Anyone who has read Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, or seen this spring’s blockbuster animated movie, knows that the truffula forest was critical to the survival of many peculiar species.
In “Serenade,” one of three bonus mini-films on the upcoming Blu-ray release, we see just how the bear-like Brown Bar-ba-loots use those colorful tufts to keep the species going — with a little help from Auto-Tune.
Image Credit: Zade Rosenthal
We’re officially halfway through 2012, and if you’re an obsessive box-office junkie like me, that means it’s time to reflect back on the past six months at the movies and give credit to some of the best box-office performances. (Theoretically, it’s also time to think back to box-office disasters like Battleship, John Carter, and That’s My Boy, but we’ll save that for another time…)
There have been loads of strong performers with sensible budgets, so it was difficult to whittle down the slate (sorry, Safe House and Contraband, you were thisclose to making the cut!), but whittle I did. Thus, here is my totally-up-for-debate list of the 15 Most Impressive* Box Office Performances of 2012… so far. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Murray Close
Sorry, Lisbeth Salander — you tried your best, but apparently, what Hollywood really needed to revive the box office was a fuzzy orange puffball and starving archer named Katniss.
Yep, in 2012, titles like The Hunger Games and The Lorax have lifted the box office high above its late-2011 woes. In case you forgot, 2011 ended up being the least-attended year at the movies since 1995 after sure bets such as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Adventures of Tintin floundered at the box office during the normally lucrative holiday season.
Still, almost as soon as the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve, the box office’s fortunes completely turned around.
Every movie — from 21 Jump Street to The Vow to the aforementioned Games — suddenly seemed to be over-performing (except John Carter, of course). After 114 days, the 2012 box office had amassed $3.16 billion — a whopping 17 percent above the $2.70 billion that had been earned at the same point in 2011 — and the healthy grosses don’t look likely to slow down anytime soon. What’s behind the big bump? We brought that question to two box office analysts, BoxOfficeGuru.com‘s Gitesh Pandya and BoxOffice.com‘s Phil Contrino. Here’s what the industry experts had to say: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Scott Garfield
Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill may play totally inept undercover cops in 21 Jump Street, but at the box office, they’re proving much more effective. The R-rated comedy scored a tremendous $35 million in its opening weekend, enough to easily top the chart. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Scott Garfield
R-rated comedy 21 Jump Street (starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) topped the box office on Friday with a tremendous $13.1 million in its first 24 hours. The well-reviewed television adaptation–it earned a “B” CinemaScore grade–may pull in about $35 million over the Friday to Sunday period, which is a gross typically reserved for comedic summer tentpoles — not any old springtime release. I’d guess that 21 Jump Street‘s terrific start will trigger a sequel announcement within a week. Sony could have a new smash franchise on their hands. READ FULL STORY »
EW has confirmed that Universal Pictures and Illumination Entertainment are working on a 3-D animated production of Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat. Spurred by the recent box-office domination of The Lorax, the reboot will hope to succeed where Mike Myers’ 2003 live-action iteration of the 1957 classic failed. As initially reported by Deadline, Rob Lieber (who’s adapted Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day for Fox) has signed on the write the script, and Audrey Geisel, the widow of Dr. Seuss (né Theodore Geisel), will serve as executive producer. No release date is projected at this point.
As previously reported, Illumination is also working with Johnny Deep on a Seuss biopic.
Read more:
EW Review: Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat
Box office report: ‘The Lorax’ stands firm with $39.1M, while ‘John Carter’ fumbles with $30.6M
EW Review: Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax
Johnny Depp to possibly play Dr. Seuss in a live-action movie: The best pairing since ‘Fox in Socks’?
Image Credit: Scott Garfield
After John Carter’s disappointing opening frame, this weekend brings moviegoers only one new wide release, 21 Jump Street, which looks like a potential smash that could birth a franchise. Although a number of limited releases — Will Ferrell comedy Casa De Mi Padre (382 theaters), Nicholas Cage thriller Seeking Justice (230 theaters), and Jason Segel/Ed Helms comedy Jeff, Who Lives at Home (250 theaters), — are hitting multiplexes, they aren’t likely to make much impact on the box office. Friends With Kids‘s expansion from 369 to 640 theaters might give it a small boost, but on the whole, the chart will likely look very similar to last weekend. Here’s how things may shake out: READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Apparently the Truffula Valley is a much better training ground for the box office than Mars, as Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax had no trouble fending off Disney’s expensive new sci-fi arrival John Carter.
Universal’s The Lorax dropped a relatively mild 44 percent for $39.1 million in its second weekend — a drop that virtually replicates the second-weekend decline of 45 percent for 2008′s Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! Today The Lorax will pass The Vow to become the year’s top grosser, finishing the weekend with a cumulative tally of nearly $122 million in just 10 days.
But the real story here, of course, is John Carter, which Disney infamously spent $250 million to produce. With that kind of price tag, Carter really needed to open to $50 million at a bare minimum. Other films that reportedly cost around $250 million include Spider-Man 3, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Avatar, and those four movies debuted to an average of $99 million.
John Carter, on the other hand, collected an estimated $30.6 million this weekend. That’s slightly better than the $25 million or so that most in the industry were predicting, and would represent a solid start for many films. But it’s a dismal showing for such a costly project. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Frank Connor
There’s some good news and some bad news for Disney this morning. Good news: The studio’s John Carter led the box office on Friday with an estimated $9.8 million (including $500,000 from midnight showings), giving the $250 million sci-fi epic at least one moment at the top.
The bad news: It won’t last very long. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax was right behind with $9.6 million, and that movie should soar today and Sunday thanks to family audiences — last week, the animated fable jumped 79 percent from Friday to Saturday. John Carter, on the other hand, was likely front-loaded with sci-fi fans. End result: The Lorax will win the weekend with around $40 million, while John Carter will have to settle for second with about $29 million. READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Disney
The box office should calm down a bit from last weekend’s monster showing, and all eyes will be on Disney’s pricey John Carter. The question here isn’t whether the $250 million sci-fi epic will open soft — it’s how soft.
Also debuting this weekend is the shot-in-one-take horror flick Silent House and the long-delayed Eddie Murphy comedy A Thousand Words, the latter of which shouldn’t even place in the top five. And then there’s The Lorax, which will repeat last week’s No. 1 finish without even breaking a sweat. Here are my weekend predictions: READ FULL STORY »
