MTV Movies Blog › The Invention of Lying

Given the amount of plugs, if you found yourself watching the Golden Globes on Sunday then you'd know that host Ricky Gervais' comedy "The Invention of Lying" was coming to home video today. The film places Gervais in an alternate reality where everyone always tells the truth, giving him a considerable edge when he becomes the first person in the world "invent" the concept of fibbing. The rom-com comes to DVD and Blu-ray with a few extras including a making-of featurette, deleted scenes, and a mini-doc following Karl Pilkington from Gervais' wildly popular podcast series. It's rather odd that a commentary track isn't one of the extras; you'd think it'd be a natural addition given Gervais also co-wrote the pic. But alas...

On the action side, we have Gerard Butler's "Gamer," which is basically a cross between "Gladiator" and "The Running Man." The film takes place in a dystopian future where nerds control beefy human avatars in a massively multiplayer online game. The film performed modestly at the box office, and comes to DVD and Blu-ray with a considerable amount of extras. Those include a feature-length commentary track, a three-part behind-the-scenes doc about the making of the film, and an interesting (for tech hounds) look at the groundbreaking digital RedOne camera used for the flick. Read more...

Tags Gamer, gerard butler, kate beckinsale, ricky gervais, Smokin Aces 2: Assassin's Ball, The Invention of Lying, whiteout

1. "Zombieland" ($25 million)
2. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" ($16.7 million)
3. "Toy Story" & "Toy Story 2" (3-D Double Feature) ($12.5 million)
4. "The Invention of Lying" ($7.35 million)
5. "Surrogates" ($7.34 million)

Based on yesterday's projections, the remainder of the box office weekend played out as many suspected it would. Unsurprisingly, the Woody Harrelson-starring "Zombieland" took the first place prize with $25 million, surpassing its $23.6 million budget in its first weekend in theaters. The creature-filled dark comedy, which also stars notable up-and-comers Jesse Eisenberg ("Adventureland"), Emma Stone ("Superbad") and Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine"), marks the sixth time a Sony film has opened in the number one spot this year. Read more...

Tags capitalism: a love story, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Surrogates, The Invention of Lying, toy story, toy story 2, whip it, zombieland

1. "Zombieland" ($9.4 million)
2. "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" ($3.7 million)
3. "Toy Story" & "Toy Story 2" (3-D Double Feature) ($3.2 million)
4. "The Invention of Lying" ($2.5 million)
5. "Surrogates" ($2.2 million)

One might wonder why Sony Pictures is so happy in the middle of a zombie apocalypse, but the movie studio has plenty of reasons to smile as the Woody Harrelson-starring "Zombieland" nabbed the top spot at the box office on its opening day. The film earned $9.4 million going into Saturday, and Deadline Hollywood Daily's Nikki Finke is projecting a $25 million weekend total for the film. The movie was produced for an estimated $23.6 million, so "Zombieland" should have no trouble clawing its way towards the profit margin by Sunday's end. Read more...

Tags capitalism: a love story, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, Surrogates, The Invention of Lying, toy story, toy story 2, toy story 3, whip it, zombieland

Please excuse the delay in running this week's Box Office Poll. I experienced some technical difficulties when working from home yesterday, so I put this post off for today. What a week we're in for movies. I don't know about y'all, but every wide release that opens is on my list as well as a fair few of the limited releases. So let's get to it.

Tough to say what the big one for the week is going to be. I think the top contender -- though not necessarily by a wide margin -- is "Zombieland," a comedy-horror flick starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. As a zombie apocalypse sweeps across the world, the foursome set out on a cross-country trip to... well I'm not entirely sure. They kill lots of zombies though. Read more...

Tags A Serious Man, abigail breslin, Bright Star, capitalism: a love story, Drew Barrymore, ellen page, emma stone, ethan coen, Jane Campion, Jesse Eisenberg, joel coen, juliette lewis, kristen wiig, marcia gay harden, michael moore, More Than A Game, Paranormal Activity, ricky gervais, The Boys Are Back, The Invention of Lying, toy story, toy story 2, toy story 3, whip it, woody harrelson, zoe bell, zombieland

MTV Movies editor Josh Horowitz is out of the country right now, gallivanting around the Toronto International Film Festival while the rest of us madly prepare for Sunday's 2009 Video Music Awards here in New York City. Josh got there yesterday, and he hit the ground running. There's plenty more to come from TIFF, but for now please enjoy these impressions of "The Invention of Lying," starring and directed by Ricky Gervais.

Is there such a thing as a genial black comedy? If so, “The Invention of Lying” might be it. This marks two Toronto fests in a row when a Ricky Gervais-starrer has screened (and junketed). I’ll be talking to Gervais, his leading lady, Jennifer Garner (don’t worry Ricky mocks this unlikely genetic coupling more than you possibly fathom), and Rob Lowe (in a typically nefarious turn—see “Wayne’s World 2” for reference.). Read more...

Tags edward norton, jason bateman, jeffrey tambor, jennifer garner, Louis CK, Matthew Robinson, philip seymour hoffman, ricky gervais, Rob Lowe, The Invention of Lying, Tina Fey, Toronto International Film Festival

Ricky Gervais called during the 11 a.m. opening day screening of "Grindhouse." Said he loved the script, wanted to make the movie, asked how soon could we meet to get everything started?

Pacing around the movie theater lobby on his cell phone while "Grindhouse" blared away inside, Matthew Robinson thought for sure he was being punked. Yeah, he knew his script for a high-concept comedy about a world in which lying does not exist had gotten into Gervais' hands, but this just didn't happen in Hollywood. Sounded like a "Twilight Zone" episode, which was how he came up with the script idea anyway. Yet two weeks later he was sitting with his comedy hero rewriting the script and on September 25th, two and a half years after that first phone call, "The Invention of Lying" will arrive in theaters. Read more...

Tags jennifer garner, jonah hill, Matthew Robinson, ricky gervais, The Invention of Lying, Tina Fey