Archives for June 2008

It's been a long time between cinematic hits for Angelina Jolie.  The last time the actress sniffed the top of the North American box office was when rumors of an on-set sexual affair between Jolie and co-star (aka Mr. Smith) Brad Pitt sparked interest in the film Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

That film was about a husband and wife that worked as assassins and even though they had all sorts of information at their fingertips after several years of being married to each other John and Jane Smith discovered that they were both world class killers.  Their new goal was to kill each other and the chemistry clicked and the movie was a huge hit in the united states and around the world.

Now Angelina Jolie is back as an assassin and she finally has a hit on her hands.  According to Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily notes the numbers ar huge, especially with the Disney monster Wall-E bringing in som much box office cash.

She writes, "Universal's Angelina Jolie/James McAvoy starrer, debuted to $19.1M Friday and $17.5M Saturday from 3,175 venues for a $51.1M weekend. It marks a new franchise for the studio (that) expected only $35+M from this stylish summer actioner fueled by the Matrix-like high octane provided by hot Russian director Timur Bekmambetov. It turned out to be the best June opening ever for an R-rated movie, beating Knocked Up's $30.6M, and the 6th highest R-rated opening of all time (behind The Matrix Reloaded, The Passion Of The Christ, 300, Hannibal, and Sex And The City) as well as the 3rd biggest R-rated action film (behind The Matrix Reloaded's $91.7M, and 300's $70.9M).

Angelina Jolie crushes James McAvoy like a bug in Wanted.

When I first heard that Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy would be paired up in an action movie this summer, I remember scoffing about what an unsexy couple they'd make. I believe my exact words were, "She'll crush him like a bug." "Sounds pretty sexy to me," said my interlocutor, giving me an unsolicited yet bracing glimpse into his fantasy life.

He was right. For those whose fantasies include being crushed like bugs by Angelina Jolie (or beaten senseless by hulking Russian thugs, or forced to use dead pigs for target practice by Morgan Freeman), Wanted (Universal Pictures) is a compendium of bedside erotica. I don't know when I've seen a mainstream movie that so explicitly caters to the S&M niche. And the chemistry of the central couple, which seemed destined to bring the movie down, is instead the hottest thing in this effects-laden but ultimately empty film.

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"Wanted," as sadistic and vulgar a "thrill ride" as will warp young minds this summer, announces its inherent absurdity and nasty attitude right off the bat. First, a screen title explains that 1,000 years ago an elite group of assassins was formed by "a clan of weavers"; a few moments later, viewers are introduced to the film's narrator and chief protagonist, Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a young cog in a Chicago insurance company who is mired in smug, self-pitying snark as he heaps mental opprobrium on everyone in his orbit, from his unfaithful girlfriend to his abusive, overweight boss.

What, you may well ask, does a jerk of the 21st century have to do with a group of ancient textile manufacturers? It's all very clear in the cosmology of the comic books sorry, graphic novels on which "Wanted" is based, a cosmology invented by authors Mark Millar and J.G. Jones and given a loud, profane and, okay, occasionally very cool reinterpretation here by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov.

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Pregnant actress Angelina Jolie is apparently keen on starring in Sin City 2 after she gives birth to her twins.

Jolie is thinking of acting in Sin City 2 because she is interested in what director Frank Miller will come up with next. And she wants to do more action movies after having starred in the Lara Croft movies.

Jolie loved the 2004 release of the comic book and Miller is keen to have her be a part of the movie as well. He already has a character in mind for her to play.

The actress said: "I found the first Sin City impressive, but I don't know what they're going to do with the next one to make (it) as original as the first one. I'd be curious. I think he's (Miller) a genius."

The first Sin City was released in 2005 and starred Jessica Alba, Bruce Willis and Elijah Wood.

Actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have donated $1 million for educational aid to children impacted by the Iraq war in that country and in the United States, a charitable organization said on Wednesday.

The Jolie-Pitt Foundation has given $500,000 to three groups in the war-torn country which will provide aid for some 5,700 children, said the Education Partnership for Children of Conflict, which is co-chaired by Jolie.

Money will pay for basic necessities, including books and supplies to help send Iraqi children to school. Aid will also go to refugee kids, and to school rehabilitation programs.

