Expectations were high for Fast & Furious 6, but this latest Film in the Franchise is a Monster indeed on an international scale, debuting this weekend with $98.5 million alone in North America from 3,658 theatres. Globally already, it has made an amazing $275.5 million for Universal Pictures. Made for $160 million, it looks well on its way to recouping that money back for Universal Pictures in a – pardon the pun – fast ‘n’ furious manner! Audiences also loved the Film giving it a coveted A CinemaScore and many Critics agreed with 72% at Rotten Tomatoes. With all releases surpassing an expected $300 million at the Box Office this U.S. Memorial Day Weekend, a new Box Office record was established for the Holiday. Combined, all six Films in the Franchise have made $797.4 million domestically.

Debuting in second with $42.4 million this weekend for Warner Bros., is the conclusion to The Wolfpack Trilogy, The Hangover Part III, from 3,555 theatres.  Still solid, this Installment falls short compared to its 2011 Predecessor The Hangover Part II, which debuted with $85.9 million. Although Critics didn’t respond favorably, tallying a 25% rating at Rotten Tomatoes, Audiences seemed to enjoy it with a B CinemaScore. To date, the Series in North America has grossed $574 million.

Following closely behind in third is Star Trek Into Darkness which in its second week of release earns $38 million. In its two-week run, it has grossed $155 million for Paramount Pictures.

Without much choice in terms of Family-oriented Films, Epic opens to a smart $34.2 million for 20th Century Fox in fourth spot.  Starring an interesting array of voices, the Animated Feature boasts a Cast of: Beyoncé, Josh Hutcherson, Steven Tyler, Pitbull, Aziz Ansari, Amanda Seyfried and Christoph Waltz.

Not to be disgraced, Iron Man 3 continues to draw a crowd in fifth spot, now in its third week earning $19.4 million, with a total of $373 in its domestic run to date.  Not far behind is The Great Gatsby which also in its third week out, closes the gap on that Box Office rival with $13.7 million at number six.

Bubbling under, the eagerly-awaited third Film in its Romance Series Before Midnight, opens in only five theatres across the U.S. in Limited Release, earning an impressive $274k.  Torontonians and Vancouverites will have to wait till June 7, 2013 when it gets a release north of the Border.

Although predictions pegged it a bit higher, Paramount Pictures’ Star Trek Into Darkness, the Sequel in the Franchise directed by J.J. Abrams, debuts in number one this weekend with $70.6 million from 3,868 theatres across North America.  Made for $190 million, the Sci-Fi/Action Flick opened on Wednesday night, but falls just short of the  $75 million its predecessor made in 2009. Audiences of course loved the Sequel, giving it a coveted A CinemaScore and also Critics agreed with a stellar 88% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. It was the only Film released this weekend to debut in the Top Ten and does so on-top!

Two-week Champion Iron Man 3 slips to second this weekend, but by no means is disgraced, earning $35.2 million in its third week for Disney.  The Blockbuster has just exceeded the $1 billion-mark globally.

The Great Gatsby despite never reaching the top of the Box Office, like Iron Man 3, performs v. well in third with $23.4 million in its second week of release for Warner Bros., earning $90 million in just two weeks. Box Office Experts are saying that this being one of the few Female-catered Films out currently, may have hindered Star Trek Into Darkness‘ numbers from being record-breaking for the Franchise.

The gap is huge  between the Top Three Films and the rest of the Films in the Top Ten. Paramount Pictures for the second week in-a-row gets the fourth spot with Pain and Gain, earning $3.1 million in its fourth week, just surpassing the $50-million mark domestically, keeping Veteran The Croods at bay with $2.8 million in fifth.

Brace yourselves at the sixth Film in the Fast & Furious Franchise hits theatres next weekend, already debuting big overseas with $13.8 million already in the U.K.!

In an exciting weekend at the Box Office, two heavy Hollywood Blockbusters were pitted against one another – Iron Man 3, catering more towards a male audience, and The Great Gatsby, catering towards a more female audience. Alas, it is the Man of Iron who prevails with $72.4 million in its second week after an explosive $174 million opening in North America. In two short weeks, it has grossed $284 million domestically.

