He’s played a President on “24” and a senator on “Sin City.” He’s voiced the part of Lex Luthor and knocked us out as Curly Bill in “Tombstone.” In fact, Powers Boothe seems like he’s been around forever, but most of his roles have been after 1980 (not counting an uncredited role of a Bolivian bandito in 1969’s “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”).

I recently caught up with Powers at his home in California’s Hidden Hills. Read on for his thoughts on the possibility of “Sin City 2,” the secret to a long marriage in Hollywood, and being inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame.

Jane: You were recently inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame. What was it like receiving an award in the state where you were born?

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There’s no denying that "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" may be short on plot, but high on special effects action — which makes it the perfect movie for IMAX theaters. Read my review here.

The sequel from Paramount raked in an estimated five-day gross of $14.4 million on 169 IMAX screens, the largest haul ever for the big screens.

Directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox (though the real stars are the giant robots), the action flick earned a per screen average of $85K plus between June 24 –28, 2009.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Transformers" also gave IMAX its biggest single-day domestic gross of $3.9 million, and its biggest international gross for a digitally remastered IMAX title at $770,000 on Saturday.

Did you see "Transformers" at an IMAX theater? Did you like it?

Image: © 2009 DW Studios L.L.C. and Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

The weekend box office numbers are not all that shocking. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is miles ahead of everything else, with "The Proposal" coming in second, and "My Sister’s Keeper" a distant fifth.

Maybe people are like me and don’t want to go see a sad movie right now. My daughter wants to see it, and I’m just not into it! Here are the numbers from Box Office Mojo:

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, $108.96M
2. The Proposal, $18.57M
3. The Hangover, $17.02M
4. Up, $13.06M
5. My Sister’s Keeper, $12.44M
6. Year One, $6.02M
7. The Taking of Pelham 123, $5.45M
8. Star Trek, $3.71M
9. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, $3.64M
10. Away We Go, $1.70M

Image: © 2009 DW Studios L.L.C. and Paramount Pictures Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

On June 25, Megan Fox stopped by the Late Show with David Letterman to promote her new film, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," which opened in theaters last week.

The stunning actress co-stars with Shia LaBeouf and a bunch of giant robots in the sequel. She’s so tiny, and is that a Marilyn Monroe tattoo on her arm? Maybe she identifies with the blonde bombshell…?

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The sudden death of Michael Jackson has left filmmakers scrambling to tweak or delete any scenes involving the pop star. Such was the case with "Bruno," where a Jackson-related sketch ended up getting cut just hours before the Los Angeles premiere.

After much discussion, Universal Pictures removed a scene from the movie where Bruno, the flamboyant Austrian journalist played by Sacha Baron Cohen, interviews an unsuspecting Latoya Jackson about several topics, including her brother.

The sketch included jokes about Jackson’s high-pitched voice and his trademark white glove.

I mean, basically, the movie is really over-the-top anyway, so had Jackson not died, the scene probably wouldn’t have been that outrageous. But I’m glad they took it out, because that would have been in really poor taste.

Any thoughts on this? Should filmmakers cut inappropriate Michael Jackson scenes from upcoming movies?

Image Credits: © Universal Studios; Bauer-Griffin

I bet Steven Soderbergh had a HECK  of a weekend. It must be crazy nerve-wracking to have a studio balk at a movie project just days away from the start of filming.

That’s what happened with “Moneyball” a baseball drama being directed by Soderbergh and starring Brad Pitt (pictured, at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival in May 2009).

The cast and crew were prepped to start shooting this week, but Columbia pulled the plug; co-chair Amy Pascal says she wasn’t comfortable with the script, which has changed a lot since the project was greenlit.

You have to wonder just what major changes were made to the script that Columbia would shut it down. The screenplay, adapted from Michael Lewis’ nonfiction book, follows the Oakland Athletics and their general manager Billy Beane, who assembled a contending ballclub despite a payroll much lower than most teams.

Pitt and comedian Demetri Martin had been cast, with other roles going to actual baseball players David Justice, Darryl Strawberry, Lenny Dykstra and others. 

So what will happen now? Over the weekend, Soderbergh shopped the project to Warner Bros. and Paramount. If neither bites, it could go back to Columbia with some major overhauls.

Image: INF

The stars shone brightly at the screening of “Cheri” at the DGA Theater in New York City this week. Directed by Stephen Frears, the romantic drama is set in 1920s Paris and follows the son of a courtesan who escapes into a fantasy world after being forced to end a relationship with an older woman.

Frears has several British films to his directorial credits, including “The Queen” and “Mrs. Henderson Presents,” not to mention “The Grifters,” “Mary Reilly,” and “High Fidelity,” to name a few. And you couldn’t get a better cast, including Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, and Rupert Friend. The movie opens in limited release June 26, 2009. Looking forward to seeing it.

Michelle Pfeiffer: 

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“The Hangover” is a smart, funny movie, and audiences are liking it, too. The buddy flick scored high at the box office this weekend, even though it’s been out for two weeks. Here’s the rundown from Box Office Mojo:

1. The Hangover, $32.79M
2. Up, $30.76M
3. The Taking of Pelham 123, $23.37M
4. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, $9.61M
5. Land of the Lost, $8.99M
6. Imagine That, $5.50M
7. Star Trek, $5.45M
8. Terminator: Salvation, $4.78M
9. Angels & Demons, $4.11M
10. Drag Me to Hell, $3.93M

Images: TM and (c) 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

I guess nobody’s surprised that “Twilight” scored 12 Teen Choice Awards nominations. I love the names of their awards, too – Male Hottie, Fresh Face Male and Female… I mean, why NOT just tell it like it is, right?

The traditional surfboard trophies for the 11th annual show will be handed out Aug. 10, 2009, with the Jonas Brothers hosting the event. Excitable (and non-excitable) fans aged 13 – 19 can vote for the winners at TeenChoiceAwards.com.

After the jump, a partial list of nominees…

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