Punch Drunk Podcast: 'Gone Girl' and...were there other Movies this Week?

On this week's show we'll be talking about Gone Girl, starring Batman as a guy who might have murdered his wife and seeks Madea as his attorney. Plus, Nicolas Cage's religious action flick Left Behind is probably going to get ripped; we'll talk about the hot documentary Nas: Time is Illmatic, and Reese Witherspoon rescues refugees in The Good Lie. Plus whatever else comes up, like TV or something.

The Punch Drunk Podcast airs most Sunday mornings at 11AM on Blogtalkradio. Not all because we like to sleep in.

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Box Office: 'Gone Girl' and 'Annabelle' Open Big; 'Left Behind' gets Left Behind

1. Gone Girl- $38M
I began the week expecting that the horror Annabelle would beat out David Fincher's mature-themed thriller, Gone Girl, simply because genre movies have such immediate appeal. Plus, adults tend to wait a bit longer to check out big movies. But I was wrong and it's Gone Girl that eeks out #1 with $38M, but to be honest both movies did great. Gone Girl benefits from having Ben Affleck in one of his biggest roles to date that doesn't involve a Bat-suit, and obviously Gillian Flynn's buzzy novel. This is a total water cooler movie that casual moviegoers will be talking about for awhile (that twist!!!!), and to that end it should hang around near the top for a few weeks at least. It's also the biggest debut for Fincher but not really surprising as the film is easily his most commercial.
2. Annabelle- $37.2M
Spinoffs of established films tend to be a gamble, but Annabelle, a prequel to last year's small-budget hit The Conjuring, did nearly as well. Its $37M debut is just a shade under The Conjuring's $41M. It will probably take a tumble next week like most horrors do but this is obviously a win for Warner Bros. and don't be surprised if the demonic doll returns in some fashion, possibly in next year's The Conjuring sequel.
3. The Equalizer- $19M/$64.5M
Denzel Washington continues to equalize the box office with an additional $19M for The Equalizer, which has now surpassed $100M worldwide.
4. The Boxtrolls- $12.4M/$32.5M
Laika's stop-motion animated film The Boxtrolls added another $12M, slipping only 28% in week two. Overall the $60M film has gained $50M, good enough to earn the studio another three-picture deal with Focus Features.
5. The Maze Runner- $12M/$73.9M
6. Left Behind- $6.8M
In a year that has seen faith-based movies really tear it up at the box office, Left Behind is still off to a pretty terrible start. The film is basically a reworking of the atrocious Kirk Cameron-led version of the Rapture-loving movie from years ago, only this one stars Nicolas Cage and Jordin Sparks, two actually movie stars. And it's probably due to them and the typical prodding from right-leaning websites that it was able to score $6.8M, which is still one of the lowest debuts in Cage's career. Full disclosure, the studio behind this one knows me and wouldn't let us put up a review, knowing that it would get bashed. They were probably right because it looks awful.
7. This is Where I Leave You- $4M/ $29M
8. Dolphin Tale 2- $3.5M/$37.9M
9. Guardians of the Galaxy- $3M/$323.3M
10. No Good Deed- $2.5M/$50.1M

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The Rapture Can't Stop Nicolas Cage in Trailer for 'Left Behind'

There aren't many things in the world that can put a dent in Nicolas Cage's mojo. Endless runs of bad movies don't hurt him. Being the butt of jokes doesn't hurt. Not being able to play Superman doesn't hurt him. Even the almighty IRS falls to the sheer power of Cage. And apparently, not even the Rapture can hold a candle to him, at least that seems to be the point behind the new trailer for Left Behind.

Yes, it just looks like a longer, poorly-made version of HBO's The Leftovers but the fact is Left Behind has been around for a minute. It's based on the popular series of faith-based books that explore what happens to the people LEFT BEHIND (!!!!!!) after the Rapture. A battle between good and evil is about to erupt and if you guessed the Antichrist is behind it then all that time spent at Sunday School was worth it.

Also starring Cassie Thomson, Jordin Sparks, and Chad Michael Murray but with 100% less Kirk Cameron than the 2003 version, Left Behind opens October 3rd.

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Trailer for Nicolas Cages' 'Left Behind' Remake Is Predictably Terrible

It was always going to be a union packed with unintentional comic potential, having Nicolas Cage star in a remake of Left Behind, the far right sci-fi novels adapted into awful movies with Kirk Cameron. As usual for Cage, if he takes one great step forward with a movie like Joe (he's brilliant in it, by the way), he takes a giant leap backwards soon after, and now that the Left Behind trailer is here this definitely looks like another one of his paycheck gigs.

The first clip released some time ago didn't promise much, and now we see why. Looking cheap and vaguely unfinished in the same way the Atlas Shrugged movies did, the film features an overacting Cage ("I know you all want answers AND SO DO I"!!!) as a man LEFT BEHIND after a number of people suddenly vanish in the Rapture. The story follows the survivors who must try to understand and cope with the enormity of what has occurred. Adding to the TV movie feel of this are a cast of TV regulars led by Chad Michael Murray and Cassi Thomson, along with Jordin Sparks, Nicky Whelan, Lea Thompson, and Olympic athlete Lolo Jones (!!!).

