Box Office Breakdown: The Dark Knight Hits $300 Million
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Musicals, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Despite the combined forces of Ferrell/Reilly and Duchovny/Anderson, Team Bale/Ledger could not be slowed down.
This past week, The Dark Knight added a few more records to the franchise’s box office mantle:
- The film became the fastest movie ever to surpass the $300 million mark. (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest crossed that line in 16 days; Knight did it in 10.)
- The sequel is now predicted to break $400 million in approximately 18 days. Shrek 2 took 43 days to the same in 2004.
- IMAX theaters also continue to benefit from the blockbuster’s success. Another $4.6 million was grossed over the weekend.
- It’s now believed the latest Batman installment could soar to $500 million - making it only the second movie to do so. Domestically, Titanic ($601 million) still reigns as the box office champ. (The original Star Wars pocketed $461 million while Shrek 2 earned $436 million.)
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Dark Knight Hits $300 Million
Variety
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Box Office Breakdown: Record-Breaking Weekend for The Dark Knight
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Musicals, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Okay, let’s not beat around the bush. We all know The Dark Knight was huge. But how big exactly was it? Let’s break the numbers down:
- The film grossed approximately $158.3 million, beating the record set by Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million) last year. The total already comes within reach of Tim Burton’s Batman. (The $251.2 million grosser has been the best earner in the franchise so far.)
- Knight pulled in $18.5 million during its Friday midnight screenings alone. The previous record holder was 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith ($16.9 million).
- The movie had the best Friday total ever: $67.8 million.
- The sequel earned $6.2 million from IMAX showings alone. That number, again, beat Spider-Man 3 ($4.7 million).
- In one weekend, The Dark Knight grossed more than the last three Batman installments made in their opening weekends combined.
- The Christopher Nolan feature, along with the strong performance from Mamma Mia!, helped the industry attain the best box office weekend ever. Mamma‘s $27.6 million outperformed last year’s Hairspray ($27.5 million) to become the biggest musical opener ever.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Record-Breaking Weekend for The Dark Knight
Variety
Box Office Breakdown: The Golden Army Raises Hell
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Picturehouse, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Picturehouse, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Apparently moviegoers were simply not interested in meeting anyone named Dave.
This past weekend, Eddie Murphy’s latest effort debuted in a disappointing 7th place. Fox’s Meet Dave pulled in only $5.2 million, the third worst opening total for the comedian. (Holy Man pulled in $5.1 million in 1998; The Adventures of Pluto Nash scraped up $2.2 million in 2002.)
Dave‘s poor performance gave two other entries plenty of room at the top of the charts. Hellboy II: The Golden Army earned approximately $11 million more than the original 2004 film. The sequel’s $34.5 million haul also narrowly edged out last week’s winner, Hancock, and gave director Guillermo del Toro a first place berth. Meanwhile, the Journey to the Center of the Earth‘s $21 million was good enough for third place.
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Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Hancock Soars to #1
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Picturehouse, Columbia Pictures, Disney, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
For theatergoers, the Fourth of July holiday has come to mean fireworks, barbecues….and now Will Smith. This past weekend, the powerhouse’s latest blockbuster, Hancock, took in over $62 million giving Smith his eighth straight #1 debut. In total, the Sony Pictures production grossed nearly $104 million during a 5 1/2 day period.
In addition to being Will’s second-best opener ever (I Am Legend set his record), Hancock was the actor’s fifth movie to reach first place over the same holiday weekend. (Men in Black, Men in Black II, Independence Day and Wild Wild West were the other four.) The Peter Berg film also became the third best July 4th grosser behind Transformers and Spider-Man 2.
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Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Wall-E and Wanted Both Winners
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Although we haven’t yet reached the 4th of July weekend, theatergoers apparently had plenty of time and money to spend over the past three days. And while a cute robot had the honor of placing first, Angelina Jolie also came out a winner herself.
When the final numbers were tallied, Wall-E and Wanted each wound up grossing over $50 million since Friday. The Disney/Pixar film edged out the action flick by nearly $13 million dollars, but the comic book adaptation had the best per screen average for any entry in the Top Ten ($16,040). Meanwhile, both films forced a few rewrites in the history books.
- Wall-E had the third largest debut for a Pixar film. It’s total fell behind The Incredibles ($70.5 million) and Finding Nemo ($70.2 million).
