“The only stumbling block seems to be the number of films he is signing up for. There is a chance the character they want him to play could become a regular feature, like Blofeld back in the day.”

Now, stop me if this sounds crazy, but since Casino Royale was a “reboot” of the Bond series, couldn’t it be possible that rather than playing a character “like” Blofeld, he’s actually playing Blofeld? That could be a pretty cool idea, and casting a star like Hopkins would definitely be a change of pace for the character. We’ll see if Hopkins actually gets to stroke the cat or if this is just hot air. (via Moviefone)

The rest of the cast is made up of names known and unknown. That’s because the film travels around the world, tackling scenes in English, German, French, Austrian, Russian, Moroccan, Algerian and Brazilian. The actors previously attached are Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Wiesz, Ben Foster, Jarnel Debouze, Juliano Cazarre, Maria flor, and Karl Markovic.

That means that Jude Law‘s saliva will indirectly end up in Anthony Hopkins‘ mouth which, let’s face it, has probably already happened by now anyway. (via The Playlist)

2nd place was last week’s “can sex friends be best friends?” romantic comedy No Strings Attached, which got $13.6 million from audiences but didn’t ask for a big commitment or anything. The third place slot being filled by Jason Statham replacing busted carburetors  in The Mechanic, with$11.5 million.

More deliriously exciting box office numbers can be found at Box Office Mojo.

There’s no denying that Anthony Hopkins is talented. In fact, he’s arguably one of our greatest living actors. But when a career spans more than four decades, even the best and the brightest are bound to make some awful films. Will Hopkins latest film, The Rite, fall into that category? While we’ll have to wait and see, the January release date certainly doesn’t bode well. But if the film does prove to be a dud, it will be in good company. Actually, it will be in Bad Company. Here’s a look at nine of Anthony Hopkins‘ worst films.

RT = Rotten Tomatoes Fresh Rating

Freejack (1992) – RT = 17%

In Freejack, Hopkins plays a wealthy industrialist from the future. Of course, the film was made in 1992, and the future in question (the year 2009) is now the past, which is weird.

At any rate, in 2009, the rich pay to kidnap people from the past in order to steal their healthy bodies. If someone from the past escapes before they are harvested, they are known as a Freejack, and Mick Jagger is sent to hunt them down.

I wonder why this film bombed.

Meet Joe Black (1998) – RT = 50%

Spoiler alert: Meet Joe Black sucks. Not only that, but the original version is three hours long, which doesn’t help matters at all.

The plot involves a rich old man (Hopkins) giving the grim reaper (Joe Black) a tour of earth in exchange for a temporary reprieve from death, and the two go on a series of adventures involving corporate mergers and union disputes. How exciting.

The Wolfman (2010) – RT = 33%

While most of the films on this list are from the 1990′s, last years remake of The Wolfman proved that you’re never to old to make a really bad movie.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) – RT = 53%

In all fairness, Anthony Hopkins is only the narrator, so it’s hardly his fault that the film was awful. But even so, anyone who was associated with tarnishing this beloved children’s classic deserves to be publicly shamed.

Instinct (1999) – RT = 27%

Pairing Anthony Hopkins with Cuba Gooding Jr. is like covering a steak with ketchup. But that didn’t stop the producers of Instinct.

The plot involves a missing anthropologist (Hopkins) who resurfaces in Africa and kills a group of park rangers. As it turns out, Hopkins’ character has been living with gorillas during his absence, and only killed the rangers after they attacked his new ape friends. It’s like Gorillas in the Mist, but infinitely more stupid.

The Road to Wellville (1994) – RT = 44%

The Road to Wellville is fictionalized account of the life of John Harvey Kellogg, a nineteenth-century health nut with a penchant for enemas and nutritional supplements. I’m not a fan of the film, but based on what I just described, wouldn’t you have loved to have been in on the pitch meeting?

Kellogg went on to create Corn Flakes, and the film is about as exciting as that sounds. Also, it’s a comedy, so if you find breakfast cereal funny, you should definitely check it out.

Hannibal (2000) – RT = 39%

How do you follow Silence of the Lambs, the critically acclaimed psychological thriller that swept all-five of the major Academy Awards? You don’t. Actress Jodi Foster and director Jonathan Demme understood this, but apparently Anthony Hopkins didn’t get the memo. I’m assuming the producers gave Hopkins a dump truck full of money, because that’s the only way his involvement makes sense.

