by Roy on 22 Feb 2010 | Comments Shutter Island set a new personal best opening for director Martin Scorsese over the weekend, scaring up $41.1 million at the box office.

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»

by Roy on 16 Feb 2010 | Comments I guess a parade of famous actors and a timely holiday release is all you need to shatter records these days. Valentine’s Day became the biggest Presidents’ Day weekend release with its $56.3 million first place debut.

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»

by Roy on 8 Feb 2010 | Comments Finally, in its 8th weekend of release, Avatar was knocked from its perch atop the box office by Dear John’s surprising $30.5 million opening.

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»

by Ryan on 2 Feb 2010 | Comments

The West Coast is just waking up, but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has already finished announcing their nominations for this year’s Oscars. It’s the first year since 1943 that there are 10 nominations for Best Picture, and it’s refreshing to see some films that might usually get overlooked receive some much-deserved kudos.

Most of the list is nothing surprising though, as the usual suspects that have been picking up noms and wins throughout the awards season are the ones filling out the categories for the Academy Awards. Leading the pack are James Cameron’s Avatar and Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, with 9 nominations apiece. There are still a few surprises here and there, though, so be sure to check out the full list of nominees after the jump.

Here are your nominees…

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by Roy on 1 Feb 2010 | Comments To utterly no one’s surprise, Avatar won the weekend yet again in its 7th week of release. Pulling in $31.3 million, the sci fi epic’s total reached $595.8 million and is mere days away from surpassing Titanic’s $600.8 million mark to claim the title of highest domestic gross of all time.

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»

by Roy on 25 Jan 2010 | Comments Avatar won the weekend yet again, pulling in $34.9 million for its sixth consecutive first-place finish at the box office and bringing its domestic total to $551.7 million.

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»

by Roy on 18 Jan 2010 | Comments In addition to picking up a couple Golden Globes in the Best Director and Best Picture – Drama categories, Avatar earned another $41.3 million and took the top spot at the box office for the fifth weekend in a row.

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»

by Roy on 11 Jan 2010 | Comments There’s just no stopping James Cameron. Avatar once again topped the box office in its fourth month of release with a $50.3 million weekend, showing only the slightest signs of slowing in the post-holiday frame. It set the mark for biggest fourth weekend gross, handily unseating the record previously held by Titanic’s $28.7 million.

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»

by Roy on 4 Jan 2010 | Comments Well, Avatar certainly doesn’t show any signs of slowing down at the box office, racking up another 1st place finish with $68.5 million for the highest grossing New Year’s weekend ever.

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»

by Roy on 29 Dec 2009 | Comments Between Christmas falling on a Friday and a slew of strong new releases, this past weekend became the highest-grossing ever as Avatar repeated at the number 1 spot with a smashing $75.6 million.

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»

by Roy on 21 Dec 2009 | Comments Updated: Variety is now reporting that Sunday numbers were stronger than expected, with Avatar’s final tally being $77.3 million to finish ahead of I Am Legend as the best December opening ever.

Despite heavy snowstorms across the American Northeast, James Cameron’s sci fi epic Avatar hauled in an estimated $73 million over the weekend to take the top spot at the box office. That figure put Avatar into the record books as the highest grossing debut ever for a non-sequel/remake/adaptation, and also made it the second-highest opening in December behind just I Am Legend’s $77.2 million back in 2007.

Heavy snowfall bombarded the East Coast over the weekend, which saw marked declines starting Saturday as the brunt of the storm hit. Still, Avatar managed to get a good number of folks to the theater, with 3D presentations accounting for about $52 million of the gross. IMAX doesn’t report its numbers until Monday, but company reps are already saying the film has broken every major IMAX record. An additional $159.18 million came in through international territories, which brought Avatar’s worldwide debut up to a whopping $232.2 million. With movies traditionally gaining steam through Christmas, Avatar is already well on its way to making back its sky-high budget and becoming another stellar blockbuster hit for Cameron.

The other new wide release, Did You Hear About The Morgans?, made virtually no noise in its opening and managed only $7 million for 4th place. Last weekend’s number 1, The Princess and the Frog, fell to second with a $12.2 million showing and brought its total to a so-so $44.8 million. The Blind Side continued its strong run and came in 3rd with $10 million, while The Twilight Saga: New Moon rounded out the top 5 with $4.4 million (and just barely edged out Invictus‘ 6th place, $4.2 million weekend). Read»

by Ryan on 15 Dec 2009 | Comments

Awards season is starting to kick into full swing in Hollywood. Plenty of regional organizations have already announced their picks for best movie of the year and, unsurprisingly, Up in the Air is claiming most of those distinctions. The Hurt Locker, however, is also scooping up a ton of top spots on the year-end best-of lists, despite being released way back in June. Anyone who was paying attention to the reviews that film was getting, though, shouldn’t be too surprised with the kudos it’s scoring now.

Today morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominations for the 67th annual Golden Globe Awards (in a televised event hosted by Justin Timberlake, John Krasinski, and Diane Kruger). Up in the Air scored the most nominations with six, while Rob Marshall’s Nine was right behind with five nominations. Avatar and Inglourious Basterds tied for third with four nominations each.

In the running for Best Drama are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious and Up in the Air. (500) Days of Summer, The Hangover, It’s Complicated, Julie & Julia, and Nine will compete for the Best Musical or Comedy award. I’m glad to see a non-traditional film like The Hangover score a nom, and I’d love to see (500) Days of Summer win, but I think it’s a foregone conclusion that the usually-safe HFPA is going to dish the Golden Globe to Nine (which isn’t to say that Marshall’s film isn’t fully deserving of the prize).

Hit the jump to see what we thought of the other nominations, as well as a look at the full list of nominees!

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by Roy on 14 Dec 2009 | Comments Disney’s The Princess and the Frog took the top spot at the weekend box office, expanding wide to earn an estimated $25 million. While not shattering too many records (though it did set the record for highest grossing start for an animated movie in December), Princess‘ numbers were strong considering how 2D animation has declined in recent years. Also, the family-friendly flicks typically build steam through the Christmas season, where slow and steady tends to win the race.

Invictus, the other new wide opener, was unable to gain a foothold in its debut however. Bowing in 3rd place with $9.1 million, the figures were rather disappointing for the star-studded pedigree of the movie’s cast and crew. Director Clint Eastwood and stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon were unable to drum up enough interest in the political/sports hybrid picture, perhaps due to the South African and Rugby setting not clicking with American audiences.

The Blind Side, last week’s reigning champ, fared much better. The football movie held on to 2nd place with only a 23% drop, pulling in $15.5 million in its fourth weekend of release for a $150.2 million total. The Twilight Saga: New Moon continued its steady decline with a 48% drop to $8 million, good enough for 4th place. A Christmas Carol however only dropped off 11.5%, with its holiday theme aligning with the Christmas mood. It finished in 5th place with $6.9 million, bringing its total to $124.5 million. The box office has been particularly strong this year as, in the middle of last week, 2009 officially became the highest grossing year in Hollywood history (though the attendance record in the modern era still belongs to 2002). Read»

by Roy on 29 Oct 2009 | Comments There were a lot of underwhelmed murmurs circulating in the blogosphere when the first Avatar teaser hit. There had been so much hype regarding the money spent and technology invented to make the movie that expectations had sky-rocketed to an unreasonable level. It seemed people had forgotten that, at the end of the day, Avatar is a movie meant to entertain and excite audiences, and not a piece of art-miracle that would make angels sing and blind men see.

James Cameron may have promised as much, but while I think Avatar may certainly change the way we MAKE movies, it won’t be the catalyst in a monumental shift in how we WATCH movies. The notoriously ambitious director may have misspoke in that regard, because it’s practically impossible for one movie to do all that; if anything, these kinds of shifts happen over several years and through contributions from several filmmakers. Maybe ten years down the line we will be able to pinpoint Avatar as the “game-changer” it was heralded to be, but presently I doubt anyone, even a director of Cameron’s ability, could single-handedly spark such a dramatic paradigm shift within the art form with ONE movie, much less for two minutes of footage – which was only meant to tease, anyway – to live up to those aspirations.

Well, Cameron and the marketing folks over at Fox have come around this time with a full-length trailer (clocking in at just over 3 and a half minutes) that seeks to do nothing but reinforce what we should’ve been anticipating all this time: an immersive, action-packed, thrill-ride of a movie. Not something that may necessarily change the cinematic landscape, but something that looks like a DAMN good time at the theaters. The trailer is much more thorough in setting up the world and characters, and we get looks at some breathtaking set and action pieces that I’m sure will blow minds and burn retinas at theaters in December. I’m actually excited to see the movie this time around, and not just holding my breath waiting for some vague enlightenment that never comes.

Check it out after the jump (Yahoo has it in HD here): Read»

by Ryan on 23 Oct 2009 | Comments

Fox is releasing a brand new trailer for James Cameron’s Avatar in theaters today, with the online version set to debut next Thursday, October 29th. But you know how this works — someone somewhere’s gonna get a shaky-cam version online. And so, for those of you who don’t want to wait until Thursday and are okay with a grainy/blurry version, the bootleg version has arrived. For everybody else, we’ll have the official version when it hits the net next week.

Watch it after the jump while it lasts, or catch it in theaters this weekend (presumably in front of most movies).

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