The catch phrase for new movie “The Counselor” is “have you been bad?” The close of the trailer features Penelope Cruz posing that very loaded question. Yes, there will be heat. On the screen, it looks like this #haveyoubeenbad. Twitter world, be ready.
Very promising, this crime thriller from writer Cormac McCarthy, who penned the novel behind “No Country for Old Men,” and director Ridley Scott, who polishes to a pretty good shine weekly the wonderfully complicated TV drama “The Good Wife” as executive producer.
The screen will be full of stars. Joining Cruz are Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz. Michael Fassbender plays the attorney of the title. And Javier Bardem looks like a younger, more maniacal version of Michael Downey Jr.
The premise is that lawyer Fassbender takes up with some drug traffickers. Things do not go as hoped.
Also opening this weekend is “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa.”
Box office report
The remake of Stephen King’s spooky “Carrie” beat out the prison-break saga featuring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in the box-office race between openers the weekend of Oct. 19.
But really, that isn’t a whole lot to brag about, for the sequel or the veteran stars. Both were beaten by holdovers “Gravity” and “Captain Phillips.”
The standings: “Gravity” took No. 1, grossing a cool $30 million to up its overall take to $169.5 million. “Captain Phillips” stood second, at $16.4 million and $52.4 million. “Carrie” was third at $16.1 million, and “Escape Plan” was fourth at $9.8 million.
Oh, wait. Didn’t “The Fifth Estate” open last weekend, you ask? Well, sure, if you call the WikiLeaks-based flick’s No. 8 take of $1.67 million opening at all. The chart from hollywood.com puts that at a worse-than-underwhelming average-per-screening of $946. No secret that such a number signals a dud.
-Mark Bialczak
