Archive for the ‘News Items’ Category

‘Breaking Dawn – Part 2’ tops US box office for second week

Sunday, November 25th, 2012

Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 has taken the number one spot in the US box office for the second week in a row.

The fifth and final instalment of The Twilight Saga took in $43m, bringing its total gross to $226.9m.

Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, Breaking Dawn – Part 2 was the eighth-biggest opening weekend of all time when it earned $141.3m in its first weekend.

However, New Moon still holds the record for the highest opening weekend for the Twilight series with $142.8m.

Daniel Craig’s third James Bond film Skyfall and Steven Spielberg’s biopic Lincoln held their previous spots from last weekend’s chart.

Skyfall was in second place with $36m on its third weekend, bringing its total gross to $221.7m.

Lincoln followed Skyfall in third place with $25m, also on its third weekend. Its total gross is $62.1m.

Three new releases made the top ten – Rise of the Guardians, Life of Pi and Red Dawn.

Rise of the Guardians debuted in fourth place with $25m, while Ang Lee’s latest project Life of Pi took in $22m for the number five spot.

Chris Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson’s action film Red Dawn (2012) came in seventh place with $14.6m.

Rounding out the top ten are Wreck-It Ralph, Flight, Silver Linings Playbook and Argo.

The top ten in full (studio estimates):
1.
(1) Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 – $43 million
2. (2) Skyfall – $36 million
3. (3) Lincoln – $25 million
4. (-) Rise of the Guardians – $24 million
5. (-) Life of Pi – $22 million
6. (4) Wreck-It Ralph – $16.7 million
7. (-) Red Dawn – $14.6 million
8. (5) Flight – $8.6 million
9. (17) Silver Linings Playbook – $4.6 million
10. (6) Argo – $3.8 million

‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2’ tops US box office

Sunday, November 18th, 2012

Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 has earned the number one spot at the US box office.

The fifth and final movie in The Twilight Saga, starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, earned $141.3m on its opening weekend.

This makes it the eighth-biggest opening weekend of all time, and places it ahead of Breaking Dawn – Part 1, which earned $138.1m last year, but behind New Moon, which opened with $142.8m in 2009.

Breaking Dawn – Part 2 pushed last weekend’s big hit Skyfall to the the number two spot – the James Bond film earned $41.5m, bringing its overall domestic gross to $161.3m.

Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln climbed from 15 to third place upon a wider release, with $21m in tickets sold.

The animated film Wreck-It-Ralph and Denzel Washington drama Flight hold on to fourth and fifth place with $18.3m and $8.6m respectively.

Rounding out the top ten are Argo, Taken 2, Pitch Perfect, Here Comes the Boom and Cloud Atlas.

The top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (-) Breaking Dawn – Part 2 – $141.3 million
2. (1) Skyfall – $33 million
3. (15) Lincoln – $15.1 million
4. (2) Wreck-It-Ralph – $6.7 million
5. (3) Flight – $4 million
6. (4) Argo – $2.55 million
7. (5) Taken 2 – $2.52 million
8. (8) Pitch Perfect – $2.50 million
9. (9) Here Comes the Boom – $2.49 million
10. (6) Cloud Atlas – $2.35 million

‘Iron Sky’ team to adapt ‘Jeremiah Harm’

Thursday, November 15th, 2012

Jeremiah Harm is to be adapted for cinema by the team behind indie hit Iron Sky.

Directors Tero Kaukomaa and Timo Vuorensola have joined up with producers Arnold Rifkin and Ross Richie to bring the BOOM! Studios graphic novel to the big screen.

Written by Keith Giffen and Alan Grant, Jeremiah Harm follows an intergalactic bounty hunter who travels to Earth to track down a band of space criminals and the girl they have kidnapped.

Kaukomaa and Vuorensola are planning to fund the project via online crowdsourcing – the same method they used to secure backing for Iron Sky – and have set up a website for donations.

