Fans clamoring for Michael Jackson film
Michael Jackson fans arrive to buy tickets for the " Michael Jackson's This Is It" film, at L.A. Live in Los Angeles, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. The film was produced from hundreds of hours of backstage footage of rehearsals last June. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Both MovieTickets.com and Fandango.com are reporting strong sales for Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” concert film, four weeks prior to its release on Oct. 28.
MovieTickets.com reports 550 sold-out performances, and reports that “This Is It” accounts for 69 percent of ticket sales on the site. Sixty-seven percent of poll respondents at MovieTickets.com said they were ready to see Michael Jackson on the big screen.
At Fandango, “This Is It” is outpacing the Hannah Montana 3D concert film by a factor of 3 to 1 at the same point in the sales cycle.
“Michael Jackson’s This Is It” was responsible for Fandango’s biggest Sunday pre-sales a full month prior to a film’s release date, according to a release from the site.
- Matt Price
NewsOK Comics Podcast: Old Man Logan Special, Superman Secret Origin 1, Supergirl 45, Spider-Woman 1
Old Man Logan concludes, Geoff Johns shares Superman’s secret origin, the hunt for Reactron continues in Supergirl 45 and Spider-Woman stars in her own series. Stay tuned til the end for Kyle’s surprising pick of the week!
Mr. Magoo celebrates 60 years
Cartoon character Mr. Magoo marks 60 years of adventures today.
Mr. Magoo has starred in Academy Award-winning theatrical shorts, three hit television series, the first ever animated holiday TV special and a live action movie.
Here are more fun facts about Mr. Magoo:
- United Productions of America (UPA) first introduced Quincy Magoo in the 1949 animated short, “Ragtime Bear.”
- Mr. Magoo made his comic-book debut in 1952, and starred in a dozen issues from Dell Comics.
- Mr. Magoo’s voice was created by Jim Backus (”Gilligan’s Island”), who portrayed Magoo for more than 30 years.
- UPA produced 52 Mr. Magoo theatrical shorts. Four were nominated for Academy Awards, and two won: When Magoo Flew (1955) and Magoo’s Puddle Jumper (1956).
- Leslie Nielsen played Mr. Magoo in the 1997 live-action film.
Trailer for Nightmare on Elm Street remake
The trailer for the remake of “Nightmare on Elm Street,” with Jackie Earle Haley (”Watchmen,” “Bad News Bears”) as Freddy Krueger. Feel free to share your thoughts about the remake in the comments!
Michael Jackson’s ‘This Is It’ tickets selling briskly
There still seems to be a fervor for Michael Jackson, based on pre-sales of tickets to his final film. “Michael Jackson’s This Is It” details Jackson’s preparations and rehearsals for the planned concert series of the same name.
As of 10 a.m. ET today, “This Is It” accounted for 82 percent of all ticket sales at MovieTickets.com, according to a report from the ticket-selling site.
More than 160 performances of the two-week run have already sold out, according to MovieTickets.com. “This Is It” begins its limited run in theaters on October 28.
- Matt
Monday movie quote challenge #46
“When I was your age, television was called books.”
Identify who said the above quote in what film in the comments!
Quick thoughts about Smallville 9th season premiere – Savior
A few quick thoughts on the season premiere tonight. Light spoilers ahead.
* I’m OK with the new Matrix-y suit. It’s at least closer to a superhero suit than a red jacket. (Though just get the red and blue suit already!)
* Lois pining over the Blur is great.
* Callum Blue has great presence as Zod.
* Good scenes between Tess and Zod.
* OK, you knew they’d go there, but the kneeling before Zod, pretty sweet.
* Lois and Ollie had a nice scene together as she reminds him that she knows he can be a true hero.
* Clark has a good fight scene with solid FX.
* Touching, difficult scene near the end with Chloe and Clark.
* Brian Austin Green put in a nice, suitably unsettling performance as John Corben (whose destiny was more or less revealed in the trailer for next week).
I like how the premiere set up a premise for the season and put Clark on a timeline. I thought season 8 also started with a bang, but had some slowdowns in the middle and end. We’ll see if season 9 can stay on an upward climb.
Your thoughts?
- Matt Price
Smallville’s 9th season promises to be ’spicy’
WORD BALLOONS
“Smallville” kicks off its ninth season tonight, as the young Clark Kent (Tom Welling) comes ever closer to his eventual destiny as Superman.
