not easily broken Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Weekend Box Office: 'Gran Torino,' 'Bride Wars,' 'Unborn' Swarm the New Year
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
Gran Torino's expansion into wide release, plus strong openings for The Unborn and Bride Wars, combined for a surprisingly robust early January weekend at the box office.With Gran Torino, Warner Bros. appears to have pulled off a genuinely successful platform release -- which isn't easy (though perhaps somewhat easier when your movie is a populist crowdpleaser). The film crept along in limited release for four weeks before expanding to 2800 screens this weekend for a cool $29 million. Next week, Defiance will attempt a similar coup, and we'll see what happens; my guess is that it won't play nearly as well.
Bride Wars and The Unborn essentially tied for second place with around $21 million each. Both did well, which is not a huge shock; the obligatory January horror film tends to be easy money, and Bride Wars pretty much matched the precedent set by 27 Dresses last January. And Screen Gems found an audience for its African-American-led drama Not Easily Broken, which did an okay $5.6 million on just over 700 screens.
The first real post-holiday weekend was rough on the holdovers, which, with the exception of Slumdog Millionare, pretty uniformly took hits of 50% or more. Unsurprisingly, Marley & Me remains the biggest winner of the holiday season; it should top out around $140 million. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, meanwhile, is hoping to hold on for long enough to get a boost when the Oscar nominations come out.
The full top 10 after the jump.
Review: Not Easily Broken
Filed under: Comedy », Drama », New Releases », Theatrical Reviews », Religious »
Among his other achievements, Tyler Perry can be credited for helping create room at the multiplex for Christian-themed, African-American-targeted melodramas. Just as Judd Apatow has made the R-rated comedy fashionable (and profitable) again, Perry has reminded distributors that there's a market for tame, moderately enjoyable message films.
Not Easily Broken is the latest movie to benefit from Perry's track record. Granted, its director, Bill Duke (also a recognizable actor), has been at this since before anyone knew who Perry was -- but I doubt Not Easily Broken would be opening on 800 screens if it weren't for the success of tonally similar films like Meet the Browns and The Family That Preys. The chief difference between Duke and Perry seems to be that while Perry's films idolize women and make most of the men out to be villains, Not Easily Broken looks at the current state of black American malehood and gently urges men to be better.
The title comes from a minister's assertion, in the wedding scene that opens the film, that while a regular marriage can be disrupted by worldly influences, a marriage that includes God as a third partner (not like THAT, you sickos) can withstand almost anything. That's eventually the main point of the movie, too, though it's supplemented by other good points that are less religious in nature.
Box Office: War of the Broken and Unborn
Filed under: Box Office Predictions »
No, I'm not just recycling lists here. Since there were no new releases last week, this week's top five is the same as last week's, so that sense of deja vu you're experiencing is nothing to worry about.
1. Marley and Me: $24.2 million
2. Bedtime Stories: $20.5 million
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: $18.6 million
4. Valkyrie: $14 million
5. Yes Man: $13.9 million
We've got three new releases and two films going into wider release starting with:
Bride Wars
What's It All About: Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson star in this comedy about best friends who become bitter rivals when their weddings are scheduled for the same day.
Why It Might Do Well: We've got two highly charismatic leads and a cute premise that should appeal to women.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Men will run screaming from this one.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $21 million
1. Marley and Me: $24.2 million
2. Bedtime Stories: $20.5 million
3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: $18.6 million
4. Valkyrie: $14 million
5. Yes Man: $13.9 million
We've got three new releases and two films going into wider release starting with:
Bride WarsWhat's It All About: Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson star in this comedy about best friends who become bitter rivals when their weddings are scheduled for the same day.
Why It Might Do Well: We've got two highly charismatic leads and a cute premise that should appeal to women.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Men will run screaming from this one.
Number of Theaters: 3,000
Prediction: $21 million
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