by Sebastian Suchecki, Dec 28 2010 // 9:00 AM
There have been some pretty big hits in the box office this year, and some expected whales, but overall this has been a great year for the worldwide box office, and here’s the proof you need. From THR.
10. Clash of the Titans, $493.2 million worldwide
9. How to Train Your Dragon, $494.9 worldwide
8. Despicable Me, $539.9 million
7. Iron Man 2, $582.2 million
6. Twilight Saga: Eclipse, $693.5 million
5. Shrek Forever After: $739.8 million
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. $824.1
3. Inception, $825.4
2. Alice in Wonderland, $1 billion
1. Toy Story 3, $1.1 billion
There are a few genuine good films on the list, like Iron Man 2 and Inception. Some big surprises, considering how bad the reviews were for films like Shrek Forever After, Clash of the Titans, and Alice in Wonderland. And even a few expectations like Twilight, Harry Potter, and How to Train Your Dragon.
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Posted in: 3-D · Action · Box Office · Business · Iron Man 2 · Movies · News · Sci-Fi
Tagged: 2010, 3D, Alice in Wonderland, Box Office, Clash of the Titans, Despicable Me, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, Inception, Iron Man 2, Shrek Forever After, Toy Story 3, Twilight: Eclipse
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by Shannon Hood, Jun 21 2010 // 10:00 AM
Pixar’s Toy Story 3 won the Father’s Day weekend with a total of over $109 Million, making it the highest grossing opening weekend for a Pixar movie thus far. I’ve got to say, it couldn’t have happened to a nicer movie.
Toy Story 3 is a true 4 quadrant film that the studios are always hoping for. It’s the the holy grail of box-office goodness, because it appeals to men and women, young and old. It’s rated G, which means families can feel at ease bringing the young ones. Critics universally loved the film, and audiences polled by cinemascore raved as well (Entertainment Weekly.)
Toy Story 3 enjoyed a massive opening, as it played on over 4,000 screens. Roughly half of those were 3D screens, which bolstered the total gross. Toy Story 3 is the second highest opening for an animated movie, bested only by Shrek the Third’s $121 Million opening back in 2007.
Another family-friendly film took the number two spot. The Karate Kid dropped around 48%, and tallied up another $29 Million, bringing its 10 day total to an impressive $106 Million.
The A-Team didn’t benefit from word of mouth all that much. It experienced a 46% drop from last week, earning $13.7. The movie has made about $49 Million in two weekends, but it had a $110 Million budget, so it has a long, steep hill to climb to recoup its budget. I have yet to talk to anyone who disliked the movie, so I am really puzzled over its performance (or more accurately, lack thereof.)
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Posted in: 3-D · Animation · Box Office · Disney · Movies · News · Pixar
Tagged: Box Office, Get Him To The Greek, Jonah Hex, Josh Brolin, Karate Kid, Megan Fox, Pixar, Shrek Forever After, The A-Team, Toy Story 3, Transformers 3
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by Bob Starr, Jun 14 2010 // 8:00 AM
In absentia of our diligent box office reporter Shannon Hood I’m stepping in to bring you up to speed this week. The top three spots were taken by two remakes and one sequel, the former making me feel like I’d gone through a time warp back to the ’80’s. It was exciting and a little disconcerting all at the same time.
Taking the top spot was the remake of the 1984 classic The Karate Kid. For the purists out there you can rest easy knowing the producers did not use the same characters from the original. While the premise is basically the same Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) have been replaced by Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). Personally, I thought Jaden Smith was too young to portray the character properly but the audience seemed to disagree with me.
The Karate Kidwent onto make $56 million in its opening weekend. Given that the budget was $40 million this is certainly decent returns and I have no doubt will lead to a sequel, if not a trilogy. Way to go Jaden! Your superstar dad, Will Smith, must be very proud.
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Posted in: Box Office · Dreamworks · Movies · Prequels and Sequels · Reboots and Remakes · TV to Movies
Tagged: Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper, Cameron Diaz, Chackie Chan, Eddie Murphy, Get Him To The Greek, Jaden Smith, Katherine Heigl, Killers, Liam Neeson, Mike Meyers, Prince of Persia, Quinton Jackson, Sharlto Copley, Shrek Forever After, The A-Team, The Karate Kid
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by Shannon Hood, Jun 7 2010 // 9:00 AM
Killers over Splice? Really? What’s wrong with movie audiences? It was another dismal weekend at the box office, and Hollywood executives might be feeling the first pangs of panic over the Summer’s box office potential (or lack thereof.) Audiences just don’t seem to be into anything that is out in theaters right now, and a three week holdover beat out four new releases for the number one spot.
Shrek Forever After nabbed the top spot with $25 Million, beating out Killers, Splice, Marmaduke, and Get Him to the Greek. Shrek is still playing on over 4,300 screens, so even though its per-screen total was pretty week ($5,000) it still only dropped about 40% from last week.
Coming in at number two was Get Him to the Greek, the Jonah Hill/Russell Brand comedy produced by Judd Apatow. The movie was a spin off of Brand’s character from Saving Sarah Marshall. Interestingly, both movies made almost identical amounts of money on their opening weekend. Saving Sarah Marshall made around $17.7 Million, and Get Him to the Greek made $17.4 Million (per Box Office Mojo.)
Killers, the “we’re not screening it for critics because we want them to experience the movie along with everyone else” movie managed to make $16.1 Million. The reviews have started rolling in, and it stands at a proud 14% on Rotten Tomatoes. For the life of me, I don’t know who was clamoring to see this movie, because merely watching the trailer made me want to gouge my eyes out.
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Posted in: 3-D · Animation · Box Office · Editorial and Opinion · Movies · News
Tagged: Box Office, Get Him To The Greek, Killers, Marmaduke, Prince of Persia, Sex and the City 2, Shrek Forever After, Splice
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by Shannon Hood, May 24 2010 // 7:00 AM
Normally $71 Million sounds like a pretty good haul, but despite making that over the weekend, Shrek Forever After was widely considered a box office disappointment, compared to its predecessors. In 2007, Shrek 3 made over $121 Million on its opening weekend, a cool $50 Million over this total.
Consider that the 3D ticket prices were much higher for Shrek 4, and it seems that not near as many people were clamoring to see the final chapter of the fairy tale franchise. It also opened on a staggering 4,300 screens, which is a full thousand more than most tent-pole movies get, so lack of accessibility certainly wasn’t the issue.
However, word of mouth by exiting audience members is good (cinemascore of A, according to Entertainment Weekly), and the kiddos will be out of school in the next few weeks. The family demographic will likely provide Shrek 4 with a long run at the box office, similar to How to Train Your Dragon. The movie will need to have that very thing happen to earn back its reported $165 Million budget.
Coming in at a very strong second place was Iron Man 2, earning a robust $26.6 Million in its third week in release. Not too shabby. Robin Hood earned another $18.7 Million, bringing its two-week total to $66 Million. The film still is performing better overseas, so it should earn back its whopping $200 million budget.
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Posted in: 3-D · Action · Box Office · Comedy · Dreamworks · IMAX · Movies · News · Universal Pictures
Tagged: Iron Man 2, Letters to Juliet, MacGruber, Robin Hood, Shrek Forever After, Universal
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by Shannon Hood, May 21 2010 // 9:00 AM
At this point, what can I really tell you that you don’t know about Shrek? Unless you have been living under a tree stump in a swamp, chances are you are very familiar with the franchise about a lovable green ogre and a colorful cast of characters pulled from popular children’s fairy tales.
In this probable last movie of the franchise, Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is knee-deep in diapers and devilish toddler antics, and he’s not exactly digging the whole domestic thing. The realities of family life are weighing him down, and a disastrous birthday party is the last straw.
As is typical of most parents, he fondly recalls the pre-marriage and pre-kids days as being much better than they actually were. You know, that whole “the grass is always greener” mentality everyone falls victim to from time to time. In his delicate emotional state he becomes easy pickings for the shady Rumpelstiltskin, who offers Shrek one day as his former playboy self.
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Posted in: 3-D · Animation · Comedy · Dreamworks · Kids · Movies · News · Paramount · Prequels and Sequels · Reviews
Tagged: Antonio Banderas, Cameron Diaz, Craig Robinson, Dreamworks, Jane Lynch, John Cleese, Jon Hamm, Mike Myers, Movies, Reviews, Shrek, Shrek Forever After
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by Matt Raub, Apr 28 2010 // 12:00 PM
As if it was ever in question, Dreamworks was so pleased with the results that How To Train Your Dragon has brought in over the past month, pulling in nearly $400 million worldwide, that they are already gearing up for a sequel.
As if the films monetary success wasn’t enough, in an unprecedented turn of events, the film had a resurgence in popularity 4 weeks after it’s initial release, picking up the #1 spot over Warner’s The Losers and Lionsgate’s Kick-Ass. In a recent press release from Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, they seem to be pleased with the results of the film, and believe that it was all thanks to the 3D medium.
2010 is off to a strong start, thanks in large part to the performance of ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ which – having grossed nearly $375 million to date in worldwide box office – has become DreamWorks Animation’s next franchise. We plan to release the sequel theatrically in 2013.
3D continues to have a tremendous impact on the industry at large and we are now looking forward with great anticipation to bringing ‘Shrek Forever After,’ the final chapter in our beloved ‘Shrek’ series and the first in 3D, to audiences across the globe next month.
So there you have it. Dreamworks seems quite pleased with themselves, and rather than wait to see how the film fares against this summer’s blockbusters like Iron Man 2 or Robin Hood, they are cutting their losses and planning on the next film already.
You can also expect to see just about every upcoming Dreamworks animated (and probably live action) film to embrace 3D technology over the next 5 years.
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Posted in: 3-D · Action · Animation · Box Office · Comedy · Dreamworks · IMAX · Kids · Movies · News · Prequels and Sequels
Tagged: 3D, Box Office, Dreamworks, How to Train Your Dragon, IMAX, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Shrek, Shrek Forever After
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by Matt Raub, Mar 16 2010 // 9:00 AM
While most of the eyes in film are on either SXSW or ShoWest out on the West Coast, folks out on the East Coast are gearing up for Tribeca Film Festival coming up next month. Last week, the fest announced the first group of films, which included the World Narrative films, the Documentaries, as well as Showcases and Special Events.
Now, the festival is getting a bit more star-heavy, as films starring such actors as Colin Farrell, Robert Duvall, Casey Affleck, and even Jessica Alba have joined the list of those titles appearing at the fest. All of these films are now coming to the festival this year, as well as the world premiere of Shrek Forever After.
The fest runs from April 21st to May 2nd. Check out the full list of new films after the jump, and be sure to keep it here, as the full list of film shorts will be announced on March 18th.
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Posted in: Announcements · Events · Film Festivals · Movies · News
Tagged: Casey Affleck, Colin Farrell, Film Festivals, Jessica Alba, Movies, Robert Duvall, Shrek Forever After, Tribeca Film Fest
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