On its own, it’s not the worst film in the world. But given the fact that it’s the sequel to such an impressive film, it was probably doomed from the start.

Slipstream (2007) – RT = 23%

To be fair, Slipstream, a film written, directed by and starring Anthony Hopkins, has its defenders. Among them, film critic Roger Ebert, who called the film the most experimental of the year. But when the words “vanity project” keep popping up in other reviews, it’s definitely a bad sign.

Bad Company (2002) – RT = 10%

I love Chris Rock, but if he’s in a film, chances are it will suck. That’s science talking. Throw director Joel Schumacher and producer Jerry Bruckheimer into the mix, and you’ve got yourself a bona fide crap fest. You could have brought in the reanimated corpse of Laurence Olivier, and it still wouldn’t have saved Bad Company.

In the film, Hopkins plays a CIA agent who is put in charge of training a street hustler (Chris Rock) for a sensitive mission. What does the CIA need with a street hustler? As it happens, the hustler is the long-lost twin brother of a CIA agent (also played by Rock) who was killed in action, and the agency needs him as a stand in. Sound stupid? It is. And to make matters worse, the terrorism-heavy plot didn’t sit well with studio executives in the wake of the September 11th attacks, and the film was delayed for several months.

I can see it now. “Hello Alma,” ultra super creepy Hitchcock (played by Hopkins) says to his wife and editor Alma Reville in a disturbing whisper. “I think you need to cut a little bit more off that scene,” he says, brandishing a large knife. “Which part? The tail end or the head,” Alma asks, her attention focused on the editing deck. “How about… the neck.” He slices her throat, just like what happened in real life. Yes, that really happened, don’t consult Wikipedia or his many biographies.

Actually, Hopkins has been rumored to play the North By Northwest director for years, when Ryan Murphy was attached to the project. Murphy’s version didn’t come together, and he later went on to create something far scarier than anything Hitchcock ever made: “Glee.” (/Film)

Foster has proven himself to be a versatile talent as of late, taking on popcorn films like the third X-Men film as well as thoughtful indies like Oren Moverman’s The Messanger. It’s not every day that an actor goes from shooting everyone in the face with Jason Statham to making dramas with Oscar winning pedigree. That hasn’t happened since Amy Smart went straight from Crank 2: High Voltage to her starring role in Precious. (Deadline)

What are your thoughts on the trailer? Looks better than Green Lantern, right?

The trailer for The Rite looks like a fairly standard exorcism movie at first. It’s got a young priest, Anthony Hopkins as an old priest, freaky-deaky kids, and people getting hit by cars. Then, all of a sudden, the Vatican whips out Minority Report technology. How long have they had that and why don’t they share? Don’t they know how many missing children we could help locate using that technology? Unless…

Check out the trailer after the jump…

The Rite Trailer – Watch more Movie Trailers

(Apple)

Director: Mikael Hafstrom

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Alice Braga, Colin O’Donoghue, Toby Jones, Ciaran Hinds

Synopsis: An American priest travels to Italy to study at an exorcism school.

Release Date: January 28, 2011

Today in Old White Man Casting News, Anthony Hopkins has joined Rachel Weisz in Fernando Meirelles’ 360, and Christopher Plummer has signed on for David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Good for these two AARP card carrying members. They know the true secret to not dying: keep working!

Anthony Hopkins is the first of many that will be cast in the Peter Morgan-scripted 360, as the movie revolves around ten characters. It “examines sexual morals within and between social classes, using various pairs of characters who have sexual encounters in and outside of their social classes.” No word yet who Hopkins will be banging, but I’ve been told one of the characters is named The Whore. So maybe Lindsay Lohan.

In Dragon Tattoo, Christopher Plummer will play the wealthy industrialist who hires Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara to solve a 40-year-old murder. In the process, they find all kinds of deep, dark, effed up secrets in his family. Plummer seems like the perfect person for the role. His character has to get out a lot of exposition, and he should do just fine keeping the viewer intrigued. When Plummer gets intense it’s as if he could hit you with a switch at any moment. (/Film, THR)

Director: Mikael Hafstrom

Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue, Alice Braga

Synopsis: An American priest travels to Italy to study at an exorcism school.

