, if the theatrical cut performs well, the director’s cut will get a theatrical release in Los Angeles and New York around the same time.

Take not this is NOT the 'Ultimate Edition' DVD with a shortened version of the 24-minute Tales of the Black Freighter animated short re-incorporated back in. That 205-minute version will likely only be seen on DVD & Blu-ray.

As far as I'm concerned Longer is better considering the epic nature of the book

Meanwhile-Jeff Jensen of EW writes this week's cover story on the film which includes Six different covers!

''Watchmen'' took 23 years to get to the big screen. Now, we're going to find out who can handle it... Watchmen virgins: Here's your movie primer!

Hype galore: there's even stories about the size of Doctor Manhattan's manhood in the flick.... um...

Mad For Madea

It's Tyler Perry's latest comedy Madea Goes to Jail (reviews)and the teen cheer leading sex comedy Fired Up (reviews) that will vie for your attention as the only new wide releases at the movies...





Dave McNary and Pamela McClintock of Variety:

Lionsgate’s “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail” is expected to lock up the top spot at the weekend box office as Perry’s most enduring character returns to a title role for the first time since 2006.

Pic is the seventh feature film Perry has directed. But not since the second --“Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion -- has Madea, played by Perry, been so prominently featured.

“Jail” has plenty of elbow room as it unspools in 2,032 runs. With the domestic B.O. running at record levels, the pic could join the list of films currently over performing.

The frame’s only other new release is Sony teen comedy “Fired Up,” which doesn’t have much buzz...

Just ahead of Sunday's 81st Annual Academy Awards....

Best picture contender “Slumdog Millionaire” has now grossed north of $90 million at the domestic box office. Among the other best pic nominees, Paramount’s “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” has a running domestic gross of $122.8 million; Focus Features’ “Milk,” $27 million; Weinstein Co.’s “The Reader,” $20.1 million; and Universal’s “Frost/Nixon,” $16.7 million.

In terms of commercial studio fare, Warner Bros./New Line’s “Friday the 13th” heads into its second frame after scoring the best opening gross for a horror film. Horror pics often see steep drops.

Other holdovers to watch include Warner/New Line’s “He’s Just Not That Into You” and Fox’s “Taken.”

Tracking shows that “Madea Goes to Jail” could score the best opening gross for Perry since “Madea’s Family Reunion,” which debuted to $30 million on the same weekend in 2006.

Lionsgate needs a box office hit. In recent days, billionaire investor Carl Icahn has bought up more than 1.6 million shares in the indie studio, increasing his stake in Lionsgate to more than 12%. Move came after Lionsgate stock tumbled on news that it has lost access to a film financing fund, meaning fewer productions...

EW's Joshua Rich gives the edge to Tyler Perry in the battle to jolt the traditionally sluggish Oscar weekend

Next Week:The video game inspired Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li takes on the Jonas Brothers in their 3D Concert Experience flick...I can already hear the tween girls squealing as I post this.

The Final Act?

The latest on the well worn though just resumed actor strike talks...

Is that your final offer?

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said on Thursday in a released statement they've offered the Screen Actors Guild a "last, best and final offer"

What say you actors?

Stay Tuned...

Super Sigh Of Relief

Thank Goodness! This rumour appears to be just that...

Slashfilm's Peter Sciretta:

'I have just gotten confirmation from two independent sources that the report was completely false and the interview with James McTeigue may not have actually aired on RTL1 at all...The Wachowski brothers have definitely never had any talks with DC or Warner Bros.to helm a Superman film. This is confirmed."

The Fear Is Real

This one's right out of "The Twilight Zone"

The New York Post reports that a party at the M2 Lounge in NY to celebrate the debut of the Friday the 13th remake last Friday turned into a scene right out of franchise when actor Warrington Gillette ,who played killer Jason Voorhees in 1981's "Friday the 13th Part 2", was attacked with an axe.

The actor arrived at the event in full costume, complete with Jason's trademark hockey mask, and took to the stage to frighten party goers wielding a real axe.

However a woman took the performance seriously, invading the stage and trying to wrestle the weapon away from him, slicing his hand.

