Tuesday, June 17, 2008

B.O. #'s and My Review

The Happening smashed predictions and made $30,517,109 in the US alone. The numbers for Saturday and Sunday were down this is most likely due to bad word of mouth. The Happening came in the #3 spot this weekend with The Hulk and Kung Fu Panda in the number 1 and 2 spots. The Happening was playing in almost 3000 theaters while Kung Fu Panda and The Hulk were in more then 3600.

Internationaly The Happening was the #1 film in the world making over $32 million in over 88 markets. While The Hulk made $31 million in 38 markets.

Fox and UTV must be happy that The Happening made back its $57 million production budget in 1 week with ticket sales totaling up to more then $62 million dollars world-wide. By next weekend I expect the movie to also make back its marketing cost world-wide. So M. Night Shyamalan is back and making big bucks for Hollywood.

Wired.com has a cool story about how factual The Happening is:
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/06/the-happening-s.html

**Spoilers May Be Ahead**
My Review
I went into The Happening with high hopes and I was not disappointed. Many people complained about the bad dialogue but I thought it really added to the B-movie feel that M.N.S. was trying to convey.

The opening scenes in Central Park were so beautiful. Then the action then moves to Philadelphia at the J.R. Masterman School which really looks great on camera. I thought Mark was great in this scene in the class room, it was very funny. M. Night really knows how to make a movie look great. The video of the zookeeper at the zoo looked pretty fake but this movie seemed to be an unapplogetic B-movie. One thing I really like about M. Night is the way he does most of the deaths in the movie with long shots that show the nature around the person/persons who are commiting suicide. This method works disturbingly well. Like when the Jeep crashes and Julian kills himself in the middle of the street.

I really like the scene when they are leaving the new home development and the sign says, "You Deserve This!".

Mrs. Jones house was very effective in this movie the look of the interior and exterior were very effective in conveying the mood. Betty Buckley's acting was very well done and this part of the movie delivered the most screams from my theater.

The ending in the final movie was much better then the ending that M. Night penned in the original screenplay. One thing about the new ending is how did everything seem to go back to normal. I wish instead of showing the scientist on the news they could of explained how things in Philly were almost back to normal. One thing I like about the end in 'The Green Effect' was how it showed people surviving the event around the world. In the movie this event only is happening in the North East of the US. The score by James Newton Howard was amazing and really went well with this film.

In my opinion the movie gets a B+ and it one of the best B-movies. A way to describe this movie is a mix between, The Birds, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (the original) and The Blob.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Friday Box Office

This info is from Box Office Mojo:

Yesterday's box office total was: $12,800,000
The Happening at #2 with The Incredible Hulk with #21,030,000.

The Happening is well on its way to recouping its budget of $57 million.
The movie opened at 2,987 theaters.


Yesterday's numbers beat the expectations that were putting this movie at $24 million dollars for the whole weekend. Now expections have been changed for $28-32 million.

My Review is coming later thus weekend...

Friday, June 13, 2008

Opening Day!

Here it is the day we've been waiting for! When I get the Box Office Numbers I'll post them. If you want to look at a list of previous grosses for M. Night Shyamalan film click on this link:

Roger Ebert gave The Happening a 3 out of 4 Stars! You can read his review at the link below:

Here are some more reviews:







This is something I've gotten a few e-mails about the huge amount of advertising outside the US movie market and here is an article about Mexican movie posters for The Happening:


On Yahoo! Movie the average user review is a B and the average critic review is a C-. You can weigh-in at http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809921595/info

I'm seeing the film tonight with a big group of friends and will post my review tomorrow.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Lotsa New Stuff

IESB.com has posted some new clip from the film:

EW.com has a review up and it only give The Happening a C:http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20205936,00.html

The Imprompter.com has an article and video of the premiere in NYC last night:
The Happening a Fun B movie? Reuters has the story:
SciFiMoviepage.com has a pretty interesting review of movie:
A very interesting review of The Happening has been posted and you can read it below:
Here is an ok review:
MTV News has a good interview with M. Night Shyamalan and a video interview with Mark: http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1589098/story.jhtml
UPDATED at 2pm and 9pm

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

More is Happening

Only 2 days until the film opens!
Did anyone catch the show on FX last night (The Happening: Taking Fear To A Whole New Level)? It was very interesting.

