Box Office: 'Apes' Retains Top Spot, 'The Purge: Anarchy' Kills while 'Sex Tape' Flops

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes- $36M/$138.9M
Unsurprisingly, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes held on to the top spot, but what is a little surprising is the small 49% decline. Thank a number of superlative reviews with many claiming it to be the best tentpole film of the summer. Internationally it has added another $32M for a total of $171M, right at the estimated $170M production budget.
2. The Purge: Anarchy- $28.3M
Although The Purge: Anarchy's $28M debut falls short of The Purge's $34M just last year, it perhaps has a better shot at performing better in the long run. The film is getting relatively good reviews for expanding the core premise of a national holiday where all violent crime is legal. That concept has always been the biggest hook, and with audiences happy at seeing more of it, the film has a 'B' Cinemascore, it should mean solid word of mouth buzz.
3. Planes: Fire and Rescue- $18M
The only film with an 'A' Cinemascore this week is Disney's largely unwanted sequel, Planes: Fire and Rescue. The last film began life as a straight-to-DVD project before the Mouse House decided to bring it to theaters, and it succeeded with $219M. 'Fire and Rescue' may not reach those levels but it doesn't really need to in order to be profitable. These movies cost about $50M, are sure to make bank overseas, and are basically just feature-length TV commercials for Cars/Planes merchandise.
4. Sex Tape- $15M
The biggest fail of the week was Sex Tape, the toothless R-rated comedy with Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel. It's actually a pretty funny film, just not as edgy as the marketing suggested, and that has driven many of the bad reviews that have played a part in it doing so poorly. The film inexplicably cost $40M and should manage to recoup that, but it says something that Sex Tape is lagging behind Diaz's most recent sex-themed comedy, The Other Woman, which opened at $25M and ended up with a whopping $190M worldwide. Bad Teacher, which featured the same cast and director, similarly started off slow before ending up with $216M, and maybe Sex Tape will rebound in the same way. Doubtful, but anything's possible.
5. Transformers: Age of Extinction- $10M/$227.1M
$886M and counting for Michael Bay's fourth Transformers flick. It should surpass Maleficent and X-men: Days of Future Past's domestic haul probably by the end of today, and may steal the top slot from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
6. Tammy- $7.6M/$71.2M
7. 22 Jump Street- $4.7M/$180.5M
8. How to Train Your Dragon 2- $3.8M/$160.6M
9. Maleficent- $3.3M/$228.3M
10. Earth to Echo- $3.2M/$31.9M

Zach Braff's Kickstarter-funded Wish I Was Here opened to decent business with $495K at only 68 sites. Richard Linklater's apparent Oscar-contender Boyhood was the big art house winner of the week, expanding to 33 locations with a hefty $36K per-site-average for $1.2M. Overall the film has earned $1.8M and will continue to roll into more cities over the next few weeks. 

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Box Office: 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Conquers with $73M

1. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes- $73M
Bad pun alert! Audiences went bananas for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which debuted at $73M plus another $30M international for a solid $103M weekend.That's close to $20M above what Rise of the Planet of the Apes did three years ago, and that went on to a robust $481M overall. So this is good news for 20th Century Fox as they seek to recoup the $170M production budget, and it's also good for director Matt Reeves in his most high-profile directing gig yet after monster flick Cloverfield and the horror remake, Let Me In. It also means we're likely to see Andy Serkis suited up for a third film, and maybe he'll finally get the Academy Awards recognition he's so long deserved?
2. Transformers: Age of Extinction- $16.5M/$209M
$752M worldwide and counting.
3. Tammy- $12.9M/$57.3M
Audiences don't seem to care about the awful reviews from critics as Tammy only slipped 40% from last week.
4. 22 Jump Street- $6.7M/$171.9M
5. How to Train Your Dragon 2- $5.8M/$152M
6. Earth to Echo- $5.5M/$24.5M
Taking advantage of the rarity of live-action kiddie films, Earth to Echo excelled in its second week with only a 34% drop. Right now the film is up to $24.5M, nearly double its budget. Chances are it will take a hit when Planes: Fire and Rescue opens next week.
7. Deliver Us from Evil- $4.7M/$25M
8. Maleficent- $4.1M/$221.9M
9. Begin Again- $2.9M/$5.2M
Expanding to 939 theaters is John Carney's Begin Again, his follow-up to the beloved 2006 musical-romance, Once. That small Irish film came out of nowhere to become a critical, Oscar-winning favorite, but Begin Again is much more of a studio effort with Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo in the leads. The results have been decidedly mixed (although I loved it) with the major complaint that it's basically a redo of Once, and maybe that talk has tempered the audience somewhat. 
10. Jersey Boys- $2.5M/$41.7M

