Avatar only dropped 14% from last weekend, and is still putting up huge numbers after seven weeks in release.  Once again, it maintained the top spot at the box office with $30 Million. Only six million to go before it breaks $600 Million domestically. At this rate it will hit that number this week for sure.

Mel Gibson’s revenge thriller Edge of Darkness managed a lukewarm $17 Million on just over 3,000 screens, which was a little lower than expectations. Kristen Bell’s romantic comedy When in Rome placed third, with $12 Million. The Tooth Fairy only dropped 29% for fourth place with an additional $10 Million.

The Book of Eli came in at number 5 with $8.7 Million.  It has almost earned  back its $80 Million budget. Outside of the top five, things were not so rosy. In its second week in release, Harrison Ford’s Extraordinary Measures tumbled completely out of the top ten into 13th place for the weekend.

That’s gotta be painful for Ford, and for the fledgling CBS films. Legion also dove about 60%, but a low budget probably ensures that it will still be profitable.

Mel Gibson returns to the big screen after a personal and professional hiatus of over seven years. His last starring role was in 2002’s We Were Soldiers. Many are hailing Edge Of Darkness as Gibson’s “comeback.”  So is it?  Meh. He is fine as a grief stricken Boston Detective, but he won’t be winning an award any time soon. There are a dozen actors that could have navigated this role equally well. That’s not knocking Gibson, but it’s a pretty  generic role.

Edge of Darkness veers into spoiler territory early, and often, and I don’t like to spoil movies, so here is a spoiler-free synopsis. Gibson plays Craven,  a single dad who goes to pick up his grown daughter from the train station. It is obvious he loves her very much. She seems slightly distant. Sensing something is wrong, he implores her to tell him what it is.  Shortly after they get home, she becomes seriously ill. Craven takes her to the hospital, but as soon as they reach the front door, his daughter is violently gunned down in front of him.

The rest of the movie concerns Craven trying to uncover the mystery behind his daughter’s death. It involves government conspiracies, shady political types, evil corporations, and unconscionable greed. Because Craven has no family left, his vengeance is of the reckless variety, which too often translates into over the top.

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Lately, there seems to be plenty of news in Hollywood surrounding two men: Mel Gibson or Leonardo DiCaprio. And in one case, both of them. But, this post is about Gibson and his newest acting role which will probably take him right up to the time before he gets started on his Viking project with DiCaprio.

How I Spent My Summer Vacation will star Mel as a career criminal who finally gets caught in Mexico. There, he’s sent to a prison and learns to survive with the help of a 9 year old boy. The movie is based off of a script that Gibson wrote and will be directed by Adrian Grunberg, the 1st Assistant Director of his most recent film Apocalypto.

The movie kind of sounds like Empire of the Sun meets The Shawshank Redemption, although I’m sure it’ll be far more gritty and violent than either of those movies combined. I wasn’t ever really that down on Mel Gibson after his arrest and breakdown (not that I condone his actions or things he’s said) but I’ve always enjoyed him as an entertainer and artist. So, it’s nice to see that he’s making a comeback.

Filming is set to start in March, in San Diego and Veracruz, and will be financed by Gibson’s own ICON Productions with Apocalypto’s 2nd AD, Stacy Perskie, producing the film.

According to Variety, the movie likely to be Mel Gibson’s next directorial effort will be a viking story, written by William Monahan (The Departed, Kingdom of Heaven), and starring once and future heartthrob Leonardo DiCaprio. It’s really early in the process to be saying this – as Gibson is finishing up The Beaver with Jodie Foster, and DiCaprio just finished principal photography on Christopher Nolan’s Inception – but I got pretty excited when I read the headline to the story.

Of course, I initially had hoped that maybe Gibson was going to star in the movie as well, but he’s done well enough with the period movies where he was just behind the camera (Apocalypto). Monahan, has been on a steady role since breaking in, with KoH being his first credited feature writing gig. He also scripted the soon to be released Martin Campbell, Mel Gibson starring movie Edge of Darkness.

