Weekend Box Office: January 4-6

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D:  $23 million

2.  Django Unchained:  $20 million

3.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:  $17.5 million

4.  Les Miserables - $16.1 million

5.  Parental Guidance - $10.1 million

6.  Jack Reacher - $9.3 million

7.  This Is 40 - $8.5 million

8.  Lincoln - $5.2 million

9.  The Guilt Trip - $4.5 million

10.  Promised Land - $4.3 million

The Christmas decorations came down and the mass murderers arrived at the multiplexes this weekend as the latest remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (this time in 3D!) took first place with a surprisingly strong $23 million.  No doubt the the 3D helped boost those numbers, as the film earned nearly half of that $23 million on Friday and only mustered a C+ rating from audiences, according to Cinemascore.  But since Lionsgate spends next to nothing making these films, it really won't matter if the movie bottoms out from here.  God help us, with that kind of weekend, we'll probably get a sequel.

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained continued to dominate, crossing the $100 million mark with an estimated $20 million, and is well on its way to become Tarantino's most successful film at the box office.  Also crossing $100 million faster than any other movie musical was Les Miserables, which finished in fourth place with $16.1 million.  The musical has earned another $67 million overseas, and that box office should get another boost when Les Mis finally opens in the UK (home of the original stage production) next weekend. 

It seems you just can't keep a good Hobbit down, as The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey gets that much closer to $300 million stateside, earning $17.5 million in its fourth weekend.  The prequel has fared even better overseas, where it has earned an additional $561 million.  After surviving horrid reviews to be a hit with families over the holiday week, Parental Guidance also continues to do well, earning $10.3 million for the weekend.

Next weekend finally brings the release of Gangster Squad, which was delayed after the Aurora shootings last summer.  Joining it will be the horror spoof A Haunted House.  Better yet, since the Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, Oscar favorite Zero Dark Thirty (which earned $2.75 million in just 60 theaters this weekend) finally goes into wide release on Friday.  Let awards season officially begin!

Weekend Box Office: December 28 - 30

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - $32.9 million

2.  Django Unchained - $30.6 million

3.  Les Miserables - $28 million

4.  Parental Guidance - $14.8 million

5.  Jack Reacher - $14 million

6.  This is 40 - $13.1 million

7.  Lincoln - $7.5 million

8.  The Guilt Trip - $6.7 million

9.  Monsters Inc 3D - $6.3 million

10.  Rise of the Guardians - $4.9 million

The final weekend of 2012 was a busy one at the box office, with The Hobbit continuing the dominate and some Christmas day openers bringing in big business as well.  In its third straight weekend in first place, The Hobbit crossed the $200 million mark domestically with an estimated $32.9 million.  Overseas, the film has earned an additional $464 million.  It's already surpassed Fellowship of the Ring's $189 million, and is well on the way the surpassing The Two Towers $243 million - but then again, The Hobbit does have the whole 3D/IMAX thing going for it.  Still, it's been impressive run for The Hobbit.

Django Unchained and Les Miserables, which both opened on Christmas Day, continued to do well over the weekend, with Django finally able to leap past Les Mis to finish in second with $30.6 million.  Since Christmas, the film has earned $64 million.  Les Miserables was just behind it with $28 million.  Die-hard fans of the stage musical who raced out to see it (like me) kept it ahead of Django for the first few days, but unlike most movie musicals which drop sharply once the fans of the stage version have gotten it out of their system, Les Mis was still a draw this weekend.  In fact, the soundtrack is about to hit Billboard's Top Ten.  Worldwide, the musical has already grossed $116 million.

The comedy Parental Guidance is turning out to be one of those movies that families get and critics don't, having survived scathing reviews to earn a healthy $29 million since opening on Christmas Day.   By the way, does anyone else remember the last time Billy Crystal had two movies in the top 10?  Monsters Inc 3D, Disney's lastest entry in their 3D re-release series, never seemed to pick up much traction, earning $6.3 million for the weekend.  Whether or not that bodes well for next year's prequel Monsters University remains to be seen - most families I know would rather shell out the 3D tickets money for a new Pixar movie over one they already have at home.

Jack Reacher is holding its own with $14 million, as is This is 40, with $13.1 million.

Although it fell out of the top ten this weekend, Skyfall still has cause to celebrate, having just passed the $1 billion mark worldwide.  That makes it the first Bond film to do so, and puts it just behind The Dark Knight as the 14th all-time highest grossing film worldwide.

