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NEW YEAR’S WEEKEND: ‘True Grit’ Gives #1 ‘Little Fockers’ A Run For The Money; Many Holiday Pics Grossing Big Overseas

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday January 1, 2011 @ 12:02pm PSTTags: Alice in Wonderland, Box Office, Gulliver's Travels, Little Fockers, Movies, Tangled, Toy Story 3, Tron: Legacy 3D, True Grit, Yogi Bear 3D







SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM UPDATE, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  Overall, the movie industry domestic box ended the year at $10.3 billion, down from $10.6B in 2009. As I previously reported, Warner Bros will three-peat (a record) in winning the domestic market share for the 3rd year in a row with $1.885 billion, followed by Paramount, then Fox. ”A lack of strong commercial product at Christmas was the reason that the 2010 box office could not close strong,” one top studio exec emails me. However, the final movie industry international box office cume will definitely be a record. The final figure isn’t available yet, but the international numbers look like a tie between Warner Bros and Fox with $2.290 billion, so that gives Warner Bros the crown for worldwide market share for 2010 with $4.804 billion. That’s the 2nd year in a row. As I’ve already reported, Disney’s international total for 2010 was its biggest ever with $2.3 billion. And domestic cume will end the year its second biggest year ever with $1.49 billion. Thank its three 3D titles, Alice In Wonderland and Toy Story 3 and Tangled. Here are official numbers from the studios for New Year’s weekend box office with daily and cume estimates. More bad news: overall grosses this weekend look to be $158M, which is -28% down from last year. Here are the Top 10:

1. Little Fockers (Universal) Week 2 [3,554 Theaters]
Friday $7.7M, Saturday $11.4M, Weekend $26.3M (-15%), Cume $103.1M

Universal hasn’t seen one of its pictures pass $100M, much less in just 12 days’ time, since its only blockbuster Despicable Me last summer. What a lousy year for the studio still feeling the after-effects of a 2009 change in management at Universal Pictures. Comcast is buying a fixer-upper.

2. True Grit (Paramount) Week 2 [3,083 Theaters]
Friday $8.1, Saturday $9.8M, Weekend $24.5M (-4%), Cume $86.7M

Wow, an adult movie starts New Year’s weekend as #1 Friday when that Little Fockers was supposed to be the big holiday pic with mass audience appeal. OK, so it didn’t stay there on Saturday. But not only is this the Coen Brothers’ highest grossing movie ever, but True Grit now easily will pass the domestic box office of their Best Picture Oscar winner No Country For Old Men which topped out at $74M. This will help the pic’s awards chances and make it a shoo-in for Best Picture 10 inclusion since Academy voters don’t like to look out of step with public taste.

3. Tron: Legacy 3D (Disney) Week 2 [3,365 Theaters]
Friday $5M, Saturday $7.8M, Weekend $18.3M (-4%), Cume $130.9M

Remember how I told you that Tron: Legacy 3D would be making almost as much overseas as domestically? In its 3rd week in release, its New Year’s international weekend was $23.7M (down only 26% from last weekend) in release in 40 territories representing 70% of that market. So with an international cume now of $110M, the pic’s global cume is a big $240.9M. But that’s still not enough yet to cover the cost of making it ($170M) or marketing it worldwide ($120M).

4. Yogi Bear 3D (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,515 Theaters]
Friday $4M, Saturday $4.8M, Weekend $13M (+48%), Cume $66.1M

5. Chronicles Of Narnia 3D (Fox) Week 3 [2,948 Theaters]
Friday $3.4M, Saturday $4.1M, Weekend $10.5M, Cume $87.1M

Fox reports that Narnia 3 made $21.4M from 68 markets this weekend, bringing the international cume to $210M and the global cume to just shy of $300M. With only one new market opening (Argentina), the pic dropped less than 8% overall from Xmas weekend, with numerous markets up significantly from last weekend.

6. Tangled 3D (Disney) Week 5 [2,582 Theaters]
Friday $3.3M, Saturday $3.5M, Weekend $10M, Cume $168M

Currently in release in 23 territories representing approximately 45% of the international market, its overseas cume is now $146.5M for a new global cume of $314.5M.

