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Land of the Dead (2005)

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Leguizamo Refuses Cold Films
6 September 2005 (WENN)
Columbian actor John Leguizamo has vowed never to make another movie in sub-zero temperatures because filming Land Of The Dead in a Canadian winter made him feel suicidal. The 41-year-old star - who plays mercenary leader Cholo in the zombie thriller - was forced to endure three consecutive months of freezing temperatures on the outdoor Toronto film set. He tells British magazine Hotdog, "Dude it was hell on earth. It makes you suicidal. No matter how much fun you're having it was still like, 'Jesus f**king Christ - I want to see the sun'. You become like a zombie. It was freezing cold and we were outside, and they had these crazy nuclear-like burners to keep us warm. So many people went on fire. Everybody had a burnt spot on their coat, because you want to get as close as possible between takes."

'War' Takes No Prisoners
6 July 2005 (StudioBriefing)
War of the Worlds overwhelmed the domestic box office over the weekend, earning more money than all of the other top-ten movies combined. The Steven Spielberg sci-fi film starring Tom Cruise debuted with $77.1 million Friday through Monday, light years ahead of second-place Batman Begins, which took in $19.3 million.

The top ten films over the four-day weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. War of the Worlds, Paramount, $77,061,953, 1 Wk. ($112,744,353 -- from Wednesday); 2. Batman Begins, Warner Bros., $19,339,432, 3 Wks. ($154,800,369); 3. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 20th Century Fox, ($12,723,583, 4 Wks. ($146,082,474); 4. Bewitched, Sony, $11,076,523, 2 Wks. ($40,583,013); 5. Herbie: Fully Loaded, Disney, $10,762,050, 2 Wks. ($37,093,838); 6. Madagascar, DreamWorks, $6,701,584, 6 Wks. ($172,131,077); 7. Rebound, 20th Century Fox, $6,003,237, (New); 8. Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, 20th Century Fox, $5,031,463, 7 Wks. ($366,502,577); 9. The Longest Yard, Paramount, $4,004,317, 6 Wks. ($148,692,427); 10. Land of the Dead, Universal, $3,255,585, 2 Wks. ($16,750,380).

The Slump Grows Deeper
5 July 2005 (StudioBriefing)
It didn't come close to rivaling last year's Spider-Man 2 opening, but War of the Worlds did rake in an estimated $113.3 million in its first six days, and no other Independence Day opening except Spidey's ($180 million) has done as well. Still, it topped a slate of unexceptional performers at the box office that saw its overall total drop 23 percent from to $171 million from $223 million last year. It marked the 19th consecutive weekend of the current record-breaking slump. Most holdover films saw significant drops of 50 percent or more from last week. Worst of all was Universal's George A. Romero's Land of the Dead, which fell a deadly 74 percent in its second week. The only other new entry, the Martin Lawrence comedy Rebound, earned only $6 million. Exhibitor Relations President Paul Dergarabedian attempted to put a good face on the results, telling Bloomberg News, "Considering we're in a so-called slump, I think the box office was very respectable." Nevertheless, he added, "We need a movie to come along, or several movies to come along, to break this slump. ... I don't know when that's going to happen." and 20th Century Fox's distribution chief remarked in an interview with the Washington Post: "We were all going up against Spider-Man 2. We were not going to come out ahead this weekend no matter what. ... The thought of having a record year every year is almost silly."

The top ten films for the Friday-through-Monday period, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. War of the Worlds, $77.6 million; 2. Batman Begins, $18.7 million; 3. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, $12.7 million; 4. Bewitched, $10.8 million; 5. Herbie: Fully Loaded, $10.5 million; 6. Madagascar, $7 million; 7. Rebound, $6 million; 8. Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, $5 million; 9. The Longest Yard, $3.5 million; 10. George Romero's Land of the Dead, $3.2 million.

'War' Toll: $204.2 Million
4 July 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Box office estimates over the Independence Day weekend proved to be a testament to the fact that not all "tent-pole" blockbuster movies are created equal. Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds, starring Tom Cruise, took in $101.7 million in its first five days in the U.S. ($66 million over the Friday-Sunday period), according to estimates released by Paramount on Sunday. But the self-evident truth was that last year, Spider-Man 2 raked in $152 million over the same period. And only a few weeks ago, Revenge of the Sith earned $172.8 million in its first five days. More impressive was World's performance overseas, where it actually earned a bit more than it did domestically -- $102.5 million over the five days, including a record-breaking $15.5 million in Japan. Studios did not provide estimates for other releases, preferring to wait until Tuesday when estimates for the Monday holiday could be included. Nevertheless, it appeared certain that the weekend total would fall well below last year's for the same holiday and would extend the box-office slump into its nineteenth week. Tellingly, Spielberg himself weighed in on the slump, telling syndicated gossip columnist Cindy Pearlman, "Filmmakers have to make the kind of movies people want to see. ... I believe when the right movies come along, people do show up." Saturday's box-office list, compiled by Exhibitor Relations, may provide a barometer for the holiday weekend.

