JUNKFILM

High School Musical, the new minting machine from Disney, in it’s third installment is being released this weekend with an estimated $35 million opening weekend. Any tween parents or tweens themselves already know all about the HSM brand and series so this 3rd installment should pose no new news, but alas, a $35 million opener is a grand hope.

While HSM3 opens to a grand reception, it is Halloween time and specially this year with the sheer lack of horror films being released, Saw V might open rather well. Expected is a 29M-$32M range. After the last 3, one can hope people are still interested in the series…did anyone watch part 4? How…nevermind, I don’t want a headache today.

Steven “The Budget is only $300 million, screw it, I’ll wait til we can get $400″ Speilberg has stepped out of the running for director of The Trial of the Chicago 7. Who is looking to snag the position…? The answer is quite distrubing…Ben Stiller. While Stiller has an impressive director resume for comedies, he ahsn’t been able to tackle a serious drama script yet. I guess we’re gonna see how it goes.

Samsung announced their new BD-P2500 Blu-Ray disc player will be Netflix compatible. The press release reads:
“Instantly streaming movies and TV episodes from Netflix on the BD-P2550 and BD-P2500 is done through a wired broadband connection and a Netflix Queue-based user interface. Netflix members visit the Netflix Web site to add movies and TV episodes to their individual instant Queues. Those choices will automatically be displayed on members’ TVs and available to watch instantly through the Samsung players. Once selected, movies will begin playing in as little as 30 seconds. With the players’ accompanying remote control, Netflix members will be able to browse and make selections right on the TV screen and also have the ability to read synopses and rate movies. In addition, they will have the option of fast-forwarding and rewinding the video stream.”

Ben Stiller isn’t the only bizarre candidate for directing. Looks like Seth Green has stepped up to direct the film adaptation of the comic book, The Freshmen. While Green has successfully directed stop animation on a number of times, this will be his first feature length film. I like the book, so I am excited to see how this plays out.

McG (director is Charlie’s Angels 2, mind you) has posted come thoughts about his take on the Terminator series, Salvation, on his blog. Here are some of the more important take-aways:
* Principal Photography has wrapped
* Christian Bale and Sam Worthington have been sown early cuts and “they seem pleased with where the film is headed.”
* “Our focus is on story and character, but it’s fun diving into the world of visual effects.”
* “We want the patina of the machines to be dirty and heavy and perfectly realistic - that’s why we built so much practically with Stan Winston.”
* On producing revolutionary effects like Terminator 2: “There’s one sequence in particular where we’re trying to achieve something that’s never been done before. I don’t want to talk about it because we haven’t been successful yet…”
* Terminator 2 editor Conrad Buff is cutting the film: “It feels great to have his confidence in the movie. I take his opinion very seriously, he provides a daily litmus test for what is worthy of a Terminator film.”
* About the story: “This is a story of two destinies colliding. Connor is part of a resistance comprised of the ethnicities that make up the globe. This film is so much more that just Los Angeles. It reflects the global crisis of man, all of man versus machine.”

News “Flash”. The online trailer of the Flash is fake. It is made to look like it was a sneak-away screen capture trailer. But, reluctantly, it’s not.

Slumdog Millionaire gets tagged with an R rating. WTF? A coming to age story make for tweens gets an R? When Two-Face gets his face melted and a dude gets pencil through is eye socket…gets a PG-13? Come on MPAA and ratings board, get your head out of your asses.

A new Watchmen poster has surfaced: