Director Martin Scorsese and frequent collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio proved to be a lethal combination at the box office this weekend, as Shutter Island sold the most tickets. The psychological thriller scared up a healthy $40 Million during its first weekend in release, buoyed by mostly favorable reviews. The film piqued the interest of horror fans, DiCaprio fans, and  Scorsese loyalists.

Despite tumbling a massive 69% from its opening weekend, Valentine’s Day still managed to snag an additional $17 Million. Avatar is still comfortably hanging out in the top five, and added $16m to its staggering totals. Ten weeks, people. Unbelievable.

Number four Percy Jackson dropped about 50% for $15 Million. Universal’s worst fears about The Wolfman have come true. The film dropped 68% from last weekend, and made a measly $9.8 Million.  That $150 Million budget looks impossible to make back at this time.

You can’t blame it strictly on bad word of mouth-I have yet to hear of one single person who actually enjoyed Valentine’s Day, yet people still flocked to see the film. Quite frankly, I am scratching my head over this turn of events. There’s a reason I don’t write box office predictions.

Outside of the top five, Dear John is shaping up to be a nice hit for Sony. After 3 weeks in release, the film has more than doubled its budget of $25 Million, and has made a solid $65.9 Million.

This week on The Flickcast Chris and Matt work alone and without a net covering all kinds of new topics including Toy Fair 2010, the box office success of Valentine’s Day and The Wolfman and new adaptation announcements such as Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein and Dracula (aka Vlad the Impaler). They also discuss the oddness and length of recent movie titles, the Avatar prequel novel, the potential endings for ABC’s Lost and who rules Bartertown.

They both also made some good picks again this week incuding Matt’s pick of Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant and Chris’ pick of the Martin Scorsese gangster classic Goodfellas, featuring Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Podcast: Download (73.1MB)

Doh! Women flexed their box office muscles once again and helped boost the bland Valentines Day to a record breaking weekend.  Silly Hollywood, when will you learn?

First we had New Moon, then last weekend Dear John, and now Valentine’s Day. Each time a movie that has a largely female demographic wins the weekend, all the trades are SHOCKED to find out that women go to the movies.

Each time, I read that there will be a onslaught of female centric movies green lit by the studios.  And, it never happens.  I must say I am not completely proud of what my sisters choose to spend their box office dollars on (before you boys snicker, might I remind you of G.I. Joe, and Transformers), but it is interesting to note  this possible shift in marketing.

Three day totals for Valentine’s Day are around $52 Million, making it the highest grossing movie ever for a President’s Day weekend. Women weren’t the only ones in the mood for movies this weekend. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief made a very respectable $31 Million over the weekend, and Benicio Del Toro’s The Wolfman took a bite out of the box office to the tune of $30 Million (sorry, that was a terrible pun.)

Avatar took a tumble to the number four position this weekend, but a $22 Million gross is still quite astonishing for its ninth week in release.  Dear John dropped about 50% from its opening weekend, which is average, and earned an additional $15 Million.

The action movies Edge of Darkness, and From Paris, With Love both are shaping up to be box office disappointments.  Edge of Darkness has only made $36 Million in three weeks (with a budget of $80 Million), and From Paris now stands at $15 Million after two weeks.

This week we’re pleased to have guest reviewer Jane Almirall join us at The Flickcast. Here’s her review of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief — Editor

Until very recently, I hadn’t even heard of Percy Jackson.  I have not read any of the books and managed to not read or see anything about the movie until I saw the film trailer a few weeks ago. Now, having seen the film, an adaptation based on The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, I couldn’t help but notice similarities between Percy Jackson and another literary figure who has successfully segued onto the big screen.

I am speaking, of course, of Harry Potter.  Both young men resemble one another physically, grew up with absent (or dead) fathers and struggle to find acceptance within the context of the real world. Each discovers at a young age that they are powerful and special and are introduced to a magical world in which they are especially gifted and (for the most part) are made to feel welcome.  Both Harry and Percy are accompanied on their adventures by their two best friends – a boy and a girl.

That Percy Jackson & the Olympians:  The Lightning Thief is directed by Chris Columbus, who also helmed the first two – and my least favorite - Harry Potter films (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets), is bound to invite comparisons between the two series – in which Percy Jackson will certainly fall short.

Continue Reading →

While much of the movie-going population will be headed to Valentine’s Day this weekend, there are two other large releases to look forward to: Universal’s Wolf Man and 20th Century Fox’s Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Based on the first of a series of books starting in 2005, the film focuses around a group of half-human, half-god hybrids that are introduced to the very real world of the Olympian Gods. There are five books in the series total, so expect to see Fox take the franchise a bit further than New Line did with His Dark Materials and The Golden Compass.

This year is shaping up to have an ongoing theme of Greek Mythology, as this film opens tomorrow and Clash of the Titans hits theaters on the first weekend of April. With that in mind, we’ve got plenty of clips for you to get ready for tomorrow’s film.

Check out five brand-new clips from Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, starring Uma Thurman, Logan Lerman, Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Kevin McKidd, and many more, after the jump.

Continue Reading →

Every year, there tends to be a common theme in most big-budget Hollywood films. Back in 2006, magicians were a big hit, as in both The Illusionist and The Prestige. We haven’t even hit 2010 yet, but it looks like the theme for next year may just be Greek Mythology, between Clash of the Titans and Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Though the name is WAY too long, this newest trailer actually makes the film look quite good, and even shows off the who’s who of a cast, from Rosario Dawson to Pierce Brosnon to Uma Thurman. The film is about a regular boy who finds out that he’s actually the son of a Greek God, and must then embark on an adventure which will help him earn his title as demigod.

The film is based on the series of books by Rick Riordan, and even has epic family film director Chris Columbus behind the wheel. The film hits theaters on February 12th, 2010, and you can check out the international trailer after the jump.

Continue Reading →

What the film world needs now is another fantasy series of movies with incredibly long names. Long gone are the days of Hook or King Kong. Now, thanks to the world of fantasy literature, we get names like Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince or Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant. In the same vein comes Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightning Thief, which is enough to put many marquee-makers out of business.

Though the name is a bit of a mouthful, the trailer looks pretty cool. Very rarely do we get the following elements all together in a film: Greek mythology, teens with superpowers, an elevator that takes people to Mount Olympus, Pierce Brosnan and an iPhone. That combination alone is probably the reason why this film is the beginning of an extended franchise.

The plot is about titular Percy Jackson, Poseidon’s son (watch out, Aquaman) who goes on an epic journey in present-day New York City to rescue his mother, locate Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt, and stop a civil war from breaking out between the Gods. Typical teen problems, right? Check out the extended trailer for the film after the jump. You can catch Pierce Brosnan, Logan Lerman, Sean Bean, Rosario Dawson and an iPhone in Percy Jackson on February 12, 2010.

Continue Reading →