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‘Bruno’ astonishingly is #1 at the box office

2009/07/12 at 12:00am

‘Bruno’ astonishingly is #1 at the box office

07.12.2009 | By Pau Brunet |

“Bruno,” British satirist Sacha Baron Cohen‘s latest subversive outing, narrowly claimed the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office in North America, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

The “mockumentary,” in which Baron Cohen plays a gay Austrian fashion model seeking fame in the United States, sold $30.4 million worth of tickets during the three days beginning July 10, distributor Universal Pictures said.

But the film lost 39 percent of its audience from Friday to Saturday, a hefty drop given that movies usually see an uptick in that period.

Rival studios pounced on the slide, forecasting “Bruno” would have a short run in theaters. But Universal distribution president Nikki Rocco said such a dip “was not unusual in summer.”

“Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” held steady at No. 2 with $28.5 million, taking the 12-day haul for 20th Century Fox’s prehistoric cartoon to $120.6 million. The film was the top draw internationally over the weekend, with $98 million from 102 markets. Its total foreign haul stands at $327 million.

Last weekend’s North American champion, “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” slipped to No. 3 with $24.2 million. After 19 days, Paramount Pictures’ robot sequel has earned $339.2 million in North America, easily the biggest movie of the year. Its international haul rose to $364.5 million.

The one other new entry was Fox’s teen romantic comedy “I Love You, Beth Cooper,” starring Hayden Panettiere in the title role. It came in at No. 7 with $5 million, in line with the studio’s modest expectations.

The opening for “Bruno” was also in line with the forecasts of Universal Pictures, a General Electric Co (GE.N) unit, which paid independent producer Media Rights Capital $42.5 million for distribution rights in North America and eight foreign territories. Media Rights declined to disclose the budget.

Baron Cohen’s previous release, the similarly outrageous “Borat,” opened with $26.5 million in November 2006. But that was from about 800 theaters, while “Bruno” played in 2,756 theaters. “Borat” ended up with $128.5 million in North America and an additional $133 million internationally.

Universal said “Bruno” earned $20 million from the eight international markets, led by No. 1 bows in Britain ($8.1 million) and Australia ($6.1 million).

“Bruno” faced a similar storm of controversy as “Borat.”

In the new film, Baron Cohen’s character sashays across the American landscape, piling on the homosexual activity for unsuspecting co-stars and a squeamish audience. Critics mostly liked the movie, while gay-rights groups were mixed in their reactions.

Both films were directed by Larry Charles, a former writer/producer on “Seinfeld.”

Exit data provided by Universal indicated that men made up 56 percent of the “Bruno” audience in North America, in line with the turnout for “Borat.”

But this time, 54 percent of moviegoers were aged 25 and older, while 53 percent of the “Borat” crowd was aged under 25. Both films were rated “R” in the United States, requiring moviegoers under 17 to be accompanied by an adult.

Universal’s Rocco said the film would be “very profitable” for the studio, which picked up the rights before “Borat” was released.

‘Ice Age 3’ and ‘Transformers 2’ tie for box office gold?

By Mack Chico

2009/07/06 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Ice Age 3’ and ‘Transformers 2’ tie for box office gold?

07.6.2009 | By Mack Chico |

It was a win-win situation at the box office, with “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” raking in record international box office for an animated pic, while “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” became the year’s domestic B.O. champ.

Opening on Wednesday to get the jump on the holiday weekend, 20th Century Fox’s “Ice Age 3” won the five-day sesh with $67.5 million; the “Transformers” sequel took $65 million. The 3-D dinosaurs trampled the world’s box office, with the biggest opening ever for an animated film at $148 million. Worldwide total stands at $215.5 million.

For the three-day weekend sesh, “Ice Age” and “Transformers” raced to a rare tie, with $42.5 million. (The victor will likely be decided when the final numbers come in this ayem.)

“Revenge of the Fallen” lit up the holiday box office frame by becoming the highest-grossing pic of the year, with a domestic cume of $293.5 million in its 12th day in release. The only film to have amassed a higher gross in such a short time is “The Dark Knight.” Worldwide tally for “Transformers 2” is a massive $591 million.

