Summer B.O.

Here are my guesses for the Summer Box Office. Feel free to chime in.

Hancock - 340 million

Iron Man - 330 million

Sex and the City - Sigh. 40 million.

Dark Knight - 320 million

Speed Racer - 180-190 million. It doesn't look bad in my eyes (or in my son's eyes, he can't wait). It looks like campy fun. They embraced the orignal source, and I think that was wise. It's all over the place where it matters (Nick, Cartoon Network, online, in cereal boxes, and the toys have been out for weeks).

Indy - 290 million.

Wall-E - Number 5 is alive again! Yes, it looks like that goofy robot from the Short Circuit epics, but the damn thing is adorable and there looks to be some pretty special visuals here. Plus, you know, Pixar. 260 million.

Narnia - 300 million

Incredible Hulk - Eh, I just don't see this killing at the box office. 70-80 million.

Love Guru - Mike Myers is back. If it's funny, I'll say 175 million.

The Mummy - 90 million. I don't think people will care after Indy.

Tropic Thunder - 150 million.

Kung Fu Panda - 140 million

Get Smart - Opens against Love Guru. Doubt both comedies can make it. 60-70 million.

Wanted - Looks fine and all, but nothing new. Let's call it 90 million.

The Happening - I liked the Green Effect better as a title, but this looks creepy as hell, and I think it'll be a nice surprise. 240 million

Pineapple Express - 120 million - Will probably open big but drop fast. Doubt it will have Knocked Up legs. In the end, as hilarious as this looks, it's about potheads on the run, and pothead movies aren't usually blockbusters.

X-Files - 90-100 million.

If they're good, Meet Dave (Eddie Murphy comedy), Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3D & Step Brothers might make some noise.

Being Productive

Trying to get productive again. I've been writing plenty - I'm waiting for my managers to discuss The Stand-In and see if they have notes for me (they will - they're big note-givers, but they know what the hell they speak of so I should listen). In the meantine I've been touching up an old script that I still think could do well nowadays.

I'm also in the process of getting some of my old work up on youtube. Some of the projects I'm pleased with (considering our no-budgets) and some, well, not so much. They don't age well, would be the nice way to put it. If anything, by watching them, you can learn what NOT to do.

But that's what I'm talking about. Production. I have some short ideas that we might put into production this year. One is a portion of a feature-script that could be condensed into a 15 minute short. Perfect for a weekend or 2 shoot. I've also been talking to a cool band from Philly (they lent us a song for my feature, West River Drive, back in 2002) called Patrickshead and may shoot a video for them.

Have no plans for a feature any time soon, especially the low/no budget/shooting on weekends type. If we get back into producing, I'd like to start slowly with smaller stuff. With the kids and all, I simply don't want to lose my free time embarking on a feature and missing time with them. I did it before when they were younger and regret it a ton.

Been thinking about getting my horror script back out of the pile - I never finished it actually, I got Act 1 done and thought it was way too much like every other horror script ever written, but I've thought of some cool twists that may make it stand out. We'll see.

The wife and I snuck out and saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Funny stuff. Had some really, gut-busting stuff in it. If I had to compare, not better than Knocked Up but still a very funny movie. Paul Rudd is a funny bastard. Jason Segel wrote a fun script with some great moments. Check it out.

Song of the day - Weezer - Pork & Beans.

Chaos Theory

Marcos Siega, a supercool dude I met when the company he was with optioned my script, Cricket Hill, has a new movie out. Yes, the Cricket Hill deal was killed like a lame horse when the company dissolved, however, I still keep in touch with Marcos. He's a good guy to have in your corner, knows a shitload about directing and story in general. Anyhoo, check out his new movie, Chaos Theory:

The Stand In - Done.

Finally. It took longer than I wanted, but I finished that puppy. Here's how it went down:

Pitched my managers some ideas/partially written scripts and we zeroed in on The Stand In (I'll whip up a logline and post it soon - I'll tell you this much, it's a romantic comedy). They loved the idea but wanted to change the setting (it went from taking place over several weeks down to a weekend, and from a city setting to a contained setting). More on that soon.

So I thought - no problem. Yeah, it was a problem. At least, not as easy as I figured. Scenes that I loved had to be cut - and I hate cutting scenes I love, although it was right to do it.

The worst part was Act 2 (isn't it always) but I'm hoping some of the set pieces I added will work. I think it flows well, and I tried to be sure to give the main characters their own voices - If you cover the character names on the page, can you tell them apart?

Is it the best thang I ever wrote? Well, no. But I like it, and enjoyed writing it. The movies/stories I like usually aren't main stream stuff...maybe that's why I'm still working the day job! This is certainly mainstreamish, so we'll see what kind of reaction it gets. The Managers will come back with some notes, and once we get it to a place where we're all happy, they'll take it out to the marketplace.

Keep you posted.

Oh Uwe

Uwe Boll, director of Dungeon Siege, Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, and the upcoming Postal. Well, not much I can say. He pretty much sums it up: