‘The Hunger Games’ reaches $302 million at the box office!

‘The Hunger Games’ not only continues to hold the number one spot in the box office with $33.5 million dollars, but it has reached the outstanding amount of $302 million total (in the U.S., it is almost at $460 mil world-wide) in just three weeks. Despite of the tough contenders it had, it keeps holding on strongly.

The fourth installment of the American Pie franchise ‘American Reunion,’ took the second spot in the box office with $21.5 million dollars. It seems like many of its’ loyal followers decided to check out what this last slice of pie had to offer.

Another blast from the past ‘Titanic 3D’ shows up in third place with $17.4 million dollars. James Cameron continues to show that his work is hard to top; he was capable of re-making a film from 1997 flawlessly into 3D and it almost already made up for the $18 million dollars it took to convert it.

The Top 10 in the Box Office are:

1.The Hunger Games – $33.5 mil

2. American Reunion – $21.5 mil

3. Titanic 3D – $17.4 mil

4. Wrath of the Titans – $15 mil

5. Mirror, Mirror – $11 mil

6. Jump Street – $10.2 mil

7. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – $5 mil

8. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen – $ 975 Thousand

9. John Carter – $ 820 Thousand

10. Safe House – $581 Thousand

‘The Hunger Games’ Keeps Being #1

‘The Hunger Games’ continues to hold on to the number one spot in the box office, it seems like it will be very hard for someone to take its’ place. This was one of the most anticipated movies of the year and it begins the month of April holding on to its’ place with $61.1 million dollars.

A sequel follows it, ‘Wrath of the Titans’ which has received compliments because it is better than its’ predecessor. This movie of action and mythology took second place with $34.2 million dollars.

The children’s movie ‘Mirror, Mirror’ starring Julia Roberts shyly took third place with $19 million dollars. It could be because according to critics this new version doesn’t enhance the story of Snow White.

The Top 10 Movies in the Box Office are:

1. The Hunger Games – $61.1 mil

2. Wrath of the Titans – $34.2 mil

3. Mirror, Mirror – $19 mil

4. 21 Jump Street – $15 mil

5. Dr. Seuss’ ‘The Lorax’ – $8 mil

6. John Carter – $2 mil

7. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen – $1.3 mil

8. Act of Valor – $1 mil

9. A Thousand Words – $0.915 thousand

10. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – $0.825 thousand

‘The Hunger Games’ breaks records with $155M!

‘The Hunger Games’ is the third movie in history to make so much money in its debut, after ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2’ and ‘The Dark Night. Also it is the first non-sequel in history to collect such a huge amount, at the same time is the movie that has earned the most for Lionsgate studio, with the outstanding sum of $155 million dollars. There is a number of infinite reasons for its success, the fact that it’s based on a successful trilogy by Suzanne Collins or the controversial theme of its story or that the advertising campaign gave its all world-wide. Whatever it is, the formula they used worked.

The comedy ’21 Jump Street’ which was number one last week follows it, adding $21.3 million dollars to their profits. It was very hard for this comedy, which many critics say it’s the best one of the year so far, to fight against the enormous debut of the one that took first place.

‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ fell to third place, although it has done very well this month after its’ premiere. The $13.1 million dollars from this weekend add up to the $177 million dollars total it has earned, almost the amount that the number one this week achieved in only its’ premiere.

The Top 10 Movies in the Box Office are:

1. The Hunger Games – $155 mil

2. 21 Jump Street – $21.3 mil

3. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – $13.1 mil

4. John Carter – $5 mil

5. Act of Valor – $2.1 mil

6. Project X – $1.9 mil

7. A Thousand Words – $1.9 mil

8. October Baby – $1.7 mil

9. Safe House – $1.4 mil

10. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – $1.4 mil

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

 

‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ is a movie anticipated by many: the book fans, the Swedish version of the film fans and everyone else that has gotten curious by the buzz around the book trilogy that hooked millions. This thriller will not disappoint any of the aforementioned, many might think there was no need to make an American version of the film, but the truth is that it combined all the good elements of the original one along with the book as a guide of course to make a great remake. This version makes the book and original more eye opening by bringing the action scenes to a higher standard.

 

The film is based on a book by the Swedish writer Stieg Larsson, it was published back in 2005 and was quickly made into a Swedish movie in 2009. It develops the story of a financial journalist, Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) who has legal troubles and is in the verge of loosing his entire career and taking the magazine he works for Millennium down with him. A rich millionaire Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer), the kind of person he usually does his research about, decides to hire him for an unusual chore: to investigate the disappearance of his niece Harriet and odd 40 years ago. The story that develops at the same time on the screen is that of Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara); a social outcast that spends her time being the best investigator at a security firm, who uses any method she can to complete the tasks assigned to her. These two unite to make an unbeatable team that will try to solve a crime no one expects them to. This game of “Clue†gets more interesting as the film progresses.

