"Star Trek Into Darkness" may not be out until next weekend, but the first reviews are out and they're overwhelmingly positive.

Director J.J. Abrams' sequel to his 2009 reboot doesn't receive much praise for creativity, but Benedict Cumberbatch's villainous performance makes up for shortcomings.

The film follows the return of Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the U.S.S. Enterprise crew as they square off with the mysterious John Harrison (Cumberbatch).

Currently, BoxOffice.com is tracking "Star Trek" to debut to a strong $93 million opening weekend. 

With studio competition steep this month, Paramount just bumped the release date up a day to Thursday, May 16, so projections may run higher.  

(To sweeten its box-office opening, "Star Trek" also has more expensive IMAX select showings Wednesday night which are selling out.)

Before seeing "Star Trek," here's what you need to know. 

As in any Abram's movie, there will be lens flare: 

Empire: 

"Abrams directs with lots of flare (forget 3D glasses, take Ray-Bans), but, more importantly, flair. His style is somewhere between the machine-tooled work of Cameron and the manic intensity of Bay, efficient but still loose and seemingly improvised." 

While some say the film is visually pleasing: 

Variety: 

“Into Darkness” is a beautifully modulated and sustained piece of work across the board, with visual effects that seamlessly meld live-action and computer-animated elements, given further texture by old-fashioned celluloid lensing."

One review suggests the sequel feels a bit mechanic:

The Hollywood Reporter (THR):

"The production gives the impression of a massive machine cranked up for two hours of full output; it efficiently delivers what it's built to do, but without style or personality." 

Benedict Cumberbatch is amazing. 

IGN: 

"Cumberbatch himself has never been better. While he's proven his ability at volatile emotional-detachment with his role in Sherlock, he is, here, a true snake; an expressionless, sliver of a man whose mask only slips when he lunges for his prey. The Enterprise crew look trivial against him, their uniforms retro and goofy against his men's magazine sleekness. 

Variety:

"Whatever Cumberbatch is playing, he’s wonderful to watch, infusing the movie with the kind of exotic grandeur Eric Bana’s wan Romulan henchman (arguably the weakest link in the 2009 film) largely lacked. 

Digital Spy:

"He is genuinely terrifying, quasi-reptilian, combining visceral physical threat with a knack for emotional manipulation that wrong-foots Kirk in much the same way it does us." 

But his villanous role doesn't live up to the hype. 

Indiewire:

"Frankly, the part's underwritten and undermotivated, the writers hoping that fans will fill in the blanks from earlier movies and only loosely sketching out his backstory, at least for newcomers to the franchise, and never making it especially clear what he actually wants to achieve." 

THR:

"The revelation of his [Cumberbatch] true identity will come as no surprise to fanboys who live to unearth this sort of information."

Zoe Saldana's talent is wasted this time around. 

IGN:  

"Other sub-plots suffer a far worse fate, with Zoe Saldana's Uhura demoted to whining comic-relief."

It's not better than the original:

The Guardian:

"People are unlikely to charge out of the cinema with quite the same level of glee as they did in 2009; but this is certainly an astute, exhilarating concoction."

Indiewire:

"By the time the credits roll, there's a sense that you're undernourished and unsatisfied; you've been on a decent ride, but not one that really adds up to anything by the time you're done." 

 IGN:  

"Into Darkness proves that J.J.'s original reboot was no fluke. But let's hope that the next movie can build a bit further upon its simplistic foundations."

Overall, it's a bit cheesy and silly: 

The Telegraph: 

"All of the narrative cracks are papered over with references to old Star Trek characters and episodes."

THR:

"The film looks surprisingly flat, bordering on cheesy; the images are pale, thin and bleached out, makeup and facial blemishes are magnified, and the very shallow depth-of-field in many shots (not the CGI but real photography) works against the point of the format. After a steady progression in the brilliant visual quality of big-budget, effects-heavy major releases during the past couple of years, this one takes a few steps backward. 

But it's a lot of fun anyway.

Variety: 

"'Into Darkness' may not boldly go where no 'Trek' adventure has gone before, but getting there is such a well-crafted, immensely pleasurable ride that it would be positively Vulcan to nitpick." 

Empire:

"If this is Abrams’ final frontier, he has left Star Trek in a good place, both in the fictional universe and as a franchise. In some sense, the title is misleading. Into Darkness is a blast, fun, funny, spectacular and exhilarating. The rule of great even-numbered Trek movies continues." 

Indiewire:

"The action sequences (barring the climax) are thrilling, especially an 'Inception'-indebted freefall sequence that sees the crew negotiating gravity-shifting practical sets." 

