Pixar’s Monsters University has stormed the US weekend box office charts.
The animated film, featuring the voice talent of Billy Crystal, John Goodman and Helen Mirren, is a prequel to the highly popular 2001 movie about a pair of monsters who work as professional ‘scarers’.
Warner Bros president Jeff Robinov has quit following a difficult year for the company.
The studio executive has stepped down ahead of the expiration of his contract in December, according to Deadline.
Robinov has been increasingly frozen out by Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes and Warner Bros chairman Kevin Tsujihara, who have not offered to renew his contract.
Despite the success of Man of Steel, The Great Gatsby and The Hangover Part III, the studio has been hit by the flops of Gangster Squad, Jack the Giant Slayer and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone in the first half of 2013.
Robinov has been spearheading Warner Bros’ successful superhero franchise after bringing Christopher Nolan on board at the studio. It is unknown how his departure might affect future DC Comics adaptations.
The executive is not expected to be replaced, with his role instead being split apart under different titles as part of restructuring at Warner Bros.
James Gandolfini has died at the age of 51.
The award-winning Sopranos star suffered a suspected heart attack in Rome, Italy, HBO has confirmed.
The network said in a statement: “We’re all in shock and feeling immeasurable sadness at the loss of a beloved member of our family. He was special man, a great talent, but more importantly a gentle and loving person who treated everyone no matter their title or position with equal respect.
“He touched so many of us over the years with his humour, his warmth and his humility. Our hearts go out to his wife and children during this terrible time. He will be deeply missed by all of us.”
Gandolfini had been on his way to the Taormina Film Festival in Siciliy, where he was expected on Thursday.
Gandolfini was best known for playing Tony Soprano on the iconic mobster drama, which won him three Emmy Awards.
He also had notable film roles in Get Shorty, Zero Dark Thirty, In the Loop and Where the Wild Things Are.
Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel has stormed the US weekend box office charts.
The Warner Bros. movie, starring Henry Cavill and Amy Adams, is a new interpretation of the Superman legend, written by Dark Knight scribe David S Goyer.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has confirmed that he will return to the Terminator franchise.
Schwarzenegger is set to reprise his role as the killer cyborg in the fifth instalment of the series.
Schwarzenegger announced his return to Terminator while attending the 21st Century Financial Education Summit seminar in Australia, The Arnold Fans report.
“I’m very happy that the studios want me to be in Terminator 5 and to star AS the Terminator, which we start shooting in January [2014],” he said.
Terminator 5 is the follow up to director McG’s fourth instalment – Terminator Salvation – that was released back in 2009. It starred Christian Bale and Sam Worthington.
Schwarzenegger will soon be seen alongside Sylvester Stallone in Escape Plan, which is directed by Mikael Håfström (Evil).
He is also reported to be in talks for a remake of 1980s cult favourite Toxic Avenger, directed by Hot Tub Time Machine‘s Steve Pink.
Ethan Hawke’s new movie The Purge has debuted at number one at the US box office.
The horror film, set in a near future where all crime is legal for one night a year, achieved sales of $36.379 million during its opening weekend.
It pushed to second place the summer hit Fast & Furious 6, which last month broke Memorial Day records on its debut and has so far made a total gross of over $202m.
Meanwhile, Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn’s latest comedy The Internship made its debut in fourth place with $18.1m in tickets sold.
Will Smith’s badly reviewed After Earth, which performed poorly in its opening week, suffered an even bigger blow this weekend as it slipped from number three to number seven, earning $11.2m.
Rounding out the top ten are The Hangover Part III, Iron Man 3 and Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby.
The US box office top ten in full:
1. The Purge – $36,379,000
2. Fast & Furious 6 – $19,760,000
3. Now You See Me – $19,500,000
4. The Internship – $18,100,000
5. Epic – $12,100,000
6. Star Trek Into Darkness – $11,700,000
7. After Earth – $11,200,000
8. The Hangover Part III – $7,380,000
9. Iron Man 3 – $5,787,000
10. The Great Gatsby – $4,230,000
Will Smith’s latest movie After Earth significantly underperformed during its opening weekend at the US box office.
The science fiction drama, directed by M Night Shyamalan and also starring Will’s son Jaden Smith, achieved sales of $26.5 million – well below the $40m predicted by studio Sony.
It landed in third place at the weekend box office, beaten by Now You See Me and Fast & Furious 6, which remains at number one.
After Earth has been met with largely negative reviews, earning a 13% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rival studios claimed that After Earth is performing “2.5 times worse than Jaden Smith’s Karate Kid reboot and half of Oblivion‘s opening”.
Will apparently pushed to get Shyamalan on board as director, producing the movie with a budget of around $130 million.
Deadline reports that the studio was concerned with the resulting product and worked “really hard” to fix it in post-production.
“You keep hoping people are going to be as good as their best work,” an insider said. “Sometimes some collaborations bring forth amazing results. And some are not meant to be.”
After Earth opens in the UK on June 7.
Current US weekend box office takings:
1. Fast & Furious 6 – $34m
2. Now You See Me – $27.5m
3. After Earth – $26.5m
4. Epic – $16.0m
5. Star Trek Into Darkness – $15.2m
6. The Hangover Part III – $15.0m
7. Iron Man 3 – $7.8m
8. The Great Gatsby – $5.8m
9. Yeh Jawaani Hai Deew – $1.3m
10. Mud – $1.2m
This news item can be discussed here: NTSC User’s Message Board