***UPDATE: This post was updated to correct a factual error.

BOX OFFICE ANALYSIS

1. Lion King 3-D $29.3M: A 17 year-old cartoon not only landed in first place but more than doubled the take of second place. You can blame that on the lack of alternatives, but obviously people wanted to experience “The Lion King” again. Did they really want to experience it in 3-D, though? Could it have sold as many tickets as straight-forward re-release? After all, for generations Disney re-released their films every seven years or so and with great success.

Regardless, we can expect a lot more 3-D re-releases now.

I love “The Lion King” but have no desire to see it in 3-D.  A few years ago I saw the 3-D version of “Nightmare Before Christmas” (a movie I love), and got nothing from it. In fact, I would’ve preferred to have seen it in its original 2-D form.

2. Contagion $14.5M: This is a better hold than expected. Still, with that many “big” stars and only $44M after ten days, this has to be a disappointment.

3. Drive $11M: Great reviews  and 2800-plus screens didn’t add up to much and there appears to be a pretty wide gulf between critics and moviegoers. The art-house actioner received a terrible C- from CinemaScore, but critics adore it.

4. The Help $6.4M: With a total take of $147M, it’s unimaginable Oscar doesn’t come calling. A dramatic, critically-acclaimed and “important” box-office smash is a dream come true for Hollywood.

5. Straw Dogs $5M: With no built-in audience for the obscure original, no name stars, a story that looked like something out of a Lifetime Channel movie, and all the bad publicity surrounding the bashing of the South — what did they expect?

6. I Don’t Know How She Does It $4.5M: I don’t know who would think Sarah Jessica Parker could carry a movie a movie without “sex” or “city” in the title on nearly 2500 screens. Oh, that would be Harvey Weinstein.

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From an article titled “Box Office Shocker” at the Hollywood Reporter:

Early on, there was a debate within Paramount and Marvel as to whether having Captain America in the title would be off-putting to international distributors, and so the studio offered an alternative title, The First Avenger.

Cripps turned out to be correct in his hunch that the Captain America character has such strong brand recognition — the comic books have been published in at least 75 countries — that foreign distributors would happily choose Captain America: The First Avenger.

Only three countries opted for The First Avenger — Russia, Ukraine and South Korea. Everywhere else, it’s being released as Captain America: The First Avenger. …

Defying perception, Paramount and Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The First Avenger has now earned more overseas than in North America

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MANY THANKS TO OUR 9/11 CONTRIBUTORS

As always, Big Hollywood’s contributors came through in a big way. We can’t thank those who contributed to yesterday’s series of posts commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 atrocity enough. In fact, we received so many excellent pieces that we decided to extend the series into this week rather than pile them all into a single day.

So stay tuned for more.

ANALYSIS: WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

#1. Contagion $23.1 Million Opening

On almost 4000 screens with an Oscar-winning director and four Oscar winners in the cast (Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, and Kate Winslet), “Contagion” was only able to scrounge up $23 million.  With a $60 million budget (which doesn’t include advertising costs), director Steven  Soderbergh’s star-studded thriller will have to gross somewhere around $150 million just to break even

Now can we declare the movie star dead?

And when will Hollywood wake up and realize that Matt Damon insulting half the country on a regular basis effectively destroys the most important quality a movie star can acquire: audience goodwill.

#2. The Help $8.6 Million, Total Domestic $137 Million

This $25 million adult drama with no “sure-fire” bankable stars has thus far grossed a whopping $137 million.

This not only proves that a good story that’s well executed and acted can find an audience, but also how hungry people are for this kind of theatre experience.

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There’s been a lot of discussion this summer about the failure of so many superhero films. They’re making money, but not nearly as much as expected. And until Captain America came along, it seemed to be getting worse with each passing film. Any number of explanations have been offered for this underperformance. Some suggest ticket prices are the problem. Others say it’s because the current crop of superheroes are second tier guys, i.e. the B-Team. Some blame oversaturation. But I don’t find those answers satisfying.

If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire... The B-Team.

If ticket prices were the problem, then you would see a drop for all films. But there’s been no such drop. The “second-tier superhero” argument doesn’t wash either. It’s hard to argue that Iron Man or X-Men were “first tier” superheroes before they hit it big in theaters. And nothing is more first tier than Superman or the Incredible Hulk, yet both have struggled — not to mention Wonder Woman, who can’t even get a series off the ground.

The oversaturation argument is intriguing. On the one hand, oversaturation cannot be THE problem because people wouldn’t turn out for surprise hits like Captain America if they were just sick of superhero films generally. Also, if oversaturation really was THE problem, then why don’t slasher flicks or romcoms suffer from this? Those genres have been steadily turning out the same film year after year for decades. Still, I do think oversaturation plays a part in this puzzle. In particular, oversaturation makes these films less special, which makes people more selective. Being more selective means people are less likely to see films they don’t think are worth their time or money. But what is it that is causing people to choose some superhero films over others? In a word: plot.

Hollywood is using a bad formula for superhero films.

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NO JOKE: ‘BLUES BROTHERS’ TV SERIES IN DEVELOPMENT

The pitch is ‘Route 66′ meets ‘Glee’. So I guess Jake and Elwood went gay in prison and are now on the road combing their hair a lot in-between show tunes.

Somebody make them stop.

JOHNNY DEPP REMAKING ‘THE THIN MAN’

Apparently, the idea is to stylize the 76 year-old reboot in the same way Guy Ritchie and Robert Downey Jr. stylized Sherlock Holmes. In other words, this is more about grabbing hold of a brand name.

Should be interesting to see what’s done with the drinking. Watching William Powell and Myrna Loy continuously throw ‘em back today (though they slowed as the series progressed), is disconcerting, to say the least.  Like the doomed “Arthur” reboot, I suspect this will require some adjustments.

The screenwriter is David Koepp, one of the biggest names in the biz, and there will be musical numbers.

We shall see.

SUMMER BOX OFFICE ATTENDANCE SECOND-LOWEST IN DECADE

The industry will still set a box office record with $4.5 billion worth of tickets sold, but the number of tickets sold was only 558 million — the second lowest in ten years.

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One of the most dishonest theories anti-American Hollywood asks Americans to swallow is that the reason there are so few pro-American films produced is due to profits not politics. That is the biggest, fattest, provable lie to come out of this industry ever, especially when you consider that just the opposite is true. What flops stateside and overseas are anti-American films. We’ve documented this again and again and again and again.

Well, now we have another “again” to add to our growing list of “agains,” this time courtesy — of all film sites! — our regular left-wing antagonists over at Movie Line:

Before Captain America: First Avenger was released in July, much was made about how the title — and title character in his red, white and blue — would play in foreign markets. In fact, three countries (Russia, Ukraine and South Korea) even decided to release the film with the Marvel-approved shortened title The First Avenger. Following a successful showing stateside, good ol’ Cap made his worldwide debut in many big foreign markets over the weekend; as the numbers trickle in, it looks he’s got some pretty enthusiastic allies. …

Overall, Captain America: The First Avenger has earned a reported $65,863,605 internationally thru Aug. 2 (Paramount has CA at $53.9 million thru Aug. 1), with tallies from openings in France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Greece, Egypt and Austria yet to come. As for Russia, Ukraine and South Korea: Captain America The First Avenger has yet to debut in those countries, but Movieline will update its progress there when numbers become available. UPDATE: Per Paramount, Captain America actually did premiere in Russia and South Korea, where it grossed $4.2 million and $2.5 million, respectively. Score one for the non-American title!

Below, the top 10 foreign markets for Captain America:

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Box Office Mojo is a universally accepted and respected source for box-office numbers, mainly because they’ve always done a very professional job of sticking to numbers and avoiding the business and political nonsense that tarnishes so many others. As of today, they’re reporting that at 10 locations, “The Undefeated” grossed $65,132, or $6513 per screen during its opening weekend. We also know that at some locations, director Steve Bannon’s documentary sold out completely and garnered as much as $10,000 per screen. But for argument’s sake, let’s use Box Office Mojo and take a sober look at how well the Palin documentary did in the best kind of apples-to-apples comparison available — and that’s in the genre of political documentaries and the number of screens it opened on.

Fair enough?

You with me so far?

As you can see in the Box Office Mojo the chart below (original here), which looks at historical theatrical opening weekend numbers of political documentaries going back 20 years, ”The Undefeated” did remarkably well in the only categories that matter:

Compared to every other political documentary ever made…

1. “The Undefeated” ranks as #15 in the all-time highest grossing debut category (and this includes Michael Moore’s unique hold on this category). However — and this is a mighty important however – nine of the films ranked above the Palin doc opened on more screens — in some cases, hundreds more.

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One of the benefits of living on the East Coast (besides being … home), is that it allows me a three-hour jump on Hollywood and the time needed to do what I hope will become a regular feature and, of course, forever change the face of Hollywood as we know it.

First off,  I would be remiss if I did not thank Associate Editor Alex Marlow and all the contributors who gave me great peace of mind during my cross-country move. Big Hollywood didn’t miss a step while I was away. A great job was done by all.  Also, a big, BIG thanks to Andrew Breitbart and his business partner Laurence Solov for simply saying “yes,” when I asked about moving home and, most importantly, for creating the kind of work environment I was eager to return to.

The Morning Call Sheet is planned as a new Monday through Friday feature that will be a sort-of summary/round up of the day’s big news from Hollywoodland, as well as other things as they come up. While the marquee is mostly devoted to the intersection of pop culture and politics, the Morning Call Sheet will give you a rundown of that as well as the day’s straight entertainment news. The hope here is to eventually turn this into a regular newsletter. With help and input from others, the Morning Call Sheet is likely to change and evolve over time. Meaning: tips and suggestions can either be noted in the comments or emailed to jnolte@breitbart.com.

But for now, it’s inauguration time…

–BOX OFFICE:

Transformers, Horrible Bosses, and The Zookeeper are doing well. As if movie stars aren’t already having enough trouble (see below), two star-driven vehicles have flopped miserably. The duo of Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks has already collapsed in week 2 and Jim Carrey’s latest is DOA in week 4.

–ANDREW KLAVAN’S FINAL CHAPTER OF HIS “HOMELANDER” SERIES, “THE FINAL HOUR,” IS ALREADY AVAILABLE AT AMAZON. SOME EARLY REVIEWS HERE.

The Homelander trilogy is not only an exciting, extremely well-written, page-turner of a series (even though they’re written for young adults, I read the first two with little difficulty), it’s the rare fiction novel any parent who believes in God, America, and the evil of terrorism can hand to a child without worrying that after they close the back cover, they will demand you throw away your 100 watt light bulbs.

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Anyone familiar with the “Acts of the Apostles” will understand that using the word “sequel” in reference to Mel Gibson’s “Passion of the Christ” is a perfectly appropriate description. Picking up right where the “Passion” left off would be absurdly easy. ANY money-hungry producer or director eager to recreate the cinematic phenom of the double aughts, not to mention one of the most profitable films in history, need only bring ”Acts”  to life on the silver screen. Then why don’t they?  Well, that’s the $60,000 question.  There’s so much money being left on the table, it’s very much the elephant in Hollywood’s gilded room.  

Sure, we’re getting films like the “Blind Side,” “Narnia,” and “Fireproof” — all of which are appreciated, but nothing like the visceral emotional experience of a “Passion” that hits the faithful in their very soul and translates into a real religious experience. For all the obvious reasons, Hollywood seems unwilling to do what they do with every other hit film: recreate it over and over and over until it drops dead of fatigue.

But why would any sane filmmaker take the risk? We all saw what the Hollywood establishment and the MSM did to Gibson long before he said those terrible things during his DWI arrest a year or so later. We all watched as they set out to destroy an Academy-Award-winning director in every way possible, to toxify him. But that was the idea. The MSM and Hollywood were so threatened by the very idea of the ”Passion” (no one had seen it when the attacks began) — especially should it be a hit –  that their only recourse was to launch into the ugliest and most personal campaign of destruction launched against a filmmaker since the 1950s. And the message to the rest of Hollywood was clear….

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Ed. Note: Please welcome Lee Stranahan to Big Hollywood. This is actually his second piece for us, but things were a little hectic last time and things got away from me. It’s an honor to have him as part of the BH family and I very much encourage you to seek out his superb work ast the other BIG sites. –JN

No, I still haven’t seen it but the business side of Atlas Shrugged is of interest to me as a filmmaker, political writer and former Objectivist. Plus my friend Andrew Breitbart and my ex-wife Kat are both in movie – in the same scene. (Kat is wearing pink, Breitbart isn’t.)

Some people – like liberal blogger and (former?) friend Bob Cesca – want to say it’s doing very badly. This is from his subtly titled post Nobody Likes Atlas Shrugged.

Did you know there’s a movie version of Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged?

No? Well, you’re not alone. The first part of a trilogy (!!!) based on Ayn Rand’s libertarian bible was released in limited theaters on Friday and it currently has an 8 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. That’s really awful.

And the reviews are generally bad. Some are sort of mixed, like this one by Kyle Smith from the New York Post…

Though a bit stiff in the joints and acted by an undistinguished cast amid TV-movie trappings, this low-budget adaptation of Ayn Rand’s novel nevertheless contains a fire and a fury that makes it more compelling than the average mass-produced studio item.

The low-budget / casting angle comes up in many reviews and I certainly raised them myself. But the original reviews of Atlas Shrugged were…well, awful. Really awful. And not all the data is that negative. On IMDB right now it has a kind of okay 6.8 rating. And on Box Office Mojo, it’s got a solid B with 74% giving it an A.

Criticism is all opinion, however. How did it do business wise?

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On 2214 screens, Nikki Finke estimates the Christian-themed “Soul Surfer” will clear $11.1m this weekend. Sony was hoping for $10 million and is obviously very happy with the results:

Coming in to this weekend, Sony thought it was releasing through TriStar an acquired micro-budget title from FilmDistrict that had “solid upside potential” according to a studio exec. “If we do 10 million this weekend (or close to it), it would be a home run for Sony and Film District.” Mission accomplished. A strong Christian message sometimes works at the box office, sometimes falls flat. This one worked, helped by the strong appeal and personal promotion of American Idol winner Carrie Underwood. Soul Surfer played incredibly well all around the country as Sony had been screening the title aggressively — 350 previews — especially for church groups who arranged for buses to bring in audiences all day Friday.

Overall, “Soul Surfer” came in fourth, but lost the #2 spot only by a nose to “Hanna,” which banked $12.3m on 300+ more screens, and the ill-considered “Arthur” remake, which played on 1,000+ more screens but took in only $12.6m. In other words, it flopped. Per screen, “Soul Surfer” beat “Arther” by $1200. No small thing.

“Soul Surfer,” which is based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, a young tournament surfer whose Christian faith and family help her to overcome a shark attack that cost her an arm, stars Dennis Quaid and Helen Hunt. Thanks to some very good marketing to the teenage crowd in general and to the Christian market specifically, what Hollywood has here is one less excuse to keep ‘em coming.

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IMDB News:

While [Hop's] gross was slightly below the $38.1 million recorded for Rango last month, making it the second-highest-grossing film of the year, it was far overshadowed by last year’s Clash of the Titans, which opened during the same weekend (Easter weekend) with $61.2 million.

Indeed, the total domestic box office this weekend came in at 29.6 percent below the same weekend a year ago. For the year, total box-office revenue is down 20.3 percent, while attendance is down 21.5 percent.

Anyone see anything on the horizon that might turn this around? Arthur? Scream 4? Hoodwinked 2? Thor? Priest?

One of the dirty little secrets behind the box office revenues of the last few years is that the year was saved by one humongous and somewhat unexpected hit: “Alice in Wonderland,” “Avatar,” “The Dark Knight.” One stumble, and instead of flatlining attendance, you have a calamitous year.

