Hot on the heels of its new Trailer which is breaking the internet, Toronto gets some ‘beautiful’ news!  Running Family Day Weekend Friday, February 17 through Monday, 20, 2017 at historic Casa Loma, Fans will get with the price of admission, access to a limited time only BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Exhibit. Casa Loma will be open for extended hours till 9 PM for the special occasion those nights.

The Exhibition featuring nine costumes designed by Jacqueline Durran from the eagerly-awaited live action adaptation of the beloved Animated Feature. There will be special performances from dancers and an aerialist, plus themed activities (including face-painting and arts and crafts) taking place also!  There also will be replicas of the rose and bell jar!

Here’s a tip: guests who use the “BE OUR GUEST” promo code will get 20% off admission at the Box Office!

While we’re waiting for BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, here is the new final U.S. Trailer:

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada release BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Friday, March 17, 2017.

(Photo/video credit: Disney)

Toronto’s own Michael Cera is back in town. While on a break filming Oscar-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin‘s directorial debut Molly’s Game, alongside the likes of Jessica Chastain, Idris Elba and Kevin Costner, he made time today to promote his work in upcoming Animated Feature THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE. The Blockbuster has him voicing the titular character’s sidekick Robin.

The 28-year-old known best for his acclaimed work on Series Arrested Development and Films like Superbad, Juno, This is the End, Sausage Party and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, did the rounds in the City pretaping several interviews in advance of the Film’s release next week.

See a Trailer below:

While we’ve met Cera a few times before, we never got the Selfie until today. He was more than nice to stop in the cold and check-in to see how I was doing.

See our Snap:

I 😍 #MichaelCera. The Toronto actor is currently promoting #LegoBatmanMovie.

A photo posted by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong) on Jan 30, 2017 at 9:23am PST

Warner Bros. Pictures Canada release THE LEGO BATMAN MOVIE Friday, February 10, 2017.

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/Warner Bros. Pictures Canada)

For a second straight week, SPLIT takes the top of the Box Office with $25.3 million for Universal Pictures, from 3,199 theatres. In two weeks, the Thriller has tallied $77 million across North America.

Despite a bit of controversy of late, Universal Pictures’ A DOG’S PURPOSE still performs a respectable second with $18.3 million from 3,059 theatres. It earns 35% on the Tomatometer from Critics, but Audiences responded well with an A CinemaScore, which just might help with word of mouth. The Film was made for $22 million.

In third is former champion HIDDEN FIGURES with $13.9 million from 3,351 theatres for 20th Century Fox. It has just surpassed the $100 million-mark domestically.

RESIDENT EVIL: THE FINAL CHAPTER debuts in fourth for Sony Pictures, with $12.4 million from 3,104 theatres.  It gets 39% on the Tomatometer and a B CinemaScore.

LA LA LAND is in fifth with $11.8 million, playing wide at 3,136 theatres for eOne Films/Lionsgate Films. It has earned $106 million over eight weeks.

xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE is in sixth its second week out with $7.6 million. It has earned $32 million for Paramount Pictures.

GOLD debuts in tenth  with $3.5 million for Elevation Pictures/The Weinstein Co. from 2,166 theatres. It gets 38% on the Tomatometer and a B CinemaScore.

Although summer isn’t here for a bit, here’s a little something to warm you up! Check out these awesome motion posters for BAYWATCH. They saved the best for last, TRUST ME.

Mitch Buchanan

Matt Brody

Summer Quinn

C.J. Parker

Stephanie Holden

Ronnie

Paramount Pictures Canada release BAYWATCH Friday, May 26, 2017!

(Photo/video credit: Paramount Pictures Canada)

20th Century Fox x Mr. Will want to give Readers in Toronto a chance to see  A CURE FOR WELLNESS.  The Screening takes place Thursday, February 2, 2017 at Cineplex Yonge & Dundas.

Synopsis:
An ambitious young executive (Dane Dehaan) travels to the Swiss Alps to retrieve his boss from a “wellness spa,” only to find that his boss has vanished. He is then trapped in the facility, and begins to realize that its staff have a far more wicked plan than to simply improve the health of their patients. While held at the spa, he encounters a young girl named Hannah (Mia Goth), a longtime spa patient who is oblivious to what horrible things the spa director has prepared for her.

