Bandslam Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Weekend Box Office: 'District 9' Rides Buzz to $37 Million
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
Sometimes you need neither big-name actors nor a ginormous budget -- just a cool high concept and some nifty advertising that knows how to get the pitch across. The sci-fi-action-allegory District 9 knocked G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra off its short-lived perch with a $37 million weekend. Word-of-mouth appears to be strong, so this one has a chance to make something of itself in a market that will grow less crowded over the next few weeks. G.I. Joe fell just under 60%, which was as expected; it's roughly at $100 million after two weeks.The weekend's other high-profile newcomer was The Time Traveler's Wife, which grossed $19 million, beating out the last time-traveling romance to hit theaters, the Keanu Reeves/Sandra Bullock weepie The Lake House. (That one opened to $13 million but held up well thereafter). Then there were a few relative dumps: Jeremy Piven's The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard landed in 6th place with $5.4 million; Hayao Miyazaki's Ponyo wound up in 9th place with $3.5 million (about par for the course for a US Miyazaki release); and the pretty damn good Bandslam turned into one of the year's biggest flops, grossing $2.3 million on over $2000 screens. Figures that the rare attempt to appeal to the Disney Channel demographic without force-feeding it Disney Channel garbage does absolutely no business.
Among non-G.I. Joe holdovers, Julie & Julia did reasonably well, which makes sense given the extent to which it's targeting older audiences not likely to run out to the theater on opening weekend. And Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, creeping toward $300 million domestic, is now assured second place in the franchise.
The full top 13 (!) after the jump.
Review: Bandslam
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », Family Films »
Summit Entertainment is smart to put a trailer for New Moon (the Twilight sequel) in front of Bandslam, knowing it will bring in fanatical teenagers who might have otherwise ignored this buzz-deficient movie. And if those young ladies stay past the trailers, they'll find that Bandslam is actually worth their time, a spry teen melodrama whose refusal to pander to its audience is refreshing.
Will Burton (Gaelan Connell), who looks like a nerdier Shia LaBeouf, has just moved to Lodi, N.J., with his mom (Lisa Kudrow), and is dismayed to find that high school here is just like it was in Cincinnati, the only difference being that the bullies here don't know about him yet. His love of old-school indie rock makes him different. His frequent fan letters to David Bowie (which serve as the film's diary-like narration) are a little odd, too.
But he's soon befriended by Sam (Vanessa Hudgens), who spells her name "Sa5m" (the five is silent) and is a fellow outcast due to her cynical, emotionless speech and fondness for reading books. She's the type of sullen girl who doesn't like anything popular and dismisses all her fellow teens as idiots -- a departure for the perky, baby-voiced High School Musical star, but Hudgens isn't bad in the role, especially as the character warms up later in the film.
Box Office: Slamming The Goods and Selling It Hard
Filed under: Animation », Comedy », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Box Office », Family Films », Box Office Predictions »
G.I. Joe and Julie and Julia hit their respective demographics head on while the thriller A Perfect Getaway landed way back there in seventh place. Here's the top five:
1. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: $54.7 million
2. Julie & Julia: $20 million
3. G-Force: $9.8 million
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: $8.9 million
5. Funny People: $7.9 million
Can't remember the last time we had five new releases in one week, but here we are:
Bandslam
What's It All About: High school friends join forces to form a band to compete in a competition that may win them a recording contract.
Why It Might Do Well: There are only six reviews in at the moment but Rottentomatoes.com gives it 67% fresh.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Seems kind of like a cross between High School Musical and The Rocker with no star power to speak of.
Number of Theaters: 2,000
Prediction: $7 million
District 9
What's It
All About: Thirty years ago a space ship carrying the last survivors of an insect-like alien race landed in South Africa. The alien refugees have been housed in District 9 and the governments of the world are fighting for control of the aliens' technology.
Why It Might Do Well: Peter Jackson is serving as producer, the trailer looks pretty cool, and although only fifteen reviews have been tallied so far Rottentomatoes.com is giving a whopping 100%.
Why It Might Not Do Well: I suppose it's possible that someone might find the resemblance to Alien Nation off-putting.
Number of Theaters: 2,900
Prediction: $36 million
1. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: $54.7 million
2. Julie & Julia: $20 million
3. G-Force: $9.8 million
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince: $8.9 million
5. Funny People: $7.9 million
Can't remember the last time we had five new releases in one week, but here we are:
BandslamWhat's It All About: High school friends join forces to form a band to compete in a competition that may win them a recording contract.
Why It Might Do Well: There are only six reviews in at the moment but Rottentomatoes.com gives it 67% fresh.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Seems kind of like a cross between High School Musical and The Rocker with no star power to speak of.
Number of Theaters: 2,000
Prediction: $7 million
District 9
What's It
All About: Thirty years ago a space ship carrying the last survivors of an insect-like alien race landed in South Africa. The alien refugees have been housed in District 9 and the governments of the world are fighting for control of the aliens' technology.Why It Might Do Well: Peter Jackson is serving as producer, the trailer looks pretty cool, and although only fifteen reviews have been tallied so far Rottentomatoes.com is giving a whopping 100%.
Why It Might Not Do Well: I suppose it's possible that someone might find the resemblance to Alien Nation off-putting.
Number of Theaters: 2,900
Prediction: $36 million
Trailer Park: Shrinking Toys in the Twilight
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », Trailer Trash », Family Films »
The Final Destination
Take note of the definite article "the," as this is supposedly the final chapter in the Final Destination franchise. As with the other entries, a group of teens cheat death but are slowly claimed by a series of supernatural Rube Goldberg-ian death traps. This minor bit of scary movie fluff is made all the more interesting by the use of 3-D and I have to admit the man eating escalator (pictured above) looks pretty cool. Carnage ensues on August 28.
The Twilight Saga: New Moon
I haven't seen the original and I'm pretty far removed from the target demographic, but the overwrought dialog and performances here are a real cringe inducer. Suffice it to say if you like your teens angsty and your vampires sparkly then this Twilight sequel will be right up your alley. The ante has been upped by the introduction of werewolves to the story. Watch for this one on November 20.
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
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Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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