Historical epic, romantic comedy and family romp arrive in theaters
A historical epic (“Apocalypto”), a disturbing melodrama (“Blood Diamond”), a stage adaptation (“The History Boys”), a romantic comedy (“The Holiday”) and a family romp (“Unaccompanied Minors”) are the major titles landing in theaters for this second weekend of December. The new films (with all dates subject to change) opening at a theater near you include:
– “Apocalypto,” with Mel Gibson (“The Passion of the Christ”) directing an R-rated mythical adventure tale about a man who saves himself from becoming a human sacrifice and then must fight the invading forces threatening the Mayan civilization. It will be presented in the Mayan dialect of Yucatec with subtitles.
– “Blood Diamond,” with Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Departed”), Djimon Hounsou (“Gladiator”) and Jennifer Connelly (“A Beautiful Mind”) in a shockingly violent R-rated tale about a mercenary in Sierra Leone who deals in arms and jewels. During this 1999-set melodrama, he teams with a tribal fisherman to locate an extremely valuable pink diamond that’s hidden in a highly dangerous area. Ed Zwick (“The Last Samurai”) directed the project, which uses disturbing facts about conflict diamonds (stones found as a result of slave labor) to anchor the big-budget picture.
– “The History Boys,” with Richard Griffiths recreating his Tony Award-winning Broadway role as the maverick teacher of eight unruly British high-school students who want to talk about sex and sports and harbor hopes of attending Oxford or Cambridge. The R-rated film is based on the play by Alan Bennett.
– “The Holiday,” with Cameron Diaz (“There’s Something About Mary”), Kate Winslet (“Finding Neverland”), Jude Law (“Alfie”) and Jack Black (“Nacho Libre”) in a romantic comedy about two women from different sides of the globe who meet on the Internet, talk about their desire for some spice in their lives and then decide to swap houses for the Christmas season.
– “Tideland,” with Jeff Bridges (“The Big Lebowski”), Jennifer Tilly (“Bullets Over Broadway”) and Jodelle Ferland (“Silent Hill”) in a bleak fantasy about a little girl who creates an imaginary world after her drug-addict parents overdose and she’s stranded in a remote house. Terry Gilliam (“Brazil”) directed the offbeat R-rated picture, based on the novel by Mitch Cullin.
– “Unaccompanied Minors,” with comic Louis Black (“Accepted”), Tyler James Williams (TV’s “Everybody Hates Chris”) and Teri Garr (“Tootsie”) in a PG-rated family comedy about some children stranded in an airport on Christmas Eve.
At the buck$ office
The penguins still rule at the box office. For the third week in a row, “Happy Feet,” a computer-animated tale about dancing penguins, has landed in the No. 1 spot. It grossed more than $17 million last weekend and now has a domestic gross of $121 million.
Following closely was the 007 epic “Casino Royale,” which grossed more than $15 million and took the No. 2 position.
The snows in the Midwest were blamed for the modest opening of “The Nativity Story.” It opened with just $8 million, a disappointing total that can be attributed to the fact that people from the country’s heartland were unable to travel to theaters last weekend due to the blizzard conditions.
According to the Associated Press, the top-10 movies last weekend were:
1. “Happy Feet” ($17.05 million)
2. “Casino Royale” ($15.1 million)
3. “Deja Vu” ($11 million)
4. “The Nativity Story” ($8 million)
5. “Deck the Halls” ($6.6 million)
6. “The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause” ($5 million)
7. “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” ($4.8 million)
8. “Turistas” ($3.5 million)
8. “Stranger Than Fiction” ($3.4 million)
10. “National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj” ($2.3 million)