Universal’s Johnny Depp gangster pic “Public Enemies,” which also opened Wednesday, served as solid counterprogramming to the two tentpoles. Period piece, directed by Michael Mann, grossed $41 million in its first five days at the domestic B.O. and $5.3 million from five territories overseas, bringing worldwide cume to $46.3 million.

Distribs and exhibs were expecting a slow holiday Saturday, but the drop was even bigger than expected at 30% or more.

Yet the weekend was still up over the same domestic frame last year as there was something for everyone on the marquee. There had been concern that “Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and “Public Enemies” might get lost in the shadow of “Revenge of the Fallen,” but both came in on the upper end of expectations.

The third “Ice Age” pic’s five-day domestic debut of $67.5 million nearly matched the $68 million opening of the previous installment, “Ice Age: The Meltdown.”

Fox took a calculated risk in opening the threequel in summer. The first two films debuted in March, when there is far less competition, but the third is benefiting from summer vacation.

“Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” opening on 11,652 screens in 101 markets, saw the sixth best international opening of all time behind (“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” tops the list).

“Ice Age 3” likely took a bite out of “Transformers 2” internationally, although the latter still pulled in $55 million for the sesh.

Fox co-prexies of international distribution Paul Hanneman and Tomas Jegeus said “Ice Age 3” played incredibly broadly, fueled by a massive international marketing campaign that included numerous promotion partners.

“We had a great date, and we think we will keep playing and playing. The ‘Ice Age’ franchise has become an institution, and we powered through any disadvantages we had, such as weather,” Hanneman said.

The film scored the biggest international opening ever in numerous territories, led by Russia at $18.9 million, Brazil at $10.3 million and Mexico at $10 million. Other countries included Austria, Chile, Peru and Colombia. In Mexico, the opening was 100% ahead of the “Transformers 2” debut and 81% ahead of “Dark Knight.”

“Dawn of the Dinosaurs” broke the record for the biggest animated opening in several individual territories as well, including France at $11.1 million.

“Ice Age 3’s” worldwide gross was boosted by its 3-D runs, which repped the widest opening to date for a 3-D title, both domestically and abroad. In the U.S. toon played on 1,606 3-D screens. Overseas, the 2,126 3-D screens grossed a combined $51 million, repping 34% of the entire gross, even though the screens comprised only 18% of the entire run.

Fox VP of domestic distribution Bert Livingston said the studio was elated with the overall result.

“I think we are in rarefied air. To be in a virtual tie for the weekend with one of the biggest event films ever is a great start,” Livingston said.

“Ice Age 3” represents a sizable victory for Fox Animation topper Vanessa Morrison.

Meanwhile, Universal was pleased with “Public Enemies,” which overcame concerns that a more serious drama wouldn’t play in summer.

“Everyone questioned whether this film would do good business. It turned out to be a great holiday weekend for fans of adult titles,” said U prexy of worldwide marketing and distribution Adam Fogelson.

The “Public Enemies” opening, the best ever for Mann, is a testament to Depp’s appeal, proving he can open a pic even when not dressed as a pirate.

Among holdovers, Disney’s romantic comedy “The Proposal” ended the weekend with an impressive worldwide gross of $123.7 million. Coming in No. 4 domestically, pic dipped just 31% to an estimated $12.8 million from 3,099 runs; cume is $94.2 million. Overseas, the Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds starrer grossed $4.2 million from 1,753 runs in 15 territories for a cume of $29.5 million.

Warner Bros.’ “The Hangover” jumped the $200 million mark domestically, grossing an estimated $10.5 million from 3,070 theaters for a cume of $204.2 million. Overseas, film grossed $8.7 million from 1,975 screens in 30 markets for a cume of $61.5 million and worldwide tally of $265.7 million. That’s within earshot of the global take for “Wedding Crashers” at $285.2 million.

At the specialty box office, Summit Entertainment’s “The Hurt Locker” secured the best per-location average of any film. The Kathryn Bigelow-directed war drama grossed an estimated $126,000 from nine locations for a per-screen average of $14,000 and cume of $365,000 in its second sesh. Its holding power will be tested when it expands into smaller markets.

