Media Market Journal » The Words

‘The Words’ Falls Flat as ‘The Possession’ Wins Weekend

Jeff Rosz — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 15:29:10 +0000

The winner of this weekend’s box office was the Lionsgate horror flick The Possession, but it is hard to be enthusiastic about the film winning for the second week in a row. This is the first 3-day in a long while that featured no films breaking past $10 million, and that is signaling that Hollywood could be in store for a repeat of last fall’s horrendous box office performance. For the record, Possession only came up with $9.5 million.

Of course, week-to-week drop-offs are expected so eyes naturally flock to new arrivals. In the weekend’s case, it was The Words from directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. Good enough for third place, the $6 million film made $5 million in its first few days of release. This was yet another low-budget offering starring Bradley Cooper taking direction from a friend (the other time being Dax Shepard’s Hit & Run,) and it is safe to say the actor might stick to teaming outside his circle for now on. While it may sound profitable, keep in mind that promotion adds several million to the production cost, making this not a home run.

The star from The Hangover is being criticized for lacking enough star power to drive even the most insignificant films past a $10 million opening. This might just happen again though as David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook puts Cooper alongside Jennifer Lawrence in November, but that is highly doubtful. Should it happen though, it would almost assuredly solidify that the actor’s career hedges on his material and not his abilities.

Beyond The Possession and The Words, there is not much else worth mentioning. Next weekend’s Finding Nemo 3D, Resident Evil: Retribution, and the well-received Paul Thomas Anderson movie The Master (limited release) should all heat up the box office a bit. There is also the Jamie Linden dramedy 10 Years which is another limited release, but it has the white hot Channing Tatum in it. Given Tatum’s newfound A-list status, a good performance in the coming weeks would not be too incredibly shocking.

‘Possession’ Tops Box Office Second Friday in a Row

Jeff Rosz — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 19:15:46 +0000

Remember how last weekend’s box office results were so terrible? Well, Hollywood would consider that a boon compared to what they are seeing for this three-day period. Things kicked off very bleak on Friday with the reigning champion The Possession banking $2.9 million which was good enough to take home the ‘W.’ Lawless followed that with $1.8 million (once again at number two,) and it is not until the three hole that we see a new entrant.

Releasing this weekend was The Words starring Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, and Jeremy Irons among others. A mediocre plagiarism thriller does not exactly stand up to scrutiny among picky moviegoers thus why it only found $1.6 million. This is supposedly where analysts expected the picture to land, but at only $571 a theater it is hard to imagine CBS Films is happy with that performance.

Bringing up the rear are the holdovers from weeks ago with only The Expendables 2 and The Campaign cracking 7-figures in that grouping. No one expects a single movie to make more than $10 million for the weekend especially with the knowledge that the return of football will put a huge damper on already weak ticket sales.

Is Bradley Cooper’s ‘The Words’ Any Good?

Jeff Rosz — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:42:48 +0000

This weekend will see the release of yet another Bradley Cooper movie, and this time the actor has put on his serious hat to plagiarize his way to stardom after striking out big with his own stuff. Taking direction from his longtime friend Brian Klugman, the film is set to hit theaters nationwide tomorrow, so the question now turns to ‘is it worth your time?’

Early reviews say clearly not as the plot fails live up to its source material. The critics are berating the directorial and writing tandem of Klugman and Sternthal for writing a nightmarish piece not so much grounded in reality. One person says this movie is for people who buy their novels from Starbucks. Ouch!

Alas, it is not all bad as aside from playing a character that flat out stinks creatively, Bradley Cooper delivers a decent performance as well as the entire ensemble which includes Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, Dennis Quaid, and Jeremy Irons. Unfortunately, that gets outshined by a story bogged down in connecting the dots rather than letting it ride and hope an audiences ‘gets it.’

This will make the Bradley Cooper come back tour 0 for 2 presumably as Hit & Run received mixed reviews a few weeks back and barely cracked the top ten at the box office. These are the first films out of Cooper’s arsenal since The Hangover Part II, so despite all the hype that certain trades give the actor, his star power certainly does not transcend his material.

While many people expected Limitless to change all that, people are forgetting that the high-concept plot really appealed to a wide audience, so if Hollywood expects those people to screen The Words then they got another thing coming. Current weekend estimates peg the movie under $10 million for its three-day opening.

Current Rotten Tomatoes Score: 19%

Bradley Cooper Talks ‘The Words,’ Impersonates Jeremy Irons on ‘Today’

Jeff Rosz — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 17:09:59 +0000

Bradley Cooper has yet another movie coming out soon called The Words, so he is ramping up promotion for the feature in which he stars alongside Jeremy Irons and Zooey Saldana. The film is from his friend Brian Klugman, so naturally working with friends (like he did on last week’s Hit & Run) was a topic of conversation as well as the actual movie which tackles plagiarism. For those of you uninterested by the constant plugging that takes place on the talk show circuit, The Hangover star makes it worth the view by showing off his Jeremy Irons impression. It needs work, but he almost has his co-star down.

The Words hits theaters on September 7.

WATCH: Bradley Cooper and Dax Shepard Promote ‘Hit & Run’ Together on ‘Today’

New Footage Found in Latest Trailer for ‘The Words’

Jeff Rosz — Tue, 31 Jul 2012 22:56:31 +0000

There is a new trailer out for The Words tonight that is much more abbreviated than the previous one. Despite its shortened nature, it manages to show new footage and somewhat adjust what moviegoers might be thinking about this effort from directors Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. Instead of highlighting the plagiarism-heavy plot, the newest trailer shines a light on its character-driven relationships.

Cast members include Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, Dennis Quaid, and Jeremy Irons. The Words releases into theaters on September 7.

Cast Hype Featurette for ‘The Words’ Starring Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons

Jeff Rosz — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 21:38:13 +0000

The back-half of the year is loaded with Bradley Cooper movies. None of them are meant to be large scale blockbusters, but all of them look like winners in their own right.

One of the films is The Words brought to us by the directorial tandem of Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. Essentially, the movie focuses on Bradley Cooper’s character who is a struggling writer that craves recognition. When presented with the opportunity of stealing another person’s work, he does just that and receives just what he desired enabling the film to focus on a game of moral entrapment.

Of course, today this project is in our crosshairs because a new featurette is out that has the cast talking about what drew them to do the film. They also help explain what the picture is truly about for those of you still a little confused about what kind of tone the movie might seek to take.

Additional cast members include Dennis Quaid, Zoe Saldana, Olivia Wilde, and Jeremy Irons. The film hits theaters on September 7.

Official Trailer for ‘The Words’ with Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons

Jeff Rosz — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:21:37 +0000

Bradley Cooper has been hard at work upping his street cred in the drama department ever since he broke out in 2009′s The Hangover. The actor’s latest picture comes in the form of The Words under the direction of Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal who also wrote this film as well as TRON: Legacy. In terms of other actors, the movie is pretty stacked with notables as Olivia Wilde, Dennis Quaid, Jeremy Irons, and Zoe Saldana all have roles in the effort.

Here is the first trailer for the film courtesy of Yahoo! Movies. Look for The Words to hit theaters on September 21.

Olivia Wilde Joins ‘The Words’ Opposite Bradley Cooper

Jeff Rosz — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 19:11:30 +0000

Olivia Wilde has signed on to star alongside Bradley Cooper (The Hangover) in a dramatic thriller called The Words which centers around Cooper’s role as a plagiarist writer which ultimately comes back to bite him in the end.

The movie will be directed by Tron Legacy writers Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal. Other cast members include Jeremy Irons, Dennis Quaid, and Zoe Saldana.

[Showblitz] via [Vulture]