Archive for box-office news
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
Posted by: | Comments
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?
Posted by: | Comments
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
Posted by: | Comments
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
Posted by: | Comments
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 $12 million in my predictions, but I did accurately choose the the order of box-office postings. I didn’t write a review from Bruno because that review would take so long to dissect and I didn’t have the time, I will say that I absolutely loved it and thought it was great. I nearly peed my pants with shocking laughter, so in a quick review I’ll give it an A-, as the story is not as good as Borat.
Box-Office Benjamin$: Ice Age & Transformers Tie?
Posted by: | Comments
From a box-office analysis standpoint, I really wish all movies would open on a Friday, it would really make things a lot easier. But I digress. As the week prior, my box-office predictions were little off in last week’s edition of BOB. I’ll get it, don’t worry. Ice Age 3 and Public Enemies opened last Wednesday, July 1st in an effort to derail the box-office behemoth that is Transformers 2. It looks as though the prehistoric animated family comedy beat a lot of exceptions by coming in first…barely and technically.
Box-Office Benjamin$: I Told Ya The Proposal Would Take It
Posted by: | Comments
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.
Box-Office Benjamin$: Stiller “Terminates” Bale…Get It?!
Posted by: | Comments
Sorry, I couldn’t resist corny puns that most sites and publications put in their weekly box-office reports. Terminator fans are sighing with disappointment today due to the poor showing Terminator Salvation had at the box-office this weekend. Ben Stiller’s epic comedy sequel, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, was #1 at the box-office over this Memorial Day weekend raking in a $70 million holiday gross. Despite having the Wednesday midnight showings, all-day Thursday showings and fanboy anticipation, the fourth installment in the Terminator franchise starring Christian Bale could only muster a measly $53.8 million over four days. That has got to be extremely disappointing for Warner Bros. for three big reasons: 1)Because it’s sci-fi action epic that is apart of an already successfully established franchise 2) WB put a lot of time and money in advertising and promotion 3) Producers decided to play it safe and make the film PG-13 after the failed box-office showing of the R-rated Watchmen back in March; which obviously didn’t help much.
I am surprised and disappointed because I thought it was a great action movie and deserved to make more money. But in any case (say except for The Dark Knight) no matter how anticipated a superhero/action movie is, counting on the epic family adventure to be box-office champ is always a safe bet. Something else to note is the continued success of Star Trek. I’ve said in the past couple B.O.B reports, that it is so good, so well-reviewed and has such good word-of-mouth that it’ll crack $250 million eventually. Competing against Terminator and Night at the Museum is no easy task, but it still managed to pull in an impressive $29.5 million over it’s third weekend in release, bringing it’s domestic total to a very solid $191 million. $250 million might be a challenge, but I’m sticking to my guns and predicting that it eventually grosses a quarter billion during it’s full run in theaters.
Closing out May’s Blockbuster Blood Bath this Friday is the battle of the flawless reviewed, contrasting genre flicks. Disney/Pixar’s UP, and Sam Raimi’s return to horror Drag Me to Hell, are both CURRENTLY sitting pretty at a cool 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Let’s see how the rest of May’s blockbuster’s fair when Pixar and horror are thrown into the mix. Here’s a breakdown of the rest of the Top 5 at the Box-Office this Memorial Day weekend.
CHAMP: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian $70 million
2) Terminator Salvation $53.8
3) Star Trek $29.4 million
4) Angles and Demons $27.7 million
5) Dance Flick $13.1 million
Source: Box-Office Mojo
What Do You Think? Discuss.
