“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” passed $400 million internationally and registered Italy’s biggest opening weekend ever while rapper Eminem found his voice with stellar debuts for “8 Mile” in the U.K., Oz, Mexico and smaller territories. The Italian preem for “Two Towers” returned $9.1 million in four days in an otherwise soft market where the Warners co-produced local comedy “Ma che colpe abbiamo noi” is the only other fresh title.
Helmer Curtis Hanson’s fictionalized biopic of Eminem took $15.5 million in 14 territories.
Down Under distrib UIP might have underestimated the twin forces of Eminem and summer holidays stretching into week five. Pic released on just 217 screens, half the number that launched “Harry Potter” and “Two Towers” and 60 screens fewer than last week’s chart topper “Catch Me if You Can.” As a result “8 Mile” returned a hefty $14,000 screen average to hit $2.9 million in four days. Other frame leaders “Two Towers” (in lap four) and “Catch Me” (in lap two) dropped 40% and 44%, respectively.
In Blighty, Eminem’s bigscreen debut returned $6.2 million in three days ($7 million including limited sneaks) to register Universal’s sixth biggest opening weekend there, ahead of studiomates “Gladiator” and “Jurassic Park II.” Miramax’s “Chicago” also made a splash, expanding to 276 screens after three weeks of sneaks; total B.O. is now $3.83 million.
In Germany and Austria “8 Mile” dropped 30% in lap two against a stellar debut of “Star Trek: Nemesis,” which took about $3.2 million from 742 in fours days in Germany and $280,000 from 63 in three days in Austria. Pic, in its third week in Blighty, has nabbed $10 million.
Miramax’s “The Quiet American” wowed auds Down Under in its second international outing after preeming in Blighty in November. Auds in helmer Phillip Noyce’s homeland spent about $476,000 at 61 locations in four days, a firm $7625 screen average.
We posted these images a while ago, however we have now managed to get our little hands on a great Hi-Rez scan of the Eowyn and Theoden images from the UK Sunday Mail. I zoomed in on each of them to give you a better look at the details of their costumes!
Yesterday I listed the first half of my ten personal highlights of the upcoming movie year that involve cast members of The Lord of the Rings. If you found the list even vaguely interesting, read on for what will hopefully be five more of the most successful films of 2003.
The Pirates of the Caribbean July 9th – Official Site – IMDb – Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
Originating from the DisneyWorld anamatronic ride of the same name, no punches have been pulled in ensuring that The Pirates of the Caribbean is one of the biggest hits of 2003, with Disney providing the project a huge budget and casting some top-notch acting talent. Orlando Bloom stars as the first-mate to Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow, who sets sail across the seas in an attempt to prevent Captain Blackheart and his pirates reversing an ancient curse that makes them appear as pirates in the moonlight. Disney are already talking about making the film into a ride if a success…
The Riding of the Laddie TBC 2003 – No Official Site – IMDb – Christopher Lee, Vanessa Redgrave, Sean Astin
Thirty years after The Wicker Man went down in movie history as one of the most chilling and provocative horror pieces ever created, star Christopher Lee has teamed up with original director Robin Hardy and The Lord of the Rings co-star Sean Astin for its sequel: The Riding of the Laddie. Its title referring an ancient Scottish ceremonial security check of an area’s boundaries, The Riding of the Laddie follows two American born-again Christians coming to preach in a Scottish village. Hopefully the sequel will match the cult status of its original.
Timeline April 11th – No Official Site – IMDb – Paul Walker, Frances O’ Connor, Gerard Butler, Billy Connolly, Marton Csokas
One of the most eagerly-anticipated movies of 2003, many people are looking forward to see how well Lethal Weapon director Richard Donner adopts Jurassic Park and ER scribe Michael Crichton’s critically-acclaimed novel of 1999, in which a group of archaeological students are trapped back in the 14th Century France in an attempt to rescue their similarly stranded Professor. Marton Csokas plays homicidal and maniacal knight Robert Dekere after impressing in Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones and xXx.