7. The Fighter (Relativity/Paramount) Week 3 [2,534 Theaters]
Friday $2.6M, Saturday $4.4M, Weekend $10M, Cume $46.3M

8. Gulliver’s Travels 3D (Fox) Week 1 [3,089 Theaters]
Friday $2.9M, Saturday $3.7M, Weekend $9.1M, Cume $27.2M

This Fox pic has been hammered here in North America, bottoming out a year that the studio’s moguls would like to forget. But I noted last weekend that, since Jonathan Swift’s classic book has great cultural meaning internationally, Fox is hoping the title translates to broad awareness and does well overseas. To that point, Gulliver’s Travels earned $26M from only a handful of territories going into this New Year’s weekend, with 11 of the top 15 markets yet to release. Then the pic opened in 19 new and mostly smaller markets, bringing in $24M from now 33 markets. Which means the film has earned $47M in its first 10 days of release overseas, with only 5 of the top 15 markets releasing. The UK, home to the book, generated a sizable $10.9M since Boxing Day for the #1 market share position and should have a very strong bank holiday Monday before most of the kids return to school. With no other PG family friendly films opening until January 28th (Disney’s Tangled), Gulliver’s Travels should have a great run through January in the UK. Six new territories open next week, including Russia, and now insiders are putting on their rose-colored glasses and predicting the movie could get to $175M abroard even though comedy doesn’t travel too well too often. Then again, everybody can understand those Star Wars and Transformers gags.

9. Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Week 5 [1,553 Theaters]
Friday $1.9M, Saturday $3.8M, Weekend $8.4M, Cume $47.3M

10. The King’s Speech (Weinstein Co) Week 3 [700 Theaters]
Friday $2.5M, Saturday $2.9M, Weekend $7.6M, Cume $22.8M
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Specialty Box Office

Blue Valentine (The Weinstein Co) NEW [4 Theaters]
Weekend $180K, Cume $277K

Another Year (Sony Pictures Classics) NEW [6 Theaters]
Weekend $120K, Cume $173K

Country Strong (Sony) Week 2 [2 Theaters]
Weekend $43K, Cume $121K

The Illusionist (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 2 [3 Theaters]
Weekend $50K, Cume $127K

Somewhere (Foxus Features) Week 2 [8 Theaters]
Weekend $142K, Cume $437K

Rabbit Hole (Lionsgate) Week 3 [34 Theaters]
Weekend $136K, Cume $429K

Casino Jack (IDP/ATO) Week 3 [8 Theaters]
Weekend $81K, Cume $234K

I Love You, Phillip Morris (Roadside) Week 5 [68 Theaters]
Weekend $200K, Cume $1.1M

Made In Dagenham  (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7 [54 Theaters]
Weekend $98K, Cume $495K

127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Week 9 [103 Theaters]
Weekend $274K, Cume $10.4M

My Dog Tulip (New Yorker) Week 18 [2 Theaters]
Weekend $2K, Cume $148K

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Wednesday: Holiday Box Office Grosses

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday December 30, 2010 @ 8:43am PSTTags: Blue Valentine, Box Office, Derek Cianfrance, Michelle Williams, Movies, Ryan Gosling, The Little Fockers, Tron: Legacy 3D, True Grit, Yogi Bear 3D



THURSDAY AM: Here are unofficial numbers from my sources for Wednesday’s box office as the holidays continue. The Weinstein Co’s Blue Valentine opened in 4 theaters; the Derek Cianfrance film starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams logged an estimated opening … Read More »

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Tuesday: Holiday Box Office Update

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Wednesday December 29, 2010 @ 9:35am PSTTags: Box Office, Box Office Christmas Weekend, Tangled 3D, The Little Fockers, Tron: Legacy 3D, True Grit, Yogi Bear 3D

WEDNESDAY AM: Here are unofficial numbers from my sources for Tuesday’s box office as the holidays continue. The Weinstein Co’s Blue Valentine (4 theaters), and Sony Pictures Classics’ Another Year (6 theaters) both open today. Christmas weekend actuals are here:

