News for
The Simpsons Movie (2007)

IMDbPro offers the latest entertainment industry news from the Hollywood Reporter. Sign-up for a two-week free trial today. Click here for a free trial!

'Beowulf' Tops DVD Charts
6 March 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Paramount Home Entertainment's Beowulf took over the lead on both the DVD sales charts and rental charts last week, dropping last week's winner, Universal's American Gangster, to second place on each of the charts. The film earned $10.9 million in rentals, according to Home Media magazine. Several of last year's animated films returned to the sales charts, including Disney/Pixar's Ratatouille, which came in at No. 3; DreamWorks Animation's Shrek the Third at No. 7; and Fox's The Simpsons Movie, at No. 8. Home Media attributed the surge in sales for the animated fare to the "looming Easter gift-giving season."

Producers Name Five Top Films -- 'Atonement' Not Among Them
15 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The Producers Guild of America, whose choice of best film often is mirrored at the Oscars, announced its nominees Monday. They include: No Country for Old Men, Juno, There Will Be Blood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Michael Clayton. Conspicuously absent from the list is Atonement which was named best film at Sunday's Golden Globe announcements. Three films were nominated in the animation category: Bee Movie, Ratatouille, and The Simpsons Movie. The winners will be announced on February 2.

Producers Guild Nominees Announced
14 January 2008 (WENN)
Hot on the heels of the Golden Globe awards, the Producers Guild of America has announed its five contenders for its Best Picture award: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and There Will Be Blood. Four of the five films also previously received Directors Guild nominations (Juno was passed over for Into the Wild by the DGA), and all films received multiple Golden Globe nods. The last of the major guild awards, the PGA honors effectively put the kibosh on such hopeful Oscar contenders as Atonement, Charlie Wilson's War and Sweeney Todd, which received no love from the Directors Guild, the Screen Actors Guild or the Writers Guild. While the nominations from the guild aren't exact precursors for the Academy Awards, a majority of guild members are also Academy voters. Bee Movie, Ratatouille, and The Simpsons Movie were nominated for the PGA's animated film award, while Body of War, Hear and Now, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song, Sicko, and White Light/Black Rain are in competition for the documentary award.

News Corp Keeps Simpsons All in the Family
7 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
In yet another example of a media company taking money from one pocket and putting it into another, 20th Century Fox has announced that it has sold exclusive network rights to five movies, including the hits The Simpsons Movie, Live Free or Die Hard and Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer as well as the box-office flops Death Sentence and Hitman to FX channel for more than $55 million. Both the studio and the cable network are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

'The Simpsons Movie' Retains Top DVD Sales Spot
4 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The top-selling DVD over Christmas week was The Simpsons Movie, which held the top spot for the second week in a row, according to Nielsen VideoScan. Rush Hour 3 debuted at No. 2, while The Kingdom entered the field at No. 3. On the rental charts, Rush Hour 3 debuted in first place with $11.9 million, according to Home Media magazine. The Kingdom was close behind with $11.2 million. The Simpsons Movie slipped to third place in its second week with $10.6 million.

DVD Sales Spin Down
4 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
For the first year since DVDs came on the market a decade ago, studios and retailers are expected to report a sales decline in the format this year. The New York Post reported today (Tuesday) that sales for the year are expected to come in at around $23 billion, down from $24 billion last year. The deficit could be erased if a few of the blockbuster titles being released this month perform beyond expectations. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is being released today (Tuesday) and is expected to become the year's biggest seller. Also due out this month are the latest Bourne and Harry Potter sequels and The Simpsons Movie. Analysts are not optimistic, pointing out that the DVD versions of the latest Spider-Man and Shrek movies failed to live up to expectations. Alan Gould, an analyst with Natixis Bleichroeder, was quoted by the Post as saying, "Blockbuster films are generating fewer DVD unit sales than in previous cycles. ... Where a big picture used to sell 20 million units, top movies now struggle to reach 10 million units."

The Simpsons Continue To Lift News Corp
8 November 2007 (StudioBriefing)
News Corp particularly credited strong box-office results from The Simpsons Movie and Live Free or Die Hard for a 23-percent boost in operating income, to $1.05 billion, in its last quarter. Profits, however, declined 13 percent from those of a year ago, when the results were lifted by one-time gains from asset sales, mostly of local newspapers. In a conference call with reporters and analysts News Corp Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch dismissed as "rubbish" complaints that the addition of 27-year-old Natalie Bancroft to the News Corp board represented a disservice to the company. Bancroft, a member of the family that owns Dow Jones, which News Corp is in the process of acquiring, has acknowledged that she is a newcomer to both business and journalism. "We believe she'll be a very fine director," Murdoch said. "They're a funny family, and they couldn't decide between themselves who to nominate."

'Bourne' Reborn at No. 1 Overseas
24 September 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Overseas, The Bourne Ultimatum continued to show impressive staying power, taking in $13 million in its fifth week and continuing to lead the pack. The Matt Damon starrer has now earned $144 million overseas, according to Daily Variety.The trade publication predicted that it will wind up making almost as much as the previous two installments of the Bourne franchise made together. In second place, The Simpsons Movie continued its impressive roll, adding another $6 million to its overseas loot, which now stands at $332 million.

