Quickie: How to Train Your Dragon sequel is coming!

Ever since I saw How to Train Your Dragon, I've wondered when Dreamworks would announce a sequel. Now they have! Coming in 2013, a sequel to the number one movie in America. Check out the press release from Dreamworks about their first quarter earnings.

2010 is off to a strong start, thanks in large part to the performance of How to Train Your Dragon, which – having grossed nearly $375 million to date in worldwide box office – has become DreamWorks Animation’s next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013. 3D continues to have a tremendous impact on the industry at large and we are now looking forward with great anticipation to bringing Shrek Forever After, the final chapter in our beloved Shrek series and the first in 3D, to audiences across the globe next month.

Avatar on DVD and Blu-Ray today, will you be buying a copy?

Yes, today is the day a lot of people looked forward to as they walked out of the theater after watching Avatar. All of you know how much success the movie had in theaters, but will it have the same success on home video? Well, let's look at a few factors; some of you may care about and some I know you don't care about.


1: Who's seeing it for the first time? This will definitely pad the stats for the movies home video numbers. There are a lot of people who are just not that crazy about movies. There are a lot of people that can't afford to take a family out to see a movie, much less in 3D. There are a lot of people who don't like crowds at theaters (myself included). All of the above will elevate the number of discs sold.

2: Special Features; or the lack thereof. The DVD will just have the movie on it. The Blu-Ray will come with the high def movie and DVD version of the movie. That's it! Nothing more. No behind the scenes, no deleted scenes, no in-depth look into the technology that made the movie possible, nothing. Why you may ask? Because Hollywood is going to milk this "money grows on trees" beast of a movie! There will be different versions released in November, just in time for the Holiday Season of course. And a third, 3D version of the Blu-Ray released early next year. 'Cmon, seriously?!

This is very frustrating for me, and this is where a lot of you readers wont care. Well I CARE. If a movie distributed by 20th Century Fox only contains the movie (like Avatar will), should it cost the same as, let's say, X-Men Origins: Wolverine that had plenty of behind the scenes goodies? I don't think it should. Plus, this notion of re-releasing old matter sucks, it really does. I've purchased movies like Goodfellas and Shawshank Redemption multiple times because of this. Fans were so mad about the "Star Wars" trilogies, and just recently the Blu-Ray release of "The Lord of The Rings" trilogy. Both will be released multiple times because of "director's cut" type of changes. Nonsense.

3: People want the movie regardless! People want to own a copy, with or without special features, will buy a copy today. Pretty simple.

I have to tell you, I will not be buying a copy of the movie with today's release. I'm a nut for special features and think the added value is worth the wait until November; and I loved Avatar. So there is no hate to Mr. Cameron, but I just can't justify spending 50 dollars on the same movie over the next six months.

Actress set to be Little Red Riding Hood?

Remember when we told you there was a "Gothic" re-imagining of Little Red Riding Hood coming? Well it's here. The title has been changed to The Girl with the Red Riding Hood.

The director, Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) is in place, so now the lead actors? Who will play Red Riding Hood? Reuters is reporting the "it" girl of the year, miss Amanda Seyfried will. This girl is everywhere man. Movies and TV, all over the place. The leading man is Shiloh Fernandez, a relative unknown.

The reports all agree the movie will be dark, very dark. I'm not opposed to any of this! I light dark, sadistic movies every once in awhile. Who am I kidding? I hate scary movies. Yes, call me all the names you want, I'm scared!

We'll keep you posted as news comes up.

Emma Stone's Easy A teaser clip

Ok, this blogger has a secret crush on Emma Stone, big time! She's super sweet, funny and looks great. She's a up and coming actress in Hollywood that actually DESERVES the success she's having.

She actually caught my eye in a little known show called "Lucky Louie", starring comedian Louie C.K. She had a guest spot on one episode and was so funny in it, when I saw her in Superbad, I was the only one in the theater that knew who she was!

She can play sweet (Superbad), she can play bad ass (Zombieland) and she can be sexy (House Bunny, kinda). For her age and experience in the industry, she really is a versatile actress. Ok, maybe I'm just patting her back because of my crush, don't tell anyone. But this is my blog and I can have a celebrity crush if I want to!