 

Mara is fantastic as Lisbeth, her make up, her attitude; her whole persona is played out perfectly. Seeing Mr. Bond aka Craig in this role is quite interesting, he still is a ladies man but is way more human than Bond; it’s almost tough seeing him be so weak at times but he’s also fantastic. The images in Stockholm and the imaginary town of Hedestad are very similar to those of the original film; (despite of the fact that the filmmakers say they didn’t use the original to do this remake) although somehow they are more captivating. The film runs for 2hrs and 30mins, which gives justice to the lengthy book, but towards the end it gets so fast paced that it might be hard to follow for those not familiar with it. The sequence of the book is mainly followed except for some minor changes to the script, which are easy to adapt to. There are several scenes that are very hard to watch, so be prepared. Try to make it to see the beginning of the film; the title sequence is a treat in itself.

 

The Swedish film is the most watched Swedish film ever! That might not be the case in America but it will surely have high-ticket sales for a while after it comes out. If you’ve been waiting for this film since you heard they were doing an American remake of it you will surely be rewarded for the wait. Director David Fincher cooked up the perfect movie to honor the book and the writer’s memory and to keep us waiting patiently for the other 2 to follow.

 

And to read an interview with Rooney Mara and Daniel Craig , click here, plus follow Karen Posada via Twitter to @karenlpo

’21 Jump Street’ takes over the box office

The comedy film ’21 Jump Street’ surprised everyone taking the first spot in the box office, with $35 million dollars. It could have been because of the infinite praise that critics gave Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, for their hilarious performance as two undercover cops in High School.

‘Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax’ the children’s movie fell to second place with $22.8 million dollars. After being the leader for the last two weeks, this animated film has already collected $158 million dollars.

Disney’s film ‘John Carter’ has yet to fulfill its’ financial expectations in the box office, it fell to third place taking in $13.5 million dollars.

The Top 10 Movies in the Box Office are:

1. 21 Jump Street -$35 mil

2. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – $22.8 mil

3. John Carter – $13.5 mil

4. Project X – $4 mil

5. A Thousand Words – $3.7 mil

6. Act of Valor – $3.7 mil

7. Safe House – $2.8 mil

8. Journey 2: The Mysterious Island – $2.5 mil

9. Casa de Mi Padre – $2.2 mil

10. This Means War – $2.1 mil

Zoe Saldaña and Megan Fox together in ‘Swindle’

Paramount wan the battle for the spec script ‘Swindle’ written by Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson; the details of the story haven’t been released yet except that it’s an action heist. Paramount added the producer of ‘Moneyball’ Michael De Luca, as well as Megan Fox and Zoe Saldaña who will be starring; since the project was created because the two had expressed in the past that they would like to work together. This group of actresses and scriptwriters have in common that they are all represented by ICM; Brillstein Entertainment Partners also represent Saldaña.

At the moment Saldaña is filming the sequel of ‘ˆStar Trek’ directed by J.J. Abrams, her next project starring in is ‘Blood Ties’ with Clive Owen, Billy Crudup and Marion Cotillard to be directed by Guillaume Canet. In the film ‘The Words’ which premiered and was sold to CBS Films at Sundance she stars along Bradley Cooper and Jereme Irons. Right now, she is negotiating with Relativity Media to star along Christian Bale or Casey Affleck in ‘Out of the Furnace’, which Scoot Cooper is said to direct.   

Fox who has done fairly well after leaving the franchise ‘Transformers’, at the moment is filming ‘Friends with Kids’. To be followed by Paramount’s comedy ‘The Dictator’ in which she’ll star along Sacha Baron Cohen. She will continue with comedy in ‘This is Forty’ along Paul Rudd, Chris O’Dowd and Leslie Mann, which Judd Apatow will direct.

Seeking Justice (Movie Review)

‘Seeking Justice’ is a mix of action and suspense, which although it entertains it seems to need some extra editing. The actions scenes need to be polished because at times it seems as if we were watching a practice scene not the real thing, I kept on waiting for one of the actors to turn around and look at the camera laughing. The story is interesting and convincing up to a certain point, it is missing some flavor so that it is more exciting though.

Will Gerard (Nicolas Cage) finds himself in a bind when someone attacks his wife, Laura (January Jones). Just at the moment when Will is most desperate, a man named Simon (Guy Pearce) tells him he’s part of a vigilante group which is made up of everyday citizens and they help one another, he offers to help him and his wife find some peace. In his moment of need Will accepts and just when everything seems to start becoming normal in their lives again Simon appears, to remind Will that he needs to repay the favor.

I think Cage tries too hard to play the role of a normal person, even in his way of speaking his character has no sense of urgency, his voice and even his actions although they are justifiably nervous they are monotonous. Pearce plays his character well; he’s just the right amount of harsh and controlling with a hint of bad guy without being exaggerated. Some parts of the dialogue have humor in them, which surprised me. Also, there are some unexpected twists, which definitely don’t let you, loose interest in the film. 

I see this movie as to what would happen to a normal person if the found themselves in this situation, not how a Hollywood movie would play it out. Obviously there are some intricate scenes, but in the hand combat scenes there’s not the normal sophistication movies have. I like the concept of the story because it’s interesting, I also like the way it develops; but I think a little more glamour would be appropriate in order for it to have a spot at the box office.