'Bourne' Again -- Overseas
17 September 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Even as the Matt Damon spy flick The Bourne Ultimatum continued to show solid strength at the domestic box office in its seventh week -- taking in $4.2 million to bring its total domestic receipts to $216.2 million -- the film showed impressive staying power overseas as well. In its fourth week, Bourne still led the pack, earning $20.8 million and bringing its foreign gross to $122 million. Also performing solidly abroad was The Simpsons Movie, which placed second with $10.5 million, to raise its total gross to $321 million overseas.

No Plans for Another 'Simpsons' Movie
10 September 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Although the 19th season of The Simpsons will reportedly open on September 23 with Bart Simpson writing "I will not wait 20 years to make another movie" on a blackboard, no sequel to The Simpsons Movie is currently in the works, the New York Post reported today (Monday). Executive producer Al Jean told the newspaper: "We would only do a sequel if we believed it was a movie that had to be made, just like we did with the first one. ... We wouldn't want to do it just because the first one was successful, or because we wanted to make money off of a movie. We'd only do it if we had a script that we thought was great [and] there's no script at this point."

'Superbad' Reigns Over Box Office for Second Week
28 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
As is customary at the end of August, the box office lost steam over the weekend, with the top film, Superbad, hanging on to first place for the second week in a row with only $18 million, about half of what it earned the previous weekend. The fourth week of The Bourne Ultimatum took second place with $12.5 million, followed by Rush Hour 3 with $11.7 million. Of five films making their debut, only one made a solid impression. The Rowan Atkinson comedy Mr. Bean's Holiday placed fourth with $9.9 million at just 1,714 theaters -- accumulating an average per-theater gross that was only slightly below Superbad's.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Superbad, Sony, $18,044,369, 2 Wks. ($68,616,643); 2. The Bourne Ultimatum, Universal, $12,472,215, 4 Wks. ($185,253,615); 3. Rush Hour 3, New Line, $11,706,643, 3 Wks. ($108,469,646); 4. Mr. Bean's Holiday, Universal, $9,889,780, (New); 5. War, Lionsgate, $9,820,089, (New); 6 . The Nanny Diaries, MGM, $7,480,927, (New); 7 . The Simpsons Movie, 20th Century Fox, $4,317,689, 5 Wks. ($173,354,858); 8. Stardust, Paramount, $3,872,560, 3 Wks. ($26,374,432); 9. Hairspray, New Line, $3,265,384, 6 Wks. ($107,271,846); 10 . The Invasion, Warner Bros., $3,093,428, 2 Wks. ($11,468,121).

'War' -- It's Not Good for Much
27 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Lionsgate's War, starring Jet Li and Jason Statham, which many analysts had expected would be the primary contender for box-office honors, went down to ignominious defeat, taking in just $10 million in 2,277 theaters. Although the martial-arts saga was not screened for critics in the U.S., they entered the fray over the weekend and administered some devastating blows. For example, Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe wrote: "You could fill a small junkyard with the films Jet Li and Jason Statham have made separately. Perhaps to cut down on waste, they've teamed up for a single trip to the dumpster." And Peter Hartlaub in the San Francisco Chronicle warned that people from his fair city hoping to catch a few glimpses of it in a big movie should be aware that "San Francisco looks like Vancouver" (where most of the exterior scenes were actually shot).

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Superbad, $18 million; 2. The Bourne Ultimatum, $12.4 million; 3. Rush Hour 3, $12.3 million; 4. Mr. Bean's Holiday, $10.1 million; 5. War, $10 million; 6. The Nanny Diaries, $7.8 million; 7. The Simpsons Movie, $4.4 million; 8. Stardust, $4 million; 9. Hairspray, $3.5 million; 10. The Invasion, $3.1 million.

'Big Brother' Top TV Show Website
24 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Of more than 100 broadcast TV show websites, CBS's Big Brother was by far the most-visited site, attracting 29.84 percent of the traffic last week, according to a study by Experian's Hitwise online tracking company. Nearing its season finale, America's Got Talent placed second with 12.63 percent. Third was Fox's So You Think You Can Dance with 8.83 percent. All other TV shows attracted less than 5 percent of web traffic, including The Simpsons, which attracted the most traffic last month while The Simpsons Movie was being heavily promoted, but accounted for only 2.11 percent last week (but nevertheless placing eighth on the list).

Accused Czech Pirate Faces Long Prison Sentence
22 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
A 19-year-old Czech youth living in a small village in south Bohemia faces a possible five-year prison sentence and a fine of almost $250,000 for allegedly camcording The Simpsons Movie at a local theater last month and uploading it onto the Internet. Word of the young man's arrest -- his name was not included in published reports -- follows a similar report about the arrest of an Australian youth on charges of uploading another copy of the movie before it even appeared in theaters elsewhere. (Australia is a day ahead of much of the world.)

