Nothing's Too Large for James Cameron (and His Whopping 3 'Avatar' Sequels)

If a movie is a hit, it gets a sequel. If it's a real blockbuster, it gets two. And then there's "Avatar" — which isn't just getting its own Disney World land, but is also being becoming a full blown franchise in one fell swoop with three, count em, THREE sequels being made simultaneously.
Whoa.
James Cameron is, after all, Hollywood's master of thinking big. Scratch that. Bigger than big. After making the most successful sci-fi epic of the new century, he vastly super-sized the 3D series – a fifty percent increase from the two that were already in the works. The three sequels will be shot simultaneously beginning in 2014, and the first film is expected to open in theaters in December 2015. (Hold the jokes about a blue Christmas.) Since "Avatar" cost over $230 million to make, with three follow-ups going in front of cameras at once, this has the potential to be the biggest and costliest project any studio has ever greenlit.
[Related: ‘Avatar’ Sequels Will Feature Underwater Performance Capture]
This project looks like a monster, but tackling something huge hasn't scared Cameron in the past. Let's take a quick look at the mans' mega resume …
"The Terminator" (1984). Cameron had only directed one previous feature, the pretty unmemorable "Piranha, Part Two: The Spawning." But he still persuaded a studio to give him a shot at a big, ambitious sci-fi action fest that rewrote the rules of genre filmmaking and kicked Arnold Schwarzenegger into superstardom.
"Aliens" (1986). The original "Alien" was so much Ridley Scott's film that it seemed crazy to let someone else do the sequel. But Cameron made the movie leaner and more action packed, boosted the alien critter quotient, and gave Sigourney Weaver's Ripley more butt-kicking force, as bringing out her nurturing side by bringing along a kid to look after.
"The Abyss" (1989). This is where Cameron's ambitions really began to swell. For this underwater sci-fi epic, which cost close to $70 million, Cameron and his crew turned an uncompleted nuclear reactor in South Carolina into the world's biggest studio tank, holding seven million gallons of water. His team also designed special masks and breathing apparatus so the actors could deliver live dialogue under water.
"Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991). Bigger and badder in every way, Cameron's follow-up to "The Terminator" was a rare example of a sequel that surpassed the original. Hey, Cameron literally drops the bomb on L.A. in this movie. 'Nuff said.
"True Lies" (1994). It wasn't enough for Cameron to make a spy story – he had to come up with one of the biggest and craziest spy stories ever. You remember the scene where Arnold Schwarzenegger's character rescues Jamie Lee Curtis as she dangles from a helicopter? Turns out that really was Curtis dangling from an actual chopper in flight – and Cameron himself was filming her with a handheld camera. That's commitment all around.
"Titanic" (1997). It was supposed to be a love story set aboard a ship, but by the time Cameron got through with it, "Titanic" was also one of the greatest disaster films Hollywood ever produced, looking as if Cameron and his team went and built a ship and sank it for the sake of the cameras (and at a cost of $200 million, maybe he did). It also turned Leonardo DiCaprio into (arguably) Hollywood's biggest male star, and Kate Winslet into a box office draw and one of the best-respected actresses of her generation.
And "Avatar" … well, you know all about that, right?
So whatever Cameron has in mind for "Avatar 2," "3" and "4," don't doubt for a minute that the man is aiming to blow us away. Expect to hear a lot about these movies over the next few years.

Burning Question: Is Denzel Washington Hollywood's Most Reliable Hit Machine?

[Related: Paula Patton Topless in '2 Guns': 'It Was My Idea']
So: Is Washington the biggest, or at least the most financially reliable, star on Earth right now?
Well, dataheads sure like him. Ray Subers at Box Office Mojo calls Washington "one of the most consistently bankable stars in the business."
If the first rule for a Hollywood star, like a doctor is "do no harm", then Denzel starts out on solid ground. He has avoided spectacular bombs like "Lone Ranger" or risky giant bets such as Brad Pitt's "World War Z."
Washington's films rarely end up earning the kind of world-devouring money that Depp or Robert Downey Jr's big hits do. The biggest grosser of his career, "American Gangster," earned a nice but-by-Hollywood-standards not jaw-dropping $266 million worldwide. Compare that with Depp whose two biggest "Pirates" film have crossed the billion mark. But if the payoff is smaller, the bet is safer.
And there is one more factor we should consider: The Ulmer Scale. In essence, Hollywood journalist James Ulmer created this ranking which measures the financial value of a star. It doesn't predict box office, but it calculates something equally important: The chances that, by hiring a certain actor, producers will make all of their money back in pre-sales before a single frame of a movie has been shot.
Interestingly, Depp and Brad Pitt currently enjoy a top Ulmer score of 100; if hired, Ulmer predicts that their employers absolutely, without a doubt, will make money, essentially. Or at least break even.
Washington? His current score is 98.
"Johnny Depp is our gold standard when it comes to Ulmer," casting director Bonnie Gillespie explains. "Denzel has a 98 Ulmer score, but he's one of those people who's known as making really good choices. It's not that the other guys make poor choices, but sometimes they've been thrown an awful lot of money to do something that is spectacularly bad."
Counting Depp's recent bomb and Pitt’s "World War Z" — the latter of which only recently made its money back on a giant production budget of $170 million — don’t be shocked if next year's Ulmer scale comes out with new numbers favoring Washington.
"Denzel Washington is Mr. Consistency at the box office, no doubt about it," Exhibitor Relations box office analyst Jeff Bock tells Yahoo! Movies. "However, that makes him more of a Paul Pierce than a LeBron James. ... Or, if you'd rather do a golf metaphor — he stays on the fairway, but seldom drives it all the way to the green."

