Thompson on Hollywood

Arthouse Audit: Star Power Pushes 'The Place Beyond the Pines' to Triumphant Opening

Box Office

"The Place Beyond the Pines" is the second limited opening of the month to open better than expected, and among the strongest ever early-year launches. Focus Features, coming off the disappointment of the wider release of "Admission" last week, maximized its starry cast and strong marketing to make a major initial impact. Two European films with positive festival reaction ("Renoir" and "Blancanieves") opened modestly. More disappointing was the second week of Weinstein's "The Sapphires" which doesn't seem to be headed towards any sort of breakout.

By Tom Brueggemann
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March 31, 2013 4:09 PM
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'G.I. Joe: Retaliation' Opens Big Worldwide, Leads Strong Easter Weekend Box Office Top Ten

Box Office

"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" opened to a solid domestic three-day $41-million gross and twice-as-big international $80-million total to lead a strong Easter holiday weekend. The top ten grossed $139 million, improving on last year's one-week later holiday by $24 million while equaling the total for the exactly one year ago. The weekend total improved $12 million from last week. Business is not yet exactly booming, but it seems to have stabilized, marking a big improvement on 2013 thus far.

By Tom Brueggemann
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March 31, 2013 1:16 PM
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WATCH: Gory Clip from Netflix's 'Hemlock Grove' Shows Werewolf Transformation

Video

Gore alert! It should come as no surprise, coming from gorehound Eli Roth ("Grindhouse," "Hostel") that the latest clip from Netflix's next original series "Hemlock Grove" is not for the faint of heart. The whole horror series is likely to be as eagerly gross as this scene. Produced by Roth, "Hemlock Grove" begins with a "Twin Peaks" premise: when a 17-year-old girl is brutally murdered in a former steel town in Pennsylvania, all of Hemlock's eccentric denizens-- and violent creatures-- are suspects.

By Maggie Lange
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March 30, 2013 5:20 PM
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Box Office: 'G.I. Joe' Delivers Very Good Friday; 'Place Beyond the Pines' Has Excellent Limited Opening; 'The Host' Disappoints

Box Office

Last weekend's two $30-million openers have been followed by a strong Easter weekend that looks to top last year's. Led by Paramount's delayed release of "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" (with 3-D added and a beefed-up role for Channing Tatum), Friday's top ten films grossed an estimated $54 million, up from the $46 million total from both a year ago and from that of 2012's one-week-later Good Friday. The figure was also up from last week's $38 million, making this the rare Friday this year with across the board improvements.

By Tom Brueggemann
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March 30, 2013 3:23 PM
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Ro*co Films Founder Annie Roney Talks to Sundance About Changes in Documentary Distribution

Interviews

Annie Roney of ro*co films is interviewed by Sundance contributing blogger Chris Dorr on Adapting to Changes in Distribution: "The most significant change is the cultural and mainstream embrace of the documentary genre ..."

By Chris Dorr
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March 30, 2013 6:40 AM
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Martin Scorsese Returning to 'Gangs of New York' with New TV Series

Television

Martin Scorsese is partnering with Miramax and GK Films to develop his 2002 gritty turn-of-the-century drama "Gangs of New York" into a TV series. The project would follow the same story arc as the film, but also include organized-gang plotlines beyond New York, set in Chicago and elsewhere.

By Beth Hanna
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March 29, 2013 7:50 PM
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Best of the Week: Malick Goes VOD, Dystopia Rules, Reviews, Interviews and More

News

The best stories of the week from TOH!

By TOH!
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March 29, 2013 7:32 PM
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Prana Studios Buys Bankrupt 'Life of Pi' VFX House Rhythm & Hues

News

It's official. A Los Angeles bankruptcy court judge has approved the acquisition of visual effects and animation studio Rhythm & Hues, which did the VFX for Oscar-winning "Life of Pi," by a wholly-owned affiliate of LA-based Prana Studios, Inc. Many VFX houses these days are beleaguered by price-gauging studios and overseas competition as layoffs are rampant and VFX practitioners talk about starting a union.

By Anne Thompson
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March 29, 2013 7:27 PM
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'Game of Thrones' Review and Recap, Season Three Episode 1: 'Valar Dohaeris'

Television

As the third season of HBO's epic drama series of back-stabbing ambition and dynastic intrigue, "Game of Thrones," launches on Sunday, it's just possible that the trace elements of generic fantasy in GoT -- a dragon here, some evil sorcery there -- could be jettisoned without much impact on the viewer’s pleasure.

By David Chute
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March 29, 2013 7:10 PM
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TOH! Ranks the Top Ten Studio Ghibli Films, Not All by Miyazaki

Features

As John Lasseter has been called America's new Walt Disney, so is Hayao Miyazaki known as the Disney of Japan. Miyazaki and Lasseter share something rare: they are filmmakers in charge of animation giants in their respective countries, Studio Ghibli and Disney Animation/Pixar.