On TV Envy: Fall 2008 Television Programming Schedule

Latest Video: FilmCrunch 067: Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, Premonition reviewed

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Hairspray, Chuck & Larry, and Premonition in this episode of FilmCrunch.
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Disney Titles Coming to Blu-ray

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Disney, Animation, Classics, Family, Home Entertainment, Technology

Sleeping Beauty Blu-rayThis fall, will be releasing its first Platinum Collection title on Blu-ray. Now we’re being told of five other films that will eventually get the same treatment.

  • Pinocchio - available Spring 2009
  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - available 2009
  • Fantasia - available 2010
  • Fantasia 2000 - available 2010
  • Beauty and the Beast - available Fall 2010

The animated classics - with all their extra bells and whistles - will be available for a limited time only. (As if Disney would have it any other way.)

Sleeping Beauty hits the shelves on October 7.

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

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Casting Corner: James McAvoy, Ben Affleck, Nicolas Cage

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Miramax, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Comedy, Casting, Celeb News, Upcoming Releases

James McAvoy

Here’s quick look at some of the casting announcements made recently:

It seems as if there isn’t a woman can’t romance. In the past few years, he’s been paired with Gillian Anderson, Keira Knightley, Anne Hathway and, of course, Angelina Jolie. Now the rising actor will be taking on his biggest chemistry challenge yet.

In Gnomeo and Juliet, McAvoy and Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) will voice characters in a CGI-animated version of the Shakespeare drama. But those looking for any Montagues or Capulets will be pleasantly surprised. In this version, the lovers will actually come from rivaling families of garden gnomes.

This film, co-produced by Elton John, will also feature music from the Lion King musician. The feature should be completed by 2010.

Click to continue reading Casting Corner: James McAvoy, Ben Affleck, Nicolas Cage

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

Box Office Breakdown: Batman Smokes Pineapple Express

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Disney, New Line, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Musicals, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers

Pineapple Express

’ strong open last week made number crunchers wonder: Would this be the week Batman was finally taken down? Unfortunately, breaking the record for ‘Any Wednesday in August’ doesn’t necessarily mean a movie will succeed on Friday or Saturday or Sunday. And despite Pineapple‘s promising start (the movie grossed $12.1 million on its first day), the comedy found itself smoked by the Caped Crusader.

’s recent $26 million take has now pushed the film past $441 million. When the sequel passes Star Wars‘ $461 million (which should happen shortly), it will become the #2 film of all time. By staying on top for the fourth weekend in a row, Knight has also accomplished something that hasn’t been done since 2003’s Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Batman Smokes Pineapple Express

Read More | Yahoo! Movies

Box Office Breakdown: The Dark Knight Fights Off the Mummy

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Family, Music, Mystery, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

The Mummy's Michelle Yeoh

It was a close one. A very close one. But after a tight contest, once again emerged as the box office winner this weekend.

Although it initially appeared as if was going to bring Batman down, the three-quel lost steam at the end. The film, which grossed $40.4 million over the past three days, narrowly lost out to Knight and wound up being the lowest performer in its series. (The Mummy opened at $43.4 million in 1999 while The Mummy Returns scored $68 million in 2001.)

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Dark Knight Fights Off the Mummy

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: The Dark Knight Hits $300 Million

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Musicals, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

The Dark Knight

Despite the combined forces of Ferrell/Reilly and Duchovny/Anderson, Team Bale/Ledger could not be slowed down.

This past week, added a few more records to the franchise’s box office mantle:

  • The film became the fastest movie ever to surpass the $300 million mark. (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest crossed that line in 16 days; Knight did it in 10.)
  • The sequel is now predicted to break $400 million in approximately 18 days. Shrek 2 took 43 days to the same in 2004.
  • IMAX theaters also continue to benefit from the blockbuster’s success. Another $4.6 million was grossed over the weekend.
  • It’s now believed the latest Batman installment could soar to $500 million - making it only the second movie to do so. Domestically, ($601 million) still reigns as the box office champ. (The original Star Wars pocketed $461 million while Shrek 2 earned $436 million.)

