Box Office Breakdown: That Was It for Paranormal Activity

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Period, Remakes, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Based on the numbers from the past week, it looks like This Is It should remain in theaters longer than two weeks. Oh wait - it will.

Since opening late Tuesday night, the concert film has generated a total of $34.4 million domestically - $23.2 million just over the weekend - and approximately $101 worldwide. Although Michael Jackson technically didn’t beat the opener for Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour (that entry earned more over 5 days), This Is It had the best international debut ever for any concert film.

Sony’s win meant a short victory for Paranormal Activity. After a steady climb, and only 1 week at the top, the horror film slipped down to second place. Of course, the word-of-mouth hit has nothing to complain about. Not only has the movie grossed $84.6 million to date, it also had the best per screen average of any Top 10 charter.

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Read More | Variety

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Box Office Breakdown: Saw Outdone by Paranormal Activity

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: DreamWorks, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Remakes, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Have audiences seen enough Saw?

Although Jigsaw is known for slaying his competition, the serial killer was no match for Katie Featherstone and Micah Sloat. This weekend, those two unknowns saw their small project, Paranormal Activity, finally top the box office charts. The movie, which was produced for approximately $15,000, reached that position after a steady climb up the ranks. (Aren’t films supposed to go down?) The horror flick also had a higher per screen average than any entry in the Top 10 despite fewer engagements.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Saw Outdone by Paranormal Activity

Read More | Variety

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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

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This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: September 25, 2007

Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Classics, Drama, Foreign, Foreign Language, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Home Entertainment, Lists, Upcoming Releases

These are the high-def releases coming this Tuesday:

Blu-ray

• Black Book (R)—starring Carise van Houten and Sebastian Koch; directed by Paul Verhoeven.
• Gods and Generals (PG-13)—starring Jeff Daniels, Robert Duvall and Stephen Lang; directed by Ronald F. Maxwell
• Gothika (R)—starring Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz and Robert Downey Jr.; directed by Mathieu Kassovitz
• Memoirs of a Geisha (PG-13)—starring Ziyi Zang, Michelle Yeoh and Ken Watanabe; directed by Rob Marshall
• Tekkonkinkreet (R)—voiced by Alex Fernandez (English version); directed by Michael Arias
• Underworld (R)—starring Kate Beckinsale, Bill Nighy and Scott Speedman; directed by Len Wiseman
• The Wild Bunch (R)—starring William Holden, Ernest Borgnine and Warren Oates; directed by Sam Peckinpah
• Wyatt Earp (R)—starring Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman and David Andrews; directed by Lawrence Kasdan

Click to continue reading This Week on HD DVD and Blu-ray: September 25, 2007

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Letters from Iwo Jima DVD Review

Posted by Johnny Mercedes Categories: DreamWorks, Miramax, Action, Drama, Foreign Language, Thrillers, New Releases, DVD Reviews

Clint Eastwood’s Oscar-nominated war epic was released on DVD last week; this is a review of the two-disc special edition.  The film is a companion piece to Eastwood’s other war film from last year, Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same war from the American side.

Letters from Iwo Jima is the story of a pivotal battle between the United States and imperial Japan during WWII.  The film portrays the war from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers as they desperately attempt to keep the US from taking their island and using it against the mainland.  General Kuribayashi takes command and without proper infantry or supplies does his best to defend Iwo Jima from the country he once considered a close friend.  Meanwhile, a young, homesick infantryman named Saigo endeavors to surrender to the opposing forces as they drive his comrades deep into the caves of the desolate island.

Letters from Iwo Jima is directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Iris Yamashita, and stars Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomaya, and Tsuyoshi Ihara.  Rated R

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FilmCrunch 034: Letters from Iwo Jima, This Film is Not Yet Rated, Movie Theater Etiquette

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: DreamWorks, IFC Films, Warner Bros, Adaptation, Documentary, Independent, Period, Short FilmCrunch, Theatrical Reviews, Videocasts

Stream this video to your iPhone

Veronica Santiago and Neil Estep are back with a full episode of FilmCrunch. In this show, expect a review of Clint Eastwood‘s Letters from Iwo Jima, along with a DVD review of This Film is Not Yet rated.

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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