Weak ‘Funny People’ Box Office Shows What Audiences Really Want

Weighed down by a depressing premise made all too apparent by the theatrical trailer and advance publicity which made the film’s title too obviously sarcastic, Jud Apatow’s Funny People opened relatively poorly at the U.S. box office, taking in only $23.4 million. That was good enough to finish at the top of the heap for the weekend, but was the lowest number one opener since Yes Man last year.

Funny People showed much less audience draw than the great majority of Apatow’s and actor Adam Sandler’s previous efforts, and its failure to connect big with audiences cannot be blamed on any recent disappointments. Apatow’s Knocked Up and Sandler’s Bedtime Stories were both excellent films that did very well at the box office.

The magnitude of the disappointment for the Funny People writer-director and its star was summed up well by Reuters: (more…)

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Tags: adam sandler, box office, Funny People, judd apatow, seth rogen
Posted Aug 8th 2009 at 5:56 pm in Culture, Entertainment | 20052271 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/stkarnick/2009/08/08/weak-funny-people-box-office-shows-what-audiences-really-want/Weak+%27Funny+People%27+Box+Office+Shows+What+Audiences+Really+Want2009-08-09+00%3A56%3A39S.T.+Karnick

‘Funny People’ Review

Never in a million years did I think Judd Apatow was capable of making something as sharp and penetrating as “Funny People.” Never. Since the director first started dabbling in film, I’ve been a harsh critic of everything he’s touched, labeling it as over-rated, overlong, self-indulgent and as forgettable as last week’s “National Enquirer.” Well, past is the past. “Funny People” is proof that this was a director working towards something, earning his chops and feeling his way to bigger things. And it was worth the wait. “Funny People” is kinda brilliant — an insightful, touching and intelligent dramedy…  James L. Brooks at his best but with a whole lot of dick jokes.

Adam Sandler is George Simmons, a comedian/movie star as wealthy and popular as Sandler, but having turned his back on his family and cheated on his one true love, Laura (Leslie Mann), he’s now left with only “show-biz friends,” which means he has no friends at all. In-between making films like “Merman” (”Splash” with a guy mermaid) and private-jetting to corporate standup gigs that pay $300k, this desolate 40 year-old haunts a Malibu mansion and looks to fill his emptiness with willing groupies and everything money can buy. (more…)

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Tags: adam sandler, Eric Bana, Funny People, judd apatow, Leslie Mann
Posted Jul 31st 2009 at 8:54 pm in Featured Story, Reviews | 19585848 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/07/31/funny-people-review/%27Funny+People%27+Review2009-08-01+03%3A54%3A17John+Nolte

‘Funny People’ Opens Everywhere Tomorrow

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Tags: adam sandler, Funny People, judd apatow, seth rogen, trailer
Posted Jul 30th 2009 at 3:05 pm in Entertainment, Video | 19509020 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bighollywood/2009/07/30/funny-people-opens-everywhere-tomorrow/%27Funny+People%27+Opens+Everywhere+Tomorrow2009-07-30+22%3A05%3A38Big+Hollywood

Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’ Goes Where No ‘Trek’ Has Gone Before! $33M in 29 Hours & Almost $77M Possible by Monday!

Rebooting Bond with Daniel Craig was Bold. Christopher Nolan’s Reinvention of Batman was genius. But some thought it was overly-ambitious, even audacious, to attempt to restart the Star Trek franchise. It has begun to pay off already for Paramount Pictures, and there will dividends for years to come.

A shiny new Enterprise is luring in a new generation of STAR TREK fans

J.J. Abrams is officially the Lazarus of movie directors as his all-new Star Trek has gone “Boldly Gone Where No Star Trek Movie has Gone Before.” With a cast of relative unknowns, the 42-year-old has resurrected a franchise that had been killed by insular “nerdyness” and timid imagination. The Gene Rodenberry creation didn’t so much bomb as it died slowly over a period of years. First, the 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis starring the Next Generation cast disappointed with a meager $43.3M domestic. Then, the final TV series Enterprise, which starred Scott Bakula, was not embraced by core fans or broader audiences and was canceled after four seasons, ending May 13, 2005.

(more…)

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Tags: 17 again, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner, alastair fothergill
Posted May 8th 2009 at 10:40 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1306069 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/08/star-trek-estimates/Abrams%27+%27Star+Trek%27+Goes+Where+No+%27Trek%27+Has+Gone+Before%21+%2433M+in+29+Hours+%26amp%3B+Almost+%2477M+Possible+by+Monday%212009-05-09+05%3A40%3A03Steve+Mason

Critics Love the All-New ‘Star Trek’ & Thursday Night Previews Deliver a Possible $6.5M-$7.5M!

Several sources at competing studios have told me that J.J. Abrams’ all-new reboot of Star Trek (Paramount), which debuted last night at 7pm at many of its 3,849 locations, may have grossed as much as $6.5M-$7.5M. Studio honchos are “locked down tight” about actual numbers, but that is in the same ballpark as Transformers (Dreamworks/Paramount), which grabbed $8.8M in its previews starting at 8pm on Monday, July 2 during the summer of 2007. (What portion of ticket sales fall into Thursday and what percentage fall into Friday will likely be an open question even after final numbers are in.)

William Shatner (left) with Captain Kirk 2.0 Chris Pine

Keep in mind that Paramount never changed its Star Trek marketing to promote the 7pm Thursday start, so the opening night audience was likely heavy on Trekkers or Trekkies (not sure which term is “politically correct” anymore). So this was a “soft” opening and what amounts to a night of word-of-mouth screenings. Keep in mind that Transformers premiered during the summer when kids are more available while Star Trek has made its premiere during the school year.

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Tags: 17 again, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner, alastair fothergill
Posted May 8th 2009 at 11:00 am in Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1299863 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/08/early-star-trek/Critics+Love+the+All-New+%27Star+Trek%27+%26amp%3B+Thursday+Night+Previews+Deliver+a+Possible+%246.5M-%247.5M%212009-05-08+18%3A00%3A48Steve+Mason

J.J. Abrams’ Reboot of Classic ‘Star Trek’ Could Reach $65M for 4 Days! Easily Biggest ‘Trek’ Opening Ever & $200M+ Domestic is Possible!

The all-new J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek (Paramount) will win the second weekend of the Hollywood Summer Box Office season by at least a couple of light years over Fox’s fast-fading X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but some of the astronomical numbers I’ve seen floating around in the blogosphere are very over-heated. Make no mistake, this movie will open extraordinarily well, but it’s not going to play out as a typical front-loaded blockbuster. Moviegoers need time to shake off the disappointment of the final TV series Enterprise (starring Scott Bakula and canceled after four seasons) and the disastrous 2002 final film Star Trek: Nemesis ($43.3M domestic). It will take time for a new generation of fans to discover the magic of Gene Rodenberry’s vision of the future through Abrams’ magical lens.

As of Wednesday night, Star Trek is cruising with 94% Fresh (positive) reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, and critics are slinging some seriously glowing hyperbole.

(more…)

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Tags: "Wrath of Khan", 17 again, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner
Posted May 6th 2009 at 6:05 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 129382One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/06/finaltracking58/J.J.+Abrams%27+Reboot+of+Classic+%27Star+Trek%27+Could+Reach+%2465M+for+4+Days%21+Easily+Biggest+%27Trek%27+Opening+Ever+%26amp%3B+%24200M%2B+Domestic+is+Possible%21+2009-05-07+01%3A05%3A05Steve+Mason

‘Wolverine’ claws to $34.75M Friday & Could Scratch Out $86.8M Opening! All-Time 4th-Best Performer for First-Weekend-of-May Summer Kickoff!

In my Final Weekend Tracking column posted on Wednesday, I predicted that X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) would reach $92M on opening weekend, despite soft reviews (now only 38% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). My first fearless forecast of the 2009 summer blockbuster season appears to be close to dead-on (missed by only 5%).

Star-turned-producer Hugh Jackman has scored his second-biggest opening ever and, easily, his biggest as a solo star. Wolverine has mauled the competition with a massive $34.75M opening day (including $5M or so in Thursday midnight sales). That could translate to a 3-day of $86.8M, getting Hollywood’s most lucrative season off to a spectacular start.

(more…)

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee
Posted May 2nd 2009 at 5:29 am in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1244022 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/05/02/estimates51/%27Wolverine%27+claws+to+%2434.75M+Friday+%26amp%3B+Could+Scratch+Out+%2486.8M+Opening%21+All-Time+4th-Best+Performer+for+First-Weekend-of-May+Summer+Kickoff%212009-05-02+12%3A29%3A38Steve+Mason

The Summer Blockbuster Season is Set to Start Huge! Spin-Off ‘Wolverine’ could Claw to $92M Opening Weekend!

The great thing about a sequel is that it has a built-in audience. The problem with sequels is that, as the numbers after the title go up, so does the production budget. Very hard to know for sure, but sources have told me that the production budget for X-Men was in the $75M range. X-2: X-Men United may have had a budget of about $110M, while the cost of X-Men: The Last Stand was, in all likelihood, as much as $210M. Why doesn’t it make sense to just churn out X-Men 4?

Look at these numbers.

(more…)

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Tags: 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee, academy award winner
Posted Apr 29th 2009 at 10:10 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 121806One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/29/finaltracking51/The+Summer+Blockbuster+Season+is+Set+to+Start+Huge%21+Spin-Off+%27Wolverine%27+could+Claw+to+%2492M+Opening+Weekend%212009-04-30+05%3A10%3A03Steve+Mason

America Loves a Girl-on-Girl Smackdown! Beyonce’s ‘Obsessed’ is the Biggest Last-Weekend-of-April Opener Ever with $11M Friday & a Possible $27.5M 3-Day!

Recording superstar Beyonce Knowles is building a bankable resume for herself as an actress with Sony Screen Gems’ Obsessed as the latest title burnishing her resume. Co-starring the excellent Idris Elba (The Wire), this low budget, PG-13 genre pic has scored a far-above-expectations $11M on Friday, and it will likely reach $27.5M for the weekend. That is the best opening yet for the former Destiny’s Child lead vocalist as an above-the-title star, topping 2003’s The Fighting Temptations and Cadillac Records from late 2008.

Beyonce does battle with the sexy Ali Larter (HEROES) in OBSESSED

OPENINGS FOR BEYONCE MOVIES
1. Austin Powers: Goldmember – $70.3M opening
2. Obsessed – $27.5M opening (projected)
3. Pink Panther (2006) – $20.2M opening
4. Dreamgirls – $14.1M wide break (after a platform start)
5. The Fighting Temptations – $11.7M opening
6. Cadillac Records – $3.4M opening

(more…)

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee
Posted Apr 24th 2009 at 11:11 pm in Entertainment, Political Humor, Steve Mason's Box Office | 116742No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/24/estimates423/America+Loves+a+Girl-on-Girl+Smackdown%21+Beyonce%27s+%27Obsessed%27+is+the+Biggest+Last-Weekend-of-April+Opener+Ever+with+%2411M+Friday+%26amp%3B+a+Possible+%2427.5M+3-Day%212009-04-25+06%3A11%3A11Steve+Mason

Hollywood’s Worst Release Date: Beyonce’s ‘Obsessed’ Could Edge Disney’s Baby Polar Bears in ‘Earth!’

The final weekend of April has never been Hollywood’s favorite release date. In fact, it is generally considered to be among the worst release dates on the calendar. Whatever opens on the final weekend of April gets absolutely crushed by the official start of the summer blockbuster season on the first weekend of May.

The 4 new wide releases and 1 major specialty release set to debut this weekend will face an onslaught of mega-hits over the next month. How can Obsessed (Sony), Earth (Disney), The Soloist, (Dreamworks/Paramount), Fighting (Rogue) and The Informers (Senator) possibly find an audience with X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Fox) and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (Warner Bros) arriving next weekend followed by, in successive weeks, Star Trek (Paramount), Angels & Demons (Sony), the combo of Night at the Museum 2 (Fox) and Terminator: Salvation (Fox) and Disney/Pixar’s Up?

(more…)

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 17 again, 2-d, 3-d, academy award nominee
Posted Apr 23rd 2009 at 5:47 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 1145145 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/23/finaltracking4-23/Hollywood%27s+Worst+Release+Date%3A+Beyonce%27s+%27Obsessed%27+Could+Edge+Disney%27s+Baby+Polar+Bears+in+%27Earth%21%272009-04-24+00%3A47%3A04Steve+Mason

Review: Observe and Report

Seth Rogen’s appeal baffles me, at least as a leading man in romantic comedies, albeit raunchy ones. There’s nothing warm about the guy and no matter how sincere he tries to be an undercurrent of sullen hostility never leaves his voice. Rogen may look like a cute little teddy bear, but there’s nothing cuddly about him. There’s talent there to be sure, and he’s watchable enough, but connecting and rooting for his characters never comes easy, if at all.

No matter how crude or wild things got, Adam Sandler, Chevy Chase, John Candy, John Belushi, and Bill Murray have all managed to capture our sympathy in a single scene. Rogen lacks that gift, which makes him the perfect choice to play a deluded, territorial mall cop in “Observe and Report.”

Ronnie (Rogen) wants to be a hero and leader of men, and he’ll be damned if he’ll let anything get in the way, including his own limitations and station in life. Overweight, not terribly bright and suffering from psychological problems serious enough to require medication, Ronnie’s positioned himself as the Supercop of the Forest Ridge Mall, and with a team of three other mall cops made up of overweight twins and the sycophant Dennis (Michael Pena - finally breaking out of the sensitive-Hispanic typecasting ghetto), skateboarders, suspicious Middle Easterners and anyone foolish enough to make Ronnie’s day had best beware this Hall Monitor from Hell. (more…)

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Tags: "Observe and Report", adam sandler, anna faris, michael pena, review
Posted Apr 11th 2009 at 9:59 am in Reviews | 103790One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/04/11/review-observe-and-report/Review%3A+Observe+and+Report2009-04-11+16%3A59%3A32John+Nolte

Hollywood’s Biggest Easter Weekend Ever By As Much As 16%!: ‘Hannah Montana’ Down 40% on Saturday, But Still Becomes All-Time #2 Easter Weekend Opening With $34M!

She has a hit TV show on the Disney Channel, a pair of albums that have debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, a concert tour with 69 sold-out arenas in North America, and now a second #1 movie in as many years. Miley Cyrus is the biggest teen star in the world.

With most of Hollywood (including myself) expecting an opening in the mid-$20M’s for Hannah Montana The Movie (Disney), Miley has surprised “grown-ups” with her box office clout once again. The picture opened with a heavily front-loaded $17.39M on Good Friday then dropped 40% on Saturday to an estimated $10.34M, and it will reach an estimated $34M by the end of Easter weekend, making it the all-time #2 opening for the bunny holiday weekend. My Friday night early 3-day projection was for $33.6M, but then I raised my number to $39M on Saturday. As it turns out, I should have stuck with my first pass. These young skewing movies are tricky to project, and the Easter Weekend, where Saturday traditionally drops from Friday, makes it even more complicated.

(more…)

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 2 fast 2 furious, 3-d, adventureland, akira toriyama
Posted Apr 10th 2009 at 10:58 pm in Entertainment, Political Humor, Steve Mason's Box Office | 103286No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/10/easterestimates/Hollywood%27s+Biggest+Easter+Weekend+Ever+By+As+Much+As+16%25%21%3A+%27Hannah+Montana%27+Down+40%25+on+Saturday%2C+But+Still+Becomes+All-Time+%232+Easter+Weekend+Opening+With+%2434M%21+2009-04-11+05%3A58%3A08Steve+Mason

Lots of Cash in Hollywood Easter Baskets: ‘Hannah Montana’ and ‘Observe & Report’ Could Lift the Weekend to an All-time Best!

Easter weekend 2009 will almost certainly be an all-time record-breaker for Hollywood with a pair of new releases that could be among the top six bunny holiday openings of all time. Although neither Hannah Montana: The Movie (Disney) or the new R-rated comedy Observe & Report (Warner Bros) will challenge 2006’s all-time Easter weekend opening champion Scary Movie 4 ($40.2M), both new offerings look very solid in pre-release industry tracking, and they will be joined by some strong holdovers.

Universal’s Fast & Furious is likely to cross the finish line first for a second consecutive weekend, following up last weekend’s almost $71M with about $30M, which would mark a 58% drop. Still, it must be considered a triumph that the re-teaming of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez may have $120M in US sales after just 10 days. That will mean that Fast & Furious will have almost doubled the domestic gross of The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift (the last film in the franchise), and this souped-up thrill ride could be headed for $160M US.

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Tags: "Fast & Furious", 2 fast 2 furious, 3-d, adventureland, akira toriyama
Posted Apr 9th 2009 at 9:31 am in Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 101426One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/09/easter-tracking/Lots+of+Cash+in+Hollywood+Easter+Baskets%3A+%27Hannah+Montana%27+and+%27Observe+%26amp%3B+Report%27+Could+Lift+the+Weekend+to+an+All-time+Best%21+2009-04-09+16%3A31%3A58Steve+Mason

FAST & FURIOUS Opens With a Scalding $30M Friday & Could Speed to $70M by Monday, Surpassing CARS as the All-time Biggest Opening for an Auto Racing Movie!

With 400,000 Americans showing up every year at the Indy 500 and 200,000 more buying tickets to see NASCAR’s premiere event The Daytona 500, you would think that the most creative minds in Hollywood would be looking for a way to cash in with more movies about car racing and car culture. NASCAR has an estimated 75 million fans, and it is second only to the National Football League in terms of television ratings, so where are all the good racing movies?

Jordana Brewster is reunited with Vin, Paul and Michelle in FAST & FURIOUS

Universal seems to have answered that question by getting its successful street racing franchise back into the fast lane this weekend with Fast & Furious. The movie, which reunites Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez for the first time since 2001’s original surprise blockbuster, has exploded to a high octane $30.11M or so on Friday and that could mean a $70M opening weekend. That would make it the all-time #1 opening for a car racing movie.

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Tags: 12 rounds, 2 fast 2 furious, 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take
Posted Apr 3rd 2009 at 10:32 pm in Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 971669 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/03/estimates43/FAST+%26amp%3B+FURIOUS+Opens+With+a+Scalding+%2430M+Friday+%26amp%3B+Could+Speed+to+%2470M+by+Monday%2C+Surpassing+CARS+as+the+All-time+Biggest+Opening+for+an+Auto+Racing+Movie%212009-04-04+05%3A32%3A48Steve+Mason

FAST & FURIOUS may “race” to $48M opening weekend with MONSTERS VS. ALIENS holding strong at $35M!

Universal’s Fast & Furious will be “burning rubber” this weekend at America’s multiplexes as the original street-racing cast reunites after some sub-par chapters of the franchise.

The original The Fast & The Furious hit theatres in 2001 under the direction of Rob Cohen who had shown a knack for action with Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story ($35M US cume) and Sly Stallone’s Daylight ($33M US cume) and a savvy feel for bigger-than-life characters in his Golden Globe winning biopic The Rat Pack (which, if you’ve never seen you should put in your Netflix cue and prepare to be amazed by Don Cheadle’s turn as Sammy Davis, Jr.). In tow, he had a 34-year-old Vin Diesel in only his second starring role following the surprise low budget hit Pitch Black ($39M cume) and 28-year-old Paul Walker, who had just starred in Cohen’s forgettable The Skulls. Also in the cast was Jordana Brewster (As the World Turns) and a pre-Lost Michelle Rodriguez, whose most notable credit was a gritty little indie called Girlfight.

Vin Diesel returns for FAST & FURIOUS

The result was box office jet fuel. Seemingly out of nowhere, The Fast & The Furious scored a scalding $40M opening weekend and reached $144.5M domestic and over $200M worldwide. But Diesel, whose signature line in the original movie is “I live my life one quarter of a mile at a time,” didn’t like the script for the sequel (or they wouldn’t pay his asking price depending on who you ask). That led to the 2003 sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious directed by Academy Award nominee John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood) starring Walker along with rapper Tyrese Gibson and Eva Mendes. Despite Diesel’s conspicuous absence, 2 Fast still delivered $127M in the US. (more…)

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Tags: 12 rounds, 2 fast 2 furious, 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take
Posted Apr 2nd 2009 at 7:24 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 961308 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/04/02/tracking43/FAST+%26amp%3B+FURIOUS+may+%22race%22+to+%2448M+opening+weekend+with+MONSTERS+VS.+ALIENS+holding+strong+at+%2435M%212009-04-03+02%3A24%3A21Steve+Mason

Monsters vs. Aliens: We Loved It!

I took my five-year-old son (Ed) and seven-year-old daughter (Ahmi) to see “Monsters vs. Aliens.” We got our Elvis Costello 3D glasses and wore them at all the wrong times during the television commercials that come on before the movie trailers. My kids didn’t know but I was mostly interested in their response to the 3D imagery. That’s right, I went to “Monsters vs. Aliens” primarily for human experimentation. They reached out to grab objects that appeared to float in front of them, but the greatest of all expressions came to their faces every time I looked over at them: smiles.

Reese Witherspoon voices Ginormica, a 49-foot-tall woman with an awesome figure. More to love. But her fiance is a sleazy weatherman from Modesto, as if there’s any other kind. Ginormica is the straight person in the adventure; she carries the hero’s burden of bringing any kind of depth or drama to a 90 minute farce. Her comedy relief side-kicks are fish man, cockroach man, a big Mothra maggot and the show stealing gelatinous B.O.B. voiced by Seth Rogen. (more…)

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Tags: 3D, conrad vernon, dreamworks, Elvis Costello, Godzilla
Posted Mar 30th 2009 at 6:03 am in Entertainment, Reviews | 91350No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/03/30/monsters-vs-aliens-we-loved-it/Monsters+vs.+Aliens%3A+We+Loved+It%212009-03-30+13%3A03%3A00Doug+TenNapel

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS with almost $12K per 3-D screen! The future of 3-D is looking UP!

Jeffrey Katzenberg and Dreamworks Animation have definitively proven that Digital 3-D is a blockbuster format. Not only has Monsters vs. Aliens seized a monstrous $58.2M in opening weekend ticket sales, Real-D (the technology provider) and Dreamworks have revealed that $25M or so of that gross was generated specifically from 3-D and IMAX 3-D. Fox is reporting that fully 43% of the total take was from the estimated 2,218 Digital 3-D screens.

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS tore up the box office this weekend - especially in 3-D

That means that the Per Screen Average for the movie in 3-D was about $11,700, while the 4,800 or so traditional 35MM 2-D engagements had a Per Theatre of just an estimated $4,780. Exhibitors who figured out a way to overcome the credit crunch and pay the estimated $100,000 to convert a traditional theatre into one that can show Digital 3-D made a killing this weekend.

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Tags: 2-d, 3-d, amanda peet, amy poehler, arch oboler
Posted Mar 29th 2009 at 9:04 pm in Entertainment, Steve Mason's Box Office | 920863 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/29/monsters-vs-aliens-with-almost-12k-per-3-d-screen-the-future-of-3-d-is-looking-up/MONSTERS+VS.+ALIENS+with+almost+%2412K+per+3-D+screen%21+The+future+of+3-D+is+looking+UP%212009-03-30+04%3A04%3A22Steve+Mason

3-D returns in a MONSTER way! MONSTERS VS. ALIENS with $16.7M Friday & a possible $58M opening weekend!

It is an excellent weekend for Dreamworks Animation. Although the credit crunch prevented financing that would allow exhibitors to undertake the digital conversion of more of its theatres, Monsters vs. Aliens is benefiting spectacularly from the 2,075 or so standard Digital 3-D engagements and the added 143 Digital IMAX runs. The audaciously ambitious animated send-up of 50’s B-movies has used the “bleeding edge” of technology to milk an estimated $16.7M in opening day ticket sales. The which could translate to $58M or so for the 3-day weekend.

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS towers over previous 3-D releases from Hollywood

If that number holds, and, if anything, they could drift higher as family audiences flood America’s multiplexes, Monsters vs. Aliens will be the all-time third-best opening in the month of March.

