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12 articles from 2009
“Frog” Arrives -- Warts And All
14 December 2009 1:13 PM, PST
| Studio Briefing - Film News
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The Princess and the Frog may have reigned supreme over the weekend, but box-office pundits were keenly divided over whether Disney’s hand-drawn animated feature produced magic or croaked. According to early estimates, the fairy-tale film took in $25 million in ticket sales. It was, several reports noted in their lead paragraphs, the most any animated film had ever earned in a December opening. “People just fell in love with it,” Disney distribution chief Chuck Viane told the Hollywood Reporter, which headlined “Disney’s ‘Princess’ Charms Weekend Moviegoers.” Daily Variety splashed on its front page “Frog Hops to Top of Box Office.” The French news agency Agence France-Press trumpeted, “Big U.S. Box Office Kiss for Disney’s ‘Frog Princess’” And Britain’s Screen Digest said in its lede “The Princess and the Frog struck a blow for the 2D animated musical.” And indeed, the film did marginally outperform Disney’s last “princess” movie, 1998’s Mulan, which opened with $22.7 million. However, other writers pointed out, that was in 1998, when the average price of a movie ticket was less than $4.50. Mulan reportedly cost $70 million to make; Princess, $105 million. While the consensus among box-office forecasters was that it would overwhelm competing films by earning more than $30 million this weekend, Princess only managed to perform on par with Disney’s last two non-Pixar animated features, Bolt, which opened with $26 million, and Meet the Robinsons, which opened with $25 million. Analysts have described those films as financial disappointments for Disney. “This frog’s going to need legs,” commented today’s (Monday) Los Angeles Times. Other print and online publications also noted that Disney appears to be hoping that by opening the movie before school lets out for the holidays, it will generate sufficient positive word-of-mouth to attract big crowds and repeat business in the coming weeks.
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'Princess and the Frog' hops to top of box office
13 December 2009 9:52 AM, PST
| Zap2It - From Inside the Box
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From Los Angeles Times' Company Town
This frog's going to need legs.
Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" opened to $25 million, a
relatively soft start that's in line with the last two releases by its
Burbank-based animation studio, "Bolt" and "Meet the Robinsons," which
were financial disappointments.
However, by opening "Princess" in the first half of December,
typically a slow time for moviegoing, Disney is aiming to set up its
first hand-drawn animated feature in six years to have "legs," an
industry term for slowly declining ticket sales, through the holidays.
In that regard, the picture's average audience grade of A, according to
market research firm CinemaScore, is a good sign about word of mouth,
which will be crucial to its ultimate performance.
Check out full box office rankings gallery below and read the full story at the La Times' Company Town blog.
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- editorial@zap2it.com
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Leonardo DiCaprio Finally Voices an Animated Character: Jack Frost
3 December 2009 4:15 PM, PST
| Cinematical
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It's hard to believe that after so many years being one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, Leonardo DiCaprio had never lent his voice for an animated film. Alas, in these times where studios still think A-list names sell tickets, even when you can't see their pretty faces, it was only a matter of time before Leo went before the microphone to speak for a cartoon character. He'll be heard as the voice of Jack Frost in DreamWorks Animation's The Guardians, based on the upcoming series of books by children's author William Joyce (A Day with Wilbur Robinson, source of Meet the Robinsons).
The computer-animated film will be directed by Peter Ramsey, whose only known credit is the recent Monsters vs. Aliens DVD spin-off Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space. Interestingly enough, The Guardians is also somewhat holiday-related. In addition to Jack Frost, characters include Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, as
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- Christopher Campbell
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Leonardo DiCaprio To Make Animated Feature Film Debut With The Guardians
3 December 2009 10:22 AM, PST
| Slash Film
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Dreamworks Animation announced today that Leonardo DiCaprio will make his animated feature film debut as Jack Frost in The Guardians. After the jump you can see a concept rendering of DiCaprio's computer animated character, along with the official press release.
