vampires good for the economy

it took me awhile to jump on the vampire train, and even still i’m wary of this far-reaching trend.

but, WOW. apparently these blood-suckers are doing good things for the economy! behold, the power of tweens.

we’re talking serious numbers here: over $7 billion total has been contributed to the entertainment industry via various vampire-themed avenues – $3 billion from films (the twilight saga, vampires suck), $1.6 billion from publishing (stephanie meyer’s twilight books), $600 million in merchandising and TV/DVDs bringing in $1.2 billion (true blood, vampire diaries).

julie plec, writer & exec producer of CW’s vampire diaries says of the craze:

“by starting with one simple mythological creature that’s been part of our literary universe for centuries, you can create a story that has it all: romance, horror, action, special effects, sex, epic love, wish fulfillment, romantic leading men, delicious bad-boy villains, female badasses, damsels in distress, death, monsters and, ultimately, the perfectly flawed hero who would give it all up if it meant they wouldn’t have to spend eternity alone. it doesn’t get more universal than that.”

looks like the vamps aren’t going anywhere!

“killin’” with katherine & ashton

katherine heigl. ashton kutcher. already this movie is sounding good – and lookin’ good! barreling off of box office hits like the ugly truth and what happens in vegas, it was the perfect moment to seize.

these two are veterans of the romantic comedy genre! their latest, killers, boasts a pretty hysterical trailer (see above) and an entertaining synopsis:

trying to recover from a sudden break-up, jen (heigl) believes she’ll never fall in love again. but when she reluctantly joins her parents on a trip to the french riviera, jen happens to meet the man of her dreams, spencer (kutcher).

three years later, her seemingly impossible wish has come true: she and spencer are newlyweds living the ideal suburban life – that is, until the morning after spencer’s 30th birthday when bullets start flying. literally.

yes, it’s dumb. but i’m sure it will be funny! killers is set to release june 4th – kickin’ off a long list of summer blockbusters including iron man 2, shrek forever after, sex and the city 2, the twilight saga: eclipse and little fockers. seeing a trend from that list? all sequels!

live on the red carpet: the 2010 Academy Awards

3:00 – flip on the E! channel, as ryan seacrest opens up the evening. let the red carpet begin! (check out my coverage of the ceremony itself here!)

3:03 – it’s raining, this should be interesting.

3:04 – avatar star sam worthington and girlfriend are the first on the red carpet. nice accent! he says it took 4.5 years to shoot and edit avatar. wow!

3:07 – zac efron, presenter, walks up… says he say avatar 4 times! and the best part was sam’s acting. sam replies, “well that was the best $100 bucks i’ve ever shelled out. aww, cute celebs.

3:10 – up in the air‘s anna kendrick in a beautiful blush-toned gown is up next… i still can’t take her seriously with that horrible twilight acting.

3:12 – mo’nique pops by with her husband (remember their “open marriage” policy? weird)

3:19 – robin thicke & wife paula patton walk by – she’s about 7 months prego! brave girl for walking the red carpet.

3:25 – zoe saldana, oh man. i LOVED your givenchi dress… until i saw the bottom. why are poofy balls attached to your dress?? she still looks gorge though.

3:27 – joel madden and nicole richie… joel is DJing the oscars? interesting! nicole looks way better as a blonde…

3:28 – ryan reynolds. *swoon!*

3:30 – vera farmiga’s dress is GORGEOUS! dyyyying. beautiful color, beautiful cut. by far the best dressed so far (dress is marchesa).

3:35 – i don’t know why, but i just cannot STAND tina fey or her fashion choices.

3:38 – james cameron’s wife looks like a skeleton! gray hair and all. james says they had a cover title for the project so it would be kept a secret… “project 880″.

3:40 – nominee (for crazy heart) maggie gyllenhaal and hubby… she’s cute, but i’m just not a fan of the shapelessness of her gown. straight down, nothing much goin’ on. ha! husband says he got drunk dials from maggie while rehearsing!

3:42 – i love elizabeth banks. she presented the “nerd oscars” aka the sci-tech oscars earlier this week.

3:44 – “it’s not about money, cars, things… it’s all about your connection with other people” – tom ford, in a dazzling self-designed suit.

3:45 – E! poll comes in with 72% of people saying mo’nique will bring home the award for best supporting actress (precious).

3:50 – lenny kravitz & daughter zoe stop by… wow, his daughter looks just like him.

3:58 – seacrest now with diane kruger, here for my favorite film of the year, inglorious basterds. says she had to learn 30 pages of dialogue for her audition! one word to describe quentin tarantino on set? “mad,” she says!

3:59 – sandra bullock, oh sandra. nominated for the blind side. love her gown so incredibly much! the gold see-through, lacey-ish dress looks stunning on her, especially with the red lipstick. “whenever i walk up those stairs to present or whatever, i just don’t want these heels to drag this body down!”

4:02 – tyler perry, talented but insanely arrogant. why does he have to attach his name to the title of every movie he does? (tyler perry’s why did i get married, i.e.)

4:04 – amanda seyfried with seacrest talking about her next role, red riding hood. great make-up, but the armani prive dress is lacking color.

