*UPDATE* Box Office: 'Terminator Genisys', 'Magic Mike XXL' Off to Slow Starts

*UPDATE* Turns out Pixar's Inside Out narrowly beat Jurassic World last weekend, taking #1 for the first time since it opened. The updated numbers are below:

1. Inside Out- $29.7/$245.8M
2. Jurassic World- $29.2M/$556.5M
3. Terminator Genisys (review here)- $28.7M/$44.1M
Well, he said he'd be back, but Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn't bring Terminator Genisys up to the franchise's box office standards. The fifth film in the sci-fi series James Cameron built opened to $44.1M over the five-day holiday weekend, and $28.7M from Friday-thru-Sunday. Given the terrible reviews and mediocre box office, it unfortunately lands in the same territory as 2009's Terminaor Salvation, a failed reboot remembered only for Christian Bale's on-set tantrums.'Genisys' has had problems basically from the start, though, especially in the marketing department. Fans were upset that a major plot point was spoiled so casually, while others have balked at the storyline which twists the classic narrative. Even more were against the casting of just about everybody except for Schwarzenegger. On the bright side, foreign markets tend to be really kind to Terminator movies, and this one's no different with $85.5M earned overseas so far. But on the other hand, this is the July 4th weekend which tends to be huge for blockbuster debuts, and that didn't happen here. So what happens now? The plan was for this to be the kickoff to a new trilogy and accompanying TV series, but obviously those plans have to be in doubt.
4. Magic Mike XXL (review here)- $11.6M/$26.6M
The first Magic Mike film was essentially a low-budget indie, directed by Steven Soderbergh and costing only $7M, but it had a cast of superstars that led it to a blockbuster performance. The film ended with $167M, powered by the muscled frames of Matthew McConaughy, Channing Tatum, Joe Manganiello and more. The sequel, Magic Mike XXL, isn't going to come close to those numbers, but it doesn't really need to. It scored $27M since the Wednesday opening, but it only cost $14M so who cares? There are a couple of obvious reasons for the downturn. First of all, both Jurassic World and Inside Out maintained their dominance this week, and the arrival of Terminator Genisys didn't help. Second: the first film played almost exclusively to women, which explains why they made up 96% of the sequel's audience. The sad thing is, Magic Mike XXL is more of a guys' flick with road trips and silly shenanigans and hot women. Considering how inexpensive these movies are it wouldn't be a surprise to get Magic Mike 3: Strippers Take Manhattan or something along those lines.
5. Ted 2- $11M/$58.3M
6. Max- $6.6M/$25.3M
7. Spy- $5.5M/$97.8M
8. San Andreas- $3M/$147.3M
9. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl- $1.3M/$4M
10. Dope- $1M/$14.1M

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Box Office: 'Jurassic World' Remains on Top; 'Ted 2' Bears with $33M Debut

1. Jurassic World- 54.2M/$500M
In its third week Jurassic World continues to trample the competition with an amazing $54M and hitting the $500M in blazing fashion. At this number it has now surpassed Avengers: Age of Ultron to be the top domestic film of 2015, and is now 8th worldwide all-time with $1.238B. Wow.
2. Inside Out- $52.1M/$184.9M
While Pixar's Inside Out may never hit #1 in the weekly box office race, its overall numbers are the best the studio has had since Toy Story 3.  The imaginative journey through a young girl's mind earned $52M and slipped only 42%, so it's not going anywhere anytime soon.
3. Ted 2 (review here)- $33M
Maybe it's a matter of outsized competition like Jurassic World and Inside Out, but Seth MacFarlane's Ted 2 opened with a relatively modest $33M, well off the $54M pace set by the original. The first film broke $500M and was the highest-grossing original R-rated comedy ever, which was a mountain nobody expected this one to climb. Perhaps audiences were just plain over it; the novelty of a crude, pot-smoking bear is fun for awhile but hardly the stuff of franchises. Whatever the case, the film isn't performing as strong as some would have thought, but at a cost of only $68M it certainly won't be a flop, and it could still prove to be huge overseas just as the prior one was.
4. Max- $12.2M
The family-friendly canine drama Max sunk its teeth into a solid $12.2M debut, not bad for a film surrounded by blockbusters. Perhaps its still capitalizing on the good will inspired by American Sniper, as there are similar thematic parallels dealing with PTSD, only in this case it has to do with a military dog whose handler is killed in Afghanistan. All of this is decent news for a $20M production with no big name stars. Then again it did have one cool-looking soldier dog gracing the posters so that might have helped.
5. Spy- $7.8M/$88.3M
6. San Andreas- $5.2M/$141.8M
7. Dope- $2.8M/$11.7M
The interesting thing about Dope is that everybody loves it; the reviews out of Sundance were phenomenal, and the marketing has been all over the place. You can't turn on a TV without an ad for Dope turning up, pushing the urban summer comedy. And yet its numbers are only average, possibly due to all of the money being sucked up by bigger films. Perhaps a later release, closer to the tail end of summer, would have helped.
8. Mad Max: Fury Road- $1.7M/$147M
9. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $1.6M/$452M
10. Pitch Perfect 2- $1.3M/$180.9M