Overall Consensus: See it.

Though the majority of reviews says the film isn't breaking new ground or isn't necessarily a triumph over 2009's reboot, J.J. Abrams takes fans on a thrill ride with a menacing—if predictable—villain in Cumberbatch. We'd see it just for him.

"Star Trek Into Darkness" is in theaters May 16.

Watch the trailer below:

SEE ALSO: What critics are saying about "Iron Man 3">

"Star Trek" makes our list of films to see this summer. See what else makes the cut >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

After a multitude of trailers for big summer blockbusters, The Weinstein Company releases the first trailer for "The Butler."

The film was receiving Oscar buzz LAST November, and now we see why.

The cast ensemble is impressive. Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, John Cusack, Jane Fonda, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Liev Schreiber, James Marsden, Alan Rickman, and Robin Williams star. 

Based on the story of a butler, Cecil Gaines (Whitaker), who has served under eight presidencies, "The Butler" is in theaters October 18.

SEE ALSO: What critics are saying about 'Star Trek Into Darkness' >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

"Star Wars" theme parks may be the next adventure for Disney.

During yesterday's earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Igerhinted at the possibility of a theme park while discussing further opportunities for its "Star Wars" acquisition.

"In addition to the Star Wars feature films that we’ve already talked about, we’re also working on opportunities for television and our parks. It’s still very early in the process. We’ll announce details as these developments evolve."

Rumors have been swirling about a possible "Star Wars" land since Disney acquired the rights to Lucasfilm last year for $4 billion. 

Earlier this year, the rumors seemed more than just that as images of surveys in Disneyland California asking visitors if they'd be interested in a "Star Wars"-themed park popped up online.

Gawker's Ken Layne tweeted the following in March: 

Yeah, we're going to get a Star Wars Land. The 11-year-old part of me is very pleased with this development. twitter.com/KenLayne/statu…

— Ken Layne (@KenLayne) March 20, 2013

Since Iger mentioned opportunities through parks, it sounds likely the focus could also be on "Star Wars"-themed rides. 

Disney already has annual "Star Wars" weekends in place at its parks.

SEE ALSO: Fans are torn over the big twist in "Iron Man 3">

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

First there was the uber successful "Veronica Mars" movieKickstarter campaign and then Zach Braff followed suit to raise money for a "Garden State" sequel.

And now Robert Downey Jr. wants in on the action, too.

"You have this kind of weekend and instantly you think there's going to be another announcement," RDJ says of "Iron Man 3"raking in $175.3 at the box office last weekend.

"But the economy really is weird," he jokingly continued during an appearnace on "Jimmy Kimmel Live.""I was thinking if we were going to do another one we would tentatively call it 'Iron Man 4' but I wasn't getting a lot of support so buddies told me there's a Kickstarter thing."

"So if you want to see a sequel please go to Kickstarter.com and put in your vote," deadpans the actor, whose "Iron Man" movies have earned a whopping $711 million worldwide. "Every little bit helps."

Here's an image of the mock "Iron Man 4 Fund" Kickstarter campaign:

 Now watch RDJ's funny appearance on "Kimmel" below:

SEE ALSO: 'Veronica Mars' Movie Campaign Has Raised $4.5 Million From Online Donations — But Is Still Begging Fans For More >

SEE ALSO: Iron Man 3's mindblowing opening weekend in charts >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

The Marvel team assembled for "The Avengers," and now they're rallying together for another cause.

Deadline reports the cast of last year's blockbuster are looking for big pay bumps.

That shouldn't come as any surprise.

The film became the third-highest grossing movie of all time earning an incredible $1.5 billion worldwide and contributed to Disney CEO Bob Iger's 20% increase in salary last year.

Robert Downey Jr. confirmed to GQ he received an astounding $50 million paycheck for the film. 

"Avengers" director Joss Whedon's pay for several films, consulting, and his upcoming ABC"Avengers" spinoff, "S.H.I.E.L.D." clocks in at $100 million, according to Deadline.

The rest of the cast earned nuggets in comparison.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, and Mark Ruffalo earned between $2-3 million with bonuses. 

Samuel L. Jackson and Scarlett Johansson reportedly earned $4-6 million.

Deadline reports other unspecified actors received $200,000.

Getting a raise isn't easy as it sounds. 

For one thing, many of the actors are tied down with contracts and agreements made early on with Marvel. 

Evans signed on to appear in six Marvel films—a number which was originally set at nine. Ruffalo also signed a six-picture deal. Jackson; however, signed on for nine pictures. Johansson and Renner are said to have similar deals.

