Box Office Breakdown: Book of Secrets a National Hit
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Fox Searchlight, New Line, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Musicals, Period, Political, Romance, Satire, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
This holiday weekend introduced a slew of big-ticket features in our cineplexes. It also brought us a wide cast of former Oscar-winners competing for our theater dollars. By Monday, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Johnny Depp, Hilary Swank and Oscar-nominee John C. Reilly had all made entries into the Top Ten - but it was Nicolas Cage who wound up striking gold.
National Treasure: Book of Secrets earned $45 million, an increase of $10 million over the 2004 original. This was the second hit for Cage this year, following the critically-panned Ghost Rider. In addition to having the weekend’s best gross, Secrets also had the best average of any movie over those three days. Although Charlie Wilson’s War‘s fourth place was respectable (especially for a politically-based film these days), its $3760 per screen take clearly set it apart from this week’s champ. In contrast, Juno earned an $11,184 average for an impressive 10th place finish.
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Amy Adams’ Enchanted Life
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Disney, Animation, Family, Casting, Celebrity Gossip, New Releases, Upcoming Releases,
Though I have to admit I was personally shocked, the Disney flick Enchanted, which offered a meld of cartoon melodrama and live-action sequences which were amazingly even more over-the-top, became one of the biggest stars of the early holiday movie season. Amy Adams, who played the princess, even snagged a jaw-dropping (on my end) Golden Globe nomination. But now Adams isn’t sure where to take her career.
The thirty-three year old film star pondered the definition of success in a recent Newsweek interview, in which she said she has neither children nor a wedding ring. Adams now has two pictures in the works which couldn’t be more different from cartoonish Disney. Doubt will show the story of two nuns who grapple with the heady issue of sexual abuse, while Sunshine Clearing features two crime scene cleanup sisters.
Yahoo! News
Box Office Breakdown: Will Smith a Legend in December
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, New Line, Warner Bros, Yari Film Group Releasing, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Romance, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
You have to wonder whether Tom Cruise is just a wee bit jealous of his friend’s success…
This weekend, Will Smith not only smashed the box office debut of Cruise’s Lions for Lambs, he pounded everything in his path. I Am Legend - the third adaptation of the 1954 Richard Matheson novel - nearly doubled the take of its nearest competitor while breaking the record for a December release. Legend’s $77 million debut surpassed the bar set by Oscar-winner The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The final installment in the Lords trilogy brought in $72.6 million back in 2003.
Although Alvin and the Chipmunks was far behind in second place, its $44 million weekend was nothing to sneeze at. The movie not only exceeded most expectations, it downright embarrassed third place finisher, The Golden Compass. How could anyone possibly explain freaky-looking chipmunks taking down a large polar bear? The latter film only added another $8.8 million to its total, putting it a smidge closer to its $180 million budget. (Granted, it has done better overseas.)
But let’s not be fooled by the large numbers at the top of the charts, the weekend’s most notable turnout was made by #11: Juno. The comedic charmer earned an impressive $35,686 per screen. Meanwhile, Legend (which opened in 3566 more theaters) averaged only $21,411. Take that, Fresh Prince!
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Box Office Breakdown: The Golden Compass Lacks Luster
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, New Line, Paramount, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Romance, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
A Narnia-esque adaptation partnered with a holiday release date and an A-list cast should have conjured box office magic for The Golden Compass. Surprisingly, this weekend’s release from New Line Cinema brought in barely enough money to cover the film’s catering budget.
Compass, based on Philip Pullman’s children’s series His Dark Materials, was Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig’s second disappointing collaboration this year (the first being The Invasion). While it was enough for a first place finish, the $25 million debut was hardly impressive given the film’s $180 million price tag.
In other news, holiday flick This Christmas remained in third place while the critically-panned Fred Claus bumped up two spaces from last week. Meanwhile, Juno and Atonement did well with their very limited releases.
Be looking for the highly-promoted I Am Legend (and Alvin and the Chipmunks) to enter next week’s charts.
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E! Online
‘The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ Trailer
Posted by David Onda Categories: Disney, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Classics, Drama, Family, Religious, Sequels, Thrillers, Books, Trailers, Upcoming Releases,
The very first trailer for Walt Disney Pictures’ The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian has been released and it looks freakin’ awesome! Caspian, which opens this summer, is the sequel to the 2005 box-office smash, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, which is based off the classic novel by C.S. Lewis. The franchise’s principal cast returns for this film, which will find Pevensie kids back in the magical fantasy world of Narnia. But what was a one year hiatus for them, has been a couple thousand for the folks in Narnia - and things aren’t quite the same.