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Box Office: 'Jurassic World' Tops the Food Chain while Pixar's 'Inside Out' Scores with #91M

1. Jurassic World- $102M/$398.2M
After only 10 days Jurassic World is chomping at the edges of a whopping $400M domestically, and is on track to be the fastest film in history to cross that threshold. It slid only 51% in week number two which is tremendous when one thinks of the stiff competition it got from Pixar's Inside Out. Speaking of which...
2. Inside Out (review here)- $91M
First, the bad news: Inside Out is the first Pixar film not to debut at the top of the box office. Now, the good news: Nobody at Disney or Pixar care because the film opened with $91M, the highest number for a #2 film ever, plus another $41M overseas. At a time when many continue to decry the lack of original features from Pixar lately, Inside Out just scored their biggest non-franchise opening weekend, and the second-biggest overall just behind Toy Story 3. So that's not too shabby, and in this case it seems the high concept nature of the film (it takes place inside of a little girl's mind) is what attracted audiences the most. Nice to see people reward such a brilliantly creative film.
3. Spy- $10.5M/$74.3M
4. San Andreas- $8.2M/$132.2M
5. Dope (review here)- $6M
The last couple of weeks have seen arguably the two most buzzed-about movies from Sundance hit theaters, albeit with different rollouts. Last week it was the smaller platform release of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, and this week it's the hip-hop comedy, Dope, a film many are calling a coming-of-age classic. Directed by Rick Famuyiwa and featuring only Zoe Kravitz and A$AP Rocky as bankable names, the film has been all the rage for months and opened with a decent $6M. This is the very definition of summer movie and Open Road may have been better off waiting a few more weeks to get away from the Jurassic World juggernaut. But it speaks to their confidence they released it now, and with incredibly strong reviews (it's at 90% on Rotten Tomatoes) it could be one of the summer's most successful comedies.
6. Insidious Chapter 3- $4.1M/$45.3M
7. Pitch Perfect 2- $3.2M/$177.4M
8. Mad Max: Fury Road- $2.8M/$143.6M
9. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $2.7M/$449.3M
10. Tomorrowland- $2M/$87.6M

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Box Office: 'Jurassic World' Devours the Worldwide Record with $511M

1. Jurassic World (review here)- $204.6M
While analysts were always projecting Jurassic World to open huge, doubtful they expected a debut bigger than an Imperius Rex. The first Jurassic Park film in 14 years opened with an incredible $204.6M domestically, the second biggest debut ever, sandwiched between both 'Avengers' movies. But it's worldwide where the real damage was done, scoring a massive $511.8M and establishing a brand new record. This all began with a whopping $18M on Thursday previews alone, leading to an $82M Friday. Obviously, it helps to have a guy like Chris Pratt as the lead, and if anything cements him as an A-list superstar this is it. We can probably expect bigger things from director Colin Trevorrow, who has made a successful jump from the world of indies into blockbuster territory. He won't be returning to direct the sequel, but don't be surprised if he's attached to another major studio project before long.
2. Spy- $16M/$56.9M
With Jurassic World dominating to such a degree there wasn't much room for anything else, but Melissa McCarthy's comedy Spy held up well. The film slipped only 45% in week two and should continue to perform given the strong reviews.
3. San Andreas- $11M/$119.3M
4. Insidious Chapter 3- $7.3M/$37.3M
Insidious Chapter 3 did like most horror movies and tanked in week 2, dropping 68%. Not that it matters since, like all of the others, it cost a pittance to make.
5. Pitch Perfect 2- $6M/$170.7M
6. Entourage- $4.3M/$25.8M
No surprises here. The only people who were going to see Entourage were fans of the show, and they turned out last week.
7. Mad Max: Fury Road- $4.1M/$138.6M
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $3.6M/$444.7M
9. Tomorrowland- $3.4M/$83.6M
10. Love & Mercy- $1.7M/$4.7M
Moving into the top 10 with an expansion to 573 theaters is the Brian Wilson biopic, Love & Mercy. This one stars Paul Dano and John Cusack as the troubled Beach Boys singer, and the film has received some good buzz. It could be a strong performer on the art house circuit for awhile.