The first weekend of 2013 brings the usual January dumping-ground fare, as Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D is the only major release planned.  But with it being Oscar season and all, at least it will be a good weekend to catch up on everything else in theaters.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Weekend Box Office: December 7-9

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  Skyfall - $11 million

2.  Rise of the Guardians - $10.5 million

3.  The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 - $9.2 million

4.  Lincoln - $9.1 million

5.  Life of Pi - $8.3 million

6.  Playing for Keeps - $6 million

7.  Wreck-It Ralph - $4.9 million

8.  Red Dawn - $4.2 million

9.  Flight - $3.1 million

10.  Killing Them Softly - $2.7 million

So what happens when the only thing opening in theaters this weekend is a Gerard Butler romantic comedy?  Everyone goes to see James Bond again.  In what was basically a quiet weekend at the box office, Skyfall pulled off the rare feat of returning to the top spot with $11 million.  With $918 million worldwide, it is now the highest-grossing film in Sony's history, and has a pretty good shot at becoming the first James Bond film to pass $1 billion worldwide.

Also climbing a spot this weekend was Rise of the Guardians, which finished second with $10.5 million.  It's definitely taking advantage of being one of the few family films in theaters at the moment, but with just $61 million after three weeks, the animated holiday tale has been a disappointment so far.

The Twilight finale, Breaking Dawn Part 2, fell to third place with $9.2 million.  The film has grossed $268 million domestically, and another $468 overseas.  Oscar hopefuls Lincoln and Life of Pi continue to play well, earning $9.1 million and $8.3 million, respectively.  The one new release this weekend, Gerard Butler's Playing for Keeps, bombed this weekend, earning only $6 million.

Next weekend, we return to Middle Earth when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens in theaters.  Joining it will be the re-release of Monsters, Inc. in 3D, and another Oscar hopeful, Zero Dark Thirty.

Weekend Box Office: November 30 - December 2

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  The Twilight Saga:  Breaking Dawn Part 2 - $17.4 million

2.  Skyfall - $17 million

3.  Lincoln - $13.509 million

4.  Rise of the Guardians - $13.500 million

5.  Life of Pi - $12 million

6.  Wreck-It Ralph - $7.02 million

7.  Killing Them Softly - $7 million

8.  Red Dawn - $6.5 million

9.  Flight - $4.5 million

10.  The Collection - $3.4 million

In what was basically a repeat of last weekend's box office results, Breaking Dawn 2 took the top spot for the third weekend in a row with $17.4 million.  The Twilight finale cruised past Skyfall's $246 million domestically to bring its total U.S. box office to $254 million.  But don't feel too badly for James Bond, as Skyfall continues to do blockbuster business both here and overseas, earning $869 million worldwide so far.

Proving that legendary U.S. presidents can be just as popular as teenage vampires and superspies, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln earned another $13.5 million this weekend, bringing its domestic total to $83 million.  It was almost neck-and-neck with Rise in the Guardians, which continued to sputter in its second weekend, earning about $9000 less than Lincoln and only $48 million total since opening over the long Thanksgiving weekend.  Life of Pi, on the other hand, did well in its second weekend, dropping only 46% to earn $12 million. 

New releases went mostly unnoticed this weekend, as Brad Pitt's Killing Them Softly went quietly with just $7 million.  The Collection, a horror sequel to Saw-wannabe The Collector, flopped with just $3.4 million.

Another quiet weekend is in store next week, when Gerard Butler's Playing For Keeps tries to swoon away some of the Twilight audience.  Good luck with that.  And the weekend after that is The Hobbit, which at this point can't come soon enough.

Les Miserables: Five New Clips

Universal Pictures has released five new clips from the upcoming movie musical Les Miserables, which opens in theaters on December 25th.  I've put them in sequence order below, with some setup for those unfamiliar with the story:

Clip #1:  "Javert Releases Prisoner 24601 on Parole"

This is where Les Mis starts, with Jean Valjean, aka Prisoner 24601, being released on parole after spending 19 years on a chain gang for stealing a loaf of bread.  The police Inspector Javert is giving him his release papers (and fans of the musical will notice some lyric changes here), that Valjean must show wherever he goes, forever marking him as a convict, despite having served his time in prison:

Clip #2:  "At the End of the Day"

After breaking parole, Valjean changes his identity to Monsieur Madeleine, and becomes a successful and respected factory owner and mayor.  When Fantine, one of his factory workers, is discovered to have an illegitimate daughter, she is cruelly fired from her job and thrown out into the street, begging Madeleine/Valjean for help:

Clip #3:  "Who Am I?"

