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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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Box Office Breakdown: The Wild Things Are #1

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

Where the Wild Things Are

Who knew a 10-sentence long story could do so well?

It may have taken over three years for Where the Wild Things Are to officially debut, but the long journey was apparently worth the wait. The Spike Jonze project, which was once rumored to be too scary for children, finally unfolded over the weekend and soared to first place. The Maurice Sendak adaptation, which earned approximately $32.7 million, also gave Warner Bros. its best October open ever.

Even though Gerard Butler didn’t bother to promote during his recent Saturday Night Live stint, the film managed to survive on its own. The actioner, which also starred Jamie Foxx, raked in just over $21 million and won a close race for 2nd place. Meanwhile, word-of-mouth hit Paranormal Activity grossed another $19.6 million and moved up one rung to the third spot.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: The Wild Things Are #1

Read More | Variety

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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

Couples Retreat

Depending on how you look at the numbers, the winner this weekend was either 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, 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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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

Zombieland

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, , 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. , 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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Box Office Breakdown: Meatballs Rolls to Another Victory

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Lionsgate, Sony, Touchstone, Universal, Warner Bros, Weinstein Company, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Independent, Music, Period, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

was no substitute for meatballs.

Despite competition from a Bruce Willis film, a music-based remake and a sci-fi horror entry, remained the theatergoers’ order of choice for the second week in a row. The children’s book adaptation had Sony dining to the tune of $25 million—over $10 million more than the second place finisher.

Many thought Willis, who hasn’t had a major role since 2007’s Live Free or Die Hard, was on track to take first this weekend. Unfortunately, his hair movie was considered a big letdown given its $15 million gross and $80 million budget. Meanwhile, , a remake of the 1980 hit, had no one feeling like they wanted to live forever. The MGM feature only rung up $10 million for third place.

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Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Drawn to Funny People

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Funny People

When you combine the talents of , Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow, a 1st place finish shouldn’t shock you. A $22.7 million haul? That is surprising.

Despite earning enough to displace G-Force for the weekend’s top spot, failed to bring the movie house down. The 144-minute length dramedy pulled in the lowest gross for any #1 entry this summer. While the film did better than any of Sandler’s dramatic efforts, it didn’t fall line with his comedic outings.

On the other hand, Rogen and Apatow had more reason to be pleased with the box office results. The Universal pic gave Seth his best debut since 2007’s Superbad. Meanwhile, Funny fell right in between The 40-Year-Old Virgin ($21.4 million) and ($30.7 million) for Judd.

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Box Office Breakdown: G-Force Teams Up on Harry Potter

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists

G-Force

Let’s face it: Daniel Radcliffe may be cute, but guinea pigs are cuter.

Despite earning $78 million last weekend, could not keep up the magic. The sequel fell to second place after earning a still impressive $29.5 million take over the past three days. Overall, the film has raked in $220 million to date and a delayed opening in IMAX theaters this Wednesday - Transformers 2 had been taking up room - should give the film another boost.

So what could possibly scoot the wizards out of first place? Rodents. Disney, which has already seen The Proposal and Up premiere on top this summer, earned another victory with the debut of . The comedy about a bunch of whiskered CIA operatives roped in $31.6 million over the weekend, just enough for a close win.

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Box Office Breakdown: Harry Potter Casts a Big Win

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

After putting up with a frustrating delay, eager Muggles rushed to the theaters this weekend in droves. kicked off its extended debut with a record-breaking premiere ($22.2 million) at midnight Tuesday. The series’ sixth installment went on to earn $158 million over five days and officially became the biggest international opener of all time ($237 million).

Despite the numbers, there was one film Half-Blood could not beat: The Dark Knight. At this same time last year, the Batman sequel had also racked up $158 million in sales. But that film did it in only three days.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Harry Potter Casts a Big Win

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Box Office Breakdown: Bruno Crawls His Way to #1

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Bruno crawling

Just like in the fashion world, one day was hot—the next day he was not.

Even though the comedy did well enough to place first this weekend, it appears the sexually graphic film may have turned some off. Ticket sales for the entry dropped 39% between Friday and Saturday, leading many to believe that negative word of mouth played a factor.

In total, Bruno piqued enough interest to raise $30.6 million over three days. While that gross beats Borat‘s $26.5 million debut, the 2006 film later went on to earn $129 million domestically.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Bruno Crawls His Way to #1

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: Transformers Melts Ice Age’s Hopes

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Box Office, Lists

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

This was one heated battle that left Ice Age out in the cold.

Only 24 hours ago, and the animated comedy were estimated to finish in a possible tie. But when the final numbers were computed, last Monday’s champ managed to keep its spot for another round. In just two weeks, the Paramount feature has managed to earn just under $300 million.

But had nothing to complain about. Even though it missed the #1 spot by less than $1 million, the threequel had the best per screen average of any entry in the Top Ten. In total, the movie earned $66.7 million over five days, just shy of what 2006’s Ice Age: The Meltdown grossed over only three days.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Transformers Melts Ice Age’s Hopes

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Box Office Breakdown: Transformers Rises Above the Competition

Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, FOCUS, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Period, Remakes, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists

Transformers: Rise of the Fallen

It’s not very often when “loud” and “mindless” are deemed good qualities. But in Paramount’s case, it was a recipe for success.

Over the past five days, did what most films have been attempting all year: It passed the $200 million mark. (Up just became the first 2009 film to hit $250 million.)

While the Michael Bay film is definitely on track to be one of the most successful entries this year (let’s not forget about Harry Potter), the sequel’s opening still takes second behind last year’s topper. During its opening run, earned $203.8 million domestically.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Transformers Rises Above the Competition

Read More | Variety

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