Also opening in very limited release was the acclaimed high school dramedy, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. This one has been getting talked about since debuting at Sundance, including by yours truly, so don't read too much into the 15 theater and $200K opening. It's sure to expand and should connect with those who loved The Fault In Our Stars.

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Box Office: 'Spy' Stakes Out $30M Debut; 'Entourage' Trails Behind 'Insidious 3'

1. Spy (review here)- $30M
While Melissa McCarthy's truly great action-comedy Spy opened with a solid $30M, it's kind of experiencing the same thing that happened with Mad Max: Fury Road. The film turned out to be so good that our box office expectations skyrocketed, and so these numbers look pretty disappointing. It's a lower opening than last year's buddy comedy The Heat, which had the benefit of Sandra Bullock as co-star, and the abysmal Identity Thief, which co-starred Jason Bateman. But, thankfully, it's a good deal better than the $21M debut of Tammy, the last film in which McCarthy was the unquestioned star. Spy wasn't helped by a promo campaign that made it look like all of those other awful McCarthy films, and one has to wonder if audiences stayed away because of that. At a $65M budget this film isn't in any danger of tanking, and likely the strong reviews and good word-of-mouth will carry it far. This is one time where it's okay to recommend everybody run out and see a McCarthy comedy.
2. San Andreas- $26.4M/$99M
The powerhouse duo of Dwayne Johnson and director Brad Peyton have a ground-shaking hit with San Andreas, which slipped 52% from last week but is knocking at the door of $100M domestically and is performing like gangbusters overseas. Expect to see these two pair up again soon and probably very often after that.
3. Insidious: Chapter 3 (review here)- $23M
The big horror flick of the week was the prequel, Insidious: Chapter 3, which scared up a solid $23M, another low-budget success story for the folks at Blumhouse. This one saw a number of changes that should have derailed it. First off, gone is director James Wan, replaced by Insidious and Saw writer Leigh Whannell. Second, gone are stars Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson, with Lin Shaye's reluctant psychic Elise moved up as the lead character. While this debut is still less than the $40M opening of Insidious: Chapter 2, it's considerably better than the $13M of the first film. Both had long legs and performed extremely well, and there's every reason to think this one will, as well.
4. Entourage (review here)- $10.4M/$17.8M
Entourage managed to hug out $17.8M, but that's after an early Wednesday release. The film is a continuation of HBO's hit series that ended after eight seasons, and apparently only the fans turned out to see it. That's not without a concerted effort to hype the vast array of celebrity cameos to lure in curious bystanders, a necessity since none of the show's stars (with the possible exception of Jeremy Piven) are really known commodities. Did you care about Adrien "Drive Me Crazy" Grenier before Entourage? Probably not.  Not surprisingly, the film played almost exclusively to guys, another facet that definitely hurt the $30M project. I'm wondering what the expectations were for this film to begin with? I loved Entourage, but never took it as the cultural touchstone that a series like Sex and the City was. A movie never made much sense to me, and while it was great in my opinion, I never felt like it was going to do much business.
5. Mad Max: Fury Road- $7.9M/$130.8M
George Miller's unquestioned post-apocalyptic masterpiece surpassed the $300M mark worldwide, making this quite the lovely day indeed.
6. Pitch Perfect 2- $7.7M/$161M
7. Tomorrowland- $7M/$76.2M
8. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $6.2M/$438M
9. Aloha- $3.3M/$16.3M
Oof. After a rather icy greeting last week, Cameron Crowe's maligned Aloha fell 66% in week two for just $3.3M. There's no other way to put it; this film was a disaster straight up and down. Not only has it stirred up bad mojo with Hawaiian locals over the lily-white casting, but critics despised the film, Sony execs didn't like it, and audiences didn't show up despite the starry cast. This is a pretty swift kick in the teeth for Bradley Cooper after all of that American Sniper hype.
10. Poltergeist- $2.8M/$44.4M

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Box Office: 'San Andreas' Rocks 'Aloha' with $53M Debut

