Box Office Breakdown: Harry Potter Casts a Big Win
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists,
After putting up with a frustrating delay, eager Muggles rushed to the theaters this weekend in droves. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince kicked off its extended debut with a record-breaking premiere ($22.2 million) at midnight Tuesday. The series’ sixth installment went on to earn $158 million over five days and officially became the biggest international opener of all time ($237 million).
Despite the numbers, there was one film Half-Blood could not beat: The Dark Knight. At this same time last year, the Batman sequel had also racked up $158 million in sales. But that film did it in only three days.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Harry Potter Casts a Big Win
Read More 
| Variety
Advertisement
Box Office Breakdown: Bruno Crawls His Way to #1
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Just like in the fashion world, one day Bruno was hot—the next day he was not.
Even though the comedy did well enough to place first this weekend, it appears the sexually graphic film may have turned some off. Ticket sales for the Sacha Baron Cohen entry dropped 39% between Friday and Saturday, leading many to believe that negative word of mouth played a factor.
In total, Bruno piqued enough interest to raise $30.6 million over three days. While that gross beats Borat‘s $26.5 million debut, the 2006 film later went on to earn $129 million domestically.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Bruno Crawls His Way to #1
Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Transformers Melts Ice Age’s Hopes
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists,
This was one heated battle that left Ice Age out in the cold.
Only 24 hours ago, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and the animated comedy were estimated to finish in a possible tie. But when the final numbers were computed, last Monday’s champ managed to keep its spot for another round. In just two weeks, the Paramount feature has managed to earn just under $300 million.
But Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs had nothing to complain about. Even though it missed the #1 spot by less than $1 million, the threequel had the best per screen average of any entry in the Top Ten. In total, the movie earned $66.7 million over five days, just shy of what 2006’s Ice Age: The Meltdown grossed over only three days.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Transformers Melts Ice Age’s Hopes
Read More | Variety
In Theaters This Holiday Weekend: July 1, 2009
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, IFC Films, Action, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your 4th of July weekend:
- Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG): starring Ray Romano, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah (directed by Carlos Saldanha)
- Public Enemies (R): starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard (directed by Michael Mann)
Click to continue reading In Theaters This Holiday Weekend: July 1, 2009
This Week on DVD and Blu-ray: April 21, 2009
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight, Paramount, Universal, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Music, Period, Home Entertainment,
Here are some of the DVD and Blu-ray options available this Tuesday:
- Arctic Tale: Blu-ray
- Frost/Nixon: DVD, Blu-ray
- Hellraiser: Blu-ray
- Notorious: DVD, Blu-ray
- Sin City: Blu-ray
- The Wrestler: DVD, Blu-ray
- X-Men: Blu-ray
- X2: X-Men United: Blu-ray
- X-Men: The Last Stand: Blu-ray
Click here to see the TV-on-DVD options for this week.
Read More | Amazon
The 2009 Academy Awards: Live Commentary
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Awards,
After a year away from live Oscars coverage, I’m thrilled to be back for the 2009 Academy Awards.
Even though Dark Knight‘s snub will probably keep a number of viewers away (how many can honestly say they’ve seen The Reader?), I’m eagerly anticipating several moments from this evening’s broadcast.
Will Heath Ledger’s family bring the house to tears? Is Mickey Rourke going to make the producers wince? Will the cameras pan to Brangelina after Jennifer Aniston’s presentation? Are Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron really (really?) going to do a song and dance number?
To find out if this will be the year of the Slumdog or the underdog, stay tuned here for the live results!
Click to continue reading The 2009 Academy Awards: Live Commentary
Read More | Oscars
This Week on DVD and Blu-ray: February 3, 2009
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Sony, Weinstein Company, Adaptation, Animation, Family, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Home Entertainment,
Here are some of the DVD and Blu-ray options available this Tuesday:
- Bottle Shock: DVD
- Clerks II: Blu-ray
- Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: DVD, Blu-ray (avail. on Feb. 6)
- Napoleon Dynamite: Blu-ray
- Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: DVD, Blu-ray
- Office Space: Blu-ray
- Private Valentine: Blonde & Dangerous: DVD
- The Secret Life of Bees: DVD, Blu-ray
- Sideways: Blu-ray
- Space Buddies: DVD, Blu-ray
- Zack and Miri Make a Porno: DVD, Blu-ray
Click here to see the TV-on-DVD options for this week.
Read More | Amazon
Box Office Breakdown: A Bloody Good Weekend for Twilight
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Miramax, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Independent, Musicals, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Although Disney features typically find a place at the top of the pack, the studio’s cute puppy was outmatched by a hot vampire this weekend. After pulling in $35.9 million on Friday ($7 million of which was earned at midnight), Twilight went on to suck up nearly $70 million in total. The film’s first day take alone was enough for Summit Entertainment to immediately greenlight a sequel. (A script for New Moon had already been in the works.)
The Stephenie Meyers adaptation - which was originally slated to premiere on December 12 - undoubtedly owes Warner Bros. partial credit for its success. Had the studio not chosen to move Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince until next year, Twilight would most likely have debuted in fewer theaters. The Catherine Hardwicke film also wouldn’t have become the highest opener ever for a female director. (Deep Impact, helmed by Mimi Leder, took home $41.2 million in 1998.)
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: A Bloody Good Weekend for Twilight
Read More | Yahoo! Movies
Box Office Breakdown: Record Showing for 007
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Musicals, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
In the battle of Bond vs. Bourne, Jason won out this time…though not by much.
Although it was initially believed Quantum of Solace would break the $70 million mark, the final numbers for the Sony/MGM film came up slightly short. The 22nd Bond installment hauled in $67.5 million this weekend, just under $2 million shy of the debut for The Bourne Ultimatum. (The 2007 premiered to $69.3 million.)
But don’t feeling sorry for Daniel Craig. The actor has helped to revitalize the franchise in a big way. Quantum officially just became the best opener of all the 007 films. (Die Another Day grossed $47.1 million back in 2002.) The movie is also on pace to to beat the theatrical run record set by Casino Royale. (The 2006 film eventually pocketed $167.4 million domestically.)
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Record Showing for 007
Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Ticket Buyers Escape to Madagascar 2
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Lionsgate, Paramount, Universal, Weinstein Company, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Musicals, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Move over High School Musical 3. Another family-friendly movie is taking over.
This past weekend, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa stormed into theaters in a big way. The animated sequel took in a whopping $63.1 million, making it second biggest debuter this year. (The Dark Knight pulled in $75.2 million in July.) The film - which topped its 2005 predecessor by $2.1 million - also had the 7th best opening for a cartoon ever.
In other noteworthy news, last week’s #2 was pushed aside for another R-rated comedy. Role Models, starring Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, surpassed expectations to rake in an impressive $19.2 million. That amount nearly doubled what Zack and Miri - this week’s #5 - earned during its first three days. Meanwhile, a movie that was critically-panned did fairly well in its limited release. Repo! The Genetic Opera - the wannabe cult musical featuring Paris Hilton - averaged $6,711 over 8 theaters. That’s a number most of the movies in the Top Ten couldn’t match.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Ticket Buyers Escape to Madagascar 2
Read More | Variety
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.