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Box Office: 'Transformers: Age of Extinction' Scores 2014's Biggest Opening Weekend

1. Transformers: Age of Extinction- $100M
It appears there's a lot more energon in the tank of Paramount's Transformers franchise as Transformers: Age of Extinction scored the biggest opening weekend of 2014 with $100M. The fourth film in the series and the second to be called Michael Bay's finale (we'll see about that), this is also the first to open on a Friday, oddly enough, and the results were $41M on that first night alone. The film was also a Chinese co-production with the action taking place partly in Hong Kong, and that no doubt factored into the strong $30M it earned there as part of a $201M international haul. At $301M on the first weekend there's every reason to think it will cross the $1B mark just as the last film did. One has to consider the addition of Mark Wahlberg, who is signed up for multiple movies, had a hand to play in keeping audiences interested at a time when most franchises start to die out. Whether Bay returns for the already-confirmed Transformers 5 in 2016 is unknown but if not he's going out with a band, just as we'd expect him to.
2. 22 Jump Street- $15.4M/$139.8M
3. How to Train Your Dragon 2- $13.1M/$121.8M
4. Think Like a Man Too - $10.4/$48.1M
On less solid footing than the prior movie, Think Like A Man Too slipped 64% and seems a long shot to match Think Like A Man's $96M run.
5. Maleficent- $8.2M/$201.8M
6. Jersey Boys- $7.6M/$27.3M
7. Edge of Tomorrow- $5.2M/$84.1M
8. The Fault In Our Stars- $4.8M/$109.5M
9. X-men: Days of Future Past- $3.3M/$223.3M
Skirts past the $700M mark worldwide. 
10. Chef- $1.6M/$19.4M
Jon Favreau's little culinary film keeps on cookin', slipping only 3% from last week.

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Box Office: 'Think Like A Man Too' Gambles and Wins with $30M; 'Jersey Boys' Only $13M

1. Think Like A Man Too- $30M
To nobody's surprise Think Like a Man Too was the top new release o the week with $30M. What may be a little bit unexpected was the total, which checks in at less than the $33M debut of 2012's Think Like A Man. The reasons for this probably have to do with their being a greater uptick in the number of African-American comedies, nearly all of which star Kevin Hart who really blew up after the first film. For him, this is a stronger open than the $25M About Last Night earned, and considerably less than Ride Along's $41M. But the good thing about it is none of these movies cost all that much, and Think Like A Man Too only ran about $24M so Screen Gems is pretty happy right now and probably thinking of what exotic locale to take the gang next. Think Like A Man Three: European Vacation?
2. 22 Jump Street- $29M/$111.4M
Slipping 49% in its second weekend was 22 Jump Street, but at $149M worldwide there's every reason to expect it will surpass the $201M total haul of 21 Jump Street.
3. How to Train Your Dragon 2- $25.3M/$95.1M
Dreamworks isn't getting quite what they hoped for out of How to Train Your Dragon 2, which after two weeks isn't performing much better than the original hit movie. Worldwide it has only gained about $131M, well below the prior film's $500M.
4. Jersey Boys- $13.5M
Maybe they should have held all of the Jersey Boys screenings before 5pm, included with an Early Bird Special? Clearly, Clint Eastwood was hoping his fellow octogenarians would carry his adaptation of the hit Broadway musical to greater heights than a mere $13.5M but they simply didn't turn out for the film. This is especially notable since older-skewing movies have been performing like gangbusters of late, which means some of the blame has to fall on Warner Bros.' marketing which relied less on the popularity of the musical or the Four Seasons' music than they did on Eastwood's name. And as we've seen with a movie like Trouble with the Curve, Eastwood's name doesn't quite hold the same cache it used to. The odd summer release schedule probably didn't help as this would normally be the type of film we'd see in the fall.
5. Maleficent- $13M/$185.9M
6. Edge of Tomorrow- $10.3M/$74.5M
For further proof that domestic grosses don't mean much anymore, simply look at the $181M earned by Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow overseas. That brings the total to $255M which doesn't look bad at all, does it?
7. The Fault In Our Stars- $8.6M/$98.7M
In related news, Kleenex stock up 47% in the last three weeks. By the way, The Fault In Our Stars is wringing tears all around the world, about $42M worth on top of the domestic numbers. In other words, Shailene Woodley is a superstar.
8. X-men: Days of Future Past- $6.2M/$216.7M
9. Chef- $1.8M/$16.9M
If they ever do a live-action Ratatouille they better hire Jon Favreau. 
10. Godzilla- $1.8M/$194.9M

