Later this week, my amazing interview with Wes Anderson that will melt your face off!!!
Apparently the Star Trek guys are such nerds, they threw in R2D2. This made me like the movie even more.
AND...
The long awaited reunion of Dolph Lundgren and Jean Claude Van Damme has been bestowed upon us, with the release of this trailer for Universal Soldier: Regeneration!
Dude here again. Did some movie come out this weekend that makes teen girls squeal with delight much to the chagrin of those around them? Did some movie come out and break some records, thus ensuring more of these films to come?
This is the way the world ends, not with a whimper, but with a bang.
This weekend, Twilight 2: Electric Boogaloo was unleashed. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).
1. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (Sum)- $140.7, 4024 screens, week 1, $140.7 total
2. The Blind Side (WB) - $34.5, 3110 screens, week 1, $34.5 total
9. The Fourth Kind (Uni)- $1.7, 1648 screens, week 3, $23.3 total
10. Law Abiding Citizen (Over)- $1.6, 1327 screens, week 6, $70.0 total
So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that you Twihards aren't effin' around. $140 million in 3 days? Third highest opening weekend! Biggest midnight show and opening day of all time! (Beating that Batman movie with the Brokeback actor). Most swoons and shrieks per minute in a theater of all time! (To be fair, the first Twilight held that record until now). New Moon is unstoppable, although I'm willing to bet Summit REALLY wishes Stephanie Meyer didn't stop the saga at four books. Watch for the last book to be split into 2 parts, just like Harry Potter, in an attempt to milk even more cash from obedient fans.
Did anyone see that amount of money being made for The Blind Side? Did anyone SEE The Blind Side? It's really difficult to not make a pun about being blind-sided by this revelation.
Planet 51 opened up, but probably should've gone the 3-D route, as it would have made a bit more money and not have been lost in the shuffle of things.
2012 drops steadily, but that's to be expected. After all, we were warned. Christmas Story chugs along, but it has an uphill climb as the theaters are flooded with flicks concerning teen vampires. And Precious continues to expand and depress, a surefire Oscar-bation strategy!
Below the radar, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, starring Nicolas Cage and an iguana, took in $257,000 on 27 screens. Why is there no "DEMAND IT" campaign for this movie, huh? Also opening was the latest from Pedro Almodovar, Broken Embraces, which opened up on 2 screens to take in $108,000 for the highest per screen average out of every movie, including the vampire one. One record not taken in the face of the juggernaut.
There you have my amazing break down. Next week we finally get a movie about a Ninja Assassin!!! Silver linings, people. Silver linings.
Dude here again. I want you all to think about what you've done.
Seriously.
This weekend, Roland Emmerich was granted reprieve and will be allowed to make more movies. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).
9. Law Abiding Citizen (Over)- $3.9, 2071 screens, week 5, $67.3 total
10. The Box (WB)- $3.1, 2635 screens, week 2, $13.2 total
So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that now we get more movies "From the director of 2012", instead of "From the director of 10,000 B.C." Thanks a lot. Jerks.
Oh Precious, taking in lots of money on few screens, building Oscar buzz and depressing the living hell out of people. If only you had been directed by the man who brought us Universal Soldier.
A Christmas Carol... I'm too tired to come up with a snarky remark, so ... performance capture this!
Did Paranormal Activity AND Couples Retreat cross the $100 million mark this weekend? Is there an "un-demand this" button? Perhaps an "App", to use the parlance of our times?
Below the radar, Pirate Radio takes in just about $2 million, and Boondock Saints 2 expands and takes in over $1 million. These numbers are saddening. However, Fantastic Mr. Fox opened up on 4 screens and took in $260,000, which inspires smiles by all. Hopefully this translates well when the film expands. If there are still screens left that aren't showing Boondock Saints 2. *Shudder*
There you have my amazing break down. Next week I think some movie about vampires comes out. Twilight Something? I don't know. I hope it has Blade in it.
Earlier this week I achieved something that I hope can one day, in the annals of history, be can only be recognized as not just amazing, but also inspiring.