In her first starring role, Stone plays a nerdy high school in the upcoming comedy, Easy A. The studios summary:

After a little white lie about losing her virginity gets out, a clean cut high school girl sees her life paralleling Hester Prynne's in "The Scarlet Letter," which she is currently studying in school - until she decides to use the rumor mill to advance her social and financial standing. Written by Sony Pictures

Enjoy!

Quickie: Avengers movie to start filming next February!

iesb.net broke the news via an interview with Samuel L. Jackson. He gave details into the Avengers movie: it's start date, the new director (Joss Whedon), cameos, etc. Just in time for the 2012 release date.

Jackson mentioned he will NOT be in Thor, but WILL be in The First Avenger: Captain America. Jackson also comments on how the Avengers will be the launch pad for his character of "Nick Fury".

Thus far it's been recorded cameo here and there (Iron Man 1 and 2). Jackson signed a 9 picture deal, so I can see how he's going to be in a bunch of the Marvel Universe. Speaking of the Marvel Universe; do you think they've done a good job keeping all the characters in the same "world"? Let us know what you think.

Great Iron Man 2 tv spot

I wouldn't post this unless it offered up some new footage we haven't seen yet, and this sure does! Check out the exchange between Iron Man and Whiplash!

What the heck happened to Clash of the Titans this weekend?

Good afternoon everyone. I came online to check the box office results and was BLOWN away by what I saw. Let's break it down a bit.

Number 1 this week, How to Train Your Dragon. WHAT?!?! It just all of a sudden leap froged a few spots to number one? I saw the film, and loved it, absolutely loved it. It was action, adventure, dragons, the whole nine. It was performing pretty steadily at the box office, but just couldn't grab the number spot, until this week. (NOTE: That might change as of tomorrow because the race between the first and second place movies was so close).

Number 2 went to a new-comer, Kick Ass. In all my estimations, I thought this movie was going to open number 1, and it stay may do so tomorrow. The movie has been getting great reviews, has a funny story line, and has a great cast. In fact, 13 year old actress Chloe Moretz is getting a lot of attention for her role as "Hit-Girl". Must be all that swearing and killing she's doing in the movie.

Number 3, Date Night. Just like this week, last weeks box office winner came down to the wire. Date Night looked like they had the top spot until Monday morning. They were battling it out with Clash of the Titans for number 1. So to see it drop to three isn't necessarily a bad thing, just surprising. Surprising because "Dragon" has been out for awhile now, and to see it take a leap above a movie that's been out for 10 days, that's crazy.

Number 4, also a newcomer, Death at a Funeral. Not a huge surprise; the movie landed where I think it was supposed to. I think it will do about the same number for the weeks coming up.

Number 5, surprise of the week, Clash of the Titans. What the heck? It was first place last week and drops to fifth place this week? Wha, who, ha, how? Well, after 2 seconds of thinking about it, I figured out why it dropped; BECAUSE THE MOVIE SUCKED. It took the movie crowds a few weeks to see it, but they finally came to their senses. There are a few other factors involved in the drop.

First is the fact that Kick-Ass and Death at a Funeral both came out this week. Kick-Ass especially demanded more screens at theaters. This gave "Titans" less screens, and less of a battle against the other movies in the top five.

Second is the fact that "Titans" was an abomination in 3D. So what do you think the theaters did? Including Valencia, CA... theater owners opted to use their 3D screens for "Dragon" rather than "Titans". This obviously boasted the ticket sales of one apposed to the other.

I guess, the overall theme of this rambling post is this; we're not going to pay for lame 3D movies anymore. These studios need to understand that the movie-going public will not just buy 3D tickets anymore, JUST to buy 3D tickets. The movie has to be shot in 3D, not just converted in post-production. Movies like "Dragon" that utilize the technology to better tell their story is the way to do it; rather than using it as a gimmick for kicks.

This blogger made a promise to himself never to see another 3D movie that was converted in post-production. This happened after the debacle that was Alice in Wonderland. No comment.