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Box Office: '22 Jump Street' Captures $60M; 'How to Train Your Dragon 2' Burns Up $50M

1. 22 Jump Street- $60M
Remember when the idea of Jonah Hill remaking 21 Jump Street seemed like the worst idea ever? That film went on to over $200M, becoming one of the highest-grossing R-rated comedies, and and now 22 Jump Street is poised to do even better. The sequel opened to a whopping $60M, the fifth best weekend for a comedy ever and far better than 21 Jump Street's $36M debut. That film had remarkably long legs bolstered by strong word-of-mouth, and considering the reviews for the sequel have been just as good, we could be looking at a similarly lengthy run. Obviously this is a huge feather in the cap of Hill, Channing Tatum, and cIce Cube, but probably the biggest beneficiary of these numbers is co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The duo already have one 2014 hit under their belts with The Lego Movie, and if 22 Jump Street's numbers hold they will be the first directors ever to have two $60M debuting films in the same calendar year. Sony is probably already on the phone with everybody and ordering up a trip (next door, as it were) to 23 Jump Street.
2. How to Train Your Dragon 2- $50M
Dreamworks was probably expecting How to Train Your Dragon 2 to soar to greater heights, but the $50M opening weekend does surpass the first film's $43M premiere. It's just that we tend to see bigger bumps on animated sequels, although to be fair most of them don't face a buzzsaw the likes of 22 Jump Street, or strong holdovers in Maleficent, Edge of Tomorrow, X-men: Days of Future Past, and The Fault In Our Stars.There aren't a ton of family-friendly options until deep into July so the film will do well here and overseas. No matter what we're going to get How to Train Your Dragon 3 which is already set to open in 2016.
3. Maleficent- $19M/$163.5M
4. Edge of Tomorrow- $16.1M/$56.6M
Tom Cruise's Edge of Tomorrow slipped 44% from last week which is actually pretty good and suggests the positive reviews are having an effect. While these numbers are still disappointing,Cruise's global appeal has earned it an additional $111M on the foreign market.
5. The Fault In Our Stars- $15.7M/$81.7M
Good news and bad news for Shailene Woodley's acclaimed cancer drama, The Fault In Our Stars. The bad news is it tumbled hard, losing 67% after opening at #1. I guess every drop of tears was spilled last week and nobody had it in them to spill any more. The good news is the film has already banked $98M if you count international totals, more than making up the $12M budget.
6. X-men: Days of Future Past- $9.5M/$205.9M
Bryan Singer's all-star mutant jam X-men: Days of Future Past has now overtaken The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as the highest-grossing film of the summer, and currently sits at $633M worldwide.
7. Godzilla- $3.1M/$191.3M
8. A Million Ways to Die in the West- $3M/$38.9M
9. Neighbors- $2.4M/$143.1M
10. Chef- $2.2M/$14M