FearNet.com has a cool interview with some of Mark Walhberg, John Leguizamo, Zooey DeChanel and M. Night Shyamalan: http://www.fearnet.com/MCNewsDetailPage.aspx?catid=30&mid=14744

ShockTillYouDrop also has a great interview with M. Night read it at the link below:
http://www.shocktillyoudrop.com/news/topnews.php?id=6473

Also some more reviews are coming in:

This first one is from The Hollywood Reporter:
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/television/reviews/article_display.jsp?JSESSIONID=7J22LT0JD1SrgXk2xvMtp9s51DG35WGPJxctq7x0RnLvGnkdMQwC!1689313521&&rid=11241

Plus one more from New Zealand:
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1501119/story.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10515659

Heres one from the great north:
http://www.montrealfilmjournal.com/review.asp?R=R0001208

Twitch has a review of the movie:
http://twitchfilm.net/site/view/review-of-the-happening/

This review is very positive with a 3 out of 4 stars:
http://www.charityfolks.com/cfauctions/auction_bid.asp?auctionid=11367&catname=Celebrity+%26+Hollywood&mcid=18204

More updates coming thru out the week...

P.S. Just found out Mark will be on The Late Show with David Letterman tonight on your local CBS station.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Its Almost Here!

So a "source" tells me the Premier for The Happening will be in New York City which I find odd considering the fact that the movie was mostly filmed in Philadelphia but oooo well.

We have a sorta review from The Miami Herald here is the link:
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/reeling/2008/06/a-sneak-peek-at.html
The reviewer gives the movie an ok review, this also confirms the fact the 20th Century Fox is presenting Preview screenings. Hey wheres are tickets to the advanced screening! haha

Also lots of press for The Happening so here we go!

First this is just about all the Broadway actors that are appearing in this film:
http://www.theatermania.com/content/news.cfm/story/14193

JoBlo.com has an interview with M. Night, you can view it by clicking the link below:
http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=21445

USAToday.com has a good story about Shyamalan:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2008-06-08-shyamalan_N.htm

Also NPR.com has an audio interview with Shyamalan:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91235345

Last week I got an e-mail about watching FX tonight at 11pm and I know why now. FX will be airing a special called THE HAPPENING: Taking Fear to a Whole New Level. So tune in to that and hopefully we will learn some new information on the film.

P.S. I got an e-mail from Australia and it seems like there is a lot of promotion for The Happening and Fox is really marketing it there.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Lots of press is 'Happening' and Transformers 2

AMCtv.com has an interview with Happening star Betty Buckley the link to the interview is below:

Here is the link to a NYTimes story of M. Night, the story really is a good read:

Here is some reaction to the interview:

Some not so good news about opening weekend numbers:
http://news.fantasymoguls.com/originalcontent/2008/05/early-trackin-3.htmlAs excited (no pun inteneded) as I am for the movie this altercation of a poster in the NY subway made me laugh.
P.S. I heard a rumor that you should watch the FX network June 9th at 11pm...but hey thats just a rumor.

______________________________________________________________

I got lots of requests for T2 info.

A source tells me that Transformers 2 will be filming at U-Penn within the next 2 weeks.

Here are some photos of the Bethlehem Steel scenes that are being shot this week:


More info can be found at this link: http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/06/03/first-look-the-opening-of-transformers-2/ or for video go to http://wfmz.com/view/?id=276618

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Only 17 Days...

With less then 20 days until the movie hit screens in America a lot of press is starting to build up.

A report in the newspaper The Scotsman (http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/features/M-Night-Shyamalan--What.4121061.jp) says that the movie will not be screened for audiences. This usually is a bad thing meaning that studios don't want bad reviews but it can also be a good thing to help movie goers make up there minds with out help for reviewers.

Also over 80 new promo shots have been posted the link follows:
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/05/24/80-photos-from-m-night-shyamalans-the-happening/

Here are some shots of M. Night and Mark Walhberg doing press for El Incidente (aka. The Happening) in Spain. Mark's hand was injured during a shoot for G.I. Joe.



Wired.com has a great blog on The Pixies and M. Here is the link http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/05/does-m-night-sh.html.

In Bethlehem, Pa outside of Philly Transformers 2 will start filming next week so look for a new Philly Film blog to be starting soon.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

The Happening Experiment (Uncutt) - Pitt Street Mall Sydney

Some viral marketing for the film in Australia.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

The Happening - TV Spot #4

This one is the best TV ad in my opinion.

The Happening - TV Spot #3

The Happening - TV Spot #2

Marketing Push

A new international poster for The Happening can be seen at this link: http://www.impawards.com/2008/happening_ver2.html

The new Happening website has launched I sugest you check that out it has looks of cool stuff and has desktop backgrounds. The address is http://www.thehappeningmovie.com/.

Also another extened Red Band trailer has hit the net here is the link: http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/the-happening/red-band-trailer.

Soon I will be posting 3 new TV spots for the movie and a new American poster for the film which hits screens of June 13th, 2008.





Lots of News



Monday, May 19, 2008

Sunday, May 18, 2008

YAHOO.com Preview

Also that TV spot I posted earlier was fan made and not official so yea it was pretty good. But Yahoo posted a video with M. Night talking about the movie.

Here is the link:

http://movies.yahoo.com/summer-movies/The-Happening/1809921595/trailers/125/887

Saturday, May 17, 2008

THE HAPPENING - TV Spot #2 (R-RATED)

Wow, very graphic for a TV spot but it looks cool.

Friday, May 16, 2008

The Happening - Red Band Trailer

Wow, this looks good!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Friday, May 2, 2008

The Happening - Trailer # 2

This is the trailer that played before Iron Man.

The Happening T.V. Spot #1

PLayed Thursday night during some of the networks Prime-time shows. Also saw the new theatrical trailer at the movies before Iron Man...boy it was gripping...

Sunday, April 27, 2008

New Stills Online!

Here are some new promo stills from The Happening:





The Philadelphia Inquirer (http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/columnists/20080427_Inqlings__It_ll_be_a_mob_scene_in_Society_Hill.html) has a little bit of info on Shyamalan selling his estate:
Signs are pointing to a sale of the Gladwyne mansion of filmmaker M. Night
Shyamalan, who put the pile up a year ago for $8 million and then cut the tag to
$7.25 million and then to $6.25 million. I hear that the selling price will be
in the high fives. Montgomery County records show he paid $4.5 million when it
was built in 2000 on nearly two acres. The Shyamalans now live on a 123-acre
compound in the western reaches of the Main Line. Shyamalan's latest, The
Happening, is scheduled to open wide June 13, and he's in early preparation for
The Last Airbender, a live-action adventure.
M. Night will also be going to India this May here is more on that:

Monday, March 17, 2008

Scoring of The Happening and Critics Already Trashing the Film

The Happening will be scored by James Newton Howard who has wrote the soundtrack for 6 other Shyamalan films.

Here are some stills and a link to an article and more photos:






http://www.scoringsessions.com/news/131/




Here is a article about film critics already trashing this film:
http://www.thesequitur.com/content/view/2162/43/

Monday, February 18, 2008

The Happening, Movie Trailer 2008

Here is the Youtube Version

Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Happening, Movie Trailer 2

Here are some stills from trailer #2:


The trailer is in HD at http://www.apple.com/trailers. Also http://www.thehappeningmovie.com/ is now up and running.

Friday, February 15, 2008

THE NEW TRAILER IS UP

You can catch it before Jumper or online at http://video.cineplex.com/?fr_story=c72ed1e5eef326a6bac15ef22b83eb418ac9524f&rf=bm.

Tell us about it in the comment box. More coming on it this weekend.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

The Happening Teaser Trailer

At the request of 20th Century the trailer was taken off the net. I have a copy but will not post it until we are allowed.

For stills and more please read the post below.

Here is a review of the trailer:

http://lifestyle.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=11618

Monday, February 4, 2008

The Happening Teaser




^Betty Buckley,


^ Woman in center city picking up a gun


^ John Leguizamo


^ Mark Walhberg


^ If you look at the archive of the site I have behind the scenes photos from this shoot



^Scenes filmed in Europe



^Alan Ruck



^Central Park NYC
^ If you look at the archive of the site I have behind the scenes photos from this shoot

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Reshoots

Does anyone know when or where reshoots will be done?

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Sorry

So the source I trusted about The Happening trailer appearing before AVP 2 was wrong. I'm so sorry that source has been correct about everything else they told me, so I am very sorry about that. I read a RUMOR on IMDB.com that the trailer will premier during the Super Bowl and another is it will premier before FOX's Jumper due out Feb. 21st.

Found a story about the movie:
http://www.ecorazzi.com/2008/01/03/m-night-shyamalans-the-happening-features-pissed-fauna/

The Happening Widget