When I first moved out to California four and a half years ago, I signed up with a website called Sploofus, which is a weird internet time wasting quiz website. But they offer a trivia question of the day, that gets emailed to you, you click the link and have 30 seconds to answer a question that can be about anything from obscure chemical compounds and French Enlightenment artists to who played Raj on "What's Happening?"
(It's Ernest Thomas)
Since joining, I have dutifully answered every question asked of me each and every day, although sometimes when I'm on vacation, or when they have a problem on their end, I let them pile up and have a full out Trivia marathon! (Admit it, I'm the coolest person you know!) Sometimes there are internet connections that get lost, that cause me to not answer the question in the allotted time, but those are few and far between.
Anyway, this week I answered my 1000th trivia question correctly. It was a question about atomic numbers. That host of angelic choir voices you hear are the saints singing my praises.
This is how I saw myself in my mind when I answered it.
Ok, so maybe it wasn't that monumental, but I was really proud and had to share someplace that doesn't matter about a Live Feed versus a News Feed. Plus I didn't really have anything for Milestones besides the title, so I had to try to make something fit.
Something bizarre also happened this week. I was drinking at Johnny's, a bar in Eagle Rock (California, not Jersey, although there is a cool bowling alley in the California Eagle Rock as well) and I came across a man who, in the course of our conversation I learned, has the same tattoo as myself. In the same place. His is just expanded. Thank you, Steven for allowing this picture comparison. (Mine is the one on the right).
In other news, I have a few reviews up: Pirate Radio, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and The Box. When said aloud and fast, it could pass for a nursery rhyme. Check them out if wanted to know about any of them, and spread them around the interweb like peanut butter.
(Hey, it's Phil. There are pirates here.)
The Top Secret Brady-Mike Project has been sidetracked a little, and I apologize, as I've been doing some other top secret work for the website that should begin poking it's head around the interwebs starting next week. Fear not, it shall be done, and you will know the brilliance. (But some of these things are taking longer than expected).
Speaking of brilliance, I finally managed to get a good copy of "Good Luck" online! You can see it here-
I changed a line that had always bothered me, but I think it's funny and worth checking out. Alternately, I may make a version with director's commentary, if I deem it funny enough.
And I shall leave you with a funny tale. A few weeks back, my friend Jim asks me if I can do him a favor. Jim works in the talking pictures business, and the latest movie his company is working on is a raunchy sex comedy. (Which I've seen and is far better than I thought it was going to be, and way the fuck beyond better than the final piece of shit "Pimpin Pee Wee" I worked on earlier this year).
Jim says they are doing some more shots, and could I help them out by picking up the fake semen.
"Ummm.... what?" was my reply.
"The stuff that we use to make fake semen, for the huge spooge-plosion at the end of the picture!" Jim bellowed*, cigar hanging out of his mouth and bowler hat at rakish angle.
"So, you want me to tool around town with a 55 gallon drum of jizz in my backseat?" I asked. My hat was at nowhere near as rakish an angle.
"No, no, no. It's like a pre-made mix, you pick up the mix, and they add water to it when they're ready to shoot it out of the canon", Jim boldly replied.
"Well that makes much more sense. I'll do it!"
Jim informed me that that I would pick up a one pound bag of the mix, which is just a chemical compound called Methyl Cellulose. It's already paid for, and the best part is it's a hop skip and a jump from apartment.
Let's take a moment and reflect that the movie industry is prepared for anything, so much so that they actually discovered the perfect recipe for creating fake on-screen ejaculate. And that it's ready in pre-mixed bags.
So I pull up to the supply house, and I tell them I'm picking up for the production, and the kind gentleman behind the counter hands me a clear plastic bag that has the mix. The bag, it should be noted, is marked thusly:
And there are two of these in the bag, one on each side, proclaiming the contents within.
When I got to Jim's office, I had to park a few blocks away, and walk down the street with this lovely bag. I got some weird looks, especially from the traffic nazi. That's Hollywood for ya!
Have a great weekend!