A source says "She jumped on stage and tried to grab his axe. It was straight out of a horror movie. Lingerie-clad models were running and screaming, as a blood-soaked Jason ran off the runway to get to a hospital."

This follows acts of violence at theaters in recent weeks...

Lincoln Log

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln has been the pipeline seemingly forever...

Kim Masters who writes The Big Money column has outlined the reasons that the film may be in trouble-- financial difficulties and studio politics

Spielberg was aiming to finish the project by the end of 2009 and kick off filming within a few weeks, but DreamWorks Pictures SKG recent money woes have taken their toll and he's been waiting for executives at Paramount to decide whether to make the film and hire him to direct it.

DreamWorks intended to pay Paramount a large amount to retain the right to partner on and produce a separate batch of projects that it had to leave behind at the studio when it split, including "Lincoln".

To do that though they had to buy two completed films that it made during its time at Paramount - The Lovely Bones and "A Thousand Words".

Soon after, a source at Paramount told Masters that the studio has passed on the project - meaning its effectively dead for the near future.

Spielberg is current busy with his next film, the first of the "The Adventures of Tintin:" CG motion-capture films.

Considering what star Liam Neeson told Coming Soon about the film recently and Spielberg's full plate--I think Lincoln is at best kicked down the road until much later than the story implies unless someone else takes over...

Koepping Mechanism

David Koepp is one busy Hollywood writer/director...

He has signed on to pen 2 projects for Sony Pictures- "The Billionaire's Vinegar" and "Shelley's Heart" reports Variety.

'Vinegar' is loosely based on the book about a scandal that erupted when an auctioned cache of wine purported to have been culled from the stocks of Thomas Jefferson that were deemed fakes by some.

Koepp will write the script with John Kamps and direct.

Will Smith will co-produce.

Koepp will then adapt the Charles McCarry novel "Shelley's Heart" into a political drama called "Article II" that he'll also direct for the studio.

The story follows two friends who become bitter rivals for the presidential election, which is won by computer fraud.

Target On Her Back

Katherine Heigl is joining Ashton Kutcher in the thriller Five Killers" says Variety.



A woman meets the man of her dreams while on vacation. And they quickly wed Soon they discover that their neighbors may be assassins hired to kill them.

Ted Griffin wrote the latest draft of the script. Bob DeRosa also shaped a version of the screenplay at one point.

Robert Luketic calls the shots when production begins next month.

Kutcher can do serious (see The Butterfly Effect) and Heigl is always serious even when she's funny...Knocked Up and 27 Dresses...

This as rumors swirl that she may be leaving her TV gig--Grey's Anatomy.

No Biggie

British tabby reports that Guy Ritchie's upcoming "Sherlock Holmes" film was undergoing an extensive five-week series of reshoots were quickly nixed by the studio suits.



According to The Hollywood Reporter says Warner Bros. has released a statement--saying:

"It is not true that Warner Bros. has asked for any reshoots on 'Sherlock Holmes'" about reports which claimed Ritchie had to recall cast members for reshoots.

Typical pick-ups are being performed - "The inserts and pickup shots being completed next week, which have long been part of the schedule, do not involve any cast, and are a standard part of film making."

Further "It is still early in the production process, and the studio has not yet seen the movie. Both Warner Bros. and Guy Ritchie are very pleased with the footage they have seen thus far."

Production on the Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law pic was recently finished in the UK. .

Studios always say extra filming was always planned for--but I tend to think this one is as WB states._minor stuff at worst.

Sidelines

Sandra Bullock has landed in the sports dramedy "The Blindside" says THR

Based on the best-selling book by Michael Lewis, it tells the true story of football player Michael Oher, a homeless black teen taken in by a well-to-do white family that saw extraordinary promise in him. Oher is one of the first players selected in this year's NFL draft.



Bullock plays Leigh Anne Touhy, the affluent matriarch of the conservative suburban household that takes in Oher.

John Lee Hancock wrote and will call action on the flick.

Lewis' Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game is also going before the cameras

It's good to see Bullock getting out of the rom-com rut again.