Naomi Watts Looks (If Not Sounds) Like a Princess in 'Diana'

Naomi Watts, right, looks pretty close to the real thing here as Princess Diana (Photo: AP Images/Entertainment …

The international trailer for the upcoming biographical film "Diana" has been released, and with it our first really good extended look at Naomi Watts's performance as the late Princess of Wales.

All eyes are on Naomi with this film, and for good reason: She's playing one of the most celebrated and beloved public figures of the 20th century — indeed, "the world's most photographed woman." And such a role brings with it a performance that will be heavily scrutinized for accuracy and, inevitably, criticized for even the slightest adjustment from the real-life Diana.

The verdict, at least from what we can tell like a trailer? Watts delivers a respectful homage to "the People's Princess," and not a straight impersonation — which is probably a very good thing.

From 'Diana' (Photo: Screengrab/Entertainment One)

first see Diana from above as she walks a red carpet in a stunning blue dress, a shot that immediately establishes our heroine as a larger-than-life and almost mythic figure. As we move in closer, she's switched costumes and now appears in a gold dress, surrounded by a mob of press and adoring public. This is a woman who was really never out of the public eye, try as she did to have something resembling a private life.

Where Watts really shines in the trailer is when she's showing off the work of the costume department — that got their hands on two dresses that Di actually wore. Diana attracted and inspired some of the top designers in the world, and "Diana" recreates at least part of her real-life wardrobe. (Versace even recreated a replica gown that Diana wore to a Victor Chang even in Sydney). Throughout the trailer, Watts is seen in a blue business suit, a white suit, a black dress and many other outfits that will probably seem at least somewhat familiar to those who followed Diana's fashion sense along with her political agendas.

Set Visit: Chris Hemsworth Talks ‘Thor: The Dark World’

Chris Hemsworth in Marvel's 'Thor: The Dark World'.

What do we really know about "Thor: The Dark World"?

For Asgard-thirsty Marvel fans, the answer is likely: not enough! And while Marvel's super-secretive ways will likely insure that answer remains the same till opening day (on November 8), we can now reveal to you the full transcript from our roundtable interview with Chris Hemsworth, conducted during a set visit in London, late last year.

Obviously, Marvel's head honcho Kevin Feige knows how keep his superheroes properly mum, as Hemsworth had to sheepishly avoid some of our more specific questions, but the interview does leave us knowing some more about the epic scale of "The Dark World," even if it's just enough to make us even more thirstier for November.

Here's what we found out:

On where we find Thor when the film begins…

Chris Hemsworth: Basically, Avengers is kind of a side-step amongst everything for all the journeys. This is certainly a continuation of it but at the same time, Thor’s journey picks up from where we left the first one. He's about to take on the throne, earning the right to be king, and now coming to the realization of what responsibility comes with that. Also, Alan [new director Alan Taylor] keeps talking about the dark side of that responsibility, and the secrets with being king, and becoming very political about what people need to know, and what they want to know.

Obviously, Tom [Hiddleston] is on set, so that's continuing. It's great to have some meatier stuff with Tom. Certainly in "Avengers," the stuff I got to sink my teeth into were those scenes. Following up our relationship and the ongoing question from Thor about what it is that Loki wants, and why, and how did we come to this? I think we get to possibly attack some of those questions properly.

[Related: ‘Thor: The Dark World’ Teaser Trailer Unleashes the Dark Elves]

On whether it will be as funny as "The Avengers"…

CH: Probably not, because Downey’s not in it, so that takes cares of that for us. Yeah, Natalie [Portman] and Kat Dennings certainly have some great humor. There's a few nice fish out of water moments with Thor, but not quite as naïve obviously as in the first one. I think the earthbound stuff really grounds this story in both films and keeps a lightness to it that trickles through Asgard as well.

Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth in Marvel's 'Thor: The Dark World'.

On the balance of time between Asgard and Earth…

CH: It’s certainly set in both worlds, pretty substantially, like last time – pretty similar. We certainly see more of Asgard and more of the Nine Realms in this film than we did in Thor. "Thor" was just on Asgard, this time, there’s a bigger universe out there which we get to explore.

On working with director Alan Taylor vs. Kenneth Branagh…

CH: Obviously, two different people and you get two completely different styles, but also you get two very different stories: origin story vs. part of this ongoing… it’s moving now… especially since "Avengers."

So you know, they certainly didn’t come in with this angle or attitude on how Thor should be. We all sort of knew where it was headed, but I think we had the same want to elevate it and take it to that next level. Alan, you can even see with the set design, wanted to ground it in a more organic tone. "Game of Thrones" obviously is set in a reality-based world but there’s fantasy elements that are quite prominent, which is similar to what we have going on here.

On Thor’s relationship with Odin [Anthony Hopkins] and the Lady Sif [Jaimie Alexander]…

CH: In the comic books there’s obviously an attraction with Thor and Sif and what have you. There was a little peppering of that, I think, in the first one – little hints at it. There may be more indications in this one… [I’m being] a politician.

The stuff with Odin is interesting because you've gotta have the right amount of conflict in order for this to be interesting. The conflict between Thor and Odin was so great in the first one and you didn’t want to repeat that, so certainly they disagree as they always will at times. But there’s a far greater respect from each other, so it becomes a more mature conversation, but there’s more at stake this time too. It’s not just their individual egos, the whole universe is at stake.

Mariah Carey Recalls Scarring Spit Attack Evoked by 'Butler' Scene

Mariah Carey wasn't about to close her eyes to the past when discussing racism and the making of "Lee Daniels' The Butler" during a press conference at theWaldorf Astoria Hotel on Monday, also attended by Oprah Winfrey and the much of the film's ensemble cast. Carey recalled she was riding on a Long Island school bus when a student spit on her when she was a child because of the color of her skin. And the foul memory came flooding back while she was making "The Butler."

In the movie, Carey plays the mother of Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker), a character based on the White House Butler Eugene Allen, who served presidents for 34 years and retired in 1986. In the early scene of the sweeping period drama about America's tumultuous racial past as seen through the butler's eyes, a dissolute plantation owner's son rapes Mariah's Georgia sharecropper. Immediately afterwards, the rapist shoots her husband dead in front of their son, Cecil, who has goaded his father to protest the violence against his mother.

As traumatic as Mariah's scene and its aftermath is, what apparently disturbed the singer/actress most was the recreation of the Woolworth's Lunch Counter sit-in located in North Carolina in 1960. In that emotional moment in the struggle for racial equality, a white woman spits on a black college student (Yaya Alafia) simply for asking to be served at the whites-only counter. 

[Related: Director Confirms President Obama Did Not Turn Down Offer to Appear in ‘Lee Daniels’ The Butler’]

"That actually happened to me," Carey said on Monday. "I know people would be in shock and not really want to believe or accept that, but it did. ... That right there, that was almost the deepest thing to me in the movie because I know what she went through — and it happened to be a bus as well. It was a school bus."

Winfrey: "Where somebody spit on you?"

Carey: "Yeah. In the face and in the same way."

Carey in 'The Butler' (Photo: The Weinstein Company)

The daughter of a white Irish American mother and an African American/Venezuelan father that raised her in "safe" suburban Long Island, Carey, 43, still didn't grow up protected from racial bias. The song lyrics for "Close My Eyes" echo this experience: "I left the worst unsaid; Let it all dissipate; And I try to forget."

In the past, Carey has discussed the fact that her mother Patricia's family disowned her for marrying a man of color in 1960. It was a rejection that Mariah felt very deeply. The racial tensions also had a negative impact on her parents's marriage and they divorced when Mariah was three.

