This Friday, the eagerly awaited Furious 7 looks to pass a number of box office milestones: biggest opening so far in 2o15 and highest debut of the fourteen year old franchise. Conjuring director James Wan takes over the series from Justin Lin.
The last two entries of the Fast and Furious series have brought the franchise to new heights. 2011’s Fast Five opened to $86.1 million with a final domestic tally of $209 million. Two years ago, Fast & Furious 6 topped that with a $97.3 million premiere and a $238 million eventual haul.
As tragic as it is, there is little doubt that star Paul Walker’s untimely death contributes to a curiosity factor here. This will be the last screen appearance of the actor as series regulars Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, Tyrese Gibson, and Ludacris return. Kurt Russell and Jason Statham also join the party. Reviews have been quite strong and it sits at 86% currently on Rotten Tomatoes.
Furious 7 needs to surpass the $95 million that Captain America: The Winter Soldier made last year to post the largest April opening of all time. As I see it, it will blast past that mark with relative ease to earn that designation and set the franchise record in the meantime.
Furious 7 opening weekend prediction: $117.4 million
Tonight on the blog – we review the Oscars from 2007, continuing with my series of Oscar History posts. 2007 was a year in which the brilliant Coen Brothers finally received some Academy love. Their critically lauded No Country for Old Men won Best Picture and earned the twosome the Best Director prize. It’s hard to argue with the Academy’s choice of this terrific pic for the top prize.
In my view, There Will Be Blood would’ve been another deserving recipient and it was nominated for Best Picture, along with Joe Wright’s Atonement, Tony Gilroy’s Michael Clayton, and Jason Reitman’s Juno. I likely would’ve left Atonement and Juno off the list and considered David Fincher’s meticulously crafted Zodiac and/or Ridley Scott’s American Gangster.
A running theme of my Oscar posts has been the Academy’s consistent lack of comedy inclusion and, for me, the genre’s 2007 highlight was Superbad, one of the finest raunch-fests in quite some time.
I was also a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s ode to B movies, Grindhouse.
There Will Be Blood director Paul Thomas Anderson was included in the Best Director race along with Gilroy and Reitman. Atonement director Joe Wright was the lone director left out whose film was nominated and Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly was a bit of a surprise nominee. As mentioned, they all lost to the Coens. I would have certainly included Fincher’s work in Zodiac.
The Best Actor race was over as soon as Daniel Day-Lewis’s work in There Will Be Blood was seen and it would mark his second win after being honored for My Left Foot eighteen years earlier. Other nominees (who truly can say it was just an honor to be nominated after Day-Lewis’s tour de force): George Clooney in Michael Clayton, Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd, Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah, and Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises.
Nobody plays a calculating bad guy better than Denzel Washington and I probably would have found room for him with his turn in American Gangster.
In the Best Actress race, Marion Cotillard would win for La Vie En Rose – beating out Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth: The Golden Age), Julie Christie (Away from Her), Laura Linney (The Savages), and Ellen Page (Juno).
Leaving out Keira Knightley’s work in Atonement was a surprise. For my dark horse contender, Christina Ricci’s fearless work in Black Snake Moan might’ve made my cut.
Like the Best Actor category, the Supporting Actor race was over when audiences and critics saw Javier Bardem’s amazing performance in No Country for Old Men. Other nominees: Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s War, Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild, and Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton.
Paul Dano’s performance in There Will Be Blood certainly should’ve been acknowledged here. Two others to consider: Robert Downey Jr.’s work as a boozy reporter in Zodiac and Kurt Russell’s hilarious and sadistic role in Grindhouse.
The Supporting Actress race belonged to Tilda Swinton as a ruthless attorney in Michael Clayton. She would win over double nominee Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There, Ruby Dee for American Gangster, Saoirse Ronan in Atonement, and Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone.
I would’ve included Kelly MacDonald as Josh Brolin’s wife in No Country for Old Men.
And there’s my take on the ’07 Oscars, my friends! I’ll have 2008 posted soon.
As the 2014 Winter Olympics gets underway in Sochi – how appropriate that on This Day in Movie History – February 6 – 10 years ago, Miracle opened in theaters. The picture focused on the 1980 U.S. Hockey team’s victory over the heavily favored Soviet team at the Winter Olympics and cast Kurt Russell as head coach Herb Brooks. Miracle was a hit with audiences ($64 million domestic) and critics (80%) on Rotten Tomatoes.
As for birthdays, Rip Torn is 83 today. He made his debut in the 1956 film Baby Doll and would soon have a significant part in Pork Chop Hill with Gregory Peck. He played Judas in 1961’s King of Kings. Over recent history, Torn has been known mostly for comedic roles including as a cast member of HBO’s “The Larry Sanders Show”. More recent appearances include the first two Men in Black flicks and Dodgeball.
Dane Dehaan is 28 today. He first came onto the scene in the lead role in 2012’s unexpected hit Chronicle. He has since appeared in Lincoln, Lawless, and Kill Your Darlings. This summer Dehaan will take over the part of Harry Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, where he’ll likely morph into the Green Goblin at some juncture.
As for Six Degrees of Separation between Mr. Torn and Mr. Dehaan:
All My Life... I Wanted To Be A Blogster 