Lionsgate (which, in other news just purchased Summit Entertainment) said that they hope for more Twilight once the films end!!!!!

“Woooooo!!!!” – 50%
“Noooooo!!!!” – 50%

What a difference a letter makes. Personally, I fall into the latter category partially due to the fact that I am not a thirteen-year-old girl. Mostly, though, it has to with enjoying good movies, performances, and stories. Weird right? No, not weird.

So in the famous words of David Goes to the Dentist, “Why is this happening?” Well, because Lionsgate is looking for some crazy profits after shelling out $412 million for Summit, and if they know how to do anything well it’s squeeze every last dollar from a bleeding franchise. Except now, Twilight isn’t dead. I mean ‘technically’ it is because the books are over and the movies are finished. Like THE END. But also not totally dead. This guy knows what I’m talking about.

So what are the possible options?
1. Movie.
They could always continue the love story so on and so forth into unrealistic love territory. That sounds fun. Follow Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as they almost kiss happily into married and child raising life.
2. T.V. series.
Follow other vampires and humans fall in love so everyone can still believe in true love even though most marriages are falling apart. (Too soon?) This is the option I would hate second most. There are plenty of bad vampire shows on T.V. right now as it is. Maybe True Blood is actually Twilight Part 2: Vampire Sex.
3. Reboot.
My least favorite, but most logical and realistic plan. Lionsgate buys Summit now then maybe does an extra movie or a canceled T.V. series, but you know what they get to do in 10 years? They get to Spider-man this franchise. That’s where the real money investment is. Because with a reboot they don’t have to convince a generation of fans that it’s good original material. All they have to do is find three more extremely attractive 17 to 22-year-olds and have the world go goo-goo again. Well played Lionsgate.

And now this is the world we live in. Sequels spin off to remakes that spin off to this and that and the eventual post-conversion 10-year anniversary 3DIMAX experience.

More Twilight,

You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me!

…but I know you’re not.

All you fanboys (and fangirls) of the upcoming Lionsgate film The Hunger Games, based on the insanely popular books that bares the same name, should be stoked that advanced tickets will go on sale A LOT earlier than expected. In fact, an entire month earlier.  Feb 22nd, 2012 to be exact.  Lionsgate continues to be at full speed after purchasing Summit over the weekend. Click here for more details on the Summit purchase.

Lionsgate, in an interesting marketing ploy, seems to be implementing a domino-effect type strategy that will likely garner plenty of buzz.  Essentially, I go get my tickets on Feb 22, then go home and ask you if you got yours. Then you follow by asking the next person. This would only work for a film with as much anticipation as The Hunger Games, and is not surprising as Lionsgate starts implementing some of Summit’s brilliant schemes learned from its experience with successfully launching the Twilight franchise.

See below the full press release.

LIONSGATE ANNOUNCES ADVANCE TICKET SALES DATE FOR THE HUNGER GAMES

Tickets Will Go On Sale On February 22^nd, 2012

SANTA MONICA, CA (January 9, 2012) – Lionsgate announced today that tickets for the highly anticipated film THE HUNGER GAMES will go on advance sale on Wednesday, February 22^nd, 2012.  The film takes place during the 74^th Annual Hunger Games, and today marks the celebration of 74 days until the film’s release, another milestone in the countdown to release following the successful #HungerGames100 Poster reveal across 100 websites on December 15^th.

Fans can register for email or text alerts to remind them when tickets go on sale, and also RSVP for the event by clicking here.

Tickets will be on sale on the 22^nd at www.movietickets.com and www.fandango.com.

Share the news on Twitter #HungerGames74

About THE HUNGER GAMES

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games.  A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains.

Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy.  If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.

THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins’ best-selling novel, the first in a trilogy published by Scholastic that has over 16 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.

Lionsgate will release THE HUNGER GAMES on March 23, 2012.