(*So, the conversation happened over Instant Messenger, but I continue to believe that Jim works in a 1930s cliche of Hollywood, despite working in the valley next to a hair salon).
Dude here again. Halloween is now officially over, and the Chrismanzakuh holiday season has begun! I know this because the people on my street took down their Halloween decorations and put up Christmas decorations instead. Except for one guy who always leaves the Halloween stuff up until February. I'm sure he's making some sort of political/social statement by doing this.
Or he's even lazier than I am.
This weekend, four major releases duke it out, including our first Christmas movie of the season (which makes sense because it's early November! Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).
1. A Christmas Carol (BV) - $31.0, 3683 screens, week 1, $31.0 total
2. Michael Jackson's This Is It (Sony)- $14.0, 3481 screens, week 2, $57.8 total
3. The Men Who Stare At Goats (Over) - $13.3, 2443 screens, week 1, $13.3 total
4. The Fourth Kind (Uni)- $12.5, 2527 screens, week 1, $12.5 total
8. Law Abiding Citizen (Over)- $6.1, 2474 screens, week 4, $60.8 total
9. Where The Wild Things Are (WB) - $4.2, 2756 screens, week 4, $69.2 total
10. Astro Boy (Sum) - $2.5, 1918 screens, week 3, $15.0 total
So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that Christmas reigns supreme, but again, not nearly as much as money counting people were probably hoping for, given the cost. Next week will be the true test of the film's strength, as it will probably play a lot of theaters until Christmas actually arrives, but this does probably put the kibosh on future Dickens' tales transformed with the magic of 3-D performance capture, which is a shame as I was looking forward to A Tale of Two Cities with Jim Carrey portraying everyone, including the two cities.
Surprising a lot of people is The Men Who Stare At Goats, a tale of goats and George Clooney, which once again proves my theory that Clooney can do no wrong, so long as he continues making interesting movies for adults. Some my say Fantastic Mr Fox, which opens next week, would prove the exception to the rule, but I say those people haven't paid attention to the amount of real estate jokes in the film.
The Fourth Kind opened up to HORRIBLE reviews, but managed to piggy-back on the Paranormal Activity phenomenon to pull in $12 million dollars. I don't know if this makes me happy or sad, but the movie does look ridiculous, which means I sort of can't wait to see it.
And poor Richard Kelly. The director of Donnie Darko and Southland Tales released his first studio effort, and while it made more than his previous films combined, it was still a disappointing first weekend for the film, losing out to the 7th week of Paranormal Activity, and the goats.
Below the radar, Precious: Based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire made $1.8 million on 18 screens, which gives it a per screen average of roughly $100,000. Outstanding work for a film that's garnered a lot of buzz for awards, even if it depresses the living hell out of the audience. (Not to mention the grief that long title must give those who change marquees for a living).
There you have my amazing break down. Next week we get another Roland Emmerich world ending spectacle! (Sadly, this one involves no wooly mammoths, but it has John Cusack outrunning global destruction in a limo! And that aforementioned Mr. Fox opens up in limited release.
Dude here again. I did some math, and figured out that if you add up all the money that all the top ten films have made, from the time I started doing this four years ago, it would be enough to put the entire world out of debt three times over, feed the starving, house the homeless, reverse global warming, and send every child to college.
Well, that might be exaggerating things a bit.
This weekend, a new challenger to the throne manages to succeed and disappoint, while Paranormal Activity continues to flip the bird to much more expensive fare. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).
1. Michael Jackson's This Is It (Sony)- $21.3, 3481 screens, week 1, $32.5 total (Wed Open)
10. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (Uni)- $2.8, 2754 screens, week 2, $10.5 total
So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that Michael Jackson can still be a draw, but not as much as people were thinking. Opening on Wednesday to pretty much universal acclaim, the concert film event of the decade (I'm calling you out, Hannah Montana!) managed to take in $32 million in 5 days and simultaneously disappoint the money people who thought it would take in twice that. FUN FACT: This Is It makes a great double feature with What Is It?, Crispin Glover's directorial debut, but only for literal marquee value.
