Elizabeth Banks Joins Frank Or Francis
Charlie Kaufman’s latest
Charlie Kaufman’s been assembling a nicely eclectic cast for his latest writing / directing effort, the musical satire on Hollywood
John Lee Hancock Hires The Partner
He’ll direct the Grisham thriller
John Lee Hancock has been taking a while to set up the film he uses to follow up The Blind Side. He’s already dancing around the idea of making crime drama
The Grey Hunts Down US Box Office Win
One For The Money in second
America can relax. Its long national nightmare period in which Liam Neeson failed to punch anyone or anything is over for now. Yes, The Grey, which finds Neeson and a group of other oil rig workers surviving an air crach in harsh Alaskan wilderness only to face down a pack of hungry, hunt-happy wolves, stalked to the top of the US box office this weekend, earning $20 million.
Last week’s champ, Underworld: Awakening, still held strong, seeing off other new competitors to take second place and $12.5 million. Katherine Heigl’s latest, Janet Evanovich adaptation One For The Money, had to be content with third despite a strong Friday showing, and made $11.7 million. George Lucas’ Red Tails was fourth with $10.4 million and new arrival Man On A Ledge was a little lower than everyone had hoped, with the thriller launching in fifth with $8.3 million.
Stephen Daldry’s 9/11-influenced drama Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close jumped a couple of places, likely helped by taking a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and earned $7.1 million. That put it ahead of fellow Best Picture nom The Descendants, which took $6.5 million after adding 1,441 cinemas and jumping up the charts from 16. At eighth we find Contraband which also made $6.5 million, while Beauty And The Beast‘s 3D re-release was ninth with $5.3 million. Rounding out the top 10 is