Box Office Breakdown: A Bloody Good Debut for New Moon

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Sports, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

After months of endless promotion, New Moon finally opened this weekend to monster-sized numbers. But how exactly did the film compare to the other theatrical giants?

1. Despite earning over $142 million since midnight Thursday, the adaptation’s debut still falls behind The Dark Knight ($158.4) and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million).
2. The sequel did, though, beat Knight for the best first day open ($72.7 compared to $67.2 million).
3. It had the largest midnight opening ($26.3 million) to date. (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince grossed $22.2 million.)
4. Moon also topped Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire‘s 2005 November debut ($102.7 million).

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: A Bloody Good Debut for New Moon

Read More | Variety

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Box Office Breakdown: Christmas Carol Wins, Precious Soars

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Music, Remakes, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

We’re still weeks away from Thanksgiving, but theatergoers already have Christmas on their minds.

Disney’s A Christmas Carol, the umpteenth version of the Charles Dickens tale, brought the story back to life with a visual rendition. Robert Zemeckis’ latest holiday creation earned over $30 million, surpassing Polar Express’ open by $7 million. Although the Jim Carrey film didn’t come close to its reported $180 million budget, Carol still has weeks to go before Avatar takes over 3D screens.

Meanwhile, a film with no bells or whistles made an impact just outside the Top 10. Precious, Sundance’s Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize winner, broke a record while in limited release. The 12th place entry averaged a whopping $104,025 this weekend over only 18 theaters. That’s the largest per screen average for any film opening in more than 10 locations.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Christmas Carol Wins, Precious Soars

Read More | Variety

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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.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: That Was It for Paranormal Activity

Read More | Variety

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Footloose Looking for New Director

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Musicals, Remakes, Rumors, Upcoming Releases

The Footloose remake has temporarily been grounded.

Although Paramount’s had already lined up a new Ren McCormick (Chace Crawford) and Ariel Moore (Julianne Hough) for its planned update, the studio is now without a director.

Up until last week, Kenny Ortega (High School Musical, This Is It) was the man helming the project. Unfortunately, creative and budget differences lead to his exit. According to reports, Ortega wanted $30 million for a musical extravaganza while Paramount was looking at $25 million for something a bit edgier.

A statement from Ortega’s reps, though, claims his recent project was to blame for his departure. “Coming off the extraordinary project, Michael Jackson’s This is It, director Kenny Ortega has decided it is premature for him to commit to his next film and will not be moving forward with Footloose as previously reported.”

It’s believed Paramount will still try to keep to its March production start date.

Read More | Variety

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 30, 2009

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Fox Searchlight, Magnolia, Sony, Adaptation, Biopics, Documentary, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Music, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

• Michael Jackson’s This Is It (PG): starring Michael Jackson (directed by Kenny Ortega)  **in theaters now**
• Aladin* (NR): starring Ritesh Deshmukh, Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt (directed by Sujoy Ghosh)
• The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day* (R): starring Sean Patrick Flanery, Norman Reedus, Billy Connolly (directed by Troy Duffy)
• The Fall* (NR): starring Benny Ciaramello, Scott Kinworthy, Erica Shaffer (directed by John Krueger)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: October 30, 2009

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New Footage from Michael Jackson Documentary

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Columbia Pictures, Sony, Documentary, Music, Trailers, Upcoming Releases

If you watched the recent Video Music Awards, chances are you saw the trailer for the upcoming Michael Jackson documentary.

Now we’re getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the singer working through his “Human Nature” routine with film/tour director Kenny Ortega. Although we don’t see a lot of dancing in this particular clip, it’s evident Jackson’s voice was still in fine form.

This Is It hits the stage on October 28.

Read More | TMZ

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Julianne Hough About to Go Footloose

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Musicals, Remakes, Casting, Celeb News, Upcoming Releases

Julianne Hough‘s tackled both the dancing world and country music, now she’s moving on to the next phase: acting.

Provided she has room in her busy schedule, Julianne will be the Chace Crawford’s leading lady in the remake of Footloose. Dancing with the Stars’ two-time winner will be taking on the Ariel Moore role originated by Lori Singer.

Hough’s selection came after several other young stars - including Hayden Panettiere and Miley Cyrus - were rumored for the part. Although this wouldn’t be the 20-year-old’s first appearance on the big screen, this would be her first major role.

Director Kenny Ortega (High School Musical) told E! Online that he has much love for Julianne. “I adore her. I’m a big fan of hers. Not only how beautiful but how deep her talent goes.”

Production is set to begin in March.

Read More | Variety

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In Theaters This Weekend: October 24, 2008

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, New Line, Sony, Universal, Adaptation, Animation, Drama, Family, Foreign, Horror, Independent, Music, Musicals, Sequels, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases

Here are some possible suggestions for your upcoming weekend:

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: October 24, 2008

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High School Musical: The New Class

Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Disney, Family, Music, Musicals, Sequels, Casting

More than one thousand kids from around the world tried out for High School Musical 3: Senior Year, and after an extensive search Disney has picked three of them to become the stars of tomorrow. The three new talents will play sophomores at East High, bringing some much-needed fresh blood to the set. Avid Disney watchers will recognize Matt Prokop from Hannah Montana, but British-born Jemma McKenzie-Brown is a little harder to place (her acting creds include work on BBC). Justin Martin, the third addition to the cast, was seen in ABC’s A Raisin in the Sun.

Director Kenny Ortega says the three newbies will bring a lot of “musical fun” to the film, claiming that Jemma offers impressive singing and dancing. Ortega boasted of Matt’s comedy skills and Justin’s “presence and charisma.” The movie will hit the big screen in October, with filming set to being in Utah within the next few weeks.

Read More | TV Guide

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