Wed, November 7, 2012 Somehow, in the midst of all the Lincoln ads running during the election coverage last night, this first TV spot for Les Miserables also made its debut. And it keeps looking better and better:
Les Miserables opens in theaters December 25. Although, if you need your Anne Hathaway fix earlier, she'll be hosting this week's episode of SNL. Should be fun!
Mon, October 22, 2012 Do you want to know how that new Wolverine movie is going? You'll have your chance to ask on Monday, October 29th, as Hugh Jackman and director James Mangold will be hosting a live chat to answer questions and show off some new behind-the-scenes footage from the sequel, which opens in theaters next July 26.
You can see the announcement right here, courtesy of the The Wolverine's official website:
This might be a good time to ask if the rumor about Famke Janssen recently filming a Jean Grey cameo is true. Or to inquire about whatever the hell that is on Hugh's shirt in that video. Whatever you'd like to ask, you can just send your questions via Twitter using the hashtag #TheWolverineLive, or you can submit your questions via the film's official Facebook page.
The live chat will be held here on Monday, October 29, at 1pm Pacific Time.
Sun, October 21, 2012 
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. Paranormal Activity 4 - $30.2 million
2. Argo - $16.6 million
3. Hotel Transylvania - $13.5 million
4. Taken 2 - $13.4 million
5. Alex Cross - $11.7 million
6. Sinister - $9 million
7. Here Comes the Boom - $8.5 million
8. Pitch Perfect - $7 million
9. Frankenweenie - $4.4 million
10. Looper - $4.2 million
It may have come in first place as expected this weekend, but Paranormal Activity 4's $30.2 million opening was as underwhelming as the movie itself (unfortunately) was. Of course, the Paranormal movies are made for basically pocket change, so a $30.2 million opening is actually good news for any low-budget horror movie, but seeing as how Paranormal Activity 3 opened with $52.6 million a year ago, that's an alarming drop for this series. Add in the awful reviews, not just from critics but from audiences who gave it a dreadful "C" Cinemascore rating, and it looks like they really dropped the ball on this fourth entry. That's a shame, since the the third film was actually the best in the series. Let's hope that the already-announced Paranormal Activity 5 gets its groove back this time next year.
More impressive was the second weekend performance of Argo, which dropped a mere 14% to earn an estimated $16.6 million. The Iranian-hostage drama has earned $43.1 million so far. Hotel Transylvania is still proving to be a family favorite for Halloween, earning another $13.5 million. Taken 2 crossed the $100 million mark this weekend, earning $13.4 million.
This weekend's other new release, the revamped version of the Alex Cross series starring Tyler Perry, disappointed this weekend with only $11.7 million.
In very limited release (4 theaters!) Oscar hopeful The Sessions opened very well, earning $121,000.
Next weekend, the Wachowskis are back to blow your mind with Cloud Atlas, Nickelodeon dives perilously close to R-rated comedy with Fun Size, the latest chapter in the Silent Hill series arrives just in time for Halloween, and surfers take to the big waves with Chasing Mavericks.
Thu, October 18, 2012 Tonight, screenings offically roll out for Paranormal Activity 4, the latest chapter in the found-footage series about the world's most unfortunate demon-possessed family. If you're heading out to see it this weekend - and trust me, it's worth it just for the audience reactions when all hell breaks loose - but you're not caught up on the story far, the Paranormal Activity folks were nice enough to put together a super-trailer that puts the previous movies in somewhat of a chronological order:
Can't wait to see this one. Paranormal Activity 4 is in theaters now
Sun, October 14, 2012 
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. Taken 2 - $22.5 million
2. Argo - $20.1 million
3. Sinister - $18.2 million
4. Hotel Transylvania - $17.3 million
5. Here Comes the Boom - $12 million
6. Pitch Perfect - $9.3 million
7. Frankenweenie - $7 million
8. Looper - $6.3 million
9. Seven Psychopaths - $4.2 million
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - $2.1 million
Liam Neeson ruled the box office again this weekend as Taken 2 held on to the top spot, earning an estimated $22.5 million in its second weekend. Its domestic total now stands $86.7 million, and it continues to do even bigger business overseas, where it's earned $132 million. So I guess there will be a Taken 3?