The top ten were: 1. War of the Worlds, Paramount, $24.6 million; 2. Batman Begins, Warner Bros., $6.6 million; 3. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, 20th Century Fox, $4 million; 4. Bewitched, Sony, $3.6 million; 5. Herbie: Fully Loaded, Buena Vista, $3 million; 6. Madagascar, DreamWorks, $2 million; 7. Rebound, 20th Century Fox, $1.9 million; 8. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, 20th Century Fox, $1.5 million; 9. The Longest Yard, Paramount, $1.1 million; 10. Land of the Dead, Universal, $9.8 million.

NOTE: Today's edition of Studio Briefing is somewhat abbreviated due to the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

'Batman Begins' Continues as No. 1
28 June 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Batman Begins remained at the top of the box office and two newcomers, Bewitched and Herbie: Fully Loaded, performed reasonably well over the weekend. But they were not potent enough to bring the box office out of an 18-week slump, the worst in its recorded history. Final figures released Monday indicated that Warner's new Batman movie earned $27.6 million over the weekend, followed by Sony's Bewitched, with $20.1 million. Fox's Mr. & Mrs. Smith placed third (in its third week) with $16.8 million, while Disney's Herbie:Fully Loaded earned $12.8 million, to place fourth. Universal's new zombie movie, George Romero's Land of the Dead rounded out the top five with $10.2 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Batman Begins, Warner Bros. $27,589,389, 2 Wks. ($122,511,813); 2. Bewitched, Sony, $20,131,130, (New); 3. Mr. & Mrs. Smith, 20th Century Fox, $16,825,209, 3 Wks. ($125,513,483); 4. Herbie: Fully Loaded, Disney, $12,709,221, 1 Wk. ($17,745,586 -- From Wednesday); 5. George Romero's Land of the Dead, Universal, $10,221,705, (New); 6. Madagascar, DreamWorks, $7,434,917, 5 Wks. ($160,191,242); 7. Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, 20th Century Fox, $6,113,071, 6 Wks. ($358,469,219); 8. The Longest Yard, Paramount, $5,527,359, 5 Wks. ($141,947,805); 9. The Adventures of Shark Boy & Lava Girl in 3-D, Miramax, $3,496,044, 3 Wks. ($30,539,862); 10. Cinderella Man, Universal, $3,446,235, 4 Wks. ($49,768,535).

Box Office Slump Hits 18 Weeks
27 June 2005 (StudioBriefing)
The combination of Batman, Herbie the love bug, and Samantha the witch were not enough to lift the box office out of its chronic slump this weekend. All performed reasonably well, with Batman Begins holding the top spot for the second week with an estimated $26.8 million in ticket sales to bring its total to $121.7 million. Sony's Bewitched, with Nicole Kidman playing Samantha, opened in second place with about $20.2 million. Disney's Herbie: Fully Loaded starring, Lindsay Lohan, opened at No. 4 with $12.8 million ($17.8 million since its Wednesday debut), just behind the third week of Fox's Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie comedy thriller Mr. & Mrs. Smith, with $16.8 million, which has now taken in $125.4 million. The only other new film this weekend was George Romero's Land of the Dead from Universal, which took in $10.2 million, qualifying for the fifth spot. Overall sales were down from last year for the 18th weekend in a row, falling 16 percent to $116.7 million for the top 12 films.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Batman Begins, $26.8 million; 2. Bewitched, $20.2 million; 3. Mr. and Mrs. Smith, $16.75 million; 4. Herbie: Fully Loaded, $12.75 million; 5. George Romero's Land of the Dead, $10.2 million; 6. Madagascar, $7.3 million; 7. Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, $6.25 million; 8. The Longest Yard, $5.5 million; 9. The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, $3.4 million; 10. Cinderella Man, $3.3 million.

Movie Reviews: 'Land of the Dead'
24 June 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Ordinarily studios don't even bother showing horror movies to critics in advance of their release. But director George A. Romero, who has become a virtual legend in the film business with such fright films as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead, is obviously an exception, since he commands the kind of respect that other film makers of that genre only dream of. It's all evident in many of the reviews of his latest film, Land of the Dead. "The godfather of the modern zombie flick shows us how it's done right: With fleet pacing, well-timed shocks and a stealthy satiric edge," writes Gene Seymour in Newsday. David Hiltbrand in the Philadelphia Inquirer declares: "The zombie king ... returns with his most ingenious and ambitious zombie film yet." Bob Strauss in the Los Angeles Daily News hails the movie as "certainly the best-crafted film Romero has ever made." But Bob Longino in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution isn't about to accept Romero's credentials as a master filmmaker, writing: "Aside from the sick ick, there's really not too much 'master' going on here." And Steve Persall concludes in the St. Petersburg Times: "Romero originally planned a trilogy; this fourth movie takes us to the flesh trough one too many times."

Dawn of a New Zombie Film
18 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
First there was George Romero's classic 1978 zombie movie Dawn of the Dead. Then, last year, came the spoof of the movie, Shaun of the Dead. Now, Romero has a new film in the works, Land of the Dead, in which members of the cast of last year's spoof will be featured, one of the stars of the new movies has disclosed. John Leguizamo, who says he plays "a zombie killer" in the new movie, told the website ComingSoon.net, "I've got my own hypothesis too about [why Romero included the Shaun cast]. ... The beauty about Romero is that there's always been a sense of humor about things. I mean, there's always a little bit of a wink to it."