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Box Office: 'The Fault In Our Stars' Takes Down Tom Cruise with $48M Debut

1. The Fault In Our Stars- $48.2M
Shailene Woodley kicked Tom Cruise's ass this weekend as The Fault In Our Stars opened to $48.2M after a huge $26M Friday night.  The film had a huge built-in audience thanks to author John Green's ubiquitous social media presence, and that the book has been a best-seller for months, but I think how well the film did will come as a bigger surprise to older audiences who might have expected Cruise to rule the day. Only a handful of films into her career and Woodley has established herself as a critical and box office darling. She already has a franchise in Divergent to call her own, and the dramatic credentials to possibly contend for awards down the line.
2. Maleficent- $33.5M/$127.3M
Angelina Jolie's Maleficent held on well enough, slipping only 52% from last week. That's not bad considering the competition from two new films targeting its core audience. Disney has to be pleased, especially with an additional $208M overseas giving the film $335M in only two weeks.
3. Edge of Tomorrow- $29.1M
 On the other hand, sci-fi continues to not be Tom Cruise's friend at the box office, at least not domestically. Edge of Tomorrow opened at $29.1M, trailing the $37M debut of Oblivion, which didn't do so hot either. At this point Cruise is more of a global star than he is here in America as the film racked up an impressive $60M on the international scene, and should help put a dent in the $175M+ budget, the most expensive of Cruise's lengthy career.
4. X-men: Days of Future Past- $14.7M/$189.1M
5. A Million Ways to Die in the West- $7.1M/$30M
6. Godzilla- $5.9M/$185M
7. Neighbors- $5.2M/$137.8M
8. Blended- $4M/$36.5M
9. Chef- $2.6M/$10.3M
Bolstered by strong reviews and a lot of help from his celebrity pals, Jon Favreau's Chef continues to be an art house sleeper, jumping up 36% in expanded release.
10. Million Dollar Arm- $1.8M/$31.3M

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Box Office: 'Maleficent' Casts $170M Spell Over the World

1. Maleficent- $70M
Angelina Jolie doesn't star in as many films as she used to, but when she does they tend to be huge. And that looks to be the case with Maleficent, Disney's latest attempt to rebrand their animated classics as live-action tentpoles. The $70M debut is bolstered by an additional $100M overseas, putting a good sized dent in the budget that some estimate was around $175M. This still comes in under the opening weekends of Disney's Oz the Great and Powerful and Alice in Wonderland, both of which had visual effects by Maleficent director, Robert Stromberg. He has to be feeling pretty good right about now and this probably puts him high on Disney's list for future reimaginings after next year's Cinderella. Before now Jolie hadn't been in a live-action film since 2010's The Tourist, which banked $270M even though it was awful. She also starred in the random action flick, Salt, which further proved her box office mettle with $290M. It'll be interesting how Maleficent plays down the line as the reviews have been mixed and some of the material a little dark for kids.
2. X-men: Days of Future Past- $32.6M/$162M
More destructive than the Sentinels was the 64% skid for X-men: Days of Future Past, which is somewhat to be expected considering the strong competition. The film has now earned $383M worldwide and should have 20th Century Fox feeling pretty good about 2016's sequel, X-men: Apocalypse. 
3. A Million Ways to Die In the West- $17M
The only thing more uncertain than a western movie at the box office is a comedy-western, and now Seth MacFarlane knows that fact intimately. A Million Ways to Die in the West opened to a flat $17M, and it's not as if we can blame the star-studded cast of Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, and Neil Patrick Harris. Part of the problem was the marketing which pushed a bunch of sight gags but not much more, and generally poor reviews (I thought it was okay) couldn't have helped.  There wasn't a tumbleweed's chance in Hell that it would come close to matching the $50M+ debut of Ted, but the expectations were much higher given MacFarlane's past successes. Fortunately the film only cost $40M and has a earned an additional $10M internationally, so when all is said and done it will make a few bucks.
4. Godzilla- $12.2M/$174.6M
5. Blended- $8.4M/$29.6M
6. Neighbors- $7.7M/$128.6M
7. The Amazing Spider-Man 2- $3.77M/$192.7M
8. Million Dollar Arm- $3.7M/$28M
9. Chef- $2M/$6.9M
10. The Other Woman- $1.4M/$81.1M

