Thompson on Hollywood

Arthouse Audit: 'Bling Ring' Continues Strong Specialized Openings; 'Before Midnight' Disappoints in Expansion

Box Office

Sofia Coppola's "The Bling Ring" is the latest in a series of solid performers among limited specialized openings, joining "Frances Ha," "Before Midnight" and "Much Ado About Nothing" as above-average grossers. None of these have reached the initial levels that both "Spring Breakers" and "The Place Above the Pines" did, and "Before Midnight" in its early expansion is unlikely to beat those films, or what "Mud" achieved on a wider scale.

By Tom Brueggemann
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June 16, 2013 4:29 PM
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'Man of Steel' Hits Its Marks; 'This Is the End' Is Counterprogramming Hit

Box Office

Last week Steven Spielberg predicted that the movie business could soon implode-- speaking to film students at USC with George Lucas--should a handful of huge-budgeted films flop at the same time. So far, among this summer's tentpoles, only Sony's "After Earth" faces a significant loss. The second-best opening weekend of the year (and actually since last July), at a $113 million estimate, is exactly where "Man of Steel" should be.

By Tom Brueggemann
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June 16, 2013 2:12 PM
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'Man of Steel' Opens to Second Best Gross of 2013; 'Bling Ring' Debut Glitters

Box Office

"Man of Steel," Warner Bros.' reboot of the "Superman" franchise, grossed a super $44 million on Friday (including midnight shows, but not Thursday evening Walmart-promotion screenings, which took in an addition $12 million). This is just under two-thirds of the opening day of "Iron Man 3," which was similarly enhanced by premium 3-D and IMAX ticket prices. "The Dark Knight Rises" last July, which confronted the Aurora tragedy its opening day, did over $75 million with no 3-D.

By Tom Brueggemann
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June 15, 2013 4:15 PM
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Oscar Watch: Disney Gives 'Saving Mr. Banks' a Limited December Run Ahead of Wide Holiday Release

News

Early buzz is good on Disney's indie pick-up "Saving Mr. Banks," and the studio appears confident that critical reaction and word-of-mouth will be upbeat, as they are moving the anticipated year-end entry up to December 13 in limited release, ahead of its wide break set for December 20.

By Tom Brueggemann
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June 13, 2013 9:27 PM
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Summer Line-Up Lacks Women: Thank God for Paul Feig's 'The Heat' and Woody Allen's 'Blue Jasmine' (Trailers)

Box Office

We all know Hollywood ignores the female audience, because half of the moviegoing public supposedly can't be counted on to show up in vast numbers on opening weekends. But the male bias also exists on the media side: check out EW's May 17 forecast of the top ten box office movies of the summer.

By Anne Thompson
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June 12, 2013 4:28 PM
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Arthouse Audit: 'Much Ado' Opens Well, 'Before Midnight' Expands Well

Box Office

Joss Whedon's take on Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" continued the May/June rollout of well-hyped specialized releases, and more significantly, joined "Frances Ha" and "Beyond Midnight" -- both now expanding similar to solid results -- as higher-end grossers, particularly for this time of year.

By Tom Brueggemann
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June 9, 2013 4:01 PM
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Weekend Box Office Top Ten: 'The Purge' Beats Big-Budget Rivals

Box Office

Ethan Hawke is smiling. "The Purge" kicked its rivals to the curb with a surprise $36 million opening. After two weekends that pulled ahead of last year's numbers (a rare occurrence in 2013), grosses slipped back to their customary falloff. The top 10 totaled around $145 million, down $25 million from last year. That's because there were no top-end new releases (next week "Man of Steel" will challenge "Iron Man 3"'s record as the summer's biggest opener), but it's not a good sign.

By Tom Brueggemann
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June 9, 2013 1:12 PM
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'The Purge' Opens Friday to Five Times Its Budget; 'Much Ado' Opens Strong Limited

Box Office

"The Purge," the first film from horror producer Jason Blum ("Paranormal Activity," "Insidious") to be released by Universal, grossed almost $17 million on Friday (including Thursday night late shows), more than five times its reported $3 million production cost, to be the dominant #1 film for the day.

By Tom Brueggemann
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June 8, 2013 3:11 PM
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Arthouse Audit: 'Hannah Arendt' Leads New Openings, 'The East' and 'Kings of Summer' Open Just OK

Box Office

Early summer specialized releases are falling short of the initial grosses of breakout films from the last two years. But several films representing a range of audience appeal (primarily younger-oriented) are showing varying levels of strength. A surprisingly strong New York gross from the German film "Hannah Arendt" (Zeitgeist) is the initial standout entry.

By Tom Brueggemann
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June 2, 2013 4:29 PM
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Weekend Box Office Top Ten: Falling 'Fast & Furious' and Sleeper 'Now You See Me' Trounce Shyamalan/Smith Combo 'After Earth'

Box Office

With the help of an unexpected sleeper success ("Now You See Me") and a continued decent showing for "Fast and Furious 6," the combined weekend gross for the top 10 again rose above last year's ($150 million, up from $133) even with the disappointing initial numbers from "After Earth," which was expected to be #1 this weekend.