Release Date: January 28, 2011

They don’t call him Academy Award winner Sir Anthony Hopkins for nothing. We know Sir Anthony transforms himself into any character on screen or stage, but he can do anybody in real life too. At the press junket for Woody Allen’s latest movie, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, the actor launched into a dead on Woody Allen impression. Hopkins starts describing the direction Allen gives after a take. About 12 seconds in, he miraculously goes from Sir Anthony to Woody Allen.

Check out the clip after the jump…

Anthony Hopkins Impersonates Woody Allen – Watch more Funny Videos

If a superhero is going to have a mentor, it should be someone major like Brando or The Dude. Sir Anthony Hopkins is another good one. Playing Odin in the big movie version of Thor, Sir Anthony enjoyed messing with beefy Chris Hemsworth.

“I’m glad I’m not young anymore because you see their insecurities and I always joke along with them,” Hopkins said while he was promoting the Woody Allen comedy You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. “I say things like, ‘Is that the way you’re going to play it?’ Chris and I got to know each other but he was looking nervous and I said, ‘Oh, is that the way you’re going to play it?’ He said, ‘Yeah, is it okay?’ I said, ‘Well, it’s your career.’’

More after the jump…

With anyone else, that would sound mean. But Sir Anthony says it with that sly Hannibal Lecter voice. “They know that I’m joking but you have to have that relaxation to work with actors. If people are nervous around you it’s pointless. So I got that edge and say things.”

One can imagine Sir Anthony as a powerful Odin, and he had to be to wear that costume. “Well, it was hard work. It was carrying 15 pounds of armor on my back or more. 25 pounds I think, but Branagh’s a great director. I call him the general. He’s so self assured and so present and he knows exactly what he wants. I’d never worked with him before and I wouldn’t say I know him well but it was such a pleasant revelation working with him. I don’t know what it is about him. He’s very self-assured and a great actor. He brings all his experience to the set. I think he’s terrific.”

Thor is coming May 6, 2011.
 

^{‘No matter how I shake and dance, the last two drops go in the pants.’}

Good news. The Thor trailer from Comic-Con has been magically leaked onto the internet. Now, instead on fighting with a bunch of 20-something virgins for a spot in Hall H, you can watch the trailer from the comfort of your very own home. You don’t even have to risk getting stabbed in the eye with a pen.

So, sit back and relax as the Norse God Thor is banished to Earth by another god who looks suspiciously like Anthony Hopkins. (Cinema Blend)

Watc Thor do his Thor thaaaang after the jump…

_{Stroke or physical abuse?}

Oh man, Woody Allen is really Woody Allening it up in the trailer for You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger. The film stars Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Freida Pinto, Antonio Banderas, Lucy Punch, and Gemma Jones all unhappily shuffling through life, falling in and out of love, as an omniscient narrator delivers the subtext.

It could be a sequel to Vicky Christina Barcelona with the unfortunate absence of Scarlett Johansson‘s pouty lips. Allen even managed to make Brolin a schlubby writer with self-esteem issues. Put down that hammer, Woody, you’re breaking too much new ground!

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger plops down into theaters September 22, 2010.

Check out the trailer after the jump…

Director: Woody Allen

Cast: Naomi Watts, Josh Brolin, Anthony Hopkins, Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch, Gemma Jones

Synopsis: Unhappy people fall in and out of love in a Woody Allen fashion.

Release Date: September 22, 2010

The LA Times has premiered a new pic of the Hall Of Asgard from Marvel’s big-screen Anthony Hopkins, but this is the Hall Of Asgard? It looks more like the set for a porno awards show. I haven’t heard of any plans to have Ron Jeremy accept a Lifetime Achievement Award in the film, but maybe Kenneth Branagh will include that after the credits or as a DVD Easter Egg.

The LA Times debuted this photo along with the news that bot Thor and Captain America will undergo a 3D post conversion process before hitting theaters. Marvel and the filmmakers are well aware of the challenges this decision creates, and that is why they will spend "an unprecedented amount of time" on the conversion. What do you expect them to do? They’ve already shot too much footage of hammers and shields being thrown at the camera to turn back now.

