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Box Office Breakdown: Despicable Weekend for Eclipse

Despicable Me

It looks like Steve Carell will do just fine when he finally leaves Dunder Mifflin.

Neither vampires nor predators could keep Gru (Carell) and his minions from ruling the box office this weekend. - also featuring the voices of Miranda Cosgrove, Jason Segel and Russell Brand - overcame it’s title and delighted audiences to the tune of $56.4 million. Universal’s feature earned nearly enough to cover the film’s production cost ($69 million) and more than enough to push last week’s champ, Eclipse, down to second place.

Meanwhile, Fox’s , set its laser sights on the alien creature lovers out there. The sci-fi thriller, starring Adrien Brody and Topher Grace, fired up $24.8 million in ticket sales and a third place finish.

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Read More | Box Office Mojo

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Box Office Breakdown: Twilight Eclipses Competition

Twilight Eclipse

Summit Entertainment saw fireworks at the theaters this holiday weekend.

The four-day frame ended with hauling in approximately $83.6 million. Although the David Slade-directed installment easily dethroned reigning champ Toy Story 3, the sequel actually failed to surpass the previous outing. Last fall, The Twilight Saga: New Moon grossed $178.9 million over six days. Eclipse, on the other hand, only raised $176.3 million since opening last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, scathing reviews didn’t keep from raking up a sizable share of the box office pot. M. Night Shyamalan’s take on Nickelodeon series fought off critics to earn $51.8 million over four days. Overall, the $150 million production has totaled $69.3 million domestically since its Thursday debut.

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Read More | Box Office Mojo

Box Office Breakdown: Woody, Buzz Top Sandler and Cruise

Toy Story 3

Despite increased competition from a number of A-list stars, easily cruised to another victory this weekend. The Pixar film added another $59.3 million to its total bringing its domestic gross to over $225 million.

Coming in second was , starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade and Rob Schneider. The comedy, which could have probably placed first on any other weekend, earned $40.5 million - the fourth best open in Sandler’s career. (The Longest Yard‘s $47.6 million from 2005 is still his best.) The movie also surpassed James’ last big hit, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, which premiered to $31.8 million in 2009.

Meanwhile, Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz found a box office win to be mission impossible. only fired up a mediocre $20.1 million ($27.4 million since Wednesday) and a third place finish. Keep in mind: Vanilla Sky, their last film together, debuted to $25 million back in 2001 - and that wasn’t even an action film.

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Read More | Box Office Mojo

Box Office Breakdown: Toy Story Still Has Game

Toy Story 3

The number “11” appears to be a good one for .

Although it’s been almost 11 years since we had fun with Woody and Buzz Lightyear, those classic characters were apparently anything but forgotten. This weekend’s long-anticipated debut of rang up $110 million, giving Pixar its 11th chart topper in a row. The sequel also surpassed all previous Pixar debuts (including The Incredibles’ $70.5 million from 2004) and became the second best animated opener of all time (right behind Shrek the Third‘s $121.6 million from 2007).

, on the other hand, was unfortunately cursed from the start. The comic book adaptation - starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox - fired up a underwhelming $5.4 million. That performance was even more dismal than the debut of Megan Fox’s last film, Jennifer’s Body, which opened to $6.9 million in September 2009.

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Box Office Breakdown: A-Team’s Face Kicked by Karate Kid’s Foot

Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid

The battle of the ‘80s remakes was won by an actor born in 1998.

Despite featuring no actual karate and a Smith named Jaden, had no problem kicking up Will Smith-esque dollars this weekend. (I’m sure it had something to do with that Justin Bieber song.).  Sony’s remake of the 1984 classic surpassed early projections by rallying to a $55.7 million finish. The film’s debut means the 11-year-old star has already managed to outperform most of his father’s films. (I Am Legend opened to $77.2 million in 2007; Hancock premiered to $62.6 million in 2008.)