'Superbad' Results More Super Than Expected
21 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Sunday's ticket sales for Sony's Superbad practically equaled Saturday's. The result was that the film's actual weekend gross wound up almost $2 million higher than the studio had estimated. Sony attributed the $33.05-million final count to "fantastic word-of-mouth." Two other films, however, flopped in their debuts. Warner Bros.' The Invasion, a remake of The Invasion of the Body Snatchers, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, earned just $5.95 million, while The Last Legion from the Weinstein Co., set during the decline of the Roman empire, declined and fell to only $2.75 million. Meanwhile, last week's No. 1 film, New Line's Rush Hour 3, dived to second place, falling 57 percent in its second week to $21.35 million, barely edging out the third week of Universal's The Bourne Ultimatum, which took in $19.87 million and placed third. Overall, the box-office tallied $130 million in total ticket sales, up 17.4 percent over last year's total of $110.7 million for the comparable weekend.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Superbad, Sony, $33,052,411, (New); 2. Rush Hour 3, New Line, $21,353,361, 2 Wks. ($87,676,529); 3. The Bourne Ultimatum, Universal, $19,874,370, 3 Wks. ($164,694,690); 4. The Simpsons Movie, 20th Century Fox, $6,829,648, 4 Wks. ($165,271,443); 5. The Invasion, Warner Bros., $5,951,409, (New); 6. Stardust, Paramount, $5,651,343, 2 Wks. ($19,493,894); 7. Hairspray, New Line, $4,502,455, 5 Wks. ($100,805,456); 8. Underdog, Disney, $3,848,791, 3 Wks. ($31,927,488); 9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Warner Bros., $3,656,379, 6 Wks. ($278,762,117); 10. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Universal, $3,601,545, 5 Wks. ($110,484,335).

Potter and Spider-Man Up for U.K. National Movie Awards
21 August 2007 (WENN)
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix and Spider-Man 3 have been nominated for a host of prizes at Britain's inaugural National Movie Awards. U.K. TV network ITV is launching the new awards show following the success of their National Television Awards. Both events invite the public to vote for winners. Keira Knightley (Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End), Kirsten Dunst (Spider-Man 3), Emma Watson (Harry Potter), Megan Fox (Transformers), Eva Green and Dame Judi Dench (Casino Royale) are up for the Best Actress at the September 28 London ceremony. Bruce Willis (Live Free Or Die Hard), Daniel Craig (Casino Royale), Shia LeBoeuf (Transformers), Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man 3), Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom (Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End), Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) are fighting for the Best Actor trophy. Meanwhile Flushed Away, Happy Feet, Shrek The Third and The Simpsons Movie have been nominated for Best Animation.

Raunch Wins at the Box Office
20 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Success was an equal-opportunity employer over the weekend as the wholesome High School Musical 2 set cable records as it arrived on television (see separate item) and the raunchy comedy Superbad performed beyond analysts' expectations at the box office. Judd Apatow's Superbad, a high-school comedy that -- at least officially -- could not be seen by many high-schoolers because of its R-rating, took in an estimated $31.2 million. It had cost only $20 million to produce. Apatow's last movie, Knocked Up, opened with $30.6 million just two months ago -- and has now grossed $147 million domestically. Meanwhile, Warner Bros.' The Invasion snatched few bodies into theaters, grossing just $6 million, according to estimates, to place fifth. Placing second was last week's winner, Rush Hour 3, which dropped to $21.8 million, down a steep 56 percent from its opening gross. The Bourne Ultimatum slipped to third place in its third weekend to $19 million, while The Simpsons Movie landed in fourth place with $6.7 million. After four weekends, the family family comedy has now earned $165.1 million. The only other new film, The Weinstein Co.'s The Last Legion, was still waiting for its first legion -- of moviegoers, that is. It opened out of the top ten with just $2.5 million. Although it featured an impressive cast, including Ben Kingsley and Colin Firth, it was not screened for critics, presumably because the studio feared negative reviews. They turned out to be right. Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe summed up the general critical reaction: "There's no fun to be had here," he wrote on Saturday. Also opening in four theaters was the Leonardo DiCaprio environmental documentary The 11th Hour, which earned a respectable $41,000 in just four theaters. The film received mostly favorable reviews. Kevin Crust in the Los Angeles Times called it "a harrowing account of the planet's current condition."

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Superbad, $31.2 million; 2. Rush Hour 3, $21.8 million; 3. The Bourne Ultimatum, $19 million; 4. The Simpsons Movie, $6.7 million; 5. The Invasion, $6 million; 6. Stardust, $5.2 million; 7. Hairspray, $4.3 million; 8. Underdog, $3.6 million; 9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, $3.54 million; 10. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, $3.5 million.

Even When It's Euros, It's Pronounced "D'Oh"
20 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Who would ever have thought that The Simpsons Movie would become a bigger smash overseas than in the U.S.? But that's what has happened. According to Daily Variety, the animated movie remained in first place overseas for the fourth straight weekend, taking in $23.4 million to bring its gross to $270 million, 64 percent above its domestic total of $165 million. The movie remained in front of The Bourne Ultimatum as it became the only movie of the summer to win four straight weekends. Not even Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End or Spider-Man 3 could do that.

Pirated 'Simpsons Movie' Captured on Cellphone
17 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
It's hard to believe that it was acceptably watchable, but a video of The Simpsons Movie, captured on a cellphone by a 21-year-old in Australia, became the first pirate version of the movie to be uploaded to the Internet on July 26, Australian authorities said today (Friday). (Since Australia is a day ahead of the U.S., the copy appeared online even before the movie premiered in U.S. theaters.) Australian Federal Police raided the home of the suspected bootlegger in Sydney today, acting on a complaint by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT). In a statement, AFACT executive director Adrianne Pecotic said, "Within 72 hours of making and uploading this unauthorized recording, AFACT had tracked it to other streaming sites and P2P (peer-to-peer) systems, where it had been illegally downloaded in excess of 110,000 times, and in all probability, copied and sold as a pirate DVD all over the world."