To keep costs low, Deadline says Marvel has threatened to recast actors or sue when contracts are disputed.  

Don Cheadle replaced Terrence Howard in "Iron Man 2" after The Hollywood Reporter claimed the actor asked for too much of a pay hike.

In order to get any sort of raise it's looking like the cast is uniting as a real-life "Avengers" team behind Robert Downey Jr. 

Sources tell Deadline "He’s already sent a message that he’s not going to work for a place where they treat his colleagues like s---.”

This is a problem for Marvel considering Downey Jr. isn't signed on for any future Marvel film since his contract ended with "Iron Man 3." 

The Hollywood Reporter says Disney and Marvel are already talking about an "Avengers 3" or "Iron Man 4."

SEE ALSO: Iron Man 3's mindblowing opening weekend in 4 charts >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Paramount just released a short behind-the-scenes look at "Star Trek Into Darkness" featuring director J.J. Abrams. 

The clip gives a rare look at Abrams working on set, with images of the director laughing with the cast and crew including stars Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, and Zachary Quinto.

"Shooting this movie was, by far, the most fun and challenging and exciting and kind of unexpected experience that I've had," said Abrams.

"Star Trek Into Darkness" hits theaters May 16.

Check out some of the images of him on set below.

Here's Abrams with Captain Kirk (Pine) and Nyota Uhura (Saldana) on the Starfleet:

It looks like there's non-stop laughter on the set.

Forget the director's chair ...

... Abrams rather stand.

Abrams is working on the opening sequence for the film in this shot.

Here's our favorite image of the director with Pine.

SEE ALSO: What critics are saying about the film >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

It’s closing in on Summer Movie Season (yes, it’s capitalized). For the next several months movie studios will be throwing out their blockbusters, and personally this is my favorite time of the year to see movies. (I’m a sucker for big-budget popcorn flicks.)

One of the major tentpole movies coming out this summer is Iron Man 3. This is a big deal for a lot of people, including me. When I was younger I had a thing for robots. In my confused little brain, I somehow thought that Iron Man was a robot, not some dude in a tin suit. Either way, for a few months Iron Man was my favorite superhero. To this day, I still have some warm feelings about the guy, meaning I’m pumped for the movie.

In preparation for the next installment in the series, I rewatched the first two movies. One of the things that struck me was Iron Man’s house. It’s gorgeous, open, and a million more adjectives. This led me to ask: How much would Iron Man’s house cost?

After I crunched the numbers and battled the Internet, my best guess was about $117,250,000. To put this into perspective, Iron Man’s house is more than twice the price of Wayne Manor. You’ll never hear me say that Iron Man is better than Batman, but someone out there is going to put a checkmark in Tony Stark’s column.

How I Did It

You know this: I needed a size, location, and comparables in order to value Tony Stark’s palatial abode. Of these three things, all were somewhat difficult to come by, though they were definitely not as hard to source as in some of my previous projects. I’m still reeling from evaluating Howl’s Moving Castle and Hogwarts. In fact, compared to those two projects, evaluating Iron Man’s digs was easy.

I’ll start with what “Iron Man house” I picked and a location.

Where Does a Genius, Billionaire, Philanthropists Live?

Where has Iron Man lived over the years? That’s quite a question and the answer depends on what “Iron Man” you’re talking about. Iron Man started life in comic books, but because the movie is right around the corner, I decided to look at the home from the Iron Man movie series. What did I find? Iron Man’s huge, state-of-the-art home is located on California’s Point Dume, which is itself located in Malibu, CA.

While this information was great to find, there was a little problem. Point Dume—the cliff, at least—are protected. In other words, you can’t build a massive home on the cliffs of Point Dume. I’m sorry to break the news to you; I cried as well.

It turns out that during the lead-up to the first movie, production designers wanted to film in a home that resembled a John Lautner creation. The problem—and I can’t believe I’m saying this—was that the homes in the area weren’t fancy enough. They looked like they were owned by poor millionaires, opposed to billionaires.

Instead of using a real house, director John Favreau picked a cliff top and CGI-ed a fancy house onto it. The interior shots were filmed inside a sound stage.

In Evaluations, Size Matters

It’s typically pretty easy to figure out a way to put a square footage to a fictional house. Yes, some homes are easier than others, but it can be done with enough time and energy. The Iron Man house proved to be the exception. Try as I might, I couldn’t come up with a way to evaluate the home’s size. There aren’t models; there aren’t blueprints. It was a sad day indeed.

What this meant was that I needed to be a bit liberal in how I came up with an estimated size. I had several options at this point, none of which I was too excited about. I might have been putting a price tag to a fictional property, but darn it, I wanted that price to be as accurate as possible. My options were:

• Find a home that inspired the Iron Man house
• Make up a random number
• Find the largest home in the area and assume Stark’s digs were at least as big

After looking into all of these, I decide to base the square footage on a home that partially inspired the fictional abode. I mentioned above that Iron Man’s home was base on John Lautner designs. I decided that Casa Marbisa (25,000 square feet) was a pretty good match. To be on the safe side, I searched for a Malibu home with a similar square footage. Earlier this year, billionaire Howard Marks sold his 20,000 square foot Malibu home. This led me to believe Casa Marbrisa was in the same ballpark, at least size-wise.

How Many Zeros?

As with similar posts, I had a couple of different means of figuring out the price of Iron Man’s badass abode. If you’ve read my previous evaluations, you know I do this by finding either comparable homes and their price per square foot or by looking at the average cost per square foot of all homes in an area. In this case, I looked at that Tony Malibu home that sold earlier this year. It sold for $75 million—the most any home was sold for in the area. This comes to $3,750 per square foot of property.

I thought this was a pretty good start, but ultimately pretty low. This led me to wonder how much a view is worth. I’ve read that an outstanding ocean view can add anywhere from 20 to 30 percent to a home’s value. Now, if the view Iron Man has isn’t exceptional, I don’t know what is. So, I added an additional 25 percent to the cost. This brought the price to about $4,690 per square foot.

Putting It Together

Armed with both our fictional home’s square footage and a price, I slapped them together using a handy concept known as “multiplication” to come up with a price point of $117,250,000.

This buys you just the house, and doesn’t include the insane amount of gadgets Stark has threaded through the structure. In fact, if I added in Jarvis—the artificial intelligence that runs the house—the price could easily increase by $150 million. My bet is it would be a lot more, as that price is how much it costs to develop current artificial intelligence programs like Siri—which are, obviously, far less advanced than Jarvis. But  this is moot since Stark would never leave Jarvis behind if he sold his pad.

Bonus Armor

If you do a quick search of the Internet, you’ll come across a rumor that surfaced a while back about a so-called “Iron Man house” that went on the market back in 2010 for $25 million. As far as I can tell, this was a case of the Internet being wrong. I know—how often does that happen? Photos associated with the rumor are said to be of The Razor Residence in La Jolla, CA. There’s also the little fact that The Razor is a only 11,000 square feet, and that’s just not enough room to house Stark and his toys.

SEE ALSO: Get caught up with the "Iron Man" series, here >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

"Man of Steel" may not hit theaters until next month, but you can get a sampling of the film's soundtrack.

Warner Bros. has released 60-second clips from the limited deluxe edition of the Superman album, out in stores June 11.

For fans missing the Caped Crusader from last year, the album comes from Hans Zimmer (who worked on "The Dark Knight" and "The Dark Knight Rises" soundtracks), so a lot of the tracks sound familiar. 

Listen to the 60-second clips here. 

"Man of Steel" flies into theaters June 14.

Take a look at the complete set list below. If you're not big on spoilers, the tracks hint at what's to come in the film.

Look to the Stars
Oil Rig
Sent Here For A Reason
DNA (For some reason, this is unavailable to preview) 
Goodbye My Son 
If You Love These People 
Krypton's Last 
Terraforming 
Tornado
You Die Or I Do 
Launch
Ignition
I Will Find Him
This Is Clark Kent 
I Have So Many Questions 
Flight 
What Are You Going To Do When You Are Not Saving The World?
Are You Listening, Clark?
General Zod 
You Led Us Here
This Is Madness (This is a great track name.)
Earth
Arcade 

It sounds like a solid album. 

Here are our picks:

Oil Rig
Sent Here For a Reason (this is one of the songs heard in the trailers)
If You Love These People
Terraforming has a great buildup
Ignition

SEE ALSO: The latest "Man of Steel" trailer >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Disney just announced "Big Hero 6" will be its first animated film from Marvel studios.

The action comedy is based on the Marvel comic of the same name following Hiro Hamada in the fictional city of San Fransokyo a hybrid of San Francisco and Tokyo.

"Big Hero 6" will be released in theaters November 7, 2014.

It looks gorgeous.

Welcome to San Fransokyo:

Here's an early look at the bridge to the fictional city:

Now, take a look at the film below:

NOW: See where Bob Iger falls on this year's media rich list >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Kanye West has been seen filming a cameo on the set of "Anchorman 2."

Filming for the sequel, officially titled "Anchorman: The Legend Continues," has been taking place for the past few weeks in Atlanta.  

