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New Moon Numbers Break Box Office in Opening Weekend

Emma Renda — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:35:42 +0000

As if the line-ups outside movie theatres didn’t give it away, the official reports are in: The Twilight Saga: New Moon topped the box office this weekend with $140. 7 million. New Moon now sits at number three in the list of highest ranking box office weekends of all time, alongside The Dark Knight ($158.4 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million).

“New Moon proves not only that the importance of teen girls at the box-office cannot be overstated, but also that going out to see a movie like this in a theater creates a communal event that can become a cultural phenomenon,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office division of Hollywood.com, told The Wall Street Journal.

New Moon posted the largest opening-day box office record with $72.7 million, beating out The Dark Knight’s first day.

When Twilight opened in 2008, it grossed $192.8 million after about 19 weeks in theatres, but as the Thanksgiving weekend approaches, critics are speculating New Moon will beat those numbers within a few days. More than 2,000 theatres in the US re-screened Twilight for a one-day teaser for fans, and grossed a total of $1.3 million.

Roughly 80 per cent of the audience was female, and some critics, like the Guardian UK, are predicting New Moon will revisit the Titanic trend as audiences return for repeat viewings and keep the numbers high over its duration in theatres.

“To have two movies with huge appeal for women result in the second-biggest non-holiday weekend ever is amazing,” Dergarabedian told the Associated Press.

The Twilight franchise “taps into something primal and visceral that drives women crazy, and they’re willing to pay for the privilege,” Dergarabedian said.

“Obviously, with the success of Twilight itself, sequels being what they are will generate X-number of dollars more, particularly if it’s a satisfying sequel,” Richie Fay, head of distribution for Summit Entertainment, told the Associated Press.

Eclipse, the next film in the saga, will be released June 30.

North American top 10, 20-22 November 2009 (From the Guardian UK)

1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon, $140.7m.
2. The Blind Side, $34.5m.
3. 2012, $26.5m. Total: $108.2m.
4. Planet 51, $12.6m.
5. A Christmas Carol, $12.2m. Total: $79.8m.
6. Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, $11m. Total: $21.4m
7. The Men Who Stare at Goats, $2.8m. Total: $27.6m
8. Couples Retreat, $1.9m. Total: $105m
9. The Fourth Kind, $1.7m. Total: $23.3m
10. Law Abiding Citizen, $1.6m. Total: $70m

‘This Is It’ Moonwalks To Success

Joelle Tomlinson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:27:56 +0000

Though Michael Jackson may have passed on, his ability to entertain and astound certainly has not.

Following on the heels of Tuesday night’s $2.2 million haul at a series of midnight showings, “This Is It” took in another $7.4 million in its first full day of release and another $12.7 million overseas. According to mtvnews.com, overall the film tallied a worldwide total of $20.1 million, a jaw-dropping amount for a midweek release, specifically a documentary.

According to distributor Sony, Wednesday’s total is the best daily gross for a film on a Wednesday in October. Placing nearly $1.5 million ahead of last weekend’s box-office champ “Paranormal Activity,” the movie about the King of Pop now seems poised to reign supreme at movie theaters nationwide on Halloween weekend. It is setting its sights on the all-time champ “Hannah Montana and Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert,” which tops the list with $65.3 million.

The result of a massive bidding war that ensued in the weeks after MJ’s June 25 death, ”This Is It” was collected from more than 100 hours of the pop singer’s rehearsal for a sold-out 50-date comeback tour in London. Filmed at the Forum and the Staples Center in Los Angeles, Sony paid $60 million for the rights to the footage, which was then compiled by Jackson collaborator and “High School Musical” director Kenny Ortega. It is rumored that Ortega’s dediation to “This Is It” is one of the main reasons for his decision to leave the set of the upcoming film, “Footloose.”

Transformers Sequel Excels at Box Office

Vanessa Baker — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:50:13 +0000

Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen, may be on its way to breaking opening-weekend records, according to Perez Hilton.

Less-than-favourable reviews don’t seem to have hurt the box office performance of Michael Bay’s sequel to his 2007 blockbuster, Transformers.

