It took four weeks for another film to dethrone 'The Avengers' from the top of the box office, but that dethroning occurred with a whimper, not a battle cry. 'Men in Black 3' arrived on the scene and proved that advance hype and high tracking are abstract concepts that don't always reflect reality. $55 million isn't an opening that'll have executives committing seppuku, but for a film that was expected to open to north of $80 million, it's a definitely a solid kick in the groin (metaphorically speaking, of course).
Haven't the poor people of Chernobyl suffered enough?
A few days before I saw 'Chernobyl Diaries' I realized I hadn't seen one TV ad or trailer for it. “It's from the 'Paranormal Activities' guy – about a group of young tourists who go to visit Chernobyl,” a friend said.
“Oh, and then a bunch of radioactive zombies attack?” I asked.
“I dunno, probably.”
I've actually seen the movie and, alas, still can't give you more than an “I dunno, probably.”
I've just returned from getting hosed down in a decontamination unit. Coincidentally, this is just what I do on Sunday nights and has nothing to do with the fact that I've just chatted with Oren Peli, writer and producer of the atomic horror flick 'Chernobyl Diaries.'
Mr. Peli is the man behind the 'Paranormal Activity' films (as well as producer on 'Insidious' and the cancelled show 'The River') and it stands to reason that 'The Chernobyl Diaries' will be another in a string of successes when it opens for insatiable horror audiences this weekend.
Its “why the hell didn't I think of that?” premise drops a van loaded with adventuresome teens in one of the best real life haunted houses – the (actual) abandoned city of Pripyat outside of Chernobyl. There they will face their own fears. . .or is it wild animals. . .or radioactive psychopaths . . .or, well, perhaps its best to let Mr. Peli get into it.
It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on . To keep your points and personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you. To activate your account, please confirm your password. When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites.
It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account with your Facebook account, just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing profile and VIP program points. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://screencrush.com using your Facebook account.
