Having just watched the classic original recently this story is of particular interest to me. Following the trend of remaking classic films, next up from Fox and James Cameron is the reboot/remake of 1966 sci-fi adventure Fantastic Voyage, which was based on the novel by acclaimed author Isaac Asimov.

This project has been in the works for some time with several directors, including Darren Aronofsky, Timur Bekmambetoiv, Johnathan Mostow and Louis Leterrier, circling but with no final selection. That is, until now. Today, Fox and Cameron announced their choice to take on directing duties for the remake is Night at the Museum and Date Night helmer Shawn Levy.

The new film, a re-imagining of the original about a team of scientists shrunk to microscopic size inside a submarine and injected into a man to try to save his life, will be a big 3D release for the studio. The script was written by Shane Salerno and Laeta Kalogridis.

If you’ve watched any of Levy’s other movies you can see his talent but, for the most part, they’ve been comedies. His choice as director of this kind of huge budget sci-fi epic that will, undoubtedly, be mostly CG is an interesting one. Good thing James Cameron will be around if things take a turn for the worse once this thing gets going.

Look for Shawn Levy’s Fantastic Voyage to hit theaters sometime in 2013.

It’s a pretty big decision to choose the host of The Academy Awards every year. There have been some epic hosts in the past, and some pretty bad ones. One thing is for sure, it’s going to be hard to top last year’s picks of Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. It seems like the Academy has made their choice, however, as word is coming out that James Franco and Anne Hathaway are currently booked for the event. Here’s the official press release.

“James Franco and Anne Hathaway personify the next generation of Hollywood icons— fresh, exciting and multi-talented. We hope to create an Oscar broadcast that will both showcase their incredible talents and entertain the world on February 27,” said Oscar telecast producers Bruce Cohen and Don Mischer. “We are completely thrilled that James and Anne will be joining forces with our brilliant creative team to do just that.”

Franco, who currently can be seen in “127 Hours,” will be making his second appearance on an Oscar telecast. His other film credits include “Eat, Love, Pray,” “Date Night,” “Milk” and “Pineapple Express.” Franco is also known for his portrayals of Harry Osborn in the “Spider-Man” trilogy.

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Everyone knew that Iron Man 2 would handily win the box office this weekend, but estimates for the final take were all over the place.  Now the dust is settling, and Iron Man 2 looks to have made around $133 Million, which places it as the fifth best opening ever. Brisk early ticket sales were causing some to predict that Iron Man 2 might challenge the all time record for an opening held by The Dark Knight ($158 Million), but it fell quite a bit short of that.

According to Entertainment Weekly,  Iron Man 2 received an “A” Cinemascore from exiting audience members, and that will translate into great word of mouth and box office stamina.   The film didn’t face any competition from new releases, save for some smaller indie releases.  Iron Man 2 is also a bona fide international success, after two weeks in release, its international box office haul is around $194 Million.

Nightmare on Elm Street fell with a resounding thud, losing 72% of its opening weekend numbers.  Seems everyone who intended to see it saw it the first week, which is fairly typical of horror movies.  Nightmare made about $9 Million and has made $48 Million in its first two weeks.  How to Train Your Dragon was in the number three spot, and just slid past $200 Million in total ticket sales in its seventh week in release.

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Well, it didn’t make a killing, per se, but the Nightmare on Elm Street remake took in a healthy $32 Million over the weekend to win the box office. The film only cost about $35 Million, so it will easily make back its budget. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that there was a drop in box office from Friday to Saturday, which is never a good indicator of box office stamina.

That other 80′s horror franchise, Friday the 13th, opened to about $40 Million in February of 2009. It also had a drop off from Friday to Saturday, and  went on to gross about $65 Million domestically during its run. Looks like Nightmare will follow a similar trajectory.

How to Train Your Dragon took the number two spot, after occupying the top spot last week.  It only dropped 29%, and it has been out for six weeks now. HTTYD made $10.8 Million over the weekend. Date Night continues to enjoy brisk business after one month in release. The film only dropped 27%, and earned an additional $7.6 Million, and was followed very closely by The Back Up Plan with $7.2 Million.

Limping across the fifth place finishing line was the Brendan Fraser film Furry Vengeance.  It had a reported budget of around $35 Million, and has an embarrassing Tomatometer reading of 2% on Rotten Tomatoes.  I think that is lowest I have ever seen. Ouch.

The real money making went on overseas. It’s rather unusual to see a big tent-pole movie released overseas before it is released in the States, but Iron Man 2 opened up to over $100 Million.  According to the Los Angeles Times, the film is trying to open ahead of the World Cup in June, and the opening is 26% greater than the foreign opening of Iron Man.

It’s pretty much a given that Iron Man 2 will win the box office next weekend, but the question is, how much money will it rake in? If you’ve got an answer, let us know in the comments.

Things were awful quiet at the box office this weekend, you could hear a pin drop at your nearest multiplex.  The combined gross of the top four films this weekend did not even hit the $50 million mark.  Also, audiences did not have a lot of love for new movies this weekend, as How to Train Your Dragon won the weekend over The Back-Up Plan, starring Jennifer Lopez, and The Losers.  Ultimately, Dragon dropped about 23% from last weekend and made $15 Million on its fifth week in release.

