Box office update: 'Hunger Games' wins Friday with $18.9 million; 'Wrath' and ... - Entertainment Weekly

Image Credit: Murray Close

Two new wide releases couldn’t dethrone box office champion The Hunger Games on Friday.

The blockbuster dropped by 72 percent from its first Friday to $18.9 million, which should lead to a three-day gross above $60 million and an easy weekend win. (A hefty drop was all but guaranteed after scoring the third-best opening of all time.) Over ten days, The Hunger Games‘ total will likely sit at about $250 million.

In second place, Wrath of the Titans got off to a decidedly more sluggish start. In its first day, the sequel, which stars Sam Worthington (whose vehicle Man on a Ledge flopped in January) and Liam Neeson, took in $12.4 million. That figure points to a $36 million debut, a huge dropoff from the $61.3 million that 2010's Clash of the Titans earned in its first weekend. The Warner Brothers film will need strong international results to justify its $150 million price tag.

The first of this year’s Snow White adaptations, Relativity’s $85 million comedy Mirror Mirror, opened with a rather underwhelming $5.9 million on Friday, which should lead to a frame just above $20 million. Relativity was expecting a weekend in the $22-24 million range.

In fourth and fifth place were holdovers 21 Jump Street and The Lorax, which grossed $4.7 million and $2 million, respectively. 21 Jump Street is headed to a better-than-expected $14 million frame, while The Lorax may gross another $7 million.

Check back tomorrow for the full weekend report, and follow me on Twitter for up-to-the-minute box office updates.

1. The Hunger Games – $18.9 million
2. Wrath of the Titans – $12.4 million
3. Mirror Mirror – $5.9 million
4. 21 Jump Street – $4.7 million
5. The Lorax – $2.0 million

Jennie Garth Might Move To LA To Be Closer To Peter Facinelli - Cinema Blend

Divorce almost always involves one party changing residences. In some cases, splits can even cause a former spouse to move to another state, but with Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli, it appears the opposite might actually happen. For the past year and a half, Garth and her three daughters have lived on a ranch in Santa Ynez Valley while her soon to be ex-husband Facinelli has spent a lot of time in Los Angeles working. Now, to make the break-up easier on the children, Garth is contemplating moving her and the family back to the city to allow the kids greater access to their dad.

According to People, Garth thinks her and Facinelli were always great at parenting together during their relationship, and she?d like to see that same spirit continue. That?s why she?s told the children they will never have to pick sides and will be able to spend time wherever they?d like. That?s a big reason why she?s considering moving.

?I like him to be able to pick them up from school. I just want everyone to be healthy and happy."

It really sounds like Garth has a wonderful attitude given the dramatic life upheaval she?s about to experience. Facinelli hasn?t spoken quite so publicly about what he expects, but in joint statements with his former love, he too has made it clear how important he considers working together to be. I truly hope they can make it happen. The couple?s three girls deserve as much.

Keith Olbermann slated to discuss Current TV on 'The Late Show with David ... - New York Daily News

Keith Olbermann is taking his story to late night.

The outspoken ex-Current TV talk show host is expected to discuss his departure from the network on the "Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday, CBS announced on Twitter late Friday.

But don't expect him to stay silent before then.

Olbermann, who hosted a one-hour prime time talk show on Current each weeknight, took to Twitter after Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, Current's founders, announced Olbermann's dismissal in a letter posted on Current's website.

"I'm putting out my statement in two ways: 140 characters at a time, and then in one fell swoop via Twitlonger," tweeted Olbermann, who fired off a series of tweets in which he blasted Gore and Hyatt for failing to uphold their promises and to invest "in a quality news program."

"Current's statements are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently," he added.

Olbermann was reportedly paid $50,000 per show.

KEITH OLBERMANN TO SUE CURRENT TV, ISSUES APOLOGY FOR NETWORK'S 'FAILURE' AFTER DISMISSAL

Gore and Hyatt wrote that Current was "founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it."

“The network is replacing Olbermann with "Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer," a talk show starring the scandal-tarnished former New York Governor, replaced Olbermann's "Countdown" on Current starting Friday night.

KEITH OLBERMANN FIRED; ELIOT SPITZER HIRED

Current also hired a crisis public relations firm founded by two Clinton administration veterans, Mark Fabiani and Chris Lehane, to represent the network, The Hollywood Reporter reported Friday.

Olbermann joined Current in February 2011 after unceremoniously leaving MSNBC, two months after MSNBC suspended him for making campaign donations to three Democratic congressional candidates in apparent violation of the network's policy.

Though Current said it would allow Olbermann to make political donations provided he disclosed them to viewers, the liberal-leaning network and its highest-profile host butted heads repeatedly over Olbermann's role in Current's coverage of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Olbermann missed work on the nights of the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary, as well as the day before the "Super Tuesday" primaries in March.

"You think I'm having a tough day," Olbermann, a former host of ESPN's "Sportscenter" later tweeted. "Anybody watching Michael Pineda pitching his way out of the Yankees rotation?"