Focus Features’ “Away We Go,” from Sam Mendes, ended its fifth sesh with an impressive cume of $6.1 million after posting a weekend gross of $1.1 million from 506 locations.

Sony Pictures Classics’ sci-fi drama “Moon” grossed $300,485 in its fourth weekend from 47 locations, raising its per-screen average to $6,393 with a cume of $982,527.

Sony Classics’ Woody Allen pic “Whatever Works” grossed $1.1 million from 355 locations for the weekend, putting its cume at $2 million in its third frame — an improvement on Allen’s “Cassandra’s Dream” last year.

Miramax’s “Cheri,” directed by Stephen Frears, failed to catch on in its second sesh, with an estimated $388,000 from 140 locations and cume of $1 million. Magnolia’s had more success with docu “Food, Inc.,” which grossed $240,000 from 83 screens for a $1.28 million cume.

Among openers, Magnolia’s “The Girl From Monaco” grossed $90,000 from 21 theaters for a per-location average of $4,286.

By Mack Chico

2009/06/29 at 12:00am

Movies

Monday Box Office – "Transformers 2"

06.29.2009 | By Mack Chico |

Aside from its whopping five-day domestic tally — the second highest of all time — Paramount’s “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” broke records in several countries overseas, leading to a massive $387.3 million worldwide through Sunday, one of the best global launches ever.

The five-day opening gross of $201.2 million from 4,234 theaters domestically easily eclipsed the $152.4 million earned by “Spider-Man 2,” which previously held the five-day record for a Wednesday launch. And “Transformers 2” nearly matched the best five-day gross of all time: $203.8 million for WB’s “The Dark Knight.”

Overseas, the action tentpole opened to an estimated $162 million, the fourth best international opening of all time, after “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” ($216.3 million), “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” ($193 million) and “Spider-Man 3” ($164.9 million). The sequel’s foreign cume was $186.1 million when factoring in the $24.1 million earned the previous weekend in the U.K. and Japan.

Although the Michael Bay-helmed pic sucked up most of the oxygen at the box office, other pics scored notable numbers. Disney-Pixar’s “Up” surpassed Par’s “Star Trek” to become the year’s highest-grossing title at the domestic B.O. (The film’s cume through Sunday was an estimated $250.2 million, boosted by the added charge for 3-D tickets.)

Warner Bros.’ “The Hangover” passed $200 million at the worldwide B.O. Domestically, it saw $17.2 million from 3,525 for a cume of $183.2 million. Abroad, film earned $10.1 million from 1,250 runs in 29 markets for a cume of $46.2 million and worldwide tally of $229.2 million.

Several specialty titles popped, including Summit Entertainment’s “The Hurt Locker.” Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film posted a per-screen average of $36,000 as it opened in four theaters in L.A. and New York, grossing an estimated $144,000.

The weekend’s only wide release besides “Revenge of the Fallen” was Cameron Diaz-Abigail Breslin drama “My Sister’s Keeper.” The film saw modest biz in grossing $12 million from 2,606 runs to come in No. 5 for the weekend.

In other holdover action, Fox’s “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” crossed the $200 million mark internationally as it grossed $5.2 million from 4,000 runs in 62 territories for a foreign cume of $202.3 million and worldwide tally of $365.5 million.

Sony continued to see strong international results for “Terminator Salvation,” which grossed $10.1 million for the sesh from 7,470 theaters in 70 markets for a foreign cume of $193.7 million. Accounting for territories where Sony isn’t distributing, pic’s total foreign gross is $219.5 million.

The romantic comedy “The Proposal,” from the Mouse House, continued to click. The Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds starrer dipped 45% to an estimated $18.5 million from 3,058 runs; cume is $69 million. The pic grossed another $7.2 million overseas for the weekend, putting the worldwide cume at $91.7 million in its first 10 days.