Veronica Guerin May 9th – VeronicaGuerin.com – IMDb – Cate Blanchett, Colin Farrell, Brenda Fricker, Ciarán Hinds
Despite being one of the most talented actresses in Hollywood, Cate Blanchett isn’t afraid to take on small projects as well as the big; just look at her recent roles in Charlotte Gray, Heaven and The Shipping News. In Joel Schumacher’s Veronica Guerin, Blanchett once again plays an incredibly strong female role as she depicts Irish investigative journalist Veronica Guerin, who in 1996 was assassinated by drug dealers. Expect nothing but the finest performances from Blanchett, Farrell and co.
X-Men 2 25th April – X-Men-The-Movie.com – IMDb – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry
Once can’t help but feel that Sam Raimi and friends owe Bryan Singer a small bit of thanks for the incredible success both financially and critically of Spider-Man last year. If it wasn’t for Singer’s X-Men in 2000, which reaped the benefits of a up-and-coming director, a superb cast and a screenplay supported by die-hard fans, recent projects like Spider-Man, DareDevil and Hellboy wouldn’t be in production. Simply put, X-Men put comic-book-based movies back on the Hollywood map. Ian McKellen reprises his role as antagonist Magneto in what should be, with a bigger budget, bigger cast and an excellent script, one of the biggest hits of 2003.
Other Noteworthy Projects Of 2003 The Big Empty – Sean Beans stars alongside Jon Favreau and Kelsey Grammer in this movie about a budding actor facing a stalled career and mounting debts. Emile – Ian McKellen plays Emile, an elderly man who’s attempt to reconcile with his last living relation envokes powerful memories of how he isolated himself from his family in the past. The Great Ceili War – Bernard Hill leads a host of Ireland’s finest acting talent and Band of Brothers star Phil Barantini in a film by accomplished UK director John Irvin. Jersey Girl – Liv Tyler features alongside Matt Damon and Hollywood’s hottest couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in this star-studded comedy. The Last Ride – Cate Blanchett works with her estranged father, played by Tommy Lee Jones, to retrieve her kidnapped daughter.
Despite the press that everything else “Tolkien-esque” is receiving, it almost passed unnoticed that “The Hobbit” was being performed at my local theatre, The Empire in Liverpool. Saturday was the final performance and it was Friday already. Sure enough, three tickets were promptly booked for the following evening. Myself, and my two companions settled down into the worst seats in the whole of the theatre, and with mixed reviews running through our minds, prepared ourselves for three hours of The Hobbit…
Overall, a very good performance and adaptation was presented. Michael Geary as Bilbo Baggins was everything I could have wanted and more. I don’t usually gush, but this guy was fantastic, he totally captured the essence of all things hobbity! His pose, his fumbling, and even his somewhat pompous expostulations were captured straight from Tolkien’s text. The 13 dwarves were shrunk to five, with Kili, Fili, Balin, Bombur, and of course Thorin, making the final cut. Despite this drastic reduction, it still worked and each dwarf showed their individuality on stage. Many of the dwarves songs were included, and a talented cast made sure that their interpretations were well sang.
The songs had a Celtic essence to them and on the whole were very refreshing. Gandalf held his own and had a authoritative presence on stage, but on the whole the show was stolen by Bilbo and the dwarves. The play was true to the text, Glyn Robbins did a very good job of adapting the story for the stage yet still retaining the needed detail and feeling present in the original text.
Things worth mentioning are the special effects (Smaug was indeed impressive, as was the Mirkwood spider dropping onto Bilbo from her web) the setting (simple yet very effective) and the dance!! The dancing and entertainment provide for the travellers at Beorn’s dwelling was the highlight of the show. The dance had a distinct Irish basis and yet again showed the versatility of the actors.
There are however, a few complaints. Apart from the amusing drunken wood elves “guarding” the prisoners in Mirkwood, I felt the elves were portrayed very poorly. Rivendell resembled an underwater kingdom, and Elrond had an uncanny likening to a lime green mermaid. Thranduil, Elven king of Mirkwood, did not impress me one bit. Also, parts of the play seemed to drag, especially the lengthy fight scenes.
However, all in all, a very good performance. It was wonderful to see how the passion of the actors brought Tolkien to life, in a very different way to the current films.