'Fifty Shades of Grey': Who should direct? - Los Angeles Times

E.L. James, the author of the erotic e-book “Fifty Shades of Grey,” created a stir when Universal Pictures and Focus Features acquired the film rights to her trilogy of explicit books earlier this week. The series tells of a chaste college graduate named Anastasia Steele and the S&M-inflected romance she finds herself in with dashing billionaire Christian Grey.

“Shades” was a hot property in more ways than one, having already sold gazillions of copies to discreet, Kindle-carrying women all over the English-speaking world.

But now begins a more arduous process: attaching a filmmaker. Given the provocative nature of the subject matter, finding the right helmer won’t be easy. Allow us to offer a few suggestions:

Michael Bay. Sure, James’ book had plenty of raunchy sex. But where were the things moviegoers really care about, like secret government-created alien-fighting machines? “Grey” will be jazzed up considerably with the addition of Autobots and Decepticons, a true story of opposites. There is, after all, no tale of becoming quite like the tale of a car becoming a robot. Grey inflicts hurt on his partner using 30-ton robots, which brings nearly as much pain as watching a Michael Bay movie.

Nicolas Refn. Christian Grey wears a scorpion jacket and eats toothpicks. He and his lover take long drives to nowhere over '80s electropop. Forks are jammed into various body parts. The movie reaches a crescendo in its piece de resistance love scene, which takes place backward.

Marc Webb. Young Christian Grey works at a greeting card company and, when he’s not getting advice from his impossibly precocious sister or angsting about the state of his romantic life, kicks back with a little office karaoke. Anastasia Steele is an ethereal presence who doesn’t believe in love. They enter a complex relationship in which he decides to cause her pain, largely by playing her Morrissey songs over and over.

Judd Apatow. Every hot romance needs a little bromance. Apatow's "Fifty Shades" has Anastasia feeling neglected -- all Christian wants to do is smoke pot and talk about comic-book superheroes with his buddies. Challenges further ensue when Anastasia begins to question why anyone would want to be in an S&M relationship with Seth Rogen. All is resolved, however, when Christian and his friends take a break from trash-talking each other long enough for a tearful airport scene. The movie is notable for being the first Apatow film he doesn't want his wife to star in.

Sofia Coppola. Focus could reach into its own vaults and pull out “Somewhere” helmer Sofia Coppola. Grey and Steele live in a hotel. Sometimes they order room service. A car goes endlessly around a track. Someone cooks breakfast. The movie ends.

Martin Scorsese. Christian Grey begins the film by ordering mob hits on various members of Steele’s family, because she double-crossed the people who double-crossed her double-crossers. In fact, the hero is about to order a hit on Steele when he realizes that she owns an early 20th century print of Julien Duvivier's “La Belle Equipe,” which, Grey tells her, no human being should ever be without. He then gives her a three-hour lecture on the importance of preserving early cinema. She finds it a peculiar form of torture.

RELATED:

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--Steven Zeitchik

twitter.com/ZeitchikLAT

Photo: "Fifty Shades of Grey." Credit: Vintage Books

Potter stars attend tour launch - The Press Association

Potter stars attend tour launch(UKPA) – 2 hours ago 

Harry Potter stars have turned out at the red carpet opening of a studio tour which gives fans a spell-binding behind-the-scenes glimpse of the blockbuster film series.

Rupert Grint, Tom Felton and Bonnie Wright were among the actors at the grand opening of the Warner Brothers Studio Tour - The Making of Harry Potter.

Hundreds of screaming Potter fans lined up outside the studios in Leavesden, near Watford, Hertfordshire, where all eight of the multimillion pound-grossing films inspired by JK Rowling's magical stories were shot.

Local boy Grint - Ron Weasley in the Potter films - said: "This is the most glamorous I have ever seen Watford. It's exciting for everyone to see.

"There are so many memories from in there and to share them with everyone is great. There are so many highlights but the model of the castle is out of this world."

The 23-year-old added that he had sneaked out some mementos for himself, including the number from Harry's door in Privet Drive. He said: "You can buy them from most DIY stores, and they've replaced it now."

The three-hour walking tour's attractions include the original Great Hall of Hogwarts School, built for Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone. The hall features graffiti by Hogwarts' pupils, solid oak and pine house tables which were built for the films, and York stone flooring laid more than 11 years ago.

Some of the most iconic sets include Dumbledore's office, Diagon Alley, the Ministry of Magic, 4 Privet Drive, the Gryffindor common room and the Weasley kitchen.

Felton, who played Draco Malfoy, said: "It's hard to sum it all up in a sentence but I will never forget walking through the Great Hall for the first time. It was just as magical now as it was all those years ago."

Visitors can get up close to the costumes, animatronics, special effects and props used throughout the Potter series and seen by millions on TV and movie screens worldwide. A family ticket for two adults and two children will set them back £83. Individual tickets for people 16 and over are £28 and £21 for children aged five to 15.

Copyright © 2012 The Press Association. All rights reserved.

