day 105

the jobros underwhelm

what was expected to be one of the biggest opening weekends at a the box office ever was a big flop.  the brothers jonas' 3d concert flick came in at number 2 at the weekend box office, behind week-old madea goes to jail.  but how did this happen? everyone was expecting the disney backed movie to come in at a minimum of $30 million, but didn't even crack $15 million.  the film brought in only $12.7 million, which was behind even secondary estimates that the brothers would bring in $17 million.  when i say everyone was expecting the film to be huge, i mean everyone.  major studios held off releasing any new movies this past weekend, knowing that the jonas movie was headed for box office gold.  little did they know that tyler perry's madea would be able to crush tween cash.  the jonas brothers could even be in 3rd place.  official numbers haven't been calculated yet for the weekend's box office and, if they fall short of the $12.7 expectations, slumdog millionaire could bump them into third.  the questions still exists, though: why did it underperform?  a lot of the blame is being placed on hannah montana's shoulders.  miley cyrus' 3d concert experience from last february gave industry estimators the platform to base the jonas movie's numbers. the miley/hannah concert movie brought in $31.1 million its opening weekend in about half as many theaters as the jonas movie.  the thing is, however, that miley's movie came out pre-recession; the jonai's, on the other hand, came out right in the middle.  there's also the idea that the jonas brothers just aren't as popular on screen as their music is; last summer's disney channel original movie, camp rock, starring the trio underperformed expectations on cable and disney has pushed

 back the release date for the brothers' new tv show.  how will disney remedy the conundrum that is the brothers jonas?  that remains to be seen. 

casting couch

some big stars are taking on some interesting new projects. keira knightly is set to headline the sci-fi flick never let me go.  theme-wise, the film seems very similar to 2005's the island, which starred ewan mcgregor and scarlett johannson, with clones made for organ harvesting being at the center of the plot.  knightly will play 1 of 3 clones who grew up in a secluded boarding school who have to find a way out of being used.  this will be knightly's first foray into the world of science fiction and her robotic acting style will be put to use perfectly in the part.  jason bateman is keeping himself busy, adding another project to his in-development comedies the baster and the arrested development movie.  the tv and big-screen funnyman will reteam with his juno director, jason reitman, to star alongside george clooney in up in the air, a workplace comedy all about getting even.  as for tv news, the cw now has some stars for its in development projects.  katie cassidy has been cast as ella flynn in the melrose place reboot while the twilight inspired vampire diaries will be headlined by steven r mcqueen.  both actors are famous due to family ties - katie's dad is david of the patridge family and steven is the grandson of the hollywood icon steve mcqueen.