This past week people have been tweeting images of celebrities on set ranging from Amy Poehler and Jim Carrey to Kanye West today. 

According to sightings, it sounds like the crew is filming a huge rival newscaster fight, similar to the huge news brawl that occurred in the first film. 

'Rival news teams' fight scenes filming this am: hockey sticks & sledge hammers involved #anchorman2#atlanta @olvtwitter.com/childerscp/sta…

— cpc (@childerscp) May 8, 2013

Jim Carrey on set! #anchorman2 @olv @ajcbuzz @peachyscooptwitter.com/childerscp/sta…

— cpc (@childerscp) May 8, 2013

Jim Carrey, Tina Fey, Kanye West & John C Reilly have all been spotted in Downtown ATL filming for Anchorman 2 #EPICtwitter.com/GAFollowers/st…

— Everything Georgia (@GAFollowers) May 9, 2013

Jim Carrey & Kanye West on the Anchorman 2 set. Is Carrey an ESPN sportscaster? Will he fight Champ Kind? #Anchorman2twitter.com/MentalityMag/s…

— Mentality Magazine (@MentalityMag) May 9, 2013

If West is a newscaster, that's pretty awesome.

You can view more set photos here.

SEE ALSO: 11 things you don't know about "The Great Gatsby">

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

We've been waiting for "Gravity" for a long time, but the first trailer for the film is finally here.

The Alfonso Cuaron-directed space adventure was originally set to debut last November, but was pushed back last May.

The film was originally set to feature Angelina Jolie and Robert Downey Jr. Instead, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star as two astronauts stranded in space.

Last year, Bullock said she and Clooney won't be wearing any makeup in the film.

Here's the description for the film via Warner Bros.:

"Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness."

"Gravity" hits theaters October 4.

Here's a poster Warner Bros. released for the film:

SEE ALSO: What critics are saying about "The Great Gatsby">

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

We've been waiting a long time to see "The Great Gatsby" on the big screen.

Last year, Warner Bros. pushed director Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of the classic novel back six months to avoid clashing with Christmas releases.

Since then, numerous excellent trailers for the film have debuted, the film has helped boost sales for the book immensely, but "Great Gatsby" reviews are sounding like Luhrmann's latest could be one huge Hollywood disappointment.

The most critical reviews say it's too flashy, too over the top, and 3D lyrical poetry coming at you off screen is a bit much for some.

Granted, if you're going into the film expecting a "typical" adaptation, this won't be the film for you. Just look at Luhrmann's previous works, "Romeo + Juliet" and "Moulin Rouge!"

Not all the press is bad. Many are satisfied with Leonardo DiCaprio's take on the wealthy Jay Gatsby and were blown away by a surprise, brief role by newcoming actress Elizabeth Debicki.

Though the overall film rating continues to decline on Rotten Tomatoes—it's currently at 43%— the movie is still tracking high among those who wish to see it at 98%. 

These initial reviews may mean nothing. Currently, 65% of all ticket sales for Thursday on Fandango are for "Gatsby."According to the ticket seller, 94% of those seeing the film said they want to see the movie for its costumes, set design, and "grand scale imagery" while 61% consider themselves fans of the director.

The film stars DiCaprio as the titular character, Carey Mulligan as his naive, married love interest, Daisy Buchanan, Tobey Maguire as narrator (Nick Carraway), and Joel Edgerton (Tom Buchanan).

Here's what you should know before seeing the film.

No one questions whether Luhrmann stays true to source material.

The Hollywood Reporter (THR):

"Luhrmann's personal connection and commitment to the material remains palpable, which makes for a film that, most of the time, feels vibrantly alive while remaining quite faithful to the spirit, if not the letter or the tone, of its source."

For the most part, people love DiCaprio's take on the famed character of Gatsby.

NYT:

"His charisma has increased as his youthful prettiness has worn and thickened away, and he is beautiful, sad, confident and desperate in exactly the way Gatsby should be."

L.A. Times: 

"DiCaprio successfully calls on all his movie star charisma to become the film's only person of interest … reminiscent of Orson Welles' youthful and energetic Charles Foster Kane."

Hitfix:

"DiCaprio is a total misfire as Gatsby, thick and expressionless and unable to evoke any real sense of longing."

However, "Gatsby" does something we feared it would do — rely too much on Tobey Maguire for narration:  

Variety: 

"Transformed into voiceover, the running first-person narration of Nick Carraway (here played by Tobey Maguire) turns stilted and dry (presumably a problem the silent version avoided)." 

THR:

"The final stretch is slowed by too much commentary by Nick, who has become a bit of a bore by now."