Last summer, Batman sequel The Dark Knight set records when it made $203.8 million in its first five days. Sources are predicting the much-anticipated Transformers 2, which hit theatres Wednesday, will clear $204 million in ticket sales before the weekend is over.

The film has already grossed higher than initially predicted, raking in $60.6 million in its mid-week debut.

Fans have been flocking to theatres to support the film, but many reviews of Revenge of the Fallen have criticised its size, length and lack of intelligence.

“Shia LeBeouf gets little chance to show what charm he might have,” said the Hollywood Reporter. “Meanwhile, Megan Fox has little to do except look great in a tank top and tight jeans while running in slow motion through flying sand.”

“Virtually all dialogue is inaudible, drowned out by battles, explosions and gargantuan lumps of metal crashing into each other,” complained the London Daily Mail.

While Transformers 2 may not be living up to the high hopes of critics, the film is far out-performing the expectations of Paramount Studios.

The studio initially estimated sales figures for the movie’s first three-day weekend in theatres would be around $90 million, but they have adjusted their predictions to $115 million since the film opened.

It seems Transformers fans are opting not to heed the advice of movie critics, and choosing to experience the film for themselves. But an average rating of 4 out of 10 on Rotten Tomatoes suggests ticket sales for Transformers 2 may slow down in the near future.

Terminator Salvation Scores Early At Box Office

Eva Lam — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:36:16 +0000

“Terminator Salvation” showed off some serious box-office muscle in its debut, with early estimates suggesting the Christian Bale-starer took in more than $3 million domestically in midnight Wednesday screenings alone.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the movie played in 3,450 theatres Thursday, though data on total Thursday earnings won’t be available until Friday.

The pic is projected to fetch $70 million or more over its first five days in theatres. The big haul is expected thanks in part to the long Memorial Day weekend in the U.S., which traditionally bodes well for the box office.

Also starring Sam Worthington and Bryce Dallas Howard, “Terminator Salvation” is the fourth film in the sci-fi series and the follow-up to 2003’s “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.”

It may be too early to declare the movie this weekend’s box-office winner, however – stiff competition could present itself in the form of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian,” which hits theatres Friday.

Angels & Demons Wins Weekend At Box Office

Joelle Tomlinson — Wed, 20 May 2009 05:10:49 +0000

Ron Howard’s Angels & Demons soared to a $48 million opening this weekend, narrowly edging out a stellar $43 million second-week performance by Star Trek , according to estimates by Hollywood.com Box Office.

According to EW.com, Angels‘ solid bow is the second-best opening of Tom Hanks’ career, behind The Da Vinci Code’s $77.1 million debut in 2006. Despite receiving better reviews than its predecessor, Angels was widely expected to fly lower than Da Vinci on account of the cooled-off controversy over the religious subject matter in Dan Brown’s novels. Still, the books’ worldwide infamy should guarantee returns of biblical proportions; Da Vinci grossed $758.2 million globally, and Angels has already racked up an additional $104.3 million from foreign territories.

Angels may also have had its wings clipped slightly by J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, which dropped a slim 46% in its second weekend—presumably thanks to good word of mouth about the well-reviewed film. A $43 million weekend haul means that the space saga has already reaped $147.6 million, making it the year’s fourth highest-grossing movie after just eleven days in theaters.

Hannah Montana Wins Weekend At Box Office

Joelle Tomlinson — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:45:43 +0000

Miley Cyrus’ Hannah Montana: The Movie jumped out to a big lead at the box office and never looked back on this competitive holiday weekend. The Disney Channel adaptation took first place with a hefty, better-than-anticipated $34 million gross, according to early estimates from Media By Numbers.

According to ew.com, that total exceeds the $31.1 mil that Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert opened with a year ago (although this film played in many more theaters), and it amounts to one of the top April debuts ever. Among live-action G-rated fare, this premiere ranks second all time, behind the $42 mil that High School Musical 3: Senior Year banked on its first weekend about six months ago.

And Hannah Montana: The Movie did it all on the strength of a solid A CinemaScore review from a crowd that, not surprisingly, was 91 percent female and 77 percent under age 25.

