Box Office: Michael Jackson Is Sorta It, Boondock Sequel Not so Much

In a week without any other major studio competition, the Michael Jackson concert (rehearsal) movie “This is It” opened with $101 million worldwide, including $32 million in domestic ticket sales over a 5-day period, according to studio estimates. That’s good, but it’s nowhere...

November 1st, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Low-Budget Activity Favored Over Neverending Redundant Sequel

It used to be you could just toss a script together and call it “Saw”, release it on Halloween, and the kids would flock to see it. Well that’s still sort of true, though not nearly in the same league as previous incarnations of the “Saw” franchise. Especially when there...

October 25th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Wild Things Beat Back Citizen, Paranormal Activity Juggernaut Rolls On

Who says it’s all about the kids? The weekend box office proves that adult moviegoers still have some clout, as they flocked to see Spike Jonze’s adaptation of “Where the Wild Things Are” to the tune of $32.5 million, according to studio estimates. The equally adult “Law...

October 18th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Moviegoers Prefer to do it Couples Style

Sure, the trailers looked predictable and you could see the jokes coming a half million miles away, but thanks to the absence of any competition from major studio releases, the Universal Pictures comedy “Couples Retreat” easily took the box office with $35 million in its debut, according...

October 11th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Zombies Whip The Invention of Lying

Chick flick? Romantic comedy? Whatever, it’s all about the zombies. Ruben Fleischer’s “Zombieland” took its end of the world zombie apocalypse to the big screen and it paid off handsomely. The horror-comedy starring Woody Harrelson as a gun-toting redneck in an America overrun...

October 4th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Everyone Still Loves Meatballs

Never underestimate the power of a family-friendly film. That’s the lesson Hollywood should be learning just about now, as the CG animated movie “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” continues its hold on the box office for the second straight week. The film, based on a popular children’s...

September 27th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Moviegoers Prefer Meatballs over the Jennifers, Damon

Maybe it’s the fact that it’s the only kid-friendly film released in the week, but the CG animated movie “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” rained cash at the box office, taking the top spot in its debut with $30 million, according to studio estimates. “Meatballs”...

September 20th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: More Proof Tyler Perry Can Sell Swampland in Florida

Barely dressed skanky sorority girls, Kate Beckinsale, and post-apocalyptic puppet saviors have nothing on Tyler Perry. The man is so prolific, he has twenty TV shows running at the same time, and as I type this, he’s got 50 more movies in the pipeline. Okay, maybe he’s not that prolific,...

September 13th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Game off for Gamer, No Extraction for Extract

I feel for the boys Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. Their films are almost always unique in style and content, but they rarely get a lot of mainstream love from the moviegoers. Their latest, “Gamer” has landed with a dud in theaters with a less than stellar $9 million debut according to...

September 6th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Final Word for Destination, H2 at #3

Who says the audience have had enough of stupid teens getting killed in awesomely groovy ways on the big screen? If that was the case, then “The Final Destination”, the fourth part in the “it doesn’t pay to cheat death” horror franchise wouldn’t have landed at #1 with...

August 30th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Basterds are Glourious for Tarantino

It’s hard to believe, but Quentin Tarantino’s biggest box office debut so far has been 2004’s “Kill Bill”, which opened with $25 million on its way to a $66 million domestic haul. Five years later, Tarantino returns with his fantasized version of World War II, “Inglourious...

August 23rd, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Alien Nation Part Deux Takes #1

If Bill Gates and company over at Microsoft are smart, they’ll look at what Peter Jackson and Neill Blomkamp managed with the $30 million dollar “District 9″ and immediately greenlight a “Halo” movie, complete with north of $100 million dollar budget. The Jackson-produced...

August 16th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: It’s Go for Joe, But Not Getaway

Proving that they don’t need no stinkin’ critics to review their movie, Paramount and Hasbro’s latest toyline movie invasion, “G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra” came up tops at the box office over the weekend with a solid $56 million dollar opening in domestic ticket sales. The film...

August 9th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Funny Business is Good Business

Adam Sandler and Judd Apatow and their comedian pals scored at the box office — their debut film, the comedy-drama “Funny People” took the top spot with a $23.4 million debut, according to studio estimates. The film starred Sandler as a successful but lonely comedian who begins to take...

August 2nd, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Talking Guinea Pigs Take Down Harry Potter

Never underestimate the power of cuddly live-action talking guinea pigs. Jerry Bruckheimer didn’t, and after his “G-Forced” opened at #1 over the weekend (according to studio estimates), I think we can safely say that the man is a genius. Okay, maybe not a genius, but he certainly knows...

July 26th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Harry Potter and the Big Bag of Cash

Harry and his fellow wizards should have give the kids more time to miss them more often, if this week’s box office take for the film, the sixth in the franchise, is any indication. “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” proves that absence makes the heart grow fonder, as the film,...

July 19th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: Bruno Edges Out CG Critters, Robots

Interesting happenings at the box office over the weekend, as although Sacha Baron Cohen’s “Bruno” took the top spot as expected, it doesn’t appear as if the movie, which scored $30.4 million (according to studio estimates) will have legs. Although the mockumentary, about a gay...

July 12th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: CG Robots vs. CG Critters = $42.5 Million Tie

Well this is a first: according to studio estimates (and I can’t stress that enough, studio estimates, which means they could and will probably change when actual numbers come in on Monday), the battle of the CG movies ended in a tie over the weekend. “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”,...

July 5th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: No Disguising it – Robots are Big Time

Charges of racist robots notwithstanding, Michael Bay blew up the box office in his usual manner — outrageously and excessively. Over a five-day span, Bay’s “Transformers” sequel took in a whopping $201.2 million according to studio estimates, just two million short of the $203.8...

June 28th, 2009 | Read More

Box Office: No Hangover for Sandra Bullock’s Proposal

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds’ “The Proposal” is one of those romantic comedies where you can predict the plot points from act to act, and maybe that’s the point. The romcom easily overtook “The Hangover” and beat out Jack Black’s “Year One” in...

June 21st, 2009 | Read More