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Feb. 10-12 Weekend Actuals
1. The Vow (Screen Gems/Sony) NEW [2,958 Theaters] PG13
Friday $15.3M, Saturday $16.7M, Sunday $9.2M, Weekend $41.2M2. Safe House (Universal) NEW [3,119 Theaters] R
Friday $13.6M, Saturday $16.3M, Sunday $10.2M, Weekend $40.2M3. Journey 2: Mysterious Island 3D (Warner Bros) NEW [3,470 Theaters] PG
Friday $6.5M, Saturday $12.6M, Sunday, $8.2M, Weekend $27.3M4. Star Wars Episode I – Phantom Menace 3D (LucasFilm/Fox) NEW [2,655 Theaters] PG
Friday $8.6M, Saturday$8.5M, Sunday $5.4M, Weekend $22.5M5. Chronicle (Fox) Week 2 [2,908 Theater] PG13
Friday $3.6M, Saturday $5.5M, Sunday $3.1M, Weekend $12.1M (-45%), Cume $40M6. The Woman In Black (CBS Films) Week 2 [2,856 Theaters] PG13
Friday $3.4M, Saturday $4.6M, Sunday $2.1M, Weekend $10.1M (-51%), Cume $35.3M7. The Grey (Open Road) Week 3 [2,801 Theaters] R
Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.3M, Sunday $1.4M, Weekend $5M (-46%), Cume $42.8M8. Big Miracle (Working Title/Universal) Week 2 [2,133 Theaters] PG
Friday $939K, Saturday $1.8M, Sunday $1.2M, Weekend $3.9M (-49%), Cume $13.3M9. The Descendants (Fox Searchlight) Week 13 [1,581 Theaters] R
Friday $877K, Saturday $1.6M, Sunday $926K,Weekend $3.4M (-24%), Cume $70.7M10. Underworld: Awakening (Screen Gems/Sony) Week 4 [1,657 Theaters] R
Friday $671K, Saturday $1.1M, Sunday $718K, Weekend $2.5M (-55%), Cume $58.9M
SATURDAY PM, 6TH UPDATE: “Looks like that first-ever 4 openings over $20 mil on 
a non-holiday weekend has happened,” a studio exec emails me tonight. (On the 2008 holiday weekend December 26-28, all four movies opened on Christmas to $20+M openings that three-day weekend: Fox’s Marley And Me $36.4M, Disney’s Bedtime Stories $27.4M, Paramount’s Benjamin Button $26.9M, and MGM/UA’s Valkyrie $21M.) By the way, this is Screen Gems’ biggest opening, topping Dear John at $30.5M. That’s a Channing Tatum 1-2 punch. A record-breaking weekend gets even bigger at $175M overall moviegoing, or +25% from last year. It’s also the biggest non-holiday Fri-Sat-Sun in February of all time, kicking up the red hot 2012 start even more. I for one am relieved not to have to write the word ‘slump’. Full analysis coming.