Not to be shamed, The Great Gatsby debuts in second with an equally stellar $51.1 million for Warner Bros. from 3,535 theatres.  Although Critics had mixed feelings about the F. Scott Fitzgerald Adaptation with a 48% rating on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer, audiences gave it a B CinemaScore, which shouldn’t hurt it.  Also, the fact that it is Mother’s Day surely helps with its numbers.

Former number one Pain & Gain slips to third this weekend for Paramount Pictures, earning $5 million in a v. distant third place. To date it has grossed $41  million domestically.

Debuting uncharacteristically low in fourth with $4.8 million from 2,041 theatres is Tyler Perry‘s latest Peeples, starring Kerry Washington.  The Comedy is the only other wide release to  open this weekend and earned a B- CinemaScore and also a 37% rating on the Tomatometer.

In fifth is 42, another former number one Film, with $4.6 million for Warner Bros. in its fourth week of release. In its four week run, the Jackie Robinson Biopic has grossed $84.7 million.

Rounding out the Top Ten are Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon Drama Mud with $2.3 million – the Film opens soon in Canada  via eOne Films – and the valiant Oz The Great and Powerful with $802k in its TENTH week of release for Disney.

Finally! Right in time for the release of The Great Gatsby, Lana Del Rey releases her brand new Video for its Theme, Young & Beautiful. Directed by Sophie Muller, the Video looks an early ’80s Homage to the ’20s. Del Rey is a vision of beauty and elegance, shimmery tears affixed on that stunning face of hers,  full Orchestra accompanying. I’ll admit I was expecting a Video with clips from the Film, but this on its own is simple and classic.

Watch the Video below:

(Photo/video credit: Universal Music)

With The Great Gatsby hitting theatres this Friday, one of the things you will be mesmerized about is the Music in this latest Masterpiece from Baz Luhrmann! With Hip-Hop Mogul Jay-Z serving as Executive Producer for the Soundtrack, a star-studded Lineup is featured including Beyoncé Fergie, Gotye, Lana Del Rey, Emeli Sandé, will.i.am, The xx, Kanye West, Sia, Florence Welch and the Man himself!

The Tracklisting is as follows:

1. 100$ Bill – Jay-Z
2. Back To Black – Beyoncé, André 3000
3. Young And Beautiful – Lana Del Rey
4. Love Is Blindness – Jack White
5. Crazy In Love (Kid Koala Version) – Emeli Sandé, The Bryan Ferry Orchestra
6. Bang Bang – will.i.am
7. “I Like Large Parties” – Elizabeth Debicki
8. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) – Fergie, Q-Tip, GoonRock
9. Love Is The Drug – Bryan Ferry, The Bryan Ferry Orchestra
10. “Can’t Repeat The Past?” – Leonardo Dicaprio, Tobey Maguire
11. Hearts A Mess – Gotye
12. Where The Wind Blows – Coco O.
13. Green Light – Green Light
14. No Church In The Wild – Jay-Z, Kanye West
15. Over The Love – Florence + The Machine
16. Together – The xx
17. Into The Past – Nero
18. Kill And Run – Sia
19. Over The Love (Of You) – Florence + The Machine, SBTRKT
20. Young And Beautiful (DH Orchestral Version) – Lana Del Rey
21. “Gatsby Believed In The Green Light” – Tobey Maguire, Craig Armstrong

Stream the Soundtrack on YouTube, courtesy of Rdio:

Rdio is streaming the Soundtrack here also for Members.

If you love it, you can order it on iTunes now here!

We’ve had Gatsby Fever here for quite some time and here are some links:

• Our Interview with Baz Luhrmann, including Autograph Giveaway!
• The New York City Advance Screening of The Great Gatsby. We were there! See which Stars went!
• Watch the Trailer here!

(Photo credit: Universal Music)

Just landed in New York City earlier today and what a night it’s been!  And the Met Gala festivities haven’t even begun!  I stumbled upon an Advance Screening for The Great Gatsby, held at the Museum of Modern Art and after sticking around for a bit, the Stars just poured out of the Venue unlike anything I’ve ever seen!