1. San Andreas (review here)- $53.2M
When was the last time we had a truly star-driven disaster film? It's been awhile, but credit Dwayne Johnson for bringing it back in a huge way with San Andreas' $53M opening weekend. Remember that last summer gave us the less-than-starry disaster flick Into the Storm, which only amassed $47M domestic ($160M worldwide0, so Johnson already has that one beat. We can probably expect San Andreas to do equally well overseas, if not vastly better given Johnson's worldwide profile. This also looks to perform better than last year's Hercules, which Johnson was only able to carry to $72M stateside, although globally it did much better. This also goes to show the strength of Johnson and director Brad Peyton as a duo. Their first film together was 2012's Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which came out of nowhere with $335M and started that whole "Franchise Viagra" label Johnson's been slapped with.
2. Pitch Perfect 2- $14.8M/$147.5M
3. Tomorrowland- $13.8M/$63.1M
After a soft opening weekend, Disney's Tomorrowland dropped 59%, totaling $64M after two weeks. The $190M (!!!) sci-fi/fantasy film has been pegged as a total disaster, but it's not quite at John Carter levels. Worldwide the film has hit $133M and should at least nail the break-even point. But when you throw in the costs of marketing, then take a look at the high-caliber cast and wholly original premise it still looks like a huge disappointment. In fact, Disney is so disappointed by these numbers they canceled Tron 3 as a result.
4. Mad Max: Fury Road- $13.6M/$115.9M
5. Avengers: Age of Ultron- $10.9M/$427M
6. Aloha (review here)- $10M
So everybody knows Cameron Crowe's Aloha has been getting ripped by bad press. The Hawaiian natives are pretty restless about the whiter-than-Hell cast (it's really not that big of a deal), and the film sat on Crowe's shelf for a few years, only to reemerge and get ripped by ex-Sony chief Amy Pascal. The question has been whether the A-list cast of Bradley Cooper, Rachel McAdams, Emma Stone, and Bill Murray would still lure in audiences. The answer, clearly, is "nope". The trailers and TV spots could never nail down what in the world the film was actually about, only to have critics largely bash the film for being an unfocused mess. Shocker. Sony hasn't put the full weight of their marketing machine behind this one so clearly they knew what was up.
7. Poltergeist- $7.8M/$38.2M
These numbers aren't terrible for the $35M remake of the classic Poltergeist, but they were bad enough to cause massive changes to the upcoming adaptation of Stephen King's It.
8. Far from the Madding Crowd- $1.4M/$8.3M
9. Hot Pursuit- $1.3M/$32.3M
10. Home- $1.1M/$170.4M

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John's Take: 'San Andreas' starring Dwayne Johnson and Alexandra Daddarrio

America’s Sweetheart, a term that’s always brought to mind a 6’5” 260 lbs half-Samoan man…oh, that’s not what you were thinking? Well, then, like most other things Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (who will always just be The Rock to me) broke the mold. NOTE: We’re going to some real man crush territory here so strap in. I feel confident in saying that Johnson has the most raw charisma of anyone in Hollywood history, it’s the only explanation for the fact that regardless of his film or what he does in that film we love him. Those who disagree are either severe contrarians or just downright cold. Whether it’s one of his wholly inspirational social media accounts, the million dollar smile that let’s you know everything’s going to be more than alright, or his best (and perhaps most rare) trait…that extreme confidence, something he carries unlike anyone on the planet. See, confidence is one of those things that generally makes people hate you. Especially when you are all of the things that Dwayne Johnson is, yet somehow that part of him actually makes him feel more approachable, like he could be one of the guys. So why the love letter to The Rock? It’s really quite simple, San Andreas, is the ultimate test of his ability to make anything like-able. Knowing that you can now see why the preamble was necessary.

Here’s a quick history lesson kids. In a time before comic book movies, from about 1994 to 2004, the disaster film was the hallmark of the summer movie season with films like Armageddon, Dante’s Peak, Twister, The Day After Tomorrow, and, of course, Independence Day if you didn’t destroy a city in some way you didn’t have a blockbuster. While we still get a disaster flick every now and then, think 2012’s…well 2012, to say they’ve taken a back seat would be a severe understatement. In comes San Andreas, a text book disaster movie. That’s an important thing to know, the textbook part I mean, before I even get into it I’ll make clear some things that may answer whether you should see the flick or not. It’s absolutely formulaic, about as scientific as a Harry Potter movie, and is cheesier than a fondue party in Wisconsin. If that’s a big deal for you I’ll save you some time, it’s not for you. For those of you still with me Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays Ray Gaines a para-rescue helicopter pilot and war vet with a daughter named Blake (Alexandra Daddario) who’s headed to college and a soon to be ex-wife Emma (Carla Gugino) who’s moving on with her life in the form of architect billionaire Daniel (Ioan Gruffudd). Elsewhere the part of our scientist to whom no one listens is Lawrence (played by the impossible not to love Paul Giamatti). Lawrence is a top-tier seismologist who, as our film begins, is close to finding a way to predict earthquakes with his partner Kim (Will Yun Lee). When their seismometers (I may have made that term up) begin going off near the Hoover damn they head out to test their theory. They were right, very very right. They find that there is an unknown fault basically making a triangle from either end of the San Andreas Fault to the Las Vegas area, and it’s ready to give our heroes the historic earthquake that we’re about 100 years overdue for.