Traffic Slows for 'Rush Hour 3'
14 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Ordinarily a film that grosses $49.1 million in its opening weekend is considered a probable moneymaker, but some box-office analysts are suggesting that the results for Rush Hour 3 are not only disappointing but probably point to an inevitable loss for Time Warner-owned New Line. They point out that the film cost more than $100 million (some suggest it cost as much as $150 million) to make and that as much as 40 percent of the gross has been promised to the two stars and the director -- including 20 percent that will go to Chris Tucker, 15 percent to Jackie Chan and 5 percent to director Brett Ratner. (The movie sold one-third fewer tickets than Rush Hour 2 did six years ago.) Meanwhile, last week's top film, The Bourne Ultimatum, slipped to second place in its second weekend with $32.9 million, while The Simpsons Movie moved to third place in its third weekend with $11.3 million. Three other films that opened over the weekend were outright flops. Paramount's Stardust, which reportedly soared way over budget to close to $200 million, earned just $9.2 million. Sony's Daddy Day Camp, which had initially been planned as a low-budget, straight-to-video release, earned just $3.4 million, while the horror film Skinwalkers took in a mighty skinny $753,520 (to come in at No. 17 on the list of top attractions).

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Rush Hour 3, New Line, $49,100,158, (New); 2. The Bourne Ultimatum, Universal, $32,879,125, 2 Wks. ($131,552,425); 3. The Simpsons Movie, 20th Century Fox, $11,269,651, 3 Wks. ($152,381,993); 4. Stardust, Paramount, $9,169,779, (New); 5. Hairspray, New Line, $6,396,666, 4 Wks. ($92,139,670); 6. Underdog, Disney, $6,352,377, 2 Wks. ($24,643,289); 7. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Universal, $5,877,915, 4 Wks. ($103,777,170); 8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Warner Bros., $5,432,130, 5 Wks. ($272,047,388); 9. No Reservations, Warner Bros., $3,855,029, 3 Wks. ($32,025,018); 10. Daddy Day Camp, Sony, $3,402,678, (New).

'Rush Hour' Traffic Slows a Bit
13 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Traffic was fairly heavy but not all that heavy for Rush Hour 3, which opened over the weekend with an estimated $50.2 million -- much less than the $67.4 million its predecessor, Rush Hour 2, earned six years ago. New Line said it performed as expected. Last week's winner, The Bourne Ultimatum, lost about half its audience in its second week as it pulled in about $33.7 million, bringing its ten-day total to $132.3 million. It appears headed toward becoming the only summer "three-quel" besides Live Free or Die Hard to exceed its predecessor's total gross. Other new releases crapped out, with the all-star Stardust pulling in an estimated $9 million and Daddy Day Camp managing to bring in a dismal $3.6 million (versus $27.6 million for the original Daddy Day Care in its debut weekend). The werewolf film Skinwalkers, which opened in 737 theaters, had no bite whatsoever as it scraped up an estimated $565,000. Still, the weekend's total gross was about 37 percent higher than the comparable weekend a year ago. "We've been riding a wave of momentum that started with Transformers in July," Media by Numbers President Paul Dergarabedian told the Associated Press. "We already stand at $3.6 billion at the box office. The $4 billion summer, once thought an impossibility, is definitely within reach."

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Rush Hour 3, 50.3 million; 2. The Bourne Ultimatum, $33.7 million; 3. The Simpsons Movie, $11.1 million; 4. Stardust, $9 million; 5. Underdog, $6.5 million; 6. Hairspray, $6.4 million; 7. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, $5.9 million; 8. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, $5.4 million; 9. No Reservations, $3.9 million; 10. Daddy Day Camp, $3.6 million.

'Simpsons' Has a Cow in Third Week
13 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Overseas, The Simpsons Movie remained on top for the third weekend in a row as it took in $23.2 million to bring its foreign gross to $230 million and its worldwide total to $382 million. In second place was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which raked in another $21.1 million, bringing its overseas total to $550 million and its worldwide total to $822 million. It now ranks 15th on the list of all-time highest grossers. In France, the set-in-Paris Ratatouille remained the No. 1 film for the second week as it took in $9.3 million, down only 8 percent from the previous week.

'Bourne' A'Plenty
7 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Final weekend box-office results for The Bourne Ultimatum came in somewhat below studio estimates but were still well above those for any other film ever released during August. Universal said that the movie earned $69.3 million. In second place was Fox's The Simpsons Movie with $25.1 million. Disney's Underdog debuted in third place with $11.6 million. Two other new films, however, barely made it into the top ten. Paramount's Hot Rod opened in ninth place with $5.3 million, while Lionsgate's Bratz: The Movie wound up with just $4.2 million. Meanwhile Forbes.com said Monday that Matt Damon, the star of Bourne, has become Hollywood's best investment, taking in $29 for every dollar he's paid.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. The Bourne Ultimatum, Universal, $69,283,690, (New); 2. The Simpsons Movie, 20th Century Fox, $25,110,873, 2 Wks. ($128,060,578); 3. Underdog, Disney, $11,585,121, (New); 4. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Universal, $10,626,345, 3 Wks. ($91,795,450); 5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Warner Bros., $9,522,220, 4 Wks. ($261,027,397); 6. Hairspray, New Line, $9,225,378, 3 Wks. ($78,854,798); 7. No Reservations, Warner Bros., $6,588,375, 2 Wks. ($24,175,203); 8. Transformers, Paramount, $6,021,472, 5 Wks. ($296,379,328); 9. Hot Rod, Paramount, $5,310,711, (New); 10. Bratz: The Movie, Lions Gate, $4,208,455, (New).

