Box Office Breakdown: Disney/Pixar Flying High with Up
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
The word “Pixar” always seems to generate smiles, and that’s exactly what Up did for Disney.
Over the weekend, the Cannes Film Festival opener generated $68.1 million, over $40 million more than its nearest competitor. The movie - which was also offered in 3D - also bested last year’s Wall-E (by $5 million) and had Pixar’s 3rd-best debut. (The Incredibles opened to $70.5 million in 2004; Finding Nemo grossed $70.3 million in 2003.)
Friday’s other new wide release, Drag Me to Hell, scared up only $15.8 million for a 4th place finish. Although it originally looked as if the horror film would surpass Terminator Salvation, the final numbers were $8 million below Sunday’s projections.
Another noteworthy mention: Star Trek officially crossed the $200 million mark after only four weeks in release. The Paramount feature is now the first movie of the year to reach that achievement.
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Read More 
| Variety
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Box Office Breakdown: Ben Stiller Defeats Christian Bale
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Religious, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Was it a result of Christian Bale’s rant? The presence of that other science fiction movie? Or the lack of family-friendly fare?
When the dust from the weekend settled, a surprising entry emerged as the winner. Despite the country’s current love for action sequels/prequels, a much calmer feature - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - was the choice for entertainment this holiday. Ben Stiller’s comedy follow-up raked in $70 million giving the actor his best live-action debut ever. Smithsonian also became the best PG-rated opener for Memorial Day.
Museum‘s victory meant a disappointing 2nd place finish for Terminator Salvation. Although the saga’s fourth installment earned more than T3‘s debut, its $51.9 million gross ($65.3 million since Thursday) put it nowhere near the estimated $200 million budget. The numbers did give director McG, though, his best premiere since 2000’s Charlie’s Angels.
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Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Narrow Victory for Angels & Demons
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Angels & Demons was never as popular as The Da Vinci Code...and its big screen numbers reflected that.
Despite huge success with the overseas box office this weekend (the movie had the 10th best international open ever), the latest Ron Howard/Tom Hanks collaboration barely struck gold domestically. Over the last three days, Angels grossed $46.2 million—just enough for first place. Unfortunately, the Dan Brown adaptation only earned $3 million more than last week’s champ and over $30 million less than the previous installment.
Star Trek, in the meantime, continued on its warp speed pace. The second place finisher pulled in another $43 million and put itself within $3 million of Wolverine‘s overall total. (The Hugh Jackman film, this week’s #3, had a 7-day head start on the sci fi adventure.)
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Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Star Trek Beams Its Way to #1
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Music, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases,
Based on these numbers, a Star Trek sequel would seem like the logical response.
After a five-month delay, the highly-anticipated J.J. Abrams feature finally unspooled to an eager crowd. And though it didn’t outearn last weekend’s office champ, the science fiction adventure appeared to be in a galaxy far, far away.
Since it’s debut late Thursday night, Trek grossed approximately $79.2 million. (That’s nearly $3 million more than was estimated a day ago, but still $6 million less than Wolverine‘s premiere.) Around $8 million of Paramount’s haul came from IMAX ticket sales alone. (That figure bests the $6.2 million raked in by The Dark Knight last year.)
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Read More | Variety
Star Trek Writers Detail Rejected William Shatner Scene
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Action, Adventure, Science Fiction, Sequels, Scripts,
Interested in knowing how William Shatner might have been incorporated into Star Trek? Well - if you haven’t seen the movie yet, don’t read any further. The details involve an alternate ending for the film.
In an interview with MTV, the prequel’s two writers - Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman - explain that the ultimate decision to leave out Shatner was a difficult one. In fact, the two even disagree on whether the idea could have worked.
“We did write a Shatner scene,” Orci revealed. “But we didn’t want it to be a gimmick. We didn’t want it to be….to really bring him back in the right way would have required an entire movie to devote itself to that plot similarly to The Search for Spock (Number 3).” He added, “But we did write a scene and I think ultimately we all decided internally that it….We were split. But I think the decision was that it wasn’t quite enough to justify wasting [Shatner’s] time.”