As the young man’s sanity is tested, he discovers that he has been diagnosed with the same outlandish illness that keeps all the patients at the spa hoping for a cure.

Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK.

20th Century Fox Canada release A CURE FOR WELLNESS Friday, February 17, 2017.

(Photo/video credit: 20th Century Fox)

As anticipated, LA LA LAND leads the 89th Academy Award nominations which were announced at 8:30 AM EST in Los Angeles.  The Musical, hot off seven Golden Globe wins garnered a whopping 14 nominations including Best Picture, Actress (Emma Stone), Best Actor (Ryan Gosling), Directing (Chazelle), Writing (Chazelle) and more.  It also has two nods for Original Song with Audition and City of Stars. Chazelle in a statement today said, “I am thrilled that the Academy is celebrating the work of Emma and Ryan, who brought these characters to life with such humanity and depth, and also the work of my college roommate Justin who created the beautiful music.”.

Up for Best Picture are:

ARRIVAL

FENCES

HACKSAW RIDGE

HELL OR HIGH WATER

HIDDEN FIGURES

LA LA LAND

LION

MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

MOONLIGHT

We had the pleasure of running promotions in 2016 for seven out of nine of these nominations and would like to congratulate our friends at these Canadian companies who distribute these Films: Elevation Pictures (Moonlight, Hacksaw Ridge), 20th Century Fox Canada (Hidden Figures), Paramount Pictures Canada (Arrival, Fences), VVS Films (Hell or High Water), Mongrel Media (Manchester by the Sea) and eOne Films (Lion, La La Land).

MOONLIGHT, seen widely as LA LA LAND‘s biggest threat for Best Picture, garners the second-most nods, tallying-in at a total of eight. The Film directed by up-and-comer and nominee Barry Jenkins has been a major force this Awards Season, a powerful response to an outcry of the prestigious awards lacking diversity.

This year, we see a total six black actors nominated including Viola Davis (Fences), Denzel Washington (Fences), Ruth Negga (Loving), Mahershala Ali (Moonlight), Naomie Harris (Moonlight) and Octavia Spencer (Hidden Figures). We also see an Actor of English-Indian descent nominated for Supporting Actor, Dev Patel (Lion).  FENCES, starring an all-black cast, gets four nominations, while HIDDEN FIGURES, fronted by three black female principal actors, gets three nominations.

Davis, seen widely as the favourite in the Supporting Actress category stated, “Thank you to the Academy for recognizing this extraordinary, important film and my work in it. Thank you Denzel for being at the helm!”.

Although Canada’s submission for Foreign Language Film IT’S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD missed the final shortlist, Canadians have plenty to be proud of with a total eight nominations, according to a congratulatory Press Release from Telefilm Canada:

Howard Barish, co-producer (13th), Documentary (Feature)
Sylvain Bellemare (Arrival), Sound Editing
Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye (Arrival), Sound Mixing
Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Actor in a Leading Role
Shawn Levy, co-producer (Arrival), Best Picture
Theodore Ushev (Blind Vaysha), Short Film (Animated), National Film Board of Canada
Patrice Vermette (Arrival), Production Design
Denis Villeneuve (Arrival), Directing

Some surprises from today’s announcements include a nod for three-time winner Meryl Streep (Florence Foster Jenkins) in the Lead Actress category and Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic) getting his second nomination today for Lead Actor. Many are surprised that despite getting recognized for Best Picture, ARRIVAL star Amy Adams did not garner a nod for Actress in a Leading Role with two strong performances this year – the other being NOCTURNAL ANIMALS – being a major force all Awards Season. Newcomer and a soon to be on Broadway Lucas Hedges (Manchester by the Sea) finds himself among great company for Supporting Actor.

Streep in a humorous visual statement, had this to say about her recognition:

The 2017 Academy Awards air on ABC Sunday, February 26, 2017 at 7 PM EST.

(Photo credit: Oscars)

Elevation Pictures x Mr. Will want to take Readers to see TIFF ’16 selection TRESPASS AGAINST US at participating Cineplex Event Cinemas this and next weekend!