Coming in at No. 2 was Fast & Furious, which earned a solid $28.8 mil on an expected 59 percent drop. Vin Diesel’s car-franchise film has grossed $118 mil domestically — and about $200 mil globally — in 10 days. Monsters vs. Aliens(No. 3) was next with a strong third-weekend take of $22.6 mi

‘Monsters Vs. Aliens’ Has Mighty Opening Day

Eva Lam — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 03:50:40 +0000

3-D animated feature “Monsters vs. Aliens” conquered the competition by debuting with $16.7 million at the domestic box office Friday.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the strong showing puts the DreamWorks Animation flick on track to rake in more than $50 million through Sunday.

A host of Hollywood stars lend their voices to the sci-fi adventure, including Reese Witherspoon, Kiefer Sutherland, Seth Rogen, Will Arnett, Hugh Laurie, Rainn Wilson and Stephen Colbert as the President.

The family-friendly pic is playing on about 7,000 screens in the U.S. and Canada, with just over 2,000 of those showing it in 3-D.

“The Haunting in Connecticut” also had a respectable debut, taking in $9.6 million to notch the No. 2 spot behind “Monsters” for Friday’s box office totals. The horror film stars Virginia Madsen and Elias Koteas and is billed as the true story of one family’s encounter with the supernatural.

The weekend’s other major release, “12 Rounds,” opened with $1.8 million to take the No. 6 spot on Friday. The cop thriller was directed by “Die Hard 2″ helmer Renny Harlin and stars professional wrestler John Cena.

‘Knowing’ Defeats Challengers At Box Office

Joelle Tomlinson — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:17:32 +0000

What started as a close and unpredictable race to box office supremacy wound up an easy win for Nicolas Cage’s latest sci-fi flick, Knowing, reports ew.com. The film, which grossed $24.8 mil this weekend, trumped challenges from the comedic I Love You, Man and the Julia Roberts-Clive Owen thriller Duplicity.

In Knowing, a teacher opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son’s elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions — some that have already occurred and others that are about to — that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

In the end, the battle wasn’t nearly as close as predicted. Cage scored his third consecutive No. 1 opening in the past year and a half, drawing a diverse crowd that was evenly divided between men and women and about two-thirds over the age of 25. For indie distributor Summit, meanwhile, Knowing’s debut marks a second big win after last fall’s Twilight.

‘Watchmen’ Wins Weekend At Box Office

Joelle Tomlinson — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 22:50:32 +0000

After all the anticipation and hubbub, the weekend is coming to an end and the box office results are in: Watchmen (No. 1) grossed $55.7 million during its first frame, according to early estimates from Media by Numbers.

For a movie that did not revolve around high-profile celebrities, that amount of money is a solid sum. According to ew.com, Watchmen premiered in more theatres (3,611 to be exact) than any other R-rated movie in history, and it averaged an impressive $15,413 per venue, despite a potentially problematic long running time. It also scored the biggest debut of 2009 so far. Otherwise the previous numbers, Watchmen did not actually fulfill the general expectations that it’s hype predicted. It was merely the fifth-best opening ever for an R-rated movie.

Considering Watchmen’s hefty grosses from screenings at midnight on Friday and throughout its first day, the opening was labeled as a bit soft by critics. After attracting some major initial interest, banking $25.1 mil on Friday, the film’s audience dropped off dramatically during the weekend. It decreased to $19 mil on Saturday, and is estimated to make $11.5 mil today (Sunday).

Director Zack Snyder’s adaption of Alan Moore’s landmark comic book scored a CinemaScore grade of B from an audience that was largely comprised of older men.

Top Three In Box Office Don’t Want Budge!

andPOP Staff — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:45:03 +0000

The box office is seeing a bit of Déjà vu with this weekend’s estimates. As it turns out, the top three movies for the weekend are the exact same as last week’s!

“The Four Christmases” comedy starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn is still ranked number one for the second weekend in a row adding another $18 million to their culminating gross.

In second, up from third place last weekend is the first film of the “Twilight” saga, attracting another $13 million dollars worth of viewers which makes for a total $139 million in revenue to date.

And finally, in third place, swapping positions with the vampires this week is Disney’s new animation, “Bolt”, that made $9.7 million.

Can they hold their titles for a hattrick?