Bruce Willis Out, Harrison Ford In For 'The Expendables 3'

We actually have a good feeling about this.
There has been a lot of speculating as to which old-timer action star(s) Sylvester Stallone will be recruiting for the third installment in his over-the-hill shoot-'em-up series, "The Expendables." But one name that probably no one was expecting to show up on the roll call is Harrison Ford (even though rumors had been swirling about it).
The man who brought life to both Han Solo and Indiana Jones has joined the cast of "The Expendables 3," according to Stallone himself and later confirmed by The Wrap.
Sheesh, way to go, Bruce! No more friendship for you!
Anyway, this has us thinking that Ford will be taking Willis' place in a new "handler" kind of part (Ha! We get goosebumps just thinking about it!). We'll see if we're right when details on Ford's character come in, whenever that may be.
Sylvester Stallone has been having almost as much fun with Twitter as an announcement platform as "X-Men: Days of Future Past" director Bryan Singer. On March 12, he posted, "Writing EX3 at the moment ... there are going to be mountains of surprises." And when a rumor began to circulate that Mel Gibson was being courted to direct "The Expendables 3," Stallone posted, "Mel is a MAGNIFICENT director! Pure passion on every level. We'd be blessed to have him. A REAL long shot, but LIFE is a long shot — right?"
[Related: Stallone Casts Snipes in 'Expendables 3' (on Tax Day, Of Course)]
A new addition to "The Expendables" family was Sly's "Demolition Man" buddy Wesley Snipes, who rather ironically joined the cast of the third film on April 15 as tax preparers scrambled to prepare their last-minute reports. As of May 2013, Nicolas Cage, Jackie Chan and Milla Jovovich were in "advanced negotiations" to join the cast, though their involvement has yet to be confirmed.

While Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising his role as Trench seems to be a question mark, series regulars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture are all expected to return, with Mickey Rourke coming back to reprise his role as Tool after sitting out "The Expendables 2":

And then there are the casting rumors, which usually end up being more fun than any actual "Expendables" movie. Steven Seagal claimed that he'd been offered a role in the third film even before the second one came out last summer, and Clint Eastwood's name has been floating around as a possibility (which would probably be just too awesome for an "Expendables" movie to handle).

It will be interesting to see how this film takes shape. Meanwhile, we can hopefully look forward to a scene in which Harrison Ford puts that young whippersnapper Jason Statham in his place.

Jennifer Aniston Gets No Tips From Critics For Her Stripping in ‘We’re The Millers’

You have to feel bad for Jennifer Aniston … it's one thing for the critics to make fun of your acting. But panning your stripping? That's got to hurt!
Aniston gets top billing in the new comedy "We're The Millers," in which she plays Rose, a hard-bitten exotic dancer who is recruited by her neighbor David (Jason Sudeikis) to impersonate his wife as he trues to smuggle an RV full of marijuana across the Mexican border. At one point in the movie, Rose is required to show off her talents as a peeler, and several critics are giving Aniston low marks for her stripping.
[Related: Jennifer Aniston's Modest Moment … As a Stripper]
Todd McCarthy in the Hollywood Reporter says Aniston "may well be the least convincing down-and-out bump-and-grinder in screen history. All of about five seconds are devoted to showing Rose at work going through her motions wearing far more than most soccer moms usually wear at public swimming pools."
Alonso Duralde in The Wrap agrees that Aniston seems a bit too modest for the role. "Her character exists in that bizarro movie world … where all strippers wear bras throughout their routines," Duralde said.
Kyle Smith in the New York Post is mean enough to bring Aniston's age into the argument. "As for Aniston’s much-hyped stripping routine (down to her undies) … it’s as sad as her hula dance in 'Just Go With It," Smith writes. "For young actresses to disrobe in exchange for attention is tradition. For 44-year-olds, it’s desperation."
Mick LaSalle makes a similar point in the San Francisco Gate, though he's a good bit kinder. "[Aniston's] stripping scenes aren't flattering," LaSalle says. "It's not that she doesn't look good -- actually, she looks great -- but there's an age at which silly and flamboyant display makes emotional and aesthetic sense, and whatever that age is, it's really, really young. However, on her resume, Aniston can now check off pole dancing."
And in perhaps the gentlest assessment of Aniston's strip scene so far, Justin Chang in Variety points his finger at the filmmakers, not the star. "Aniston … proves far more game than the material deserves, especially when she’s forced to deliver a slow-motion striptease for the benefit of a Mexican drug lord, a weirdly conflicted scene in which the film seems to be pitying, mocking and exploiting her all at once," Chang writes.
[Related: Jennifer Aniston Reveals 'We're the Millers' Stripper Diet]
If it's any consolation to Jen, nearly every major critic who has weighed in on "We're The Millers" so far has given it a big thumbs down (Joe Williams of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch called it "Nothing but stems and seeds, with less buzz than a bag of oregano," and his was one of the more favorable reviews). But if the producers of the movie were figuring having one of the sexiest women in Hollywood deliver a bit of spicy dancing would be a slum dunk with audiences … well, the professional viewers aren't buying it.