Here’s the Top Ten:
1. The Vow (Screen Gems/Sony) NEW [2,958 Theaters]
Friday $15.3M, Saturday $16.4M, Weekend $41M
2. Safe House (Universal) NEW [3,119 Theaters]
Friday $13.8M, Saturday $16.5M, Weekend $39M
3. Journey 2: Mysterious Island 3D (Warner Bros) NEW [3,470 Theaters]
Friday $6.5M, Saturday $12.4M, Weekend $27M
4. Star Wars 3D: Phantom Menace (LucasFilm/Fox) NEW [2,655 Theaters]
Friday $8.6M, Saturday$8.7M, Weekend $23M
5. Chronicle (Fox) Week 2 [2,908 Theater]
Friday $3.5M, Saturday $5.5M, Weekend $12M (-46%), Cume $39.8M
6. The Woman In Black (CBS Films) Week 2 [2,856 Theaters]
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $4.7M, Weekend $10.4M (-50%), Cume $35.6M
7. The Grey (Open Road) Week 3 [2,801 Theaters]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $2.3M, Weekend $5M, Cume $42.7M
8. Big Miracle (Working Title/Universal) Week 2 [2,133 Theaters]
Friday $920K, Saturday $1.7M, Weekend $3.7M, Cume $13M
9. The Descendants (Fox Searchlight) Week 13 [1,581 Theaters]
Friday $872K, Saturday $1.6M, Weekend $3.4M, Cume $70.6M
10. Underworld Awakening (Sony) Week 4 [1,657 Theaters]
Friday $666K, Saturday $1.1M, Weekend $2.5M, Cume $58.9M
FRIDAY PM/SATURDAY AM, 5TH UPDATE: After much bigger-than-expected midnights and matinees and now opening night, hang on for a wild record-setting ride. Because Hollywood is confident the North American box office can debut four major movies to $20+M on this non-holiday weekend. For certain, that’s never been done before. There were real surprises Friday: Sony Pictures/Screen Gems’ The Vow was expected to be the certain frontrunner because of strong tracking. It’s even bigger than projected. The PG-13 romantic tearjerker starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams took in $700K in midnight shows and drew a ‘B’ CinemaScore from audiences. After seesawing for the lead, it came on strong Friday evening – aka Date Night — to win #1. Universal’s Safe House also wildly overperformed for an adult-targeted R-rated actioner and snagged an ‘A-’ CinemaScore from audiences. It’s yet another winner for reliable Denzel Washington after adding $542K in midnights and then taking flight for #2. Both films are looking at huge $38M-$39M weekends and a battle through Monday.
LucasFilm’s Star Wars 3D: Episode I – Phantom Menace distributed by Fox jumped out in matinees just as it did for $1.1M midnights. But most of that was pre-sales and its momentum slowed by Friday night to what’s probably a $22M weekend which is still a lot of coin. 
Fanboys wanted to be first in line for this latest version of 1999′s much derided prequel; now can regular moviegoers tolerate Jar Jar Binks again? It all depends on how frontloaded this wild card winds up. It may be beaten by Warner Bros’ PG-rated Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 3D which already opened solid overseas with $50M. With an ‘A-’ CinemaScore and starring Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, it’ll strengthen during weekend family matinees to probably reach $21M in the U.S./Canada.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Yet another up weekend! Relativity lawsuit aside, Hollywood is having a great 2012.
Oh, but I thought online piracy was ruining the industry?
So much for that theory…
Piracy is still a huge issue. Half the films that have opened this year are already listed on VCDQ.com
Funny how the Tech Industry has no issue taking people’s personal information (in the case of Facebook and Path without their knowledge) and using it to make a profit but Entertainment Companies asking people to pay for the movies, music and books they release is met with a fury of mis-informed protest.
Jack, how dare you suggest the Internet Kids pay for anything. It’s their god given right to free stuff.
LOL @ Anonymous. Right, coddlebums: go occupy Hollywood until movie tickets are free like you think your tuition should be.
@NYCS
How about if it were just affordable? Remember when things use to be affordable? Before arbitrary ATM fees and overdraft fees and account management fees and random readjustable interest rates and 20 years to pay off your student loan…
Oh, but ur from Wall Street where the motto is:
“Drain every last penny. PROFIT BEFORE ALL!”
Thanks, pal
That’s not what the protest is about – it’s about lobbied legislating curtailing fundamental constitutional freedoms. The SOPA/PIPA/ACTA protests don’t exist because people validate copyright infringement, the protests exist because people, including Wikipedia and Reddit, agree that the legislation goes too far by limiting fundamental freedoms to provide an over zealous and easily abused copyright enforcement mechanism.
The demand is there, but Hollywood is dragging its knuckles in making a fast legal option for viewers. Make new shows and available around the world for a decent fee right now — people are there to pay it, you just choose not to do anything about it.