On the domestic front, Focus Features’ dramedy “Away We Go” landed in the No. 10 spot in its fourth week, grossing $1.7 million as it expanded into 495 locations for a per-screen average of $3,390 and cume of $3.4 million.

And Woody Allen’s “Whatever Works,” from Sony Pictures Classics, grossed $386,286 in its second frame for a per-screen average of $11,036 and cume of $765,433.

Miramax’s Michelle Pfeiffer period piece “Cheri” grossed $408,000 as it opened on 76 screens for a per-location average of $5,368.

Not having such a good weekend domestically was Sony’s Jack Black-Michael Cera laffer “Year One,” which tumbled 70% in its second frame to $5.8 million for a domestic cume of $32.3 million.

But the big news, of course, is the “Transformers” sequel, the first tentpole since “Dark Knight” to truly rocket into the B.O. stratosphere.

Paramount co-chair Rob Moore said the pic played to a much broader audience than its predecessor, noting that the first time around, males made up 60% of the audience. This time, that number dropped to 54%.

More important to Moore: Despite negative reviews, more than 90% of those polled as they left theaters said the sequel was as good as, or better than, the first.

“To us, that’s the most compelling data point,” Moore said. “The thing that works so much about this franchise is the level of optimism and fun that’s inherent in it. It transports you to a world that stretches reality but is a ton of fun.”

Par execs were particularly pleased, since the studio pegs the pic’s production and worldwide marketing at $350 million — which the film already surpassed in five days.

In terms of just the three-day weekend, “Transformers 2” grossed $112 million domestically. That, plus the $163 million international opening, makes for a worldwide weekend bow of $274 million, the third best after “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World End” ($356.1 million) and “Spider-Man 3” ($315.9 million).

The international haul was led by China at $21.9 million — the biggest opening of all time for an English-language movie. While it played strongest in Asia, “Revenge of the Fallen” performed ahead of the first film in almost every market, proving that the franchise has taken hold, Paramount prexy of international distribution Andrew Cripps said.

“Transformers,” which Par and DreamWorks debuted over the Fourth of July holiday in 2007, opened to $70.5 million domestically on its way to cuming $319.2 million in North America and $700 million worldwide.

Imax also participated in the “Transformers 2” bounty. The pic played on 169 Imax screens domestically. Five-day opening gross at Imax sites was a record $14.4 million.

The “Transformers” franchise was among the projects that reverted to Paramount after its split with DreamWorks, although Steven Spielberg remained an exec producer on the sequel and DreamWorks’ logo appears at the opening of the pic and in ads.

Adam Goodman, who arrived at Par six months ago from DreamWorks, helped guide both “Transformer” pics. Just days before the “Transformers” sequel opened, Paramount chair-CEO Brad Grey announced that Goodman was being upped to Paramount Film Group prexy as production toppers John Lesher and Brad Weston were exiting the studio.

Grey also lauded Bay’s ability to connect with audiences. He said the entire Par family is “proud to be behind him, and we look forward to our collaboration with him in the future.”

“Transformers 3” is tentatively slotted to open July 1, 2011.

In the meantime, “Revenge of the Fallen” is expected to remain a sizable B.O. force in the coming days, looming over such new fare as 20th Century Fox’s 3-D toon “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” which opens Wednesday.

Also opening Wednesday is Universal’s Johnny Depp gangster pic “Public Enemies.”

Monday Box Office – "The Proposal" is #1

By Pau Brunet

2009/06/22 at 12:00am

Movies

Monday Box Office – "The Proposal" is #1

06.22.2009 | By Pau Brunet |

Walt Disney Co.’s romantic comedy “The Proposal” debuted as the top film in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend, as star Sandra Bullock’s best-ever opener gave the company its second No. 1 movie in a month.

“The Proposal” had $34.1 million in ticket sales, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said yesterday in an e- mailed statement. Time Warner Inc.’s “The Hangover” slipped to second with $26.9 million, while “Up” from Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios had $21.3 million in receipts.

The two Disney movies have brought in a combined $258.2 million since the animated 3-D feature “Up” opened at No. 1 four weeks ago. Bullock is identified with romantic comedies, and “The Proposal” gave audiences exactly what they went for, said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo in Sherman Oaks, California.