Coming in a close second was the Ben Affleck Iranian hostage drama Argo, which opened with an estimated $20.1 million. With an "A+" Cinemascore rating, word-of-mouth should carry this one well for the next few weeks. Right behind that was the horror film Sinister, which opened well with $18.2 million, although that's probably the best it will see with Paranormal Activity 4 opening next weekend.
While audiences can't seem to get enough Liam Neeson, they do seem to be somewhat over Kevin James, as his latest comedy, Here Comes the Boom, flopped with only $12 million for the weekend. To put that in perspective: even Zoopkeeper opened with $20.7. So that wasn't good. At least James still has Hotel Transylvania, which had another great weekend, earning $17.3 million.
The worst showing in this week's top ten was Seven Psychopaths, which earned only $4.2 million. Also not impressing anyone was the second part of the Atlas Shrugged trilogy, which tanked in 11th place, earning only $1.1 million.
Next weekend, its found-footage galore as Paranormal Activity 4 opens in theaters. Joining it is The Sessions, which is already generating a ton of Oscar buzz, as well as Tyler Perry's take on the Alex Cross series.
Fri, October 12, 2012 Time for some more character posters from Les Miserables, as unveiled on their official Facebook page this week. We've already seen posters for Jean Valjean and little Cosette, so now it's time for:
Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert. And that's a quote from this song, not Judge Dredd.
Anne Hathaway as Fantine. The quote, of course, is from that gut-punch of a trailer.
And Amanda Seyfried as Cosette. She's the grown-up version of the little girl on the first teaser poster.
The marketing for this movie has been absolutely gorgeous so far. Can't wait to see more. Also noted on the Les Miz Facebook page - Hugh Jackman is celebrating a birthday today (also noted on Twitter, he got a Wolverine birthday cake from the cast and crew of The Wolverine). Happy Birthday, 24601!
Les Miserables opens in theaters on Christmas Day.
Wed, October 10, 2012 On the heels of last month's release of the first teaser poster for Les Miserables, which re-created Emile Bayard's iconic image of little Cosette, we now have our second character poster from the film's official website, this time of Hugh Jackman's Jean Valjean:
The tagline, "Freedom Is Mine", is from the first song Valjean sings after being released from prison, having spent 19 years on a chain gang for stealing a loaf of bread to save his starving family:
"Freedom is mine, the earth is still,
I feel the wind, I breathe again,
And the sky clears, the world is waking.
Drink from the pool, how clean the taste.
Never forget the years, the waste.
Nor forgive them what they've done.
They are the guilty, everyone.
The day begins, and now let's see,
What this new world will do for me..."
Then he winds up breaking his parole after learning that the world is none-too-forgiving to a former convict, regardless of the crime, and spends the next 20 years being chased by the ruthless Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), who I expect will be getting his own character poster soon.
Speaking of character posters, another was recently spotted (and posted on Tumblr) at New York's NBC Experience Store. That one was of Marius and Cosette (Eddie Redmayne and Amanda Seyfried), with a tagline from their duet, "A Heart Full of Love."
So there's definitely more coming, and hopefully one of the barricade boys soon. Another trailer is rumored to be on the horizon - possibly next week - as well.
Les Miserables opens in theaters on Christmas Day.
Sun, October 7, 2012 
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. Taken 2 - $50 million
2. Hotel Transylvania - $26.3 million
3. Pitch Perfect - $14.7 million
4. Looper - $12.2 million
5. Frankenweenie - $11.5 million
6. End of Watch - $4 million
7. Trouble With the Curve - $3.8 million
8. House at the End of the Street - $3.6 million
9. The Master - $1.8 million
10. Finding Nemo 3D - $1.5 million
Liam Neeson, as we know, has a special set of skills, which this weekend included making an utterly unnecessary sequel a great big hit. Taken 2 earned an estimated $50 million in theaters this weekend, about twice what the original Taken film earned on its opening weekend in 2009. Overseas, the sequel earned an additional $67 million. With a reported budget around of around $45 million, it's a good bet that this family will be taking another unfortunate vacation in the future.