There’s no use reasoning with them. Nikki’s box office report gets linked on Drudge, it brings out the crazies. The funny part is these people are small government loving, Hollywood liberal haters, but will defend hollywood’s self professed right to legislate every facet of the internet. Why? because young people hate it.
The entertainment industry can still learn a lot from online game services like Steam. Listen to Gabe Newell – make your products available and affordable and people will buy them.
Ludicrous talent salaries and executive pay is what is killing the industry. The money for actually making movies is suffering because of that. No studio should need to pay $10mill for a lead, that just shows a lack of faith in the actual product.
This is a ludicrous statement coming on a weekend on which Denzel Washington’s name is going to add $50-$80 million more to income on a movie in the U.S. alone. That is why they give fat paydays plus participation to stars.
If stars matter so much why did Denzel’s film come in second… behind a film with Channing Tatum — who isn’t half as famous as Denzel?
Stars don’t matter anymore. People have realized that most of what Hollywood produces is crap and it doesn’t really make a difference who is in it. Just look at the recent career of Jim Carry, Robert De Niro, Nicole Kidman, Al Pacino, Tom Hanks, Orlando Bloom, Julia Roberts, Halle berry, Will Ferrell, etc. When was their last legitimate hit? Johnny Depp’s last film (Rum Diary) tanked. Adam Sandler’s last film (Jack and Jill) tanked. Will Smith’s last film (Seven Pounds) tanked. Russell Crowe’s last film (The Next Three Days) tanked. All of these supposedly box office stars haven’t been doing that well lately. The lucky ones among them can only hope to have a few hits in between many bombs.
A famous star doesn’t carry a film anymore. It’s all about the story. Look at the top grossing films in recent years — Avatar (relatively unknown actors at the start of production), Harry Potter (relatively unknown actors at the start of production), Twilight (relatively unknown actors at the start of production), Lord of the Rings (relatively unknown actors at the start of production), Transformers (relatively unknown actors at the start of production). Even Titanic didn’t have any stars back in 1997. Leo and Kate weren’t famous back then. Then of course you have all of those animated films, and no one goes to see them for the people voicing the characters.
All of these A-list actors are not worth what they are being paid. If they were smart the studio executives would get together and agree that none of them gets more than 1 to 3 million a picture. What are the top actors going to do? Strike? Lmfao! No way. They know how good they have it. They also know they are dispensable. Anyone can act. It’s an easy profession. Little kids get awards for acting. Furthermore, their are plenty of attractive people in the world who can be the next big sex symbols.
@ Kid — all of the films and franchises you cite as examples were huge event films from blockbuster directors and more importantly were massive properties with massive pre-awareness.
SAFE HOUSE is not that movie. There’s nothing new or original in the story, it’s a genre programmer sold ENTIRELY on Denzel Washington’s appeal and he opens it to 40M. So no, you don’t need Denzel to open TRANSFORMERS or TITANIC but good luck opening something like SAFE HOUSE to 40M with a no-name actor.
I think it’s now safe to stop talking about a box office slump! Clearly, when big video games are released, other industries are going to take a hit. The way two big movies on one date must take a piece out of each other.
Our industry is still alive and kicking!
I want more comedies!!!! Where are they!?
Be on the look out for 21 Jump Street.
21 jump street – i just saw the trailer KILL before the 8:10 Chronicle at CitiWalk, as did Project X. young adult comedies, here we come…
I kept saying there is no slump. First of all last year was a horrid year for movies. 2nd the drop has not been that consistent the last 5 years and 2009 was one of the higher of the last 20 years
People and especially media just love getting on a bandwagon even if the evidence is scarce
News flash, there is still a slump when you look at the total number of tickets SOLD. That number has been declining for years.
The haters and “experts” are gonna feel silly when TPM is the number one movie this week at the boxoffice. I suppose there is a good argument to Star Wars fans coming out in force to the midnight shows, because afterall, its the tradition the fans established. However, i see the film breaking expectations all the way through its run, as it movies up to #4 of all time in the USA and easily crosses the 1B mark world wide. AOTC may falter, but the 3D releases for ROTS, ANH and ESB are sure to be big hits.
I hope so. The Phantom Menace isn’t that bad but I think the expectations ruined it for a lot of people. The die hards are pretty zen about it now. Dare I even say Revenge of the Sith is better than Return of the Jedi!
Phantom has bright colours, goofy aliens, fun jokes and Natalie Portman outdoing Gaga before there even was a Gaga. I think everything should have some fun with it.
you’re wrong. it’s still terrible.
TPM is indeed the weakest of the six but wether it’s techinically first, second or third, these are very solid numbers for a film and franchise that has run the register so many time before. Star Wars is simply a commodity that will never cease to have demand.
As silly as you’re gonna feel now that TPM is clearly going to come in third for the weekend?
From another true fan, agreed on all points.
The irony is so many of the people who rail against TPM think the Matrix 2 & 3 were awesome.
No, no they didn’t.
“The haters and “experts” are gonna feel silly when TPM is the number one movie this week at the boxoffice. ‘
Brian, how will you feel when you are wrong.
Because so far, you are wrong.
You’re dead wrong, dork.
Why don’t you just remove the asterisk and the post-script? Since, as you say, it actually has been done before. It’s OK to make a mistake! We still read you.
Also, where were these audiences for “Star Wars”? Somewhere, I guess, but LA moviegoers must be smarter than that. I checked the ArcLight app about 10 minutes to midnight last night, and they had sold MAYBE 90-100 seats for the midnight show at the Dome. Worse, on the way to work at 8:45 this morning, I looked to see how the sales were going for the 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. shows — those Friday matinees definitely can help gauge popularity outside of the misleading Fandango stats (30% of ticket sales? What if they only sold 1,000 tickets in a day?). The 11 a.m. looked to have sold about two or three tickets. The 2 p.m. show? 14. At Sherman Oaks, it wasn’t much better, with the app showing about 8 tickets sold for tonight’s evening screening.
Maybe $19 for a movie we saw and hated in 1999, avoided on Blu Ray, and won’t watch when it airs 36 times a year on SpikeTV, and was awful in 2-D anyway … maybe that’s asking too much.
SOMEONE is going to go see it, obviously. I wouldn’t doubt the $20 million opening. Compare that with the ol’ 2-D revival of “Star Wars” back in 1997 (you know, Greedo shoots first), which had a $35 million opening — 15 years ago. When the average ticket price was $4.59.
Reread the post. She wrote “non-holiday weekend”. The asterick was about a holiday weekend.
“you know, Greedo shoots first”
LOL @ still nerd raging over this.
It’s the way anyone should feel who sees movies as an artistic work instead of a commodity to be mutilated on a whim.
Episode I opened today. There’s your comedy. Wokka wokka.
george motherf@cking lucas. jesus man. aren’t you wealthy enough?
Its funny, I didn’t hear anybody telling Steve Jobs or Bill Gates to stop making computers and electronics because they had too much money.
Star Wars is being re-released for the fans.
I suppose it shouldn’t ever be released in a home video format again either, right? Star Wars made enough money on VHS, so i guess there is no point in the blu rays.
Go ahead, delete my Pro-Lucas posts and leave the anti-lucas replies with cussing and racial slurs.
It’s not that people are mad because he’s wealthy (well, most people aren’t), I think it’s more so that he recycling the same product that has already been out. I’m a STAR WARS fan, but even I would like to see him move onto something else (which is one of the reasons why I was happy to hear about RED TAILS).
You were happy to HEAR about Red tails…but did you go SEE it…didn’t think so..carry on
@ Brian: Comparing George Lucas, who releases the same film over and over and over again, to Steve Jobs, a man who revolutionised the electronic industry with MODERN and BRAND NEW ideas each and every time? Really? I mean, seriously?
If all the directors in Hollywood started taking a leaf out of Lucas’ book, Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas would still be playing every year in a new format, and there would never be a new film film made ever again.
“Star Wars is being re-released for the fans.” LOL….It’s being released to fill George Lucas’ pockets. He ran out of ideas long ago and he will beat this dead horse until the day he dies or the rubes stop paying to see the same movie over and over again.
Anyone have any idea how much the Star Wars 3D conversion cost? In other words, how much does it need to make to be considered a success so that the more popular movies in the series get their 3D re-release?
I think I remember reading somewhere a while ago (I’m not exactly sure, so don’t count this as a fact!) George Lucas saying the conversion cost was bigger than the actual budget of the first movie. Which was like 11-15 million back then (in 1977).
But my guess is that Lucas wasn’t talking about converted dollars budget, right?
If it’s somewhere around $20m, this opening anywhere $25m+ probably does guarantee they’ll do all 6 then. II and III will probably drop in total box office, but there will be a bump when they get to the original.
I don’t think III will drop, that movie was way better, and everyone knows it. The only reason it didn’t beat I was because II was so crappy.
It was better than the abysmal and infantile TPM, but was it any good? (Insert emo Vader “NOOOooo”) The prequels were all about the story of Anakin, and he was an unsympathetic, whiny, character with unspeakable dialogue who turned to the dark side for no rational reason. The Plinkett reviews pretty much eviscerated the prequels, even ROTS.
http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/star-wars/star-wars-episode-iii-revenge-of-the-sith/
The licensing alone paid for the conversion and marketing of Episode I’s release. Any box office and I mean any, is already money in the bank for that franchise!!
Whatever happens Jar Jar Binks will always be more tolerable than Channing Tatum
Oh now that’s just mean.
“Whatever happens Jar Jar Binks will always be more tolerable than Channing Tatum”
Yes. A thousand times yes.
Meesa so happy you said that. Meesa think Channing so pretty.
Who in their right mind would choose Channing over Scott Speedman? Give Scott Speedman more work Hollywood.
Scott speedman should be doing as well as channing right now — I think a couple of bad choices might have hindered him — but he is honestly so talented. I can only hope that this will lead him to bigger and larger roles.
And now they are there
Beat me to it.
Take note, Hollywood! R-RATED films can compete with a PG-13 crowd and come out on top,
More R-Rated films puhleeeeese.
I’m talking to you, Sylvester “PG-13 Expendables II” Stallone!
As long as they have a reasonably consistent box office star like Denzel.
Went to see SAFE HOUSE at the 11:10 showing this morning and theater was over half filled. Most Friday morning movies don’t have this much of an audience.
If this is any indicator, SAFE HOUSE should do well this weekend. And it was a good movie to boot. Word of mouth should help. Denzel and Ryan delivered good performances.
I was gonna say this, is exactly the type of movie that Ryan Reynolds needed to do. Work with someone like Denzel to establish more credibility as far as his acting is concerned. Just when you’re ready to count Mr. Washington out, he surprises you.
denzel hasn’t had a #1 hit in ages. He needed Reynolds (who has had 4 now in a short period of time)
That’s correct, but the thing is, Ryan Reynolds has never opened a movie by himself. Green Lantern was about the brand and the special effects; The Proposition had Sandra Bullock.
Nobody needs Reynolds, much less the ever reliable Denzel – and I say this as a person who actually think he deserves a solo hit.
Get your facts straight, please.
Which of my facts were wrong? I don’t disagree about other factors being big parts of why Ryan has had the #1s BUT Denzel alone never opens at #1. That is a fact. Reliable is a good word. He is good for 20M on an 80M budget, which is reliable or mediocre. Bang for the buck he is one of the worst stars in Hollywood. Most other stars open to about 35-45% of budget, Denzel typically at 25-30%
Good to know that you feel he deserves a #1 hit. Too bad he doesn’t have the box office draw to get one. Neither does Ryan
Uh, in “ages?” If by ages you mean 2010 when he opened BOOK OF ELI all by himself to a 40M 4-day weekend.
No, it wasn’t technically #1 that weekend because of a little flick called AVATAR, but BOOK OF ELI was a bleak R-rated post-apocalyptic pic that didn’t try to sell itself on anything other than Denzel in sunglasses and he still opens it to 40M. Anyone wants to spin that as evidence of anything other than major star power needs a head check.
gz on arguing even though you even admitted you were wrong. He hasn’t had a ¤1 hit in ages. That’s the fact. You can spin it anyway you want, say technically or whatever other word you want, the facts remain the same.
Eli opened great, agree on that. All his other starring roles open weak to the tune of 20-24 on 80-110 budgets. He is simply not a box office draw.
Eh what. Eli didn’t open at number 1, which part of that did you not get? Nice failed attempt at spin there
And it also made less than 2 times its budget so it was a semi-flop even with an unusually good opening for Denzel.
This is a big weekend for Ryan Reynolds and Rachel McAdams, both had trouble opening films recently (Morning Glory, The Change-Up), and even though they definitely had some help this time around (Denzel Washington, Channing Tatum), (co-)opening films to 30M+ without a built-in audience, is remarkably impressive.
Problem with Ryan is that if you will cast him in Lead role in big budget movie then it will fail again. This just proves Denzel’s power.
Don’t kid yourself about Ryan. He’s not as bad as people say, but this movie opened big off Denzels’ drawing power -period. Training Day wasn’t hurt by Ethan Hawke’s involvement, but it wasn’t helped either.
Nice to see Denzel can still put butts in seats.
It is a myth that Denzel puts butts in the seats. So Jaysmack right back at ya, don’t kid yourself about Denzel. Training Day opened to 22, Deja vu to 20, Manchurian Candidate to 20, unstoppable to 22, Taking of Pelham to 23. THAT is Denzel’s typical numbers. He did succeed with Book of Eli though, gotta give him that.
And now you have to give him Safe House. It may not be number one, but $38 million is pretty damn good for a Feb. release.
Denzel’s opnenings for the last 10 years:
Unstoppable $22,688,457
The Book of Eli $32,789,494
The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 $23,373,102
The Great Debaters $6,005,180
American Gangster $43,565,115
Deja Vu $20,574,802
Inside Man $28,954,945
The Manchurian Candidate $20,018,620
Man on Fire $22,751,490
Out of Time $16,185,316
Antwone Fisher $210,013 (limited)
John Q. $20,275,194
Training Day $22,550,788
Remember the Titans $20,905,831
Most of those films were a vehicle for him. Those numbers show consistency throughout over a decade. Not record-shatterers, but consistent. They prove Denzel does putt butts in seats.
No they prove he DOESNT put butts in the seats. His movies cost way too much to regularly open to 20-22M. Any movie that costs 80M with a 20-50M marketing campaign will open to the numbers he puts up even without a star. If he could open to 20M on a 5-20M budget movie I would be impressed.
And I actually like him a lot as an actor, it’s just that profitabilitywise he never justified his top-star salary
“profitability wise Denzel never justified his top-tier salary.”
Right, he’s been consistently “losing” studios money for the past fifteen years and the reason they’re all fighting to be in business with him is they’re not very good at counting. Um, OK.
This is all Denzel bro
Thank you. Tell Ryan Reynolds pr lacks to get the fck out this thread, trying to take credit. You could have cast my grandaddy in the Reynolds role in safe house and it would have made the same. Conversely, if you ad cast Matthew mcconaughey or rob pattinson it probably wold hav made even more. Now mcadams, if you keep casting her in romantic schmaltzy notebook stuff, she could open the pic on her previous good rep for these kinds of films. Score one for her. But Reynolds? Sit. Down.
McAdams has done romantic schmaltzy Notebook stuff post-Notebook and it hasn’t done nearly as well. It’s Valentine’s Day plus there’s not another romantic movie out there right now, and Sony has done a good job of marketing. But expect it to drop off dramatically post V-Day and as word of mouth spreads about how awful it is.
As happy as I am that she has a box office hit, she needs to pick better scripts. Too bad that, apart from MiP, her better script choices (State of Play,Lucky Ones,most likely the next Malick) don’t translate to box office success.
Funny, her last big movie opened against a Denzel movie a couple of years ago.
Channing Tatum never helped anyone. He’s awful, period, and so is The Vow. I’m glad I didn’t pay for that one, but I’d like the 90 min+ of my life back.
Denzel films will almost always pull in at least $20 mil or so opening weekend, no problem. But Safe House is a good movie, better than his last one Unstoppable, and Reynolds is a better partner than Pine. Both factors will help Safe House go above and beyond expectations.
HOLY F***ING A**CRACKERS!!!
I was still unwilling to say the slump was over even if the movies all managed to get to around 20 mil or so each but with this news, im calling it: The Slump Is Over! This is just fantastic news for the boxoffice and the industry and not a moment too soon. Let’s just hope we can keep this hot streak running all year.
Journey 2 gets only $4 million on Friday???? That stinks!! Chalk up another family/action-oriented disappointment.. (de-ja-vu, Cats & Dogs 2, Legend of the Guardians, Spy Kids 4)…
…and The Muppets, Arthur Christmas, Hugo…
Oops, you’re talking about ACTION-oriented family films. But still…
A $24.5 million opening weekend for that film seems pretty solid to me.
Caught an early showing of THE VOW at our local theater this morning. Not an empty seat in the house. This one is going to wildly over perform. Adams and even Tatum deliver terrific performances. Audiences laughed and cried in all the appropriate spots. Word of mouth should be great on this. This is one you won’t want to miss!
Went to see Star Wars this afternoon and the theater wasn’t even a quarter filled. George Lucas is doing this all because of greed now and laughing all the way to the bank. Maybe it’s just me but George needs to have better minds to consult with when it comes to 3D because Ep 1 SUCKED in 3D.
Whatever you say about his films, Lucas has helped and is continuing to help the industry move forward. Remember when theaters had crappy sound? Look up what’s happening with his San Francisco initiatives.
What is happening with his San Francisco initiatives? I don’t mean this as a joke or a snark, this is the first I’ve heard of them. I thought he tried to buy the Coronet a few years ago before Philip Anshutz demolished it but that never came to fruition.
He has three major complexes up there doing digital effects, animation, pre and post production, an educational foundation, and I don’t know what else. I just recently saw some pictures of some of the facilities, and they look brand new.
Whatever happened to THX? Are new theatres still using it, and older theatres not advertising, or is it no longer a thing?
“Ep 1 SUCKED in 3D” It sucked in 2D too
“TRACKING” is becoming more and more hilarious by the week.
Washington is the most overrated snooze in movies. Jesus, what a boring act: glower, then turn sullen, then do the little smile. Back to angry black man. Cripes.
And yet people love it. Denzel can open a dead cat to over $20 million. In his sleep and with both hands tied behind his back. That’s a star.
In the last few months, we’ve seen the resurgence of old faded stars, with a renewed ability to put butts in seats: Denzel, Cruise, we might even put Liam Neeson in this category. Old Hollywood is schooling the young turks. I wonder if this trend will continue? It could be a flash in the pan, or maybe people are nostalgic for seeing genuine stars, in an age which doesn’t seem to produce any new ones. Lots of new “celebrities”, lots of respectable new “actors” going about their business, but it seems like it’s been over a decade since everyone agreed and recognized a new “star” had emerged. Before that we’d get a whole slate of stars emerging at the same time. Now we can’t even muster up one.
Err what schooling the young turks?
The person who is the main draw for Safe House is Reynolds, not Denzel. This makes 3 wide openers in a row that open to 30+ for him. Denzel typically opens in the low 20s
As for new stars in the last decade:
Shia
Hugh Jackman
Keira Knightley
Johnny Depp (was no draw before then)
Bradley Cooper
Vin Diesel
The Rock
Robert Downey Jr.
Will Ferrell
and arguably
Natalie Portman
Sam Worthington (unfortunately)
Reese Witherspoon (was the biggest female star 5-8 years ago b disappeared again though)
Christian Bale
Ryan Reynolds
Channing Tatum (no idea why but many of his movies open)
etc etc. None of these are ofc on a Cruise/Will Smith level but several will have a better commercial career than Denzel and Liam
Ryan Reynolds?!?!!? Your great white hope had 3 HUGE FLOPS last year and is riding Denzel’s coattails! What the fck are you even talking about? Are you drunk?! Your list of “stars” contains mostly non-stars and people who became stars over a decade ago. Again, are you drunk?!
Reynolds’ three movies last year were GREEN LANTERN, which did $116 million–disappointing, but hardly a huge flop–THE CHANGE-UP, an awful movie for lots of reasons besides Reynolds, who was at least in there trying, and FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN, an indie which was barely released.
Sooooo tired and bored of checking out these box office reports and EVERY SINGLE WEEK reading posts by haters (and rival agents?) about how this or that person is “not a star.”
I stopped reading at calling GREEN LANTERN anything but a HUGE FLOP. Told me right away that fool didn’t know what the hell they were talking about.
And next weekend there’s still Ghost Rider 2 and This Means War — with a strong super bowl, strong pre-valentine’s day weekend and next weekend, this could be one of the strongest February’s in history! As a shareholder of Cineplex in Canada I cannot be more happier — looking at shows, 90% of shows I saw for Vow and Safe House are sold out!
If THE PHANTOM MENACE can open to $25M+, then STAR WARS and EMPIRE… can count on north of $50M+ (even with Greedo shooting first).
Channing Tatum is the new brad Pitt.
You made me vomit.
Me too! Brad Pitt is gross.
That’s enough Jen. Get back on the treadmill, write out another check to your rent a date, and shut up.
Uh, riiiiiiiiiight….kinda like Ryan Reynolds is the new Daniel day Lewis.
Brad Pitt is in The Vow?
I’m a woman and the vow looks too sappy for me. Why can’t we have a GOOD Valentine’s day movie that is appealing to me AND my boyfriend? V-day doesn’t have to be bad female sap! Come on Hollywood…funny and charming (NOT SAP) that appeals to both genders. Then we’ll go to the movies v-day weekend again. Fun and romantic is not dragging him to a movie he doesn’t want to see.
I’m waiting.
Amen, sister, amen. Romantic doesn’t have to be sappy, and meatheads who can’t act like Tatum do not make good romantic leads. McAdams and audiences deserve better.
Jealous much?
OMG..I wanna marry this post!!! So true. I am so sick of lovesick female centric romances. A nice romcom for V day weekend would be
wonderful~
Hold tight, Sparks movie is coming up next month and I hear its a real winner (rolls eyes)
You should see action movies, fantasy and horror movies, because you know there’s not a lot of those. (rolls eyes)
“I’m a woman”.
Sure.
There’s actually not a lot of romantic movies lately. At least not as much as action movies, thrillers, horrors, fantasy movies and all these sort of films.
Its strange that you don’t find anything appealing but singled out The Vow. So you and your boyfriend thinks all the OTHER MOVIES out now are unwatchable? If you think valentines movies don’t have to be like The Vow then maybe you should try those.
I myself am watching The Vow tomorrow with my boyfriend. And I know we’ll have a great time.