Archive: December 2011 (1-10 of 176)

Dec 31 2011 02:06 PM ET

Box office update: 'Mission: Impossible' tops Friday with $10.7 mil as the year crosses $10 billion

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Categories: Box Office, Movie Biz, Tom Cruise
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Image Credit: David James

Even though 2011 will go down as the least attended year at the movies since 1995, this year’s box office did pull off a neat trick by crossing $10 billion earlier this week. Granted, if we adjusted for inflation, many other years would also reach $10 billion in total ticket sales, but 2011 is only the third year (joining 2009 and 2010) to hit the milestone in real dollars.

Leading the charge on Friday was Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol, which jumped 10 percent from last Friday to take in $10.7 million. The fourth entry in the “Tom Cruise can do anything” action series should finish the weekend with around $30 million, bringing its cumulative tally to nearly $133 million. On Monday, the film should pass Mission: Impossible III‘s $134 million domestic total, and will then set its sights on the first Mission: Impossible, which collected $181 million in 1996. READ FULL STORY »

Dec 30 2011 01:02 PM ET

Box office dips in 2011: A year-end analysis

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Categories: 3-D, Animation, Bad Movies, Box Office, Charts, Comedy, Comic Book Adaptations, Harry Potter, Movie Biz, Movies, Summer Movies, Transformers, Twilight
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Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Box office junkies, unite! It’s time to break down the year that was at the movies using the thing that we love most — the numbers!

Blockbuster franchise films reigned supreme at the North American box office in 2011. Of the ten highest grossing movies, the top seven — led by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 with $381 million — are sequels, Rise of the Planet of the Apes (No. 9, $176.7 million) is a prequel, and Thor (No. 8, $181 million) and Captain America: The First Avenger (No. 10, $176.7 million), while not sequels, are part of the larger Avengers franchise which Marvel will roll out next year.

All told, theatrical releases sold about $10.2 billion worth of tickets in 2011 (final numbers not yet available) at an average price of $7.96. (Ticket price via the National Association of Theatre Owners. Although, seriously, when was the last time anyone paid so little for a ticket?) That total marked a 3.5 percent drop from 2010, when the box office earned a yearly total of $10.6 billion, and attendance dipped by about 5 percent for the second year in a row. In fact, with 1.28 billion tickets sold, 2011 was the least-attended box office year since 1995.

What caused the dip? READ FULL STORY »

Dec 30 2011 08:26 AM ET

'The Devil Inside' red-band trailer: Even the possessed need a good stretch after a nap

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Categories: Horror Movies, Movie Trailers

As my colleague Mandi Bierly once said, the possessed are always so flexible. That includes the possessed subject of The Devil Inside, who proves in the red-band trailer that she would be a fantastic rhythm gymnast if she wasn’t so focused on all that devil nonsense. (The actress’ IMDB page seems to prove that too!) The found footage film — which hits theaters Jan. 6 — stars Fernanda Andrade as a woman who heads abroad to Italy to see her mother in an insane asylum, and, along the way, witnesses an exorcism or two. The Devil Inside looks to be a fun communal movie-going experience, but I just can’t help but think after watching the red-band trailer (embedded after the jump): Why would anyone place a possessed girl so close to a saw? READ FULL STORY »

Dec 29 2011 06:03 PM ET

Box office preview: 'Mission: Impossible' won't lose its grip over New Year's weekend

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Categories: Box Office, Movie Biz, Tom Cruise
mission-impossible4

Image Credit: David James

With no new wide releases this New Year’s weekend, the box office is going to look very much like it did over the Christmas weekend. In fact, a number of movies may perform a little bit better this weekend due to the fact that Christmas Eve, a typically slow day at the box office, landed on a Saturday last week. Furthermore, since 893 movies were released the last couple of weeks, audiences should be eager to catch up with the many films they haven’t seen yet.

Here are my predictions for the three-day weekend (Friday to Sunday): READ FULL STORY »

Dec 29 2011 09:43 AM ET

'The Paperboy' poster: Let's play Where's Matthew McConaughey?

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Categories: Film, Movie Posters

Director Lee Daniels has only helmed three films, but each one has boasted a fascinating, eclectic cast: There was 2005′s Shadowboxer, starring, among others, Cuba Gooding Jr., Helen Mirren, and Macy Gray; 2009′s Oscar-nominated Precious, starring the Oscar-nominated Gabourey Sidibe, Oscar winner Mo’Nique, and Mariah Carey; and now The Paperboy, starring Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, Nicole Kidman, and Zac Efron. And seeing the latter four actors together on one poster has left me really intrigued.

The film, which is adapted from Pete Dexter’s novel, centers on a reporter and his brother who attempt to get an innocent man off death row in the mid-1960s. Efron’s always looked best in mid-20th century garb (see: Hairspray), and the retro poster is no exception. (It’s rare that an actor looks so good, he pushes McConaughey into the background.) But the poster’s real draw is Cusack, whose eyes are so intense, it’s easy to question his character’s proclaimed innocence. I’m in — are you? Poster after the jump! READ FULL STORY »

Dec 29 2011 09:23 AM ET

Sylvester Stallone's ab-solutely ripped in 'Bullet to the Head' pic

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Categories: Film
bullet-to-the-head-sylvester-stallone

Image Credit: Frank Masi

Some things are just not fair. I work out every single day of the week and have nary a two-pack. But 65-year-old Sylvester Stallone? From my count, based on this photo, a six and a half pack. Yep, despite his age, the Rocky star must have been eating plenty of raw eggs to get in shape for his latest action film, April 13′s Bullet to the Head. The film, from which this shot is taken, also stars Christian Slater and Jason Momoa and follows Stallone’s cop character as he searches for his colleagues’ murderer.