Javert and Valjean cross paths again, after Valjean rescues a man pinned by a runaway cart.  Javert remarks that the remarkable strength of "Monsieur Madeleine" reminds him of a parole breaker, Jean Valjean, who had recently been re-arrested and was about to appear in court.  Knowing that Javert has the wrong man, Valjean contemplates what to do next:

Clip #4:  "A Heart Full of Love"

Cosette, the daughter of Fantine who's been raised by Jean Valjean, is now grown up and has fallen in love with Marius, a young student revolutionary.  The two meet in secret, while Eponine, who is also madly in love with Marius, looks on with envy:

Clip #5:  "On My Own"

Knowing that Marius loves Cosette and not her, a broken-hearted Eponine takes small comfort in still imagining them as a couple, even though she knows that it will never happen:

Wow.  And we really haven't seen any of the barricade stuff yet.  Looks amazing.

Youngest Star of Les Miserables Continues to be Adorable

Amongst the character-themed posters for Les Miserables, the most famous one hasn't been of any of the movie musical's all-star cast, but the one with the image of Young Cosette, the sad little girl with the big blue eyes and windswept hair.  The photo is a recreation of Émile Bayard's illustration of Young Cosette for the original novel by Victor Hugo, and it's also the official logo of the stage version.

So who is this kid?  The daughter that Anne Hathaway's Fantine tries so desperately to save, the abused Young Cosette first appears in the custody of the scheming Thernardiers before being rescued by Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean (and grows up in the film to become Amanda Seyfried).  The actress is Isabelle Allen, a British ten-year-old making her feature film debut. 

On stage, the Young Cosette role is a small role, and she only sings one song, but it's still kind of a thankless one, with the kid being tossed around the stage by the horrible Thernardiers.  The film seemed pretty tough too, as Allen had to walk around barefoot in the snow, got her eyes stung by the menthol used to make her cry on film, and once accidentally spilled a bucket of freezing water all over herself.  Yikes.

But it looks like the hard work paid off, since the footage so far looks amazing.  In fact, Allen enjoyed playing the role so much that she's currently playing Young Cosette again in the London stage production.  Last week, she and her mom appeared on a U.K. talk show to discuss working on the film, what it was like to sing live on the set, and getting chased around by Russell Crowe.  How cute is this kid?

Also, while the film's upcoming New York premiere sounds exciting, Allen is also looking forward to visiting the big Disney Store in Times Square.  Seriously, how cute is this kid??

Les Miserables opens in theaters on December 25.

Holiday Weekend Box Office: November 21-25

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  The Twilight Saga:  Breaking Dawn Part 2 - $64 million

2.  Skyfall - $51.1 million

3.  Lincoln - $34 million

4.  Rise of the Guardians - $32.6 million

5.  Life of Pi - $30.1 million

6.  Wreck-It Ralph - $23 million

7.  Red Dawn - $22 million

8.  Flight - $11.3 million

9.  Silver Linings Playbook - $5.9 million

10.  Argo - $5.1 million

This Thanksgiving holiday weekend looks a whole lot like this same weekend last year, with the latest Twilight movie easily taking the top spot.  Indeed, Breaking Dawn Part 2 earned an estimated $64 million over the 5-day weekend, bringing its total haul to $226 million domestically (plus another $350 million overseas).  That puts it ahead of where Breaking Dawn Part 1 was at this same time last year, making it another smash entry in the Twilight series.

A bunch of new releases were no match for James Bond this weekend as either, as the excellent Skyfall crossed the $200 million mark this weekend, earning an estimated $51.1 million over the long weekend.  Skyfall is now officially the highest-grossing Bond film of the series domestically at $221 million and counting, while overseas the film has grossed a staggering $568 million.

Lincoln continued to impress at the box office, earning an additional $34 million over the holiday, bringing its domestic total to $62 million.  It should continue to do strong business as Oscar season revs up over the next month.  Joining the Oscar hopeful mix this weekend was Life of Pi, which opened strongly with $30.1 million, and Silver Linings Playbook, which went into wider release and earned $5.9 million at just 367 theaters. 

The new animated film Rise of the Guardians didn't fare so well, earning just $32.6 million over the holiday weekend.  Business picked up somewhat on Friday, but then dropped steadily as the weekend continued.  The film did receive an "A" Cinemascore from audiences, but its darker tone may keep it from turning into another How To Train Your Dragon, which started off slow and picked up momentum propelled by good word-of-mouth back when that opened in 2010. 