Based on an upcoming book series by William Joyce, whose work inspired Disney's Meet The Robinsons. Described as "a contemporary fairytale based on existing fairytale characters," The world's five unlikeliest heroes - Jack Frost, North (aka Santa), Bunnymund (the Easter Bunny), Tooth (the Tooth Fairy), and Sandy (the Sandman) - must band together to stop an ancient spirit called Pitch (the Boogeyman) from plunging the world into eternal darkness. Of course, the characters have been "somewhat renamed and massively re-imagined". The first book has a tentative release of Christmas 2010. Visual effects artist and animator Jeff Lynch makes his feature directorial debut. The Guardians, currently a working title, is scheduled to
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- Peter Sciretta
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Who's imagining The Guardians?
3 November 2009 8:16 AM, PST
| Corona's Coming Attractions
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DreamWorks Animation caught the screen rights to kids book writer William Joyce's upcoming new work The Guardians and is in the early stages of developing it as a film slated for release in November 2012. Now the studio has hired David Lindsay-Abaire to adapt Joyce's work for the screen, giving the project a little bit of oomph because the writer is a Pulitzer Price winner for his lyrics on Shrek the Musical.
The book won't be out until the year before the movie. Joyce, the creator of George Shrinks, Rolie Polie Olie and Meet the Robinsons, will also receive a co-direction credit under director Peter Ramsey, newly promoted after acting as the head of story development on Monsters vs. Aliens.
Joyce's Guardians include imaginary figures like Santa Clause and the Man in the Moon, and they act as heroes sworn to protect the world's children from bad guys. It sounds
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- Patrick Sauriol
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David Lindsay-Abaire to Adapt The Guardians
2 November 2009 5:57 PM, PST
| MovieWeb
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Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire will adapt DreamWorks Animation's The Guardians, an adaptation of the upcoming children's book series by William Joyce, according to Variety.
The Guardians will be directed by Peter Ramsey, and centers on a group of iconic figures sworn to protect children from the forces of evil. Their ranks include Santa Claus, Jack Frost, the Easter Bunny and the Man in the Moon. The books, a mix of text and illustrations, will be published in 2011 under the title "The Guardians of Childhood." Each book focuses on one of the Guardians. Joyce, the creator of "Rolie Polie Olie" and "Meet the Robinsons," will be co-director.
DreamWorks Animation has set a November 2, 2012, release.
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Astro Boy Review
28 October 2009 5:13 AM, PDT
| Atomic Popcorn
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Although he may not be familiar to U.S. audiences, Astro Boy is no newcomer to the animated universe. Engineered for young Japanese audiences in the 1950’s by manga artist Osamu Tezuka, the mechanical moppet has long been a cultural icon in his native country; think Mickey Mouse with electronic innards. Drawn like a hybrid of Bob’s Big Boy and Namor the Submariner, Astro was a hero with the extraordinary qualities of mythic supermen wrapped in a kid-shaped shell. Now he shows up again, on American shores, in a bright and bold animated film by David Bowers (Flushed Away) that stays true to its source material while offering both children and their parents a welcome reprieve from the recent run of tepid children’s cartoons.
Metro City is a flying megalopolis that thrives in luxury while the polluted Earth below it languishes in poverty. The key to the city’s prosperity is robots.
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- Nathan Bartlebaugh
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Weekend Report: 'Couples Retreat' Advances, 'Paranormal Activity' Spikes
12 October 2009 11:48 AM, PDT
| Box Office Mojo
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While weekend business as a whole was relatively modest for the time of year (albeit up seven percent from last year), the sole new nationwide release Couples Retreat, the spreading Paranormal Activity and holdovers Zombieland and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs all boasted impressive showings.