No one cares for Carey Mulligan's interpretation of the wealthy, desired Daisy. 

L.A. Times:

"Luhrmann's direction of his actors cudgels every instinct of naturalness out of them and pushes everyone, even as instinctively genuine an actress as Mulligan, toward overblown characterizations and stilted line reading."

NY Mag

"She’s down-to-earth pretty (a tad mousy) rather than unattainably glamorous. She does well in Daisy’s most challenging scene, in which she has to oscillate between the desires of two impossible men, the monomaniacal Gatsby and the overentitled Buchanan. But it’s possible to forget she’s in the movie." 

Instead, the real stars of the film—Elizabeth Debicki and Amitabh Bachchan—are barely in it.

Variety: 

"The lithe, long-limbed newcomer Elizabeth Debicki as gabby golf pro Jordan Baker, and, in a single scene that marks his belated Hollywood debut, Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan as the flamboyant Jewish “gambler,” Meyer Wolfsheim."

NY Mag:

"She's [Mulligan] upstaged by an Australian actress named Elizabeth Debicki, who, as Jordan Baker, is all sleek insouciance, an archetypal New Yorker flapper cartoon brought to vivid life. You could project on Debicki till the cows come home."

Hitfix:

"Newcomer Elizabeth Debicki is exceptional as Jordan Baker, a minor character who seems to actually threaten to bring the film to life during each of her scenes, but it's not enough."

3D may be a bit much on the eyes.

USA Today:

"Luhrmann's 3-D visual flourishes feel superfluous: Occasionally, words pop out across the screen as Nick feverishly writes Gatsby's tale … None of it contributes to a sense of immersion."

It's over the top with less focus on character depth and more on design and visuals.

Variety:

"He [Luhrmann] unleashes every manipulation he can think of — sepia flashbacks, smash zooms, split screens, superimpositions, period newsreel footage, new footage degraded to resemble period newsreel footage — all of it coming at you in three stereoscopic dimensions."

Hitfix:

"Technically, Luhrmann's in show-off mode from the opening of the film to the close, and it's all very impressive in terms of sound and image. His use of 3D is dazzling as a way of drawing you into these spaces, and the production design and the costuming is all opulent, suggestive of an era rather than slavishly accurate."

USA today:

"The director has fashioned a gaudy long-form music video — all kaleidoscopic spectacle and little substance — rather than a radiant new take on an American literary classic."

The Wrap:

"This film marks the official moment in which Baz Luhrmann's signature style has become self-parody. So we beat on, boats against the current, jumping the shark."

But that's Luhrmann. If you loved Moulin Rouge, you should enjoy Gatsby. 

Variety:

"Of course, to accuse Luhrmann (who also co-wrote the screenplay with frequent collaborator Craig Pearce) of overkill is a bit like faulting a leopard for his spots."

Overall Consensus: Check it out

"The Great Gatsby" is one of the most difficult films to adapt to the big screen. There have been four previous attempts between TV and film. If you're a fan of Luhrmann, it sounds like you'll love it, just know you're in for a lot of sensationalism.

"Gatsby" is in theaters Friday, May 10.

Watch the latest trailer for the film:

Reviews may be harsh, but the film is doing great at the box office >

SEE ALSO: 11 things you don't know about "The Great Gatsby">

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Who cares what the critics think.

Despite harsh reviews, "The Great Gatsby" is already killing it at theaters.

Midnight showings scored $3.3 million at the box office last night.

While that's not as impressive as huge superhero films—"Iron Man 3" took in a massive $173.5 million opening weekend—the film did take in more than Thursday showings of "Oz the Great and Powerful" ($2 million).

That film went on to earn $79 million in its March opening weekend for Disney.

Right now, critics are tearing "Gatsby" apart.

According to Rotten Tomatoes, out of 124 total reviews, 67 of them are rotten.

Here are examples of some of the harshest reviews:

Film.com:

"And so we wait, wait for the parties to end, wait for sparks to fly, for tragedy to strike, for repercussions to ensue, for our persistently passive protagonist to simply shut up already."

Wall Street Journal:

"This dreadful film even derogates the artistry of Fitzgerald, who wrote "The Great Gatsby" while living on Long Island and in Europe."

According to Fandango, that doesn't seem to matter.

It's not a big-city phenomenon; however, we've been told by the ticket seller there were at least 27 sold-out screenings last night across the country including five in New York City and nine in College Station, Texas.