Since the book’s first publication in 1937, to this day The Hobbit – The Play captures the inner child in us all, and sends us back to Middle Earth as JRR Tolkiem first imagined it.
With the incredible success of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, many members of The Lord of the Rings cast have sensibly used their appearances in Peter Jackson’s epic as a springboard for their movie careers. This year will see the actors and actresses we know and love so well as characters of Middle-earth appear in places such as Australia and Mexico as many of the LotR cast dabble in various genres, from action to drama to comedy. For movie buffs and casual fans alike, I’ve compiled a list of my ten personal highlights from all the movie projects involving the likes of Mortensen, McKellen and Wood, and over the space of today and tomorrow will list them off in alphabetical order – hopefully your appetites for the upcoming movie year will be suitably whetted as a result.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind TBC 2003 – No Official Site – IMDb – Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood
The latest story from Charlie Kauffman, arguably the finest screenwriter in Hollywood at the moment after his most recent efforts Adaptation, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Being John Malkovich, the film focuses on a man who after discovering his ex-girlfriend had all memory of him wiped from her mind, decides to undergo the same procedure. With a steller cast which includes Elijah Wood as the scientist who administers the memory-wiping, an accomplished director and an absoloutely fabulous script, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind could be THE sleeper hit of 2003.
Hidalgo October 3rd – No Official Site – IMDb – Viggo Mortensen, Omar Sharif, Frank Collison, Saïd Taghmaoui
From the director of Jumanji and Jurassic Park III, Viggo Mortensen once again finds himself on horseback in this true story detailing the life of Frank T. Hopkins, a courier who in 1890 travelled from the US to Saudi Arabia on his horse Hidalgo and competed in the internationally reknowned, 3000 mile-long “Ocean of Fire” race across the African desert. Disney executives believe that after The Lord of the Rings‘s success, the name ‘Viggo Mortensen’ alone should be enough to recoup the film’s $80m budget and secure a rare success for the lately shakey Mouse House: we think so too.
Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World June 6th – TheFarSideoftheWorld.com – IMDb – Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, James D’Arcy
Based on Patrick O’ Brian’s best-selling novels concerning the Napoleonic wars and directed by Peter Weir in his first project since The Truman Show, Master & Commander details the journey of the H.M.S Suprise under the guidance of Crowe’s Royal Navy Captain in a chase across the world after an armed and ruthless French privateer. Billy Boyd features as one of Crowe’s trusted ship-mates on the Suprise and should reap the benefits of starring alongside the Oscar winner in what should prove to be an exciting and profitable period piece.
The Matrix: Reloaded & Revolutions May 15th & November 7th – WhatIsTheMatrix.com – IMDb – Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
It’s typical…you wait four years for a sequel to The Matrix, and two come along at once. Eagerly-awaited ever since the first movie came out of nowhere and took the world by storm in 1999, ‘Reloaded and ‘Revolutions are undertaking one of the most ambitious story arcs ever; one giant story set over the space of 24 hours depicting Neo’s attempt to prevent Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith and his superiors destroying humankind once and for all, split across two films. Though for LotR fans 2003 belongs to The Return of the King, for the rest this year belongs to the Wachowski Brothers magnum opus.
Ned Kelly 25th April – NedKellyTheMovie.com – IMDb – Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush
Before starring in The Lord of the Rings, Orlando Bloom featured often on British TV but hardly had a movie career, a fleeting role in Wilde his only credit; my how things have changed. Based on the novel Our Sunshine detailing the life of legendary Australian bushranger Ned Kelly played by Heath Ledger, Bloom takes second billing as one of the members in Kelly’s gang, Irishman Joe Byrne. With its release on the not so distant horizon, look for Bloom to impress in what could be the first great heist movie of the 21st Century.
Check back tomorrow (Wednesday) to see the second half of the must-see list, including Sean Astin and Christopher Lee’s sequel to The Wicker Man, Riding the Laddie, and Sir Ian McKellen’s X-Men 2.
Ringer Super Spy Lisa sent us the most amazing hi-res scans of the RoTK calendar that has been doing the rounds lately. And if you really want to check out the incredible detail in this calendar, these images are an absolute must!