1. The Little Fockers (Universal) Week 1 [3,536 Theaters]
Monday $8.4M, Tuesday … Read More »

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Monday: Better Box Office Despite Blizzards

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday December 28, 2010 @ 9:01am PSTTags: Box Office, Box Office Christmas Weekend, Movies, The Little Fockers, Tron: Legacy 3D, True Grit, Yogi Bear 3D

MONDAY PM/TUESDAY AM UPDATE: Here are unofficial numbers from my sources for Monday’s box office as the holidays continue. Christmas weekend actuals are here:

1. The Little Fockers (Universal) [3,536 Theaters]
Monday $8.3M, Cume $53.4M
2. True Grit (Paramount) … Read More »

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Blizzards Slow Xmas Weekend Box Office: FEW HOLIDAY GIFTS: ‘Little Fockers’ Soft; ‘True Grit’ Surprise #2; ‘Tron 3D’ Only #3; ‘Gulliver’s Travels 3D’ Bombs As Expected

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday December 27, 2010 @ 11:10am PSTTags: Box Office, Box Office Christmas Weekend, Coen Brothers True Grit, Little Fockers, Movies, True Grit, Yogi Bear 3D

MONDAY UPDATE: Actuals are in for the Christmas weekend, and the East Coast blizzards took their toll on box office. All the numbers were down 5% to 10% from studio projections, and Sunday’s moviegoing in the Northeast fell about 40%:

Top 10 Actuals
1. The Little Fockers (Universal) [3,536 Theaters]
Weekend $30.8M, Cume $45M
2. True Grit (Paramount) [3,047 Theaters]
Weekend $24.8M, Cume $36M
3. Tron: Legacy 3D (Disney) [3,451 Theaters]
Weekend $19.1M, Cume $87.3M
4. Chronicles Of Narnia 3D (Fox) [3,350 Theaters]
Weekend $9.4M, Cume $62.5M
5. Yogi Bear 3D (Warner Bros) [3,515 Theaters]
Weekend $7.8M, Cume $35.8M
6. The Fighter (Relativity/Paramount) [2,511 Theaters]
Weekend $7.6M, Cume $26.6M
7. Tangled 3D (Disney) [2,582 Theaters]
Weekend $6.4M, Cume $143.6M
8. Gulliver’s Travels 3D (Fox) [2,546 Theaters]
2-Day Weekend $6.3M, Cume $6.3M
9. Black Swan ( Fox Searchlight) [1,466 Theaters]
Weekend $6.2M, Cume $28.6M
10. The Tourist (GK Films/Sony) [2,756 Theaters]
Weekend $5.4M, Cume $40.8M Read More »

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OSCAR: Joel And Ethan Coen Q&A On ‘True Grit’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday December 22, 2010 @ 3:21pm PSTTags: 83rd Academy Awards, Academy Awards, Coen Brothers True Grit, Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Joel and Ethan Coen, Movies, No Country For Old Men, Oscar Best Picture Category, Oscar Contenders, Oscars, The Coen Brothers, True Grit
Mike Fleming

Considering they’ve rubbed out characters memorably by feeding them through a wood chipper (Fargo) or with a pneumatic cattle slaughtering gun (No Country For Old Men), setting Joel and Ethan Coen loose with a revenge story in the Old West seems a recipe for mayhem. In fact, True Grit turns out to be the most mainstream audience-friendly film they have made in years. Sticking close to the 42-year Charles Portis novel and not even watching the first movie that won John Wayne his Oscar in 1969, the Coens have made a PG-13 adventure film that gives the starring role to teenager Hailee Steinfeld, and surrounds her with such seasoned actors as Jeff Bridges as salty U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn, Matt Damon as the blowhard Texas Ranger LaBeouf, and Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper as the ornery outlaws they are chasing. The film opens today, and could add intrigue to the Oscar race.

