Archive for Box-Office Benjamins
Unless you have lived under a rock or somehow stayed away from the reach of the media in the past weeks, you know the Transformers franchise grew to three films recently. The third installment opened to incredible opening weekend numbers. To be more specific, the film actually opened on Wednesday, June 29th – Dark of the Moon has also grossed over $400 million dollars at the Worldwide Box Office since then. Simply, ridiculous. The film was not very good at all, aside from the 3D — see my full thoughts here.
Bay was even caught reusing shots from one of his previous films, The Island, and inserting the clip into Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Watch this video. Bay probably loved the shot from The Island so much and was pissed no one really got to enjoy it — The Island only grossed $36 million total at the U.S. Box Office, while Transformers rolled out $37 million its opening day. Why not do a little recycling? The shot was so good. People won’t notice. We did — and I’ve gotta say, I’m disappointed… but not surprised. I’ve always said Bay is usually just re-packaging his old movies to make new ones. To see the full Box Office top ten and to read a little more, hit the jump.
Box-Office Benjamin$: Iron Man 2 Holds Serve, Crushes Robin Hood
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So it’s no secret that Iron Man 2 was going to be an inevitable box-office smash, which it proved last week by bursting into theaters with an impressive $130 million opening weekend. But the real test of it’s box-office potential is ultimately how it would perform the the subsequent weeks in theaters, as a new big-budget movie is set to be released almost every week throughout this summer movie season. Well, Stark & Co. have held their ground by fending off it’s major competitor this weekend, Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood.
Vince Vaughn has proven that his comedy star power is still going strong this weekend as his tropical rom-com Couples Retreat snagged the top spot at the box-office taking in a very solid $35.3 million. Three out of his past four comedies, (minus Fred Claus) Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up and Four Christmases all grossed well over $100 million domestically, displaying the affection most movie-goers have for the fast-talking funnyman.
Box-Office Benjamin$: Oh Those Glorious Basterds
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After a very warm critical reception and the enticing brand name that is Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds blew up the box-office this weekend by raking in an impressive $37.6 million. It’s the biggest opening weekend for Tarantino’s blood-spattered career; the second best being Kill Bill in 2003, which brought in just over $22 million during its opening weekend. Oh, and the fact that The Weinstein Company had Brad Pitt’s face to plaster all over banner ads and TV spots didn’t hurt. It was just a great movie and it really was Tarantino’s masterpiece; as Lt. Aldo Raine mentioned in the film’s closing shot.
Box-Office Benjamin$: G.I. Joe’s Cobra “Commands” The #1 Spot. Ha Ha, Get It?
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Looks like I was finally right with my G.I. Joe box-office prediction, or at least close. Last week I predicted that Joe & Co. would top the box-office this weekend with $62 million. I was only off by $6 million as Joe brought in an impressive $56.2 million from Friday to Sunday. The rest of my predictions were way, off, but I digress. So despite mostly negative reviews and just general negative perceptions prior to release, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra showed, like Transformers 2, that mindless action can find a significant audience during the summer months. So much so, that Paramount has already announced plans to very soon, initiate development on G.I. Joe 2: Reign of Cobra?. Classic.
Sorry for the hiatus folks, but after Comic-Con I think studios needed a week or so to decompress, thus resulting in the VERY slow past five days of movie news. Anyway, I’m back with this week’s edition of Box-Office Benjamin$ and Judd Apatow’s Funny People is on top, taking in a respectable $22.7 million during it’s opening weekend. This could be seen as somewhat of a disappointment for a labeled “R-rated blockbuster comedy” with such name-brand star-power, while The Hangover makes over twice as much on its opening weekend. Word must have spread about the heightened level of emotional drama, compared to Apatow’s previous two films, which maybe some people didn’t like or want to see. But that is why I think this movie is so great and is FAR superior as a motion picture than The Hangover. Check out my review of Funny People HERE.
Box-Office Benjamin$: Potter & Co. Dominate, But Not In Record-Breaking Fashion
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Another Potter flick another dollar. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince muggled out the competition this weekend by taking in a massive $158 million over five days, as it opened on a Wednesday instead of a Friday. It made $77.8 million from Friday-Sunday. The film has received stellar reviews across the board, as well as on The Movie Mash, although that didn’t go over well with some (cough) “Potter Purists.” So it seems as though Warner Bros. got their 2009 money-maker after the box-office debacles that were Watchmen and Terminator Salvation. While this is undoubtedly a complete and utter victory for WB and Potter fans, with such anticipation, it still was unable to beat Transformers 2 and The Dark Knight in the five-day race, by a significant margin.
Box-Office Benjamin$: Bruno Ist #1
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Just have to start off saying that Bruno’s baby O.J., is probably the cutest baby ever. Look at him. So adorable. Anyway, as I predicted, Bruno was #1 at the box-office this weekend by taking in a solid $30.6 million. For you nit-pickers, yes I was off by about $12 million in my predictions, but I did accurately choose the the order of box-office postings. I didn’t write a review from Bruno because that review would take so long to dissect and I didn’t have the time, I will say that I absolutely loved it and thought it was great. I nearly peed my pants with shocking laughter, so in a quick review I’ll give it an A-, as the story is not as good as Borat.
Box-Office Benjamin$: Transformers Pwns!
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So I was waaaaaaaaayyyy off. I predicted last week that Transformers: Revenge of the fallen would gross a modest $115 million over its 5-day opening weekend. Looks like director Michael Bay and his robots Pwned me. Trans 2 absolutely destroyed the box-office and its competition in the process by taking in a WHOPPING $201.2 million over five days. It set a few records as well. It broke the weekday opening-day record by taking in over $60 million on Wednesday. It is also the second-biggest five day total of all-time. Second only to that little movie from last summer, The Dark Knight.
Box-Office Benjamin$: I Told Ya The Proposal Would Take It
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Not to brag or nothin, but I did predict last week that the Ryan Reynolds/Sandra Bullock rom-com would take top spot this weekend and it did with a very respectable $34.1 million, beating Jack Black’s Year One in the process, which took in a mediocre $20 million. To make things more fun here on The Movie Mash, from now on during my weekly Box-Office Benjamin$ report, I’m going to start not only predicting the winner of the next weekend, but also how much that winner will take in. Feel free to say “Challenge” and provide your predictions in a comment. The winner will be mentioned in the following week’s report. Anyway, after two weeks of The Hangover dominating with its outrageous-factor, people decided to get their LOLs from a more traditional, situational comedic outlet in The Proposal.
