Film ON AIR

Justin Steffman took some pictures on the set of Mark Steven Johnson’s new movie, who also directed and wrote Nicolas Cage’s ‘Ghost Rider’ and Ben Affleck’s ‘Daredevil.’ The comedy, called ‘When in Rome,’ features Napoleon Dynamite’s Jon Heder and is currently shooting in New York.

Yes, that’s Heder pulling a card out of a heart.

It’s like DreamWorks already forgot they’re releasing ‘Kung Fu Panda’ this weekend. First the new cast announcement and now they’re sending out the first production stills of ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.’ Interesting timing.

Not much changed since the first one. Except for the penguins, these shots could’ve just as well been taken from the first movie. I wonder how much of the budget goes into the ‘expensive voices’ of the characters.

Normally these two wouldn’t be leading, but ‘The Promotion’ features John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott in a, as Davis mentions, not that well promoted comedy. The low-budget movie is seeing a limited release this weekend and reviews are mixed. It seems like one of those love it or hate it movies.

Reelviews gave a 7.5 and said, “There are enough laughs to justify it being labeled as a comedy but a stronger storyline than one normally associates with this kind of film. It’s an enjoyable diversion amidst the big guns of summer.”

While the 3.0 review at The Hollywood Reporter mentions how it’s one “of the unfunniest comedies ever. Punch lines are lifeless. Characters are borderline catatonic. Running gags can’t even walk.”

These shots aren’t new. Not even in the sense they just hit the net. But let’s take a fun trip ‘Back to the Future,’ to the set of 1985. This is when ‘misterbiscuit’ took a job as a security guard at Universal Studios to be on the set of ‘Back to the Future.’

While the first movie was a big hit in 1985, the other two weren’t as big as you would expect. The first made $210 million, the second $118 and the third $88 million. Worldwide they respectively did $380 million, $330 million and $244 million. Still profitable, but I reckon the DVD and VHS sales were responsible for a big part of the third movies’ revenue.

The second row of pictures compares the set of 1985 to the one set in 1955.