what's tasty and new in show business. [beta]
Roy wants to make movies for a living, but seeing as making movies takes an enormous amount of money, resources, and time (of which he has little-to-none save time, of which he has plenty), he figured he'd just write about them instead (which, much to his delight, he discovered he could do with no money and little resources, and it certainly helps take up his time). When not dreaming idly, Roy spends his time reading, writing, boozing and whoring around, pondering grammatical conundrums, and residing within parenthetical statements (though he's mostly kidding about the boozing and whoring. mostly.).
The latest collaboration between Scorsese and star Leonardo DiCaprio bested The Departed’s $26.9 million opening, and set DiCaprio’s best opening weekend numbers as well. The horror-thriller was the lone new wide release at the box office this weekend, which definitely helped it reach the top spot, but it also got a boost from the predictable tanking of last weekend’s holdovers. Valentine’s Day bled over 70% to 2nd place with $16.7 million, while Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief and The Wolfman fell to 4th and 5th place with $15.3 million and $9.9 million, respectively. Avatar, now in its 10th weekend of release, held on to 3rd place with $16.2 million, and its $688 million domestic total will almost certainly cross the $700 million mark in the coming weeks.
The most worrisome news if for Wolfman, one of Universal’s most prized icons and, with a low-ball budget of $150 million, its $50.4 million total gross isn’t very encouraging. The studio is still moving forward with reboots/re-imaginings of several of its classic horror icons, and as a fan, I certainly hope they fare better. Read»
Including the Monday holiday, its four day total of $63.1 million led the charge as a trio of new releases helped make this the highest-grossing February weekend ever. The Wolfman narrowly edged out Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief with a $31.5 million 3-day total, just in front of Percy Jackson’s $31.2 million, but the four day totals put Percy Jackson well ahead of the horror icon revival. Chris Columbus’ latest hauled in $38.7 million against The Wolfman’s $35.6 million over the full holiday frame, thanks to a decidedly strong Monday for the kid-friendly pic. Meanwhile, Avatar may have fallen to 4th, but it certainly didn’t slow down as it hauled in another $28.8 million over the four days. Dear John rounded out the top 5 with $18.2 million. Read»
Avatar came in second with a solid $22.9 million, but Dear John’s counter-programming on Super Bowl weekend worked wonders as its 84% female audience breakdown led it to become the second-highest grossing Super Bowl opening ever, behind only the Hannah Montana concert film. Meanwhile, James Cameron’s latest declined by a mere 27% to bring its domestic total to $629.3 million (its worldwide total is north of $2.2 billion, by the way), so I don’t think anyone’s worried about this particular coup.
From Paris with Love proved a little too crazy for most audiences, coming in 3rd with an underwhelming $8.2 million. Edge of Darkness plummeted 60% in its second weekend, falling to 4th place with $6.9 million and bringing its total to $28.9 million in 10 days. Tooth Fairy rounded out the top 5 with $6.6 million. Read»
James Cameron’s box office juggernaut brought its foreign total to $1.45 billion and crossed the $2 billion worldwide mark, where it already has claim to to highest worldwide gross (though not the highest attendance – remember, a large part of Avatar’s box office receipts come from inflated 3D ticket pricing). Meanwhile, Mel Gibson’s return to acting Edge of Darkness made a very average debut at the box office, pulling in $17.2 million for 2nd place. When in Rome, the other new wide release, came in 3rd with a similarly unremarkable $12.4 million. The Tooth Fairy showed an above-average resiliency, falling 28.6% in its second weekend to take 4th place with $10 million. The Book of Eli rounded out the top 5 with a $8.9 million gross, bringing its total to $74.5 million. Read»
We were pretty excited when news about the fantastic casting first started rolling out for The Losers, being big fans of the comic, but the involvement of heretofore unproven director Sylvain White (whose most notable movies are Stomp the Yard and the direct-to-video sequel I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer) kept us from getting our hopes too high. Well, judging by the footage from this first trailer, it looks like we may have had nothing to worry about all along. The trailer is snarky, fun, and action-packed, exactly the sort of genre cocktail that we hoped would carry over from the comics.
Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Idris Elba play pretty wonderfully off each other, and is there any actress whose geek heat-meter is rising faster than Zoe Saldana’s? After a year that included roles in Star Trek and Avatar, it looks like the talented actress is in for another hell of a year. And for the borderline campiness that is Jensen, Chris Evans pulls off some of his more ridiculous lines with a solid amount of aplomb. He continues to be one of my favorite young actors working today.
