Movie News: ‘Best Exotic Marigold’ Sequel; Hurricane Sandy vs. Darren Aronofsky’s Ark

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: Made for a modest (reported) budget of $ 10 million, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel proved to be a stunning surprise at the box office, earning more than $ 134 million worldwide and demonstrating that older audiences would turn out for a movie starring actors in their golden years. A sequel is now in the planning stages; the principal members of the cast, including Judi Dench and Maggie Smith, all want to return. The original follows a group of British retirees who relocate to India. [Vulture]

Hurricane Sandy: The superstorm has already had a devastating effect upon the East Coast, with multiple lives lost, extensive flooding, and untold property damage. It’s also meant that thousands of businesses have been shut down, including at least nine TV shows and two feature films. As a small bit of irony, one of those films is Darren Aronofsky’s Noah; a giant ship constructed for the film has been floating in the water at Oyster Bay, New York, but the ship was not built to be seaworthy and its survival is in question. [Los Angeles Times]

Hitchcock: Anthony Hopkins stars as iconic director Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock, which opens AFI Fest in Los Angeles on Thursday, November 1. Much of the marketing material so far has focused on Hopkins and Scarlett Johannson (as Janet Leigh), but Helen Mirren has a key role as Hitchcock’s wife and creative collaborator Alma, and a new poster makes that clear. [The Hollywood Reporter]

John Dies at the End Trailer: Based on a popular (and very good) novel by David Wong, Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End tells a very weird tale about a new drug that promises users an experience that will transcend time and dimensions; the movie will be available via various VOD platforms on December 28 ahead of a theatrical release on January 25. [Collider]