DEADLINE: How did you find your way to a 40 year old book you’d have been hard pressed to find in a bookstore?
ETHAN COEN: We both knew the book, and we’d both read it, amongst other Charles Portis novels. A few years ago I read it out loud to my son and that was the point we began talking about it, thinking this might be interesting to do.
JOEL COEN: Fully aware there of course there had been this previous movie. But we hadn’t seen that since it came out, and didn’t really remember it very well.

DEADLINE: The book focuses more squarely than the film did on young Mattie, the bright, headstrong teenager determined to see the man who shot her father swing from a rope. What potential did you see in that that overcame the inevitable comparison to a film considered somewhat iconic?
ETHAN COEN: That is what we liked about the book, that it was told in the first person narrative told by the 14-year old character, Mattie Ross. It’s just a very funny book. It has three really great, really vivid characters. Her, Rooster Cogburn and LaBeouf, the Texas Ranger. And it’s a simple pursuit revenge story. It all just seemed promising material for a movie. Which might sound funny because, as you say, there was this iconic movie. Which we were aware of but which we didn’t remember very well.
JOEL COEN: We didn’t revisit it, either.
ETHAN COEN: And in the course of remaking the movie, we didn’t watch the first one. We weren’t much worried about it, though. You say it’s iconic, and that’s very true. But on the other hand, I must say it’s probably iconic for people our age and older. And we’re not the moviegoing demographic anymore. I don’t think younger people have much of a connection to John Wayne, at all. So it didn’t feel like we were trespassing and we didn’t worry about it. We just had this enthusiasm for the novel.

DEADLINE: I should qualify iconic. It’s called that because John Wayne won an Oscar, but many feel that statue was a reward for a career and not that role.
JOEL COEN: That’s what I’ve read about it too, that it was a kind of valedictory thing.
ETHAN COEN: You’ve been around a long time, we love you, here’s an award.

DEADLINE: How did adapting a book like True Grit compare with adapting Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men?
ETHAN COEN: Not dissimilar, actually. In the Cormac book that we did, we had this similar issue. Read More »

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Berlinale Adds ‘Coriolanus’ To Competition

By TIM ADLER in London | Wednesday December 15, 2010 @ 6:10am PSTTags: 61st Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, Coriolanus, Gerard Butler, Movies, True Grit, Vanessa Redgrave

The 61st Berlin International Film Festival has announced the rest of the Competition line-up in addition to opening film True Grit (which is screening out of competition). They include Ralph Fiennes’ directorial debut Coriolanus, co-starring Gerard Butler and Vanessa Redgrave, and Wim Wenders’ 3D dance film Pina. Read More »

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Golden Globes Film: Hammond Analyzes; ‘King’s Speech’, ‘Social Network’, Fighter’

By PETE HAMMOND | Tuesday December 14, 2010 @ 9:26am PSTTags: 127 Hours, 2011 Golden Globe Awards, 2011 Golden Globe Nominations, Black Swan, Golden Globe Awards, Inception, The Fighter, The King's Speech, The Social Network, True Grit
Pete Hammond

With the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, it’s always a bit of give and take. Since overall they try and please everyone so they giveth to Paramount for The Fighter but taketh away for True Grit, they shower nods on Warner Bros for Inception but give hardly anything for The Town, they place Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan in Picture and Directing categories over 127 Hours and so on. The one producer who got everything he wanted was probably Harvey Weinstein, now back in the awards game bigtime this year with The King’s Speech, acting noms for Blue Valentine, and a foreign film nomination for The Concert. He’s also one of the backers of The Fighter. Harvey is having a good morning.

It was a very big morning at the Golden Globes for critical darlings The King’s Speech (7 nominations), The Social Network and The Fighter (6 nominations apiece), all of which are cleaning up this week with awards and accolades. This closeness in the voting should set up a fierce race in the Best Motion Picture - Drama category which also includes Warner Bros’ Inception and Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan (4 nominations each). All five films won nods for their directors (David Fincher, David O. Russell, Tom Hooper,  Christopher Nolan, and Darren Aronofsky) making this anyone’s ballgame at this point.