“Sandra is probably an underrated star, because she’s one of the few who can actually draw an audience when she’s in the right movie,” Gray said. “A lot of movies suffer from a lack of clarity or a lack of information in their advertisements, but ‘The Proposal’ was on point and promised a rollicking romantic good time for all.”

In “The Proposal,” Bullock plays an executive who faces deportation to her native Canada. She tries to fool U.S. immigration authorities by having her assistant, played by Ryan Reynolds, pose as her American fiancé. Gitesh Pandya, editor of Box Office Guru LLC, projected the film to earn as much as $22 million in its debut weekend.

‘The Hangover’

The top 12 films this weekend grossed $140.7 million, up 1.64 percent from a year earlier, Hollywood.com said. Ticket sales for all films rose 2.85 percent to $147 million.

“The Hangover,” a comedy about the aftermath of a bachelor party gone awry in Las Vegas, was the top film the two previous weekends. It has taken in $152.9 million since it opened on June 5.

“‘The Hangover’ is like a hangover; it just won’t go away,” Gray said. “It’s one of the great box-office successes of the year.”

“Up” is Disney’s most successful film this year with $224.1 million in receipts since its May 29 release and has helped lift the studio from last place among its Hollywood peers. The movie, featuring the voice of Ed Asner, drew family audiences with its story of an accidental friendship between a young boy and an elderly man who finally achieves his dream of foreign travel.

‘Pelham 1 2 3’

“Year One,” from Sony Corp., debuted in fourth place with $20.2 million. The film stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as hapless hunter-gatherers kicked out of their tribe for violating a taboo. Their wanderings lead to run-ins with Cain and Abel and other Old Testament figures. “Year One” was forecast by Pandya to generate $20 million in sales.

Sony’s “The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3,” starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta, fell to fifth from third with $11.3 million.

Sony Pictures Classic’s “Whatever Works,” by director Woody Allen, took in $280,720 in nine theaters, the best limited-release opener this year, according to Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst at Hollywood.com Box-office. The per- theater average of $31,191 was triple the $11,163 for “The Proposal.” The film will expand into more than 300 theaters on July 3, according to Dergarabedian.

‘Transformers’

A comedy led box-office sales for a fifth consecutive weekend. That may end next week when Viacom Inc. releases “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” a sequel to 2007’s “Transformers.” Advance sales for the sequel were ahead of the first film by a 3-to-1 margin as of June 17, according to online vendor MovieTickets.com.

The movie, which opens June 24, has the potential to gross more than $200 million in its first seven days, nearing the record $238.6 million set by “The Dark Knight” in July 2008, Gray said.

The original “Transformers,” released in 2007, opened with $70.5 million and took in $708.3 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo, which tracks receipts.

The following table has figures provided by studios to Hollywood.com Box-Office. The amounts are based on actual ticket sales for June 19 and June 20, and estimates for yesterday.

"UP" from Pixar is #1 at the box office!

By Mack Chico

2009/05/31 at 12:00am

Movies

"UP" from Pixar is #1 at the box office!

05.31.2009 | By Mack Chico |

Pixar Studios, the last film house in Hollywood that draws an audience on its name alone, scored its 10th straight No. 1 film as Up soared above the competition this weekend.

The animated comedy about a widower and young boy who travel in a flying house raked in $68.2 million, according to studio estimates from Nielsen EDI.

The debut slightly exceeded the expectations of analysts — who expect a lot from the studio behind Finding Nemo, WALL·E and Toy Story.

And the film delivered on virtually every count, scoring an A-plus from CinemaScore and a recommendation from 98% of the nation’s films critics, according to RottenTomatoes.com.

“Pixar rarely has big stars in its movies,” says Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com. “Ed Asner (the star voice of Up) is not known for opening big. Pixar relies on their reputation for quality. And they’re 10 for 10.”

Chuck Viane, distribution chief for Disney, which distributes Pixar’s films, says that while families drove Up‘s business, nearly a third of the audience was adults without children.