I usually have a paragraph listing a film’s fault but since A. it would take far more than a paragraph and B. they should all be something you’re expecting, I’ll just sum it up in a few sentences. First and foremost is Lawrence, Paul Giamatti is reduced to issuing trivial warnings to Californians via a hacked TV channel and yelling “Here it comes, get under the table!”. Logic, Physics, general understanding of how things work, probabilities, common sense, all of these things are completely non-existent in the world of San Andreas, so know that going in. They don’t even attempt to have most of the movie make sense, from the intro which establishes the tightness of Ray’s team only to have them completely disappear never to be seen again to Ray’s daughter making a cell phone call immediately after a 9.6 earthquake. It’s the definition of mindless entertainment...but how does it fair on the entertainment front?

Pretty damn good actually. As long as you prepare yourself before hand to ignore all logic and reason San Andreas delivers some of the most intense, well paced, morbidly beautiful destruction you have ever seen. The earthquake sequences, which smartly start VERY early on in the film, are simply awe-inspiring. I give them extra points for the long shots showing the entire city (either L.A. or San Fran, take your pick) not just shaking but moving in what can only be described as a wave. The destruction is total, short of a nuclear blast I’ve never seen such destruction in cinema. Last year’s Godzilla, which also took place partly in San Francisco (that poor city is ALWAYS getting destroyed) amounts to a mild hail storm when compared to the aftermath of the quakes in this flick. It happens again and again but surprisingly you never become numb to it, the filmmakers get points from me for their effort to show the destruction on different levels each time, be it a skyscraper completely tipping over or the ground splitting and rising so you can see a subway train shoot out onto the street.

Alexandra Daddario and Carla Gugino are both fine in their respective roles (and absolutely gorgeous, though that’s not something I’m supposed to rate them on apparently) but without Dwayne Johnson this movie is intolerable. I’m serious, even with the destruction being delicious eye candy this film goes down as one of the worst of all time without ole’ Rocky. Whatever “it” is, he’s got more of it than any other star in history…if star power can be counted in midichlorians he’s Anakin Skywalker. There isn’t a scene he’s in where he doesn’t have a situation or line that if done or said by ANYONE else working today or any day simply falls as flat as something can fall. I could go on and on but you get the point and there’s no point in elaborating, he’s the Rock, being the Rock, in the midst of the worst on-screen destruction ever committed to film and there’s really nothing more to say past that.

There are so many ways to rip this film apart and as you read reviews for it I’m sure you’ll see what I mean but at the end of the day you have to ask yourself two questions. 1. Am I a fan of The Rock? 2. Am I able to completely suspend disbelief and just allow myself to be enveloped by ludicrous yet awe-inspiring destruction the kind of which the term “Popcorn Movie” was made for? If the answer is yes then San Andreas is for you. If you answered no to one of the questions, proceed at your own risk, and if the answer to both was no, then I heard Aloha is coming out this weekend too. 

3 out of 5 Guttenbergs

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Review: 'San Andreas' Starring Dwayne Johnson, Carla Gugino, Alexandra Daddario, and Paul Giamatti

The disaster movie model holds up better than the hundreds of crumbling, shattering buildings in the earth-rattling San Andreas, a film that finds Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (and his biceps) battling Mother Nature to a stalemate. Expecting the film to live up to the staggering heights of classic '70s disaster flicks is probably too much, but director Brad Peyton, who teamed up with Johnson on the equally campy Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, knows that he's got a star who can literally carry this kind of old school action spectacle on his broad shoulders.

The tropes of disaster films have become so ingrained at this point that we no longer expect any variation, and San Andreas certainly doesn't try to break the mold. Johnson plays heroic helicopter rescue pilot Ray Gaines, a guy so good at what he does the Los Angeles news sends crews to chronicle his exploits. Basically, Johnson is playing Johnson here; his t-shirts are a size too small, he always looks like he just bathed in baby oil and anything can be solved with a flex of his biceps and some strong words. That's the Johnson audiences paid to see and they get it in spades. Gaines has a soon-to-be ex-wife (Carla Gugino) and a beautiful young daughter (Alexandra Daddario), who we all know will be in need of rescue when disaster strikes. But they also need to be rescued from the mother's new boyfriend, a sleazy architect (Ioan Gruffudd, always good at playing the rich sleaze bag) who builds skyscrapers we know are destined to crumble.

