BoxOffice® Pro - December 2011

when a Soviet double agent is identified
in the upper echelons of MI6, someone
has to find him. Set in the ’70s, Tinker is
swimming in hot British talent: Colin
Firth, John Hurt, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones
all play elder MI6 statesmen, with the
younger crop played by Mark Strong and
Tom Hardy, who was brought in when first
choice Michael Fassbender was too busy
playing Magneto.
YOUNG ADULT
THIS MEAN GIRL HASN’T GROWN UP
DISTRIBUTOR Paramount CAST Charlize Theron, J.K. Simmons,
Patrick Wilson, Elizabeth Reaser, Patton Oswalt DIRECTOR
Jason Reitman SCREENWRITER Diablo Cody PRODUCERS Diablo
Cody, Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick, Jason Reitman,
Russell Smith, Charlize Theron GENRE Comedy
RATING R for language and some sexual content
RUNNING TIME 94 min. RELEASE DATE December 9 ltd.
December 16 Wide
Following their hit collaboration
on Juno, hipster screenwriter Diablo
Cody and dramedy director Jason
Reitman re-team for this comedy
about a young adult novelist in a
very adult downward spiral. After her
divorce, Mavis (Oscar winner Charlize
Theron) decides to marry her high
school sweetheart, so she returns to
her hometown to find Buddy Slade
(Patrick Wilson) happily married
and mightily disinterested. With a
great cast and a release during Oscar
season, this title looks more like a
high pedigree summer film than an
awards contender—but with the
team behind it, expectations are high.
WE NEED TO TALK
ABOUT KEVIN
MY SON, MY SON, WHAT HAVE YE
DONE?
DISTRIBUTOR Oscilloscope CAST John C. Reilly, Tilda
Swinton, Lauren Fox, Siobhan Fallon, Ezra Miller,
Ursula Parker, Ashley Gerasimovich DIRECTOR
Lynne Ramsay SCREENWRITER Lynne Ramsay
PRODUCERS Jennifer Fox, Robert Salerno, Luc
Roeg GENRE Suspense RATING R for disturbing
violence and behavior, some sexuality and
language RUNNING TIME 112 min. RELEASE DATE
December 9, 2011 ltd
Esteemed British filmmaker Lynne Ramsay
(Ratcatcher) directs this drama about a
mother (Tilda Swinton) whose son goes on
a killing spree and survives to tell about it.
On the heels of Beautiful Boy, a drama about
conflicted parents mourning a Columbinestyle
killer, We Need to Talk about Kevin hews
closer to psychological horror and asks
explicitly what parents leaving The Omen
or Joshua asked themselves: “Sometimes
kids seem outright evil, but they can’t be …
right?”
I MELT WITH YOU
THEY’LL DRINK TO THAT
DISTRIBUTOR Magnolia Pictures CAST Rob Lowe, Carla
Gugino, Thomas Jane, Jeremy Piven, Sasha Grey,
Christian McKay DIRECTOR Mark Pellington SCREENWRITER
Glen Porter PRODUCERS Rob Cowan, Mark Pellington,
Norman Reiss GENRE Drama RATING R for pervasive drug
use and language, some violence and sexual content
RUNNING TIME 116 min. RELEASE DATE December 9, 2011 ltd.
This drama about four college friends
finds their bond is like a keg that’s been
tapped. Usually, these men are successful,
upstanding adults. But when they
annually regroup, the only goal is to get
blasted. We can expect piercing discomfort
from director Mark Pellington, an
award-winning music video director
who edged into edgier stuff. Post-porn
SHE ONLY LOOKS CUDDLY
CHARLIZE THERON PLAYS A DESTROYER OF WORLDS—
OR AT LEAST OF HER SUBURBAN SMALL TOWN
star Sasha Grey appears at the party, her
professional history lending a threat to
the men in the house.
PINA
A TRULY NEW TAKE ON 3D
DISTRIBUTOR IFC Films DIRECTOR Wim Wenders PRODUCERS
Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel GENRE Documentary
RATING TBD RUNNING TIME 106 min. RELEASE DATE December
23, 2011 NY
Pina is a 3D documentary collaboration
between epic German choreographer Pina
Bausch and German auteur Wim Wenders
(Buena Vista Social Club, Don’t Come Knocking).
This dance film naturally unites the fascinating
physicalities of Bausch’s dances with the
sense of movement that’s made Wenders’
docs impossible to look away from. Of course
it’s artier than Step Up 3D, but that’s part of
the package—Pina is one of a handful of films
successfully lending more credibility to a 3D
landscape that’s been soiled by sloppy conversions.
Undiscouraged, this master filmmaker
is using the medium to enduring ends.
IN THE LAND OF
BLOOD AND HONEY
A TABLOID STAR GOES BEHIND THE
CAMERA
DISTRIBUTOR FilmDistrict CAST Zana Marjanovic,
Goran Kostic, Rade Serbedzija DIRECTOR Angelina
Jolie SCREENWRITER Angelina Jolie PRODUCER
Graham King GENRE Drama RATING R for war
violence and atrocities including rape, sexuality,
nudity and language RUNNING TIME TBD RELEASE
DATE December 23, 2011
The struggles in Bosnia are more than
political when a Bosnian woman and
a Serbian man fall in love during the
Bosnian War. The circumstances of
their national conflict put the lovers
in and out of contact until the woman
is imprisoned in a camp the man
guards. As the politics of surviving
war and the challenges of being
together appear insurmountable, the
couple struggles to stay in each other’s
orbit. This is actress Angeilna Jolie’s
debut as a writer/director, which was
swiftly bought at Cannes without so
much as a public screening. Oscar
attention is likely, even if first-time
helmers seldom earn statuettes.
THE DARKEST
HOUR
LOOK OUT, KREMLIN -- THE ALIENS
ARE COMING
DISTRIBUTOR Summit Entertainment CAST Emile
Hirsch, Olivia Thirlby, Max Minghella, Rachael
Taylor, Joel Kinnaman DIRECTOR Chris Gorak
SCREENWRITER Leslie Bohem, M.T. Ahern, Jon
Spaihts PRODUCERS Tom Jacobson, Timur Bekmambetov
GENRE Science Fiction RATING PG13 for sci-fi action
violence and some language RUNNING TIME TBD RELEASE DATE
December 25, 2011
So far the least publicized of the 2011 Christmas
Day releases (the other two are Extremely
Loud and Incredibly Close and War Horse), this
sci-fi suspense thriller takes a cast of indie
darlings and asks what these pretty people
would do in the wake of an alien attack. Add
to their troubles: they’re Americans tourists
in Moscow. Their pictures of the Kremlin are
gonna be a little bit charred.
DECEMBER 2011 BOXOFFICE PRO 43