The reign of Disney’s pirates may come to an end this weekend as competing studios release a quartet of new competitors, led by Sony’s animated Monster House. Also hitting the big screen are Warner Bros.’ Lady in the Water from director M. Night Shyamalan, 20th Century Fox’s Ivan Reitman action-comedy My Super Ex-Girlfriend and MGM’s Clerks II from filmmaker Kevin Smith.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest still holds the highest theater count with 4133, but Monster House isn’t far behind with 3,553 venues, more than 200 of which are exhibiting the film in stereoscopic 3D. The 3D effect is provided by Real D, which last added a third dimension to Disney’s animated Chicken Little. Like that film, Monster House may have what it takes to be a break-out hit, especially as positive reviews continue to roll in.
Created with Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Performance Capture technology, Monster House is the feature directorial debut of UCLA Spotlight Award winner Gil Kenan. The spooky comedy-adventure centers on three kids who venture across the street to a mysterious house that they believe to be alive. The movie has drawn comparisons to such fun ’80s adolescent fantasies as The Goonies, which is no coincidence since one of the producers is Steven Spielberg. Robert Zemeckis, the creative force behind Warner Bros.’ The Polar Express, also produced along with Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke.
Critics have been less kind to Lady in the Water, the latest supernatural thriller from the director of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs and The Village. Described as a bedtime story, the film stars Paul Giamatti as a building superintendent who finds a strange woman in the pool of his apartment complex and is soon introduced to menacing creatures of the night. The visual effects work was provided by ILM.
More visual effects come to the rescue in My Super Ex-Girlfriend, in which Uma Thurman plays a superheroine who unleashes her fury when she gets dumped by her boyfriend, played by Luke Wilson. This time the lion’s share of the vfx shots were produced by Digital Domain, with Lola visual Effects Lending a helping hand.
The animated fun continues next weekend when Warner Bros. brings us The Ant Bully, which is having its premiere this Sunday at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
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