So lots of easy setup here by screenwriter Carlton Cuse (Lost), who gives us some family drama to tug at our heartstrings while the entire west coast shakes, rattles, and rolls into oblivion when the largest earthquake in history strikes. Paul Giamatti plays CalTech's Dr. Lawrence Hayes, and gets all of the geeky geological stuff about fault lines that nobody really cares about. His job is to make everything sound ominous, and to predict stuff we already know is going to happen. When he tells us the worst is yet to come, we already know it.

That San Andreas is predictable as Johnson sweating buckets won't surprise anybody. That the film is still largely entertaining throughout is all that really matters, and that is due to Johnson's alpha male performance and genuine chemistry with Gugino. While their characters' marital issues are laid out pretty thin, the past tragedy they share is what inspires their dogged quest through Hell (meaning Hollywood) to save their wayward daughter. That we can buy into easily, with Gugino and Johnson delivering solid performances as the frantic parents. As great an actor as Giamatti is he's had more than his share of junky roles and this is another one. But he also knows how to calibrate his performance perfectly to the level of the material, so we can sense him having quite a bit of fun as the stodgy professor urging citizens to evacuate "because your lives depend on it".

Peyton acquits himself well with this Emmerich-sized disaster, delivering an impressive mass destruction of San Francisco and Los Angeles, with the decimation of the Hoover Dam the biggest payoff scene. But when you've seen one CGI building collapse you've seen a thousand, and pretty soon it loses any real shock value. It doesn't help that Johnson and Gugino's characters are often above the fray, literally flying over the worst of the chaos. The bulk of the survival action involves Daddario and co-star Hugo Johnston-Burt as a British tourist and potential love interest, plus Art Parkinson as his precocious little brother.

Reverberating like massive aftershocks, the film goes from one exciting set piece to another with little time to catch a breath in-between. It also doesn't leave much time to think about the plot, such as it is. Disaster movies may be the most reliable genre Hollywood has to offer, but as a recent flick like Into the Storm proves, they're also remarkably easy to screw up. San Andreas is predictable fun, but with Johnson swinging in to the rescue it also delivers plenty of muscular thrills.

Rating: 3 out of 5

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Enter to Win Passes to an Advance Screening of 'San Andreas'

We're happy to offer our DC readers a chance to attend a free advance screening of San Andreas, the earth-shattering disaster film starring Dwayne Johnson.  Reuniting Johnson with director Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) the film follows a helicopter and his estranged wife (Carla Gugino) as they attempt to rescue their daughter (Alexandra Daddario) when California is hit by a magnitude 9 earthquake.

The screening takes place on Tuesday, May 26th at 7:30pm at AMC Mazza Gallerie. To enter, simply complete the contest form below. Winners will be selected and notified by email on Saturday, May 23rd, so keep an eye out!

San Andreas opens on May 29th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Mother Nature Shakes Up Dwayne Johnson in New 'San Andreas' Trailer

Dwayne Johnson can Rock Bottom the heck out of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, survive a life-or-death battle with Jason Statham in Furious 7, but can he survive the biggest earthquake of all time? That's what he'll face in the disaster flick San Andreas, which will be coming to you in 3D later this month.

Directed by Brad Peyton, who gave us Johnson's "Pec Pop of Love" in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, the film centers on a helicopter pilot who joins with his estranged wife (Carla Gugino) to rescue their daughter (Alexandra Daddario) when the big one hits California. So get ready to watch Hollywood fall down go boom in spectacular fashion.

San Andreas shakes up theaters on May 29th. 

San Andreas Official Trailer #3 (2015) - Dwayne Johnson Movie by Trailer-Addict

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Earth-Rattling New Trailer for 'San Andreas' starring Dwayne Johnson

Want to know why they call Dwayne Johnson "Franchise Viagra"? He was only in Furious 7 for about 10 minutes and what was the result? Oh, about $384M worldwide. Okay, so it can't all be attributed to him but the point is that very little can stop The Rock right now. Not even an earthquake.

A new trailer for Johnson's next film, San Andreas, has been released and it shows more earth-rattling destruction. When California gets rocked by the biggest earthquake of all time, Johnson's character must get his ex-wife (Carla Gugino in full tag-a-long mode) and daughter (Alexandra Daddario) to safety. Simple enough, and it gives Johnson plenty of time to flex, leap giant chasms, and rescue hot women. What else is there?

