Showing Out

Tyrese makes his directorial debut in this video for his “international club hit” (his words, not ours) “Mayhem Take Me Away,” which sees Tyrese traveling the globe to do press for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (a little late, if you ask us). We’ll let his words do the talking here: “I was out promoting Transformers Revenge Of the Fallen in 8 different countries.. I decided to buy a SONG [ed: Sony] HD camcorder and shoot a video to my international club record “MAYHEM TAKE ME AWAY”.” Is it just us, or is the use of autotune in this song a bit gratuitous? Wasn’t Tyrese a singer once?

Or rather tries his hand at animation. URB tipped us off to Mayhem, Tyrese Gibson’s newest addition to the comic book pool. The three-part comic was unveiled a few weeks back at Comic-Con (watch the clip above to see Tyrese himself talk about the series), which has since yielded over 10,000 pre-orders at comic shops across the nation. Mayhem, which sees artist Tone Rodriguez, Mike Le and Will Wilson lending Tyrese a helping hand, focuses on a crime-ridden Los Angeles where a super villain named Big X wreaks havoc on innocents with his team of vigilantes. But when a faceless hero and his partner Malice catch wind of all the fuss, the pair shows up to put an end to all the terrorism. If this sounds up your alley, head over to Meltdown to pre-order an issue for $2.99. Because honestly, we think Tyrese would appreciate it.

Looks like the other summer blockbuster wants a little shine, too. Over in China, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has broken the country’s all-time record for highest grossing film in history, raking in over 400 million Chinese yuan ($59 million). The film beat out previous record-holder Titanic, which made 360 million yuan ($43 million based on exchange rates in 1998). This has opened the eyes of the Motion Picture Association of America, who is now encouraging the Chinese government to raise their import quota for blockbuster films from a mere 20 foreign flicks per year. But judging by how sensitive Chinese censors are (they bleep out the word “Shanghai” when it’s mentioned at the beginning of T2), we’re guessing that probably won’t happen. Still, it would make sense for their economy - and citizens’ well-being - to relax a little, right? Everyone is happier after seeing a blockbuster!

We’ll try our best not to post about this every single day, but how can we not when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is vacuuming money out of moviegoers’ pockets? Including the $22.2 million the film made on midnight screenings Wednesday night, HP6 now stands at $58.4 million on 4,275 screens across the nation, which, compared to the $44 million that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix made two years ago in the same timespan, is magnificent. Phoenix managed to earn $139.7 mil in its five-day run, while industry experts are predicting that Half-Blood Prince will pull in anywhere from $125 to $150 million (some are guestimating higher). Remember how we posted about how the Harry Potter franchise could best Bond for the most lucrative film empire ever? Looks like that speculation might become reality.

The new Harry Potter film isn’t even out yet and it’s already on track to break some records. According to a press release from Fandango, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has already sold out over 1,000 midnight screenings across the country, putting it in the running to replace Twilight as the third-highest advance ticket seller. The first two spots are currently occupied by Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and The Dark Knight, and is currently ahead of ticket sales for Transformers 2, Iron Man and Sex and the City at this point in its sale cycle. But what’s even more surprising is the statistics (based on a survey of 3,000 Potterheads) that come at this point in advance sales: 63% of ticket buyers are female, and 62% plan to see the film with a group of friends. Considering that reading is a one-person activity, we’re pretty shocked that this many people would see it with a group of amigos - or even had them to begin with. Though we can’t lie - if we didn’t have an early wake up call, we’d probably be right there with them. Power to the nerds.

The heat of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has been officially put on ice. According to Variety, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs had such a terrific opening day yesterday that it outpaced the Transformers sequel in ticket sales. The animated film managed to rope in $14 million in 3,993 theaters, while the record-breaking Transformers 2 only pulled a cool $10 million, bumping its domestic gross up to $240 million. Meanwhile, Johnny Depp’s new gangster flick Public Enemies opened yesterday with $8 million in sales, hinting that the film could potentially be one of this summer’s biggest blockbusters. Both Ice Age and Public Enemies were released mid-week to get a head start on the 4th of July weekend, but we’re thinking that was a good move. Because if you’re sitting in a theater this Saturday instead of wolfing down burgers and watching fireworks, then you need to work on that social life.

After breaking the record for most tickets sold for a midnight screening and shattering the record for best Thursday ticket sales, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has another record-breaking accolade to add to the mantelpiece. In its first weekend at the box office, Transformers 2 roped in $112 million (according to BoxOfficeMojo), making it the highest grossing film to ever hit theaters in June. So far, the movie has made over $200 million in its 5-day run at theaters across the nation, and has already ranked as the second-highest grossing film to have a 5-day run behind The Dark Knight. And, to top it all off, it made the most money for a weekend gross at IMAX ever. This officially makes Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen the summer’s first official blockbuster, and who knows? It might be the biggest film of the summer. Just you wait.

Each week, ShowingOut.com will keep you up-to-date with a post giving the rundown of all the freshly released films. Some, you might have already known about, while others - well, not so much. So without further ado, here’s a look at some of the movies that might convince you enough to brave the outside world and head to the theater.

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We’d hate to keep reporting on how well Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is doing at the box office, but how can we not when it continues to break box office records? Yesterday, the second installment in the Transformers saga managed to rake in another $28.6 million at the box office. That makes it the best-selling Thursday numbers to ever get reported for a movie in theaters. Variety reports that the film is also on its way to becoming one of the top-5 highest grossing films over a five day period (did you follow all of that?). Considering the smattering of bad reviews it got, we’re surprised that this film continues to do so well (*hides Fandango tix that we purchased for this weekend*), but when the public wants action, you’ve got to give it to ‘em.

The Hollywood Reporter just ran an article announcing that Andy Burg’s script for Hellified, a supernatural action thriller where a journey to hell comes into play, has been optioned by Paramount to go into production. The film is set to be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra) and directed by Dan Bradley (stunt coordinator for Spider-Man 3 and The Bourne Supremacy), which makes for some legit thrills. We’re a little turned off by the prospect of an action hill where the protagonists take a journey to hell (they also could have come up with something a bit more imaginative than Hellified as a title) but with the right cast, this has the potential to be pulled off. We’ll see.