Could The Force Awakens be the biggest movie debut ever? Well, if Celebration is any indication… The movie is going to open in at least 4,500 locations, The Hollywood Reporter says. As for total figures, box-office analyst Phil Contrino thinks it “will hit $1 billion without blinking.”
Gee, catering to young dudes is actually harming Hollywood’s cash flow?
Gee, catering to young dudes is actually harming Hollywood’s cash flow? “Many male-skewing summer tentpoles are luring fewer females.” Imagine that.
Roundup: What is Peter Jackson doing with Episode VIII?
April Fools! Here’s one we missed: First Showing spotted what appears to be an Episode VIII script or treatment that appears very briefly in Peter Jackson’s latest Hobbit behind-the-scenes video, which was released on Monday. Of course, there are also appear to be scripts that say The Silmarillion, which I don’t believe anyone even has the film rights for, so take it as you will. I’m sure you can guess how I’m leaning. Well played, hobbitses.
Box office. The Motley Fool predicts that Episode VII will make a lot of money. Not just a a lot of money (because duh) but that it will go where only James Cameron has gone before: To make $2 billion worldwide. Well, if anyone can, it would be Star Wars… Right?
People. J.J. Abrams talks Star Wars and Star Trek with SFX, while Harrison Ford’s lips are sealed on Entertainment Tonight Oh the humanity. Or maybe he’s just tortured his publicist enough this week.
Back… To the future! Movies.com gathers some Lucas’ quotes on earlier plans for extending the saga.
The Avengers smashes at box office
The cumulation of Marvel’s multi-film strategy is proving to be the most successful yet: The Avengers‘ $200.3M opening weekend has soared it past Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 for the biggest opening weekend of all time. (Potter still holds the record for biggest opening day.)
Word-of-mouth is playing a big part – the film only dropped 13% from Friday to Saturday, and it’s getting a rare A+ rating from CinemaScore participants. And:
“It’s not playing like just a superhero film,” says Dave Hollis, Disney’s executive vice president of distribution. “It’s playing like a huge, accessible-to-everyone, all-quadrant picture.” To prove Hollis’ point, Disney is reporting that the PG-13 superhero flick was split 50-50 between moviegoers under the age of 25 and those over 25. And while men outnumbered women, it wasn’t to an extreme extent; men made up 60 percent of the film’s audience.
Everyone loves a superhero movie! Or maybe just Joss Whedon, who will certainly have his pick of offers now.
Hunger Games has the third biggest debut of all time
The Hunger Games is more than living up to box office speculation: With $155 million, now the third-highest domestic debt of all time, and the first that’s not a sequel. (It came in behind only The Dark Knight and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.)
The film is, not surprisingly, drawing in more men than Twilight, with women compromising 61% of the opening weekend crowd. (The audience of the last Twilight film was 80% female.) It’s also doing well across the country – a Utah theater had the weekend’s highest gross.
Have you seen it yet? What did you think? Vote in our poll beneath the cut!
Continue reading “Hunger Games has the third biggest debut of all time”
The Phantom Menace crosses $1B milestone
The Phantom Menace became the first Star Wars movie to cross the $1 billion mark at the box office Wednesday, only the 11th film to do so globally.
The Phantom Menace drops to #6 at the box office, but moves past Star Wars on the all-time list
The Phantom Menace had a 65% drop at the box office this weekend, coming up at #6 with $7.9 million, but it did pass one very big milestone – the first Star Wars. The Phantom Menace is now beating the original in all-time domestic grosses. Will A New Hope earn back top placement when its 3D turn comes around? Stay tuned…
In the meantime, there’s a rumor going around that we may see Attack of the Clones 3D as soon as August. Curious…
Phantom Menace comes in #4 for weekend with $23M
The weekend box office estimates are in, and it looks like the 3D rerelease of Episode I came in with a respectable $23M. Fox isn’t saying anything about further Star Wars 3D rerelease plans yet, but I’d bet that we’ll be seeing Attack of the Clones this time next year.
As predicted, The Vow and the Denzel Washington/Ryan Reynolds thriller Safe House were the top movies this weekend with $41.7M and $39.3M respectively. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island came in #3 with $27.6M. Overall, theaters took in $190M this weekend, an almost 30% increase over this time last year.
Red Tails takes #2 at box office this weekend
Ringing in with a better-than-expected $19.1 million, Red Tails is second only to the fourth Underworld film in this weekend’s box office numbers. It’s a strong debut, bolstered by support from the African-American community and good word-of-mouth. (CinemaScore audiences have rated the movie a solid “A-.”) Viewers increased 40% from Friday to Saturday as well – a good sign for next weekend’s numbers, according to Entertainment Weekly. Box Office Mojo notes that this is 20th Century Fox’s best opening for “a non-franchise title” since last year’s Rio.
Also of note to Star Wars fans, given the February 10 release of The Phantom Menace 3D, is the performance of Disney’s recent release of Beauty and the Beast in 3D. It’s not doing near as well as the 3D version of The Lion King did last year, plummeting 52% this weekend. (It was #2 last week.) Lion King 3D spent a surprising two weeks at #1 in September. On the other hand, there’s little doubt that the 3D revenues from Underworld: Awakening helped bolster the film to #1. Who can say what it all really means for TPM?
Box Office: Avatar beats Titanic, but still lags behind The Phantom Menace
Avatar may have beat Titanic in terms of cold hard cash, but it still has yet to catch up with The Phantom Menace when it comes to the amount of tickets sold, Entertainment Weekly points out. And when the domestic box office numbers are adjusted for inflation, it’s only #26 – all three original trilogy films and TPM are higher, along with Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T., The Exorcist and all-time champ Gone With the Wind. (A New Hope is #2.)
Granted, all this stat-pushing is petty and useless, but hey: We’re interested, aren’t we? And on that note, check below the cut for a blast from the past: The ad George Lucas took out in Variety when Titanic took the top spot from Star Wars. Continue reading “Box Office: Avatar beats Titanic, but still lags behind The Phantom Menace“