Directed by Brad Peyton, San Andreas hits theaters in 3D on May 29th.

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Dwayne Johnson Takes On Mother Nature in New 'San Andreas' Trailer

This year we'll see Dwayne Johnson take on Jason Statham in Furious 7, followed a month later by battling an earthquake in the action flick, San Andreas. Honestly, he may have a tougher time against Statham if this latest trailer for San Andreas is any indication.  The film reunites Johnson with Journey 2: The Mysterious Island director Brad Peyton, and it looks like a large scale Roland Emmerich-style disaster movie. Been awhile since we had one of those that wasn't on SyFy.

Here's the official synopsis:

After the infamous San Andreas Fault finally gives, triggering a magnitude 9 earthquake in California, a search and rescue helicopter pilot (Johnson) and his estranged (Carla Gugino) wife make their way together from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their only daughter (Alexandra Daddario). But their treacherous journey north is only the beginning. And when they think the worst may be over… it’s just getting started.

Hollywood making a film about their own destruction at the hands of Mother Nature? The future of movies is in The Rock's hands, and we'll find out of he can save the day when San Andreas opens May 29th.


San Andreas Official Trailer #2 (2015) - Dwayne Johnson Movie by Allvideos HD

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An Earthquake can't Stop Dwayne Johnson in Trailer for 'San Andreas'

Dwayne Johnson can revitalize just about any franchise but his standalone projects have been less successful. Movies like Snitch and Hercules came and went without much fanfare, but maybe watching him fend off a natural disaster of Emmerich-like proportions will turn things around? Johnson has reteamed with his Journey 2: The Mysterious Island director Brad Peyton for the 3D earthquake flick, San Andreas, and the first trailer has arrived to shake things up.

Johnson stars as a helicopter rescue pilot, with Carla Gugino as his ex-wife, who must rescue their daughter (True Detective's Alexandra Daddario) when the biggest earthquake ever strikes California. Y'know, we out here in DC know a thing or two about earthquakes and can totally sympathize with what Johnson is going through in this fairly ridiculous trailer, which uses a terrible rendition of "California Dreamin'" while the entire west coast is ripped apart. Basically this looks like an updated version of Dante's Peak, a personal favorite, but this teaser is just plain lousy for trying to take itself so seriously. And what the heck is Paul Giamatti doing in this?

San Andreas hits theaters on May 29th.

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Topher Grace Joins 'American Ultra'; 'Spy' Enlists 50 Cent; Archie Panjabi Goes to 'San Andreas'

* Topher Grace continues to bounce back in a major way, joining Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart in American Ultra. Directed by Nima Nourizadeh with Walton Goggins and Uma Thurman co-starring, the film follows "a stoner whose small-town life with his live-in girlfriend is upended when his past catches up with him, putting him the crosshairs of a government operation bent on wiping him out." Grace will play a CIA agent who has let power go to his head.[Deadline]

* Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson will take on the monumental task of playing himself in Spy, the espionage comedy marking the third pairing of Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig. McCarthy plays a CIA analyst who goes into the field for the first time to find her lover's killer. Jude Law, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart, Bobby Cannavale, and Nia Long make up a pretty impressive ensemble. [THR]

* The Dwayne Johnson-led disaster flick San Andreas just got a whole lot better with the addition of Archie Panjabi. Brad Peyton directs the action thriller about a helicopter rescue pilot who must save his wife and daughter when "The Big One" hits California. Panjabi, an Emmy winner for CBS' The Good Wife, was also terrific in The Constant Gardener and A Mighty Heart. She's also very good in Brit Marling and Mike Cahill's I Origins (review here), due out later this year. Also starring Carla Gugino and Alexandra Daddario, San Andreas opens June 5th 2015.

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Dwayne Johnson Reveals First Heroic Image from 'San Andreas'

Between Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson it's hard to know which one keeps in closer contact with their fans, but it's safe to say their outreach is a big reason for their popularity. It's not just the bald heads and big muscles. Johnson, who is now shooting the disaster flick San Andreas, has treated the millions..."AND MILLIONS!!!!" of his fans to the first heroic image.

Co-starring Alexandra Daddario and Carla Gugino, the film reunites Johnson with Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) for a 3D adventure set during a devastating California earthquake. Johnson plays a helicopter rescue pilot who must make the journey from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save his wife and daughter as "The Big One" hits.

Johnson captioned the Instagram image with "Puttin' in a lot of hard ass work and proud to play my next role... Los Angeles Fire Department Air Squadron Rescue. Shooting starts in 4 weeks. Biggest earthquake of all time hits... SAN ANDREAS. #FirstInLastOut,".

