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Weekend Box Office: 'Avatar' Finally Dethroned by 'Dear John'
Filed under: New Releases, Box Office
It took a Nicholas Sparks adaptation starring Channing Tatum to finally knock Avatar from the perch it held for seven weeks. Dear John grossed an estimated $32.4 million to Avatar's $23.6 -- but Sparks/Tatum is such a potent combination that I wonder if the movie wouldn't have done non-trivially better had it not opened against the Superbowl. As it stands, it still has by far the best opening weekend for a Nicholas Sparks flick, though it's not clear what kind of legs it's going to have -- it will get some stiff competition from Garry Marshall's Valentine's Day next weekend. As for Avatar, I went for a second viewing on Friday -- more out of a desire to see it in (real) IMAX than out of any abiding love for the film. Before the movie began, someone took an impromptu poll of the sold-out crowd to find out how many had already seen it -- and I saw, oh, thirty or forty hands go up. Presumably, most if not all of them brought friends. As with Titanic, there's where a good part of those record-breaking grosses comes from. Avatar is merrily marching toward an astronomical $700 million. Saints preserve us, etc.
From Paris with Love opened in third place with a weak $8.1 million, and is a mulligan for Fox, Luc Besson and Pierre Morel. Their Taken was a surprise hit in early 2009, but I guess the novelty value of seeing Liam Neeson as a badass secret agent dominates the novelty value of seeing John Travolta as same. (Taken's elegant, simple storyline hook probably played a part too, especially as compared to the incomprehensible jumble that is From Paris with Love.)
More, and the top 10, after the jump.
'Avatar' Ongoings: 'Titanic' Toppled, Sequel Beginnings, and No 3D on DVD
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Box Office, Fandom, 20th Century Fox, Home Entertainment
I think it's safe to say that Avatar has had a prettttty good run so far, but yesterday...yesterday was kismet. It's been breaking records (and hearts) left and right for weeks now, but on February 2nd it toppled its last big obstacle: Titanic's all-time domestic box office record. As of this morning, Avatar has made about $300,000 more than the decade-plus record holder, which is to say it's sitting on approximately $601.2mil at the US box office. What's so amazing about that, aside from the obvious, is that Avatar took the crown on the very same day that it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. And those are two things that many, many people thought would never happen. I don't know about you, but my hat is off to Cameron.
It's too early to tell if Pandoran lightning will strike twice for the director, but in a recent conference call for Fox's parent company News Corp, CEO Rupert Murdoch told shareholders that the studio had indeed entered into early talks with Cameron about Avatar 2. There are no details or commitments at this point beyond Cameron having ideas and the studio having the desire to see them realized.
And in final news, the same earnings report revealed that Avatar will be arriving on DVD and Blu-ray before the end of News Corp's fiscal year. That means fans can expect to take a trip to Pandora from the comfort of their couches at some point before June 30th. However, and this is kind of a surprise, but the initial retail release will not be available in 3D. Fellow News Corp honcho Chase Carey doesn't believe that home theater tech is ready to do Avatar justice (something I'm inclined to agree with), so they'll be holding off on the extra dimension until TVs catch up.
Indie Roundup: 'Freebie,' 'Winter in Wartime,' 'Trucker,' 'Vegas'
Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, New Releases, Box Office, Home Entertainment, Cinematical Indie
Indie Roundup is your weekly guide to what's new and upcoming in the world of independent film. Pictured clockwise, from upper left: The Freebie, Winter in Wartime, Trucker, Saint John of Las Vegas.
Deals. Our own Eric D. Snider highlighted The 10 Sundance Films You Need to Watch For, which nicely sums up the buzz and the biggest distribution deals from the festival. Millions of dollars have been committed and the theatrical release schedule will be dotted with Sundance acquisitions for months to come. And the deals continue, as reported by our friends at indieWIRE.
Phase 4 Films won a bidding war for rights to writer/director Katie Aselton's The Freebie. Aselton stars with Dax Shepherd as a married couple whose relationship "is still full of love but lacking in lust," according to that dashing critic Eric D. Snider. He called it "an honest, unadorned relationship drama that suggests a new talent on the horizon." We await word of specific release plans.