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Tags: 12 rounds, 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take, 300
Posted Mar 27th 2009 at 11:02 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 907822 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/27/estimates3-27/3-D+returns+in+a+MONSTER+way%21+MONSTERS+VS.+ALIENS+with+%2416.7M+Friday+%26amp%3B+a+possible+%2458M+opening+weekend%212009-03-28+06%3A02%3A58Steve+Mason

Review: Monsters vs. Aliens

DreamWorks Animation has created a niche all their own; great looking, high-concept computer animated films with about as much thematic depth as an installment of “Josey and the Pussycats.” It’s as if Pixar created DreamWorks Animation just to make themselves look good.  

“Monsters vs. Aliens” has an awfully great title going for it – who doesn’t want to see that? – but is merely adequate in the execution. Considering the potential of the idea and that there are five credited screenwriters, you would expect a memorable sequence or two and a few clever characters, but lacking in every story element is an inspired imagination.

Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is about to get married when she’s hit by meteor. The good news is that she’s not hurt, the bad news is that she grows to be about fifty stories tall and is promptly captured by the military and imprisoned in Area 51, where all “monsters” are locked away to keep the public from panicking. The warden is the oh-so cleverly named General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland), and he explains to Susan, code name Ginormica, that she will never see the light of day again.

Yes, another film aimed at your kids that paints the military as oppressive, robotic and reactionary. (more…)

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Tags: #D, Incredibles, monsters vs. aliens, Ratatouille, Reese Witherspoon
Posted Mar 27th 2009 at 5:02 pm in Reviews | 90586One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/03/27/review-monsters-vs-aliens/Review%3A+Monsters+vs.+Aliens2009-03-28+00%3A02%3A46John+Nolte

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS is the widest non-summer release ever with over 7,000 screens! Katzenberg’s 3-D bet could pay off with $60M opening!

Jeffrey Katzenberg has been the film industry’s strongest proponent of 3-D over the past few years, and this weekend his advocacy will start paying dividends for Dreamworks Amimation. Monsters Vs. Aliens will debut with 4,104 playdates. That makes it the 13th-widest release in modern film history, and it becomes the biggest non-summer debut of all-time.

Jeffrey Katzenberg - The Pied Piper for Digital 3-D

ALL-TIME WIDEST NON-SUMMER RELEASES
- with summer defined as May 1 – August 30 -
1. 3/27/09 – Monsters Vs. Aliens – 4,104 playdates
2. 11/07/08 – Madagascar 2 – 4,056 playdates
3. 10/01/04 – Shark Tale – 4,016
4. 3/31/06 – Ice Age: The Meltdown – 3,964
5. 3/14/08 – Dr. Suess’ Horton Hears A Who – 3,954

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Tags: 12 rounds, 2-d, 3-d, 3-day take, alan moore
Posted Mar 26th 2009 at 9:30 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Steve Mason's Box Office | 89914No Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/03/26/finaltracking-3/MONSTERS+VS.+ALIENS+is+the+widest+non-summer+release+ever+with+over+7%2C000+screens%21+Katzenberg%27s+3-D+bet+could+pay+off+with+%2460M+opening%212009-03-27+04%3A30%3A07Steve+Mason

Oscar ratings up 11% and up over 14% with the coveted 18-49 demo!

Good news for the Motion Picture Academy. Despite the fact that the five Best Picture nominees had combined to gross less than $300M domestic by showtime, Oscar ratings were up considerably from last year’s all-time low. Early numbers show that the ABC telecast scored a 27 share, surging by 11% overall and by over 14% with TV’s “money demo” 18-49s. Compare that to last year when the show was down 25% in households from 2007 and down 30% among 18-49s.

The credit should go to producers Lawrence Mark and Bill Condon, although I can see why the streamlined show is a bit of a Rorschach test for viewers. If you love movies, and especially actors, last night’s show was respectful and enlightening. If you are inclined to dislike awards shows and actors, then the telecast would be pretty dreary.

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Tags: acadamy awards, anne hathaway, ben kindsley, ben stiller, bill condon
Posted Feb 23rd 2009 at 10:55 am in Entertainment, Media Criticism, News | 6465022 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/smason/2009/02/23/oscar-ratings/Oscar+ratings+up+11%25+and+up+over+14%25+with+the+coveted+18-49+demo%212009-02-23+18%3A55%3A10Steve+Mason