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Dark Knight Hits $300 Million

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: Record-Breaking Weekend for The Dark Knight

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Musicals, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Okay, let’s not beat around the bush. We all know was huge. But how big exactly was it? Let’s break the numbers down:

  • The film grossed approximately $158.3 million, beating the record set by ($151.1 million) last year. The total already comes within reach of Tim Burton’s Batman. (The $251.2 million grosser has been the best earner in the franchise so far.)
  • Knight pulled in $18.5 million during its Friday midnight screenings alone. The previous record holder was 2005’s Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith ($16.9 million).
  • The movie had the best Friday total ever: $67.8 million.
  • The sequel earned $6.2 million from IMAX showings alone. That number, again, beat Spider-Man 3 ($4.7 million).
  • In one weekend, The Dark Knight grossed more than the last three Batman installments made in their opening weekends combined.
  • The Christopher Nolan feature, along with the strong performance from , helped the industry attain the best box office weekend ever. Mamma‘s $27.6 million outperformed last year’s Hairspray ($27.5 million) to become the biggest musical opener ever.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Record-Breaking Weekend for The Dark Knight

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: The Golden Army Raises Hell

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Picturehouse, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Picturehouse, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Apparently moviegoers were simply not interested in meeting anyone named Dave.

This past weekend, Eddie Murphy’s latest effort debuted in a disappointing 7th place. Fox’s pulled in only $5.2 million, the third worst opening total for the comedian. (Holy Man pulled in $5.1 million in 1998; The Adventures of Pluto Nash scraped up $2.2 million in 2002.)

Dave‘s poor performance gave two other entries plenty of room at the top of the charts. earned approximately $11 million more than the original 2004 film. The sequel’s $34.5 million haul also narrowly edged out last week’s winner, Hancock, and gave director Guillermo del Toro a first place berth. Meanwhile, the Journey to the Center of the Earth‘s $21 million was good enough for third place.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Golden Army Raises Hell

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: Hancock Soars to #1

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Picturehouse, Columbia Pictures, Disney, New Line, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Hancock

For theatergoers, the Fourth of July holiday has come to mean fireworks, barbecues....and now . This past weekend, the powerhouse’s latest blockbuster, , took in over $62 million giving Smith his eighth straight #1 debut. In total, the Sony Pictures production grossed nearly $104 million during a 5 1/2 day period.

In addition to being Will’s second-best opener ever ( set his record), Hancock was the actor’s fifth movie to reach first place over the same holiday weekend. (Men in Black, Men in Black II, Independence Day and Wild Wild West were the other four.) The Peter Berg film also became the third best July 4th grosser behind Transformers and Spider-Man 2.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Hancock Soars to #1

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: Wall-E and Wanted Both Winners

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

Wall-E

Although we haven’t yet reached the 4th of July weekend, theatergoers apparently had plenty of time and money to spend over the past three days. And while a cute robot had the honor of placing first, also came out a winner herself.

When the final numbers were tallied, Wall-E and each wound up grossing over $50 million since Friday. The Disney/Pixar film edged out the action flick by nearly $13 million dollars, but the comic book adaptation had the best per screen average for any entry in the Top Ten ($16,040). Meanwhile, both films forced a few rewrites in the history books.

  • had the third largest debut for a Pixar film. It’s total fell behind The Incredibles ($70.5 million) and Finding Nemo ($70.2 million).
  • The animated comedy also had the best Friday open for any Pixar release.
  • The James McAvoy feature topped all R-rated premieres during the month of June.
  • Wanted also gave Jolie her largest first weekend ever.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Wall-E and Wanted Both Winners

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: Steve Carell Outsmarts Mike Myers

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Picturehouse, 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Picturehouse, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

The Love Guru

What was being billed as a huge comedy showdown turned out to be a pathetic fight. The debut of easily outperformed Mike Myers’ live-action return to nab the #1 spot this past weekend.

Smart, starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway and Dwayne Johnson, picked up $38.6 million over the past three days - nearly $20 million more than . The big-screen adaptation of the ‘60s television series also averaged $9891 per screen, over twice as much as Guru ($4617) did.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Steve Carell Outsmarts Mike Myers

Read More | Variety

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