“I think Pixar has a way of turning stories into ‘gotta see’ movies for adults,” Viane says. “They get an unusually even blend of ages.”

Up marked the third-largest Pixar debut, behind The Incredibles‘ $70.5 million and Finding Nemo‘s $70.3 million.

The studio has created anticipation for its films with patience. Up is only the 10th film in the studio’s 14-year history.

“They take their time,” Viane says. “They’ll tweak a story over and over until they’re satisfied. The highest compliment you can pay to them is they’re in no rush and get the job done right.”

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian was second with $25.5 million for a 10-day total of $105.3 million.

Despite stellar reviews, Sam Raimi’s return to schlock horror with Drag Me to Hell managed only third place and $16.8 million. Most analysts projected the horror film, which earned thumbs-up from 94% of reviewers, to collect at least $20 million.

Terminator Salvation ($16.1 million) was fourth, followed by Star Trek ($12.8 million).

Ticket sales dipped 24% from last weekend and 1% from the same weekend last year. Final numbers are out today.

1. “Up”, 68,2 millon

2. “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, 25,5

3. “Drag Me to Hell”, 16,6

4. “Terminator Salvation”, 16,1

5. “Star Trek”, 12,8

6. “Angels & Demons”, 11,2

7. “Dance Flick”, 4,9

8. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”, 3,9

9. “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”, 1,9

10. “Obsessed”, 665,000

Angels & Demons is #1 at the box office!

By Mack Chico

2009/05/17 at 12:00am

Movies

Angels & Demons is #1 at the box office!

05.17.2009 | By Mack Chico |

“Angels and Demons” — sequel to the hit 2006 thriller “The Da Vinci Code” — topped weekend box office sales across North America, edging out last week’s winner ‘Star Trek,’ according to industry projections on Sunday.

Directed by Ron Howard and with Tom Hanks reprising his starring turn, the thriller took in some 48 million dollars, five million more than number two “Star Trek,” at 43 million dollars, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.

Superhero spinoff “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which claimed the best debut of the year two weekends earlier with 87 million dollars, this weekend netted just 14.8 million for a distant third place finish.

In fourth place was romantic comedy “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner, earning 6.8 million dollars in its third week.

Superstar singer Beyonce’s taut thriller “Obsessed” slipped one spot to fifth with 4.6 million dollars, while youthful fantasy “17 Again,” starring US teen idol Zac Efron, also fell one place to sixth, with a 3.4 million dollar take.

“Monsters vs Aliens,” an animated tale of a rag-tag group of monsters who save the world from destruction came in seventh with three million dollars in receipts.

In the eighth spot was “The Soloist,” an inspirational musical tale based on a true story and starring Robert Downey Jr and Jamie Foxx, which scored 2.4 million dollars in ticket sales in its fourth weekend.

Comic caper “Next Day Air,” about a bungled cocaine delivery and the efforts to retrieve it, was ninth with 2.3 million dollars in receipts, while Disney’s “Earth” documentary claimed 10th place with 1.7 million dollars.

By Mack Chico

2009/05/10 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Star Trek’ is #1 at the box office!

05.10.2009 | By Mack Chico |

Resistance proved futile: “Star Trek,” the Paramount Pictures prequel, sold an estimated $76.5 million in tickets at North American theaters in its first three and a half days of release, the top draw of the weekend.

The opening was propelled by a megawatt marketing campaign and unexpectedly strong critical notices. Going into the weekend, though, Paramount was a bit nervous about how the film, which cost $140 million, would perform.

Would the average moviegoer dismiss it as a geek flick? What about older women, an audience that has been tough for science fiction films to crack but is needed for a movie to reach blockbuster status? Historically “Star Trek” movies have performed poorly overseas. Would Paramount’s harder-than-usual sell in Europe pay off?

Rob Moore, Paramount’s vice chairman, sounded giddy in an interview on Sunday morning. “A giant new audience came along for this ride,” he said. “It’s a great relaunch to this classic property.”

