On Gear Live: Samsung S95C: The OLED TV You Can’t Afford (to Ignore!)

Box Office Breakdown: The Rock Upsets The Heartbreak Kid

The Heartbreak Kid

Despite what you may have learned in school, + The Farrelly Brothers does not necessarily equal box office gold.

The team behind There’s Something About Mary took a backseat to last weekend’s winner:  The Game PlanThe Heartbreak Kid, a remake of the 1972 Neil Simon comedy, raked in only $14 million.  While Mary did open with a smaller gross back in 1998 ($13.7M), it’s doubtful this critically-panned movie will become another sleeper hit for the trio.  Thankfully co-star will have the upcoming Gone Baby Gone to wash this disappointment away.

The only other new entries into the Top 10 included the fantasy flick, The Seeker ($3.7M), and the J.Lo-produced dance film, Feel the Noise ($3.1M).  Meanwhile, the well-reviewed Michael Clayton pulled impressive numbers in limited release ($46,000 per screen).  Expect the vehicle to open wide this weekend.

 

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Rock Upsets The Heartbreak Kid


Advertisement

Box Office Breakdown:  The Game Plan Scores the Win

The Game Plan

The execs at Disney must be loving themselves this week.  Not only are are they attached to one of hottest concert tours of the year, they have just taken a surprise win at the box office.  Although many had predicted good things for the terrorism thriller, The Kingdom, a simple father/daughter bonding film moved theatergoers this weekend.

At $22.9 million, The Game Plan took in almost $6 million more than the / vehicle. The movie about a football player who meets the daughter he never knew he had (how exactly is that a Disney storyline?) gave “The Rock” his second best opening (behind 2002’s The Scorpion King).

Meanwhile, Julie Taymor’s Across the Universe made its first entry into the Top 10.  After several weeks in limited release, the musical—which uses 33 Beatles songs to tell its story—will expand into more theaters come October 12th. 

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown:  The Game Plan Scores the Win


Box Office Breakdown:  Resident Evil Fights Off Competition

Resident Evil

Between the cheesy trailer and a cast that includes Ashanti—I never would have predicted much for Resident Evil: Extinction.  But given the success of ‘three-quels’ this year, I’m not sure why I was surprised.  Extinction nearly doubled the the box office take of it’s nearest competitor (Good Luck Chuck) and had the biggest debut of any Resident Evil installment.

But the real winner this weekend may be Into the Wild.  The film, based on the Jon Krakauer novel, earned over $51,000 per screen—one of the best averages ever for a movie in limited release.  Given the full-hour coverage on last week, Wild will probably be able to build on its impressive debut.  (The film goes nationwide on October 5th.)

Eastern Promises also turned out some promising numbers after its wide release.  The film took in nearly $6 million in its second week (though it still underperformed the last David Cronenberg/ movie, A History of Violence).  I’m hoping word-of-mouth about the fully-naked Mortensen fight scene (did I grab your attention?) will give this film the lasting power it deserves.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown:  Resident Evil Fights Off Competition


In Theaters This Weekend (9/21)

In The Valley of Elah

Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:

Advertisement

{solspace:toolbar}