Box Office Breakdown: Another Festive Weekend for Four Christmases
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Music, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists,
Faced with little competition, last week’s #1 lived to see another win. Four Christmases took in $16.8 million over the last three days - a 46% drop from its first outing - to bring its cumulative total to $69.8 million. The comedy was only one of two films to pass the $10 million mark this weekend.
The only new entries in the Top Ten were Cadillac Records and Punisher: War Zone. Despite a relatively small opening (it only hit 687 theaters), Cadillac averaged $5,015 per theater for a 9th place finish. Meanwhile, Punisher took in a disappointing $4.3 million, less than 1/3 of what the first film did in 2004.
Despite premiering at #22, Frost/Nixon was actually this weekend’s top performer. Ron Howard’s film earned a whopping $60,236 per screen average from only 3 theaters.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Another Festive Weekend for Four Christmases
Read More 
| Variety
Advertisement
Box Office Breakdown: Number One for Four Christmases
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Miramax, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Independent, Period, Political, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Theatergoers still recovering from Thanksgiving had no problem getting into the Christmas spirit this last weekend.
Despite horrible reviews, Four Christmases - a holiday feature starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn - managed to pull in over $31 million over the past three days. (The comedy’s five-day total was $46 million.) That was enough to tame some hungry vampires and give Reese her best opening since Sweet Home Alabama. (The 2002 film had a $35.6 million debut.)
But even with Witherspoon and Vaughn’s combined wattage, Christmases still wasn’t the brightest spot on the box office tree. This weekend’s top performer was actually a political drama with a very limited release. Although it was only seen in 35 theaters, Milk, starring Sean Penn and James Franco, found itself sitting in 10th place. The Gus Van Sant film also averaged $40,385 per theater…nearly $31,000 more than the laugher did per screen.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Number One for Four Christmases
Read More | Variety
In Theaters This Holiday Week (11/26)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Lionsgate, New Line, Action, Adventure, Drama, Foreign, Period, Political, Religious, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your Thanksgiving weekend:
- Australia (PG-13): starring Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham (directed by Baz Luhrmann)
- Four Christmases (PG-13): starring Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall (directed by Seth Gordon)
- Transporter 3 (PG-13): starring Jason Statham, Robert Knepper, Justin Rodgers Hall (directed by Olivier Megaton)
- Milk* (R): starring Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin (directed by Gus Van Sant)
- Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye!* (NR): starring Abhay Deol, Paresh Rawal, Neetu Chandra (directed by Dibakar Banerjee)
- The Secrets* (R): starring Fanny Ardant, Ania Bokstein, Michal Shtamler (directed by Avi Nesher)
*limited and/or gradual release
Australia Moves Out of Quantum’s Way
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories:
The post-Harry Potter shuffling still hasn’t settled down.
Fox, probably realizing Australia would now be facing extremely stiff competition, has decided to push its release back a few weeks. The WWII-era romance starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman will now premiere on November 26.
This decision comes a week after Sony chose to move Quantum of Solace to November 14, Australia‘s original date.
The studio’s strategic shift will not only the director more time to complete the film, it will pit the expensive drama against less threatening fare. Other films (currently) slated to open that day are Transporter 3 and Four Christmases.
Australia is Baz Luhrmann’s first film since 2001’s Moulin Rouge, a project also featuring Kidman.
Variety
Wolverine Shows Up Other Comic-Con Guests
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Action, Adventure, Casting, Upcoming Releases,
San Diego is filled with costumed readers who delight in adventure and get a thrill from the works of Stan Lee. Scheduled appearances by stars like Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Connolly, Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis made a big splash as Comic-Con, but it was the unscheduled appearance of Hugh Jackman that left everyone talking.
Jackman appeared in the crowd fresh off the Wolverine set and sporting stubble, but the audience ate it up. The actor bounded on stage to shake hands with Wolverine creator Len Wein to rousing applause, and even showed off a few clips from the upcoming X-Men prequel which will focus on his character’s story. He thanked the 6,000 people in attendance for their devotion and is today the highlight of every paper.
In other words, look for the Wolverine movie to make a ton of money in the near future.
Entertainment Weekly
Box Office Breakdown: Women Rule with Baby Mama
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Although 30 Rock still struggles to compete on Thursdays, Tina Fey’s Baby Mama had no problem topping the competition. The film, co-starring Amy Poehler, earned $17.4 million and made a showing for women everywhere. When’s the last time a movie with two female leads debuted at #1?