What Sony Pictures might not have expected were 3 nominations for the GK Films’ critically drubbed The Tourist which Sony is distributing, including Best Picture – Comedy or Musical (what’s up with that category?) and nods in the acting categories for stars Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, who is nominated against himself for Disney’s Alice In Wonderland. Champagne corks should be popping in Culver City this morning for this unexpected bounty; it means Sony will be able to splash “Best Picture Nominee” ads for the expensive movie which underperformed at the domestic box office in its opening weekend with a disappointing $16.5 million grosses from North America not to mention only a 7% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes. (Only two good notices out of 29 reviews counted from top critics, with a measly 20% fresh overall.) This has to be one of the worst reviewed movies ever to get this kind of attention. Read More »

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Hammond Analyzes B’cast Critics Awards

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday December 13, 2010 @ 7:41am PSTTags: 16th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards, 83rd Academy Awards, Academy Awards, BFCA Critics Awards Nominations, Black Swan, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Critics Awards, Inception, Oscars, Pete Hammond Oscar Coverage, The King's Speech, The Social Network, True Grit
Pete Hammond

With a record 12 nominations including Best Picture , Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan led the list of nominations for the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s 16th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards announced early Today. The Weinstein Company’s The King’s Speech and Paramount’s … Read More »

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Broadcast Film Critics Favor ‘Black Swan,’ ‘True Grit,’ ‘The King’s Speech,’ ‘Inception’ And ‘The Social Network’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday December 13, 2010 @ 5:26am PSTTags: 16th Annual Critics Choice Movie Awards, BFCA Critics Awards Nominations, Black Swan, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Critics Choice Movie Awards, Inception, Movies, The King's Speech, The Social Network, True Grit

(Los Angeles, CA – December 13, 2010) – The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced the nominees for the 16th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. The winners will be announced at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards ceremony on

… Read More »

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‘True Grit’ To Open Berlin Fest

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday December 8, 2010 @ 8:33am PSTTags: Coen Brothers True Grit, Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, Movies, The Coen Brothers, True Grit, True Grit Remake
Mike Fleming

Joel and Ethan Coen’s True Grit, the most prominent Oscar contender that didn’t get a festival launch, has  one now. The film is scheduled for an international premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 10. The picture, which stars Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and newcomer Hailee … Read More »

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OSCAR: Coen Bros ‘True Grit’ Enters Race

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday December 1, 2010 @ 1:04pm PSTTags: 83rd Academy Awards, Academy Awards, Deadline Hollywood Pete Hammond, Jeff Bridges, Joel and Ethan Coen, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, Movies, Oscar Best Picture Category, Oscar Buzz, Oscars, Pete Hammond Oscar Coverage, True Grit
Pete Hammond

UPDATE: True Grit doesn’t open until December 22nd but started screenings this week just under the wire of critics groups and SAG nominating committee deadlines. It’s the last unseen film of this awards season thought to have a serious … Read More »

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Paramount Moves Up ‘True Grit’ Release Date By 3 Days

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday November 2, 2010 @ 1:46pm PDTTags: Coen Brothers True Grit, Movies, Paramount Pictures, The Coen Brothers, Trailers, True Grit, True Grit Remake, True Grit Trailer, Video
Mike Fleming

Paramount Pictures has pushed up the wide release of The Coen brothers-directed True Grit to December 22. It had been scheduled to open on Christmas. What difference does three days make? Well, it can help build audience awareness going into … Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘True Grit’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday September 27, 2010 @ 2:55pm PDTTags: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, Movies, Trailers, True Grit, True Grit Remake, True Grit Trailer, Video
Mike Fleming

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The Son Also Rises: David Ellison Funding 1/2 Of Paramount’s ‘Mission Impossible 4′, ‘True Grit’, & Jack Ryan

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday August 16, 2010 @ 5:14pm PDTTags: David Ellison, Larry Ellison, Mission: Impossible 4, Skydance Productions, True Grit

Let’s agree on this: Hollywood remains a haven for nepotism. It also opens its arms to anyone with money. So Oracle founder/CEO Larry Ellison’s 27-year-old son is welcomed as long as he’s coming up with $350M to co-fund movies. Funny how … Read More »

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