“Our online community was responsible for bringing Iron Sky to life and we aim to continue where we left off with a similar model for Jeremiah Harm,” said Kaukomaa.

“This is a unique opportunity for thousands of artists, science geeks and film fans out there to contribute to the making of a new science fiction world, and we look forward to them joining us for the ride.”

Producer Richie was a co-founder of BOOM! Studios.

Daniel Craig’s ‘Skyfall’ wins US box office

Monday, November 12th, 2012

Daniel Craig’s Skyfall has debuted at number one at the US box office, earning $88m.

Also starring Judi Dench, Ben Whishaw, Ralph Fiennes and Naomie Harris, the new Bond film has broken a new box office record earlier predicted by analysts.

The film has now earned the biggest opening for a Bond movie in the US, not accounting for inflation.

Skyfall knocked out the animated Dreamworks picture Wreck-It-Ralph from the number one spot, pushing it to second place with $33m.

Ben Affleck’s Argo slipped to fourth place, earning $6.7m and bringing its total gross to $44.5m, while Taken 2 remained in fifth place from last week, earning $4m.

Rounding out the top ten are Here Comes the Boom, Cloud Atlas, Pitch Perfect, The Man with the Iron Fists and Hotel Transylvania.

The top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (-) Skyfall – $87.8 million
2. (1) Wreck-It Ralph – $33 million
3. (2) Flight – $15.1 million
4. (3) Argo – $6.7 million
5. (5) Taken 2 – $4 million
6. (9) Here Comes the Boom – $2.55 million
7. (6) Cloud Atlas – $2.52 million
8. (11) Pitch Perfect – $2.50 million
9. (4) The Man with the Iron Fists – $2.49 million
10. (7) Hotel Transylvania – $2.35 million

‘Chronicles of Riddick’ sequel R-rated

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking has been given an R rating by the MPAA.

The watchdog gave the film an adult certificate for its depiction of “strong violence, language and some sexual content/nudity”.

Vin Diesel previously said that the upcoming sequel would be R-rated, but there was some doubt as its predecessor The Chronicles of Riddick was a PG-13.

The movie sees the actor take on the role of the titular bounty hunter for a third time on screen, backed by a supporting cast that includes Karl Urban, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable and Katee Sackhoff.

Dredd star Urban previously revealed details of the project, describing it as having an “indie arthouse sensibility”.

Directed by David Twohy, Chronicles of Riddick: Dead Man Stalking will arrive in theatres in 2013.

‘Star Wars Episode 7’ confirmed for 2015 as Disney buys Lucasfilm

Tuesday, October 30th, 2012

Disney has confirmed new Star Wars movies after buying Lucasfilm in a multi-billion dollar deal.

The Walt Disney Company announced that it has agreed to acquire the George Lucas-founded firm for $4.05 billion (£2.5bn) in cash and stock.

Disney has now confirmed that Star Wars Episode 7 is targeted for release in 2015.

Walt Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger added in a shareholder conference call that the studio also plans to release Episodes 8 and 9, explaining: “Our long-term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years.”

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‘Argo’ climbs to top of US box office

Monday, October 29th, 2012

Argo has climbed one place to top the US box office this weekend.

The Ben Affleck-directed thriller knocked previous chart-topper Paranormal Activity 4 off the summit after grossing $12.35m. The horror sequel dropped to number four, earning $8.67m in its second week on release.

Multi-layered drama epic Cloud Atlas made its debut at number three with $9.4m, narrowly beaten out by Hotel Transylvania, which jumped two places from last week’s number four position and grossed $9.5m.

Other debuts this week come from Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, which entered at number five with $8m, and teen comedy Fun Size, which grossed $4.06m to slip in at number ten.

The Liam Neeson-starring action film Taken 2 drops three places to number six, while Kevin James’s Here Comes the Boom remains steady at number seven.

Finally, supernatural horror Sinister also falls to number eight, from its previous position of six, and Alex Cross plummets four places to number nine.

The top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (2) Argo – $12.35 million
2. (4) Hotel Transylvania – $9.5 million
3. (-) Cloud Atlas – $9.4 million
4. (1) Paranormal Activity 4 – $8.675 million
5. (-) Silent Hill: Revelation 3D – $8 million
6. (3) Taken 2 – $8 million
7. (7) Here Comes the Boom – $5.5 million
8. (6) Sinister – $5.07 million
9. (-) Alex Cross – $5.05 million
10. (-) Fun Size – $4.06 million

‘Homeland’ renewed for a third season by Showtime

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

The network has ordered 12 more episodes of the Claire Danes drama, which will air in 2013.

The second season has been attracting higher ratings with each episode in the US, with last night’s episode being its most watched yet with 1.75m viewers.

The ratings are even higher in the UK, where the season one finale attracted nearly 3m viewers. Channel 4 had already acquired the rights to a potential season three before it was announced.

Homeland also recently swept the top awards at the Primetime Emmys, winning the ‘Lead Actor’ (Damian Lewis), ‘Lead Actress’ (Danes) and ‘Outstanding Drama’ accolades.

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‘Paranormal Activity 4’ wins US box office

Monday, October 22nd, 2012

Paranormal Activity 4 has debuted at number one at the US box office, earning $30.2m.

The latest instalment of the horror movie franchise directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman joins the other highly successful Paranormal films, which have made over $576 million worldwide to date.

Ben Affleck’s Argo held on to the number two spot with $16.6m, while Hotel Transylvania and Taken 2 took third and fourth place with $13.4m and $13.5 respectively.

Less successful was Tyler Perry’s debut as an action hero in Alex Cross.

The movie, which cost approximately $35m to make, premiered at number five with $11.7m, underperforming according to initial studio estimates.

A second Alex Cross movie, however, is reportedly in the works.

The top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (-) Paranormal Activity 4 – $30,200,000
2. (2) Argo – $6,625,000
3. (4) Hotel Transylvania – $13,500,000
4. (1) Taken 2 – $13,400,000
5. (-) Alex Cross – $11,750,000
6. (3) Sinister – $9,030,000
7. (5) Here Comes the Boom – $8,500,000
8. (6) Pitch Perfect – $7,009,000
9. (7) Frankenweenie – $4,434,000
10. (8) Looper – $4,200,000

‘Taken 2’ wins US box office for second week

Monday, October 15th, 2012

Liam Neeson‘s Taken 2 has landed at number one at the US box office for the second week in a row.

The sequel, also starring Maggie Grace and Famke Janssen, earned $22.5m, bringing its total gross to $86.7m.

However, newcomers Argo and Sinister did come close to beating Taken 2 this weekend.

Ben Affleck’s Argo took in $20.1 million in the number two spot, followed by Sinister in the third spot with $18.2m.

Meanwhile, last week’s second place Hotel Transylvania was bumped down to number four with $17.3m. Its total gross is now $102.1m.

Two other new releases, Here Comes the Boom and Seven Psychopaths, also made it to the top ten list.

Sports comedy Here Comes the Boom landed at fifth place with $12m, while the star-studded Seven Psychopaths came in ninth place with $4.2m.

Seven Psychopaths stars Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken, Woody Harrelson, Tom Waits, Abbie Cornish and Olga Kurylenko.

Rounding up the top ten are Pitch Perfect, Frankenweenie, Looper and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which climbed up one spot this week.

The top ten in full (studio estimates):
1. (1) Taken 2 – $22.5 million
2. (-) Argo – $20.1 million
3. (-) Sinister – $18.2 million
4. (2) Hotel Transylvania – $17.3 million
5. (-) Here Comes the Boom – $12 million
6. (3) Pitch Perfect – $9.3 million
7. (5) Frankenweenie – $7 million
8. (4) Looper – $6.3 million
9. (-) Seven Psychopaths – $4.2 million
10. (11) The Perks of Being a Wallflower – $2.1 million