BOFFO BOX OFFICE FOR MOVIES PREDICTED THIS SUMMER AT FIRST DAY STAR AWARDS OF SHOWEST MOVIE CONVENTION
Big news out yesterday on the opening day of the ShoWest movie exhibitors convention at Bally’s/Paris resort hotel casinos involved “Ultimate 3D” technology. DreamWorks head-honcho, Jeffrey Katzenberg revealed that from now on all of the studios animated films will use the super 3D process. He said the first film to be produced in 3D will be Monsters vs. Aliens to be released on March 27, 2009. He told the 5,000 convention delegates from more than 50 countries that the cast will include Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon as the giant 50-foot tall woman, Golden Globe winner Hugh Laurie as Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; Knocked Up’s Seth Rogen, who is in Vegas this week attending ShoWest, Emmy TV winner Stephen Colbert who will play the President of the United States; Golden Globe winner Kiefer Sutherland from the hit 24 series and Paul Rudd from Night at the Museum. It reinvents the classic ‘50s monster movie into an irreverent modern day action comedy.
On hand for yesterday’s first day festivities were superstar Robert Redford, Helen Hunt, playwright director David Mamet and mega-producer director Ang Lee.
Redford was presented with the Visionary Award for his Sundance Film festival and Sundance cable-TV channel contributions to the independent film industry. Helen, a seven-time Emmy winner won the “Breakthrough Director” award with her new movie, Then She Found Me, which stars Bette Midler, who took a break from her Caesars Palace spectacular to congratulate her. Mamet is currently filming a new movie with our hometown hero, one-time UFC champion Randy Couture in Los Angeles.
Movie exhibitors were ecstatic, predicting huge box office success for three of the summer movies they screened—Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the new Get Smart with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway and Forgetting Sarah Marshall with Jason Segal.
They also agreed that the 2008 summer box-office will be the biggest ever on record and also easily surpass last year’s record earnings.