Box Office Breakdown: Kung Fu Panda Fights Off Competition
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Family, Horror, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists,
Theatergoers in need of more family-friendly fare pushed Kung Fu Panda to the top of the charts this past weekend. The comedy - and its $60.2 million take - was the third best animated opener for DreamWorks Animation (behind the first two Shrek films) and the 8th of all time (just ahead of Cars). Panda was also the first time a Jack Black film debuted at #1.
Meanwhile, another laugher was raking in impressive numbers of its own. You Don’t Mess With the Zohan - the latest production from Adam Sandler - grossed $38.5 million to take second place. Zohan‘s total falls in line with the rest of Sandler’s films from the past 10 years. Since 1998, the actor’s comedic projects have all seen $30+ million opens. (Last year’s I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry took in $34.2 million.)
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Variety
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Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Raise Their Glasses to Sex and the City
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Thanks to a mob of high-heeled women, the big-screen adaptation of Sex and the City took in nearly $57 million over the past three days. Pretty impressive considering the film was expected to land somewhere in the $25-$35 million range. But Carrie and Company did just more than score first place, their hard work put them into the record books:
- Sex and the City had the best opening weekend for an R-rated comedy.
- The film’s debut topped any live-action adaptation of a TV show. (The original Mission Impossible raked in $45 million.)
- SATC‘s premiere surpassed all romantic comedies including Hitch ($43.1 million) and Knocked Up ($30.7 million).
- It was the fifth best showing for any R-rated movie ever.
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Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Prince Caspian Crowned the Winner
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Independent, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Although it failed to reach expectations, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was still mighty enough to take down Robert Downey Jr. this past weekend. The Disney sequel pulled in over $55 million dollars and earned itself a first place finish. Unfortunately, the film’s gross was slightly disappointing given the first installment’s take; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe opened at $65.6 million back in 2005.
In other adaptation news, Warner Bros.’ Speed Racer continued to fall behind in the race. The colorful adventure slipped another notch into fourth, right behind What Happens in Vegas. Meanwhile, Iron Man‘s $31.8 million total pushed the film past the $200 million range.
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Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Ashton Kutcher Drives Past Speed Racer
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Family, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Books, Lists, New Releases,
Despite arresting visuals and a $120 million budget, the Wachowski brothers were unable to bring Speed Racer to life. The Warner Bros. movie - which many had already predicted would fall behind Iron Man - did even worse than originally thought. At one point, it was believed the anime adaptation would debut in 2nd place. Unfortunately, the final box office numbers placed the PG film in third.
Meanwhile, What Happens in Vegas became the second wedding-themed entry in the recent Top Ten. The comedy, starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher, replaced Made of Honor as the go to ‘chick flick’ of the week. The movie grossed $20.1 million, a slim $1.6 million more than Speed.
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Variety
In Theaters This Weekend (5/9)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Magnolia, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Documentary, Drama, Foreign, Horror, Noir, Political, Romance, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:
- Speed Racer (PG): starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman (directed by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski)
- What Happens in Vegas (PG-13): starring Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz, Rob Corddry (directed by Tom Vaughan)
- America the Beautiful* (R): starring Gerren Taylor, Ted Casablanca, Eve Ensler (directed by Darryl Roberts)
- Before the Rains* (PG-13): starring Linus Roache, Nandita Das, Rahul Bose (directed by Santosh Sivan)
- Bloodline* (NR): (directed by Bruce Burgess)
- The Fall* (R): starring Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell (directed by Tarsem Singh)
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FilmCrunch 062: Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, The Good German
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Period, Romance, Sequels, Thrillers, DVD Reviews, Full Episodes, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts,
Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Shrek the Third, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, and the DVD release of The Good German. Plus, Neil goes into detail of his celebrity run-in while working at a high-end Seattle restaurant.
Now we want to hear from you - hit the forums and let us know what you think, what you want us to watch next, and any other recommendations you have for the show.
Box Office Breakdown: Silver Surfer Scores the Gold
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories:
Like Ocean’s Thirteen, critics rated Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer better than its predecessor. And like Ocean’s, Fantastic found its way on top of the ever-revolving box office heap. With help from a more family-friendly rating (down from PG-13 to a PG), the superhero clan raked in $2 million more in its opening weekend than its 2005 turnout.
But it takes more than just a PG to win viewers over—it apparently takes Jessica Alba in a skin-tight outfit…and the prim and proper Nancy Drew had to learn that the hard way. The latest incarnation of the beloved character only placed 7th despite the numerous times Julia Roberts’ name had been dropped these past few weeks. BTW—I feel incredibly bad that daddy Eric Roberts has been continuously trumped by his more famous sister. Emma is HIS daughter after all.
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Shriek! More Shreks to Come
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Animation, Sequels, Comedy, Upcoming Releases,
Although many people have equated the latest Shrek incarnation to tired rehash, I surprisingly enjoyed it despite my expectations. I thought it still managed to inject some original adult humor while being enjoyably light and breezy. But having said all that, I did also tell my FilmCrunch partner, Neil Estep, that the series could go no further. All possible storylines had officially been exhausted. Or so I thought…
Producer Jeffrey Katzenberg recently announced to a crowd in Germany that fans should be expecting a fourth movie. Additionally, we learned that Shrek television holiday special will be created to help complete the deterioration of the series. NOTE TO KATZENBERG: I vaguely remember my husband showing me a very poor quality version of the 1978 Star Wars holiday special…and let me assure you, that did not hold up years later.
For those wondering (as I was) what the next ogre installment could possibly be about, Shrek will apparently be dealing with something from his past. I’m going to take a guess and say that he was hesistant about becoming a dad in the third film because he had secretly fathered other ogres in Far, Far Away. Now that could give me an interesting enough reason to come back for more…
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| San Jose Mercury News
Box Office Breakdown: Lucky Number 13
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, Touchstone, Universal, Warner Independant Films, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Having exhausted all their sequel choices, theater patrons quickly moved on to the latest offering: Ocean’s Thirteen. Despite general indifference for the series’ second movie, Steven Soderbergh and friends faced down the unlucky number and rolled the dice again. Their gamble paid off well this weekend when they took down Captain Jack Sparrow and his mates
Of course, viewers who crave the comfort of familiarity can still manage to have discerning taste. Eli Roth’s Hostel: Part II only rounded enough voyeurs to rank a mediocre 6th place. Here’s to hoping that the era of grisly horror movies is once again over…
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FilmCrunch 052: The Holiday DVD Review
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Columbia Pictures, Universal, Romance, Comedy, DVD Reviews, Short FilmCrunch, Videocasts,
Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review The Holiday in this episode of FilmCrunch:
Iris is in love with a man who is about to marry another woman. Across the globe, Amanda realizes the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who have never met and live 6,000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact same place. They meet online at a home exchange website, and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Iris moves into Amanda’s L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda arrives in the snow covered English countryside. Shortly after arriving at their destinations, both women find the last thing either wants or expects: a new romance.
Now we want to hear from you - hit the forums and let us know what you think, what you want us to watch next, and any other recommendations you have for the show.
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