According to people familiar with the situation (i.e. TheWrap.com & Deadline.com), Lionsgate and Summit have reached a much anticipated deal that is expected to be finalized this week.  Lionsgate, the mid-major studio that has carved up a nice chunk of niche market films, has also managed to stick around in a town that often swallows up little guys. They’ve avoided buyouts, bankruptcy, acquisition, and the ferocity of tycoon investor Carl Icahn in mid 2011.  Now, the studio behind the SAW franchise and the upcoming Hunger Games, which Lionsgate hopes to be a giant piggybank, has just acquired the Twilight Franchise with its purchase of Summit Entertainment. Let’s talk about some of the factors of the deal.

Finances – the deal is expected to be around $700 million in a combination of both debt and equity. Lionsgate, a publicly traded company under the ticker LGF, is expected to pay $400 million for Summit’s equity and will inherit over $300 million of Summit’s debt. According to Lionsgate’s most recent SEC filing, the company has $430 million in senior debt, $96 million in convertible debt, and various other production loans.  Just looking at the plain debt alone, the company sits on almost $530 million in debt, and now has another reported $300 million getting added to that. I guess they really have HUGE HUGE hopes for The Hunger Games, the film based off the globally popular books.

Library - Summit Entertainment acquired Twilight from Paramount Pictures around 2006-2007, quite a boo boo on Paramount’s part if you ask me. The first Twilight was released in 2008 to the smiling faces of millions of tween girls. What amazes me is that Lionsgate purchased the company for only an estimated $700 million when Summit’s Twilight series alone has taken in almost $2.5 billion at the box office to date.  Plus, Summit was also behind the first American Pie and Christopher Nolan’s first hit Memento.  Seems that $700 million was a good deal.  Now, Lionsgate will retain ownership of the films, which will be a nice addition to a library consisting of hits such as the SAW franchise, Sly Stallone’s The Expendables, and Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11.

Management - Jon Feltheimer, the masterful CEO over at Lionsgate since 2000, once again strut his shoulders to come out victorious.  His ability to maneuver through deals and communicate with Wall St is nearly unmatched.  He and partner Michael Burns, will assume full control over the newly formed company. While the agreement calls for Summit Co-Chairmen Patrick Wachsberger and Rob Friedman to run the motion-picture division of the combined company, other sources have said that the events of the deal have left a sour feeling between the four men.  These sources also say that it would be shocking if the Summit chairmen made it 30 days into their new job.  But, don’t be upset about their financial security, the Summit men own 30% of Summit and will get one heck of a pay day.

Location – Summit and Lionsgate sit maybe 400 feet apart in Santa Monica, making the geography of the acquisition very convenient.  Their offices are just around the corner from one another.  The Summit building will add a very nice second office to Lionsgate’s Santa Monica hub. Attention film students – I see hiring in the future for Intern runners who will be tasked with going back and forth throughout the day…so start getting in shape.

Overall – Talks of the two companies forming one have been going on for years now. Lionsgate had a very rough 2011 with only taking in an estimated $184 million at the box office.  To put that in perspective, 5 of the 6 major studios (Disney, Warner Bros., Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox) each took in over $1 billion from the domestic box office. Fox, which missed the $1 billion domestic mark by taking in around $850 million domestically, is considered to have had a bad year.  Lionsgate was behind the mega let down remake Conan The Barbarian and box office disappointment Warrior. Even though Warrior, starring Tom Hardy and Joel Edgarton, was one of the better movies of 2011, a terribly poor marketing campaign resulted with the film taking in only $13.5 million at the box office.  Who knows, maybe most of management’s time was spent facilitating this deal and a look towards the future instead of focusing on their current releases.

I think this deal makes a ton of sense.  Despite a poor year, Liongate bolstered its arsenal of assets to gain a lot more presence in a town predominately run by six major studios. As we look towards the future and the upcoming Hunger Games franchise debuting in March, perhaps we will say seven major studios fairly soon.

10- Battleship

Click here to view the embedded video.

I admit when I first heard they were making a film based on the Hasbro board game Battleship I thought it was a terrible idea. I thought it was an even worse idea when I heard it was starring Rihanna. But after this full trailer was released a few weeks back, I can’t help but grin while watching it. This movie looks like a blast.

Release Date: May 18^th 2012

And what’s even better? Well, the red band trailer seems to elaborate on the actual plot a bit more than the official trailer did. So now, it looks like we not only have a run-of-the-mill possessed woman getting exercised film, but also possibly all of Catholic Italy becoming possessed and killing things. Sounds like a jolly good time to me!