The Halloween kid-movie faceoff was virtually no contest, as Hotel Transylvania easily dominated with $26.3 million, dropping only 38% from its first-place opening last weekend. Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, on the other hand, disappointed with $11.5 million, with families opting for the animated comedy over the black-and-white stop motion. Could also be some creepy-themed kid movie oversaturation, what with these two movies and ParaNorman all in theaters over the last few weeks.
It was better news for Pitch Perfect, which rode excellent word-of-mouth from it's limited release last weekend to open wide with an excellent $14.7 million. Looper also held on well from its second weekend, dropping only 41% to earn $12.2 million. Still in limited release, The Perks of Being a Wallflower continues to perform strongly, earning $1.5 million from just 221 theaters.
Next weekend brings the latest Kevin James comedy, Here Comes the Boom, as well as the horror film Sinister (which is actually getting some decent reviews) and Ben Affleck's hostage drama Argo.
Sun, September 30, 2012 
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. Hotel Transylvania - $43 million
2. Looper - $21.2 million
3. End of Watch - $8 million
4. Trouble With the Curve - $7.5 million
5. House at the End of the Street - $7.1 million
6. Pitch Perfect - $5.2 million
7. Finding Nemo 3D - $4 million
8. Resident Evil: Retribution - $3 million
9. The Master - $2.74 million
10. Won't Back Down - $2.7 million
This weekend provided the jolt the box office sorely needed as Hotel Transylvania, the animated monster mash featuring the voices of Adam Sandler and friends opened to an awesome $43 million - the highest September opening of all time. Naturally, it had the added benefit of 3D pricing, but with an A- Cinemascore and Halloween still a few weeks away, this one should continue to do well for awhile.
It was also good news for Looper, the sci-fi actioner starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which opened with a solid $21.2 million. The film opened to great reviews and grosses actually went up as the weekend progressed, meaning word-of-mouth on this one is good as well.
Now, Pitch Perfect may look like a miss, since it opened in sixth place behind movies that went barely noticed a week ago. But that film, about a high school acapella competition (and looks like it might be worth it just for Rebel Wilson), opened in only 335 theaters and actually earned a higher per-screen average than anything else in the top ten. It opens wide next weekend.
There's no good way to spin the opening weekend for Won't Back Down, which crashed and burned with only $2.7 million in wide release. The film, which ran into some controversy over the ongoing charter schools issue, didn't score with critics or audiences.
In limited release, The Perks of Being a Wallflower did very well, opening with $1.1 million in just 102 theaters.
Next weekend brings a Halloween movie face-off, as Tim Burton's Frankenweenie tries to fend off the second weekend of Hotel Transylvania. Liam Neeson returns to do his badass thing some more in Taken 2, and limited release we have both V/H/S and Butter.
Also on Wednesday, select theaters will be having screenings of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, presented by Fathom Events, to celebrate the film's 30th Anniversary and upcoming blu-ray release. That one's always worth seeing on the big screen, so click here for showtimes if you'd like to check it out.
Tue, September 25, 2012 This season of Dancing With the Stars finally served a purpose tonight by premiering the first TV spot for Les Miserables. The internet served an even better purpose when the Les Miserables Twitter page posted the same spot online so that we didn't have to sit through Dancing With the Stars to see it.
Entitled "Dream", the spot is basically an updated version of the first trailer, showcasing Anne Hathaway's gut-wrenching version of"I Dreamed a Dream", but with a few new glimpses of Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert (possibly from "Stars"?), and a shot of poor Eponine that's sure to make fans of that love triangle burst into tears:
Cannot wait for this. Just like the new film poster that debuted this week, I love how the dissolve at the end of the TV spot goes from little Isabelle Allen's Cosette to that iconic image of Cosette from the stage musical (which is based on the original Emile Bayard illustration for Victor Hugo's novel). That's just beautiful.
Les Miserables opens in theaters on Christmas Day.