Clark gets closer to the traditional “Superman” costume this year as well, wearing a long, black coat and a shirt bearing the “S”-shield. Clark also finds himself drawn closer to Lois Lane (Erica Durance).
“Lois is dealing with being smitten with Superman, and also still kind of finding Clark irritating,” Durance said at the “Smallville” panel at Comic-Con International in San Diego. “It’s going to be really spicy.”
Welling isn’t just starring in “Smallville,” he’s also a producer.
“I enjoy the production side very much,” Welling said at Comic-Con. “For the last few years, my interest in what happens before we get to set has increased. And this year, I play a larger part in that.”
At the close of season eight, Tess Mercer, played by Cassidy Freeman, encountered the Kryptonian villain Zod (Callum Blue).
“The first episode starts with me and Zod,” Freeman said in a recent interview. “I figure out who he is.”
Zod appeared earlier in “Smallville” when he possessed Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), but now Zod appears in Smallville in the flesh. Mercer replaced Lex Luthor as the head of LuthorCorp after Luthor’s disappearance.
“The relationship between Zod and Tess is very loaded,” Freeman said. “She’s kind of all business.”
“Smallville” moves to Friday nights this year, but Freeman said it shouldn’t be a problem for the long-running show.
“We already have a pretty strong fanbase,” she said. “With Friday nights, you might need a big gun to draw people in, and we hope ‘Smallville’ can be that big gun.”
- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Writer Tucker Max aims for more fame with ‘Beer’ movie
Writer Tucker Max didn’t go the typical route when developing his book, “I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell,” into a motion picture.
“There’s two different ways to make a movie,” Max said in a recent phone interview. “You can go through the normal studio system … or you can raise the money yourself, and make the movie yourself.”
Max, with his writing partner Nils Parker, decided to independently finance the film.
“We decided we wanted to maintain creative control,” Max said.
Max, whose Web site and book detail his activities, primarily involving drunkenness and loutishness, hopes having a film based on his work makes him an even more widely known commodity.
“Right now, the book is a cult hit, and I’m kind of a cult celebrity,” Max said. “What I hope the movie does is it kind of pushes me into the mainstream.”
Matt Czuchry (“Gilmore Girls”) brings Tucker Max to life in the film.
“We went through maybe 200 actors before we found one that we really thought could do it,” Max said. “He’s maybe even a better me than me in a lot of ways.”
Max was in Norman for a screening of his film prior to the official opening.
“I have cousins from Oklahoma, so I’ve been many times,” Max said. “Oklahoma is what it is, you know. I’m from Kentucky, so I can’t really make fun of a state that’s just as redneck and backward as where I’m from.”
Tucker Max, now 33, rose to fame revealing the intimate details of his 20s, from dating to drinking. Will the party someday have to end?
“Listen, nothing lasts forever,” he said. “And life itself doesn’t last forever. I don’t expect to be doing the same thing at 43 as I am at 33. Everyone, hopefully, grows and develops and matures. And if you don’t, that’s kind of a problem.”
Max said he hopes people take his story as one that makes them laugh and inspires them to follow their own dreams. But he doesn’t want to inspire Tucker Max imitators, per se.
“My message is never, be who I am, it’s be who you want to be,” Max said. “There’s all kinds of stuff I’ve done that you shouldn’t do.”
Max’s new book, the name of which can’t be printed in the newspaper, is currently scheduled for 2011.
“It’s the same basic thing as ‘I Hope they Serve Beer in Hell,’ it’s just new stories,” Max said. “But there’s nothing in there, it’s not like I’m going to come out of that book with a wife and kids, and everything’s changed.”
- by Matthew Price
From Friday’s The Oklahoman
Nintendo Wii price to drop
The gaming system Nintendo Wii will drop to a $199.99 suggested retail price as of Sept. 27. This is $50 less than the current SRP of $249. This includes the motion-sensing Wii Remote controller, Nunchuk controller and Wii Sports software, along with the Wii hardware.
Nintendo’s not slowing down in new game releases for the Wii, either. On Oct. 4, Nintendo will release Wii Fit Plus, and on Nov. 15 the multiplayer title New Super Mario Bros. Wii will be released. This game will allow four players at once.
“Wii has reached more video game players than any game system before because it attracts everyone—both men and women, and people of all ages,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing, in a release. “Our research shows there are 50 million Americans thinking about becoming gamers, and this more affordable price point and our vast array of new software mean many of them can now make the leap and find experiences that appeal to them, whatever their tastes or level of gaming experience.”
- Matt Price