MSN has the trailer, which you can check out after the jump: Read»
Avatar has now passed The Dark Knight’s $533.3 million domestic total to become the second-highest grossing movie of all time. However, with James Cameron’s latest still chugging along healthily at the theaters, Avatar should exceed Titanic’s $600.8 million total in a matter of weeks. Overseas, Avatar has already accomplished that, its foreign total of $1.29 billion over $50 million more than Titanic’s previous biggest foreign gross record of $1.24 billion. With its worldwide gross now at $1.838 billion, Avatar is only a hair’s breadth away from Titanic’s all-time worldwide record of $1.843 bilion. So, expect history to be made soon.
Meanwhile, the rest of the domestic field had a so-so outing. The angel-themed apocalyptic thriller Legion bowed in the number 2 spot with a healthy but average $17.5 million, while The Book of Eli held on to 3rd place with $15.7 million in its second weekend. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s family comedy The Tooth Fairy opened in 4th place with $14 million, considerably less than the debut of his other family fare. Extraordinary Measures, the other new wide release, fell flat as it opened in 8th place with a disappointing $6 million. The Lovely Bones rounded out the top 5 with an $8.4 million weekend. Read»
(500) Days of Summer, one of the year’s most refreshing and endearing romantic comedies, has arrived on DVD and Blu-ray, and it’s just as good as it ever was when we saw it in theaters. The whimsical love story of Tom Hansen and Summer Finn is an original and fun spin on traditional movie romances as the film chronicles 500 days of the relationship between Tom, a consummate believer in love, and Summer, the skeptic girl of his dreams.
Music video director Marc Webb makes his transition into the feature world and he, along with writers Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, populate the world of (500) Days with a cast of quirky and relatable characters. Set to a catchy pop soundtrack, and indeed Webb calls this a “pop movie,” the film nevertheless avoids being over-sentimental to the point of saccharine, nor is it so self-aware as to be disingenuous. It navigates that fine line perfectly, finding a successful harmony of off-the-cuff quips and emotion-loaded looks. The performances are universally wonderful, led by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, culminating in one of the year’s best films. Read»
Ricky Gervais was pretty awesome as host. He really doesn’t give a damn, and all his bits were biting and hilarious. At one point, he quips that a Golden Globe can’t be bought, not officially, anyway, following it up with “what the hell, I’m not going to do this again anyway.” His joke at the end of the following clip was the comedic highlight of the night, and the funniest one I’ve heard at an awards show, maybe ever:
Catch the video and full winners list after the jump. Read»
The picture dipped only 18% to bring its domestic total to $491.8 million, while its worldwide box office reached a staggering $1.6 billion, putting it in position to surpass Titanic as the highest grossing film of all time over the next couple of weeks. At this rate, breaking the $2 billion mark isn’t entirely out of the question either.
Meanwhile, there was plenty to go around over the MLK holiday weekend, with The Book of Eli coming in 2nd with a strong $31.6 million start. That’s Denzel Washington’s second best opening weekend ever, behind only 2007’s American Gangster. Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones also expanded wide to a surprisingly decent $17 million weekend, good enough for 3rd place (though not nearly good enough to begin earning back its $100 million budget). Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel moved past Sherlock Holmes into 4th place, earning $11.5 million, while the picture starring Golden Globe-winning Robert Downey, Jr. came in 5th with $9.8 million. New release The Spy Next Door opened flatly to a 6th place debut, pulling in $9.7 million and (hopefully) urging Jackie Chan to consider some better fare. Read»
Avatar’s domestic total now sits at $430.8 million, becoming the second-fastest to $400 million behind only The Dark Knight. It also officially became the highest grossing film released in 2009, besting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’s $402.1 million mark. Internationally, Avatar performed even better than last week thanks to a record-setting opening in China that saw it claim both opening week and single day records. Its $150.5 million international haul brings its foreign total to $910.8 million, and paired with its domestic gross, Avatar now has a spectacular worldwide tally of $1.34 billion. That’s still $500 million shy of Titanic’s $1.84 billion all time mark, but Avatar is certainly making it seem at least feasible that a succession could happen.