The Back-Up Plan was no doubt a disappointment for fledgling film company CBS films, and for Lopez.  The company’s first and only other release was Extraordinary Measures, the Harrison Ford/Brendan Fraser medical drama that was released in late January.

That film only managed $11.8 Million in its first three weeks in release, so The Back-Up Plan is faring a bit better, with $12.2 Million for the weekend.  Still, it is a very underwhelming gross for an opening weekend, and CBS films and Lopez could definitely have used a hit.

In fourth place came an action movie that a lot of people thought would win the weekend.  The Losers is based on a comic book, and features a sexy ensemble cast, and plenty of explosions. Audiences barely gave the $25 Million film a second glance, and it limped into fourth place never breaking $10 Million in ticket sales.  It stands at $9.6 Million.

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It was a shocking and unusual weekend at the box office. Fanboys (and girls) are all scratching their heads trying to figure out how Kick-Ass got its butt kicked by a four week old dragon. That’s right, How to Train Your Dragon claimed the number one spot by a narrow margin of about $250,000, which means we may have a repeat of last week. If you recall, when I wrote the box office piece last week, Date Night was the winner, but by the time the final numbers came in on Monday, it turned out that Clash of the Titans had edged out Date Night by a cool million.

How to Train Your Dragon fell only 20% (remarkable for four weeks in release), and now has made $158 Million. Early numbers are showing about $20 Million for the weekend. Other films that actually seemed to gain momentum during their theatrical run were A Christmas Carol, and Avatar. Dragon was well received by critics and audiences alike, and is truly family friendly, but to win the box office your fourth week out is rather rare. Dreamworks has got to be thrilled.

Kick-Ass got some pretty solid critic reviews (78% on Rotten Tomatoes as of Sunday evening), but it seems like audiences just didn’t connect with the movie, and much as it pains me to say so, it appears movie and comic nerds are not a strong enough force to prop a movie up.

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At  the time of this writing, the Tina Fey/Steve Carell comedy Date Night is reported to have narrowly won the box office.  However, The Clash of the Titans was so close behind that it is possible adjusted totals may flip the positions of the two movies. Box Office Mojo is reporting that  Date Night made around $27.1 Million, while Clash made $26.7 Million, a tight margin of victory, to be sure.

This was the biggest opening weekend of Tina Fey’s career thus far, although Carell has had larger openings before.  The $27 Million take is quite good for a comedy.

Clash of the Titans dropped about 56% from opening weekend, which is higher than usual. Most films see about a 30% drop. The larger drop signals that interest for the movie may be waning quickly.

Good thing the flick had a big opening weekend. Clash has now made a total of $110 Million after two weekends, and looks like it will recoup its $125 Million budget. Incidentally, it looks like about 40% of that total was from 3D screens, meaning more than half came from 2D screenings.

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I had a great time at Date Night. You would be hard pressed to find more likable leads than Tina Fey and Steve Carrell, who have great chemistry together as boring New Jersey couple Claire and Phil Foster. Stuck in a serious domestic rut that many of you will recognize all too well, the two decide to shake up their usual date night of frequenting the same restaurant and ordering the same dishes on the same night every week.

They get dolled up and head to Manhattan to the über trendy seafood restaurant, “Claws.”  A rude host scoffs at their hopes for getting a table, and the two head to the bar.  Just as they are getting ready to leave, another hostess goes through the bar, calling out for “Tripplehorn, party of two.”

Phil decides to seize the moment and do something spontaneous for once in his life, and he says that they are the Tripplehorns. The two enjoy a fancy dinner with wine, delight over a Will.i am celebrity sighting and make fun of stuffy restaurant patrons.

They are approached by two strange men who approach the table and tell the couple that they have something to discuss with them.  Outside the restaurant, Claire and Phil immediately discover that the real Tripplehorns are messed up with some bad people, and those bad people want a flash drive that belongs to them back.  Guns are drawn, and the Fosters try to explain that it’s a case of mistaken identity, but the thugs don’t believe them, and the Fosters have to improvise their way out of the predicament.

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Fans of comedy and episodic TV have nothing but good thoughts come to mind when they hear the names Steve Carell and Tina Fey. Both The Office and 30 Rock have dominated comedy on network TV for quite some time now, so it would only make sense that a film showcasing both of them together would be epic, no? Probably not, after seeing the trailer for their newest film, Date Night.

The film is about a bored and boring married couple who decide to spice things up by lying to a hostess at a restaurant about their reservations, thus taking another couple’s name and table. One crazy happenstance after another then occurs, and our beloved couple is now on the run from gangsters. Add to that premise the reluctant hero from Get Smart and the neurotic lead from Baby Mama and you’ve got this 90-minute comedy.

The film is padded with a pretty big supporting cast, hoping to drag the audiences in. Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Ray Liotta, Mark Ruffalo, Mila Kunis, Leighton Meester, and even Olivia Munn are all in the film, with Shawn Levy, director of the Night At The Museum films, sitting in the director’s chair.

Check out the first theatrical trailer after the jump, Be sure to catch Date Night in theaters on April 9th, 2010.

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