A Fandango survey of moviegoers purchasing tickets shows they're seeing the film for essentially all the reasons critics find fault with it:

• 94% said the film’s grand scale imagery, costumes and set design inspired them to buy a ticket.
• 83% said the film’s eclectic soundtrack (with selections from Jay-Z, Beyoncé and Andre 3000) appealed to them.
• 61% consider themselves fans of the movie’s director, Baz Luhrmann (58% of those fans had seen Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge!)
• 38% are making plans to see “Gatsby” as a Mother’s Day Weekend outing. 

"The Great Gatsby" isn't going to break any records, and it most likely won't beat "Iron Man 3" in its second weekend, however, don't count it out.

BoxOffice.com is tracking the film to earn $41.5 million opening weekend.

Now: Check out more of the harsh reviews for "Gatsby">

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

A Missouri movie theater hired a number of people to dress in tactical gear and storm an "Iron Man 3" screening with fake weapons opening weekend. 

ABC News 17 reports Goodrich Capital 8 Theaters in Jefferson City, Missouri wanted to get moviegoers excited for the film by dressing people up to resemble S.H.I.E.L.D. members, part of the Marvel world's secret intelligence agency.

(You can see the photo of the people here.)

Instead, several people dialed 911, prompting local police to respond.  

The stunt comes less than a year after the "Dark Knight Rises" shootings at a theater in Aurora, Colorado during a midnight screening.  

Captain Doug Shoemaker told ABC 17 News they received calls about a man dressed in body armor with a rifle walking into the theater.  

"Everything was in place, it's the opening night of a superhero movie, it's somebody walking in all-dark clothes, everything pointed to bad things about to happen," said Shoemaker. "There's really no good that can come of this." 

A retired Army war veteran told the affiliate the event triggered his post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Another person at the showing commented on the theater's Facebook page that he "and 99.5% of the other people there realized they were S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives carrying fake guns." 

Theater manager Bob Wilkins defended the stunt to ABC 17 News saying it was planned for months in advance and that many were entertained.  

Wilkins did say the theater took the Aurora, Colorado shooting into consideration. 

The theater has since posted the following apology to its Facebook page: 

"We apologize and are sympathetic to those who felt they were in harm’s way with our character promotion for Iron Man 3. This was not a publicity stunt. We have worked with the Cosplacon group on many movies to dress up and help entertain our customers. We have had many complaints about the members dressed specifically as S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives carrying fake guns. We didn’t clearly tell our customers and some people didn’t realize it was for entertainment purposes only. We apologize that police were called to come out to our theater. We have a wonderful working relationship with the Jefferson City Police Department. Going forward we will take the necessary steps to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Security and safety for our customers is our number one priority."

SEE ALSO: Inside Iron Man's $117 million Malibu mansion >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Harsh critics didn't have any effect on "The Great Gatsby." 

The Baz Luhrmann directed film had a massive opening weekend. 

Though it didn't beat out Disney's powerhouse "Iron Man 3" in its second box-office weekend, the adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic performed better than anyone anticipated. 

While "Gatsby" performed fantastic for Warner Bros., Tyler Perry's "Peeples" bombed at the box office.  

Though the film was only produced and not directed by Perry, the film still marks his first box-office flop. 

Out of the top ten this week is Bradley Cooper and Ryan Gosling's "The Place Beyond the Pines." After seven weeks, the film has earned nearly $20 million. 

"Scary Movie 5" also bowed out of a top spot after five weeks in release. 

Here are this weeks winners and losers in Hollywood: 

10. "Oz the Great and Powerful" just made it into the top ten earning $802,000. With another round of big potential summer hits coming to theaters, this is probably the final hurrah for "Oz."  

9. Reese Witherspoon's personal run-in with a cop hasn't negatively affected her film, "Mud." The movie, in less than 900 theaters, earned $2.5 million this weekend.  

8. Robert De Niro's "The Big Wedding" moves down two notches this weekend earning $2.5 million. The film cost an estimated $35 million to produce and has earned $18.3 million to date. 

7. DreamWorks Animation Studios' "The Croods" falls two spots this weekend earning $3.6 million. Oversall, the cavemen movie has earned more than $533 million worldwide.  

6. With a lot of competition at the box office, Tom Cruise's "Oblivion" falls fast with $3.9 million. The futuristic Universal film has earned $242.6 million worldwide. 

5. Jackie Robinson flick "42" has one of the smallest box-office drops (23.2%) this weekend, earning $4.7 million. 

4. "Tyler Perry Presents Peeples" flops earning a mere $4.9 million. The film, though not directed by Perry himself, is produced by him and is his lowest box-office opening ever. "Peeples" cost an estimated $15 million to produce. 

