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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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Nightmare Before Christmas Director Provides Sneak Peek Into Coraline

Posted by Kathleen Kane
Categories: Universal, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Family, Science Fiction, Casting, Distribution, Filmmaking, Upcoming Releases

Coraline hits theaters this Christmas season!Fans of The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Sandman graphic novel will have much to celebrate for come this December with Coraline.

The director of the Disney classic, Henry Selick, as well as Beowulf writer Neil Gaiman have teamed up for the upcoming stop-motion film, which follows a young girl named Coraline who walks through a door that ultimately takes her to an alternate version of her life.

Judging by the behind-the-scenes clip (seen after the jump), the look and feel of the movie are sure to please fans of both collaborators. Watching the painstaking task of stop-motion animation, I now have a newfound appreciation for the art.

The film stars Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, and Jennifer Saunders (Shrek 2).

Click to continue reading Nightmare Before Christmas Director Provides Sneak Peek Into Coraline

Read More | Variety

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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

Tim Burton’s Alice Is Off to England

Posted by Kathleen Kane
Categories: Disney, Adventure, Animation, Classics, Family, Mystery, Books, Casting, Celebrity Gossip, Filmmaking, Rumors, Upcoming Releases

Tim Burton starts filming 'Alice' in Plymouth this month

Disney’s favorite eccentric director Tim Burton is at it again, and this time he’s digging a bit older and traveling a bit further for his latest classic remake: Alice in Wonderland.

Burton is taking the cast and crew across the pond to Plymouth, where they will be holding auditions this week for the film’s extras. Casting director Ilenka Jelowicki explains why the locale is perfect for production:

“It’s a period movie, set in Victorian England, so we’re very specific about the look we need. In an ideal world, out of the 125 women we need, they would all have long, naturally coloured hair. We’d love men with beards or facial hair – lamb chops or big sideburns, that sort of thing.”

The only confirmed cast member is HBO’s Australian actress Mia Wasikowska (In Treatment), who is set to play Alice. Take a wild guess who might be casted as one of the crazy Wonderland characters—I dare you!

Click to continue reading Tim Burton’s Alice Is Off to England

Read More | The Independent

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

Prince of Persia Gets Pushed Back

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Disney, Adaptation, Adventure, Period, Filmmaking, Upcoming Releases

Jake Gyllenhaal and the Prince of Persia

In hopes of creating another successful franchise, and Jerry Bruckheimer have made the decision to delay their next joint feature.

Originally scheduled for next June, has been pushed back a whole year. It’s believed this calendar shift will give the crew more time to perfect the post-production work necessary for the video game adaptation.

As a bonus, the change of date will allow Persia to avoid the premiere of Transformers 2 on June 26. (This is, of course, assuming Shia LaBeouf’s injuries allow that movie to even stay on track.)

Jake Gyllenhaal and his princely hair will now arrive in theaters on Memorial Day weekend 2010.

Read More | Variety

Details on the Jonas Brothers Movie

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Disney, Documentary, Music, Upcoming Releases

Jonas Brothers

If you got caught in the mania behind February’s movie, consider this your warning. You now have just over six months to go until the Jonas Brothers have their turn.

Early next year, fans of Nick, Joe and Kevin will get their chance to see the hot boy band in glorious 3-D. The Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Movie will be comprised of footage from their current Burning Up tour combined with behind-the-scenes stuff on the musicians’ lives. Based on the interest of Miley Cyrus’ outing, Disney could expect to see ticket sales in the neighborhood of $30 million on opening weekend alone.

The will rock the theaters on February 27, 2009. 

Read More | Variety via MTV


High School Musical 3 Posters

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Disney, Musicals, Sequels, Upcoming Releases

In just a few short weeks, students everywhere will be heading back to school. And in just about 3 more months, and friends will be returning to East High.

Earlier this month, we got our first glimpse of the trailer for High School Musical 3. Now here are some of the posters teens will be hanging up on their walls shortly. (You can see a few more after the jump.)

High School Musical poster

Click to continue reading High School Musical 3 Posters


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

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