Check out the first heart-pounding The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian trailer after the jump.
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Box Office Breakdown: Jessica Alba Can’t Keep Audiences Awake
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Romance, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
There’s nothing like a good snub to restore your faith in moviegoers.
Although Awake was the only new wide release this past weekend, discerning audiences kept it from succeeding by default. (NOTE: Cute squirrels will always trump Jessica Alba.) The movie, also co-starring Star Wars’ Hayden Christensen, opened with a dismal $6 million - less than half of what Alba’s last stellar film, Good Luck Chuck, did. (The latter opened at $13.7 million.) I wonder if this currently makes Jessica Biel the most successful Jessica out there.
Aside from Awake’s entry, the rest of the Top Ten changed very little from last week. Enchanted refused to budge from its perch and earned another $16 million over the past three days. Meanwhile, Beowulf surged back up a notch, trading spots with holiday flick, This Christmas.
Although the box office numbers were unspectacular overall, we can expect big changes in just a few days; that’s when New Line’s The Golden Compass makes its debut.
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Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Enchanted With Disney
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, MGM, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Romance, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Throw comedy, drama, animation, romance, sci-fi, hunky actors, pretty actresses, singing, dancing, kids and cute animals all into one film and you’ll get Enchanted. You’ll also have Disney’s latest holiday success.
The film, starring Oscar-nominated actress Amy Adams, grossed nearly $50 million over the 5-day weekend ($34 million from Friday-Sunday). Enchanted’s take places it behind 1999’s Toy Story 2 - the film with the largest Thanksgiving debut ever ($80.1 million).
Last week’s champion, Beowulf, fell into 3rd place right behind another holiday opener, This Christmas. The movies took in $23.3 and $26.3 million, respectively, during the long stretch.
Although the sappy August Rush opened in a disappointing 7th place, the DVD release of Waitress this week should make actress Keri Russell - and her fans - feel a bit better.
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E! Online
In Theaters This Holiday Weekend (11/21)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, MGM, Sony, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Yari Film Group Releasing, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Music, Period, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your holiday enjoyment:
- August Rush (PG): starring Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Terrence Howard (directed by Kirsten Sheridan)
- Enchanted (PG): starring Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, Susan Sarandon (directed by Kevin Lima)
- Hitman (R): starring Timothy Olyphant, Dougray Scott, Olga Kurylenko (directed by Xavier Gens)
- No Country for Old Men (R): starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin (directed by Joel Coen)
- Stephen King’s The Mist (R): starring Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden (directed by Frank Darabont)
Click to continue reading In Theaters This Holiday Weekend (11/21)
Burton To Direct Disney Films
Posted by David Onda Categories: Disney, Animation, Short Films, Family, Musicals, Comedy, Filmmaking, Rumors, Scripts, Upcoming Releases,
Tim Burton will direct a pair of 3-D films for Disney: Alice in Wonderland and Frankenweenie.
First, Burton will direct Alice, which will be filmed using a mixture of performance-capture imagery and live action footage, a la this weekends #1 film, Beowulf. Next, Burton will helm Frankenweenie, based on his 1984 short film (of the same name) about a dog who gets run over by a car and is brought back to life by his owner. ’Weenie will be filmed using stop-motion animation and shown in digital 3-D.
The original Frankenweenie had an odd cast, which included Daniel Stern (as the owner), Shelley Duvall, Sofia Coppola and The Wonder Years’ Jason Hervey. No word if any of the actors will return for this version.
Variety
Disney’s ‘Jungle Cruise’ Takes Shape
Posted by David Onda Categories: Disney, Adventure, Family, Comedy, Filmmaking, Rumors, Scripts, Upcoming Releases,
In the same vein as Disney’s transformation of the Disneyland attraction Pirates of the Caribbean from ride to movie, Walt Disney Pictures is currently developing the script for a Jungle Cruise movie. Box Office Mojo recently talked to WDP Chairman Dick Cook, and he had this to say about the project:
“There will be a family involved. The skipper will play a very important role. He’ll be more of an Indiana Jones kind of guy, with a little Jack Sparrow in him, who’s going to be able to take this family on an adventure that they never dreamed they were going to be on when they first got on board. In true Disney fashion, it will definitely have the adventure and the intensity—but also the heart and the fun. We hope we have a good outline of where we want to go and what we want to do with it in the next year.”
I can only hope that by having a “family involved,” they don’t mean that it will be anything like the absolutely cringe-inducing The Haunted Mansion film. Not Eddie Murphy’s finest hour.
Box Office Mojo
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