Rebecca's Hollywood Movies Blog

Bill Nighy returns in the role of Viktor, the lead vampire of the Underworld movie series, in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. Nighy, a vampire fan, never dreamed he'd be stepping back into the character for a third time, but he's happy to be back playing Viktor in this prequel to the Underworld films.

"I had no idea that there’d be a number two and I had no idea that I would get to be in number one," said Nighy when asked about the success of the Underworld franchise. "I walked in off the street, it was one of those interviews you go for - in those days I used to go for dozens a year, you know? And I met a nice, young man called Len Wiseman with a camcorder and he said, 'Would you like to do the scene now?' And he gave me the gig more or less on the spot." Read On...
_{(Photo © Screen Gems)}

New and Expanded Photo Galleries

Bangkok Dangerous Photos - Nicolas Cage

The Day the Earth Stood Still Photos - Keanu Reeves/Jennifer Connelly

Frost/Nixon Photos - Michael Sheen/Frank Langella

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Photos - Simon Pegg/Megan Fox

Milk Photos - Sean Penn/Diego Luna

Only one wide release - Nicolas Cage in Bangkok Dangerous - hits theaters this first week of September and it's not being screened for critics (not a good sign). So since this week's pickings are slim, there's really no better time than now to take a look at a future release, The Unborn, a horror/thriller directed by David Goyer that's heading to theaters next year. The cast and director David Goyer (writer, The Dark Knight - director, The Invisible) talked up the film at this summer's San Diego Comic Con and if it's anywhere near as creepy as they make it out to be, The Unborn is going to scare the pants off of audiences.

The Unborn Cast Interviews

One on One with Odette Yustman

Exclusive Interview with Meagan Good

Exclusive Interview with Cam Gigandet

Interview with Writer/Director David Goyer

_{(Photo © Richard Chavez)}


New Movie Posters

Defiance Poster

The Express Poster

Ghost Town Poster

He's Just Not That Into You Poster

Star Trek Posters

The summer movie season delivered on its promises, with The Dark Knight exceeding all expectations and becoming the second biggest grossing movie of all time (it just crossed the $500 million mark this weekend). It's unlikely anything hitting theaters during the remaining months of 2008 will come anywhere close to The Dark Knight's box office numbers, although the batch of Fall movies is pretty impressive.

September serves up a touching romantic tale (Nights in Rodanthe), the return of the Coens to the land of comedy (Burn After Reading) and a shoot 'em up Western (Appaloosa). October has teens covered (High School Musical 3), star-studded thrillers (Body of Lies, Changeling), a couple of comedies (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, Brothers Bloom), and a hard-hitting true story (Flash of Genius). November finishes off the Fall with an animated comedy (Madagascar 2), two romantic films (Australia, Four Christmases), another true story (The Soloist), and the most anticipated Fall movies - Quantum of Solace and Twilight. Read On...
_{(Photos © Summit Entertainment, Columbia Pictures)}


Just Added - New Photos

Battle in Seattle Photos - Charlize Theron/Michelle Rodriguez

Blindness Photos - Mark Ruffalo/Julianne Moore

The Duchess Photos - Keira Knightley

Fast and Furious Photos - Vin Diesel/Paul Walker

Surfer, Dude Photos - Matthew McConaughey/Woody Harrelson

Rhona Mitra joins the Underworld franchise playing a brand new character (she's not replacing Kate Beckinsale). Mitra stars as Sonja, the daughter of lead vampire Viktor (Bill Nighy), and a powerful fighter in her own right in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, a prequel to the other films. This third Underworld movie explores the origins of the feud between the vampires and the Lycans, with Sonja playing a key role in helping the werewolves escape from Viktor's persecution of their species. Read On...
_{(Photo © Screen Gems)}


Box Office Report - August 29-31
Comedy was once again box office king as Tropic Thunder remained on top of the charts. New release Babylon A.D., which wasn't screened for critics, failed to ignite much interest. And the action thriller Traitor wasn't much of a draw, although it fared better than the disastrous Disaster Movie. Can we please stick a fork in that spoof franchise and pronounce it done? Pretty please?

