Though the news that 20th Century Fox was moving forward on a sequel to Chronicle came rather quickly after Josh Trank’s film performed very well at the box office, development on the follow-up has been fairly slow.  Screenwriter Max Landis returned to pen the script, but it seemed unlikely that Trank would return to direct given that he’s next helming The Fantastic Four and is also attached to a Venom movie and Shadow of the Colossus.  Last we heard re: Chronicle 2, Landis’ father John Landis claimed that Fox wasn’t happy with Max’s script and wanted “more of the same.”

Now Max Landis himself has spoken up regarding the status of Chronicle 2 and also directly addressing his father’s comments.  Hit the jump to read on.

It wasn’t even close. Against a handful of holdovers and one weak new release, Summit Entertainment’s Warm Bodies walked off with this year’s Super Bowl box office prize. From 3,009 locations, the zombie comedy earned an estimated $20 million – more than twice the total of the number two title. Bullet to the Head, the frame’s only other wide release, took in just $4.5 million from 2,404 locations for a sixth place finish.

As most of our regular readers may have figured out from our quarterly “Most Anticipated” articles, my movie preferences heavily favor the genre films. I’m a fan of spectacle, big action, larger-than-life characters and borderline-ridiculous premises. I’m always happy to see great performances on screen, but as long as I’m having some sort of visceral response to the film in question, it works for me. I’m not artsy or indie, I don’t have access to festivals and screeners; I’m out there in the ticket lines and sub-par theaters like the majority of the blue-collars out there. It’s a foregone conclusion that you will disagree with me, so be sure to vote for your own top ten here. You’ll find my ten favorite movies from 2012 after the jump.

In past years for my “Best of” list, I’ve been able to provide fun categories like “Best Kill” and “Best Quotes”, but sadly, that won’t be happening this year.  I keep notes throughout the year, but in July, my hard drive crashed, and because I am a foolish person, I didn’t back up the notes to a separate drive.  However, I do have enough information to do the traditional categories as well as Breakthrough Performance, “A Very Good Year”, Best Villain, Best Surprises, Biggest Disappointments, and a new category, “Best Movie You Probably Missed This Year.”  One final note: unlike previous years, the film had to come out in 2012; festival-only flicks don’t count, so that’s why there’s no love for The Place Beyond the Pines on this year’s list.

Hit the jump to check out my miscellaneous “Best of 2012″ picks.  Be sure to keep checking back this week as we’ll be running Top 10 lists from Adam, Dave, and me.

One of the more pleasant surprises of 2012 was director Josh Trank’s low-budget “superhero” film Chronicle.  The pic was a hit with audiences and critics alike, and Fox naturally tapped the first film’s scribe Max Landis to start work on a sequel earlier this year.  Shortly thereafter Landis teased the return of star Alex Russell in the follow-up, but since then word on Chronicle 2 has been quiet.  Now we may have an idea of why, as Landis’ father, filmmaker John Landis, recently revealed that Fox isn’t too keen on what Max Landis has cooked up for the sequel.  Hit the jump for more. 

Dane DeHaan is having a great year.  After appearing on TV series like In Treatment and True Blood, DeHaan starred this year in Josh Trank‘s Chronicle, then acted alongside Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy in Lawless, and now he’s one of the leads in director Derek Cianfrance‘s much buzzed about new film, The Place Beyond the Pines, which premiered to glowing reviews at this week’s Toronto International Film Festival (watch two clips here).  In addition, he recently wrapped on director John Krokidas‘ Kill Your Darlings, where he starred alongside Daniel Radcliffe and Elizabeth Olsen.

Shortly before the premiere of the film at TIFF, I sat down with DeHaan for an extended interview.  We talked about the past year, how he prepares for his roles, what it was like to work for Cianfrance and make The Place Beyond the Pines, who he plays in Kill Your Darlings and what its about, and what he might have coming up.  Hit the jump to watch.

The found footage film and the superhero movie are both formulaic to a fault, so it’s odd that the combination of the two bring new life to both.  Josh Trank’s Chronicle tells the story of three kids who gain powers, but does so in a way that’s refreshing and engaging.  The movie was a surprise hit, and we can’t wait to see what Trank does next.  Our review of the Blu-ray of Chronicle follows after the jump.

At this year’s CinemaCon, I was able to land an exclusive interview with Tom Rothman (Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fox Filmed Entertainment).  While we posted selected portions of the interview last week, after the jump you can read the entire conversation which covers a lot more than comic book movies.  I love getting to speak with actors and directors, but if you really want to find out which projects are moving forward and why certain decisions were made, a studio head has all the answers.

During the wide-ranging conversation we talked about 48 frames per second, the shift towards higher quality films on Fox’s slate, Prometheus (and it’s rating), Daredevil, Fantastic Four, the Chronicle sequel, The Wolverine, the Rise of the Planet of the Apes sequel, a New Mutants movie, A Good Day to Die Hard (Die Hard 5), and more.  Hit the jump to read what he had to say.

