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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In Theaters This Weekend (12/21)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Musicals, Romance, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:
- Charlie Wilson’s War (R): starring Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman (directed by Mike Nichols)
- National Treasure: Book of Secrets (PG): starring Nicolas Cage, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren (directed by Jon Turteltaub)
- P.S. I Love You (PG-13): starring Hilary Swank, Gerard Butler, Lisa Kudrow (directed by Richard LaGravanese)
- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (R): starring Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Sacha Baron Cohen (directed by Tim Burton)
- Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (R): starring John C. Reilly, Jenna Fischer, Kristen Wiig (directed by Jake Kasdan)
- Steep* (PG): starring Ingrid Backstrom, Doug Coombs, Shane McConkey (directed by Mark Obenhaus)
*limited and/or gradual release
2008 Golden Globe Nominations (Film)
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Foreign Language, Independent, Music, Musicals, Period, Political, Romance, Comedy, Thrillers, Awards, Lists,
Assuming the ongoing writers’ strike doesn’t put a wrench into everyone’s plans, the 65th Annual Golden Globes ceremony is scheduled to air on Sunday, Jan. 13th. (The NBC telecast will come just 9 days prior to the Academy Award nominations.)
Here are the most notable omissions/additions in this year’s list of film honorees:
- Atonement led the nominations with seven; Charlie Wilson’s War came in second with five.
- Musicals (Sweeney Todd, Across the Universe, Hairspray) dominated the Comedy/Musical category.
- Cate Blanchett received two acting nominations (Elizabeth: The Golden Age, I’m Not There).
- Philip Seymour Hoffman was also a double-nominee (The Savages, Charlie Wilson’s War)
- Hoffman’s Savages co-star, Laura Linney, was not nominated for her performance.
- The Kite Runner was nominated in the Foreign Film category.
- Javier Bardem was the only actor nominated from No Country for Old Men.
- Into the Wild was left out of all major categories.
(Click below for the full list of film nominees; click here for the TV nominations.)
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Hollywood Foreign Press Association
This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 2, 2007
Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Classics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Musicals, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Distribution, Home Entertainment, Lists, New Releases,
This Tuesday brings the release of some great titles, new and old. As expected, the studios are rolling out some Halloween-inspired classics, filled with zombies, vampires and serial killers; though sadly, only Blu-ray supporters seem to be taking advantage of the upcoming holiday.
HD DVD studios chose instead to use this week to re-release a bunch of titles that were previously only available in those obnoxious HD DVD/DVD Combo discs. You know, the $40 releases that were appealing to neither the HD owners nor the standard-definition owners? Those of you who rightly refused to make such a silly purchase can now have some great HD titles for a lower price, thanks to Warner Home Video coming to its senses. Any of the following films with an asterisk (*) in the title are the re-released versions.
Check out this Tuesday’s HD DVD and Blu-ray releases after the jump.
To see this week’s standard-definition DVD releases, click here.
To see this week’s TV-On-DVD releases, click here.
Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: October 2, 2007
Couples With The Worst On-Screen Chemistry
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Lucasfilm Ltd., Casting, Lists,
Chemistry, schmemistry. If you know people are going to be watching your movie anyway—does it really matter? Whaddya say, George Lucas?
Film advertising company Pearl & Dean polled 3,000 British moviegoers to see which couples they felt had the worst on-screen chemistry. Based on the results, it’s hard to say whether or not those opinions had any affect on the eventual box office receipts. While I completely agree that Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen fizzled as secret-lovers, I don’t know that the movie’s storyline (or final numbers) could have improved with a different twosome.
Take a look at the poll results and see what you think. Which couples would you add to this list? Three pairings that come to my mind: Julia Roberts/ Nick Nolte (I Love Trouble), Julia Roberts/ Brad Pitt (The Mexican) and Julia Roberts/ John Cusack (America’s Sweethearts).
- Natalie Portman & Hayden Christensen - Stars Wars: Episode II
- Jennifer Lopez & Ben Affleck - Gigli
- Keira Knightley & Orlando Bloom - Pirates of the Caribbean
- Madonna & Adriano Giannini - Swept Away
- Catherine Zeta-Jones & Sean Connery - Entrapment
- Andie MacDowell & Hugh Grant - Four Weddings and a Funeral
- Kate Beckinsale & Ben Affleck - Pearl Harbor
- Nicole Kidman & Tom Cruise - Eyes Wide Shut
- Jake Gyllenhaal & Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain
- Kate Winslet & Leonardo DiCaprio - Titanic
It’s No Mystery: Nancy Drew is a Hit
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Warner Bros, Adaptation, Mystery, Casting, New Releases,
Nancy Drew is perhaps best known by women, most associated with yellow books, and loved for her girl-detective approach to life. There is always some concern when a movie is adapted from a popular book series – will they get the character right, will they make it modern enough for even today’s girls to connect, will they give us a juicy Drew-type mystery? The reviews are in, and the Nancy Drew movie hits every single mark. Played by Emma Roberts (daughter of Eric and niece to Julia), Nancy Drew jumps off the page and becomes a heroine that even today’s ultra-modern, high-tech teens can adore.
There is enough standard Nancy to keep purists happy, but enough modernization to keep this flick from being a flop. In Nancy Drew’s first big screen appearance since the 1930s, Nancy, father Carson, and housekeeper Hannah move from River Heights (a city that, anyone who has read the books knows, has been Nancy’s stomping ground for decades) for sunny L.A. In her new school, Nancy is initially shunned by her peers. Does she change who she is to better fit in? Not Nancy Drew – she stays the same, and in the end wins more than a few fans over to her side and her way of thinking.
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Box Office Breakdown
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Paramount, Universal, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Musicals, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases,
Although theater audiences were not offered much new to watch over the four-day weekend, I must say that I was bit surprised as to how the box office totals shook out. I was certain that Primeval would reign supreme. I mean—when when does a movie about a serial-killing crocodile not come out on top?? And despite Madonna’s participation, I thought Arthur and the Invisibles would place higher than 9th. Parents are always desperate to find something for their rug rats, right?
Here are the totals for last week (as compiled by Media By Numbers LLC):
1. Stomp the Yard, Sony Screen Gems, $25,876,318
2. Night at the Museum, Fox, $21,847,867
3. The Pursuit of Happyness, Sony, $10,703,352
4. Dreamgirls, Paramount, $10,259,911
5. Freedom Writers, Paramount, $8,849,005
6. Children of Men, Universal, $7,449,555
7. Alpha Dog, Universal, $7,411,750
8. Primeval, Disney, $6,792,318
9. Arthur and the Invisibles, MGM, $5,702,789
10. Charlotte’s Web, Paramount, $5,348,867
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