Back in the domestic picture, Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel continued their dead heat for next place, bringing in $16.59 million and $16.57 million, respectively, for a 2nd-3rd place photo finish. Daybreakers debuted in 4th place with a so-so $15.1 million, though the other two new wide releases struggled out of the gate. Leap Year came in 6th place with $9.2 million while Youth In Revolt limped to a 9th place finish with $6.9 million. It’s Complicated rounded out the top 5 with an $11 million take. Read»
Check out the stills (click to enlarge!) after the jump. Read»
That mark eclipsed not only Meet the Fockers‘ previous record of $41.7 million, but earned the title of highest grossing third weekend ever, ahead of Spider-Man’s $45 million. James Cameron’s latest dipped only 9.4%, hitting the $350 million mark in only 17 days, second only to last summer’s The Dark Knight. In three weekends, Avatar has already become the second highest grossing film released in 2009 (behind only Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which it will soon pass) and moved up to 15th on the all-time list. That’s insane. And overseas, things were even better: a $133 million international take put its foreign total up to $666.7 million. Combined with its domestic numbers, Avatar’s worldwide total in 3 weeks is $1.02 billion, making it the 4th highest-grossing picture of all time and mere days away from overtaking both Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (both final installments in huge trilogies, by the way) for 2nd place behind only (hey, how about that) Cameron’s last film, Titanic. And this is after less than a month in theaters! Sure, inflated IMAX/3D prices play a part, and the pace will probably slow now that the holidays are winding down, but come on! It sure makes all that ink we spilled about whether Avatar would be able to recoup its budget or not seem silly.
Anyway, things were pretty shiny behind Avatar too. Sherlock Holmes and the dreaded Squeakquel both posted strong holdover numbers, coming in 2nd and 3rd with $36.7 million and $35.2 million, respectively. It’s Complicated dipped the least among last weekend’s wide openers, falling only 14.9% to maintain 4th place with $18.8 million. The Blind Side kept up its impressive showing as well, rounding out the top 5 with $11.9 million, which put it past the $200 million mark. Read»
Avatar claimed the title of highest-grossing second weekend ever, narrowly edging out The Dark Knight’s $75.2 million, after dipping only 2% from its opening weekend’s numbers. $57.9 million of its Christmas haul was from 3D sites, a new record for the format. After 10 days, Avatar’s domestic total sits at a lofty $212.7 million, and with its $410.9 million foreign take, James Cameron is once again king of the world as his latest film’s worldwide total is at a staggering $623.6 million.
The new wide releases all pulled their weight, with Sherlock Holmes leading the pack. The star power of Robert Downey, Jr. helped vault the film into 2nd place with a $62.4 million bow, and its Friday take of $24.6 million handily set the new record for best Christmas day opening. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (I want to destroy that title) meanwhile defied all odds by not only being worse than the original, but out-grossing it as well. It had a weekend haul of $48.9 million for 3rd place, and tallied with its Wednesday opening, the film has hit an unconscionable five-day total of $75.6 million. Numbers like that have me living in terror that a third installment is inevitable. Thanks a lot, kids.
Nancy Meyer once again showed that romantic comedies with adults over 50 years old do, in fact, have an audience. It’s Complicated’s 4th place debut with $22.1 million outdid Meyer’s Something’s Gotta Give, anchored by Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin’s on-screen indiscretions. The Blind Side kept up its impressive run, rounding out the top 5 with $11.5 million. Read»
The story follows Law and Whitaker as best friends Remy and Jake, two repo men who work for The Union, a company that provides expensive artificial organs that are forcibly repossessed when clients can’t make their payments. They’re the best in the business, but trouble arises when a routine repossession goes awry and leaves Remy needing a transplant himself to survive. Suddenly seeing things from the other side, things get more complicated when Remy runs into Beth, an old flame who’s on the run after being unable to make her organ payments. When he joins her, Remy suddenly finds himself being hunted by none other than his former partner, Jake. The film also stars Liev Schreiber, Liza Lapira, and RZA.
Check out the poster and age-restricted trailer after the jump, which comes courtesy of MySpace. Read»
It seems pretty savvy to me that Cruise, who a lot of people haven’t been able to take seriously in a long time, has eschewed some of the more traditionally dramatic roles he would’ve played for the fun, off-kilter, kind-of-crazy roles that his public persona makes him perfect for nowadays. I’ve always loved him as an actor, and I’m glad to see him embracing this turn in his career. Humor can earn a lot of forgiveness, and Cruise definitely seems like he’s on the right path for a comeback. Well, I’m pullin’ for the guy, anyway.
Check out the trailer, as well as the teaser poster, after the jump.
Read»