The magic behind the monsters in 'Wrath of the Titans' - New York Daily News

As appealing as Sam Worthington is as Greek hero Perseus, there are far more eye-catching creatures in “Wrath of the Titans.”

The mythical monsters in the movie opening Friday are as gory and scary as the Aussie actor is sexy. And it was no easy task creating them.

“The design process probably started even six months before we started shooting,” says director Jonathan Liebesman. “In mythical lore, creatures were described in a certain way. And a lot of us have interpreted them with certain bells and whistles. And we wanted to take them back to basics.

“Storytellers, like Homer, describe them a certain way,” he adds. “So we just wanted to take the tactic of, ‘What did these things really look like?’”

Among the monsters is the Minotaur, who in Greek mythology is said to be a creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man. In the film, the Minotaur’s face is not quite all beast.

“It was a warrior who had been stuck down in a labyrinth for so long that his hair, kind of like a rhinoceros, had almost melded into horns,” Liebesman explains.

Nick Davis, visual effects supervisor for 2010’s “Clash of the Titans,” returned for the sequel. Many of the monsters took form when he and other artists worked with digital visual effects companies like Framestore and the Moving Picture Company.

While the Minotaur was purely prosthetic pieces and makeup on actor Spencer Wilding, other creatures were computer-generated.

Either way, the sight of them onscreen is sure to make audience members stir in their seats.

The Minotaur

Wilding, a Welsh actor and stuntman, stars as this part-man, part-bull. And he even had himself convinced he was the gruesome creature.

“When I first saw him, he just went straight into character and freaked me out when he arrived onset,” Liebesman says. “He became the Minotaur. And I was like, ‘Spence, it’s okay. I know you’re an actor. You don’t have to go all Minotaur on me.’ But he embodied the character, so it was cool.”

The horned beast plays an essential part in the film. “The Minotaur is the Gatekeeper at the end of the labyrinth,” says Liebesman. “You have to get through him in order get to where Zeus is being held.”

Unlike many of monsters in the film, the Minotaur didn’t involve computer-generated imagery.

“I’m sure it was at least four or five hours of makeup a day,” Liebesman says. “And very physical. It would get hot in the suits. And I’ve discovered that the more wet a prosthetic looks, the better it looks. So we watered him up at all times so that it has maximum impact for the frames.”

Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson kiss and canoodle in public...making sure ... - Daily Mail

By Laura Schreffler

PUBLISHED: 18:29 EST, 30 March 2012 | UPDATED: 18:29 EST, 30 March 2012

They've just returned from a romantic trip to Mexico, and Ben Flajnik and Courtney Robertson are still keeping up the illusion that all is well in paradise.

The Sonoma-based winemaker and his model fianc?e couldn't resist smooching one another for show last night at Svedka's annual Night of a Billion Reality Stars bash in Los Angeles.

But despite their public displays of affection, which were of course caught on camera, neither could give a concrete answer about where their relationship was headed.

Kissing for the cameras: Bachelor Ben Flanjik and fiancee Courtney Robertson kissed for the cameras last night at Supperclub in Hollywood, CA

In fact, Ben, 28, seems to have coined a new term for their status - and it doesn't sound like he's as head over heels as he appeared on The Bachelor this season.

He told Access Hollywood: 'We're taking it slow. We're en-dating. [That's] what we like to call it. Engaged dating.'

The two also dismissed reports that they are living together, have set a wedding date and that Courtney is pregnant.

A show of unity: The Bachelor and his bride-to-be held hands on the red carpet

Muted couple: The twosome wore various neutral shades and didn't stand out sartorially

She sniffed: 'Yeah, my eggo is not preggo. Never was.'

They were more enthusiastic and positive while talking about their recent trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.

According to Ben, the two spent an 'uninterrupted time together. We had five solid days of just us and we laid by the pool and talked and dined. It was great.'

Alone, together: Courtney and Ben aren't living together and haven't set a date yet

Bachelorette babes: Ali Fedotowsky and Ashley Hebert attended the Svedka-sponsored event

The 28-year-old model agreed: 'It was the best time - it was muy bueno.'

She certainly looked muted in comparison to the other reality stars who attended the event at Hollywood's Supperclub.

With her demure black and cream silk dress, Courtney almost appeared to be letting someone else take centre stage for once.

Beverly gals: Brandy Glanville and Kyle Richards attended the reality star summit

The Housewives: OC's Gretchen Rossi and New Jersey's Teresa Giudice both attended the event

Former Bachelorette Ali Fedotowsky, on the other hand, looked absolutely smashing in her sexy black and green cutout dress.

It has been announced that the 27-year-old will host NBC's new travel show, 1st Look.

Other celebrities at the event included Real Housewives stars Kyle Richards, Brandi Glanville, Teresa Giudice and Slade Smiley.

Former Bachelorette Ashley Hebert was also in attendance as was Celebrity Apprentice star Aubrey O'Day and Dancing With the Stars' Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Mob meets the Apprentice: Aubrey O'Day and Renee Graziano both attended the Svedka party

Red carpet guys: Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Jon Gosselin attended