Oh, wow, that Michael Jackson movie was the only wide release. this is disappointing.
At this point Paranormal Activity is genuinely a phenomenon, and is almost at the threshold between popular acceptance and backlash. Now we play the guessing game of the possible directions the inevitable sequel can head in. Horrid and rushed retread? Complete series "reboot"? I vote for horribly meta film-within-the-film, where the director and the stars, and even the audiences (which are the only things I see in any of the TV ads) are suddenly plagued by demonic forces.
Take a long look at that total for Couples Retreat and Law Abiding Citizen and think about what you've done.
Below the radar, Boondock Saints II: Strictly For The Cult of Fans opened up on 68 screens and took in $462,000 on its way to achieving a secondary cult status on DVD, which would beg a third in the series because trilogies are all the rage these days. Also opening is Gentlemen Broncos, a film which only I seem to have liked, which opened up on 2 screens and took in $10,000.
There you have my amazing break down. Next week is the first week in November which means a Christmas movie is going to be released. And a mainstream film from Richard Kelly. And a movie about "real life" alien abductions that will sadly fall aside to the Paranormal Activity wave. And a movie with the word goat in the title.
I've been on a kick this week! A lot of reviews, and a lot of screenings of movies. (And a lot of nonsense dealing with my medical insurance, but that's neither here nor there).
Here's a Gentlemen Broncos review I wrote, and I can finally go ahead and say that I love this movie, but I'm fast realizing I'm in a minority on this one. But I don't care, I loved this movie. And here's a Boondock Saints II review that's nowhere near as favorable. (I didn't like the movie enough to find a picture, so instead here's what happened when I Black Dynamite-ed my Facebook profile picture. It's more entertaining than the Boondock Saints II)
The site's mainpage has had a facelift, and all the pages will soon follow, but I think it's a lot nicer. It's sleek, streamlined, not as hectic, and easier to navigate to all my brilliant writings. Soon, I'm gonna get a few video interviews up, as well as the aforementioned surprise that Brady and I are working on, which I'm still working on and will hopefully have done by the end of the weekend.
(That was more to Brady, and probably should have been included in an email, but whatever).
To make matters even more awesome, I'll have two new reviews this week, as well! Finally been catching up with my reviews, and seeing far too many movies, but it's times like this that I truly embrace being the movie nerd I am. Very exciting times!
Dude here again. I'm kind of amazed. It seems that a movie shot on a home video camera that's been out for 5 weeks and slowly expanding has taken on the Goliath that is the Saw franchise. And defeated it! I'm so shocked by this, that it needed to be discussed right away, instead of the usual esoteric nonsense greeting paragraph I'm accustomed to writing.
Ducks, bananas, and popcorn! (Had to do something weird, c'mon).
This weekend, up is down, black is white, dogs and cats live together! Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).
6. Astro Boy (Sum) - $7.0, 3014 screens, week 1, $7.0 total
7. The Stepfather (ScrGms) - $6.5, 2734 screens, week 2, $20.3 total
8. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (Uni)- $6.3, 2754 screens, week 1, $6.3 total
9. Cloudy With A Change Of Meatballs (Sony) - $5.6, 2741 screens, week 6, $115.2 total
10. Zombieland (Sony)- $4.3, 2447 screens, week 4, $67.3 total
So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that Paranormal Activity followed the Blair Witch model one better, as it climbed to number one, a feat the Blair Witch was never able to do, despite the former film's enormous success. Still waiting for the backlash of "It's not that scary" that immediately followed Blair Witch, as well as a bizarre sequel.
Saw, we knew that this day would come sometime. We had a really great run, since October '04! I remember it well. But there are only so many homemade killing devices and traps that one can spring before people start to want other things. I'm not saying we can't be friends, Saw, but I think we should see other people.
Astro Boy is a movie about a boy robot, and like most movies about boy robots, not a lot of people saw it. Even fewer people went to see The Vampire's Assistant, which proves my maxim that Robots Trump Vampires. ALWAYS. (Take That Twilight!).