A merging of Fashion and Film Worlds collided tonight including the likes of: Vera Wang, Emma Roberts, Michael Shannon, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ezra Miller, Kylie Minogue, Aubrey Plaza, David Schwimmer, Dane DeHaan, Anna Wood, John Leguizamo, Meg Hilty, Piper Perabo, Oliver Stone, Katy Perry, Solange Knowles and of course Star Carey Mulligan.  Unreal.

Stay tuned for more Stars as I capture Stars of the Met Gala tomorrow night.  You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Gatsby giving us Goosebumps!  If this doesn’t get you excited for The Great Gatsby, I don’t know what will.  Warner Bros. has just released this 1:34 minute Extended TV Spot for one of this Summer’s most eagerly-awaited Films.  Paired together with Young & Beautiful by Lana Del Rey, which gets prominent placement in the Film, there is something just absolutely resonant and emotional about this.

I’m completely obsessed with the Track and have been repeating it non-stop of late. Such a pity that in what could be her biggest Crossover Hit, Del Rey is busy touring in Europe right now versus present Stateside giving Young & Beautiful the promotion it really deserves.

Watch the TV Spot below:

I arrive extremely early for my One-on-One with Baz Luhrmann, sitting at the Hospitality Suite with plenty of time to spare. You see, Toronto has a horrible issue with Punctuality and I am convinced that I am one of the reasons why. The bottomless Coffee makes me even more anxious than I already am.  I nibble on some v. sharp cheese, but really am not hungry due to nerves. Ever since being invited earlier this week to interview the visionary Filmmaker,  excitement and distraction had preoccupied much of my headspace. The thing is, I legitimately am a huge Fan of Luhrmann and quite literally I  had to touch my neck to see if it still was sore (as has been the case for weeks) in search of evidence that I wasn’t dreaming after receiving the invitation. I’d close the e-mail, open it again repeatedly to ensure it wouldn’t disappear on me like a cruel prank, as if almost expecting  that sobering “XX would like to recall this message”  notification.  It never came, thankfully.

Few Directors consistently have affected me viscerally as Luhrmann.  His Films are a Spectacle – an Escape if you will – taking us away to a place where Love is magical, splendorous and truly romantic. His distinct sense of  Tragic Romance almost has come define him, hence there could be no other as fitting as he to  helm an Adaptation of  F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s bittersweet Classic, The Great Gatsby.

Luhrmann walks into the room as I sit there fidgeting with my pencil – double, triple, quadruple-checking to ensure my questions were of a standard fit for the Man from whom the likes of Claire Danes, Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman and Leonardo DiCaprio have taken direction. He is lovely Man, indeed.  His hair a bit grayer than I’d seen in photos –  not at all as imposing as I’d imagined for someone with such grand, extravagant vision; his demeanour personable. I felt right at ease, feeling rather foolish for all the hoo-ha I’d conjured in my mind. “I’ll just sit right here on the couch and you can direct me”, he says with a smile. Was he kidding me? The Man responsible for Films like Moulin Rouge, Australia and Romeo + Juliet telling me to direct him?

I asked Luhrmann the question on many of our minds after we so cruelly were made to endure a prolonged wait for The Great Gatsby‘s release, originally slated for December.  Some cited Studio Conflict, while some cited Funding issues.  Setting the record straight, he explains “We got rained-out five times – it wasn’t just once or twice. It put us into the following year. We had to shut down just because of the rain.”.  After also being struck in the head by a crane during production, which resulted in stitches, he comes to the realization, “Now if there was no rain, it would’ve been the first time in my life I was on-time because we were very prepared in what we were doing.”.

Two ever-prevalent themes in Luhrmann‘s Films – particularly his Red Curtain Trilogy and  consistently so again in The Great Gatsby – are Romance and Tragedy.   “I keep saying to myself how I end up doing these things.  If you look at any creative person – I suppose I’m old enough now to say ‘I am creative’,    really we all do the same things over and over in different ways and different flavours”, he tells me. “Puccini basically does a lot of Tragic Romances. Shakespeare changes the genres but he always has some idea of Love or Anti-Love… I guess I’m some sort of Romantic. I suppose I have to say ‘yes’ to that  now.”.