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Cinema Royale #64- Maleficent; A Million Ways to Die In the West

On this week's Cinema Royale, Angelina Jolie shows her villainous side in Disney's Maleficent! Leslie "The Cinema Siren" Combemale will join us to talk about Jolie's performance as the infamous Disney villain. Also, we'll take a look at Seth MacFarlane's comedy-western, A Million Ways to Die in the West, starring Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried.

On the indie front, Jason Ritter calls in to discuss his new ensemble dramedy, The Big Ask, starring David Krumholtz and Melanie Lynskey.

All this plus news on Marvel's Ant-Man, Daredevil, Justice League, and much more!

Cinema Royale is part of the Hashtag Studios Broadcast Network and brings you movie reviews and news straight from the Nation's Capital! Go to www.cinemaroyaleshow.com and subscribe, and while there consider signing up for the premium service for more content and to be entered in our monthly prize drawing!

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Review: 'Maleficent' Starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning

There's a very good reason why Maleficent is Disney's most notorious villain, appearing in video games and other films in all her dastardly glory. The Sleeping Beauty antagonist was straight-up evil and reveled in that wickedness, and along with her obsidian visage, willingness to kill an innocent girl, and ability to transform into a dragon (!!!) she has earned a spot as one incredible animated heel. But Maleficent, billed as a total reimagining of the Sleeping Beauty story, attempts to soften her into just another villain with a secret heart of gold, and in the process they take away what made her interesting in the first place.

Disney, who seem to be on a kick of revamping their animated classics into forgettable live-action films, have put their trust in debut director Robert Stromberg, the guy largely responsible for the elaborate, soulless look of Oz the Great and Powerful and Alice in Wonderland. Maleficent suffers from the same sterility brought on by an overabundance of digital effects, bleeding into a story that fails to offer much of a human quality and not nearly enough of Angelina Jolie (and her awesome cheekbones!) vamping it up. That's not to say she isn't terrific because Jolie embodies Maleficent so utterly that it makes the film's deficiencies elsewhere all the more obvious, and those problems begin with the severe deviations from the source material.

The Maleficent we are treated to was a happy young fairy, living amongst the magical creatures of the Moors, a lush, natural fantasy land separated from the humans. With her powerful wings, Maleficent soars through the air and is innocent of heart until she encounters Stefan, a young human boy who wandered into the Moors to steal something. She should have taken the hint, but instead Maleficent and Stefan fall in love, enjoying one another's company until he grows older and obsessed with becoming king. In a shocking, too-disturbing-for-kids act of betrayal, Stefan (now played by Sharlto Copley) takes the one thing in the world she loves most so that he can attain the throne.

It's at this point when the film briefly settles into normalcy and shines as Maleficent, all angry and literally green with rage, crashes a party at the castle celebrating the birth of Princess Aurora (Elle Fanning). Swatting aside the three nice-but-annoying fairies (Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville, Juno Temple), she casts the familiar convoluted curse that would have Aurora pricking her finger on a spindle and falling into an eternal sleep, all by the age of 16. This is Jolie's truest moment to really show her wicked side, and she eats up the opportunity and goes in for a second helping. For a short while Stromberg and screenwriter Linda Woolverton (also of Alice in Wonderland) give the film a jolt of life that sadly goes missing the instant this scene draws to a close in a puff of green smoke.

