Movies

Hasbro Won’t Let ‘Ouija’ Die, Hires Writer

Seemingly unable to take no for an answer, Hasbro is moving forward with the film version of Ouija, and have hired Marti Noxon to write the script. The news comes just three months after it was announced that Universal Studios, who originally held the film’s rights, would be pulling out of the project, paying off a $5 million penalty fee just to do so.

Noxon could be a good fit for the film, having established herself as a go-to when it comes to writing pithy scripts with supernatural twists, her credentials including 23 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and this year’s well-received Fright Night remake. She also did doctoring work on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, though the odds of that script ever going into production seem to change with the weather.

Actresses Audition to Play Eponine in ‘Les Miserables’

Anne Hathaway remains the only female confirmed for a part in Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables, even several months after the project was announced. However, that might change very soon, as four young actresses aim to grab a juicy role in the musical.

As reported by Playbill, Scarlett Johansson, Lea Michele, Taylor Swift, and Evan Rachel Wood have auditioned for the part of street urchin Eponine. This character, by the way, belts the signature ballad “On My Own,” which the aforementioned Hathaway performed at this past year’s Oscar ceremony and Michele sang on her hit television seriesGlee. Michele also had her fair share of experience in stage acting, playing in Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl and starring in the Tony Award-winning rock musical Spring Awakening.

‘Muppets’ Can’t Leap-Frog ‘Twilight’ at Box Office

The five-day Thanksgiving
weekend saw three new family films enter the market, but none could dethrone
reigning champ The Twilight Saga:
Breaking Dawn – Part 1, which easily took the number one spot despite the
expected second-weekend plummet.

DVD/Blu-ray DISCussion (New for 11.29.11)

There are a large number of First Releases this week, some of them being very noteworthy and we at Player Affinity have picked the critically acclaimed horror-comedy Tucker & Dale vs. Evil as our Recommendation of the Week. This week’s releases offer movie fans a wide range of movies and genres, from R-Rated comedies in the form of 30 Minutes or Less and Friends With Benefits, the art-house sci-fi movie Another Earth, Werner Herzog’s 3D documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams and a large number of straight-to-DVD releases.

Trends We’re Thankful For: Declining 3D Ticket Sales

Normally, the gratitude we feel on Thanksgiving does not come with a sarcastic twist, but who among us that follows the annual hoopla of the wide-release movie circuit isn’t thrilled that 3D officially became no longer just a despised format (see 2010) but a financially meaningless one (2011).

‘Star Trek 2’ Will Be in 3D, Arrives May 2013

Jonesin’ to rejoin the U.S.S. Enterprise? After Super 8 caused some delays in pre-production, J.J. Abrams and the original 2009 Star Trek cast and crew will return to action next year and Paramount has chosen May 17, 2013 as the day to reveal what the next voyage has in store for them.

Trends We’re Thankful For: Still-Solid Superhero Flicks

This year alone we had one great, two very good and one ok comic-book adaptation (that would be X-Men; First Class, Thor, Captain America and Green Lantern respectively) and all did decent business despite the competition.