San Andreas opens June 5th 2015. 

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Jason Momoa Climbs 'Sugar Mountain'; Taraji P. Henson Joins 'Term Life'; Carla Gugino Heads to 'San Andreas'

* Jason Momoa, who can be seen now on Sundance's original series, Red Road, has joined the dark comedy thriller, Sugar Mountain. Directed by Richard Gray with Cary Elwes, Haley Webb, Drew Roy, and Shane Coffey co-starring, the film "centers on two down-on-their-luck brothers who fake a disappearance in the wilderness so they’ll have a great survival story to sell. But the hoax turns out to be more real than they planned." [Deadline]

* Vince Vaughn's action flick Term Life continues to build an impressive ensemble with the additions of Taraji P. Henson and Bill Paxton. Vaughn stars as a hated thief who has the entire criminal underworld looking to kill him. In a rare selfless act, he takes out a life insurance policy on himself with his estranged daughter as the sole beneficiary. Hailee Steinfeld plays his daughter, and she goes on the run with her father as he tries to stay alive for 21 days until the policy kicks in. Jon Favreau, Shea Whigham, William Levy, and Jonathan Banks co-star with Peter Billingsley directing. [Variety]

* We already know that Dwayne Johnson will play the father of Alexandra Daddario in the 3D disaster film, San Andreas, but now we know who will play her mother. Carla Gugino (Sin City) has taken the female lead as Johnson's wife. Directed by Brad Peyton (Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) from a Carey and Chad Hayes (The Conjuring) script, the film follows a special ops firefighter who must make the dangerous trek from Los Angeles to San Francisco to rescue his daughter when a massive earthquake hits California.

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Greta Gerwig Cast in 'The Humbling'; Alexandra Daddario goes to 'San Andreas'; Kit Harington Leads 'Testament of Youth'

* Here's one that you may have forgotten. A few years ago, back before Al Pacino and director Barry Levinson were going to team for that Gotti film (Levinson dropped out of it), they were set to unite for The Humbling, an adaptation of Philip Roth's book about "an aging actor who has an affair with a lesbian woman half his age at a secluded country house in Connecticut". Not much was heard about it, but the movie is now in post-production and has been picked up by Millennium Films with Greta Gerwig and Dianne Wiest joining the cast.  Charles Grodin, Kyra Sedgewick, Dan Hedaya, Nina Arianda, and Billy Porter co-star, and presumably we'll see this by the end of the year. [Variety]

* If you've been keeping up with True Detective (I'm still an episode behind, so sue me), then you've seen Alexandra Daddario having her way with one Mr. Woody Harrelson. Now she'll get to hang out with Dwayne Johnson in 3D disaster flick San Andreas, directed by Brad Peyton. Johnson plays a chopper pilot attempting to rescue his estranged daughter after California is devastated by a massive Earthquake. Daddario, who also starred in two Percy Jackson films, is apparently being sought for a role in the Entourage movie.  [Deadline]

* Pompeii and Game of Thrones star Kit Harington will join Alicia Vikander in Testament of Youth, an adaptation of Vera Brittain's WWI memoir. Published in 1933, the book recounted how Britain's world was thrown upside down when the war took the lives of her fiance and brother, forcing her to become a nurse on the sidelines. After the fighting stopped, she attempted to regain her life and became a prominent feminist and writer. Vikander will play Brittain, having replaced the previously-cast Saoirse Ronan, with Harington as her fiance. David Heyman (Harry Potter franchise) is producing with James Kent directing. [THR]

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Dwayne Johnson Heads to 3D Disaster Flick 'San Andreas'

After Dwayne Johnson helped turn the fantasy sequel Journey 2: The Mysterious Island into a surprise smash, director Brad Peyton has been trying to find ways they can work together again. The two were briefly attached to a Lobo film, based on the popular DC Comics character, but that seems to have fallen apart. But now Peyton has found an even better opportunity by landing Johnson for the long-developing 3D disaster film, San Andreas.

Johnson, who is currently flexing his muscles on the set of Brett Ratner's Hercules: The Thracian Wars and will appear in next year's Fast & Furious 7, will play a "rugged rescue helicopter pilot" making the dangerous journey across California to save his estranged daughter after a devastating earthquake hits. Chad and Carey Hayes (The Conjuring) are writing the most recent script, which producers expect will outdo the epic disaster films of Roland Emmerich.

With Johnson's rock solid bankability on board a start date has been set for April 2014, with plans for San Andreas to hit theaters in 2015. [THR]

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