One key line in The Great Gatsby has Nick Caraway (Tobey Maguire) telling Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), “The past cannot be repeated”. Reliving the past becomes somewhat of a fixation for  Gatsby in his limitless ambition to win back the love of his life in Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan), who so happens to be married to Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton) after he goes off to war, coming back re-incarnated as a wealthy, dashing Playboy. I am curious whether or not repeating the past – a largely successful one I might add – is something  of which Luhrmann is conscious.  “I always think this is it. This is the last Movie I’m making… I may just go into Architecture or Diving”, he says perhaps half-joking. “I think I’ve gone through the Catharsis of Gatsby. I think I’ve gone into this period where I actually am who I am – that I sorta am stuck being this Guy making those Movies.”.  “I want to do it now so that it enriches life and that it’s a Circle –  the give and take is there.”.

Several are excited about DiCaprio‘s Gatsby Reunion with Luhrmann, last having worked together over 17 years ago on Romeo + Juliet, but the name on everybody’s lips is Elizabeth Debicki – an unknown entity in an Ensemble of familiarity, winning the Plum Role of  observant and gossipy Jordan Baker. “This is the first Movie she’s ever done – she was in Drama School.  My Casting Director Ronna Kress and I heard about Elizabeth –  this Girl who’s so tall and gorgeous – she’s a bit like Cate Blanchett meets Nicole (Kidman). I flew her to Los Angeles and she was such a strong choice.”.  As numerical proof to what a role in a Baz Luhrmann Film can do for one’s Career, he notes, “They put a picture of her on the Website the other day… and within an hour there were 150,000 hits. She’s making an impression.”.  On Mulligan, he has nothing but praise for her stating, “She’s just absolutely lovely inside and out!”.

In a Career which already has seen its share of pinnacles, one must wonder just what Luhrmann considers a success. He replies, “That it pays its bill, first of all. People come up to me and they go, ‘I bet you’re sick of hearing this’ – and they can be entirely mature Human Beings – or ‘You probably don’t want to hear this but I just loved blah blah blah‘ and I just go, ‘Are you kidding me?’.”. Luhrmann adds, “My Movies don’t get banged-out once a year. I make them every five or ten years, so if one person goes ‘Gee, that did something for my life, that was beautiful…’, he pauses. “That sorta stuff that will be good enough for me.”.

Enjoy my Interview in full with Baz Luhrmann below:

Fans have every reason to be excited about The Great Gatsby  and after having witnessed its magic in 3D, I eagerly am awaiting another go at it.  Warner Bros. releases on Friday, May 10, 2013.

Luhrmann was amazingly gracious to sign a Photo for my Readers and one of you will be lucky enough to own it!  Simply click “like” on this Post at Mr. Will Wong on Facebook before June 1, 2013.  Double your chances by sharing this Post on Facebook with your Friends!

(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)

Mesmerized.  Those of you who follow my Blog know what a huge Fan of Lana Del Rey I am and although I’ve been living off Snippets of her Young & Beautiful for the past couple weeks, I finally got to hear more of it today when screening The Great Gatsby 3-D.  In the Film there also is a gorgeous Orchestral Version of the Song and of all the Tracks heard in the Film, this is definitely the most pronounced and fitting of where Baz Luhrmann is going.

Although it takes a few listens, I challenge you not to fall in love with it after seeing The Great Gatsby 3-D.

Say what you will about Del Rey’s Vocals, but the really, really odd thing is that if any other sang this, I wouldn’t be as emphatic about it. There is something inherently lonely and cinematic about Lana Del Rey‘s Performance.

Listen below:

Official Artwork below:

Universal Music Canada releases The Great Gatsby Original Motion Picture Soundtrack on Tuesday, May 7, 2013.

(Photo/video credit: Universal Music)

Fascinating stuff. You must check-out this exciting Featurette where The Great Gatsby Costume Designer Catherine Martin talks about Author F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s close relationship with Clothier Brooks Brothers. Ultimately we learn how she partnered with them for that authentic ’20s inspiration on all of the looks we see on the Men – including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Joel Edgerton – in this Spring’s most eagerly-awaited Romantic-Drama!

Watch the Featurette below: