12.17.13
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug had a mighty debut this weekend, though it still fell noticeably short of its predecessor. Meanwhile, A Madea Christmas set a new low among Tyler Perry's Madea movies.
Smaug banked $73.65 million, which ranks fourth all-time in the month of December. Unfortunately, it's off 13 percent from last year's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which set the December record with $84.6 million. It's also lower than I Am Legend ($77.2 million) and Avatar ($77 million).
When An Unexpected Journey opened last year, it was benefiting from nine years of pent-up demand for a follow-up to The Lord of the Rings, which is one of the most widely loved franchises ever. Audiences weren't as enamored with An Unexpected Journey, though, which made a subsequent drop for Smaug seem inevitable. The fact that Smaug was able to retain such a large percentage of the audience is a tribute to the loyalty of the fanbase, and also to a strong marketing effort that madeSmaug look much more exciting than its predecessor.
Aside from the tepid response to the first movie, Smaugwas also held back by additional competition from holdovers (Frozen, Catching Fire), another new release (A Madea Christmas) and the fact that the highly-anticipated Anchorman 2 arrives in a few days. Finally, nasty snowstorms in the northeast also likely had a minor effect, though bad weather tends to be an overrated factor. For example, even though the storms mainly hit on Saturday, Smaug's 22 percent Friday-to-Saturday drop was an improvement over its predecessor's 25 percent drop.
11.26.13
As expected, The Hunger Games: Catching Fireattracted nearly unprecedented crowds to movie theaters this weekend. The highly-anticipated sequel opened to $158.1 million, which is the best opening ever in the month of November. It's also the sixth-biggest opening on record, and ranks third all-time among 2D-only movies.Catching Fire's $158.1 million opening is a bit above the original Hunger Games, which surprised many when it opened over $152 million last March. It's also ahead of the three Twilight sequels that opened at the same time in November—all three wound up between $138.1 million and $142.8 million. Catching Fire's debut ranks behind The Avengers, Iron Man 3 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, all of which had the added benefit of 3D ticket pricing. On Sunday, Lionsgate's estimate for the movie was $161.1 million, which would have set a new 2D-only record. When actuals were tallied, though, Catching Fire fell a bit below The Dark Knight Rises ($160.9 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million).
‘Fast & Furious 7′ Starts Filming; Vin Diesel Talks Kurt Russell in ‘Fast 8′
11.22.13
As we have already discussed, the Fast & Furious franchise is, in many ways, a superhero franchise that rivals the biggest titles in the genre – and like any good modern-day superhero franchise, they aren’t waiting to make plans for the continuation of their universe, they are setting it up early and teasing it to fans now.
Franchise star Vin Diesel certainly has his head in the game right now; aside from juggling franchises like F&F and Riddick, he’s entered into the Marvel Movie Universe, playing CGI tree-alien Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy, with a possible headlining role waiting down the line. Clearly Vin has been taking notes on how Camp Marvel handles business, because he recently talked up not only Fast & Furious 7, but dropped hints about what could be coming in Fast & Furious 8, as well.
09.17.13
Introspection. Often my writing is reaction to something I have seen or read, but it has taken me a while to be truly inspired to actually "say" anything. The Soska twins changed that. After a movie called "Dead Hooker in a Trunk" sat unwatched for 2 years I found that after viewing it, I missed an opportunity to share with others sheer talent amongst the hacks that Hollywood have grown accustomed to. Since I am speaking about a different movie now, I'll leave the rest of that and focus on the latest project that the Twisted Twins are tied to. I also know how I write, and I will end up switching gears and re-visiting. Anyway, so now that people are taking notice, a movie called See No Evil 2 has the sisters at the helm. Am I excited? Yes absolutely , after DHIAT and the exteremly well made American Mary, I couldn't wait to see more. Due to other posts I read the Twins will be getting a letter in The ABCs of Death 2, and my hopes are becoming a reality. Next, they are signed on for this movie, what could be better? Well, since I am a fan of WWE, and the Twins previous films, all is falling into place. Now I have the news of two actresses being signed on as well (more info contained in links abroad here) but I'll sum it up, Danielle Harris from Hatchet II(or more importantly to me, "Last Boyscout") is onboard which is a good start for horror movie fans right there. Next is Katharine Isabelle who if you don't know from "Ginger Snaps" (which you better be checking out right now) was the female lead in "American Mary" and did an absolutely phenomenal job in. So with all of that being said, I cannot stress enough how enthusiastic I am about a movie starring Glenn,err.....Kane. Was the first See No Evil great? Nope, passable movie, but I do think that this movie has all the makings of far surpassing the original. Am I a fanboy? Without a doubt. The moment I watched DHIAT, I knew where the future of filmmaking was going and it is in the hands of these two sisters. From what I have seen so far, there is no way for me to believe that it could not be in finer hands than theirs. I look forward to reviewing this one when it does come out, until then, you will just have to live with the tidbits that are provided. - Jackmeat Whippo
Work on Long-Awaited Friday the 13th Sequel Starting Soon
09.13.13
Now that the Friday the 13th franchise has come home to Paramount, we've been waiting patiently to find out when work will start on the next installment so we can get ourselves geared up for Jason's latest rampage. Finally we have something to report.
While answering fan questions on Twitter, Platinum Dunes' Brad Fuller posted the following, "We are wrapping Tmnt and Almanac over the next month. Then we start to work on F13."
Just Bring Back Derek Mears!
Platinum Dunes is the production company created by Michael Bay, Brad Fuller, and Andrew Form. They have produced several genre remakes throughout the last decade including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hitcher, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and, of course, Friday the 13th.
Having Jason back at Paramount has got to feel right to more fans than just us. It's no secret that the studio famously discarded the franchise at »
- Uncle Creepy
09.10.13
On what will likely be the quietest weekend of the year, sci-fi sequel Riddick easily took first place with $19.03 million.
The Top 12 earned an estimated $66.1 million, which is the lowest figure yet in 2013. Still, that's up 27 percent from last year, which makes this a decent start to the month of September.
Opening at 3,107 theaters, Riddick's $19.03 million debut is right in line with modest expectations. Adjusting for ticket price inflation, Riddick had slightly higher initial attendance than Pitch Black, but was way below 2004'sThe Chronicles of Riddick (which cost around three times as much). Otherwise, star Vin Diesel doesn't have a ton of movies to compare to, though it is worth noting that this opening is well above 2008's Babylon A.D. ($9.5 million).
With school and the NFL season getting underway, many people tend to stay away from movie theaters around this time of year. As a result, it has historically been a good idea to release movies that appeal to a very specific niche, and to market them directly at that group. Riddick is a perfect example of this: Universal Pictures targeted fans ofPitch Black and star Vin Diesel, and no one else really. In this case, that wound up being good for an opening over $19 million, which is a perfectly decent figure