Teen tale, suspense drama and action thriller land in theaters
A teen tale (“Accepted”), a suspense drama (“The Illusionist”), a tweens title (“Material Girls”), an action thriller (“Snakes on a Plane”), a romantic comedy (“Trust the Man”) and a mob picture (“10th & Wolf”) are landing in theaters on this third weekend of August. The new films (with all dates subject to change) opening at a theater near you include:
– “Accepted,” with Justin Long (TV’s “Ed”) and Blake Lively (“The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants”) in a PG-13 teen comedy about a struggling high-school senior who uses various computer tricks to convince his parents he’s been accepted to a college.
He then finds that other under-achieving students are also convinced that his university is real and start applying for acceptance.
– “Changing Times,” with Gerard Depardieu (“1900”) and Catherine Deneuve (“Repulsion”) in a European import about a man who decides to find the woman with whom he enjoyed his first great love three decades ago. Andre Techine (“The Wild Reeds”) directed the unrated picture, which will be shown in French with subtitles.
– “The Illusionist,” with Edward Norton (“Fight Club”), Jessica Biel (“Stealth”) and Paul Giamatti (“Lady in the Water”) in a mysterious PG-13 tale about a magician who uses creative tricks to challenge a cruel crown prince and save the woman he loves in turn-of-the-century Vienna. Neil Bunger (“Interview With the Assassin”) directed the PG-13 picture, which is based on a short story, “Eisenheim The Illusionist,” by Steven Millhauser.
– “Jailbait,” with Michael Pitt (“The Village”) and Stephen Adly Guirgis (“Palindromes”) in an R-rated melodrama about a young petty crook who receives a stiff 25-year prison sentence due to the three-strikes judicial rules. He lands in a cell with a murderer who promises to show him how to survive behind bars and then makes his own demands on the new inmate. The independent picture marks the writing and directing debut of Brett C. Leonard.
– “Material Girls,” with sisters Hilary and Haylie Duff (stars of “The Perfect Man” and “Napoleon Dynamite,” respectively) in a PG-rated tween comedy about two rich heiresses who find themselves suddenly poor and forced to work in the real world. Martha Coolidge (“The Prince & Me”) directed.
The distributor declined to screen the film in advance for reviewers.
– “Quinceanera,” with Emily Rios in an East Los Angeles-set drama that concerns a Mexican-American teenager who embarrasses her highly religious family by becoming pregnant at age 15 and is then forced out of her home. She moves in with an old uncle (Chalo Gonzalez of “The Wild Bunch”) and then becomes embroiled in a battle when a wealthy gay couple threaten to put them out of their small garden apartment in Echo Park. The R-rated film, which touches upon topics such as sexuality, cultural differences and gentrification, was the closing-night attraction at the 12th annual Philadelphia International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
– “Snakes on a Plane,” with Samuel L. Jackson (“Pulp Fiction”) in the-title-says-it-all B-picture about a mob plan that consists of releasing hundreds of deadly slithering creatures on a jet that’s carrying a government witness.
The highly anticipated R-rated film is already a favorite on the Web (www.newlinecinema.com), where film fans have suggested plot twists and catchphrases to the filmmakers.
The distributor declined to screen the film in advance for reviewers.
– “10th and Wolf,” with James Marsden (“X-Men: The Last Stand”), Giovanni Ribisi (“Saving Private Ryan”), Dennis Hopper (“Blue Velvet”) and Piper Perabo (“Coyote Ugly”) in a fact-based crime melodrama about a Marine veteran of the first Gulf War forced by FBI agents to go back to his old South Philadelphia neighborhood and become an informant on mob activity. The R-rated picture, which was shot in Pittsburgh and is set in the early 1990s, was produced by Suzanne DeLaurentis, a 1980 graduate of Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly, N.J.
– “Trust the Man,” with David Duchovny (“X-Files: Fight the Future”), Julianne Moore (“The Hours”), Billy Crudup (“Almost Famous”) and Maggie Gyllenhaal (“World Trade Center”) in an R-rated romantic comedy about two couples dealing with careers, relationships and infidelities while living in New York City. Moore’s husband, filmmaker Bart Freundlich (“The Myth of Fingerprints”), directed.
At the buck$ office
Will Ferrell’s NASCAR comedy “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” drove into the box-office winner’s circle for the second week in a row.
The PG-13 farce grossed an impressive $23 million.
“Talladega Nights” was closely followed by “Step Up,” which opened with a surprisingly strong $21 million. The Associated Press reported that 70 percent of the audience for the dance picture was women and about one-quarter of those viewers was between the ages of 18 and 24.
Oliver Stone’s drama “World Trade Center” opened with a very respectable $19 million. The PG-13 picture deals with two Port Authority police officers trapped in the rubble on Sept. 11, 2001, and Hollywood observers wondered how audiences would react to the disturbing subject matter, especially during a week when a terrorist plot was uncovered in England.
According to the Associated Press and boxofficemojo.com, the top-10 movies last weekend were:
1. “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby” ($23 million)
2. “Step Up” ($21 million)
3. “World Trade Center” ($19 million)
4. “Barnyard” ($10.1 million)
5. “Pulse” ($8.5 million)
6. “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” ($7.2 million)
7. “Zoom” ($4.6 million)
8. “The Descent” ($4.6 million)
9. “Miami Vice” ($4.5 million)
10. “Monster House” ($3.3 million)
Coming soon!
The major titles scheduled to open Aug. 25 include: “Idlewild” (with Andre “Andre 3000” Benjamin and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton of the hip-hop duo OutKast in a crime tale) and “Invincible” (with Mark Wahlberg in the true story of Eagles player Vince Papale).