Sadly, in a disturbing metaphor for life, Robots, vampires, law abiding citizens, wild things, couples, saws, meatballs, and zombies ALL trump history, as Amelia, the story of Amelia Earhart, opened up in 11th place with just over $4 million. Insert "public schooling" joke here.
Below the radar, Antichrist, the divisive latest film from Lars Von Trier opened up on 6 screens and took in $73,000. Cult status soon to follow. Sadly, there are no numbers to report for Ong Bak 2, and this makes me sad.
There you have my amazing break down. Next week, a Michael Jackson cash cow (too soon?) and the Gentlemen Broncos, the latest from the director of Napoleon Dynamite tries to take it on in limited release. Watch for records to be broken and sadness to be caused by one of these films.
Until next weekend....... (Bisontenniel, by Dr. Ronald Chevalier)
Dude here again. It seems I have some numbers to report to you all. But I just don't feel like reporting them. I'm too wrapped up in a fantasy playland in my mind, where I run around, and large muppets talk to me and jump around and are all around awesome. And we build forts.
If only there were some movie that could adequately convey this...
This weekend, a movie that doesn't sound at all like my dreamworld opened up, along with this week's remake-du-jour and something else. Plus last week's movies continue to dominate! Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).
1. Where The Wild Things Are (WB) - $32.4, 3735 screens, week 1, $32.4 total
2. Law Abiding Citizen (Over)- $21.2, 2890 screens, week 1, $21.2 total
10. The Invention Of Lying (WB)- $1.9, 1624 screens, week 3, $15.4 total
So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that the Wild Things franchise can still pack them in the theaters. I didn't see it, was there a hot 3-way in this one? Or was it just another Kevin Bacon wang-fest?
Law Abiding Citizen also opened up well, and answered the age old question what would a movie where the guy from PS I Love You terrorizes the guy from Stealth!
I figured out why everyone's seeing Couples Retreat. It's gotta be the closest anyone can get to a tropical getaway in these calamitous economic times. MESSAGE!
And because we almost ran out of movies to remake and sanitize to a PG-13, they decided to remake The Stepfather. And it opened up to $12 million, which is crazy considering I had no idea it actually opened. I received an email from a friend while he was watching the movie, and while I normally abhor this practice, he informed me that the entire audience he saw it with stopped caring about 15 minutes in, and starting having conversations more interesting than the movie. And one woman was on the phone with someone, describing what was happening to whoever was on the other line. Astounding.
Paranormal Activity continues to kick ass, with the highest per screen average once again. I can't even figure out the math regarding the budget versus the profit, but I can assure you it's a large number, and one that most movies don't really make anymore. It's inspiring me to make a horror movie entirely on my cell phone. I'll make the actors speak Esperanto, so that everyone will confuse it for a foreign horror film and call it brilliant, no matter what the quality actually is.
Below the radar, New York I Love You, a quasi-sequel to the short film fest Paris, I Love You, opened up on 119 screens and took in $372,000. Not bad, considering Brett Ratner is one of the directors. Also opening in limited release is Black Dynamite, taking in $141,000 on 70 screens. DY-NA-MITE!!!
There you have my amazing break down. Next week, what's this? They made another Saw movie?!?! Didn't the dude die 3 movies ago? I understand that Freddy and Jason can come back, but they make a point of humanizing the Jigsaw, to the point where we watched him die. After a nauseating brain surgery scene, no less. Oh, and something else comes out next week, too.
I caught two new movies that are opening up at theaters this weekend. Firstly, I saw the highly anticipated Where The Wild Things Are, which I find funny because I could've seen a test version of it 2 years ago, but opted to see Juno instead. I'm glad I waited, though, as this version is probably far different from what was shown back then.
I also caught the baddest movie being released on any screen of all time: BLACK DYNAMITE!!! (DY-NO-MITE! DY-NO-MITE!) If this is playing near you, I highly recommend it. It's hi-larious, and fun, and it knows what it is but doesn't try to make fun of it as much as pay respect and create another character into the legion of Blaxploitation heroes. Frankly, I think it succeeds.