But Stallone’s abs are hardly expendable — you’ll (hopefully) be able to see them again in The Tomb and The Expendables 2, which hits theaters Aug. 17.

Follow Kate on Twitter @KateWardEW

Read more:
Sylvester Stallone to enter ‘The Tomb’
Sylvester Stallone hit with lawsuit claiming he stole idea for ‘Expendables’
‘Expendables 2′: Schwarzenegger tweets pic with Stallone and Willis

Dec 28 2011 12:22 PM ET

'Hunger Games': New still of Jennifer Lawrence's Katniss still leaves me insatiable

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Categories: The Hunger Games
hunger-games

Image Credit: Lionsgate

With the new year just days away, there’s plenty to get excited about in 2012. A Van Halen comeback, the return of Mad Men, and, of course, The Hunger Games, which hits theaters March 23. The trailer for Gary Ross’ adaptation of Suzanne Collins’ dystopian book was equal parts thrilling and terrifying, but we have yet to get another glimpse into Panem after the teaser was released in November. Unfortunately, that’s not about to change. A new photo from the film has been released… but, it’s hardly new at all. In fact, the picture — featuring Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss rising up into the arena — is simply a clear still from the Hunger Games trailer. But Hunger Games fans are hungry. So we’ll devour any photo that’s passed our way. But may we suggest a New Year’s resolution for Lionsgate? Give us some teaser images as satisfying as a loaf of Mellark bakery bread, please!

Follow Kate on Twitter @KateWardEW

Read more:
Soundtrack to ‘The Hunger Games’ includes Taylor Swift, Decemberists, members of Arcade Fire
‘The Hunger Games’ new poster: See it here!
‘Hunger Games’: Let’s Dissect the Trailer!

Dec 28 2011 11:48 AM ET

The 84th annual Academy Awards poster: Which film will soon be a classic?

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Categories: Awards Season, Movie Posters, Oscars
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It’s a good day for Forrest Gump. Not only was the 1994 film inducted into the National Film Registry, but it’s also featured on the Academy Awards’ one-sheet for its Feb. 26 ceremony. But it’s not the only Best Picture winner highlighted on the poster — 1943′s Casablanca, 1956′s Giant, 1965′s The Sound of Music, 1972′s The Godfather, 1989′s Driving Miss Daisy, and 2000′s Gladiator are pictured as well. What 2011 film will join their ranks? We’ll have to “celebrate the movies in all of us” with the Academy in February to see. (Or read Dave Karger’s Oscar predictions to guess!)

Read more:
Oscar predictions: Ballots are out!
Award Season Scorecard: Winners so far
More on 2012 Oscars

Dec 28 2011 11:35 AM ET

Oscar predictions: Ballots are out!

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Categories: Awards Season, Oscar predictions
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Yesterday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences mailed its nomination ballots to 5,783 voters. So where do things stand in the Oscar race? Not much has changed in the last week, but here are my current predictions in the six major races.

BEST PICTURE
1. The Artist (last week: 1)
2. War Horse (last week: 2)
3. The Descendants (last week: 3)
4. The Help (last week: 4)
5. Hugo (last week: 5)
6. Midnight in Paris (last week: 6)
7. The Tree of Life (last week: 7)
8. Moneyball (last week: 8 )
9. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (last week: 9)
10. Bridesmaids (last week: 10)
11. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 (last week: 11)
12. The Ides of March (last week: 12)
13. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (last week: 13)
14. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (last week: 14)
15. Drive (last week: 15)

READ FULL STORY »

Dec 27 2011 09:35 PM ET

Jennifer Hudson: I turned down 'Precious' because I didn't want to gain weight

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Categories: Movies

Jennifer-Hudson-OscarsImage Credit: Rick Rowell/ABCThink back to the disturbing scene from the 2009 movie Precious, when Mo’Nique’s character unleashes a lifetime of fury on her illiterate and overweight daughter hunched over at the top of the stairs. But instead of Gabourey Sibide dodging the frying pan, picture the Oscar-winning Jennifer Hudson as the pregnant protagonist.

Can you imagine?

Apparently director Lee Daniels could. According to Hudson’s upcoming book “I Got This: How I Changed My Ways and Lost What Weighed Me Down” (Penguin, Jan. 10), the former American Idol-runner-up-turned-Dreamgirls costar turned down the pivotal role because she didn’t want to pack on the pounds needed to play the tragic character.

“I had done that with Effie… and as much as I was moved by this film,” she says in her book. “I wanted to try a role that had nothing whatsoever to do with my weight.”

Instead, Hudson chose to star in the first Sex and the City movie as Carrie Bradshaw’s assistant Louise while the then-unknown Sidibe went on to earn an Academy Award nomination. But hey, Oscar Schmosker! Hudson already won one in 2007 for costarring in Dreamgirls. (Next up: She’s playing a nun in The Three Stooges and a drug-addicted New York City mother in the indie Mister and Pete).

Billed as a healthy lifestyle tome, Hudson’s book chronicles her rise to stardom and her impressive 80-pound weight loss on Weight Watchers.

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