Lancelot Link: The President's Valentines Are Missing!

Lancelot Link Monday! This was both President's Day Weekend and Valentines Day Weekend, causing all kinds of confusion, not to mention thoughts of odd crossover film pitches. The only movies I could find for cross celebration were THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT (1995) - Aaron Sorkin's predecessor for THE WEST WING, and KISSES FOR MY PRESIDENT (1964) - about the first woman President and her First Man... other than that, we tend not to think of the President in romantic terms. Why is that? While you're thinking about that, here are this week's links to some great screenwriting and film articles, plus some fun stuff that may be of interest to you. Brought to you by that suave and sophisticated secret agent...




Here are a dozen links plus this week's car chase...


1) Weekend Box Office Estimates:
1 Deadpool....................... $135,050,000
2 Kung Fu Panda 3...... .......... $19,650,000
3 How 2B Single................... $18,750,000
4 Zoolander 2..................... $15,650,000
5 Revenant......................... $6,900,000
6 Hail Caesar...................... $6,590,000
7 Star Wars TFA.................... $6,194,000
8 Choice........................... $5,250,000
9 Ride Along....................... $4,130,000
10 Boy!............................. $2,913,000


So DEADPOOL broke all kinds of box office records and seems to have proven than audiences really want to see something Hard R on Valentines day weekend, since the last record holder was FIFTY SHADES OF GREY ($93m). Box Office Mojo has this huge list of records that DEADPOOL has broken so far, but on top of all that it has pushed 2016 ahead of previous years at this point in time... Ahead of last year by 2.8%, ahead of 2014 by 16.4%, ahead of 2013 by 29.6%, ahead of 2012 by 16.4%, and ahead of 2011 by only 35.4%!!!!

But this is a 3 day weekend in the USA, which means there's one more day to go!

Fox estimates it will end up with $150m, but BOMojo reports that other studios are pegging it as high as $156m. That would mean more records would be broken. I predict I will soon get a note from development about having the female lead wear a strap on, because that's what audiences pay to see. I'm sure DC is preparing THE EROTIC ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN XXX or something as you read this. I think the real lesson here is that there is an audience for a hard R rated movie filled with all sorts of naughty things... because movies are a fantasy and we all fantasize about all sorts of naughty things (whether from DEADPOLL or GREY). But the *real* solution is just not to give me any stupid notes, and realize that when you hire someone for a specific skill it is because they know how to do their job. Just trust them.

Hey, if you *don't* believe that audiences love the nasty stuff, let's see what happens next weekend when the religious RISEN opens from Sony Pictures. Will it pull down the same numbers as DEADPOOL? $135m opening weekend? Come back next week to find out, same Batplace, same Batchannel!

2) The Real Superheroes In DEADPOOL - Screenwriters Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick.

3) Your Female Lead Character: She's Beautiful, But Doesn't Know It.

4) Writing INSIDE OUT.

5) Preston Sturges - Comedy Genius.

6) A Short Story Sells For High Six Figures! WTF?

7) Is Cuba The New Hot Location?

8) Drew Goddard On Adapting THE MARTIAN.

9) WGA AWARDS Winners! (kind if a buried lede, but what the heck)

10) NIGHT OF THE HUNTER - The Story Of The Film, Plus The Screenplay By Agee.

11) Shane Black (and others) On Suspense.

12) Hitchcock's SPELLBOUND - The Story Of The Film, Plus The Screenplay!

And the Fight Scene Of The Week:





Bill



IMPORTANT UPDATE:
-
Dinner:
Pages:
Bicycle:

Movie: