Author: Billy Tatum (Page 3 of 8)

“Elysium” edges “The Millers” for top spot

August 11, 2013 / Billy Tatum

Audiences decided to spread the wealth this weekend, but Matt Damon and Jodie Foster came out on top.

“Elysium” starring Matt Damon captured the top of a crowded box office this week with a slightly underwhelming take of $30.5 million. Analysts had expected something in the neighborhood of $35 million from director Neill Blomkamp whose 2009 surprise hit “District 9” struck box office gold. It wasn’t all bad news for the sci-fi film starring Damon as a terminally ill rebel who has to invade a private space community in the 21st century. “Elysium” brought in $10.9 million overseas with Russia leading the charge with $6.8 million. There are still plenty of foreign markets left, so Elysium’s story is far from over.

Opening in second place was dysfunctional road trip comedy “Meet the Millers” starring Jason Sudeikis as a pot dealer who recruits a family to sneak a cannibis filled RV into the US from Mexico. Co-starring Jennifer Aniston, the laugher brought in $26.6 million for the weekend and a hefty $38 million for it’s Wednesday-Sunday opening.

Despite originally being meant as a direct to video release, “Planes” earned an encouraging $22.5 milion in its debut for Disney. It wasn’t a Pixar release, but the “Cars” spinoff starring Dane Cook helped tighten the box office race and is easily on the way to making back its $50 million budget.

Another family film with a less than stellar thriller was “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters.” The myth and magic crowd only brought the sequel $14.6 million over the weekend, but its global total was boosted by a $9.8 injection from overseas. Rounding out the top 5 was “2 Guns”s starring Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg which cashed in $11.1 million in its second week.

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“The Wolverine” Slices its Way Past Competition

July 28, 2013 / Billy Tatum

Fox let the claws come out this weekend.

The X-Men spin-off “The Wolverine” brought in $55 million for the weekend, easily cutting its rivals down to size. The superhero film starring Hugh Jackman paled into comparison; however, to the 2009 “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” which brought in $85 million in its debut. In fact, “The Wolverine” may end up being the weakest opening of the X-Men films. The 2000 “X-Men” opened to only $54.4 million. Nevertheless, Fox was happy just to have a legit hit on his hands following rivals recent big budget flops such as “White House Down” and “The Lone Ranger” and the recent “R.I.P.D.” Everyone’s favorite mutton-chopped mutant was definitely super in foreign markets where it pulled in $86 million in box office receipts.

Last week’s top film “The Conjuring” fell 47%, but managed to hold on to second place bringing in $22.1 million for the week. Universal’s “Despicable Me 2” proved that bad guys can make big bucks with $16 million in gross receipts to capture the #3 spot for he week. So far, the animated sequel has brought in $306 million.

Another animated film is doing far less, but still bringing in the kids is Dreamworks “Turbo”. It’s managed to eke out $13.3 million in it’s second week. Adam Sandler’s “Grown Ups 2” rounds out the top 5 with $11.5 million.

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“The Conjuring” Scares to #1 past “R.I.P.D”, “Turbo”

July 21, 2013 / Billy Tatum

This week, moviegoers were scared, but not as scared as film execs.

The low budget horror film “The Conjuring” scared the heck out of the competition this week pulling in $41.5 million at the box office as the dreaded F-word (flop) started making it’s way into more frequent use. The film directed by James Wan (“Saw”, “Insidious”) easily blew away the competition in a week that had surprise low for some big name debuts.

Besides “The Conjuring,” the newbies had to bow down to Gru and “Despicable Me 2”. The animated blockbuster pulled in another $25.1 million to secure the #2 spot this week and bring its domestic total to $276.2 million.

The Ryan Reynolds-Jeff Bridges supernatural cop film “R.I.P.D” found itself being brought up on charges as it’s shaping to be the flop of the week, if not the entire summer. The film grossed a criminal $12.8 million for 7th place. Of course, the film cost at least $135 million to make, so don’t expect a sequel or for a retrial. At least the guys from “After Earth” and the “The Lone Ranger” have someone to laugh at.

One that won’t be laughing so much is “Pacific Rim”. It brought in $15.9 million for the week to bring it to $68.2 million in it’s second week. It cost $200 million and seems to be going downhill fast.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen an animated film disappoint. This one did so with the help of a nitrous-powered snail with dreams of grandeur. “Turbo” came in with $21.5 million to open it’s run, but like R.I.P.D, it also cost in the neighborhood of $130 million. Dreamworks rarely produces a dude, so this is a rarity, but don’t expect them to want to see another snail anytime soon.

“Red” was a cute movie about burned spies that surprised moviegoers in 2010. It was too good for a sequel, which is why made one. It’s also why it didn’t do as well as the original bringing in $18.5 million in its debut. Middle-aged spies and a hot septuagenarian only gets you so far. Perhaps the next mystery they can solve is why open this movie in mid-summer when the original opened in a much safer October window.

Rounding out the top 10…

8. The Heat….$9.3 million
9. World War Z…$5.2 million
10. Monsters University…$5 million

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“Despicable Me 2” Continues Box Office Domination

July 14, 2013 / Billy Tatum

Apparently minions can take on grown ups and giant robots.

The animated sequel “Despicable Me 2” starring the voices of Steve Carell and Kristen Wiig proved that supervillains have staying power as they reigned over the box office that had two heavy hitters debuting. “Despicable Me 2” took the top spot with $44.8 million in the U.S., bringing it’s domestic gross to $229.2 million. It’s already grossed a despicable $243.2 million overseas.

The sci-fi film “Pacific Rim” was expected to be atop the box office, but came in a distant third opening at $38.3 million. The robot-versus-monster actioner will cause execs at Legendary and Warner Bros. to pull out their hair since the film cost $190 million to make. The film had a lot of fanboy buzz, but not enough to count, apparently.

The big surprise was “Grown Ups 2” which opened this week at second place with $42.5 million. Adam Sandler needed a hit and it turns out that all he needed was to work with his friends to get it. It outgrossed (literally and figuratively) expectations and gave Sandler a chance to laugh at critics who slammed the film giving it a 9% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Rounding out the top 5 was Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy in “The Heat.” The comedy came in fourth with $14 million. The Johnny Depp led “The Lone Ranger” continued it’s slide with $11.1 million.

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“Despicable Me 2” rides over “The Lone Ranger” to rule the box office

July 7, 2013 / Billy Tatum

If there was a silver bullet shot this weekend, it was by the Minions.

Universal’s animated sequel “Despicable Me 2” ruled the box office this week, grossing $82.5 million for the weekend and a whopping $142.1 million for the biggest five-day holiday gross ever. Tonto (Johnny Depp) and his faithful sidekick (Armie Hammer) brought in $29.4 million to come in second, but it only earned it flop status for a film rumored to have cost over $225 million to make.

Coming in at third was the Melissa McCarthy/Sandra Bullock cop comedy “The Heat” with $25 million. Rounding out the top 5 was the animated prequel “Monster’s University with $19.6 million and the Brad Pitt zombie thriller “World War Z” with 18.2 million.

Kevin Hart’s stand-up comedy is having film execs laughing all the way to the bank. Despite being on a mere 876 theaters (compared to 3904 for “The Lone Ranger), the film managed to bring in $17.3 million. With a loyal fanbase and a strong social media presence, Lionsgate may have something of a mini-franchise on it’s hands.

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