'Simpsons' Continue To Rule Overseas
6 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Overseas, the Simpsons remained the first family as The Simpsons Movie piled up an additional $47.3 million in 75 countries, according to Daily Variety. (Universal plans to begin rolling out The Bourne Ultimatum overseas next week.) The trade publication noted that four other pictures also produced solid results overseas, including Transformers, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Ratatouille and a Korean monster flick, D-War, which together raked in $100 million. As expected of a Disney film set in France, Ratatouille took in $11.2 million in that country, making it the second-largest opening for a Disney film after Finding Nemo.

A 'Bourne' Leader
6 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Matt Damon's latest movie proved that it was a Bourne leader at the box office over the weekend. In fact, The Bourne Ultimatum led all movies ever released in August as it drew an estimated $70 million and helped lift the overall box office 35 percent over the same weekend a year ago. The original Bourne movie, The Bourne Identity, registered $27.1 million in 2002. It was followed in 2004 with The Bourne Supremacy, which took in $52.5 million. In its second week, 20th Century Fox's The Simpsons Movie -- the box-office winner last weekend -- plunged 65 percent to $25.6 million. Nevertheless, its strong midweek grosses brought its domestic total to $128.5 million over 10 days. It has earned almost the same amount overseas. Arriving in third place was Disney's Underdog, which was not screened for critics (see below). The film grossed an estimated $12 million -- about what Disney had expected. Two other newcomers fell flat. The comedy Hot Rod starring former Saturday Night Live costar Andy Samberg earned only $5 million to wind up in ninth place, while the "tween" film Bratz: The Movie went blatz with $4.3 million to finish tenth.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. The Bourne Ultimatum, $70.2 million; 2. The Simpsons Movie, $25.6 million; 3. Underdog, $12 million; 4. I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, $10.5 million; 5. Hairspray, $9.3 million; 6. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, $9.3 million; 7. No Reservations, $6.6 million; 8. Transformers, $6 million; 9. Hot Rod, $5 million; 10. Bratz: The Movie, $4.3 million.

Bourne To Chase Simpsons
3 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The reign of the Simpsons at the box office is likely to be shortlived as Matt Damon arrives with The Bourne Ultimatum this weekend. Most analysts are predicting that the thriller will wind up with about $60 million, while The Simpsons Movie will slip to second place with $35-40 million. (It crossed the $100-million mark on Thursday.) Three other films will be making their debut this weekend, including Disney's Underdog, which was not screened for critics ("a sure sign that the movie is a dog," remarked Kyle Smith in the New York Post). It's expected to place third with about $15 million. Expectations are not high for the other two, either. Paramount's Hot Rod and Lionsgate's Bratz: The Movie. The two movies are each expected to earn less than $10 million.

Eat My Shorts -- Estimate Was Off
31 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
As it turned out, even the official estimate of The Simpsons Movie was significantly off the mark Monday. Final figures put weekend ticket sales at $74.04 million, up from the $71.85-million studio estimate issued on Sunday. It was the fifth-highest-opening film of the year. Three other new films opened unimpressively. No Reservations, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, debuted in fifth place with $11.7 million, while the Lindsay Lohan starrer I Know Who Killed Me tanked with $3.5 million, and the urban comedy Who's Your Caddy? barely made it into the top-ten with just $2.7 million. Overall, the box office was up 45 percent from the same weekend a year ago, according to Media by Numbers. For the year, it said, ticket sales are up 5.4 percent to $5.81 billion. Attendance has increased 1.7 percent.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. The Simpsons Movie, 20th Century Fox, $74,036,787, (New); 2. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Universal, $19,132,965, 2 Wks. ($71,680,080); 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Warner Bros., $17,733,085, 3 Wks. ($242,439,214); 4. Hairspray, New Line, $15,899,890, 2 Wks. ($59,657,287); 5. No Reservations, Warner Bros., $11,704,357, (New); 6. Transformers, Paramount, $11,643,129, 4 Wks. ($284,677,134); 7. Ratatouille, Disney, $7,455,594, 5 Wks. ($179,904,396); 8. Live Free or Die Hard, 20th Century Fox, $5,618,728, 5 Wks. ($125,396,389); 9. I Know Who Killed Me, Sony, $3,506,291, (New); 10. Who's Your Caddy?, MGM, $2,756,661, (New).

'Simpsons' TV Show Can't Ride 'Simpsons' Movie's Coattails
30 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The success of The Simpsons Movie in theaters over the weekend did not translate into bigger audiences for the television show on Sunday night. The series, which has produced only lackluster ratings for the past two years, wound up in fourth place in its time slot Sunday with a 3.1 rating and a 6 share. The series continued to post respectable numbers among 18-49-year-olds, however, placing second in the demo with a 2.2/7.

