The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| Robert De Niro cements place in Hollywood movies Posted: 04 Feb 2013 11:18 PM PST LOS ANGELES: Double Oscar winner Robert De Niro cemented his place in acting history on Monday by placing his hands and feet in concrete in front of Hollywood's historic Chinese Theatre. De Niro, 69, gave a short thank you speech with a few punchlines of his own. "(Actor) Joe Pesci always said I'd end up with my feet in cement. I don't think this is what he had in mind," said De Niro, referring to the many gangster movies he has filmed over his 40-year career. "They say everyone in the film industry has three homes - the home where they live, the home where their first wife lives, and Hollywood. I love New York, and I'm proud to be a citizen of Hollywood. Thank you for this honor and thank you for making me feel at home here," he said. De Niro, who founded the Tribeca Film Festival in 2002 in a bid to revive lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, is in the running for a third Oscar this month for his supporting role in comedy "Silver Linings Playbook." Billy Crystal, who played therapist to De Niro's insecure mob boss in the 1999 film "Analyze This," praised the New York actor for his ability to bridge comedies like "Meet the Parents" and dramas such as "GoodFellas" and "Taxi Driver." "Even in his darkest performances, even in 'Raging Bull' ... he could make you laugh, and that he did in spades in 'Analyze This.' ... I'm not used to playing straight for anybody, but it was a thrill of a lifetime to be on the opposite side of that genius," Crystal said. "Silver Linings Playbook" director David O. Russell praised De Niro's sensitivity in taking on the role of the father of a bipolar son in the movie. "When we first read the script together he cried because he has known people who struggled with PTSD or bipolar disorder. ... Many families are no stranger to these challenges and they have to find the magic and the love that Bob brought in his soul, and he did bring his soul to this movie," Russell said. De Niro won Oscars for his lead role in "Raging Bull" and his supporting turn in "The Godfather: Part II." His handprints and footprints in the courtyard of the Chinese Theatre are near those of Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Brad Pitt and George Clooney. - Reuters |
| Why Bruce Willis will blow up the box office when Stallone and Schwarzenegger could not Posted: 04 Feb 2013 08:06 PM PST LOS ANGELES: Moviegoers are not going where the action is, at least so far this year. Sylvester Stallone's Bullet to the Head is the latest slam-bang misfire, taking in just $4.5 million over the weekend for Warner Bros. That was even worse than Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand, which managed just $7.2 million in its debut earlier this month, and Jason Statham's Parker, which opened to $7 million two weeks ago. It's only three movies, but that's a nasty trend for three action films with well-established stars, though Schwarzenegger, 65, and Stallone, 66, may be creaking a little. With their two films opening three weeks apart - and Parker in between them - there may have been just too much material in the marketplace that skewed to older males. All three were rated R as well, and while none was expected to do gangbusters business, all were expected to do better than they did. "The mistake that Arnold and Sly made was in thinking they had their fans back after Expendables and that they'd follow them anywhere," BoxOffice.com vice-president and senior analyst Phil Contrino told TheWrap Monday. "That's not the case and fans sent that message loud and clear." It's possible the success of the Expendables movies - the first made $274 million worldwide in 2010, the second just crossed $300 million - may have unrealistically raised expectations for the solo projects. Contrino thinks both of them should have waited for more established projects,. "If Arnold had waited for a Terminator, or a Conan or even a Kindergarten Cop we'd be having a whole different conversation now," Contrino said. "Those are the kind of films that would tap into what audiences are looking for from these guys now, which is a rush of nostalgia, and to be reminded of characters they loved." The two will be paired in The Tomb, the Lionsgate prison thriller set for September. "That film has a great concept, and the sum of Arnold and Sly has us bullish," Lionsgate's executive vice-president and general sales manager David Spitz told TheWrap. It has been bad projects, rather than action fatigue that's resulted in the box-office dip, said Contrino. He's convinced that the genre malaise is nothing that Good Day to Die Hard, the Bruce Willis film from Fox that opens on Feb. 14, won't cure. "It's tracking very strongly and we have it opening to around $45 million over the four days,' he said.. "It's also looking very strong overseas, and we see it doing $300 million globally." And it's a healthy franchise. Starting with the original film in 1988, which made $148 million worldwide, each successive movie has made more money at the global box office. The last one, Live Free Or Die Hard, made $383 million in 2007. In all, the "Die Hard" franchise has taken in $1.13 billion. Willis is 57, but his age isn't the only thing that's putting him in a different realm than his Expendables 2 pals Stallone and Schwarzenegger. "He's seen as more versatile," Contrino said, "and cooler. Looper was a really interesting project and exposed him to younger audiences." Looper, a $30 million sci-fi thriller co-starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt that was shot in Shanghai, made $160 million worldwide for Sony since its release last year. It made more than $20 million in China, and Good Day to Die Hard is expected to pack a punch there, too. It's not set in stone, but the latest Die Hard film has a March 16 opening date in the works in China. Film officials there, anxious to protect their domestic films at the box office, are considering putting it up against Disney's Oz: The Great and Powerful, which opens March 8 domestically. It might not be the box-office throw down that the Chinese orchestrated in August, when they paired Dark Knight and The Amazing Spider-Man, but Bruce Willis vs. the Wizard of Oz should be a pretty good match-up, too. -TheWrap.com |
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