Get Your Name in Paranormal Activity’s Credits

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Paramount, Horror, Home Entertainment

How did you contribute to Paranormal Activity‘s recent success? Did you talk about it on Twitter? Did you drag your friends to a showing? Did you purchase Dramamine just so you could sit through it?

Even if you’ve watched the movie multiple times already, this promotional tool could have you buying the DVD as well. Those who register by Monday, November 9 will get to see their name listed in the home version’s credits. According to the website, it’s simply the studio’s way of “thanking the fans who turned the movie into a nationwide phenomenon.”

This could be the one time a movie’s credits ran longer than the actual film.

Read More | Paranormal Activity via Perez Hilton

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Box Office Breakdown: That Was It for Paranormal Activity

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Period, Remakes, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Based on the numbers from the past week, it looks like This Is It should remain in theaters longer than two weeks. Oh wait - it will.

Since opening late Tuesday night, the concert film has generated a total of $34.4 million domestically - $23.2 million just over the weekend - and approximately $101 worldwide. Although Michael Jackson technically didn’t beat the opener for Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour (that entry earned more over 5 days), This Is It had the best international debut ever for any concert film.

Sony’s win meant a short victory for Paranormal Activity. After a steady climb, and only 1 week at the top, the horror film slipped down to second place. Of course, the word-of-mouth hit has nothing to complain about. Not only has the movie grossed $84.6 million to date, it also had the best per screen average of any Top 10 charter.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: That Was It for Paranormal Activity

Read More | Variety

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 30, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Magnolia, Sony, Adaptation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Music, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG): starring Michael Jackson (directed by Kenny Ortega)  **in theaters now**
• Aladin* (NR): starring Ritesh Deshmukh, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt (directed by Sujoy Ghosh)
• The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day* (R): starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly (directed by Troy Duffy)
• The Fall* (NR): starring Benny Ciaramello, Scott Kinworthy, Erica Shaffer (directed by John Krueger)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: October 30, 2009

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New Shutter Island Trailer Hits Internet

Posted by Kathleen Kane Categories: Paramount, Horror, Period, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Distribution, Trailers, Upcoming Releases

Although movie-goers should have seen Shutter Island a few weeks ago, Paramount seems to be making up for the delay by debuting a third trailer for Martin Scorcese’s latest thriller.

Is it just me, or do these trailers get creepier with each release? I swear that the body count has drastically increased with each trailer!

Creepiness aside, you can catch the entire film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, on February 19.

Read More | Coming Soon

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Paranormal Activity May Get Sequel

Posted by Kathleen Kane Categories: Paramount, Horror, Independent, Mystery, Thrillers, Box Office, Filmmaking, New Releases, Rumors

Its first week in national release, Paranormal Activity raked in an astounding $22 million, coming to a total of $64 million. For a movie that was made for $15,000 and did those numbers at the box office, you know that those higher-ups will want more out of such a successful franchise.

“We have the rights on a worldwide basis to do ‘Paranormal 2,’ and we’re looking to see if that makes some sense,” Paramount chairman Brad Grey said.

Many fans fear (myself included) that we’ll get another Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 on our hands if a sequel does get made.

Director Orsen Peli seems to be a bit more cautious about the idea: “Even if we had some ideas for sequels, we wouldn’t be talking about them in advance.” When asked if a prequel was a possibility, he slyly replied, “Maybe.”

Check out a short video after the jump of Peli talking about the overwhelming success of the film.

Click to continue reading Paranormal Activity May Get Sequel

Read More | MTV

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Box Office Breakdown: Saw Outdone by Paranormal Activity

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Remakes, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Have audiences seen enough Saw?

Although Jigsaw is known for slaying his competition, the serial killer was no match for Katie Featherstone and Micah Sloat. This weekend, those two unknowns saw their small project, Paranormal Activity, finally top the box office charts. The movie, which was produced for approximately $15,000, reached that position after a steady climb up the ranks. (Aren’t films supposed to go down?) The horror flick also had a higher per screen average than any entry in the Top 10 despite fewer engagements.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Saw Outdone by Paranormal Activity

Read More | Variety

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This Week on DVD and Blu-ray: October 27, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Lionsgate, Sony, Weinstein Company, Animation, Family, Horror, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases

Here are some of the DVD and Blu-ray options available this Tuesday:

• Afterwards: DVD
• Collision: Christopher Hitchens vs. Douglas Wilson: DVD
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: DVD, Blu-ray
• The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue: Blu-ray
• Night of the Creeps: DVD, Blu-ray
• Nothing Like the Holidays: DVD, Blu-ray
• Orphan: DVD, Blu-ray
• Stargate (15th Anniversary Edition): Blu-ray
• Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure: DVD, Blu-ray
• Whatever Works: DVD, Blu-ray
• Z: DVD

Make sure to also check out the TV-on-DVD options for this week.

Read More | Amazon

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Antichrist Lacks Scares, Boasts Biblical Allegory

Posted by Kathleen Kane Categories: IFC Films, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Religious, Thrillers, Casting, New Releases, Trailers

For a film whose trailer advertises a critic hailing it as “The most shocking film in the history of Cannes Film Festival,” you’ve at least got to wonder—if not for a mere moment—what a movie like that has to offer. While some remarkable trailers go on to pull back the curtains on so-so films (Where the Wild Things Are, anyone?), a plethora of descriptive words come to mind as I write about Antichrist and “so-so” is hardly one of them.

Opening on a handful of screens in the midst of Halloween season, Lars Von Trier’s latest achievement seemed the perfect pick for the indie lover (or at least those sick of the Saw franchise and/or already viewed Paranormal Activity, the little horror film that could). A fan of the ever-adroit Willem Dafoe and alluring French singer/actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, I find myself drawn to limited casts (Hard Candy); with that, I cannot imagine that Von Trier’s history with Dogme 95 had little to do with this. There was also the slight fact that the director himself was clinically depressed during the writing and some of the production process. Here marks more of an appeal and effort to view the film—did Von Trier meet the challenge of a two-person cast?

Aside from the slight deceit of its “scary movie” marketing poised for shocks (i.e. the bombarding, sanguine title atop corpses intertwined with a tree on the film’s poster), I believe that Von Trier does just that.

Click to continue reading Antichrist Lacks Scares, Boasts Biblical Allegory

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Spain Slaps Saw VI with X Rating

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Horror, Sequels, Distribution

Well, they don’t call it torture porn for nothing.

Although previous installments of Saw have done well in Spain, the franchise’s sixth installment will be facing a large hurdle. The Spanish Culture Ministry’s Film Institute, the country’s equivalent to the MPAA, has just given Saw VI an X rating.

The label - the first one Spain’s ever stamped on a movie for violence - limits the number of theaters the film can be shown in to eight. (Buenavista had hoped to distribute 300 copies of the sequel.) Previous Saw entries were simply considered “not under 18.”

Buenavista has filed an appeal on the decision.

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

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Sequel News: 30 Days of Night, Mad Max and More

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Action, Adaptation, Drama, Horror, Musicals, Sequels, Casting, Celeb News, Upcoming Releases

30 Days of Night: Cold-loving bloodsuckers have just been granted a lengthier stay. Principal photography on 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, a sequel to the 2007 horror film, is already underway. The movie, which will be directed by Ben Ketai, will center on vampire hunters searching for a queen (Mia Kirshner). Diora Baird, Harold Perrineau, Kiele Sanchez and Rhys Coiro all co-star.

Click to continue reading Sequel News: 30 Days of Night, Mad Max and More

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