'Simpsons' a Huge Hit; Analysts Have a Cow
30 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Demonstrating convincingly that movie audiences don't really care all that much whether an animated film is produced by human hands or by computers -- so long as the script is compelling -- the hand-drawn (in Korea) The Simpsons Movie took in an estimated $71.85 million over the weekend -- well above analysts' estimates. Twentieth Century Fox boasted that the movie opened with bigger box-office results than any Pixar film. (Among animated films, it was exceeded only by the first two Shrek movies.) It was responsible for 55 percent of all ticket sales overseas, piling up an additional $96 million although debuting in just 8 of the top-15 overseas markets. "I had been saying this is America's No. 1 comedy family, but forget the 'America' part -- this is the Earth's No. 1 comedy family," Chris Aronson, senior vice president for distribution at Fox, told today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times. Domestically, last week's top film, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, fell about 44 percent from last week to $19.1 million, slipping to second place. Three new films also made the top-ten list (two of them, just barely). No Reservations, the Catherine Zeta-Jones romantic comedy entered at No. 5 with $11.8 million, but the Lindsay Lohan starrer, I Know Who Killed me, seemed DOA at $3.4 million (Elizabeth Weitzman in the New York Daily News commented Saturday, that even Lohan's "mug shot was made with more skill than this bottom-of-the-barrel B-movie"), while the urban comedy Who's Your Caddy? (Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe called for the United Negro College Fund to be alerted: "A mind has terribly gone to waste") ended in the rough with $2.9 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. The Simpsons Movie, $71.9 million; 2. I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry, $19.1 million; 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, $17.1 million; 4. Hairspray, $15.6 million; 5. No Reservations, $11.8 million; 6. Transformers, $11.5 million; 7. Ratatouille, $7.2 million; 8. Live Free or Die Hard, $5.4 million; 9. I Know Who Killed Me, $3.4 million; 10. Who's Your Caddy?, $2.9 million.

Betting Dollars to Doughnuts
27 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Several box-office analysts are predicting that The Simpsons Movie will take in plenty of d'oh over the weekend -- perhaps as much as $60 million. The film is expected to trounce last week's winner, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and the previous week's winner, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Three other movies will be opening wide this weekend: Warner Bros.' No Reservations, aimed at women; Who's Your Caddy?, aimed at urban blacks; and I Know Who Killed Me, starring Lindsay Lohan, aimed at teens. (The latter two were not screened for critics.) Analysts were divided over how Lohan's recent DUI arrest might affect ticket sales of her movie. On the one hand, they noted, the movie was mentioned in virtually every news article about the arrest; on the other hand, it prevented her from fulfilling commitments to promote the movie. Today's (Friday) New York Post quoted Chad Hartigan of Exhibitor Relations as predicting that the arrest "will double weekend ticket sales from what they would have been to the still feeble range of $4 million to $7 million."

Movie Reviews: 'The Simpsons Movie'
27 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Film critics are of two minds about The Simpsons Movie. Sure, it's funny, most of them agree, as funny as the best episodes of the TV Simpsons. But, they seem to ask, as if the voice of Peggy Lee were playing in their minds, "Is that all there is?" Roger Ebert puts it this way in the Chicago Sun-Times: "The most unexpected thing about The Simpsons Movie is that although it expands its view to include panoramic Alaskan vistas and a more panoptic view of Springfield than we've seen, it doesn't push the boundaries of the TV show in a narrative sense. Unlike South Park: Bigger, Longer, Uncut, The Simpsons Movie doesn't venture anything more transgressive than it usually does; it doesn't take the gloves off." Kyle Smith in the New York Post similarly suggests that the movie version "takes no chances," then asks, "Why is it worth $11? Because a supersized Simpsons episode is funnier than 90 percent of movie comedies." A.O. Scott concludes his review in the New York Times by remarking, "Ten or 15 years ago, The Simpsons Movie ... might have felt riskier and wilder. But The Simpsons, for all its mischief and iconoclasm, has become an institution, and that status has kept this film from taking too many chances. Why mess with the formula when you can extend the brand? Do I sound disappointed? I'm not, really. Or only a little. The Simpsons Movie, in the end, is as good as an average episode of The Simpsons. In other words, I'd be willing to watch it only -- excuse me while I crunch some numbers here -- 20 or 30 more times." Geoff Pevere in the Toronto Star actually applauds the movie's producers for sticking with the tried and true. He writes: "The Simpsons Movie couldn't give a doodle in a doughnut hole about expectations anyway. It may deliver what we've already got, but it leaves no doubt why we got it in the first place." And Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe and Mail concedes that he feels ambivalent about the movie. "It's often clever and silly, but rarely inspired and there is nothing remotely necessary about it," he comments. Yet, on the other hand, he says, "This isn't supposed to be a typical contemporary family movie, in which the narrative serves as the centre of a cross-promotional campaign with TV, theme park, fast food and toy corporations. This is The Simpsons which, with its first big-screen effort, is underachieving and proud of it, man."

