Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Escape to Couples Retreat

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Documentary, Family, Independent, Music, Political, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists

Depending on how you look at the numbers, the winner this weekend was either Couples Retreat or Paranormal Activity.

In the comedy corner, we have a Peter Billingsley-directed film that earned $35.3 million and a first-place finish. The movie - which combined the efforts of Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Jason Bateman - pulled in the best numbers for any Columbus Day weekend entry ever. It also gave Vaughn his 2nd best opening behind The Break-Up.

Meanwhile, on the horror front, Paranormal Activity made a huge splash despite being in limited release. The Blair Witch-esque movie scared up a shocking $49,000 per screen average. It also raked in nearly 500 times more than its budget. (It only cost less than $16,000 to produce.)

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Read More | Variety

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Box Office Breakdown: No Sluggish Start for Zombieland

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Music, Political, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists

Watch out, vampires…there’s still life in the other undead.

Although he was previously known as a director for Jimmy Kimmel Live, Ruben Fleischer now has a new title: box office champ. This past weekend, Ruben saw his first major feature, Zombieland, attack the competition with a $24.7 million debut. The movie - which only cost approximately $24 million to make - had the highest open for any zombie-themed flick since Dawn of the Dead in 2004.

Meanwhile, another director had an entirely different result with her debut feature. Whip It, a roller derby comedy helmed by Drew Barrymore, rolled into 6th place finish with only $4.7 million. (When your film’s been topped by Pixar entries from 10+ years ago, there might have a problem.) Hopefully in a few more weeks, the Ellen Page vehicle will at least cover its $15 million production tab.

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Read More | Variety

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 2, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: FOCUS, Disney, IFC Films, Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, Sony, Warner Bros, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Capitalism: A Love Story** (R): starring Michael Moore (directed by Michael Moore)
• The Invention of Lying (PG-13): starring Ricky Gervais, Jennifer Garner, Jonah Hill (directed by Ricky Gervais, Matthew Robinson)
• Toy Story/Toy Story 2 in 3D (G): starring Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, John Ratzenberger (directed by John Lasseter)
• Whip It! (PG-13): starring Ellen Page, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis (directed by Drew Barrymore)
• Zombieland (R): starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone (directed by Ruben Fleischer)

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Casting Corner: Anton Yelchin, Michelle Monaghan and More

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, MGM, New Line, Warner Bros, Action, Animation, Drama, Family, Musicals, Remakes, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Casting, Celeb News, Upcoming Releases

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

Michelle Monaghan: The Made of Honor actress is going to be kept waiting in Due Date, a Todd Phillips-directed comedy. Michelle has been cast as the pregnant wife eager for her husband (Robert Downey Jr.) to make it home. Unfortunately, the dad-to-be is accompanied by Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover) during his hurried journey home. The film is still in pre-production.

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First Look: DiCaprio in Nolan’s Inception Thriller

Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Warner Bros, Action, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thrillers, Trailers, Upcoming Releases

While little has been spoken about Christopher Nolan‘s follow-up to The Dark Knight, the trailer makes it clear that he appears to have secured another summer blockbuster with Inception.

Set to hit theaters July 16, 2010, the sci-fi film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Marion Cotillard, Cillian Murphy, and Michael Caine.

Let’s hope for the sake of all our sanity that the film doesn’t meet the same fate as Leo’s other upcoming thriller.

Read More | Entertainment Weekly

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First Look: Drew Barrymore Rolls Along in Whip It

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Comedy, Trailers, Upcoming Releases

Could 2009 be the year Drew Barrymore is finally taken seriously?

Although the actress has starred in a number of successful projects, the 34-year-old made people take notice earlier this year with her portrayal of Little Edie in Grey Gardens. (She just received a Lead Actress nomination for that performance today.) Now she’s months away from directorial debut.

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Read More | Fox Searchlight

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In Theaters This Weekend (5/9)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Magnolia, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Documentary, Drama, Foreign, Horror, Noir, Political, Romance, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:

• Speed Racer (PG): starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman (directed by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski)
• What Happens in Vegas (PG-13): starring Ashton Kutcher, Cameron Diaz, Rob Corddry (directed by Tom Vaughan)
• America the Beautiful* (R): starring Gerren Taylor, Ted Casablanca, Eve Ensler (directed by Darryl Roberts)
• Before the Rains* (PG-13): starring Linus Roache, Nandita Das, Rahul Bose (directed by Santosh Sivan)
• Bloodline* (NR): (directed by Bruce Burgess)
• The Fall* (R): starring Lee Pace, Catinca Untaru, Justine Waddell (directed by Tarsem Singh)

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Juno Movie Available Via iTunes

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Comedy, Home Entertainment, New Releases, Technology

While iTunes users have become used to seeing selections from Disney, DVD offerings from other studios have not come as quickly as some might have liked.  But it looks like things may soon change.

Just today, Fox made Juno available for download via the popular site.  This is the same day the Oscar-nominated film was placed on store and rental shelves.  It’s likely the studio will allow more current titles to be sold in the future, but no immediate plans have been announced.

Meanwhile, Paramount has also started to dabble in Apple‘s waters as well.  The company recently offered up Beowulf for purchase shortly after it debuted on DVD in February.

At last check, Juno (on sale for $14.99) was iTunes’ top seller.

Read More | Variety

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Box Office Breakdown: Fans Make a Date with Prom Night

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Fox Searchlight, MGM, Miramax, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Romance, Satire, Comedy, Sports, Box Office, Lists, New Releases

1. Prom Night, Sony, $20,804,941 (avg. $7,706)
2. Street Kings, Fox Searchlight, $12,469,631 (avg. $5,055)
3. 21, Sony, $10,470,173 (avg. $3827)
4. Nim’s Island, 20th Century Fox, $9,111,667 (avg. $2,590 )
5. Leatherheads, Universal, $6,276,665 (avg. $2265)
6. Horton Hears a Who, 20th Century Fox,  $5,920,566 (avg. $1845)
7. Smart People, Miramax, $4,092,465 (avg. $3700)
8. The Ruins, Dreamworks/Paramount, $3,385,395 (avg. $1203)
9. Superhero Movie, MGM, $3,216,247 (avg. $1273)
10. Drillbit Taylor, Paramount, $2,044,988 (avg. $927)

(You can review last week’s numbers here.)

Read More | Variety

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In Theaters This Weekend (4/11)

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Miramax, Paramount, Sony, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Religious, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:

• Prom Night (PG-13): starring Brittany Snow, Johnathon Schaech, Jessica Stroup (directed by Nelson McCormick)
• Street Kings (R): starring Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Chris Evans (directed by David Ayer)
• Bra Boys* (R): starring Russell Crowe, Sunny Abberton, Jai Abberton (directed by Sunny Abberton, Macario De Souza)
• Dark Matter* (R): starring Meryl Streep, Liu Ye, Aidan Quinn (directed by Chen Shi-Zheng)

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