Pop Culture Checklist

“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” held the number one spot for the second week in a row at the box office.
It took in $43.2 million, which sank 62 percent from its $114.7 million opening. Overseas, the movie raked in another $105.4 million over the weekend, bringing it’s grand total to $625.3 million – wow!
The other trilogies opening earlier this year also are fairing well. Shrek the Third finished in third place with $26.7 million, brining its overall domestic earnings to $254.6 million.
Spider Man 3 also continues to do well, finishing 5^th over the weekend and earning another $7.5 million. Worldwide, it’s grossed $844 million, surpassing 2002’s Spider Man ($821 million) to become the biggest in Sony’s history.
 Here’s the top 10 movies of the weekend:
1. Pirates of the Caribbean, $43.2 million
2. Knocked Up, $29.3 million
3. Shrek the Third, 26.7 million
4. Mr. Brooks, $10 million
5. Spider Man 3, $7.5 million
6. Waitress, $2 million
7. Gracie, $1.4 million
8. Bug, $1.22 million
9. 28 Weeks Later, $1.2 million
10. Disturbia, $1.1 million

 
Have you seen any of the summer blockbuster movies yet? Without giving away any spoilers, please share what you think is the best so far and why.
By the way, the next expected ‘blockbuster’ is “Ocean’s Thirteen,” which opens this Friday.

–Nicholas Cage is no longer playing the lead role of Al Capone in the follow-up to the 1987 film “The Untouchables.” Cage dropped the role, citing scheduling conflicts. A replacement has not yet been announced. The movie, “Capone Rising,” will recount Al Capone’s rise to power in the mob world and how his relationship with detective and nemesis Jimmy Malone first started. Speaking of Cage, the trailer for “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” is available online at http://movies.yahoo.com. The movie is due out in theaters this holiday season. 

–Mike Meyers will join “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” 

The 1974 comedy classic was an adaptation of a short story by James Thurber and starred Danny Kaye as a daydreaming comic book writer who imagined himself as a hero going through several adventures. Speaking of Meyers, he and “Austin Powers” director Jay Roach are in early talks with New Line about another “Austin Powers” film. Reportedly, the fourth installment would be told from the point of view of Dr. Evil. 

–An action figure will soon hit the big screen. “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” will be turned into a live-action film. 

The storyline has the warrior touted as the last hope of a magical land called Eternia, which is being ravaged by technology and the evil Skeletor. The lead role has not been cast. 

–Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel will star in M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Happening.” Plot details are being kept a secret but the story will have Wahlberg leading his family on the run when a global environmental crisis threatens humanity on a global scale. 

Shooting will be held in Philadelphia in August.