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Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Escape to Couples Retreat
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Documentary, Family, Independent, Music, Political, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists,
Depending on how you look at the numbers, the winner this weekend was either Couples Retreat or Paranormal Activity.
In the comedy corner, we have a Peter Billingsley-directed film that earned $35.3 million and a first-place finish. The movie - which combined the efforts of Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Jason Bateman - pulled in the best numbers for any Columbus Day weekend entry ever. It also gave Vaughn his 2nd best opening behind The Break-Up.
Meanwhile, on the horror front, Paranormal Activity made a huge splash despite being in limited release. The Blair Witch-esque movie scared up a shocking $49,000 per screen average. It also raked in nearly 500 times more than its budget. (It only cost less than $16,000 to produce.)
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| Variety
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Box Office Breakdown: No Sluggish Start for Zombieland
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Music, Political, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists,
Watch out, vampires…there’s still life in the other undead.
Although he was previously known as a director for Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ruben Fleischer now has a new title: box office champ. This past weekend, Ruben saw his first major feature, Zombieland, attack the competition with a $24.7 million debut. The movie - which only cost approximately $24 million to make - had the highest open for any zombie-themed flick since Dawn of the Dead in 2004.
Meanwhile, another director had an entirely different result with her debut feature. Whip It, a roller derby comedy helmed by Drew Barrymore, rolled into 6th place finish with only $4.7 million. (When your film’s been topped by Pixar entries from 10+ years ago, there might have a problem.) Hopefully in a few more weeks, the Ellen Page vehicle will at least cover its $15 million production tab.
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Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Meatballs Rolls to Another Victory
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Lionsgate, Sony, Touchstone, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Music, Period, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Surrogates was no substitute for meatballs.
Despite competition from a Bruce Willis film, a music-based remake and a sci-fi horror entry, A Cloudy Chance of Meatballs remained the theatergoers’ order of choice for the second week in a row. The children’s book adaptation had Sony dining to the tune of $25 million—over $10 million more than the second place finisher.
Many thought Willis, who hasn’t had a major role since 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard, was on track to take first this weekend. Unfortunately, his
movie was considered a big letdown given its $15 million gross and $80 million budget. Meanwhile, Fame, a remake of the 1980 hit, had no one feeling like they wanted to live forever. The MGM feature only rung up $10 million for third place.
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Read More | Variety
Live-Action Barbie Movie in the Works
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Universal, Adaptation, Adventure, Family, Filmmaking, Rumors, Upcoming Releases,
Despite what we were telling ourselves, we all knew that this was inevitable upon the release of GI Joe: Rise of Cobra: the Barbie live-action movie.
Can you believe we’ve made it fifty years without seeing her on the big screen? Yeah, me either.
So who’s the lucky studio who is bringing her to the silver screen?
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Read More | New York Daily News
Box Office Breakdown: Chance of Meatballs is Winning Recipe
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Lionsgate, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists,
While it may not have had a Damon, an Aniston or a Fox, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs had something no other film did this weekend: a win. The animated adaptation raked in $30.3 million over the weekend easily pushing it to the top of the charts. The PG-rated entry towered over the box office and nearly tripled its nearest competitor (The Informant). The 3-D film also gave Sony Pictures Animation its biggest debut to date.
Elsewhere, two Hollywood beauties were struggling to make a respectable showing. Despite (or because of) a number of notable quotes, Megan Fox failed to muster any interest in her first starring vehicle. Jennifer’s Body, a horror film penned by Diablo Cody, raised a whopping $6.9 million for a fifth-place finish. (I’m not even sure that would be enough to fund one day of a Transformers production.) Megan Fox might not be a fan of Michael Bay, but she better be grateful she met him.
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Read More | Variety
Europe Chooses micro-USB Phone Charger Standard
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Smartphones, Peripherals,
We wish that other places were as up to date technologically as Europe. Sony Ericsson, Nokia, RIM, Apple and other companies have joined with the European Union to standardize a universal USB cell phone charger next year. Not only will it be easier to only have one charger, it will be good for the environment. Phones built with the new standard in mind should start hitting European shelves next year.
Read More | Yahoo!
5-in-1 Universal Microphone Set
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Music, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360,
Can’t get enough of those karaoke sing-alongs on your game system? This Universal Microphone Set is compatible with Wii, PS2, PS3, Xbox360 and PC. Attach by USB on systems Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP/Server 2003/Vista/7/Server 2008, Linux kernel 2.4.0 or above or MaxOS 9.2 or above. The mics come packed with a 3.5 meter cable and adapters for whatever system you have. Become a rock star at a price of $23.87.
Read More | Deal Extreme
Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Agree on The Proposal
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Touchstone, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
It seems a little skin might just go a long way.
After weeks of talking to the media about their joint nude scene, Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds saw their movie take the top spot. Was it a coincidence? Maybe. Whatever the reason, The Proposal became the actress’ biggest opener ever. Prior to this weekend, 2007’s Premonition - a horrible film, btw - had Bullock’s largest debut. (That movie grossed $17.6 million, almost 1/2 less than the romantic comedy.)
Meanwhile, Reynolds is this week’s Bradley Cooper. Sandra’s leading man, like The Hangover star, has just had his second #1 film of the year. (The first being Wolverine.)
Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Agree on The Proposal
Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Hangover Hangs on for Another Win
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Remakes, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
This is one hangover that’s taking a while to recover from.
For the second week in a row, the must-see comedy of the summer has taken the top spot at the charts. The Hangover, which already had a greenlighted sequel prior to its debut, raked in another $32.7 million over the weekend. The film has now earned over $100 million and given Bradley Cooper his second #1 entry of the year. (His first was February’s He’s Just Not That Into You.)
Sitting in third place this week (right behind Up), was The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, a remake of a 1974 version starring starring Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw. The action thriller, which had Denzel Washington working with director Tony Scott for the fourth time, pulled in a respectable $23.3 million. Meanwhile, Imagine That, Eddie Murphy’s latest stinker, earned $5.5 million in wide release. That gross bests the premiere of Meet Dave by approximately $200,000.
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Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: The Hangover Rises Above Up
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Fox Searchlight, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Religious, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Unlike most Mike Tyson fights, The Hangover‘s win was no knockout.
After a back-and-forth battle with Up, Todd Phillips’ film about an eventful bachelor party edged out the animated pic by less than $1 million. Hangover - which features no major stars (unless you count the boxer) - grossed nearly $45 million on its opening weekend. That’s the third best debut for an R-rated comedy ever. (Only Sex and the City and American Pie 2 have done better.)
Meanwhile, a project actually featuring an A-lister became the summer’s first stinker. Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell, Anna Friel and Danny McBride, earned a sad $18.8 million over the past three days. Although that amount was good enough for third place, the film cost an estimated $100 million to make.
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Read More | Yahoo! Movies