3. Mark Wahlberg's "Pain and Gain" holds with $5 million in week three. The film has now earned $41.6 million at theaters. 

2. It may not have taken the top spot at theaters, but "The Great Gatsby" exceeded all box-office expectations earning a massive $51.1 million opening weekend. The film was originally tracking to earn near $40 million.  

1. "Iron Man 3" has a strong second weekend earning $72.5 million. The sequel has now taken in $284.9 million at the box office in North America in two weeks. Worldwide, the film is closing in on $1 billion dollars. 

SEE ALSO: The first trailer for the "Avengers" spinoff series >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Last night, J.J. Abrams appeared on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" to discuss his film "Star Trek Into Darkness" out this week in theaters.

Abrams will also be directing Disney's next "Star Wars" film in 2015, and Stewart is a fan of both.

The conversation quickly took a turn with Abrams addressing the differences between the two — apparently he sees "Star Wars" as a "samurai""Western"— and his initial dislike of "Star Trek" for the longest time.

Abrams also discussed how he improved upon the original "Star Trek" series with his films, unintentionally bashing the popular television show in the process.

"The original show was kind of static," said Abrams. "They couldn't afford to go anywhere or do anything. And we had a slightly larger budget than they did."

"Star Trek Into Darkness" is out in theaters Thursday.

Watch an extended cut of their interview below:

SEE ALSO: The mother from "How I Met Your Mother" is finally revealed! >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

In 1977, George Lucas took us to the desert planet of Tatooine in "Star Wars."

Thirty-six years later, the fake planet's structures remain intact in the deserts of Tunisia.

Visual artist and filmmaker, Ra di Martino has photographed the film set in two series called "No More Stars" and "Every World's A Stage."

Di Martino told Business Insider she found out about the "Star Wars" ruins through a Google Earth tourist photo.  

This inspired her to head to Tunisia and take pictures as part of research on abandoned movie sets in North Africa.  

She imagines they were left there because they are literally in the middle of nowhere and no one complained. 

Di Martino gave us permission to run some of her photos. 

Here they are along with how the set of "Star Wars" originally looked.

You can view all of her photos here.

THEN: This was Luke Skywalker's home on the planet of Tatooine.

NOW: Here it is today in the middle of Tunisia.

Visual artist and filmmaker, Ra di Martino traveled there to photograph the location of the "Star Wars" scenes filmed during the '70s.

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

The Daily Beasthas obtained the screenplay for "Rodham," a new biopic that centers on Hillary Clinton in her 20s and made the 2012 Black List of the top 10 unproduced scripts in Hollywood.

Filming hasn't started yet, but the movie is already getting a lot of buzz. The Daily Beast has published a breakdown of some of the script's juiciest parts:

• Hillary is described as having an “awful haircut," wearing a “hideous pair of Coke-bottle glasses” and being “the valedictorian of the ‘look-like-shit school of feminism.’” Bill is called a “Viking” with a “full mane” and “six-inch beard.”

Please follow Politics on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

What do "Citizen Kane" and "Fast and Furious 6" have in common? 

They both have a 100% fresh rating on film review site Rotten Tomatoes.

Granted, the score will probably go down as more reviews trickle out ahead of the film's release this week, but with ten fresh reviews, including two from Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, you have to give "Fast and Furious 6" distributor Universal credit.

It knows how to build the franchise brand across social media.  

Its Facebook page is liked by more than 33 million people—that's more than double of the fans who like "Iron Man" on the site.  

It also has star Vin Diesel, who is a powerhouse on Facebook, posting about the film. 

On top of that, the film constantly updates its Instagram account with behind-the-scenes set photos.

Other films that scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes include "Toy Story,""Man on Wire,""The Godfather," and "Citizen Kane."

Here are the Rotten Tomato scores for other big films out this summer:

"Iron Man 3": 78%
"The Great Gatsby": 49%
"Star Trek Into Darkness": 89% 

"Fast and Furious 6" may very well be the most liked movie of the summer.

SEE ALSO: 15 celebrities who are becoming increasingly unpopular >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »

Jennifer Lawrence is atop a mountain in the first poster for "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire."

Lionsgate released the poster through the film's official Instagram account.

The film, based on the series by Suzanne Collins, follows Katniss (Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) after the conclusion of the 74th Hunger Games.

Look closely at the clouds and you'll see the image of the Mockingjay, the bird which will become a symbol of strength and rebellion in the second novel.

The second film in the franchise comes to theaters November 22.

SEE ALSO: The original "Star Wars" set is now abandoned and in ruins >

Please follow The Wire on Twitter and Facebook.

Join the conversation about this story »