The summer of CG effects continues as New Line Cinema’s 3-D adaptation of the Jules Verne classic Journey to the Center of the Earth goes toe-to-toe with Universal’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army in North American theaters. In addition, Eddie Murphy lightens the mood in 20th Century Fox’s Meet Dave, which also offers up some sci-fi visual effects fun. All three films will aim to steal the top spot away from Sony’s Hancock, which enters its second week with more than $200 million in receipts worldwide. The unconventional superhero pic still holds the highest theater count with 3,965 venues hosting screenings. Disney/Pixar’s WALL’E is a close second with 3,849.
The competition may hinge on how many moviegoers are willing to seek out Journey in the 854 theaters across the country equipped with Real D’s digital 3-D projection systems. The pic, which will also be released in standard 2-D presentation, is the first live-action film in many years to attempt a wide 3-D roll out. And the term “live-action” is used loosely here, since most of the scenes were shot against green screens with CG environments and animated creatures added in later. Shops that contributed effects work include Mokko Studio, Frantic Films, Hybride, Meteor Studios, Rodeo FX and Amalgamated Pixels.
Starring Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson and Anita Briem, Journey is about a scientist who takes his nephew and a mountain guide on an expedition to a prehistoric lost world at the Earth’s core. In the modernized adaptation by scribe D.V. DeVincentis (High Fidelity), the scientist believes that Verne actually made such a trip and left his original manuscript as a map to the fantastic, subterranean environment. Since so much of the production leaned on pixel wizardry, New Line and Walden Media tapped Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Eric Brevig (The Island, The Day After Tomorrow and Pearl Harbor) to make his directorial debut. He is one of many vfx experts who have recently made the leap to directing as Hollywood output becomes more reliant on CG technology.
Director Guillermo del Toro’s superhero sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army is likely to do much better than its predecessor, which debuted in April of 2004 and earned just $60 million worldwide. Based on the Dark Horse comic book series created by Mike Mignola, the film continues the saga of a demon conjured by Nazis who decides to fight for the good guys. After an ancient truce existing between humankind and the invisible fantasy realm is broken, hell on Earth is ready to erupt. A ruthless leader who treads the world above and the one below defies his bloodline and awakens an unstoppable army of creatures, and it’s up to Hellboy and his buddies at the Bureau for Paranormal Research to stop him. Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones and John Hurt all reprise their roles from the first film. The bulk of the visual effects work was completed by Double Negative, with Hatch FX, Baseblack, The Senate VFX, LipSync Post, Cinesite all lending a hand. Del Toro has certainly upped the ante with a fantastic new universe of creatures’which echo the universe of Pan’s Labyrinth as well as many other past favorites, such as Henson’s The Dark Crystal. Many critics also see a subtle homage to Hayao Miyazaki in one specific green demon/god.
Meet Dave, which was produced under the much better title Starship Dave, stars Eddie Murphy in dual roles as a humanoid spaceship named Dave and the tiny, extra-terrestrial captain who pilots the craft. The aliens crash land on Earth in a bid to save their planet, but run into trouble when Dave falls in love with an Earth woman played by Elizabeth Banks. Vfx were provided by CIS Hollywood, Hydraulx, New Deal Studios, Rhythm & Hues, Make Inc. and Pixel Magic.
Critics haven’t been kind to Meet Dave, but then that didn’t stop Hancock from raking in a ton of dough last week. Eddie Murphy will help lure a good number of families, though Journey may end up stealing much of that demographic. Hellboy II and Journey are both getting good notices, though the latter is apparently worth seeing mostly for the 3-D gimmick and computer-generated effects.
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