As seems to be the case with most found-footage films (Paranormal Activity, Quarantine, The Last Exorcism, etc.), William Brent Bell’s The Devil Inside is filled to the brim with relatively unknown actors and actresses, including Fernanda Andrade, Simon Quarterman, Evan Helmuth, and Bonnie Morgan. Even so, it doesn’t look like that’s going to take away from the movie. In fact, it usually works toward the found-footage genre believability when its cast is not super well-known.

The Devil Inside opens Friday, January 6. Watch the red band trailer below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

From my understanding, the movie is about a good-looking girl who doesn’t want to get married, and then she does. She LOVES sex, but her depressed also good-looking boyfriend doesn’t want to share his ageless goods. This leads to chess, some kissing, and (SPOILER ALERT:) a demon baby. The end.

My biggest problem with Breaking Dawn wasn’t the poor acting. It wasn’t that a werewolf falls in love with a newborn vampire baby. It was the assumption that everyone had seen the first three movies. I know that’s unfair because my guess is neither Stephenie Meyer nor director Bill Condon care remotely about what an adult male has to say about their film. But within the context of the well-received Harry Potter movies, there is a unique story to every film. I’ve seen most of them in nowhere near their intended order, and it is easy to see a plot formulate in each. But Breaking Dawn seems to be comfortable in its incompetence. Assuming its audience is either too young to understand or too obsessed to realize the poor quality,

I guess I should have started by clarifying that I am not a fourteen-year-old girl. That being said, are these movies for fourteen-year-old girls? Oh my! There is a lot of sexy times in this movie for fourteen year old girls. It seems amusing that Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart can break the bed on their wedding night, and that there are numerous innuendos, but not once does anyone utter the word S-E-X.

One thing I did learn while watching the film is why people pick teams. Although it is clear that Edward is who Bella is ‘meant’ to be with, Jacob doesn’t take it lying down. More than once (whether this is intentional or not, I don’t know) Jacob gets pretty touchy feely with Bella, almost kissing her neck at her wedding!

“Not cool, bro!” – Edward

In reality, Breaking Dawn provides no real sense of what a relationship is like. Poor Jacob is forced to spend time with a girl he clearly has feelings for, and even assist the man who took her from him. Bella leads Jacob on but doesn’t seem all that thrilled to be with Edward no matter how many times ‘love’ is mentioned by the 18-year old couple. The first guy Bella meets is the one she ‘should’ be with for the rest of her life, disregarding America’s ridiculously high divorce rate. Reality is no fun!

I’ll say don’t see Breaking Dawn, but, at this point, you already know whether or not you’re going see this movie. I felt the same way before seeing this, never planning on doing so, let alone paying money to see it in a theater. Unfortunately, everything I thought would be bad, was. But some people will greatly enjoy this movie. You know who you are.

Biggest question: What was that werewolf scene? Why was there growling AND talking?
MVP: Billy Burke as Bella’s dad. That guy makes some great faces.

SKIP IT

Today we finally get a real trailer for The Hunger Games. So far, their viral campaign has been great with both the moving poster and the teaser trailer. Thus, it makes sense that this would be just as great, right?

RIGHT! I’m now even more excited! The trailer basically shows the first part of the book, or everything up to the actual Hunger Games. To those who have read it, it’s obvious how much they give away and what they’re actually showing. Basically, they do a great job setting up the games.

The most striking thing about the trailer is how bleak they make it seem. Woo! I know that saying ‘Woo!’ to this is awful, but this isn’t a happy go lucky story, kids. She doesn’t become a wizard or end up with a boringly sexy vampire. She is a poor girl in a dystopian society, which is bullied by an extremely rich government. They do have to romanticize the connection between Katniss, Peeta, and Gale, but it seems like it’s going to be done in the tasteful, B-plotline that it is in the book. (My honest guess: there will be plenty of love story…)

As much as I enjoyed the small preview here, there is one thing that stands extremely clear: Jennifer Lawrence can act. At first unsure of her as Katniss, this proves how, oh, so wrong I was. Here, she makes me eat my own words and follows up to make sure I’ve choked on them. Sure, Elizabeth Banks and Lenny Kravitz look great, but Katniss has to act in a way Kristin Stewart will never care to know. Lawrence has to make us root for her the whole time, but not by falling in love. She must retain our sympathy while murdering other children.

Watch for yourself. This is more exciting than anything I’ve seen coming out this fall. (I know I’m going to have to choke on those words later too.) And the last moment when the games start, oh boy!

Team Peeta!!

(Also can anyone tell me why you pick teams even though a story has already ended?)

If you are one of those people who are worried that Ben Affleck’s next directorial stint is not going to be set in Boston, don’t you fret. I repeat. It’s all going to be okay.

Since you’ve now caught your breath, it appears Affleck will direct a biopic of Whitey Bulger A.K.A. Robin Hood with a thicker Boston accent. A compelling story as Bulger was recently arrested living the good life in Santa Monica, California. But there’s more good news.

The film is set to include Matt Damon. You may remember him from Dogma and they may have done something else together…The band’s back together, boys! Outside of the Kevin Smith realm, the two have done little in the way of each others’ careers since the Oscar win in 1997. The film will also be written by Boardwalk Empire helmer Terence Winter. And to make sure nepotism is in full effect, Casey Affleck will have a role as well. (Lay off on Casey, he’s a good actor.)

There is a little bit of bad news for the duo, though. Currently in the works are other projects to be based on, either directly or not quite as directly, about the notorious criminal. One is a television show about a neighbor who is a major criminal living a normal life, which actually sounds like an entertaining idea for a T.V. show. Good job, people who thought of that! Then there’s the other one, which will propose the biggest competition to this project seeing as it is also a film about Whitey Bulger. And it’ss based on a book. And the point goes to the book? People really like movie books, from what I hear. Oh what’s that? Yes it is to be co-produced by Twilight star Peter Facinelli. Twilight stars know a thing or two about adapting books, don’t they, Water for Elephants?

In the end, some of you this may find this all good news because it is going to be set in Boston and feature a lot of heavy Bostonian accent. And really those are the best kinds of movies aren’t they?

Unfortunately, I’ve never had a chance to read the books but it has become quite apparent that they are ridiculously popular and also quite good. But at the same time, does anyone think this is a bit soon? I mean the first film has just begun filming!

I guess it should come as no surprise with the early buzz for this film not to mention the incredibly impressive cast featuring Jennifer Lawrence, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, and I’m sure more casting announcements are on the way.

I’m assuming this is a clever marketing technique by Lionsgate to get fans excited for a franchise and the actual deal will be made official based off of ‘The Hunger Games’ performance next year. But judging by the level of anticipation it seems like a strong possibility.

Surely, this isn’t new information to all you Banterers out there. Surely, you have been made aware of (if not actively pursued) Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Twilight Saga, and The Vampire Diaries, to name only a few. Surely, at least some of you have a Rob Pattinson poster on your wall. And surely, there must be a select few of you who even hang that poster proudly.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I believe there is definitely a time and a place for vampires, like, for example, in the present day South where racial, gay, and feminist issues all take a backseat to vampires coming out of the closet to live amongst real people (thanks, Allan Ball: I’ve been bitten, so to speak, by True Blood). But does my intense interest, or even (if we must go there) love for a vampire show entail that every moving image would be better off with a member of the undead?

I mean, seriously guys, just how many more vampire movies can we take? Well, if the new trailer (below) for Craig Gillespie’s horror remake Fright Night is any indication, I suppose at least one more. A little bit Stepfather and a lot Disturbia, Fright Night, starring Collin Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Toni Collette, and Anton Yelchin, follows a teenage boy (Yelchin) as he discovers that his next door neighbor (Farrell) is in fact–wait for it–a vampire.

And the vampire movies just keep on a-comin’. What with the currently released Scott Charles Stewart’s Priest and the upcoming Timur Bekmambetov’s  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, it appears as if this trend is taking off once again. And so I ask you: how much exactly is TOO much?

Click here to view the embedded video.