Wreck-It Ralph continued to do well, its $23 million over the holiday managed to beat up the long-delayed remake of Red Dawn, which went mostly unnoticed with only $22 million over five days.

Another Oscar hopefully joins the mix next weekend, as Killing Them Softly opens in theaters.  Not much else joining it, besides horror sequel The Collection.  Looks like we may see a Twilight/Skyfall threepeat next weekend. 

Weekend Box Office: November 16-18

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 - $141.3 million

2.  Skyfall - $41.5 million

3.  Lincoln - $21 million

4.  Wreck-It Ralph - $18.3 million

5.  Flight - $8.6 million

6.  Argo - $4 million

7.  Taken 2 - $2.1 million

8.  Pitch Perfect - $1.26 million

9.  Here Comes the Boom - $1.2 million

10.  Cloud Atlas/The Sessions/Hotel Transylvania - $900,000

The box office report is back!  No thanks to Hurricane Sandy, for playing all kinds of havoc with the power and internet access these last few weeks.  So we've definitely got some catching up to do.

First things first:  the final Twilight film, Breaking Dawn Part 2, opened big this weekend with an estimated $141.3 million.  No, it's not a *record*...but who's going to gripe about $141.3 million?  The opening falls right in between Breaking Dawn Part 1's $138.1 million opening last year, and New Moon's $142.8 million opening in 2009.  Overseas, Breaking Dawn Part 2 has earned nearly $200 million already, bringing its worldwide total to $340 million and climbing, with the long holiday weekend coming up this week.  Whether you like the Twilight series or not, there's no denying that its been a powerhouse at the box office.

Catching up with James Bond, Skyfall racked up another $41.5 million in its second weekend, bringing its domestic total up to $161.3 million.  Overseas, the latest 007 film has been a massive blockbuster, earning $507 million in foreign markets so far.  Back here, Skyfall is within a few days of passing Quantum of Solace and Casino Royale to become the highest-grossing James Bond film domestically.  And deservedly so - it was awesome. 

Also catching up Wreck-It Ralph, which has been a nice hit for Disney, the animated video-game adventure crossed the $100 million mark this week, earning $18.3 million in its third weekend.  With excellent word-of-mouth, it should be able to hold its own against Rise of the Guardians, which opens in theaters next weekend.

Amongst movies brave enough to open against Twilight this weekend, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln expanded into wide release well with $21 million.  In limited release, Silver Linings Playbook opened with $458,000 and Anna Karenina with $315,000 - both in just 16 theaters apiece.

Lots of new choices coming up for the long holiday weekend, including:  Life of Pi, Rise of the Guardians, Red Dawn, and Hitchcock.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Do You Hear the People Sing? International Les Miserables Trailer

It's finally here!  After this trailer debuted in front of UK showings of Skyfall last month, bootlegged versions have been popping up all over the interwebs...and getting taken back down just as quickly.  Now it's officially here, and it looks pretty damn awesome.  As gut-wrenchingly amazing as it's been to see and hear Ann Hathaway singing "I Dreamed a Dream" in the first teaser and TV spots, this new trailer finally gives us a taste of some of the rest of the score, including young Cosette's "Castle on a Cloud", the show's Act 1 closer "One Day More", and damned if I didn't nearly start tearing up when "Do You Hear the People Sing?" started up towards the end:

That was also our first look at Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter as the Thernardiers, and of little Daniel Huttlestone as the street urchin Gavroche (along with Samantha Barks, who plays Eponine, Huttlestone also played his role in the London stage production of Les Miserables).  Fans of the stage show will also notice the original stage Jean Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, appear as the Bishop of Digne early in the trailer too.  And how incredible does that barricade action look?

Les Miserables can't get here soon enough, but we'll still have to wait until December 25 for it to open in theaters. 

Jurassic Park 3D Trailer: Same Movie, Slightly New Logo

No, there's no real reason to re-release Jurassic Park in 3D, other than it being an obvious cash-grab and because there still isn't a Jurassic Park 4. 

But, it's happening anyway, and let's face it:  it's Jurassic Park on the big screen - in 3D!  You'd have to be a truly soulless creature devoid of joy to not to think that's going to be a total blast. 

The trailer is here, and while it's obviously the same movie we've known for nearly 20 years (?!) now, just imagine what this will look like with the dinosaurs running at you, and you'll get the idea of how this is going to look:

Fine, go ahead.  Take my money, Universal.  Jurassic Park 3D opens in theaters on April 5, 2013.