This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: January 15, 2008
Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: Lionsgate, New Line, Adaptation, Documentary, Drama, Independent, Religious, Satire, Comedy, Home Entertainment, New Releases,
Alright, yes—this article should have been written yesterday. But despite my lack of punctuality, I’ve decided to go ahead and post it anyway as part of a New Year’s resolution to write more. And this is a slow time for film in general, so I think I deserve a reprieve.
To be perfectly honest, little jumps out at me this week. We have the hilarious, slightly esoteric The Ten, helmed by some The State alumni and starring, well, just about everyone. Is there anything else worth mentioning? Could Girls Gone Wild: Baby Bash—Live and Uncensored be the best Blu-ray title this week? That seems a bit sad, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, HD DVD patrons—if you were looking for some girl-on-girl action, hold out until February 12th when it releases in your format.
I can’t wait for these sluggish few weeks to pass.
Check out the full list of high-def releases after the jump.
Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: January 15, 2008
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Box Office Breakdown: The Rock Upsets The Heartbreak Kid
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Lionsgate, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Action, Drama, Family, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Despite what you may have learned in school, Ben Stiller + 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 Plan. The 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 Michelle Monaghan 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 George Clooney vehicle to open wide this weekend.
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Rock Upsets The Heartbreak Kid
Box Office Breakdown: The Game Plan Scores the Win
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, New Line, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Drama, Horror, Independent, Musicals, Political, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
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 Jamie Foxx/Jennifer Garner 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” Dwayne Johnson 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
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Lionsgate, New Line, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Drama, Family, Horror, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
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 Sean Penn’s 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 Oprah 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/Viggo Mortensen 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.
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In Theaters This Weekend (9/21)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Romance, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases, Upcoming Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:
- Eastern Promises (R): starring Viggo Mortensen, Naomi Watts (directed by David Cronenberg)
- Good Luck Chuck (R): starring Jessica Alba, Dane Cook (directed by Mark Helfrich)
- In the Valley of Elah (R): starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron (directed by Paul Haggis)
- Resident Evil: Extinction (R): starring Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr (directed by Russell Mulcahy)
- Sydney White (PG-13): starring Amanda Bynes, Matt Long (directed by Joe Nussbaum)
Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend (9/21)