The studio, Mr. Moore said, thinks “Star Trek,” directed by J. J. Abrams and starring the newcomer Chris Pine as a young James T. Kirk, has “a real shot” to make more than $200 million domestically, a big number for a film with this size of opening weekend. Overseas, where sales information is slower to trickle in, Mr. Moore said “Star Trek” could sell more than $100 million in tickets, more than double the previous showing for the franchise.

Paramount executives said they had hoped the movie would perform like “Batman Begins,” the 2005 series reboot that opened to about $49 million in ticket sales. Helping “Star Trek” was the decision to start showing the movie in limited release on Thursday evening, a move meant to spur water-cooler talk in the office on Friday and give some padding to the weekend total.

Imax also helped boost results, selling an estimated $8.2 million of “Star Trek” tickets over the weekend, an Imax record. “We’ve never even been close to this kind of turnout before,” said Greg Foster, chairman and president of Imax Filmed Entertainment.

In general the box office continues to sizzle. So far this year North American moviegoers have bought $3.44 billion in tickets, a 16 percent increase over the same period in 2008, according to Hollywood.com. Attendance is up 13 percent.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (20th Century Fox),which had the year’s biggest opening last weekend, taking in more than $85 million, was No. 2 this weekend, with an estimated $27 million for a cumulative total of $129.6 million (including weekday sales). “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past” (Warner Brothers) earned an estimated $10.5 million for third place (and a new total of $30.2 million).

Rounding out the Top 5 were “Obsessed,” a low-budget thriller from Screen Gems, with $6.6 million ($56.2 million), and the Warner Brothers comedy “17 Again,” with $4.4 million ($54 million).

"Hannah Montana: The Movie" #1 at box office!

By Mack Chico

2009/04/12 at 12:00am

Movies

"Hannah Montana: The Movie" #1 at box office!

04.12.2009 | By Mack Chico |

“Hannah Montana: The Movie” opened as the top film over the Easter weekend, taking in $34 million in ticket sales at theaters in the U.S. and Canada.

“Hannah Montana,” from Walt Disney Co., displaced the action film “Fast & Furious,” which fell to second with $28.8 million, box-office researcher Media By Numbers LLC said today in an e-mailed statement.

Sales rose 61 percent to an Easter holiday weekend record of $130.2 million from a year earlier, the third straight weekend of year-over-year gains for Hollywood studios. For the year to date, box-office revenue is 17 percent ahead of last year, and attendance is up 15 percent.

“‘Hannah’ had a gigantic Good Friday, when kids were out of school, it didn’t do as well on Saturday or Easter Sunday, but this was well above expectations,” said Steve Mason, a film analyst with BigHollywood.com, in a telephone interview. He had expected the movie to earn about $25 million.

In “Hannah Montana: The Movie,” a spinoff from Walt Disney Co.’s “Hannah Montana” television show, Miley Cyrus plays a teen-age star who returns to her hometown to escape the pressure of stardom. Cyrus’s father, Billy Ray Cyrus, co-stars.

A 3-D concert film, “Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour,” took in $70.6 million worldwide last year, according to Box Office Mojo. The film had $31.1 million in sales during its opening weekend.

‘Fast & Furious’

“Fast & Furious,” from Universal Pictures, is the fourth in the series about illegal street racing. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, stars of the original “The Fast and the Furious,” return for the first time since the original film to reprise their roles. Diesel made a cameo appearance in “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift” in 2006.

NBC Universal is a unit of General Electric Co.

In “Fast & Furious,” an undercover cop played by Walker joins forces with Diesel’s character, a former convict. The first three films generated $334.2 million at theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to Box Office Mojo LLC. The film was expected to take in $32 million in its second weekend, the estimate of Gitesh Pandya, the editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com in New York.

Third place’s “Monsters vs. Aliens,” the 3-D animation feature from Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc., earned $22.6 million in its third week. The movie, which is about a group of monsters called on to battle invaders from outer space, features the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Rainn Wilson and Stephen Colbert.

‘Observe and Report’

“Observe and Report, which debuted in fourth place with $11.1 million, stars Seth Rogen as a mall security guard who longs to become a real police officer. He gets to try out his sleuthing skills when a streaker targets the shopping center. The film is distributed by Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros.

