Jacob Hall
Jon Stewart may be one of the hardest working men on television, but it looks like he's about to take a break from hosting 'The Daily Show' for a few months. But he's not going on a vacation: he's going to direct a movie. 'Rosewater' will not only be Stewart's first time behind the camera, it will be something completely out of his regular wheelhouse.
'Jack the Giant Slayer' may have taken the number one spot at the box office, but no one is celebrating -- it may sit at the top, but it sits at the top of one of the weakest box office weekends since, well, last weekend.
There's been no shortage of controversy following the 2013 Oscars, most of it dealing with host Seth MacFarlane's particular brand of comedy, which is either hilariously crude or mean-spirited and misogynistic, depending on who you ask. But with ratings higher than last year's ceremony (40.3 million people tuned in to watch 'Argo' win Best Picture), you'd wonder if the Academy would decide that further outcry was worth it and ask the 'Family Guy' creator back for a second time. However, MacFarlane himself preemptively answered that question on Twitter.
With Hollywood focused on the Oscars, this was one of the dullest box office weekends in recent memory, with each of the new releases arriving with a shrug, last week's champions plummeting and 'Identity Thief' climbing back to the top of the chart.
Normally, the Best Short Film awards at the Oscars are a great opportunity to go the kitchen to grab a beer. After all, you probably haven't seen these films and don't have much invested in who's winning or losing (unless you're the gambling type). That changed this year when all of the animated short film and live action short film nominees made their way online, letting anyone watch them for free. But then the animated nominees vanished from YouTube this past week. What happened?
'Identity Thief' has been in theaters for less than two weeks and it's already grossed $76 million at the box office, an enormous amount for a modestly budgeted comedy with a known but untested leading lady. Although critics haven't been as kind as audiences, $100 million is a sure thing at this point and we wouldn't rule out $150 million if March is kind to it. So of course Universal has already thought about an 'Identity Thief 2.' They probably thought about it two weeks ago.
In retrospect, it's easy to say "Of course the new 'Die hard' movie was going to open at number one at the box office!" but you can bet Bruce Willis and company were a little worried. After all, 'A Good Day to Die Hard' opened in the wake of the failure of 'The Last Stand,' 'Parker' and 'Bullet to the Head,' three other macho, R-rated movies starring modern action icons. However, the strength of the 'Die Hard' brand seems to have broken that trend: John McClane's fifth outing made $25 million over the weekend.
Is Melissa McCarthy a movie star yet? The opening weekend of 'Identity Thief' suggests that yes, she is. After all, all of those people weren't flocking to this movie because of Jason Bateman (as delightful as he is). Anyway, all of this pretty much means that McCarthy's asking price just doubled.
For many people, the short film categories at the Oscars serve as an opportunity to run to the bathroom or to grab a beer from the kitchen. After all, what kind of investment can you have in a category where you know nothing about any of the nominees? Well, let's rectify that! All five of the nominees in the Best Animated Short category have popped up online and you can watch them below!
If there's one thing that we learned from last night's Saturday Night Live, it's that Justin Bieber can't act. Like, at all. However, he can self-deprecate with the best of them, which is sometimes all you need to squeak by with hosting duties. Yesterday's episode also saw the return of The Miley Cyrus Show and Bieber got the play the head of her fan club...who really hates Justin Bieber. Watch it below!
Eventually, the popular opinion on zombies is going to shift and people are going to stop watching 'The Walking Dead' and buying zombie-themed video games, but that day is not today. People still love zombies and if the opening weekend is any indication, they love 'Warm Bodies.'
Make no mistake: this was a slow and bad weekend at the box office, an example of the January doldrums at their absolute worst. However, this was probably the only environment where a film titled 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters' could have flourished, so at least someone is happy.