- The animated comedy also had the best Friday open for any Pixar release.
- The James McAvoy feature topped all R-rated premieres during the month of June.
- Wanted also gave Jolie her largest first weekend ever.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Wall-E and Wanted Both Winners
Variety
In Theaters This Weekend (6/27)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, IFC Films, Magnolia, Universal, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Independent, Political, Religious, Comedy, Sports, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:
- WALL•E (G): starring Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin, Sigourney Weaver (directed by Andrew Stanton)
- Wanted (R): starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman (directed by Timur Bekmambetov)
- Elsa & Fred* (PG): starring Manuel Alexandre, China Zorrilla, Blanca Portillo (directed by Marcos Carnevale)
- Finding Amanda* (R): starring Matthew Broderick, Maura Tierney, Brittany Snow (directed by Peter Tolan)
Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend (6/27)
Wanted Trailer #3
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Universal, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Thrillers, Trailers, Upcoming Releases,
If Wanted‘s last trailer didn’t quite do it for you, it’s possible this version will be the one to whet your appetite.
Not only does the clip provide more of a backstory for Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), it provides more glimpses of Angelina Jolie‘s tattooed back.
Wanted - also starring Morgan Freeman and Common - hits theaters on June 27.
New Wanted Trailer Released
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Universal, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Romance, Thrillers, Trailers, Upcoming Releases,
And the happiness continues for the comic book junkies out there! Universal Pictures has just released a new trailer for its upcoming film, Wanted.
Due out this June, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, and James McAvoy star in the graphic novel adaptation, written by J.G. Jones and Mark Millar. Wanted is Russian director Timur Bekmambetov’s first American film.
With the release of the trailer, many have pointed out the major differences between the film and its graphic novel roots. Some have even started to compare the movie to last year’s ridiculous-but-fun action movie, Shoot ‘Em Up; however, I am not one to judge a movie solely based on its three-minute trailer. While I am hoping that this film does follow the comic more closely than it appears in the trailer, I think it looks like a good enough film on its own, no matter how “cheesy.” With a cast like that, how can anyone go wrong?
Coming Soon
‘Atonement’ Dress Up for Auction
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: FOCUS, Adaptation, Drama, Period, Romance,
UPDATE: The auction ended March 1. The winning bid was $46,000.
Attention all Double-0’s: the exquisite green dress seen in the romantic weeper, Atonement, is now up for grabs. Clothes Off Our Backs, an organization that sells celebrity frocks for children’s charities, has started an auction for the memorable garment. Bids can be placed anytime through March 1.
Oh - I should probably mention that the item is considered a Size 2 (or so the site says), not a Double-0. Apparently stick-thin Keira Knightley has more meat on her bones than I thought?
Now if that dress came with a James McAvoy, I might not care that it wouldn’t fit me.
(Click on the link below to place your bids.)
Clothes Off Our Backs
Box Office Breakdown: Cloverfield Attacks the Charts
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Fox Searchlight, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Books, Lists, New Releases,
Final numbers for the three-day weekend revealed what many had suspected: Cloverfield toppled New York and the competition. The strong numbers were a result of Paramount’s smart marketing. In addition to the eerie trailers, the film debuted in January - usually a fairly quiet month for decent films. Cloverfield’s $46 million take has already covered the movie’s budget (estimated at around $25 million). That dollar amount also earned the Matt Reeves flick the title for best MLK and January opener ever.
Although 27 Dresses raked in $20 million less than the horror flick, Katherine Heigl had nothing to cry about. Thanks to more strategic marketing - this time by Fox - the film was able to take advantage of those looking for something less dark. Dresses was originally scheduled to debut last week but was repositioned so it could open during the busy weekend.
Unfortunately, female focus on the romantic comedy didn’t help the female-filled Mad Money. The movie - co-starring Queen Latifah, Diane Keaton and Katie Holmes - cashed out in 8th place. This makes two disappointing debuts in a row for the Cruise Clan (the first being Tom’s Lions for Lambs). Let us not forget that Katie opted to do this film instead of the Batman sequel for her post-Tom movie return. Come to think of it, maybe it was for the best. I could just hear Tom telling us now that if he had known Heath was doing drugs, he would have cured Ledger himself.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Cloverfield Attacks the Charts
Yahoo! Movies
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