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Actress Angelina Jolie is keen to consider a role in Sin City 2 - claiming she is intrigued with what director Frank Miller can come up with next.

    The sexy actress is a huge fan of the slick 2004 comic book adaptation, and Miller has a character lined up for her and is eager for her to peruse the script.

    The Tomb Raider star is interested in Miller's offer - because she thinks the moviemaker is a "genius".

    "I found the first Sin City impressive, but I don't know what they're going to do with the next one to make (it) as original as the first one. I'd be curious. I think he's a genius,

Contrary to reports, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are not selling their New Orleans home, according to The Times-Picayune.

“This rumor going around that they’ve sold or are selling their house in New Orleans is not true,” Trevor Neilson, a rep for the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, told the newspaper. “It’s just made up, as are a lot of things that are said about them.”

The couple purchased the $3.5 million abode in the Big Easy’s French Quarter in January 2007. It has served as a home base for Pitt’s work with the Make It Right Foundation, as well as his time filming “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

Pitt and Jolie, who is pregnant with twins, recently signed a lease on the spacious, private Chateau Miraval in France.

She might be one of the sexiest and most beautiful women alive, but Angelina Jolie has much more to her an ability to hold her own in an industry which is dominated by men. According to Timur Bekmambetov, director of Matrixy thriller "Wanted," Jolie commands true respect in Hollywood and there's no other female star who can upstage the actress. He said that on the set of the film, Jolie actually ended up mentoring co-star James McAvoy, and helped him get through at numerous occasions.

"Angelina was his mentor, she helped him. She was the Hollywood person, and his journey was basically the journey of his character," the New York Post quoted him, as saying. Tom O'Neil, columnist for the film site TheEnvelope.com, said that if directors think Jolie can't hold her own in a lead role, they are seriously mistaken. "You can't think of another female star who's upstaging her, but it still seems like girls have to take a secondary role," he said.

He added that despite her growing brood, Jolie always plays as hard as the guys when she gets on the set. "She seems to be this frail, slender, delicate creature when she's strolling down the red carpet and then becomes the ultimate symbol of female empowerment in these films," O'Neil said.

Angelina Jolie recently admitted that she still loved her ex Billy Bob Thornton and a report from Life & Style claims that proclamation has current beau and baby daddy Brad Pitt reeling.  One of the reasons given is the apparent ban for Brad Pitt on all things Jennifer Aniston.  The report cites an insider that says that Jolie doesn't like Brad bringing up any of his exes, especially ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, and even ex-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow.

Pitt and Aniston were married and considered the 'Hollywood Golden Couple' when Brad went to work with Angelina on the 2005 film "Mr. and Mrs. Smith".  By the time the movie hit theaters Jennifer and Brad had split and were in the process of getting a divorce and Brangelina (the coupling of Brad and Angie) was well underway.  So what gives with the Billy Bob confession?

The report from the weekly entertainment magazine claims that Angelina's confessions in the revealing EW interview "didn't go over too well in the Jolie-Pitt household," says an insider close to the couple.  "The Billy Bob stuff got under Brad's skin.  He felt it was too much and told Angie he thought it was inappropriate, but she just brushed it off."

Brad's especially annoyed, the insider says, because Angie hates when Brad talks about his exes.  "Angie gets crazy jealous and doesn't want to hear about (Jennifer) Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow or any other women Brad dated," the insider says.  "That's why you rarely hear him mention an ex in an interview."  Aniston usually pops into the picture when Brad and Angelina are promoting a movie and looking for a buzz.

For American actress Angelina Jolie, being a mother and Goodwill Ambassador holds much more importance than acting.

Jolie currently finds that motherhood and the humanitarian work that she is doing satisfying, and is in no hurry to return back to the big screen. The Tomb Raider star, who is a mother of four and currently pregnant with twins, admits that being a parent is the number one priority in her life.

"I love being a mom and I do love travelling and the work I get to do with children in the field and with refugees,” Contactmusic quoted her, as telling MTV.com. "Brad and I take turns working so instead of it being 'I get to work next,' it's 'You have to work next, because it's your turn. I'm staying home with the kids'," she added.