What does a movie fan get when delivered two graying heroes known for their swagger and pop?
Action fans can find out this weekend as director Mikael Hafstrom’s “Escape Plan” opens. The thriller stars Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger, with rap icon 50 Cent thrown in for good measure. Do not check your calendar. Yes, it is October 2013.
Stallone plays Breslin, an expert on maximum security confinement. He agrees to check out the latest, greatest prison for flaws. Lo and behold, up becomes down, free becomes locked-up, and Breslin finds himself consorting with Ah’nold’s mean and nasty Rottmayer to find a way to break out of the perfect jail.
The trailer promises plenty of action, tension and mystery.
Also opening this weekend is “The Fifth Estate,” a docu-drama in which director Bill Condon takes a crack at telling the real life story of the man behind WikiLeaks. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Julian Assange, and the cast includes Laura Linney and Stanley Tucci. The trailer promises plenty of reason to watch government and its powers with a questioning eyes.
Stephen King fans can get their chance to feast on the second coming of his classic creepy story of a prom night gone horribly wrong, “Carrie.” Director Kimberly Pierce (“Boys Don’t Cry”) puts a modern spin on the tale of the shy girl who really puts her mind into finding revenge against all the mean kids. Chloe Grace Moretz gets the tough task of reinventing the character done so spookily well by Sissy Spacek in 1977.
Also opening is the drama “I Fell in Love with a Church Girl.” Director Steve Race works his twist on the classic theme of bad guy brought to his knees by love. In this case, Miles Montego – played by rapper Ja Rule – is a drug racketeer whomeets his match in believer Vanessa Leon (Adrienne Bailon). Even though Montego has gone legit, hardly anybody buys it, especially the law. Leon is the church lady who helps him.
Box office report
The space film starring Sandra Bullock continues to rocket at the box office. (Sorry. Too easy a pun to resist.) “Gravity” took No. 1 again in the race for the weekend of Oct. 12, grossing $41.3 million, according to hollywood.com. That puts the flick co-starring George Clooney over the century mark, with a total gross of $122.3 million.
Tom Hanks’ modern day true tale of piracy could not unseat “Gravity.” “Captain Phillips” opened at No. 2, grossing $25.7 million.
The other opener of note, “Machete Kills,” was at No. 4, far back at $3.8 million. Not a good start for the sequel featuring the macho former Federale.
– Mark Bialczak
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