Until I saw this trailer mashup, I never realized how much Home Alone and I Am Legend have in common. The last human on earth last kid in the house getting terrorized by zombies Daniel Stern . . . the similarities are endless! (Thanks, eBaumsWorld!)
All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below, Guy Ritchie's Revolver and Southland Tales starring Justin Timberlake, The Rock, and Sarah Michelle Gellar are also available today.
Enchanted
Is it just me or does it feel like we've been waiting for this movie to come out on DVD for forever? Enchanted is a treat for anyone who grew up loving those good old-fashioned animated Disney films (remember life before Pixar?). I truly enjoyed this trip down Disney Memory Lane and I know a lot of you did, too. The movie, starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon, and James Marsden is a wonderfully fun twist on the classic princess tale.
The story centers around Giselle (Adams), an amalgamation of Disney heroines from the days of yore who lives in a land called Andalasia. Giselle's chief concerns are marrying Prince Edward (Marsden), singing, and dancing with forest creatures. Edward's stepmother (Sarandon) is unhappy with Gisele and Edward's relationship, and she uses her evil magic to boot Giselle out of the animated world and into real-world Times Square. Once there, Giselle's simple, optimistic outlook on life is challenged by a force much darker and more cynical than any evil witch: a New York divorce attorney (Dempsey).
This DVD comes with lots of special featurettes including bloopers, a glimpse behind the creation of Andalasia, and extra shorts about Pip's (Giselle's trusty chipmunk friend) adventures.
More romance and adventure coming out this week, so read more
I Am Legend might have been knocked out of the BO top 5, but that's not stopping Will Smith from bringing his enthusiasm around the world in the name of promotion. On Monday he showed up in Rio de Janeiro for more interviews and premieres. We're pretty impressed that Will still has that huge grin on his face considering he's been spending so much time away from his family, but it sounds like they're holding down the fort without him. Little Jaden even scored another movie role to follow up his performance in The Pursuit of Happyness. That should keep Will smiling until he can come home and celebrate stateside.
The Legend himself, Will Smith, put on yet another swanky suit to premiere his movie in Berlin on Monday. Afterwards he posed for pictures and signed autographs for fans before his dinner. Will seems happy-go-lucky as usual, but I Am Legend is starting to slip at the box office. It even got beat out by Juno for the No. 2 slot last weekend, even though original reports claimed the opposite. Not the best news for action hero Will, but he's still got his record breaking December opening to help him sleep at night.
Lots more of Will hamming it up in his long coat, so just read more
Though the initial estimates on Sunday put I Am Legend as the No. 2 movie at the box office this past weekend with $16.4 million and Juno in the No. 3 spot with $16.2, the actual numbers indicate that this order is really reversed! Thus, Juno is the No. 2 movie in the country, beating out the big Will Smith thriller I Am Legend at the box office. Hooray for Juno!
In related news, Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody just won the Critics' Choice Award for her screenplay. She's currently working on her next project, a teenage horror movie called Jennifer's Body, starring Megan Fox and produced by Juno director Jason Reitman. Now there's the news that Girlfight writer/director Karyn Kusama has signed on to direct.
Cody, whose favorite horror movie is apparently Rosemary's Baby, recently told the MTV Movies Blog that Jennifer's Body is "a horror movie, and it’s also about teenagers...It’s a lot darker [than Juno], and it also has comedic elements. Horror is my favorite genre — and like Juno, I like horror movies." I can't wait to see the next project to come out of Cody's awesome imagination.
For the third weekend in a row, National Treasure: Book of Secrets led the way at the box office, bringing in a respectable $20.2 million. This is nice and all, but the real success story this weekend is that of Juno, the little indie movie that has consistently jumped higher and higher in the box office ranks over its five-week run at the theaters.
More often than not movies experience a decline at the box office after the initial buzz dies down, but not little Juno. Granted, it opened in more theaters this weekend, but the numbers for this movie are still wildly impressive — particularly for an independent film. According to Variety, the movie will most likely become Fox Searchlight's most lucrative project, as it's gunning to outpace both Sideways and Little Miss Sunshine.
I Am Legend just barely pushed its way to second place with $16.4 million, just over Juno's $16.2 million. Alvin and the Chipmunks refused to budge from the top five, landing at No. 4. Rounding out the top five was newbie horror flick One Missed Call.
Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures
The rumor mill is working overtime with folks chattering about a sequel to the recent box office smash hit I Am Legend. Apparently, the author of the book on which the movie is based, Richard Matheson sold the sequel rights to Warner Bros., so the studio is clearly interested in producing a second film.
No word on castings, however, and it's possible Will Smith wouldn't be involved. Would a sequel be as good without the first movie's star? What do you think?
Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.
For the second lucrative weekend in a row, the National Treasure sequel Book of Secrets has taken the box office crown, raking in $35.6 million. Edging out I Am Legend for second place was Alvin and the Chipmunks, which brought in $29 million. Legend's $27 million brought it to No. 3 with Charlie Wilson's War taking in way less ($11 million) but still grabbing fourth place.
Happily, the little indie movie that could, Juno, made the list of top five movies at the box office over this final weekend of 2007! Variety points out that Juno, which took in $10 million its fourth weekend in theaters, "was up a whopping 201% from the previous weekend," and both weekends the movie played in 998 theaters. That is an awesome success, homeskillet.
Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures
