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Box Office Breakdown: Disney/Pixar Flying High with Up
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
The word “Pixar” always seems to generate smiles, and that’s exactly what Up did for Disney.
Over the weekend, the Cannes Film Festival opener generated $68.1 million, over $40 million more than its nearest competitor. The movie - which was also offered in 3D - also bested last year’s Wall-E (by $5 million) and had Pixar’s 3rd-best debut. (The Incredibles opened to $70.5 million in 2004; Finding Nemo grossed $70.3 million in 2003.)
Friday’s other new wide release, Drag Me to Hell, scared up only $15.8 million for a 4th place finish. Although it originally looked as if the horror film would surpass Terminator Salvation, the final numbers were $8 million below Sunday’s projections.
Another noteworthy mention: Star Trek officially crossed the $200 million mark after only four weeks in release. The Paramount feature is now the first movie of the year to reach that achievement.
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| Variety
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Box Office Breakdown: Ben Stiller Defeats Christian Bale
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Religious, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Was it a result of Christian Bale’s rant? The presence of that other science fiction movie? Or the lack of family-friendly fare?
When the dust from the weekend settled, a surprising entry emerged as the winner. Despite the country’s current love for action sequels/prequels, a much calmer feature - Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - was the choice for entertainment this holiday. Ben Stiller’s comedy follow-up raked in $70 million giving the actor his best live-action debut ever. Smithsonian also became the best PG-rated opener for Memorial Day.
Museum‘s victory meant a disappointing 2nd place finish for Terminator Salvation. Although the saga’s fourth installment earned more than T3‘s debut, its $51.9 million gross ($65.3 million since Thursday) put it nowhere near the estimated $200 million budget. The numbers did give director McG, though, his best premiere since 2000’s Charlie’s Angels.
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Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Narrow Victory for Angels & Demons
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Drama, Family, Romance, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Angels & Demons was never as popular as The Da Vinci Code...and its big screen numbers reflected that.
Despite huge success with the overseas box office this weekend (the movie had the 10th best international open ever), the latest Ron Howard/Tom Hanks collaboration barely struck gold domestically. Over the last three days, Angels grossed $46.2 million—just enough for first place. Unfortunately, the Dan Brown adaptation only earned $3 million more than last week’s champ and over $30 million less than the previous installment.
Star Trek, in the meantime, continued on its warp speed pace. The second place finisher pulled in another $43 million and put itself within $3 million of Wolverine‘s overall total. (The Hugh Jackman film, this week’s #3, had a 7-day head start on the sci fi adventure.)
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Read More | Variety
Sony X-Series Walkman
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Music, Portable Audio / Video, Wireless / WiFi,
Sony’s new X-series Walkman is about to make its debut. The player has a 3-inch OLED screen for video and an FM tuner for audio. The PMP can handle almost any music format and comes with Slacker streaming and noise-canceling headphones. WiFi enabled, expect up to 33 hours of tunes or 9 hours of video playback. Available mid June, you can preorder now. Choose the 16GB model for $299.99 or the 32GB model for $399.99.
Read More | Sony Style
Box Office Breakdown: Star Trek Beams Its Way to #1
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros, Action, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Music, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Lists, New Releases,
Based on these numbers, a Star Trek sequel would seem like the logical response.
After a five-month delay, the highly-anticipated J.J. Abrams feature finally unspooled to an eager crowd. And though it didn’t outearn last weekend’s office champ, the science fiction adventure appeared to be in a galaxy far, far away.
Since it’s debut late Thursday night, Trek grossed approximately $79.2 million. (That’s nearly $3 million more than was estimated a day ago, but still $6 million less than Wolverine‘s premiere.) Around $8 million of Paramount’s haul came from IMAX ticket sales alone. (That figure bests the $6.2 million raked in by The Dark Knight last year.)
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Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Wolverine Claws Its Way to the Top
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Adventure, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Music, Romance, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
Despite a growing list of hurdles (leaked footage, swine flu, mediocre reviews), X-Men Origins: Wolverine proved it was a force to be reckoned with last weekend. Although it failed to surpass X-Men: The Last Stand (that 2006 entry debuted at $122.9 million), the Fox feature trounced the competition with an $85.1 million open. In other words, Wolverine earned over $20 million more than the other Top Ten entries…combined.
Sitting far back in second place was Ghost of Girlfriends Past, Matthew McConaughey’s attempt to bring a little muscle into the box office. The romantic comedy, costarring Jennifer Garner, grossed $15.4 million on the weekend before Mother’s Day. (That’s less than a million more than what Made of Honor pulled in at this same time last year.) Meanwhile, last Friday’s only other wide release, Battle for Terra, raked in a disappointing $1.1 million for a 12th place finish.
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Read More | Variety
Sony BRAVIA Z5500 HDTV
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: HDTV,
Sony has a new BRAVIA to lust after, the Z5500. It features their Motionflow 200HZ with 200fps and Image Blur Reduction technology for smooth motion and sharper images. It also has been designed to go with their HT-CT500 Home Theater system. Add to that Engine 3 that analyzes and optimizes video signals from any HD or SD source and AppliCast that can connect to online services via Ethernet without having to switch on your PC.
Read More | Sony
Star Trek Premiere Latest Victim of Swine Flu
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Paramount, Sony, Adaptation, Drama, Science Fiction, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Upcoming Releases,
Now that residents of Mexico are sticking as close to home as possible, movie studios are having to readjust their international calendars.
Earlier this week, 20th Century Fox chose to indefinitely postpone the premiere of Wolverine. Now Paramount is following suit with the debut of Star Trek. That sci-fi prequel had been scheduled to open on May 8.
Unless the swine flu situation plateaus soon, other blockbusters could be added to the casualty list. Sony is currently monitoring events for the May 15 release of Angels & Demons. Meanwhile, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian - another Fox release - could also be pushed from its May 22 slot.
Read More | Variety
Box Office Breakdown: Audiences Drawn to Obsessed
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Disney, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Bros, Action, Animation, Documentary, Drama, Family, Musicals, Sequels, Comedy, Thrillers, Box Office, Lists,
It was a battle between two Dreamgirls stars at the box office this weekend.
After back-to-back roles in music-related dramas, Beyonce Knowles proved she could deliver without having to sing a note. Obsessed, a thriller produced for approximately $20 million, pulled in nearly $29 million for a 1st place finish. The film, also featuring two NBC stars (The Office’s Idris Elba and Heroes’ Ali Larter), more than doubled last week’s champ, 17 Again.
Meanwhile, an Academy Award winner and an Iron Man joined forces for a surprising fourth place finish. The Soloist, costarring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr., didn’t even cross the $10 million mark. Although it was once considered as a pre-Oscars release, the film’s debut grossed less than last week’s nominee-filled entry, State of Play.
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Read More | Variety
Sony Walkman E-Series MP3 Players
Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Music, Portable Audio / Video,
Sony has updated their USB Walkman E-Series, the 2GB NW-E042 and 4GB NW-043, and added an 8GB NW-E044. With a 3-line color LCD display, it also has FM tuner, SonicStage V music management software and support MP3, ATRAC, AAC, WAV and WMA. Unfortunately they don’t support DRM music, however each comes with a Stype-UP Panel, an interchangeable skin. The Walkmen come with their own USB cable for charging and sync and EX earbuds with 13.5mm drivers. Look for them in mid-May in Japan with prices ranging from ~$81.00 to ~$132.00.
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