The Nicolas Cage thriller “Knowing” earned $6.67 million for Summit Entertainment LLC in fifth place. Cage stars as a professor who decodes a document, left in a 1958 time capsule, that has foretold the world’s worst disasters, including some yet to come. Rose Byrne co-stars.

Here’s a complete look at the weekend’s top-grossing films based on Friday-Sunday estimates as compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

Hannah Montana: The Movie, $34 million
Fast & Furious, $28.8 million
Monsters vs. Aliens, $22.6 million
Observe and Report, $11.1 million
Knowing, $6.7 million
I Love You, Man, $6.4 million
The Haunting in Connecticut, $5.7 million
Dragonball: Evolution, $4.7 million
Adventureland, $3.4 million
Duplicity, $3 million

‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ is #1 at the box office!

By Pau Brunet

2009/03/30 at 12:00am

Movies

‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ is #1 at the box office!

03.30.2009 | By Pau Brunet |

DreamWorks Animation’s action comedy “Monsters vs. Aliens,” which features creatures from 1950s flicks in a showdown with invading extraterrestrials, launched itself into the No. 1 spot with a $58.2 million debut, according to studio estimates Sunday.

It was the biggest debut so far in 2009, topping the $55.2 million first weekend of “Watchmen” in early March.

Opening in second place was Lionsgate’s ghost story “The Haunting in Connecticut” with $23 million in ticket sales.

The previous weekend’s top movie, Summit Entertainment’s apocalyptic thriller “Knowing,” slipped to third with $14.7 million, raising its 10-day total to $46.2 million.

The big opening for “Monsters vs. Aliens” boosted Hollywood revenues after a couple of down weekends.

“Monsters vs. Aliens” was the latest success story for digital 3-D projection. While the 2,080 3-D screens accounted for just 28 percent of the roughly 7,300 on which the movie played, they made up 56 percent of its total box-office haul, said Anne Globe, head of marketing for DreamWorks Animation.

Tickets for 3-D movies typically cost a few dollars more than the 2-D version.

1. “Monsters vs. Aliens,” $58.2 million.

2. “The Haunting in Connecticut,” $23 million.

3. “Knowing,” $14.7 million.

4. “I Love You, Man,” $12.6 million.

5. “Duplicity,” $7.6 million.

6. “Race to Witch Mountain,” $5.6 million.

7. “12 Rounds,” $5.3 million.

8. “Watchmen,” $2.755 million.

9. “Taken,” $2.75 million.

10. “The Last House on the Left,” $2.6 million.

Surprise! ‘Watchmen’ is #1 at the box office

By Mack Chico

2009/03/09 at 12:00am

Movies

Surprise! ‘Watchmen’ is #1 at the box office

03.9.2009 | By Mack Chico |

“Watchmen,” the superhero epic from Warner Bros. and its partners, led the movie box-office through another strong weekend but stopped short of peaks hit by some of its predecessors.

The film, directed by Zack Snyder and based on a graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, had an estimated $55.7 million in ticket sales, easily outpacing the weekend’s second-place film, “Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail,” from Lionsgate, which took in about $8.8 million at the domestic box-office for a total of $76.5 million to date.

“Watchmen” was handicapped by its unusually long running time of nearly 2 hours 45 minutes. Longer films get fewer showings in each theater through the course of a day.

The movie was also stung by the ambivalence of critics and fans, many of whom came to it with expectations based on a familiarity with, and often deep reverence for, the complex illustrated story of damaged crime fighters being hunted by a killer.

“Everyone around me liked it a lot more than I did,” said James Thompson, who teaches a course in genre film, television and comics.

Oddly, though, his doubts may bode well for Warner. Thompson said that he and others he knows expected to see the film again this week, to reassess an opinion that he said may have been colored by his own history with the illustrated series. Repeat customers are definitely gravy.

Also in the top five at the weekend box office were “Taken” at No. 3 with $7.5 million, “Slumdog Millionaire” at No. 4 with $6.9 million and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop” at No. 5 with $4.1 million.