All snark aside, Christian-themed movies have been doing gangbusters at the box office, and considering the best selling source material Left Behind will probably find a big audience on October 3rd.

Post by Left Behind.

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First Official Clip for 'Left Behind' Starring Nicolas Cage

When it comes to faith-based entertainment, more often than not, you get the bottom of the barrel as an audience in terms of acting, effects, script, you know...movies. The quality and money behind something like The Passion of the Christ is a complete rarity in the genre. Left Behind feel victim to this in it's original film adaptation with it's star being Kirk Cameron. For those unfamiliar with Left Behind let me speed you up. It was originally a book series that followed several characters through the rapture and seven years of tribulation before the return of Christ. The heavily religious tone of the books kept it's audience mostly to the...well, religious, which is really too bad because the book series, while told through the lines of biblical prophecy, is not at all what you would think as far as being a pulpit disguised as entertainment. The book series delivered a riveting story of war, espionage, and love spanning the globe. Admittedly I only read the first 9 books, I'm sure the preachiness would start to come in heavier after the return of Christ. Still, while reading the books I thought to myself constantly how I'd love to see these scenes playing out on screen...it really could be part Supernatural, part Argo, and part Saving Private Ryan.

As I previously said, the books were already adapted once, with Kirk Cameron in the lead. There was simply no way they would have been able to capture the scale required with a micro-budget. Then it was announced that there would be another, larger scale, more properly funded adaptation. Then Nicolas Cage was attached. Then the above poster was released. You can see where I'm going with this, the first clip had to blow you away. It doesn't. What we get is Nicolas Cage and Nicky Whelan playing Rayford Steele and Hattie Durham, respectively. Phoned in does not even begin to describe what Cage appears to be doing...and Nicolas Cage phoning in is saying something. The two literally seem to be reading out of a book while they talk about Hattie's mom leaving Rayford which they obviously chose to show both 1. That the movie is faith-based and 2. that Cage's Rayford is of the non-faith...ermmm...faith? I don't know, I'll still hope that one day this story gets a decent shot somewhere but unless a miracle happens I don't see that.

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Chad Michael Murray to get 'Left Behind' with Nicolas Cage

One Tree Hill is over, right? And Chad Michael Murray hasn't been on it for a couple of years? So that explains why he's suddenly turning up on the big screen, with a role in the terribly-named The Haunting in Connecticut: Ghosts of Georgia coming up. You'd think the title alone would have had his agent shredding the screenplay, but these are the types of films one does to try and remain relevant. The other kind one does? Nicolas Cage flicks.

Murray is joining the previously announced Cage in the remake of Left Behind, based on those awful faith-based movies that unfortunately brought Kirk Cameron's special brand of insanity back into our lives. Based on the first of 16 novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, the stories take place in the aftermath of the Rapture when an anti-Christian government has taken hold. Murray will play journalist Cameron "Buck" Williams, which sounds more like a porn star name. This would be a more interesting movie if it was a porn star name. Paul Lalonde will produce and co-write the script with John Patus, both having been involved in the previous film trilogy. They'll attempt to make the Christian-themed series more mainstream. Good luck with that. Vic Armstrong(Army of One) was in talks to direct last we heard, but Deadline's report doesn't mention him.

These sound pretty horrible, but they can't be worse than the Cameron films were.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

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Well Goddamn! Nicolas Cage to star in remake of Kirk Cameron's 'Left Behind' trilogy

By now I think we've all come to accept that Nicolas Cage's career will always be a bazarre one, with the actor likely to do pretty much anything that will cause us to say "What the f**k?". Well, prepare for another shocker as Cage is set to star in a mainstream remake of  the Christian-themed Left Behind trilogy. God damn this could be awful.

The relaunch has been in the works since last year, but obviously this is the kick in the pants needed to really get the ball rolling on this likely disaster.  The Left Behind series is a collection of 16 novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. The overarching story takes place in the aftermath of the Rapture and follows a group of god warriors battling against the Global Community, the despotic anti-Christian world government. The books were adapted into a feature film trilogy starring that fanatical douche Kirk Cameron.  They garnered a lot of attention for flicks that were generally piss-poor, featuring shoddy direction and super low budgets. But they did have Louis Gossett Jr., who is always cool to see.

Cloud Ten Pictures is back to produce the film, budgeted at around $15M, roughly $10M more than the original Left Behind cost. Paul Lalonde, writer of the first three films, will produce and co-write the script with John Patus.

I don't know enough about Cage to gauge just how religious he is, but I do remember he starred in Knowing which was a cool mix of religion and science-fiction. These probably won't come anywhere close to that, though. As bad as this sounds, Christian-themed movies have proven to be big draws, and maybe Cage can bring a little more attention to them. Is it too much to ask that Kirk Cameron come back? Can you imagine how nutso those conversations between him and Cage would be? [Variety]

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