Top 10 Films for the Weekend Ending August 31 (Estimates)
1) Tropic Thunder - $11,500,000
2) Babylon A.D. - $9,700,000
3) The Dark Knight - $8,700,000
4) The House Bunny - $8,200,000
5) Traitor - $7,800,000
6) Death Race - $6,200,000
7) Disaster Movie - $6,100,000
8) Mamma Mia! - $4,400,000
9) Pineapple Express - $3,500,000
10) Vicky Cristina Barcelona - $3,000,000
_{(Photo © Dreamworks)}

Traitor kind of snuck up on us with very little fanfare. Just a sprinkling of TV commercials was apparently all Traitor either warranted or was budgeted for, despite its big name cast. And being that it's stuck with an end of August release date (a dumping ground of sorts as studios prepare to haul out their big 'award' caliber guns), box office expectations are understandably low for this thriller starring Don Cheadle and directed by the writer of The Day After Tomorrow, Jeffrey Nachmanoff. The same week last year brought us the forgettable Balls of Fury and Death Sentence, and Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween. Read On...

More on Traitor

Traitor Photos

Poster for Traitor

_{(Photo © Overture Films)}

New Film Posters

Australia Posters

Battle in Seattle Poster

The Brothers Bloom Poster

Choke Poster

The Duchess Poster

Flash of Genius Poster

How to Lose Friends and Alienate People Poster

Nights in Rodanthe Poster

Surfer, Dude Poster

The Women Poster

It may seem bizarre to classify vampires as good guys, but in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight world there are indeed vampires who can live and work side-by-side with humans without letting their dietary needs get the best of them. The main vampire 'family' in Twilight is the Cullens, a group who've found they can exist by killing animals and not humans (they jokingly refer to themselves as vegetarians). Cam Gigandet plays James, a bad vampire extraordinarily skilled at tracking his prey, in the film version of Meyer's bestselling novel.

"I am a bad, bad vampire. Well, so everyone else thinks. I think I’m just misunderstood," joked Gigandet during press rounds prior to taking the stage at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con. "Yes, I’m the bad vampire. My sole goal is to basically kill Bella, I guess, and revel in Edward's pain as he watches it." Read On...
_{(Photo © Summit Entertainment)}


Hitting Theaters This Week

Babylon A.D. Starring Vin Diesel and Michelle Yeoh

Disaster Movie with Matt Lanter and Carmen Electra

Traitor Starring Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce

The Nightmare Before Christmas Turns 15
Director Henry Selick participated in a virtual roundtable in support of the 15th Anniversary release of the 2-Disc Collector's Edition of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (it's also debuting on Blu-Ray) on August 26, 2008. Even now more than a dozen years since it first hit theaters, the spooky film with catchy tunes has incredibly passionate fans who can't seem to get enough of the stop-motion film. Henry Selick Interview

More on Henry Selick/The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas Photos

Henry Selick Discusses Coraline, Based on Neil Gaiman's Book

_{(DVD Art © WDSHE)}

There's not much new going on in theaters this week - just Don Cheadle's Traitor, Vin Diesel's Babylon A.D. (which isn't screening for critics), and Disaster Movie (which is screening the night before it opens...never a good sign) - because late August/early September has traditionally been a sort of dumping ground for films that studios aren't sure about. That makes this week the perfect time to catch up on featuring films that had a presence at last month's Comic Con.

Mark Wahlberg, no stranger to action movies having starred in Shooter and We Own the Night amongst other films, tackles the title role in the action/thriller Max Payne. Based on the video game, Max Payne finds Wahlberg playing a maverick cop on the trail of the killers who brutally murdered his family. Directed by John Moore (The Omen 2006), Max Payne also features Mila Kunis as an assassin who teams up with Wahlberg. Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges adds to his acting resume as an internal affairs agent.

Exclusively on About.com - Max Payne Interviews

One on One with Mark Wahlberg

Mila Kunis on Kicking Some Bad Guy Butt

Interview with Chris Bridges

More on Max Payne

Max Payne Cast Photos

Max Payne Photo Gallery

Poster for Max Payne

_{(Photo © 20th Century Fox)}


New and Expanded Photo Galleries

The Brothers Bloom Photos - Adrien Brody/Mark Wahlberg

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Photos - Michael Cera/Kat Dennings

Righteous Kill Photos - Al Pacino/Robert De Niro

Towelhead Photos - Aaron Eckhart/Maria Bello

W Photos - Josh Brolin/Noah Wyle

Watchmen Photos - Billy Crudup/Malin Akerman

Yes Man Photos - Jim Carrey/Zooey Deschanel

Andrew Form and Brad Fuller, the producers behind the remakes of Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Amityville Horror, return with another new take on a horror film - Friday the 13th. Set to hit theaters on Friday, February 13, 2009, the new Friday the 13th movie takes another look at the first film of the horror movie franchise, back when the hockey mask-wearing killer first began slaughtering innocent teens at Camp Crystal Lake.

