07.07.08: 'Hancock' Heroic Over July 4th Weekend, De Niro Opposes Actors Strike

If any further proof were needed that Will Smith has eclipsed Tom Cruise as the world’s biggest box-office star, look no further than Hancock, which hauled in $107.3 million over the Fourth of July weekend in spite of desultory reviews and lack of giant, killer robots – last year’s Transformers still holds the all-time July 4th record. Smith’s long staked his claim on the five-day weekend and his outing as the nihilistic superhero marks the fifth time he’s smashed his way to No. 1 there, confirming that a broad swathe of moviegoers are in thrall to Smith’s every cinematic move these days. The former Fresh Prince’s endeavours shoved Wall-E into second place, with Pixar’s robot cutefest adding $33.4 million to bring its total up to $128.1 million, and hammered Wanted into third, Angelina Jolie’s tattoo actioner grabbing another $20.6 million for a $90.8 million total.

De Niro Opposes Strike
At the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where his film What Just Happened opened the Czech festival and he was accepting a lifetime achievement award, Robert De Niro has come out firmly against a potential actors strike, insisting that “the issues could be resolved over the next couple of years [without strike action].” Hollywood’s on tenterhooks about a strike – the current deal expired on 30 June but the Screen Actors Guild are holding off on strike action until they have the results of the upcoming AFTRA vote. But whichever way the AFTRA wind blows, in De Niro’s opinion, the SAG hasn’t “done their homework” to land a decent deal, and with the economy currently on wonky ground, it might not be the best time to hit the picket line. Away from strike talk, De Niro also said he wants to make not one but two sequels to his CIA drama The Good Shepherd, one following Matt Damon’s spymaster between 1961 and 1989 and the other going up to the present day. It’s just at the concept stage for now but if he does forge ahead, he'll need to address the turgid elements of The Good Shepherd. As well-received as it was for craft and production values, De Niro's second directing effort was a bit like watching paint dry in parts. Lots and lots of parts…

The Day The Earth Stood Still: Trailer Breakdown
We’re intrigued by this remake of the 1951 sci-fi thriller, especially with the idea of the alien-like Keanu Reeves playing the humanoid alien with questionable intentions, Klaatu. The first trailer’s been released and Day’s director Scott Derrickson has forensically analysed its contents for MTV.

Desert Storm
Which mega-budget film by which brand-name producer (we’re not making this very tough) seems to have come up against a spot of sandy bother? The blockbuster in question was due to be shooting now in Morocco, only to find that the summer sun in North Africa heats up medieval chainmail to a rather unpleasant degree, making shooting any scenes requiring characters in said military gear nigh on impossible. (Which bright spark failed to work that one out?) The production has reputedly ground to a halt as they try to push the desert shoot to cooler times and switch shooting sessions with the studio where they weren’t due to be until September. Problem is they don’t have any sets built there yet.