From that point on it becomes abundantly clear that Disney never thought beyond the "let's make a Maleficent movie" stage because they fail to give the character a clear motivation. Aurora, now a teenager living with her three bumbling fairy guardians (Why are they morons, anyway?) is never given a personality to speak of. All we see of her is through the incompetence of her caretakers, and when they prove unable to watch over her it is Maleficent who, for reasons unknown, becomes her watchful fairy godmother. As Stefan sinks into a paranoid haze, Aurora and Maleficent are off bonding and playing with weird creatures, but really there is nothing of value going on for the entire second act.  Little effort is made to show us what is going on inside the heads of either Maleficent or Aurora, confusing for a film that seems to exist largely to be a source of empowerment to young women. To that end the male characters, specifically the handsome Prince Philip (Brenton Thwaites), are refashioned entirely or shifted into the background. Sam Riley is decent comic relief as Maleficent's shape-changing raven, Dieval, and more than any other has a real connection with Jolie.

Maleficent marks a wasted opportunity by Disney and Stromberg to present a truly devilish take on an old favorite. Jolie brings the fire and her formidable aura to the role but Maleficent's wings are clipped by a script that never offers a clear path for the character to take. Even if that path is one of pure wicked evil it would have been preferable to being dull and misunderstood.

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*CLOSED* 'Maleficent' Advance Screening

The story of Sleeping Beauty is given a new spin with Disney's Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie as the iconic fairy tale villain. Co-starring Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley, and Brenton Thwaites, the film tells the the familiar story of Sleeping Beauty while exploring the untold events that turned Maleficent's heart to stone. We're offering our readers a chance to attend a free advance screening of Maleficent, held on Wednesday May 28th at 7:30pm at Regal Majestic in Silver Spring.

To qualify, you MUST be a fan of Punch Drunk Critics on Facebook,so if you haven't "Liked" us yet please go there and do so now. To win, simply email punchdrunktrav@gmail.com with your full name and favorite fairy tale character. Winners will be selected and notified on Monday, May 26th.

Good luck!

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Angelina Jolie Crashes the Party in First 'Maleficent' Clip

In both the Brothers Grimm fairy tale and Disney's animated Sleeping Beauty, what drove Maleficent to evil was her being uninvited to a ceremony thrown by the king and queen. It's then that she casts a fatal curse that is weakened to merely a sleeping spell by one of the good fairies in attendance. Disney's live-action film Maleficent seems to be going to great lengths to make her sympathetic, but that will be tough to do based on this first clip.

Playing out almost exactly like the animated film, this clip shows Maleficent crashing the party after she was left off the guest list, causing an "awkward situation". If the rest of the story plays out in the way we're familiar then she's still going to come off like Disney's ultimate heel.

Maleficent opens May 30th and co-stars Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Sharlto Copley.


Maleficent Movie CLIP - No Invitation (2014) - Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning Movie HD by mtrailers

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Final Trailer for Disney's 'Maleficent' Starring Angelina Jolie

What are the reasons that Disney's most notorious villain, Maleficent, became so evil in the first place? What drove her to such dastardly lengths seen in Sleeping Beauty? The answer to that question will arrive when Maleficent hits theaters in just a few weeks, but with Disney's overzealous marketing push they are making it very clear they want us to perceive her in a totally different light.

Directed by Robert Stromberg with a script by Linda Woolverton (Alice in Wonderland), the film will be driven by Angelina Jolie's performance as the infamous evil queen. The story will be told from her perspective and clue us in to the reasons behind her actions, and there's a very heavy emphasis on the history of the story. Disney really wants us to know how painstakingly faithful the film will be so it will be interesting to see how they pull off making Maleficent sympathetic.

Co-starring Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley, Juno Temple, and Imelda Staunton, Maleficent opens May 30th.

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New Posters for 'Maleficent', 'Sin City: A Dame to Kill For', and 'Edge of Tomorrow'

We haven't done a poster round-up in awhile, so here are some for what are expected to be three of the summer's biggest hits.

First up are new character posters for Disney's Maleficent, opening May 30th with Angelina Jolie as the Sleeping Beauty villainess. Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Imelda Staunton, Sam Riley, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville co-star with Robert Stromberg making his feature directing debut.

PLOT: “Maleficent” explores the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the classic “Sleeping Beauty” and the elements of her betrayal that ultimately turn her pure heart to stone. Driven by revenge and a fierce desire to protect the moors over which she presides, Maleficent cruelly places an irrevocable curse upon the human king’s newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Aurora is caught in the middle of the seething conflict between the forest kingdom she has grown to love and the human kingdom that holds her legacy. Maleficent realizes that Aurora may hold the key to peace in the land and is forced to take drastic actions that will change both worlds forever. 