Jared Padalecki of TV's hit show Supernatural has the lead in Friday the 13th directed by Marcus Nispel. In Supernatural, Padalecki takes on all manner of creepy creatures and scary beasts. In Friday the 13th, Padalecki has to fight one of the big screen's most recognizable horror movie figures - Jason Voorhees.

Exclusively on About.com - Friday the 13th Interviews

One on One with Jared Padalecki

The New Jason - Derek Mears - Discusses Donning the Mask

One on One with Amanda Righetti

Interview with Producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form

More on Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th Poster

Friday the 13th Cast Photos

_{(Photo © Richard Chavez)}

In Other News

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist Soundtrack News

- Vampire Weekend and Band of Horses Contribute Tracks

Quantum of Solace Falls Back a Week

- Bond, James Bond, Saves the Day One Week Later Than Expected

Ben Affleck Joins the Cast of Extract

- Mike Judge's New Comedy Set Up at Miramax

James McAvoy and Emily Blunt Land the Leads in Gnomeo and Juliet

- Voicing a Pair of Star-Crossed Garden Gnomes

Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson Find The Hobbit Writers

- And All They Had To Do was Look in the Mirror

I have a love/hate relationship with Hamlet 2. I love the humor, the way it sends up inspirational teacher movies before becoming one itself, and I love Steve Coogan's engaging – and even mildly heartbreaking – performance. I hate the fact that out of the blue I'll break out singing, "Rock Me, Rock Me Sexy Jesus…" It's like one of those TV theme songs that's stuck recycling itself in your brain, emerging just when you least expect it to for the sole purpose of annoying you to the point you want to rip out your own tongue. That's why I hate Hamlet 2.

But as much as I dislike having the "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" song imprinted on my brain, my affection for the stereotype-busting, outrageously funny Hamlet 2 is much, much stronger. It's audacious and infectious, and one of the funniest films of 2008. And moviegoers who don't have a clue who Steve Coogan is are going to convert into fans after checking out his performance in Hamlet 2. Read On...
_{(Photo © Focus Features)}

Box Office Report - August 22-24
Tropic Thunder continued its box office domination, finishing in first place for the second weekend in a row. The action comedy starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey Jr as a bunch of spoiled actors held off the hotties of The House Bunny and Jason Statham's Death Race. As expected, the overall box office take was down from last year and it doesn't look as though next weekend's new releases, led by Vin Diesel in Babylon A.D., are going to perk things back up.

Top 10 Films for the Weekend Ending August 24
1) Tropic Thunder - $16,272,195
2) The House Bunny - $14,533,702
3) Death Race - $12,621,090
4) The Dark Knight - $10,542,424
5) Star Wars: The Clone Wars - $5,661,456
6) Pineapple Express - $5,452,163
7) Mirrors - $5,010,663
8) Mamma Mia! - $4,314,840
9) The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - $4,177,950
10) The Longshots - $4,080,687
_{(Photo © Dreamworks)}

Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz + Academy Award winner Adrien Brody + Academy Award nominee Rinko Kikuchi + Mark Ruffalo + writer/director Rian Johnson (the mastermind behind Brick) = The Brothers Bloom, a con-man comedy with a little romance thrown in. Haven't heard much about this Summit Entertainment release yet? You soon will as Johnson's second feature film marches toward its October 24, 2008 release date with buzz building – for a good reason. Based on about 30 minutes worth of screened footage, The Brothers Bloom moved way up on my personal list of end of the year films I can't wait to see.

Summit Entertainment and writer/director Johnson invited About.com to a special edit bay visit where Johnson was hard at work putting the finishing touches on The Brothers Bloom. The first bit of footage Johnson offered up was the opening six minutes of the film, which sets up the backstory of brothers Steven (Mark Ruffalo) and Bloom (Adrien Brody). Narrated by Ricky Jay, the scene shows the beginnings of the brothers' lifelong fascination with cons. Read On...
_{(Photo © Summit Entertainment)}

New Trailers and Videos

Body of Lies Trailer #2

Burn After Reading Clips

High School Musical 3: Senior Year Music Video

Nights in Rodanthe Extended Trailer