Meanwhile, Fox’s reboot of cranked out what could be considered a B-grade performance. The movie, which cost over $95 million to make (compared to Karate‘s $40 million), only rang up $25.7 million in its first three days. That’s barely above the figure Liam Neeson’s Taken earned in 2009 ($24.7 million) and nowhere near the debut Bradley Cooper and Jessica Biel had with Valentine’s Day ($56.2 million).

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In Theaters This Weekend: June 11, 2010


Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

  • The A-Team (PG-13): starring Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Sharlto Copley, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (directed by Joe Carnahan)
  • The Karate Kid (PG): starring Jackie Chan, Jaden Smith, Taraj P. Henson (directed by Harald Zwart)
  • Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky* (R): starring Mads Mikkelsen, Anna Mouglalis, Yelena Morozova (directed by Jan Kounen)
  • Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema* (R): starring Rapulana Seiphemo, Ronnie Nyakale, Robert Hobbs (directed by Ralph Ziman)

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A-Team Hoping to Recruit Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper and A-Team's Face

The success of The Hangover has put Bradley Cooper on the .

Cooper’s $45 million weekend was just capped off with news of a makeover. The former Alias star is now in official talks to join a big-screen adaptation of the NBC series. Bradley is line to play Lt. Templeton Peck (a.k.a. “Faceman” or “Face”), the part originated in the ‘80s by Dirk Benedict.

Actor could also make up a quarter of that memorable group. The Taken star is currently in negotiations to step in as Col. John “Hannibal” Smith. That cigar-smoking character was made popular by George Peppard.

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Read More | Variety

Remake News: The Thing, The A-Team, East of Eden and More

The Thing

The Thing: Universal - apparently feeling the winter blast - has decided to redo the classic John Carpenter film. In the 1982 version, research teams in Antarctica are killed off by a shape-shifting alien. The reimaging, which will be directed by Matthijs Van Heijningen, will be based off the same source material as the Kurt Russell vehicle. Ron Moore, Battlestar Galactica‘s executive producer, is in charge of the script.

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Read More | Hollywood Reporter

No Pablo for Javier Bardem

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Drama, Casting, Celeb News,

Javier BardemIt’s been a while since I’ve taken Spanish, so please correct me if I’m wrong. Does the name “Pablo Escobar” loosely translate to “kiss of death”?

Just when it looked like a movie about the Colombian drug lord would finally get off the ground, two different projects have experienced setbacks. Although he was originally attached to star in Joe Carnahan’s Killing Pablo, recently chose to back out of the project. (This would be the second film Bardem has changed his mind on this year; he was once scheduled to play the lead in .)

The Oscar-winning actor told Entertainment Weekly that his decision was based on a matter of timing. “Joe has great material and it’s going to be spectacular, be we just couldn’t find a time when we could both work.” Unfortunately, this casting hole has left producers scrambling for a new actor to play Escobar. Now It’s hoped that a deal with Edgar Ramirez (The Bourne Ultimatum) can be struck in time for filming this October.

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Entertainment Weekly


FilmCrunch 036: Smokin’ Aces Review

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep review Smokin’ Aces in this episode of FilmCrunch:

In these interlocking tales of high stakes and low lifes, Mob boss Primo Sparazza has taken out a hefty contract on Buddy “Aces” Israel—a sleazy magician who has agreed to turn state’s evidence against the Vegas mob. The FBI, sensing a chance to use this small-time con to bring down big-target Sparazza, places Aces into protective custody-under the supervision of two agents dispatched to Aces’ Lake Tahoe hideout. When word of the price on Aces’ head spreads into the community of ex-cons and cons-to-be, it entices bounty hunters, thugs-for-hire, smokin’ hot vixens and double-crossing mobsters to join in the hunt. With all eyes on Tahoe, this rogues’ gallery collides in a comic race to hit the jackpot and rub out Aces.


Now we want to hear from you - hit the forums and let us know what you think, what you want us to watch next, and any other recommendations you have for the show.


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