The latest posters from Robert Rodriguez's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For show off the returning Mickey Rourke as Marv and Jessica Alba as Nancy, done in the style of co-director Frank Miller's graphic novels. The film stars Josh Brolin, Eva Green, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Jaime Chung, and many more. While there are a few new stories, the centerpiece tale follows Dwight (Brolin, replacing Clive Owen) as he tries to escape being murdered by the titular dame, the only woman he ever loved. Sin City: A Dame to Kill For opens August 22nd.

PLOT: Co-directors Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller reunite to bring Miller’s visually stunning “Sin City” graphic novels back to the screen in SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR. Weaving together two of Miller’s classic stories with new tales, the town’s most hard boiled citizens cross paths with some of its more reviled inhabitants. SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR is the follow up to Rodriguez and Miller’s 2005 groundbreaking film, FRANK MILLER’S SIN CITY. 

 Live. Die. Repeat. Three new posters have arrived for Doug Liman's futuristic Edge of Tomorrow featuring Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in seriously advanced (and bulky) battle armor. You won't have to wait for the far-flung future to see it though as the film arrives on June 6th.

PLOT: The epic action of “Edge of Tomorrow” unfolds in a near future in which an alien race has hit the Earth in an unrelenting assault, unbeatable by any military unit in the world.

Major William Cage (Cruise) is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously dropped into what amounts to a suicide mission. Killed within minutes, Cage now finds himself inexplicably thrown into a time loop—forcing him to live out the same brutal combat over and over, fighting and dying again…and again.

But with each battle, Cage becomes able to engage the adversaries with increasing skill, alongside Special Forces warrior Rita Vrataski (Blunt). And, as Cage and Rita take the fight to the aliens, each repeated encounter gets them one step closer to defeating the enemy.

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New Footage in the Japanese 'Maleficent' Trailer

At least on the domestic front Disney seems to have calmed down shoving Maleficent in our faces, for the time being, anyway. But there are other international markets out there still to be conquered, and so we have a brand new Japanese trailer with some never-before-seen footage of Angelina Jolie as the titular Sleeping Beauty villain. Directed by Robert Stromberg and starring Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley, and more, the film tells the classic fairy tale from Maleficent's evil perspective.

Maleficent opens May 30th.


Maleficent Japanese Trailer by itsartmag

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Wicked New Trailer for 'Maleficent' Starring Angelina Jolie

What's that, you say? Disney has been releasing footage from Maleficent at a clip only Sony and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (which has yet ANOTHER trailer tomorrow!?!?) could appreciate? That's definitely true, and yet here we are with a new spot that presents a fuller look at Angelina Jolie as Disney villain.

This series of trailers all seem to be focused on the central theme that Maleficent is somehow misunderstood, or at the very least she's someone worthy of our sympathy. Here we see just a hint of the events that darkened her heart and led her to cast a terrible curse on Princess Aurora. Will audiences be willing to pay to see the fairy tale from a different angle? It kind of worked for Disney with Oz the Great and Powerful, but not on the scale they had hoped.

We'll probably have another ten trailers by the time Maleficent opens on May 30th.

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Angelina Jolie Has Wings in New 'Maleficent' Teaser

Even a devious, iconic villain like Maleficent couldn't have been born evil. Something must have happened to her to make her that way, and that's the story being told in Maleficent, Disney's live-action take on Sleeping Beauty told from the evil fairy's perspective.  The marketing blitz is in full swing with a new "legacy" trailer released over the weekend, Angelina Jolie everywhere making the press rounds, and now a brief teaser about the loss of Maleficent's wings.

“I had wings once. And they were strong, but they were stolen from me." Maleficent is looking for our sympathy in this clip, and it'll be interesting to see how Jolie and director Robert Stromberg attempt to make us feel something for her, considering the terrible acts we know she'll commit. It's a tough job, but if anybody can pull that off it's Jolie.

Maleficent opens in theaters May 30th.

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The Sleeping Beauty Legacy Inspires New 'Maleficent' Trailer

Although Disney's Maleficent is live-action and tells the Sleeping Beauty story from the villain's perspective, it's still sticking very close to the source material. There's a great animated lineage director Robert Stromberg is building from, and that legacy is a big part of the latest trailer. Angelina Jolie dons some nasty horns as the title character, in what looks like a deliciously evil lead performance. Elle Fanning is Princess Aurora, surrounded by a supporting cast that includes Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley, Brenton Thwaites, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Miranda Richardson, and Lesley Manville.

Maleficent opens May 30th 2014. Check out the trailer and plot synopsis below.


Maleficent Trailer 3 - Legacy by Stuff We Like

PLOT: “Maleficent” is the untold story of Disney’s most iconic villain from the 1959 classic “Sleeping Beauty.” A beautiful, pure-hearted young woman, Maleficent has an idyllic life growing up in a peaceable forest kingdom, until one day when an invading army threatens the harmony of the land. Maleficent rises to be the land’s fiercest protector, but she ultimately suffers a ruthless betrayal—an act that begins to turn her pure heart to stone. Bent on revenge, Maleficent faces an epic battle with the invading king’s successor and, as a result, places a curse upon his newborn infant Aurora. As the child grows, Maleficent realizes that Aurora holds the key to peace in the kingdom—and perhaps to Maleficent’s true happiness as well.

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Check Out Angelina Jolie's Horns in New 'Maleficent' Posters

Disney is going full steam ahead with the marketing for Maleficent, and as expected the bulk of that campaign is focused on Angelina Jolie. A few days after images were released of Jolie, her young daughter Vivienne, and more of the film's cast, Disney has unveiled two new posters showing off Maleficent's horny side.

A new trailer should be arriving soon for the film that is a twist on the traditional Sleeping Beauty, telling the tale from the villainous Maleficent's perspective. Directed by Robert Stromberg and co-starring Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, and Lesley Manville the film arrives on May 30th.

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New Photos of Angelina Jolie as Disney's 'Maleficent'

”It is really funny when people say you’d be obvious for a great villain, ", Angelina Jolie told EW in an interview about Disney's Maleficent, in which she plays the notorious Sleeping Beauty villain. And she's probably right, but Jolie has long been considered one of the toughest actresses in Hollywood with a string of high-profile action roles, which made her the perfect choice to tweak that persona just a little bit towards the dark side.

EW has released a batch of new photos from Maleficent, a retelling of the classic Sleeping Beauty story told from the villain's perspective. Elle Fanning, Sam Riley, Sharlto Copley, and Brenton Thwaites co-star, along with a brief appearance by Jolie and Brad Pitt's daughter, Vivienne. Jolie talks about acting with her daughter for the first time, as well as the purpose behind focusing the story on Maleficent...

Jolie:  “The exercise wasn’t how can we have fun with a villain? It was: What turns people evil and vile and aggressive and cruel? What could have possibly happened to her?”

Directed by Robert Stromberg, Maleficent opens May 30th. 

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New 'Maleficent' Trailer Includes a Sinister Twist on a Classic Song

Disney has always had a way of taking their own beloved movies and twisting them around. And with the new trailer of Maleficent, they've even taken what was once a sweet song from Sleeping Beauty and twisted it into something far more creepy and sinister-sounding. The new trailer for the movie doesn't have much in the way of dialogue, but it gives us glimpses into battles, Angelina Jolie's evil laugh, and lots of magical creatures. There's also no doubt that Jolie looks just like the character we've all come to know.

There have been a lot of hits and misses within the well-known, live-action story world with last year's Hansel and Gretel: Witchhunters and Jack the Giant Slayer not doing well. But Maleficent's anticipation is high and with the sinister factor in place and the film's new villainness point of view, Disney might have a hit on their hands.

Also starring Elle Fanning and Imelda Staunton, the film will cast its spell on May 30.

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