“AMERICAN GANGSTER” REVIVED A MORIBUND BOX office season last weekend, opening with around $43 million. Jerry Seinfeld’s “Bee Movie” also opened strong, at nearly $38 million. “Gangster,” R-rated and two and a half hours long, is quite impressive in storming out to such a big opening.
The film is unique to this fall, because it isn’t completely boring. Rather, with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe it was money in the bank especially with its dual-underdog protagonist set-up and generically smooth execution by director Ridley Scott. Box office since the record-breaking 2007 summer had been down and actually rather embarrassing lately, with “Heartbreak Kid,” “30 Days of Night” and “Rendition” all fizzling and many other films like “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” quickly becoming punch-lines.
It remains to be seen if presumed “sure-fire” hits like “Beowulf,” “Enchanted,” “Fred Claus” and “I Am Legend” will perform well. Inside tip: “Fred Claus” will not do well. Yes, I will apologize if I am wrong, but I predict an opening in the low 20s at most and then a quick drop. Not all Christmas movies hit, and it really looks god-awful. With the video game “Halo 3” making more money than any three movies this fall combined and NFL ratings sky-high, it seems that the fall movie season needs to take note and realize that if you are gonna stretch the summer into spring, you may need to push the summer into fall, or deal with the consequences of people wanting to stay home and play video games rather than sitting through three hours of pretentious filmmaking.
FABIO THROWDOWN I guess he can’t believe it’s not butter. Or he can’t believe George Clooney isn’t a nice guy. Friday night at Hollywood’s Madeo restaurant, a celebrity fist-fight almost occurred. Fabio, the blond, long-locked, walking romance novel cover and Clooney were both dining when friends of Fabio’s began snapping photos. Clooney, leery of photographs of any kind apparently, erupted at the female Fabio friend. Fabio, always the polite gentleman, trotted over to Clooney’s table and explained the situation and Clooney and his girlfriend Sarah Larson would have no part of it. Fabio yelled “Stop being a diva!” reportedly.
That would have been a great fight. Clooney paid his bill and left without eating dinner. Fabio was the real loser in this celebrity battle. The fourth most recognizable celebrity in the restaurant at the time behind Joe Pesci, Helen Mirren and Clooney, it looks like Fabio’s “No Like” list now includes Clooney, geese, fast-moving roller coasters at Busch Gardens and butter or margarine or whatever the hell it is that wonderful product is. Just so you all know, Fabio has one of the world’s most premiere home entertainment systems which the icon installed himself. I’m glad his manager leaked that to me, now I totally think he’s not just another pretty face.
GETTING HITCHED Anthony Hopkins (I refuse to call him “Sir”) is slated to star in a biopic about Alfred Hitchcock. He has played John Quincy Adams, Richard Nixon, Ptolemy, Pablo Picasso and now he will play Hitch, the Master of Suspense himself. He does resemble him in recent years and can definitely do the accent. The film will take place during the production of “Psycho” and will show
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 10, 2007. Read the original PDF.