Wanted posters have been banned in the U.K. because they apparently promote violence.
In the posters they show Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy carrying guns along with slogans that say his life is better since he became an assassin.
This didn’t go down well with the Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority who have now banned the posters, in a statement they said people have been complaining.
The statement says “We acknowledged most viewers would understand the posters reflected the content of an action film. However, we considered that because the ads featured a glamorous actress, action poses, several images of or related to guns and aspirational text, they could be seen to glamorize the use of guns and violence. We concluded (they) could be seen to condone violence by glorifying or glamorizing the use of guns.”
A spokesman for the BASA adds “We have seen a proliferation of complaints from the public about advertising which is seen to condone gun or knife crime. We are responding to the level of consumer concern.”
Universal Pictures however states the posters were never near schools, playgrounds or anywhere else where children might be.
James McAvoy and Emily Blunt are set to lend their voices in the new Gnomeo and Juliet movie which is a “loose and edgy” reworking of the classic play, McAvoy and Blunt will play two lovers from rival gardens.
Miramax and Elton John’s Rocket Pictures will be producing the movie that originally had Kate Winslet to give her voice to Juliet but she had to drop out over scheduling conflicts.
The movie will feature old songs from Elton John but he might work on a couple of new ones for the movie, it is set for a 2010 release.
James McAvoy is featured in the August issue of both Details and Arena magazines. The Scottish actor opens up about fans, fame, movies and Hollywood.
On fans: “People are never nasty to me, but I do find it disconcerting when you’re having a piss and the bloke next to you goes, ‘Hey man, love the movie,’ and I’m like, ‘Er…Thanks.’ It’s even worse when they try to shake your hand. I’m like, ‘F**k off, wash your hand, it’s just been on your d*ck!!’”
On Hollywood’s treatment of women: “I would not want to be a woman in this industry. Horrible.”
On giving people the benefit of the doubt: “There was someone I worked with recently who, within five minutes, displayed all the attributes of a f**king dick, and I gave them the benefit of the doubt. Weeks later I was still there, going ‘You’re so f**king self-obsessed.’ I’ve spent a long time giving people the benefit of the doubt, and I’m tired of it.”
On what type of movies he likes to be in: “Hugh Grant is f**king great and he’s funny. I like romantic comedies. I’ve been in one and I f**king loved it. I got to show off and I got to be a dick. It’s always fun to play dickhead. That’s why I loved Last King (of Scotland) —I got to be such a wanker.”
On being cast in action movies/Wanted: “I think inside all actors, there’s a kid who secretly yearns to jump off buildings and say ‘Yippeekayay, motherf**ker!’ I also thought that the fact that they were willing to cast someone like me showed a willingness to step outside the usual action-movie realm.”
No surprises at the box office this weekend Hancock made $107 million, smashing its competition. Hancock is now the third biggest July opener ever, after Transformers and Spider Man 2.
The superhero, with a twist, movie also makes this Will Smith’s eight consectuive movie to make over $100 million and his fourth July 4th movie to win at the box office, Independence Day, Men In Black and Men In Black 2 all opened at the top of the box office.
The other new movie out this weekend, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, didn’t have a good opening. The movie opened at number 8 with 3.6 million. The top 10 looks like this:
1.Hancock $107 million
2.Wall-E - $33.4 million
3.Wanted - $20.6 million
4.Get Smart - $11.1M
5.Kung Fu Panda - $7.5 million
6.The Incredible Hulk - $4.98 million
7. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - $3.94 million
8.Kit Kittredge: An American Girl -$3.6 million
9.Sex And The city - $2.35 million
10.You Don’t Mess With The Zohan -$2 million
As predicted Wall-E won the weekend at the box office with $62.5 million in first place. Wall-E has become the third best opening for a Pixar film after “The Incredibles” and “Finding Nemo.”
Wanted has scored the best opening weekend ever for an R-rated movie released in June. The movie came in second with $51.1 million.
Top 5 Movies This Weekend
1 Wall-E - $62,500,000
2 Wanted - $51,118,000
3 Get Smart - $20,000,000
4 Kung Fu Panda - $11,746,000
5 The Incredible Hulk - $9,226,000
Friday’s (June 27th) numbers at the box office are in and like predicted, Wall-E came out on top with Wanted coming in at second place.
While Wall-E took in $23,300,000, Wanted managed to get $18,764,00. Meaning that Wanted will most likely take in $52 million, a lot more than the $35 million prediction.
Wanted makes this Angelina Jolie’s biggest opening ever and with Kung Fu Panda in the top 5, she has two movies in the top 5.
The top 5 looks like this:
1. Wall-E - $23,300,000
2. Wanted - $18,764,000
3. Get Smart - $6,640,000
4. Kung Fu Panda - $3,450,000
5. The Incredible Hulk - $2,813,000
Action movie Wanted and children’s movie Wall-E are released in theaters on Friday (June 27th). Both have got pretty good reviews.
Wanted starts Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman and is about “a young man finds out his long lost father is an assassin. And when his father is murdered, the son is recruited into his father’s old organization and trained by a man named Sloan to follow in his dad’s footsteps. ”
Wall-E is about “The year is 2700. WALL*E, a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will discover what he was meant for”
Movie analysts predict that Wall-E will come out on top with somewhere between $50 million-$80 million and they predict that Wanted will get around $35 million.
What movie is the one for you? Tell us if you go see any and if you like them. We will be off to see Wanted.