As far as "ET" videos go, this one’s kind of hard-hitting. It even shows some restraint (it takes them a full three minutes and nineteen seconds to discuss Chris Hemsworth‘s workout regimine). In addition; we get a glimpse of Sir Anthony Hopkins as Odin, and Hemsworth fesses up to his "Dancing With The Stars" roots. Really? He was on "Dancing With The Stars?" Suddenly this Kim Kardashian as Tomb Raider rumor doesn’t sound so far-fetched.

Check it out after the jump…

(via /Film)

These days it seems like every celebrity in Hollywood is trying make a name for themselves via charity. If they’re not sending money to Haiti, they’re adopting African AIDS babies. Steven Seagal went as far as to bring two Russian girls to the US, and even paid for their room and board once they got here. All these good deeds are enough to make you sick.

That’s why it’s nice to see an actor like Anthony Hopkins who is so down to earth. Despite all the fame and fortune, the Oscar winner still enjoys terrorizing the homeless, just like us regular folk.

Back in 2002, when Hopkins was trying to fight his alcoholism, he decided to go and volunteer at a Midnight Mission in Los Angeles. After all, nothing takes your mind off the sauce like hanging out on skid row with a bunch of winos.

According to the mission’s director, Clancy Imislund, Hopkins really enjoyed scaring the bejesus out of the homeless.

It’s funny. We have film nights here and one time we showed Silence of the Lambs. So as a surprise I asked Tony to come down and tap a few people on the shoulder at the end and say ‘Hello’ in that voice he does. You should have seen their faces. They were like, ‘Arrggh!’ He got a real kick out of that.

I bet this little prank was especially popular with some of the schizophrenics in attendance. Normally when they talk to characters from a movie, no one else can see them. But thanks to Hopkins and his rapier wit, now they know that they aren’t crazy afterall, and neither are their plans to start mutilating house pets. Kudos to you, Sir Anthony! (CinemaBlend)

My guess is the marketing bigwigs are revealing elements of Thor slowly and methodically. As you’ll notice, there’s no helmet or hammer in the above pic. Also, it’s a close-up, so we don’t get a good idea of wha Thor is brooding over. My first inclination was he’s taking a crap, but then I thought it’s ridiculous to take a crap with your cape still on. Now if you’ll excuse me, my morning coffee is taking effect. **Unbuttons cape, waddles to bathroom** (Yahoo)

It’s about to get projectile vomit-y in here!! In an apparent bid to recruit more kids to the priesthood, there are two new movies centering around exorcisms in the Hollywood pipeline. Priests are so hot right now. They’re the new vampires.

First up, Anthony Hopkins has signed on for the supernatural thriller The Rite. He’ll play a Vatican-sanctioned exorcist whose methods are untraditional. In other words, he’s a priest who doesn’t follow the rules. Good luck finding a volunteer to stay after Sunday School to bang out erasers with you. (THR)

The Hangover‘s Zach Galifianakis will portray an exorcist/slacker in Miracle Workers. The comedy tells the story of two friends who pose as exorcists until they encounter a truly malevolent evil. Shouldn’t be a problem for Zach. He worked with Mike Tyson and survived. A demon would only rape him half as much. (Dread Central)

He’s played a cannibal, a president, an auThor, an Englishman, and even a black dude. Now, Sir Anthony Hopkins is in talks to play a Norse Allfather in Kenneth Branagh‘s Thor. Hopkins is said to be for the role of Odin, father to Thor and his evil adopted brother Loki. We can’t think of a better candidate to play the ruler of Asgard. Hopkins has the perfect mix of Gandalf, Santa, and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin needed to pull the role off. (Empire)

Every new image or clip of The Wolfman gets me less and less excited for the film’s release… and now comes the second full trailer, which ends up playing out like some sort of Victorian version of The Fast & The Furious.

There’s so much dried poop stuck to the hairy butt of this trailer you’re gonna need to resurrect Billy Mays to figure out a solution for getting it out. C’mon Joe Johnston! Not since Jumanji have we had to deal with hairy CG animal poop clumps. The only convincing part of the trailer was Hugo Weaving, and he pretty much fapped around all day on set (see photo):