Interestingly enough, Mama‘s screen average ($6845) was outdone by another female-centric movie: The She Found Me. The movie that was directed and written by star Helen Hunt earned $8066 per screen this weekend. Fairly impressive considering Found, also featuring Bette Midler, opened in 44th place.
Friday’s other big entry - Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay - came in second place with a $14.9 million take. Surprisingly, that gross nearly equals what the original film raked in during it’s total run.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Women Rule with Baby Mama
Variety
In Theaters This Weekend (4/25)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, MGM, New Line, Sony, Universal, Action, Adaptation, Documentary, Drama, Foreign, Horror, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:
- Baby Mama (PG-13): starring Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear (directed by Michael McCullers)
- Deception (R): starring Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Michelle Williams (directed by Marcel Langenegger)
- Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanemo Bay (R): starring John Cho, Kal Penn Rob Corddry (directed by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg)
- Deal* (PG-13): starring Burt Reynolds, Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth (directed by Gil Cates Jr.)
- Rogue* (R): starring Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington (directed by Greg Mclean)
Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend (4/25)
Cast Additions for Wolverine
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Casting, Lists, Upcoming Releases,
UPDATE: Two more names have since been added to the bottom of the list.
Back in October, we reported that a spinoff of the X-Men series was in the works. The prequel, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, would explore the beginnings of Hugh Jackman’s storyline 17 years before the first movie took place.
Now four months later, we are getting a picture of how the rest of the cast is filling out. It was originally rumored that Liev Schreiber would be playing a younger version of William Stryker (the role Brian Cox filled in X2). That role actually belongs to Danny Huston (30 Days of Night). But Schreiber will still have a presence in the film; he is now set to star as Victor Creed (a.k.a Sabretooth).
Here’s a list of the actors currently joining slated to join Jackman:
- Lynn Collins (The Number 23): Kayla Silverfox
- Danny Huston (The Kingdom): William Stryker
- Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) Gambit
- Ryan Reynolds (Definitely, Maybe): Deadpool
- Liev Schrieber (The Painted Veil) : Victor Creed/Sabretooth
- will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas singer): Wraith
- Dominic Monaghan (Lost): Barnell
- Daniel Henney (My Name Is Kim Sam-soon): Agent Zero
The film is still scheduled for a May 1, 2009 release.
Hollywood Reporter
‘Wolverine’ To Hit Theaters In 2009
Posted by David Onda Categories: 20th Century Fox, Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Sequels, Thrillers, Casting, Filmmaking, Rumors, Upcoming Releases, Short FilmCrunch,
Fanboys everywhere are squealing with glee as Twentieth Century Fox announces that they have set a date for the eagerly awaited and horribly titled X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The film will hit theaters on May 1, 2009 and, of course, star Hugh Jackman as Marvel’s short-tempered, adamantium-clawed mutant. In addition to release date excitement, Variety reports that Liev Schreiber is in talks to play a younger version of William Stryker, Wolverine’s nemesis who was played by Brian Cox in X2.
What excites me? Rumors that the film (to be directed by Tsotsi’s Gavin Hood), which will be partially filmed in New Orleans, will include the previously left out X-man, Gambit. If I had a dollar for every playing card I lost/ruined by imitating the cartoon version of the Cajun mutant, I’d be freakin’ rich.
A few other new mutants (as well as returning ones) are expected to make appearances. Fox is also trying to get the origin story of X-Men villain Magneto off the ground and into theaters.
Read More | Variety
This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 2, 2007
Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Classics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Musicals, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Distribution, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases,
This Tuesday brings the release of some great titles, new and old. As expected, the studios are rolling out some Halloween-inspired classics, filled with zombies, vampires and serial killers; though sadly, only Blu-ray supporters seem to be taking advantage of the upcoming holiday.
HD DVD studios chose instead to use this week to re-release a bunch of titles that were previously only available in those obnoxious HD DVD/DVD Combo discs. You know, the $40 releases that were appealing to neither the HD owners nor the standard-definition owners? Those of you who rightly refused to make such a silly purchase can now have some great HD titles for a lower price, thanks to Warner Home Video coming to its senses. Any of the following films with an asterisk (*) in the title are the re-released versions.
Check out this Tuesday’s HD DVD and Blu-ray releases after the jump.
To see this week’s standard-definition DVD releases, click here.
To see this week’s TV-On-DVD releases, click here.
Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 2, 2007
Advertisement
© Gear Live Media, LLC. 2007 – User-posted content, unless source is quoted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Public Domain License. Gear Live graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, videos, articles, blogs, forums, scripts and other service names are the trademarks of Gear Live Inc.