'Simpsons Movie' Marketing Paying Off
26 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Twentieth Century Fox's elaborate marketing campaign for its forthcoming The Simpsons Movie appears to be achieving the desired impact. Hitwise, a research firm that tracks Internet usage, said Wednesday that the Simpsons website was the second-most-visited broadcast TV website for the week ended July 21, accounting for 8.23 percent of the traffic. (No. 1 was NBC's America's Got Talent with 12.52 percent of the traffic.) Furthermore, today's (Thursday) Los Angeles Times reported that 7-Eleven stores that were converted into Kwik-E-Marts for the month have been doing land-office business. Swarn Sahni, who owns the 7-Eleven franchise in Burbank, CA that now displays the Kwik-E-Mart signage, told the newspaper, "The Simpsons fans are spending money like crazy. ... I usually sell 800 hot dogs a week. Now I'm selling about 3,000 a week." He also said that the store had sold 57,510 "Sprinklicious" doughnuts since the campaign began. Moreover, an appearance by the Simpsons characters on the Tonight show Wednesday created a stir as Homer led off by asserting that NBC stands for Never Been Crappier and that owner GE "fill the air with more dangerous hydrocarbon emissions than Rosie O'Donnell." Meanwhile, a website set up by promotional partner Burger King in which users can turn themselves into Simpsons-like characters has drawn so many web surfers that the company is reportedly having to deal with a backlash from angered customers who have been unable to access it.

Trades Predict Big Business for 'The Simpsons Movie'
25 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Hollywood's two top trade publications agree that The Simpsons Movie is likely to please fans of the series and become a huge success at the box office. Writing in today's (Wednesday) Daily Variety, Brian Lowry commented, "Put simply, if somebody had to make a Simpsons movie, this is pretty much what it should be -- clever, irreverent, satirical and outfitted with a larger-than-22-minutes plot." Lowry concluded, "The Simpsons Movie clearly represented a marketing challenge, and given the build-up, Fox appears to have been equal to that task. As for magnifying the series without losing its deeply ingrained charms, the producers have mostly passed that test as well, proving their 18-year-old child was ready to go out and face the big bad (theatrical) world." Writing in the Hollywood Reporter, Kirk Honeycutt predicted that the movie "should earn plenty of d'oh." Honeycutt observed that the producers are clearly "going for box office gold" by making a film "that hearkens back to the vintage years of the series." And that, he suggested, is how it should be. "While little has been gained in bringing the Simpsons to the screen, other than a bigger canvas requiring a much larger army of animators," he wrote, "it's still fun to enjoy the crew in this new setting."

Simpsons Come to Springfield
23 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Springfield, VT got its first movie premiere Saturday night -- actually four of them -- as locals and guests walked onto a yellow carpet for the four screenings of The Simpsons Movie at the 212-seat Springfield Theater. The first, invitation-only screening was attended by Simpsons' creator Matt Groening and the film's producers. Remarking on the local hoopla, Brock Rutter of the Vermont Film Commission told the Associated Press: "I think it's quite clearly bigger than Elvis and the Beatles put together." Meanwhile, the London Times has become the first major newspaper to review the movie. James Bone, who attended a Springfield screening, said in today's edition that the film lands in movie theaters with "panache." He calls it, "a postmodern parable about an environmental scare that is at the same time hilarious and horrifyingly poignant. ... What you get for your money is the Simpsons on an epic scale."

Vermont Town Is Selected As Home of 'The Simpsons'
11 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Ending a contest that involved 14 U.S. towns and cities named Springfield, the Vermont town by that name (population 9,300) was officially proclaimed the hometown of TV's (and soon the movies') the Simpsons and was chosen to host the premiere of The Simpsons Movie on July 26. In the promotional video the town put together for the contest, a local talk-show host, playing a real-life Homer, chases a giant, pink doughnut through the streets. In a statement, Gov. Jim Douglas said, "This is an exciting, exhilarating moment for Vermonters. ... Perhaps more importantly, it proves there's really nothing a giant doughnut can't do." The Vermont town did have the edge on the other Springfields -- it has a nuclear power plant down the road, commuting distance for Homer.

Springfield, Vermont To Host 'Simpsons Movie' Premiere
11 July 2007 (WENN)
The world premiere of The Simpsons Movie will be held in Springfield, Vermont, after the town beat out 14 other Springfields to land the honor. Real-life Springfields across America - the name of the fictitious town where the cartoon family live - competed against each other to win the chance to host the premiere for the new movie. The Vermont town, which has a population of 9,300, won an online vote and will become Simpsons central on July 21. Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce member Patricia Chaffee says, "We're so excited. We came in at the last minute, and for us to win, we feel like the underdogs, which makes this so big and so great for us." Springfield, Vermont received 15,367 votes, beating Springfield, Illinois, which received 14,634 votes.

Kennedy Appears in 'Simpsons' Pitch for Springfield, MA
3 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy, often lampooned on The Simpsons, has made a pitch for Springfield, MA to be selected as the the Simpsons' home town. Appearing in a five-minute video that serves as the city's entry in a contest being conducted by 20th Century Fox to select the Springfield where The Simpsons Movie will have a red-carpet premiere, Kennedy invites the cartoon family to visit Springfield, MA where, he says, they'll "be able to enjoy some real chow-dah." David Horgan, who produced the video, told the Boston Globe: "Kennedy is our ace in the hole. ... The Springfield in Ohio called and said, 'I heard you got Kennedy in your video.' I said, 'Yeah.' They said, 'It's all over.'" However, the Globe pointed out that the competition among the country's Springfields has been intense. It said that Springfield, MO used 15 film crews, 9,000 extras, and 1,440 doughnuts in its video.