Landing smack dab in the middle of the debut weekends for star Vince Vaughn's previous relationship comedies Four Christmases and The Break-Up, Couples Retreat attracted $34.3 million on approximately 3,800 screens at 3,000 sites, claiming the highest-grossing Columbus Day weekend gross on record ahead of the similarly-appealing Meet the Parents (which still had greater attendance). In its marketing, the picture was presented in the same vein as Meet the Parents and the other Vaughn movies, featuring relatable themes and verbal and slapstick humor, topped off with a sunny vacation setting. Distributor Universal Pictures' exit polling indicated that the "humor" and "Vince Vaughn" were the top
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- Brandon Gray
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Blue Skies for 'Cloudy,'Hazy Starts for 'Surrogates,' 'Fame'
27 September 2009 11:23 AM, PDT
| Box Office Mojo
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Moviegoers came back for a second helping of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, but the new items on the menu, Surrogates and Fame, didn't fly. That led to a weekend that was off seven percent from the same timeframe last year when Eagle Eye landed. Standing as the only broadly appealing movie among recent releases, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs dissipated by a mere 19 percent, generating an estimated $24.6 million and lifting its total to a solid $60 million in ten days. Its drop was less than such comparable titles as Open Season, Meet the Robinsons and Chicken Little, though it may have a steeper decline in its third weekend, when the Toy Story double feature will claim much of its 3D attention. Surrogates plugged in with an estimated $15 million on approximately 3,600 screens at 2,951 sites, or a fraction of what the similar I, Robot started at. The science fiction thriller
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- Brandon Gray
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Weekend Report: Moviegoers Feast on 'Meatballs,' Slim Pickings for 'Jennifer'
21 September 2009 12:31 PM, PDT
| Box Office Mojo
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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs landed with a sunny $30.3 million and led the weekend as a whole to a 14 percent bump over the same timeframe last year. The other new releases, however, weren't pretty, especially Jennifer's Body, which had an advertising campaign that made the mistake of going gaga for its hyped actress. Storming approximately 4,500 screens at 3,119 sites, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs served up the highest-grossing September animation debut on record, topping Sony Pictures stable mate Open Season. Nearly $18 million of Cloudy's opening was from 3D presentations at 1,828 sites. Of the 3D presentations, 127 were in IMAX and they accounted for $2.4 million of the gross. While Cloudy paled compared to recent 3D pictures like Up and Monsters Vs. Aliens, its debut was a bit higher than Bolt and Meet the Robinsons. Due to the higher ticket prices of 3D and IMAX, Cloudy had a smaller audience than regular movies that open to $30 million,
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- Brandon Gray
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‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ - “Scene Selection” Review
21 September 2009 11:58 AM, PDT
| MovieSet.com
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Children’s books are becoming the properties to adapt to film these days. “Twilight” is popular (although it is a teen novel); one of the most anticipated films of this year is “Where the Wild Things Are;” and this weekend ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs‘ opened nationwide.
Sam Spark voiced by Anna Farris in Columbia Pictures' animated film Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.
Based upon a popular children’s book by the same name, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs‘ is set in a Podunk fishing island. An aspiring inventor named Flint, voiced by Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live fame, fails at almost everything in life, but he has finally invented a worthwhile gadget: a machine that converts water into food. As mishaps ensue, the machine somehow gets launched into the sky, and causes food to rain from the sky. Greed throughout the town of Chewandswallow
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- Alex Kartman
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Xbox Live Summer Dashboard Update Drops On August 11th
6 August 2009 11:30 AM, PDT
| The Flickcast
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Set to go live on August 11th, the Summer XBox Live update adds three new features for players to use to expand their XBox Live experience.
Part 1: Games on Demand
Much like the XBox Originals program which has slowed down as of late, players will be able to download full XBox 360 games to their hard drive after purchasing a digital copy off XBox Live Marketplace. Unlike installing the game from the disk, players will not need to insert a disc in to the drive to play the game as all licenses will be saved to the hard drive as well.
To make transactions easier, players can use credit or debit cards to purchase games instead of being forced to use Microsoft points and causing extra unnecessary steps in the purchasing process. Prices have not yet been released for the following titles which should be live when the update launches.
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- John Carle
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