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Roland Emmerich’s latest end-of-the-world flick 2012 not only destroyed the world on-screen, it destroyed the weekend box office too, with a tidal wave of money. The special effects extravaganza turned its Friday take of $23.7 million into an estimated $65 million weekend haul, becoming Emmerich’s second most successful opening to date (behind 2004’s The Day After Tomorrow) and obliterating nearly every box office analyst’s predictions.
To make it a truly global affair, 2012 pulled in an additional $160 million in foreign ticket sales, its three day worldwide total reaching a whopping $225 million. As for last weekend’s number 1, A Christmas Carol showed it may still have some legs yet as it dropped only 25.7% to the number 2 spot with $22.3 million, bringing its total to $63.3 million. Meanwhile, Precious jumped into the top 5 by expanding to 174 theaters. Its $6 million total was good enough for 4th place, though its impressive $35,000 per-theater average wasn’t able to claim the title of highest of the weekend. That honor fell to Wes Anderson’s The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which brought in $260,000 in its 4 theater limited debut, or a $65,000 average.
The Men Who Stare at Goats finished narrowly in front of Precious for 3rd place with $6.2 million, while This Is It rounded out the top 5 with $5.1 million. And as a side note, Paranormal Activity finally crossed the $100 million this weekend, pulling in $4.2 million in 8th place for a $103.9 million total in its eighth week of release. Read»
It’s been over 17 years since John Woo last made a Chinese-language film. Red Cliff marks a return to his native language, and the result is a sweeping epic centering on the pivotal battle that took place at the end of the Han dynasty. History lessons aside, all you need to know is that the film looks gorgeous and features a top-notch cast. Tony Leung and Takeshi Kaneshiro headline a crop of Chinese cinema heayweights including Chen Chang, Fengyi Zhang, and Vicki Zao.
Released in China last year as two separate films totaling over 4 hours in length, Red Cliff crosses the Pacific as a single condensed film sporting a leaner 148-minute runtime. Woo reportedly always planned for the film to be released in such a manner, so you won’t be able to sling any angry harangues at Magnet if the American version turns out poorly. I don’t know how they can possibly compress the massive epic that was Red Cliff into just 148 minutes, but my guess is that much of the history has been left out in favor of preserving the big set pieces. I don’t know if that’ll make a good movie, but it’ll certainly cut a great trailer. Check it out below the jump.
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