'Simpsons' Kwik-E-Mart Becomes a Reality
3 July 2007 (WENN)
The Simpsons' fictional convenience store Kwik-E-Mart has become a reality thanks to a publicity stunt by 7-Eleven bosses in America. To mark the release of The Simpsons Movie in the U.S. later this month, a dozen 7-Eleven stores have been turned into Kwik-E-Marts for the remainder of July. The more-than-6,000 7-Elevens across America which have not been turned into Kwik-E-Marts will still sell Simpsons-related food and drink, including Buzz Cola and KrustyO's cereal, which have previously only been seen on the long-running animated TV show. The Simpsons Movie is set to be released in the U.S. on July 27.

Springfield, MN Wants No Part of 'Simpsons' Promotion
31 May 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Springfield, Minnesota has taken itself out of the running to be recognized as the Springfield where the Simpsons reside. The country's 32 Springfields have been invited to compete for a chance to host the world premiere of the upcoming animated movie, The Simpsons Movie. But City Manager Mac Tilberg told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. "It sounded like a chamber of commerce-type deal that could make some noise for your town, but quite a bit of the input I got was that we are obviously not the Springfield on the show," Tilberg said. "We're a clean, close-knit community. There's no pollution, no waste dumps, nobody misbehaving all the time. And we don't want to be made a parody of. ... We wouldn't even be promoting our community. We'd be promoting 20th Century Fox's movie." But Jim Miesen, who owns a local paint store, told the newspaper, "For a town of this size, the thought of Hollywood coming to town would be exciting."

Springfield Wants To Be In Movies; Bloomfield Doesn't
9 March 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Some 16 cities around the country named Springfield are vying to host the premiere of the movie version of The Simpsons in July. Azell Murphy Cavaan, community relations director for Springfield, MA, told that city's The Republican newspaper, that the city was "really excited and ready" to participate. "There's so much heavy news that we deal with every day; a chance to have some fun is what we need," Cavaan said. But while Springfield may be ready to welcome the Simpsons, a city named Bloomfield has no intention of welcoming the Sopranos. The New Jersey town denied a filming permit to the mob drama's producers who had wanted to shoot a scene at an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. The mayor and members of the city council say they object to the way Italian-Americans are depicted in the TV series.

Fox News's Cavuto Calls 'Happy Feet' Part of Liberal Agenda
23 November 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Fox News business commentator Neil Cavuto suggested Wednesday that Warner Bros.' hit movie Happy Feet was like "an animated Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's documentary about global warming. "I half expected to see an animated version of Al Gore pop up," he said. In the lower part of the screen, the words, "Is Hollywood using kids movies to promote agenda?" were posted. Cavuto called the film "big-time objectionable" for "foisting" a political position on children. He called in Fox critic Holly McClure who agreed and took the film to task for negative portrayals of marine acquariums and water parks, saying that they were intended to make parents "feel guilty" about taking their kids to them. Meanwhile, Fox News's corporate sibling 20th Century Fox has posted a trailer for the upcoming The Simpsons Movie on YouTube, showing Homer finding himself hilariously banged about between a rock and a hard place. That animated film also reportedly has an environmental message.

NOTE: Summaries of reviews for Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, Bobby, and For Your Consideration will be included in Friday's edition of Studio Briefing.

"Synergy" Is Not So Bad a Word, Says News Corp President
14 June 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Saying that he couldn't understand how "synergy" became a maligned term, News Corp President and COO Peter Chernin disclosed Tuesday that the company plans to employ its TV and cable networks, satellite operations, home video, Internet, and publishing divisions to promote next year's theatrical release of The Simpsons: The Movie. Chernin told the Deutsche Bank Media & Telecommunications Conference in New York that corporate synergy could result in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue over the next two years for the film. Chernin said that it represents "an opportunity to go both ways. ... We can not only use those parts of the company to help us launch that movie, but we can use the movie to help us increase the value of the brand" on other News Corp platforms. As for talk by analysts that giant media companies have not been able to get a handle on uniting their companies for a common cause, Chernin said, "I for one don't get it, this notion that these things don't work together. ... I don't mean to be overly critical, but it's not that hard to manage these synergy things. You sit there and get people in a room, you say: 'Look guys, there are two rules. No. 1, don't do anything to damage your business to help somebody else. No. 2, hey idiots, if on the margins something's going to help the sister company, figure out a way to help them.'"

Theater Patrons Have a Cow During Trailers
3 April 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Many moviegoers attending the screening of 20th Century Fox's Ice Age: The Meltdown were surprised and delighted to see a 20-second trailer for The Simpsons: The Movie preceding the feature. Many cheered. The trailer announced that the long-awaited film will open theatrically on July 27, 2007. "Uh, oh," says Homer in the clip. "We better get started." Within hours several websites had the trailer up and running. They included: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Roj6U79xuH2 and http://movies.monstersandcritics.com/archive/moviearchive.php/The_Simpsons_Movie/3528/videos. The trailer also aired on Sunday night's episode of The Simpsons. Fox is expected to make a formal announcement of the movie today (Monday). In an interview with USA Today Simpsons creator Matt Groening remarked that the producers had "been working to get a script that would be worthy of people actually paying to see the Simpsons. ... We felt the time was right for a movie ... and for Milhouse to win an Oscar."