(The reviews may not convey that as much, as I wrote them rather late).
Still, check out the reviews, help me out. Thanks!
Dude here again. There's not too much to say about this new batch of numbers. Well, I'm sure there is, actually. Perhaps countless words! Perhaps I could write an entire dissertation about the numbers generated this weekend. Then they'd think twice about giving Obama that Nobel, and send it directly my way. Alas, you won't get those numbers because it's a slow weekend, and I have to go to a chocolate fair.
How jealous are you all?
This weekend, only one new film was released wide, but some held strong while some gained enormous traction. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).
7. The Invention Of Lying (WB)- $3.3, 1743 screens, week 2, $12.3 total
8. Whip It (FoxS) - $2.8, 1738 screens, week 2, $8.7 total
9. Capitalism: A Love Story (Over) - $2.7, 995 screens, week 3, $9.0 total
10. Fame (MGM)- $2.5, 3110 screens, week 3, $20.0 total
So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that there are two amazing tales to behold. First of is Couples Retreat, which took in $35 million dollars! That's ridiculously huge numbers, and a welcome shot in the arm to Universal, who had a rough summer and allegedly just fired the people in charge of that rough summer. Couples Retreat charmed enough audiences to ensure the further reign of Vince Vaughn.
The other story belongs to Paranormal Activity, the homemade chiller expanded to a whopping 179 screens (2800 fewer screens than Couples Retreat) and started showing more shows per day (as opposed to the midnight-only showings that sold out the past two weekends) and took in $7.0, which places it in fifth place, but it's per screen average was $44,400, more than any other movie this week. Paramount has listened to fans' demands and is releasing the film wide next weekend, but this is quite remarkable, as it rarely happens.
(Off-topic, if Warner Brothers did this with Trick 'r Treat, they would have made a mint. If you don't know what I'm talking about, rent Trick 'r Treat. The new one. Not the Alice Cooper one. Although that's pretty awesome, too).
Certain holdovers continue to do well. Zombieland had a small drop, which makes it a bona fide hit! And audiences love that movie where it rains food. But nobody is seeing any of the other movies, either.
Below the radar, there's a documentary Chris Rock made called Good Hair. It opened on 116 screens, and took in just over $1 million. Interesting what documentaries make money. Also opening, An Education, which features a pretty British lass named Carey Mulligan (and people say she's fantastic in it and could garner "Oscar Buzz") opened up on 4 screens and took in $162,000, which brings the per screen average very close to Paranormal Activity's. But not close enough!
There you have my amazing break down. Next week, we finally get to discover where the wild things are! Plus there's a remake of The Stepfather that nobody really wants.
It was pretty much a given, but fact is, the movie kicks an unholy amount of awesome arse.
I was asked to come up with a humorous editorial for the website. This is what I came up with. Please pass along the interwebs if you like.
Special thanks to R. Bill Mountain, who frankly couldn't have put the sentiment any better, and for whom I blatantly stole a sentence from and changed a few words to make it my own. Mostly because public schooling taught me that this could technically be called "RESEARCH" as long as I give credit to the original source. But also because I'm a lazy bastard.
(Artist's rendition)
And if you enjoy good, fun horror movies at Halloween, you owe it to yourself to check out Trick R Treat! It's almost a perfect movie, full of fun performances, smart storytelling, and a wicked sense of humor. Warner Bros really are fools for not releasing this in theaters. This would KILL with an audience. It's hella fun. The perfect Halloween movie.
Dude here again. I'm very disappointed, as nobody, not one single person, offered anything funny about last week's box office numbers. I'm now filled with a disturbing mixture of sadness and shame, with just a little bit of low self esteem. This lack of interactivity, the main selling point of the interwebs, is putting me into a funk I don't know if I'll get out of.
Screw that, I just found some pudding! Happiness, thy name is pudding!
This weekend, a bevy of new films open up to knock down those pesky meatballs. Let's go to the numbers, shall we? (All in millions, remember, and these are the studio estimates. The actuals will be available on Monday).