DiCaprio’s ventures into periods, beyond the 30’s or 40’s, has been the 17th century Man in the Iron Mask, and the 19th century Gangs of New York. So, it’ll be interesting to see him stepping back further to meet the time frames of Gibson’s previous movies (13th century in Braveheart, 16th in Apocalypto, and the first century in The Passion of The Christ).

These days it’s hard to go a week without hearing about some remake/reboot coming out of Hollywood. Few of these films can claim they’ve been in the rumor mill for as long as Mad Max: Fury Road.  After two decades, however, actual development is occurring  on the next installment of the Mad Max franchise.

Variety is reporting that Charlize Theron (The Italian Job, Hancock) and Tom Hardy (Black Hawk Down, Star Trek: Nemesis, Bronson) have both been cast in Fury Road.  Now, as interesting as that casting is everyone is still anxiously waiting to find out if Mel Gibson will reprise his role as Mad Max. When Director George Miller was asked about this he was vague to say the least, “It could be Mel, it could be anyone.”

Whether Gibson is involved or not I’m left wondering if this particular film needs a sequel (as this seems to be) or an outright reboot.  I mean this property has been dormant for over twenty years so the majority of current movie goers have no idea what the world of Mad Max is all about.

For those who may remember, they probably have memories of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Perhaps more specifically, images of Tina Turner and awkward cage match duels.  If that’s the case, it may not be the best memory for people to have. Don’t get me wrong, Thunderdome was fun, but not the best jumping off point if you’re looking to woo a new generation of Mad Max fans.  Especially when you factor in the serious tone films of this nature have these days, far from the campy 80’s fair Thunderdome brought us.

Nevertheless, I’m curious to see where Fury Road leads. Theron and Hardy are great additions to be sure. Coincidentally, it seems Theron is gravitating to post-apocalyptic roles these days as she’ll soon be seen in The Road.  Or, she just has a thing for films with “road” in the title. No release date has been set for Mad Max: Fury Road but we’ll keep you posted.

Its been some time since I was interested in a movie featuring Mel Gibson. In the past, his work in movies like Mad Max, We Were Soldiers, Payback, Braveheart and the Lethal Weapon franchise showed that he knows how to play someone on the edge who does what’s necessary to get the job done. Plus, those characters weren’t afraid to kick some ass. Now, as seen in this new trailer for Edge of Darkness, it seems Gibson is returning to the kind of role that made me a fan of his in the first place.

In this new film, written by William Monahan and directed by Martin Campbell, Gibson plays a Boston detective whose daughter is killed when a hit targeted at him goes wrong. Of course, he’s not going to let that one go so he starts his own investigation to determine what happened. Once he digs deeper he discovers a larger conspiracy and that his daughter may have been the target of the hit all along. Plus, I’m sure he probably kicks a bit of ass along the way.

With the caliber of people involved including screenwriter Monahan, who’s recent work on The Departed is top notch, director Campbell who showed his action prowess with Goldeneye and Casino Royale and with Gibson seemingly returning to form in a role showcasing his talents and his dark side, this film looks pretty interesting. Although, it does remind me a bit of Liam Neeson in Taken, which could turn out well for this film seeing as how Taken did quite well.

Edge of Darkness hits theaters next January. Until then, be sure to click through and check out the trailer.

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Here’s a list of some of the new movie and TV shows coming to DVD and Blu-ray this week that we’re looking forward to seeing. Also, there’s some classic and not-so-classic movies hitting Blu-ray for the first time this week as well.

Of all the new releases, we’re particularly interested in the Blu-ray versions of movies like Braveheart, Gladiator and M*A*S*H as well as the latest season of Heroes — season 3 if you’re wondering — also on Blu-ray.

Check them out.

Movies

Braveheart ~ Mel Gibson (Blu-ray)

Bring it On: Fight to the Finish ~ Christina Milian, David Starzyk, Nicki SooHoo, and Gabrielle Dennis (DVD)

The Girl Next Door (Unrated Edition) ~ Emile Hirsch, Elisha Cuthbert, Timothy Olyphant (Blu-ray)

Gladiator ~ Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, and Oliver Reed (Blu-ray)

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