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Read More | MTV Movies
Movie Review: Star Trek (2009)
Posted by David Torres Categories: Paramount, Science Fiction,
Rating: *** 1/2 stars
(Warning: The following review contains some spoilers.)
The world of Star Trek in crisis! No, it’s not on the verge of dying due to the release of this film. Instead it’s on the verge of going in a whole new direction. In the 1980s, DC Comics published a mini-series entitled “Crisis on Infinite Earths”. If you are a comic book fan, you are aware of this series and know that it was written in order to say goodbye to DC’s old continuity and create an entirely new one. A new world was born. New stories were able to be told because the previous “universe” no longer existed. That is what has happened to the world of Star Trek.
In this film, there is a Romulan named Nero. Nero and his crew travel back in time and as a result create a new timeline. If you are a Trekker, I’m sure you remember the Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) episode entitled “Yesterdays Enterprise” in which the Enterprise C traveled into the future and created a new timeline. The timeline was later corrected and everything was back to normal, but that will not be the case here.
Star Trek as a franchise was certainly in a crisis prior to the release of this film. With the two previous Trek films received poorly by both fans and critics as well as the demise of the series “Enterprise” Star Trek looked dead. Many people felt that Star Trek should stay low for a while and maybe come back much later with an attempt at reviving the series. Paramount said no and went with J.J. Abrams and his crew and they have succeeded. This film was great. Tons of action; humor; heart breaking moments. I really enjoyed this film both as a fan of the franchise and as a movie on its own.
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In Theaters This Weekend: May 8, 2009
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Magnolia, Paramount, Sony, Adaptation, Adventure, Documentary, Drama, Foreign, Independent, Period, Political, Religious, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:
- Next Day Air (R): starring Donald Faison, Mike Epps, Wood Harris (directed by Benny Boom)
- Star Trek (PG-13): starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Eric Bana (directed by J.J. Abrams)
- Adoration* (R): starring Rachel Blanchard, Scott Speedman, Katie Boland (directed by Atom Egoyan)
- Julia* (R): starring Tilda Swinton, Ezra Buzzington, Kate Del Castillo (directed by Erick Zonca)
Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: May 8, 2009
Leonard Nimoy: Back on Trek?
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Paramount, Adaptation, Science Fiction, Sequels, New Releases,
Nearly two decades have passed since Leonard Nimoy, the most famous half-Vulcan in Hollywood, has portrayed his iconic role. Fans have to wait only two more weeks to see Nimoy reprise the role of Spock.
Nimoy returns to the role in the new Star Trek movie, the eleventh in the franchise and the first to feature a very young Captain Kirk and crew. He will play opposite Zachary Quinto, who plays the younger version of Mr. Spock (whose first name can’t be pronounced).
This will also mark the very first time Leonard Nimoy has played Spock without co-star William Shatner at his side. Shatner’s Kirk will not be making an appearance in the new Star Trek flick. Paramount, expecting big success for the movie, has already ordered up a sequel (which will bring the number of Trek movies up to an even dozen).
Nimoy says it’s “too earily to speculate” whether he’ll appear in that sequel, and whether or not he’ll appear in that sequel with William Shatner. Still, he says, “I don’t say ‘never’ anymore.”
Read More | MSNBC
Early Star Trek Reviews Are In
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Drama, Science Fiction, Sequels, Upcoming Releases,
Although Star Trek doesn’t open stateside until May 9, audiences in London were able to preview the long-anticipated prequel last night. Based on the early reviews, J.J. Abrams has a bona fide hit in his hands:
Times Online: “Just when you thought that the Star Trek phenomenon had truly run its course, along comes J.J. Abrams’s stunning prequel to resuscitate the most enduring franchise in sci-fi history…Abrams’s film is a rollicking space adventure that makes you fall in love with the original series all over again.”
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New Watchmen and Star Trek Trailers
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction, Sequels, Trailers, Upcoming Releases,
Did Quantum of Solace‘s mixed reviews keep you from the theaters this weekend? If so, here are two trailers you might have missed.
First up, Watchmen. This clip for the Zack Snyder film gives us what the earlier teaser had been missing: a sampling of the characters’ voices. After watching the video, tell us what you think. Are the actors living up to your expectations? Or do you find the casting choices a bit disappointing?
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