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In order to not make the pro-American films that so offend them, Leftist Hollywood lies and tells us pro-America doesn’t sell at what we’re told is the increasingly important foreign box office. And the hopelessly butt-boy entertainment media is always ready to help spread that lie. We knew that was a lie last year and now this year the single BIGGEST weekend for foreign grosses was captured by the openly pro-American, pro-U.S. Military Battle: Los Angeles.

In just 12 days, Battle: LA’s foreign take is $52 million — and this is a big-budget action film with no stars. However, during its entire run, the stridently anti-American “Green Zone” cleared only $59 million overseas, another big-budget action film, but this time with a big star and director. Wonder how Matt Damon likes them apples?

Oh, and congratulations to the new Narnia film for exceeding $300 million overseas, for a total take thus far of over $400 million worldwide. I guess in a world with a billion Christians Christianity does sell. Who knew?  

THR:

Battle: L.A.’s overseas gross accumulated over a dozen days stands at $51.9 million. The latest weekend gross is the highest of any No. 1 weekend tally recorded this year on the foreign circuit.

Meanwhile, Fox’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader passed the $300 million mark overseas, and Black Swan breached the $175 million barrier.

Maybe Leftist Hollywood’s going to tell us that America sells overseas today because Obama’s president – he’s not Bush and our overseas neighbors like him more because he closed Gitmo, oh wait; because he ended indefinite detentions, oh wait; because without Congressional approval he would never attack a Middle Eastern, oil-producing nation that wasn’t a threat to us, oh wait; because he wouldn’t fight a war of choice, oh wait; because… because… because…

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USA Today:

Hollywood coasted through the final weekend of the year, concluding the second-worst year since 1996.Studios sold 1.35 billion movie tickets in 2010, according to a study by Hollywood.com released Sunday. 

While inflation and pricey 3-D tickets drove revenues above $10 billion for only the second time, the number of tickets sold was the lowest since 1996, when 1.33 billion moviegoers clicked through turnstiles. 

Back then, a movie cost $4.42 a ticket.

That cost leaped from an average of $7.46 a ticket in 2009 to $7.85 last year, the largest single-year spike on record. 

Attendance saw a drop of 5.4% last year compared with 2009, the largest drop since attendance fell 8.1% in 2005, according to Hollywood.com.  (more…)

***clarification update below.

Last week, film writer extraordinaire Christian Toto fell under the delusion that yours truly was interesting enough to interview, and if you’re under the same delusion you can read the two-parter here and here. Among other things, Toto asked me about the clout critics wield and the most common mistakes they make. Here’s a combination of my answers:

Critics aren’t dumb, they know the public doesn’t much care which way their thumbs point. But critics do know that based on their opinions and reviews they can enjoy an influence over what kind of films get made. And that’s not a small amount of power. Culture is upstream from politics, after all.

If you have 95 percent of critics savaging a faithful retelling of the Gospels as anti-Semitic, no matter how successful “The Passion” is, no one’s going to go near that subject matter again. And that’s the goal. Same with anything that comes close to patriotism or conservatism. Such cinematic rarities are frequently labeled “jingoistic, fascist or simple minded.” This is all done consciously and for a desired effect.

You have to understand that when I look at the critical community I only see it for what it really is: a journolista cabal of left wingers deeply engaged in a cultural and ideological war, deeply committed to shaping the powerful messaging of sound and fury that emanate from our pop culture masters.

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According to reports, Warner Brothers sweated over whether or not audiences would come out for “Inception,” fearing the multi-layered brain teaser might be too smart and cerebral due to a plot that couldn’t be explained in the logline of a sentence or two. Many elite critics looked down their nose and tut-tutted with the same thoughts. Well, today we have our answer. “Inception” is a hit, on track for a $55 million weekend, and as of now enjoying a 9.3 rating out of 10 over at IMDB, already placing it in the top 100 reader favorites of all time. Score another one for the great unwashed.

Before reaching the age of 40, director Christopher Nolan’s already become one of our most impressive and important directors. He has many talents to be sure, but what’s set him apart is a stubborn refusal to talk down to the audience. Or should I say, ”his” audience, because it appears as though Nolan’s built enough trust and goodwill to make his name as much of a box-office draw as any star.

“Inception” is not “Pirates of the Caribbean 3,” a bloated, confusing, narrative mess with no idea what to do with itself. We see all kinds of movies like that these days — “comedies” and family films and action flicks that clock in at 140 minutes when 90 would do just fine thank you very much. “Inception” dares to challenge us to catch on, keep up, and hold off on the bathroom break. If there’s a Nolan style, a respect for the intelligence of his audience along with a commercial sensibility is a large part of it.  (more…)

Producers of popular culture tend to evince the belief that the public strongly desires titillation, vulgarity, obscenity, violence, sexual references, and depictions, and other such lurid matter. It is true, of course, that a little spice makes for a tastier meal, but often people go to habañero-laced movies in spite of these things, not because of them.

Too great an indulgence in adolescent exhibitionism can often suppress the audience appeal of a work of culture.

That’s apparently what happened to the new film Kick-Ass this past weekend. It had an unexpectedly weak first three days, finishing second in U.S. movie ticket receipts, behind How to Train Your Dragon, which is in its fourth week of release. The newly released comedy Death at a Funeral finished third, with a $17 million box office take, about what was expected.

Kick-Ass is by no means a a sleazy film, but it’s more than a little sanguinary and includes some very nasty language—spoken by children, no less. (more…)

After a few weeks in theatres and a couple of reviews that have already posted here on Big Hollywood, you don’t need to read yet another write up of Tim Burton’s “Alice In Wonderland.” If there’s anything worth adding, it would be only that from my point of view Tim Burton’s Tim Burtonny-ness has officially worn itself out: The pale protagonist, the dark, askew production design, the Danny Elfman score, the way the camera speeds forward into or away from close ups. The director is aping himself. He’s not the first, won’t be the last, and that’s not the real problem with “Alice.”

The problem is that the story is wafer thin and not at all engaging. The other problems are that none of the relationships work, Alice has no character development (she enters and exits Wonderland an annoying feminist), and other than Helena Bonham Carter’s Red Queen, not a single character is in the least interesting. About halfway the movie that old “Transformers 2″ feeling crept over me. The one that says, “This is like watching someone else play a video game.”

I never make box-office predictions. Sometimes, not even in my head. Over the years I’ve just been so wrong so often that it’s become a waste of brainpower. For instance, after suffering through the overwhelming punishment that was “Transformers 2,” I was sure it would tank in its second week. Who could recommend such an ordeal? Well, just about everyone. It went on to gross over $800 million worldwide.

Has something changed? (more…)

UPDATE: AP confirms: “Green Zone”  opens to a dismal $14.5 million.

The moral of the story? If you’re going to trash America and the troops, use Smurfs.

The Wrap:

Universal’s “Green Zone” became the latest Iraq War-themed movie to fall down the box office rabbit hole, debuting to just $5 million in the U.S. and Canada Friday, according to studio estimates. …

 “Green Zone” could find little traction, getting out to a pace that will give it less than $15 million for its premiere weekend.

That would be even less than the modest pre-release expectations for the $100 million film, which reteams star Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass, who worked on the Universal’s last two “Jason Bourne” franchise installments. The film was put into production during the co-chair term of Marc Shmuger and David Linde. (more…)

Last week, I finally saw “The Stoning of Soraya M.” at a special screening.  The film tells the haunting and disturbing tale of an innocent Iranian woman murdered in cold blood in a tyrannical society. It has been reviewed numerous times here at Big Hollywood, and I will spare you another, other than to say it is a deeply moving and effective drama. 

While the story itself is quite unnerving and will sit with you for days, what is most upsetting about the film is that it did not hit the mainstream in the way that it deserved. This is unfortunate because the story of Soraya should be heard all over the world.  

So often we hear of the injustices that occur in our world today, shake our heads and move on to our daily tasks not wholly understanding what we have just talked about.  This film doesn’t allow us to do that.  Instead, the film places a vivd and graphic picture of the suffering and torture that is occurring in our world at this very moment. This film is not about promoting political ideologies, or pushing religious dogma, but rather is about bringing awareness to a topic that is almost altogether ignored by our society, and does so with the highest of artistic integrity.   (more…)