4:05 – big mike from the blind side! ahh! he’s so precious. his job before this? security guard.

4:06 – “people don’t realize how good he really is, because he’s actually a 5’8 white guy” – the blind side co-star tim mcgraw

4:09 – E! poll tells us that 69% of people are vying for sandra to take home the oscar for best actress. like, duuuuh!

4:13 – iiiiiiiit’s miley! that voice, so manly. stand up straight, lady! why the heck does miley cyrus’ mom have angel wing tattoos on her back? awkward.

4:15 – sarah jessica parker in a chanel couture gown. like the color, hate the scarf-type wrap she’s got. hubby matthew broderick is gettin’ old! oh ferris, where are ya?

4:18 – what the FRICK is charlize theoron wearing?? i’m just not a fan of drawing major attention the the “ladies.” but i do love the purple color. (obvi)

4:24 – george clooney shows up with his latest squeeze… looks like he had a hat on before, there’s a crease in the back of his hair. weird!

4:29 – clooney & queen latifah talkin’ about keeping acceptance speeches short. “i even voted for jeff (bridges, nominated for crazy heart). i said, ‘jeff, keep your speech short’” – georgie

4:31 – i love my meryl! nominated for best actress, julie & julia) she has a style of her own, that’s for sure. she confronts ryan about his award pick (he choose sandra!)

4:33 – j.lo, baybee! in an “irridescent pink” gown. definitely a good choice, loving it!

4:39 – keanu reeves is here! my bf’s bro-in-law’s secret twin.

4:40 – best actress nominee gabby sidibe from precious is so cute, at the oscars for the first time ever. “if fashion was porn, this dress would be the money shot!”

4:43 – i’m loving robert downey jr.’s fashion tonight – the blue bow-tie is different, and a very welcomed look.

4:49 – gerard butler is such a relaxed, cool guy. ryan reveals, he has a small dog? ha!

4:52 – rachel mcadams, without a doubt a “best dressed” for me! love it!

4:58 – show’s about to begin! cameron diaz on camera, presenting at the ceremony. she looks quite cleaned up! love the gown, sparkly gold flecks everywhere.

5:00 – it’s ceremony time! check out my coverage of the ceremony here!

bothered

words cannot express the hilarity of this jimmy fallon bit. the late-night host premiered his latest brainchild last night, a series of parodies called ‘robert is bothered.’ fallon imitates ‘twilight’ superstar robert pattinson in the sketch, and talks about things that bother him. he even got a little website up and running. 

complete with shag-a-licious hair and a thick british accent, fallon succeeds in bringing robert to life. have you ever seen a robert pattinson interview? he is just as charming as ever, but you can’t deny he acts just a little bit kooky.

in the video above, ‘robert’ talks about how he is bothered by discovery channel’s shark week because sharks, in some ways, mimic vampires. “sharks bite people when they smell blood,” he says. “sound familiar? oh yeah, wait, they’re like vampires. copy-cat fishes. copy-fishes!”

all i can say is i hope jimmy plans on making this a weekly segment. pattinson has spent all of his fame thus far being utterly adored – let’s poke fun at him a bit!

the beast 2.0

Alex_Pettyfer_as_The_Beast

is anyone else tired of all the movie remakes? apparently somebody thought it was a good idea to take the disney classic ‘beauty & the beast’ and make it modern. why, cuz it wasn’t good enough as it was?

‘beastly’ is being described as an edgy teen romance about looking past the surface to discover true beauty. YAWN. as-yet-unknown actor alex pettyfer stars as the popular jerk who gets his kicks from mocking “unattractive” classmates. one such classmate (played by mary-kate olsen) decides to teach him a lesson, casting a spell that unrecognizably deforms him. but he ain’t no hairy creature – from what we can see here. and then, just like the cartoon version, he has to find someone who will love him just as he is. vanessa hudgens, you’re being called to the stage!

how boring, though, because we already know the ending. hudgens & pettyfer will probably fall in love and they’ll live happily ever after.  besides being weirdly cast (mary-kate olsen??), the movie seems a bit too much like ‘twilight’ to me, minus the blood. while we’ll have to wait until july 2010 to see the flick – i know, i know, it’ll be hard – they’ve given us a sneak peek to hold us over. check it out below.

 

true hit

truebloodthe execs over at HBO should write a big ‘ole thank-you note to ‘twilight.’ mainly because viewership for the second season of the network’s vampire drama ‘true blood’ went up 157% from the previous year. ‘twilight,’ among other things, made vampires the cool new thing.

‘true blood’ centers around the love story of a human & a vampire – and all that that implies. while the first season won critical acclaim and even a golden globe (best actress, anna paquin), the viewership wasn’t quite there.  the first season of ‘true blood’ debuted to a disappointing 1.4 million.

and then came ‘twilight.’ after the release of the movie, ‘true blood’s’ fan base grew significantly. the premiere of the second season became the highest rated program for HBO since ‘the sopranos’. the drama drew a whopping 3.7 million viewers. and the good news doesn’t stop there. the complete first season was just released on dvd, & sales have already topped $35 million. ‘true blood’ and its blood-sucking vampirs are here to stay.