Jesse Eisenberg

There aren’t lot of new films opening this week, possibly because it’s hard to compete with blockbusters like Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, and others. IMDB lists four new relases, and get more details from their profile pages, which I’ve linked to from each movie’s title.

New Releases

• Shrek Forever After. Voices: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy. Directed by Mike Mitchell. This might be one for the family. This fourth Shrek animated film is said to be the final one in the series, but there’ll be a Puss in Boots spin-off. For me, the first one was fun, but I had no interest after the second. At this point, I think they’re beating a dead horse. Or in this case, donkey? Oh and if you’re planning to take the family to see this, be warned that adults will be charged as much as $20 per ticket for the IMAX 3D version.
• MacGruber. Will Forte, Kristen Wiig, Val Kilmer and many others. Directed by Jorma Taccone. This comedy is a spin-off of a series of skits on Saturday Night Live that spoofs the MacGyver adventure TV series that ran from 1985-92. The MacGruber tries to be innovative and ingenious in getting out of difficult and dangerous situations, but is usually either too dumb or too distracted to succeed. The SNL skits always end with the building MacGruber is in blowing up. Not sure how this show will translate to film, and personally it’s my least favorite SNL skit, but I’d go see it for Val Kilmer as the villian Dieter Von Cunth, or the very versatile Kristen Wiig, who is one several SNL cast members or alumni that are in the movie.
• Holy Rollers [LA/NY]. Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Bartha, Danny A. Abeckkaser. Directed by Kevin Asch.
• Solitary Man [limited]. Michael Douglas, Susan Sarandon, Jesse Eisenberg. Directed by Brian Koppleman and David Levien.

Also Playing

Still in theaters are recent releases Iron Man 2, Robin Hood, Letters to Juliet, Just Wright, How to Train Your Dragon (animated), A Nightmare on Elm Street, Date Night, The Backup Plan, Furry Vengeance, Clash of the Titans, and others.

Upcoming Movies/ Roles

• Frank Marshall will direct The Hades Factor, based on a Robert-Ludlum inspired novel similar to the ‘Bourne’ books and movies. [Pajiba]
• James Franco will star in a prequel to the Planet of the Apes series, Rise of the Apes, which is opens Jun 24, 2011. [Deadline, E! Online]
• Matthew Vaughn will direct X-Men: First Class [Jun 3, 2011].
• Phll Alden Robinson will script an untitled J.J. Abrams project, based on a Wired magazine article about the world’s biggest diamond heist. Robinson wrote and directed Field of Dreams. [Heat Vision]
• Ellen Page will star in Freeheld, based on the Oscar-winning documentary of the same name. [Hollywood Reporter]
• Drew Barrymore will follow up her directorial debut of Whip It by directing Surrender Dorothy, a Wizard of Oz sequel. [Pajiba]
• There might be two versions of 20,000 Leagues under the sea. One from Disney and the other from Fox.

Screen Scene Tidbits

• Paul Greengrass is focusing on Treasure Island and will not direct the 3D remake of Fantastic Voyage. [Deadline]
• The cast of the upcoming Twilight: Breaking Dawn vampire flick, based on the book series, asked for between $1.5-4M each but will get up to $1.25M. [Deadline, THR Esq]
• If you saw the first Sex and the City film, you know how full of product placement it was, as well as that Carrie Bradshaw uses a Mac computer. Not this time. In the second SatC movie, out May 27th, she’ll be using an HP laptop because of a partnership deal with Hewlett-Packard. [PopEater, CeleBitchy]

Enjoy your movie-watching weekend.