On the heels of My Super Ex-Girlfriend comes another vfx-laden action-comedy that has some fun with the superhero genre. Zoom from Sony /Revolution Studios flies into theatres today, taking on Dimension’s techno-horror flick, Pulse and Oliver Stone’s account of real-life horror, World Trade Center. Also opening is Buena Vista’s teen-centric dance pic, Step Up.
In Zoom, Tim Allen plays retired superhero Captain Zoom, who is called to a private academy to transform four unruly kids with special powers into an elite crimefighting force. This Fantastic Four for the tween set also features Courtney Cox and Chevy Chase, as well as visual effects by Luma Pictures, Digital Domain and Custom Film Effects. The pic was direceted by Peter Hewitt, who helmed 2004’s Garfield: The Movie.
Lions Gate’s The Descent, a superior horror entry which opened last weekend, gets some competition from Pulse, a remake of a popular Japanese chiller. In the film, Kristen Bell, Tate Hanyok and Ian Somerhalder play college students who pick up a strange frequency on their computers and realize that they must stop evil forces from taking over the world. Horror legend Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) adapted Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s original screenplay and visual effects are provided by The Orphanage, Live Wire Prods. and ICO Ent.
World Trade Center‘s Wednesday opening was overshadowed by new of the foiled terrorist plot in London, but the weekend should yield big returns for the true-life story of New York City policemen who dared to enter the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001. Recreating the collapse of the skyscrapers was the task of vfx shops Framestore CFC, Bain VFX, BUF, Double Negative, The Senate VFX, Baseblac, Men-from-Mars and Machine.
While many believe it’s too soon for a 9/11 movie, critical response has been positive, though good reviews didn’t exactly help Universal’s United 93 reach a wide audience. The modestly budgeted film about one of the doomed Sept. 11 planes was released in April and only managed to earn $31.4 million domestically. But with a bigger budget, a big star (Nicolas Cage) and Oliver Stone’s name behind it, World Trade Center stands to fare better. Still, it has its work cut out for it as goes up against the hit Will Ferrell comedy, Talladega Nights, which debuted at No. 1 last week with $47 million.
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