1. Zombieland (Sony)- $25.0, 3036 screens, week 1, $25.0 total
2. Cloudy With A Change Of Meatballs (Sony) - $16.7, 2977 screens, week 3, $82.3 total
3. Toy Story 1&2- 3-D (BV)- $12.5, 1745 screens, week 1, $12.5 total
4. The Invention Of Lying (WB)- $7.3, 1707 screens, week 1, $7.3 total
6. Capitalism: A Love Story (Over) - $4.8, 962 screens, week 2, $5.2 total
7. Whip It (FoxS) - $4.8, 1720 screens, week 1, $4.8 total
8. Fame (MGM)- $4.7, 3133 screens, week 2, $16.6 total
9. The Informant! (WB) - $3.8, 2425 screens, week 3, $26.5 total
10. Love Happens (Uni) $2.7, 1922 screens, week 3, $18.9 total
So those are the numbers, but what do they mean? Well, it means that there is some justice and balance in the world, as a zombie survival movie has shown the good people the way, and taken the top spot! Yes Zombieland, not just in the minds of nerds everywhere, took in $25, making back it's budget and warning many across the land about the inherent risks of zombie uprising. Today, I'm proud. Almost makes up for that Transforming robots movie making $400 million. Almost.
Disney proved once again that even if you have a movie most people have watched countless times in the privacy of their own home, you can get people to shell out even more cash if it's in 3-D!! Yes the animated adventures of everyone's second favorite living toys (the first being Cherry 2000) came out in force and on 3-D and bested the other two newcomers. But not the raining meatball movie, which continues to hold steady despite having to surrender a number of screens to the Disney juggernaut. Impressive.
The Invention of Lying and Whip It also opened this week, but judging by their numbers nobody was aware of this. Shame, as they're both fascinating, fun, and warm films in their own right. But, let's be honest, if they had zombies in their movies, they would have fared better.
That's the first time I ever get to write those words and actually mean it. Bossome!
Capitalism: A Love Story opened up on more screens, and is attracting more people. But I feel really strange reporting on a movie's performance in terms of money, when the subject of the film is money and how effed the economic system is. Yeah, give me zombies over this one right now.
Below the radar, even more interesting things are afoot! Paranormal Activity, the chiller about a couple haunted in their new home (which if it's not playing near you, you can go to the website and "demand it" come to your town) took in $535,000 on 33 screens. What makes this even more impressive is the film is only being shown at midnight shows, and it still makes this kind of money. A Serious Man, the latest from the Coens, opened up on 6 screens to take in $252,000, but it has the highest per screen average of the entire week, with $42,000 per screen! And More Than A Game, the exciting tale of basketball that's MORE than basketball (and is allegedly good even if you hate basketball) took in $197,000. However, I'm sure all these films would have done better had they been made in 3-D.
There you have my amazing break down. Next week, the broom keeps on sweeping the cluttered fall schedule duds and misfires to make room for even more films.
In case anyone was curious to what I thought of the remaining 80 minutes of Jennifer's Body, I'm pleased to report that I liked it as much as the beginning. Really enjoyed it, and thought it had a good attention to detail that it didn't need to bring to the forefront.
But honestly, if they got Megan Fox to at least moon the camera, they would have made an extra $20 million. Still, the lesbian kissing scene between her and Amanda Seyfried is pretty hot. Even though there's no nudity in the movie.
(This got me to see 2 transforming robot movies in theaters. Sigh)
Moving on.
I copied and pasted this into the blog template last night, but then fell asleep and forgot what it was. Hopefully it's awesome, and not at all pornographic.
I got my Serious Man review up at Moviesonline, and hopefully I'll have the link to it up soon. But it's a very worthwhile film that makes me laugh and makes me think. And HERE IS THAT REVIEW!
I'm very excited about Zombieland, but I don't know if I'm going to the midnight show tonight, or if I have to catch something else for the site. Possibly the Invention of Lying. We'll see.