Martin Koolhaven's Winter in Wartime has been acquired by Sony Pictures Classics. The drama follows a 13-year-old boy who becomes involved with the Dutch resistance after he helps a wounded British soldier near the end of World War II. Winter in Wartime was shortlisted, but ultimately not nominated, for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. As with The Freebie, specific release plans have not yet been announced.
Online / On Demand Viewing. Acclaimed drama Trucker, starring Michelle Monaghan, is now available on iTunes. Cinematical's Erik Davis wrote: "Monaghan finally delivered the sort of performance I've known was trapped somewhere inside her, hidden behind a variety of big, flashy Hollywood films."
After the jump: Saint John of Las Vegas reaps material rewards.
Weekend Box Office: 'Avatar' on Top for Seventh Week
Filed under: New Releases, Box Office
Avatar enjoyed a seventh straight week atop the box office, a streak that may come to an end next week depending on how much traction bald and crazy John Travolta gets with audiences (and also how popular Dear John, the mother of all chick flicks, turns out to be). In the meantime, though, as Monika reported earlier in the week, Avatar is now the top-grossing movie of all-time internationally. In the next couple of days it will also pass Titanic to take that title domestically. So that's pretty much the end of that.Edge of Darkness came in second, though it's an ambiguous result: you have to go back to the mid-90s to find a mainstream Mel Gibson vehicle that opened to as little as $17 million. On the other hand, it's the guy's first role in seven years -- and in a rather nondescript film noir in the middle of January at that. I wouldn't read too much into it, though the movie's $80 million budget raises some questions. The fantasy rom-com When in Rome didn't have a lot of competition for its target audience, but had to battle terrible reviews for its okay $12 million take.
Legion took the biggest hit of the holdovers, dropping over 60% to 6th place; it may have wound up on the wrong side of the ludicrous/enjoyable divide for most people. Meanwhile, Sherlock Holmes is about to eke past the $200 million mark, Alvin and the Chipmunks already has, and Nancy Meyers' It's Complicated just skated past $100 million. Those are last year's three Christmas Day releases, which appear to have been perfectly calculated to stay out of each other's way in the ensuing weeks.
The full top 10 after the jump.
Box Office: When on the Edge...
Filed under: Comedy, Romance, Thrillers, Box Office, Box Office Predictions
So have you heard about this movie Avatar? I hear it's doing pretty well. So well in fact that it now holds the title of second highest grossing domestic film of all time, having passed The Dark Knight this weekend. Legion and The Tooth Fairy did OK business but Extraordinary Measures opened in 8th with a mere $6 million. Here's the top five:
1. Avatar: $34.9 million
2. Legion: $17.5 million
3. The Book of Eli: $15.7 million
4. The Tooth Fairy: $14 million
5. The Lovely Bones: $8.4 million
Two new releases this week. One brooding thriller and one light romantic comedy.
Edge of Darkness
What's It All About: Mel Gibson stars in this thriller based on a BBC mini-series playing a police detective investigating the death of his political activist daughter.
Why It Might Do Well: Director Martin Campbell also helmed a pretty successful little flick called Casino Royale, as well as the original TV version of Edge of Darkness.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Mel's image has tarnished badly in recent years. Might that effect sales? We shall see.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $24 million
When in Rome
What's It All About: Kristen Bell plays an American vacationing in Rome who plucks several coins from a love fountain and soon finds herself pursued by an equal number of colorful suitors.
Why It Might Do Well: Bell was a delight in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Veronica Mars.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Sadly the trailer gives the impression of a dopey romantic comedy.
Number of Theaters: 2,200
Prediction: $12 million
1. Avatar: $34.9 million
2. Legion: $17.5 million
3. The Book of Eli: $15.7 million
4. The Tooth Fairy: $14 million
5. The Lovely Bones: $8.4 million
Two new releases this week. One brooding thriller and one light romantic comedy.
Edge of DarknessWhat's It All About: Mel Gibson stars in this thriller based on a BBC mini-series playing a police detective investigating the death of his political activist daughter.
Why It Might Do Well: Director Martin Campbell also helmed a pretty successful little flick called Casino Royale, as well as the original TV version of Edge of Darkness.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Mel's image has tarnished badly in recent years. Might that effect sales? We shall see.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $24 million
When in RomeWhat's It All About: Kristen Bell plays an American vacationing in Rome who plucks several coins from a love fountain and soon finds herself pursued by an equal number of colorful suitors.