Synopsis:

Trespass Against Us centers on three generations of the Cutler family, a close-knit clan of nomads living an outlaw existence in their own anarchic corner of Britain’s most affluent countryside. Chad Cutler (Michael Fassbender) is the heir apparent to the family patriarch, his bullying father Colby (Brendan Gleeson), and has been groomed to spend his life hunting, stealing and tormenting local law enforcement. But with his own son Tyson (Georgie Smith) coming of age and his wife Kelly (Lyndsey Marshal) pushing him to stand up to Colby, Chad finds himself locked in a battle for the future of his young family.

Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK and indicate your City in the comments.

Elevation Pictures release TRESPASS AGAINST US Friday, January 27, 2017 on-demand and in select theatres:

Halifax / Park Lane
Ottawa / South Keys
Toronto / Yonge & Dundas
Calgary / Eau Claire
Vancouver / Park

(Photo/video credit: Elevation Pictures)

VVS Films x Mr. Will want to take Toronto Readers to a special Advance Screening on Monday, January 30, 2017 with star Asa Butterfield in-attendance!

Synopsis:

A group of astronauts go on a mission to colonize Mars. After they land on Mars, one of the astronauts discovers she’s pregnant. She gives birth to a boy, but dies from complications.

Sixteen years later, her son, Gardner Elliot (Asa Butterfield), is now a teenager who has lived his entire life on Mars, raised by the remaining astronauts. He wants to find his father, whom his mother never named, so he uses the Internet to communicate with Tulsa (Britt Robertson), a teenage girl who lives in Colorado.

When Gardner and the astronauts return to Earth, he begins exploring in order to find his father, but discovers his organs aren’t used to the Earth’s atmosphere. He’s placed in a medical facility but breaks out, finds Tulsa and they go on the run.

Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, simply click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK.

VVS Films release THE SPACE BETWEEN US Friday, February 3, 2017.

G’luck.

(Photo/video credit: VVS Films)

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment x Mr. Will want to give Canadian Readers a chance to win an INFERNO Prize Pack including all three Blu-rays in the Robert Langdon Trilogy and the book by Dan Brown on which this final installment is based.

Synopsis:
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) wakes up in a hospital room in Florence, Italy, with a wound on his head and no recollection of the last 48 hours. Physician Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) explains that he’s suffering from temporary amnesia. Before he has time to figure out what’s happening to him, he learns he is being chased by the World Health Organization and a private security firm. A fan of Langdon, Sienna decides to tag along and help him solve the mystery.

Langdon soon finds out that billionaire Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster) is too invested into the future of mankind and has plotted a deadly global genocide scheme. It is now up to Langdon to solve the clues left behind by Zobrist and save mankind from destruction.

See the Trailer:

Artwork:

To enter to win, click “like” on this Post at MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK. Canadian Readers only please.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment release INFERNO on DVD and Blu-ray Tuesday, January 24, 2017.

(Photo/video credit: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)

SPLIT makes a big splash at the Box Office in its debut for Universal Pictures with a stellar $34.1 million from 3,038 theatres. Starring James McAvoy, the Thriller gets a 76% on the Tomatometer, while Audiences responded similarly with a B+ CinemaScore.

In second is xXx: THE RETURN OF XANDER CAGE, which many projected to take the top spot in its opening. Alas it earns $19 million from 3.561 theatres, earning a 42% on the Tomatometer from Critics and an A- CinemaScore from Audiences.

HIDDEN FIGURES still is going strong in third with $15 million for 20th Century Fox from 3,416 theatres. In total it has grossed $82 million over four weeks.

SING lands in fourth with $8.6 million for Universal Pictures, nearing the $250-million-mark in five weeks.

LA LA LAND places fifth with $8.3 million from 1,865 theatres, still riding a high from its Golden Globes glory. It has earned $90 million thus far over seven weeks, a majority in limited release.

PATRIOTS DAY is in eighth with $5.3 million for eOne Films/Lionsgate Films, tallying-in at $23 million over two weeks.

Rounding-out the Top Ten is THE BYE BYE MAN with $3.3 million from 2,220 theatres, nearing the $20-million-mark in its second week out for VVS Films/STX Entertainment.