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Dark-horse Film Finishes First
2 hours ago
Like one of those sports movies in which the dark-horse hero overcomes tremendous odds and overtakes a mighty rival, Warner Bros.' The Blind Side raced ahead of The Twilight Saga: New Moon in their third week of competition to take over first place with $20.04 million, according to final box-office figures released Monday. Veteran box-office tracker Paul Dergarabedian attributed the "amazing ... ascent" to "great word-of-mouth." Another factor may have been early market saturation for New Moon. Fans of the Twilight films (and/or its star, Robert Pattinson) may have been so eager to see New Moon that they rushed to the theaters in its first two weeks of release. That there was relatively little new or repeat business in its third week was evidenced by the fact that it dropped a whopping 64 percent to $15.3 million. Among four newcomers, only Brothers, starring Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman, and Jake Gyllenhaal, posted decent figures. It came in at the high end of expectations with $9.53 million. The thriller Armored, starring Matt Dillon and Laurence Fishburne debuted with $6.51 million, a figure probably better than what the studio, Sony/Screen Gems, expected, given the fact that it declined to show it in advance to critics. And there was little that was fine about the opening of Disney/Miramax's Everybody's Fine, starring Robert De Niro and Drew Barrymore, which collected just $3.85 million. A fourth film, the vampire spoof Transylmania had the distinction of opening with the lowest total in recent box-office history for a film opening in more than 1,000 theaters -- just $263,941 from 1,007, theaters -- or an average take of $262 from each of them. On the other hand, two films showing in limited release performed sensationally. Paramount's Up in the Air, starring George Clooney, amassed $1.18 million from just 15 theaters, or a massive $78,763 per theater (by contrast, The Blind Side averaged $6,026 per theater); it's due to open wide on Christmas Day. And Disney previewed The Princess and the Frog in New York and Los Angeles, combining it with an activities sideshow. The premium-priced screenings amassed an amazing $747,710 from the two theaters showing it -- or $373,855 for each theater. Dergarabedian pronounced the result "phenomenal." »
Will Redbox Take California Deeper Into The Red?
2 hours ago
As if the Southern California economy weren't already hit hard enough by the current economic meltdown -- now the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. is warning about the economic impact of Redbox. In a report issued on Monday, the agency forecast that the $1-per-night DVD kiosk operator could cost the local economy $1 billion and result in the loss of 9,280 jobs in the entertainment industry with the corresponding loss of $395 million in earnings. The study found that reduced DVD rental and sales income resulting from the cheap kiosk operations would also have a ripple effect, impacting retail trade, accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, professional, scientific and technical services, and manufacturing, among others. Contributions to health and welfare funds for entertainment industry members would be reduced by around $35.4 million. Further shock waves would be felt by state, county, and local government, whose tax revenues would be reduced. Redbox has continued to maintain that its kiosks allow consumers to rent more DVDs than they ordinarily would and keep them for more than one night. In an interview with today's (Tuesday) Hollywood Reporter, Redbox chief Mitch Lowe called the Laedc study "problematic." He maintained: "Redbox is an engine for industry growth, increasing consumer interest in film and providing new revenue streams to studios." »
Comcast Chief Predicts End Of DVD’S
2 hours ago
Forget Redbox. Forget Blockbuster. Even forget DVDs and Blu-ray discs. They represented "a moment in time in the studio business," Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts told the Ubs Global Media and Communications Conference in New York Monday. Roberts predicted that in the not-too-distant future all videos will be delivered to consumers online and on-demand -- and because cable operators like Comcast have the biggest "pipes," they'll be the preferred delivery channels. Taking note of the fact that the studios have already been hit by markedly lower DVD sales, Roberts said, "To the degree that we are America's largest provider of VOD and America's largest residential high-speed Internet provider, maybe we can be helpful." »
Movie Reviews: “Armored”
7 December 2009 10:55 AM, PST
It's hard to figure out why those who devised the marketing campaign for Armored elected not to show it to critics in advance. After all, it costars Laurence Fishburne, an Oscar-nominated actor (What's Love Got to Do with It?) and Matt Dillon (Drugstore Cowboy, Crash), one of the few actors to achieve critical respect after getting his start as an androgynous teen featured regularly in the pages of Tiger Beat (a typical feature article: "Take a Bath with Matt"). A.O. Scott in his New York Times review may have put his finger on the problem when he described the movie as "a blunt and unpretentious action thriller too unassuming to show itself in advance to critics." Ty Burr in the Boston Globe added: "This is exactly the kind of lean, unpretentious B-thriller that people who watch movies for a living tend to appreciate, even if paying audiences no longer do." But Bruce DeMara wrote in the Toronto Star that a studio's decision to block weekend reviews usually means that it's expecting "a slew of tepid reviews. Well, at least they got something right." Actually, with a few exceptions -- DeMara's being one of them -- the reviews have turned out to be mostly favorable. Joe Neumaier in the New York Daily News described it as "a tense, gutsy crime drama ... and, for this genre, surprisingly ethical." The Times's Scott pronounced it "an unabashed B movie: basic, brutal and sometimes clumsy, but far from dumb, and not bad at all." And to the Los Angeles Times's Glenn Whipp, it's "a solid heist flick." »
Movie Reviews: “Transylmania”
7 December 2009 10:51 AM, PST
Not showing Transylmania to critics in advance didn't help the movie any, it would seem. It had the worst opening attendance of any film in modern times with many theater complexes no doubt screening it to empty seats. The film averaged about $270 per theater for the three days. To be sure, the vampire spoof wouldn't have been helped by the reviews, either. If vampires draw blood, the affliction suffered by this film is that "someone has drained all the laughs out of it," commented Mike Hale in the New York Times. Robert Abele in the Los Angeles Times used the words "moronic," "inept" and "tiresome" to describe the script. Tom Russo in the Boston Globe called it "lowbrow." And Frank Scheck in the Hollywood Reporter summed up: "Bottom Line: Lame vampire spoof has no bite." Most critics simply ignored it. »
“Blind Side” Turns Out “Twilight’s” Lights
6 December 2009 5:46 PM, PST
The Blind Side turned out to be a real eye-opener for box-office analysts over the weekend as the movie took over first place in its third weekend with an estimated $20.1 million -- about what the analysts had predicted it would make in its first weekend. The film, which was released with little buzz amid reports of unexceptional tracking, has now taken in $129.3 million and seems certain to become the highest-grossing sports movie ever produced. Meanwhile, The Twilight Saga: New Moon clearly has lost its bite. It dropped a steep 63 percent to about $15.7 million. (Nevertheless, its current tally stands at an astounding $255.6 million.) On the other hand Disney's A Christmas Carol continued to be the gift that keeps on giving for Disney as it brought in an additional $7.5 million in its fifth week to bring its total to $115 million. Four films opened wide over the weekend but made little impact. The best performer of the lot was Brothers, which took in an unexceptional $9.7 million. Armored, which was not screened for critics in advance, brought in just $6.6 million. Everybody's Fine was anything but fine as it opened with just $4 million. And then there was Transylmania, which proved that vampires don't always flourish in the darkness of movie theaters. Earning a total of $274,000 at 1,007 theaters, it instantly gained the record for the least amount of money ever taken in by a movie opening in more than 1,000 theaters during an opening weekend. In limited release, Up in the Air with George Clooney flew sky high, earning around $1.2 million in just 15 theaters -- or an average of $79,000 per theater. The film received solid reviews on Friday, the same day it was voted best film of the year by the National Board of Review. »
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