Archive: February 2010 (1-10 of 77)

Feb 28 2010 03:22 PM ET

Box office: 'Shutter Island' rules the box office; 'Avatar' crosses $700 million

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shutter-island-dicaprioImage Credit: Andrew CooperNo one will question Paramount Pictures’ decision to move Shutter Island out of last year’s crowded fall corridor into Spring 2010 after it racked up a number one slot for the second weekend in a row. For the Leonardo DiCaprio-Martin Scorsese pairing earned an estimated $22.2 million, out-grossing any new releases and putting its total box office at over $75 million. Of the new releases, Kevin Smith’s buddy comedy Cop Out, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, was the highest grosser with a $18.5 million opener and a second-place spot in the rankings. Overture Films’ R-rated horror film The Crazies debuted at $16.5 million for third place.

Avatar continues to astound. James Cameron’s extravaganza fell only 14% its eleventh weekend in theaters to gross an additional $14 million, putting its domestic gross at an unbelievable $706 million. The minimal drop will give Twentieth Century Fox added ammunition as it tries to hold onto 3-D screens opposite Disney’s Alice in Wonderland next weekend. Fifth place belonged to Fox’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians. The PG-rated film is one of the only family films in the marketplace and its $9.8 million gross, representing a scant 36% fall, illustrates the movie’s staying power.

The rest of the top ten was dominated by holdovers. Warner Bros.’ Valentine’s Day took the 6th slot with an additional $9.5 million. The ensemble romantic comedy has now earned $100 million. Seventh place belonged to Dear John, the Sony film financed by Relativity Media, that grossed an estimated $5 million its fourth weekend in theaters. The 30% drop brings the Amanda Seyfried- Channing Tatum romance to a total cume of $72.6 million. R-rated The Wolfman held onto the 8th slot, grossing $4 million for a total gross of $57 million. The Tooth Fairy took spot nine, earning $3.4 million. The Dwayne Johnson-starrer has now grossed an estimated $54 million. And slot ten went to the Oscar-nominated Crazy Heart, which earned $2.5 million for the tenth spot at the box office. The Jeff Bridges vehicle has now earned an impressive $25 million, a figure that’s likely to grow if  Bridges wins the Oscar for Best Actor at the Academy Awards next weekend.

Feb 28 2010 02:37 PM ET

'A Prophet': A great prison drama you've got to see

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a-prophetImage Credit: Roger ArpajouThe magnificent French prison drama A Prophet swept France’s Cesar Awards last night, winning prizes for best picture, director, actor, original screenplay, and cinematography, among other categories. And if this news doesn’t quite rank up there with a box office report on the opening of Cop Out or the second weekend of Shutter Island, well, it’s still news I jump on to say more about the very best, most exciting movie not yet at most theaters near you. Oh, I can’t wait until it is at a theater near you — maybe after it wins an Oscar on March 7, in my perfect world? (The movie also won the Grand Prize last year at Cannes.)

Then you and I can discuss how engrossing and how thrilling filmmaker Jacques Audiard’s unconventionally “conventional” jailhouse saga is. (Here’s my EW review.) Then you and I can compare and contrast A Prophet to Goodfellas (props to Scorsese when he’s not wasting his talents on hooey like Shutter Island). We can discuss movies about convicts who come of age behind bars. We can discuss prison dramas in which ethnic antagonisms reflect the bigger world outside. We can talk about Audiard’s precise choice of casting a skinny French-Arab unknown in the crucial lead role, and how now-lauded actor Tahar Rahim’s then-anonymity became the character’s strength. And we can analyze the daring screenplay decision to include an actual jailhouse ghost in the plot.

We can do that, but only once you get to see the beaut. And since A Prophet is in French (and Arabic and Corsican) and since it comes with subtitles, the roll-out is necessarily (I suppose) slower. Which kills me, since I guarantee you it’s also way, way more exciting than anything else new you saw this past weekend.  So listen: If you were lucky enough to see it this weekend, tell us what you thought. And if you didn’t, while you’re waiting, maybe you can answer me this: What’s your favorite prison movie and why?

Feb 28 2010 08:51 AM ET

Pre-Oscar wins for 'Hurt Locker' and 'White Ribbon'

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The Hurt Locker picked up another pre-Oscar prize last night, winning the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) award, while the black-and-white foreign-language drama The White Ribbon took the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) award. The CAS trophy is a payback victory for The Hurt Locker, which had been nominated for two awards by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (which have several different sound categories as opposed to just one for the CAS) but lost both last week to Avatar and Inglourious Basterds. Avatar, meanwhile, was nominated for both the CAS and ASC prizes but continued its poor overall showing at the guild awards.

Feb 27 2010 12:47 PM ET

'Shutter Island': Did you see the twist ending coming?

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shutter-islandImage Credit: Andrew CooperNot to be a spoiler, but let me cut right to the jaw-dropping, totally unexpected twist ending of this blog post: If you read it all the way to the last word — or, more accurately, if you do that and then read the message board comments — you’re going to find out the big “Whoa!” surprise ending of Shutter Island. So if you don’t want to know what happens at the shivery climax of Martin Scorsese’s stately, foreboding gothic asylum thriller, I hope you know just what to do: Stop reading! Now! And, please, don’t say that you weren’t warned.

Okay, good, now I assume that we’re all among “spoiled” friends. Actually, I don’t plan to reveal the twist ending. In truth, I’m going to leave that to all of you. I leave it to you to reveal it, debate it, deconstruct it, and analyze the movie through the lens of it. Has anyone gone back a second time to see how the first two hours of Shutter Island play — stormy rocky-island vistas, creepy asylum inmates, creepier shrinks, Holocaust flashbacks, dead-wife flashbacks, conspiracies, blink and you’ll miss the discussion of the ethics of psychotropic drugs — when you already know what’s coming?

Or maybe you already did know what was coming. Personally, I had no idea. That’s right, I want to stand up right now and declare, with full confessional fervor: My name is Owen, and I watched Shutter Island without ever once suspecting how it was going to end.

The reason I make a point of that is that it seems to me, in various discussions of the film that I’ve had, that whether or not you were able to figure out the ending has become something of a savvier-than-thou, you-can’t-put-one-over-on-me! film-snob issue. If you’re really, you know, smart, if you really know your cinema, then you had it all pegged, maybe even pretty early on. If you’re thick, dumb, or maybe just haven’t seen enough old movies, then you didn’t get it. READ FULL STORY »

Feb 27 2010 11:33 AM ET

Box Office Friday: Predictions put 'Shutter Island' on top for second weekend

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Neither mysterious toxins nor the combination of  Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan can top the dynamic duo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese: Shutter Island will likely dominate the weekend for the second week in a row. Early estimates suggest the thriller based on the Dennis Lehane book earned around $6.8 million Friday, putting it on track for a $22 million weekend.

Cop Out and The Crazies, the two new R-rated flicks that opened this weekend, bowed to similar numbers - around $5.9 million for Friday. But predictors believe the comedic Cop Out will edge out the horror flick Crazies by a million or so with Cop Out expected to gross around $17 million and The Crazies looking to take in $15-$16 million. Twentieth Century Fox’s two films are likely to fill out the rest of the top five with Avatar grossing an estimated $3 million on Friday, putting its weekend take around $12 million with a total that now exceeds $700 million.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians will likely to take spot five for the weekend with a Friday number hovering a little over $2 million. That could change if Valentine’s Day surges ahead. The ensemble romantic comedy is also showing an early Friday number in the $2 million range. Check back tomorrow for complete results.

Feb 27 2010 01:27 AM ET

'Precious' wins multiple honors at annual NAACP Image Awards

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The movie Precious and stars Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe were honored Friday at the 41st Annual NAACP Image Awards. During the live telecast on Fox, the movie received kudos in the best picture and best indie categories, while Mo’Nique and Sidibe were singled in out in the actress categories. Lee Daniels was lauded for directing the indie film while Geoffrey Fletcher received kudos for writing the screenplay.

The Image Awards honors the accomplishments of minorities in film, TV, music, and literature. The night’s other big winners included Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (outstanding comedy series), Daryl “Chill” Mitchell, Brothers (outstanding actor in a comedy); Cassi Davis, Payne (outstanding actress in a comedy); Lincoln Heights (outstanding drama series); Hill Harper, CSI: NY (outstanding actor in a drama); and Jada Pinkett Smith, HawthRNe (outstanding actress in a drama). The Mo’Nique Show also was singled out as an outstanding talk series and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition won the prize for best reality show.

Feb 26 2010 07:06 PM ET

Angelina Jolie out of 'Wanted 2': Follow-up project not a lock

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Sources confirm New York Magazine‘s report that Angelina Jolie will not reprise her role as the highly trained assassin Fox in Wanted 2. The script for the sequel was already complete and the studio had hoped to get the film into production this year. It’s not clear now if they will proceed. While New York said Jolie has opted instead to do Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity, which was said to have moved to Warner Bros. after it lived at Universal for years, Jolie’s reps say the actress has passed on doing Gravity at Warner Bros. It’s not yet clear as to why and sources indicate the Gravity portion of the story was quite premature. Warner Bros. is still unable to confirm whether or not Gravity is even set up with the studio. Stay tuned.

Feb 26 2010 07:04 PM ET

Taylor Lautner's next job: 'Abduction'

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With all the hubbub surrounding the former Shark Boy, you would think Taylor Lautner’s got a wide-open schedule. But even with negotiations still active on how Breaking Dawn plays out on the big screen, Lautner is still likely to only fit in one film before the final Twilight chapter begins filming. How will he spend his limited amount of free time? It looks like it will be on the hot script Abduction if the studio can land a director before Lautner is required to don the werewolf fangs again. From first-time screenwriter Shawn Christensen, Abduction, which went to Lionsgate after a heated two-week bidding war, is being fast-tracked and the studio is frantically searching for a hot, young director to helm this action-adventure that reads like a teenage Bourne Identity. If, however, Lionsgate can’t secure the director in time, Lautner will remain a producer on the film and they will have to find another hot, young thing to star. Interestingly, Northern Lights, the movie that first propelled Lautner’s asking price up to $7.5 million and therefore stalled negotiations on Abduction, is definitely moving forward without the teen star. Lautner has parted ways with that project as well as Paramount’s Max Steel, which he had dropped out of in exchange for Stretch Armstrong, both of which have a long development track ahead.

Feb 26 2010 10:47 AM ET

'Young Victoria,' 'Doctor Parnassus,' 'Crazy Heart' win Costume Designers Guild Awards

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The Young Victoria, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Crazy Heart won the Costume Designers Guild Awards last night in Los Angeles. Victoria picked up the Period prize, while Parnassus took the Fantasy trophy and Crazy Heart scored the Contemporary award. Victoria and Parnassus are also among the Oscar nominees in the Costume Design category, along with Bright Star, Coco Before Chanel, and Nine. The sumptuous Victoria is the likely winner, which would give designer Sandy Powell her third Oscar, after Shakespeare in Love and The Aviator.

Feb 25 2010 08:04 PM ET

Box Office Preview: 'Cop Out' and 'Shutter Island' vie for first place

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cop-out-willis-morganImage Credit: Abbott GenserBruce Willis and Tracy Morgan pairing up for a buddy comedy flick from director Kevin Smith seems like a good idea on paper. But with reviews for Cop Out stuck in the terrible category, this Warner Bros. flick is going to have to actually fight to land the number one slot. It’s not going to help that the Martin Scorsese-Leonardo DiCaprio thriller Shutter Island opened to over $40 million last weekend and should hold on to at least 50% of its gross for its sophomore session. The other new wide release looking for its share of box-office coin is the remake of 1973′s The Crazies, starring Timothy Olyphant and Radha Mitchell. Also interesting this frame is Avatar’s box office performance. Sure the movie has made more than any other in box-office history but this weekend really marks its last official frame in 3-D. The film has had ten weekends all to itself but while Fox tries to fight for 3-D screens, its going to have a tough battle when Disney’s Alice in Wonderland opens next weekend. Read on for my predictions.

1. Shutter Island: $20 million

Shutter Island marks Scorsese and DiCaprio’s most successful opening weekend. How that translates into its second frame is still up for grabs. While reviews for the movie were strong, Cinemscore’s exit scoring was poor at a C+. Still it’s the film with the biggest pedigree in the marketplace right now and it’s likely that it will hold on to the top slot for the weekend.

2. Cop Out: $18 million

Smith’s last outing Zach and Miri Make a Porno opened to a dismal $10 million so Cop Out should be considered a big success in contrast. While the film is an homage to the popular interracial buddy cop films of the ’80s this film seems to confirm that the genre is dead for a reason. There hasn’t been a comedy in theaters for some time so this one could prove to be successful but that will all depend on the audience and what their fickle moods’ demand.

3. The Crazies: $16 million

Audiences have loved all the preview materials the studio has been offering, and a fresh horror film in the market now could do well. This one, from director Breck Eisner, has the potential to work. We’ll see what happens this weekend.

4. Avatar: $11 million

Its tally as of Wednesday is at $691 million, meaning it will definitely cross $700 million this weekend. If you want to see it on 3-D again, go now. (Last weekend 95% of its gross came from 3-D theaters.) Fox is going to try to hold onto as many 3-D screens as possible going into Oscar weekend and the opening of Alice in Wonderland but theaters are expecting big things from Disney and may not be willing to keep many for the film that arguably must be nearing the end of its theatrical run.

5. Valentine’s Day: $7 million

Expect at least a 60% drop this weekend for the star-studded movie that’s grossed almost $90 million in two weeks of release. It’s not good but if you want to see so many stars in one place, and can’t wait for the Oscar telecast next weekend, Valentine’s Day may be the best place to go.

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