Why It Might Do Well: Bell was a delight in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Veronica Mars.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Sadly the trailer gives the impression of a dopey romantic comedy.
Number of Theaters: 2,200
Prediction: $12 million
'Avatar' Passes 'Titanic' to Become Highest Grossing Movie Ever Made
Filed under: Box Office
Surprise, surprise! Titanic has finally been de-throned. Just yesterday in our Weekend Box Office, Eugene Novikov noted how Avatar was sure to become the number one-grossing film in the next day or two. Right on schedule, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Avatar is now the biggest-grossing film of all time. (However, the movie still has a short journey left on the domestic box office charts. It's at $551.7 mil, and needs to get to $600.8 mil.)Titanic fell into the icy seas of the #2 spot early on Monday, as James Cameron's epic cashed in $1.292 billion worldwide. Titanic's record was $1.242 billion. As THR notes, these numbers highlight the importance of the foreign circuit, which is responsible for almost 70% of the film's worldwide revenue. (To continue the comparison, Titanic found 67% worldwide.) But the new twist this time around was that super-magic 3D technology. It has to be seen in all its third-dimensional glory, and for once, everyone is on-board hook, line, and sinker.
Finally, not to tarnish James Cameron's achievements, but the accomplishment does diminish once inflation is taken into account. If all money were equal, using the U.S. Labor Statistics formula, Gone with the Wind is still the top dog with $400 million in 1939 being over $6 billion now. ("One dollar in 1939 is the equivalent of $15.43 today.") Six BILLION. Can we ever hope to reach that terribly elusive inflation number? I mean, more time to catch it just means more inflation and a higher divide
Weekend Box Office: 'Avatar' Creeps Up on All-Time Highs
Filed under: New Releases, Box Office
It's fun now to think back to 1997, when Titanic was portrayed not just as a box office mega-hit, but a sort of cinematic freak of nature. Its $600 million domestic total -- unthinkable at the time -- was the result not just of popularity, but of a fanatical devotion that, most people seemed to think, could never be reproduced or repeated. The papers and local news were filled with breathless, slightly bemused pop pieces about the gaggle of girls who were on their 17th viewing, etc. That -- not the movie itself -- was the phenomenon.What once seemed impossible is now inevitable. James Cameron's follow-up to Titanic will take the all-time domestic box office record -- not next weekend, probably, but surely the following. In its 6th week of release, Avatar dropped a miniscule 16%. On its face, that doesn't seem as impressive as Titanic's extraordinary staying power -- it remained at #1 for 15 weeks, and gained viewership from week to week as often as it lost it -- but Titanic also opened to $29 million, not $77.
Worldwide, Avatar now trails Titanic by, uh, $6 million. Expect that record to fall in the next day or two.
Who or What Can Beat 'Avatar'? 'Confucius'
Filed under: Box Office, Distribution
You might have heard that Avatar is doing pretty darn well in China. (It's the most successful movie of all time there.) Unfortunately, that success doesn't earn it free reign over the theaters. As the LA Times reports, China's state-run movie distributor is pulling the blockbuster from over 1,500 2-D screens. Why? Who or what could stop the reign? Confucius ... That's who.
All of those freed-up screens will now show Confucius --a biography of the ancient philosopher, as played by Chow-Yun Fat. Reports in Hong Kong state that the decision was due to "the urging of propaganda officials who are concerned that Avatar is taking too much market share from Chinese films and drawing unwanted attention to the sensitive issue of forced evictions." By that they don't mean evicting James Cameron's film early, but rather the millions of Chinese residents who have been moved to clear the way for high rises and infrastructure projects. However, some say it's simply a matter of Chinese New Year, a time when domestic films get room to shine.
Perhaps they just fear Confucius will fall to one of his own quotes: Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.
