'Captain America' already collects $4M

The weekend box office race has barely begun, and Joe Johnston's flick "Captain America: The First Avenger" is already on track for big opening. Last night, the Marvel adventure collected $4 million from midnight screenings.

To put this into a better perspective, "America" performed better than "Thor" and "Green Lantern" in terms of late showings. Not sure it will be able to beat "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" this weekend, but you never know.

The story of "Captain America"? After being deemed unfit for military service, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) volunteers for a top secret research project that turns him into Captain America, a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals.

Movie Review: "Captain America: The First Avenger"

Seen on: July 20, 2011

The players: Director: Joe Johnston, Writers: Stephen Mc Feely, Christopher Markus, Cast: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell

Fact of interest: To achieve the "Small Steve" effect at the beginning of the movie, Chris Evans was filmed as himself and digitally "carved out" most of his height and bulk.

The plot: The origin story of superhero Captain America. Undersized runt Steve Rogers wants desperately to enlist in the Army and join the war effort in WWII, but he is turned down repeatedly, until he is chosen for a secret experiment that turns him into a super soldier.

Our thoughts: Since the early news and images started leaking out regarding "Captain America: The First Avenger," hope has run high among the fanboy community. The expectations for this adaptation and the lead up to the upcoming "The Avengers” have been great.

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Some more 'Captain America' photos

Entertainment Weekly has a new "Captain America: The First Avenger" cover, and the magazine also published several photos from the Joe Johnston-directed superhero flick. Check out some of them here.

Not too much going on here, but these stills give you yet another good look at lead actor Chris Evans in the role of Steve Rogers, or Captain America. I also really dig that shield he's carrying in the still below.

"Captain America: The First Avenger" opens July 22, 2011. Hugo Weaving, Samuel L. Jackson, Stanley Tucci, Tommy Lee Jones and Dominic Cooper co-star. Now all I need is a kick-ass teaser trailer...

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Look at this: Chris Evans as 'Captain America

As you can see jyst above, Entertainment Weekly's got a cool cover of Chris Evans as Captain America. "Captain America: The First Avenger" hits theaters July 22, with Joe Johnston directing the superhero flick.

"The interesting thing about this character is that he’s an everyman who in the course of a few minutes becomes a perfect human specimen," Johnston recently told EW. The film co-stars Hugo Weaving.

Evans had something to say about his part as well: "At the time, I remember telling a buddy of mine, 'If the movie bombs, I'm f—-ed. If the movie hits, I'm f—-ed!'" Funny. I hope he makes a great Mr. Rogers.

Cool images from the 'Captain America' movie set

Yes, Joe Johnston's "Captain America: The First Avenger" is in production over in the U.K. at the moment, and here are some new stills from the Manchester set via captainamericafilmingmanchester.co.uk.

Looks like the girl in the pics is Hayley Atwell, who is playing Peggy Carter. Scroll further down and you will also get a look at main man Chris Evans. This definitely promises the film will have a cool set design.

"Captain America: The First Avenger" will arrive in theaters July 11, 2011. Tommy Lee Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Hugo Weaving, Stanley Tucci, Dominic Cooper and Toby Jones co-star in the flick.

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First 'Captain America' set photos have arrived

The first photos from the set of Joe Johnston's "Captain America: The First Avenger" have landed online via The Daily Mail, and you can admire some of the shots above and right after the jump. Go Captain!

Okay, the guy you see on the bike is actually not Chris Evans, who plays lead Steve Rogers. It's just his stunt double, according to the Mail. Either way, this shows you what the costume looks like in the film.

"Captain America: The First Avenger" will arrive in theaters July 11, 2011. Oh and by the way, these shots were taken on location outside London. The Captain seems to clash with some evil bikers in this scene.

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Joe Johnston talks 'Captain America' casting

Now that Chris Evans is officially on board for the lead role in Joe Johnston's upcoming superhero movie "The First Avenger: Captain America," it's time to find about about the whole casting thing, and the folks at earthsmightiest.com managed to get Johnston to answer a couple of questions on the subject. Get ready for a small surprise, folks.

On Evan's audition, Johnston said, "Chris didn't audition at all. I was already familiar with everything he'd done and was championing his cause, not that I had a fight from the Marvel team. They were fans of his as well. He came in to the art department to say hi, saw all the jaw-dropping art and designs on the wall and reacted the way I'd hoped he would."

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Final 'Captain America' contenders!

The race for the role of "The First Avenger: Captain America" is hearting up, and as Heat Vision reports, about seven actors are left in the competition. And now the big shock: John Krasinski is one of them fighting for the lead in the upcoming superhero flick.

Wait, what? That's right. Krasinski is apparently on the list, and so are Michael Cassidy, Patrick Flueger, Scott Porter and Mike Vogel. Word is even Chace Crawford may show up at the screen tests, which are underway this week at Marvel. Joe Johnston will direct the film.

Even though these people are doing tests this week, Marvel may end up deciding to go look somewhere else. Still, the idea of seeing someone like Krasinski in the main role seems strange, even though I love him as an actor. I would never doubt his skills.

Johnston also recently gave a "Captain America" update, which you can check out here. The question remains: who would you like to see slip into the role of the Captain?

'Valentine's Day' scores big at Friday box office

Romance rules at the box office...

It's been a great weekend for new releases at the North American box office as "Valentine's Day" scored the No. 1 spot Friday with a solid $14.6 million in ticket sales. The Garry Marshall-helmed romantic comedy is playing at 3,665 locations, making it hard for the competition to catch up.

Boosted by its all-star cast, "Day" follows what happens to several individuals and couples in Los Angeles on Valentine's Day. Critics around the nation slammed it with bad reviews, but the film easily found a large audience to make it to the top.

At No. 2, Universal's "The Wolfman" opened with $9.8 million; another decent start. Joe Johnston's horror flick with Benicio Del Toro is playing at 3,222 locations. Following in third place with $9.7 million was new entry "Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief."

Meanwhile, James Cameron's "Avatar" slipped to No. 4, earning another $4.5 million, which is not bad, considering the film has been in release for 57 days. The film reached a domestic total gross of $642.1 million. "Dear John" finished fifth with a daily gross of $4.1 million and a total of $42 million.

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Movie Review: “The Wolfman”

Seen on: February 9, 2010

The players: Director: Joe Johnston, Writers: David Self, Andrew Kevin Walker, Cast: Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, Anthony Hopkins

Facts of interest: Joe Johnston also helmed "Jumanji."

The plot: A nobleman returns to his home estate, where he is bitten by a werewolf and consequently turns into a beast himself.

Our thoughts: Joe Johnston’s “The Wolfman” has a lot of great things going for it, but what it lacks is a decent story. Man, that script it one big mess that feels like it’s been torn apart by one angry werewolf. Luckily, Universal’s reboot of “Wolfman” boasts stunning visuals and an overall surprisingly solid cast that keeps this one from crashing completely.

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