With the guaranteed blockbuster superhero movie The Avengers opening in less than a week, let’s turn our attention briefly to an unexpected heroic hit: Chronicle.  Screenwriter Max Landis gave an extensive interview recently at the Middle East Film and Comic Con 2012 in Dubais in which he discussed the sequel to his found-footage superhero film, Chronicle 2.  Whereas the first film gave us the origin story of the world’s first super-heroes, the follow up will apparently focus on the world’s first super-villain.  Landis had a lot to say on the script, which he is currently writing and also commented on the possibility of director Josh Trank returning for the sequel.  Hit the jump to see some of Landis’ choice quotes as well as the full video interview.

Max Landis’ Chronicle was one of Collider’s Most Anticipated Films for the first quarter of 2012 and was a nice little box office surprise for Fox. The studio is hoping that lightning strikes twice as Landis has been tapped to write the sequel to the found-footage superhero film. Chronicle’s plot line followed three teenagers (Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell and Michael B. Jordan) as they acquired superhuman powers and attempted to gain control over them. Without giving too much of the plot away, let’s just say that not all of them were able to walk the straight and narrow path. Chronicle played out in such a way that a direct sequel involving all of the principal characters would be difficult, but fans of comics know that, in the world of superhuman powers, quite literally anything is possible. Hit the jump for more on Chronicle.

It didn’t claim the record for highest debut or the greatest attendance, but this year’s Super Bowl weekend still caught most box office watchers by surprise with two bigger-than-expected openings. Fox’s Chronicle was first with $22 million from 2,907 locations, but CBS Films’ The Woman in Black was right on its heels with $21 million from 2,855. That’s the first time that two titles have opened to over $20 million on a Super Bowl frame since… ever.

This past week brought us a story that is near and dear to me. While I briefly give my own thoughts regarding DC Comics’ Watchmen prequel comic series after the jump, I want to use the “Top 5′s” opening paragraph space to invite readers to voice/type their own opinions on the announcement in the comments section. As a fervent fan of the series, I’m always interested to hear fellow fans’ take on Watchmen adaptations, prequels, and the like. So, with that said, what do you think? Does the creative talent involved interest you? Is it the best idea ever? The worst? Somewhere in between? Sound off in the comments.

In addition to DC’s Before Watchmen announcement, this installment of the “Top 5″ includes interviews with the cast and director of superhero/found-footage pic Chronicle, a “What If?” look at a 16-Bit Breaking Bad RPG, ten things to know about Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, and Sundance 2012 video interviews with Bradley Cooper, Paul Dano and more. A brief recap and link to each follows after the jump.

Box office watchers were not expecting much from this year’s crop of Super Bowl Weekend releases. The three films opening against America’s biggest sporting event had modest goals to match their (mostly) modest budgets; and yet, here we are, with a photo finish for first on Friday and a weekend that is shaping up to make 2011’s Super Bowl weekend pale by comparison.  Estimates put Fox’s Chronicle on top with $8.6 million from 2,907 locations. Not far behind, however, is CBS Film’s The Woman in Black with an estimate of $8.3 million from 2,855 locations. That’s 45% higher than anyone expected from the supernatural-thriller. Right now, Chronicle is expected to edge out Black with $20 million to $19.7 million this weekend; but it is important to note that neither film was projected to make anything close to $20 million by Sunday. Only Universal’s Big Miracle is coming in as projected. The family film made an estimated $2.3 million on Friday for what looks like an $8 million first weekend. Join us tomorrow for a more detailed look at the studios’ counterprogramming successes, unless you have other plans…?

In Chronicle, newcomer Alex Russell stars as Matt, the faux “poet laureate” prone to namedropping Jung and Plato, the better to woo ladies and prove intellectual superiority – and this is before the guy even gets superpowers. But instead of becoming more braggadocious after the discovery, Matt’s newfound abilities humble him (well – his inability to use telekinesis properly humble him). Matt soon becomes the voice of reason for the film – warning his friends to use their powers sparingly and never to hurt any living thing with them. Ironically enough – the poser philosopher inadvertently becoming the wise man he always pretended to be….

In the following interview with Alex Russell, he discusses (not) researching philosophy books for the character, how to perfect an American accent (he’s Australian) and the rehearsal process for Chronicle. To watch the full interview, hit the jump.

The cinéma vérité style can easily go astray. It can be used more as a lazy way to put the viewer closer to the action without worrying about thoughtful cinematography or good performances.  Chronicle avoids the pitfalls by coming up with a good reason why its story should take a found-footage approach instead of a half-assed reason why a character should carry around a camera.  Rather than throw non-actors into the fray for “raw” performances (i.e. sloppy), the film places its trust in lead actors who give good performances.  There are times when the movie can no longer hold its fake documentary conceit together and at the climax it loses the character drama in favor of a big action scene, but Chronicle manages to be not only a good found-footage movie, but a good movie period.