Weekend Box Office: The Apocalypse Is No Match for 'Avatar'
Filed under: Box Office
I'm filling in for Eugene Novikov, who usually does the Weekend Box Office report, so forgive me if I don't get it exactly right. Having perused the reports from the last few weeks, I get the impression that this Avatar thing is something of a big deal, and that its mighty box-office haul is a thing of extraordinary magnitude. James Cameron's azure juggernaut broke more records over the four-day holiday weekend. Its $54.6 million gross (that's Friday through Monday, not Friday through Sunday) is the best ever for any film over MLK Weekend. Its Friday-Sunday gross of $42.8 million is a new record for best fifth weekend, easily beating the $30 million that Titanic made its fifth time out. This was Avatar's fifth time in the No. 1 spot, too, making it the first film to accomplish that feat since The Sixth Sense in 1999. Oh, and it cracked the $500 million mark on its 32nd day of release, beating The Dark Knight's record of 45 days. At this point less than $100 million stands between Avatar and the all-time domestic box-office record.
Surprisingly, there were other films in theaters this weekend too. One of them was The Book of Eli, a new release starring Denzel Washington, which opened to a robust $38 million for the four-day weekend. Among Washington films, only American Gangster had a better opening. Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones, going into wide release after a few weeks on just a handful of screens, landed in third place with $20.5 million over four days. And The Spy Next Door, in which Jackie Chan signifies that he's done being a respected movie star and would like to be a depressing embarrassment now, opened in fifth place with $13 million.
Oh, and while nobody was paying attention, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel grossed almost $200 million. This is a record for a film with the word "squeakquel" in the title.
The top 10 after the jump.
Box Office: The Book of Bones Next Door
Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Box Office, Family Films, Box Office Predictions
It was not a good weekend for the newbies. Daybreakers was the only new release to make the top five with Leap Year and Youth in Revolt taking sixth and ninth respectively. Here's the top five:
1. Avatar: $48.5 million
2. Sherlock Holmes: $16.6 million
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: $16.3 million
4. Daybreakers: $15 million
5. It's Complicated: $11 million
Two new releases this week, with another going into wider release.
The Book of Eli
What's It All About: In a post-apocalyptic world (not to be confused with a Post Raisin Bran world) Denzel Washington fights to protect a book that might save humanity.
Why It Might Do Well: End of the world themes are big lately (2012, Daybreakers, The Road) so what's one more look at Armageddon among friends?
Why It Might Not Do Well: 13% at Rottentomatoes.com doesn't fill me with confidence, though at the moment that only includes 8 reviews.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $36 million
The Spy Next Door
What's It All About: Family comedy starring Jackie Chan as a CIA agent who want to get out of the espionage game but finds his greatest challenge in winning over his fiancee's three children.
Why It Might Do Well: Chan has made a dollar or two at the box office before, and as far as kids' flicks go those chipmunks will have to run out of steam sooner or later.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Kids might enjoy this one but there doesn't seem to be much grown up appeal.
Number of Theaters: 2,800
Prediction: $16 million
1. Avatar: $48.5 million
2. Sherlock Holmes: $16.6 million
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel: $16.3 million
4. Daybreakers: $15 million
5. It's Complicated: $11 million
Two new releases this week, with another going into wider release.
The Book of EliWhat's It All About: In a post-apocalyptic world (not to be confused with a Post Raisin Bran world) Denzel Washington fights to protect a book that might save humanity.
Why It Might Do Well: End of the world themes are big lately (2012, Daybreakers, The Road) so what's one more look at Armageddon among friends?
Why It Might Not Do Well: 13% at Rottentomatoes.com doesn't fill me with confidence, though at the moment that only includes 8 reviews.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $36 million
The Spy Next DoorWhat's It All About: Family comedy starring Jackie Chan as a CIA agent who want to get out of the espionage game but finds his greatest challenge in winning over his fiancee's three children.
Why It Might Do Well: Chan has made a dollar or two at the box office before, and as far as kids' flicks go those chipmunks will have to run out of steam sooner or later.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Kids might enjoy this one but there doesn't seem to be much grown up appeal.
Number of Theaters: 2,800
Prediction: $16 million
'Big Top Pee-Wee': The Original Benicio Del Toro Wolfman
Spin-ematical: New on DVD and Blu-ray for 2/9
Watch This: Brilliant Oscar-Nominated Short 'Logorama'
Chris Nolan to Lead 'Superman' Reboot!?
Tim Robbins Joins 'The Green Lantern'
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