Box Office Boffo: I See a "New Moon" Rising

Well this weekend there were absolutely no surprises when it came to the box office tally. Like every expert out there predicted, the box office was going to be aloof with tweens, teens and lovesick women who believe in supernatural love stories.... This.... Is "Box Office Boffo"!

Like nobody saw it coming, for weeks, I have been mentioning how much I have dreaded this weekend, for one reason, and one reason only, and that is the number one film of the weekend of November 20th.

As you can see, coming in first, with absolutely no surprise: "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" finished the weekend with a whopping $141 million dollars total (To put in comparison, that is more than the other nine movies made this weekend combined.) making this, the third-highest opening weekend ever (Behind "The Dark Knight" and "Spider-Man 3").

The amount brought in is a lot higher than originally expected. Making "Twilight" a certifiable Box Office Hit, much to my own personal chagrin.

Sandra Bullock has once again proven her Box Office Clout, with a huge opening for her newest film: "The Blind Side". The drama, features Bullock as a mentor to an African American youngster who comes from a broken home, who grows up to become a NFL player (This is story of Michael Oher, of the Baltimore Ravens). Bullock, who seems to be riding on her most recent success: "The Proposal" (Forch Rating: 6 1/2 out of 10) always has a loyal fan-base who enjoy her movies, and I am one of them.

"2012" (Forch Rating: 7 1/2 out of 10) drops 2 spots to number three this week, bringing in another $26.5 million ($108 million in 2 weeks) This is a massive drop from the previous weekend. More than a 50% drop. Now this does not bode well for the continued success of the film, however worldwide gross has brought this $260 million to make movie near the point where it's going to see a profit. (See: "2012 isn't a flop afterall!" November 21st, 2009) After the crowds die down for "New Moon" it'll be interesting to see the "legs" this film has.

"Planet 51", the animated feature opens in fourth place with a respectable $12.6 million in receipts. This should not be looked at as a disappointment. With the overshadowing of "New Moon", and "Toy Story 3" on the horizon, I can imagine that families are going to save their money and check out other movie-going options.

"Disney's A Christmas Carol" looks to still be bringing in some respectable numbers, this weekend a take of $12.2 million ($79.8 million in 3 weeks) I will be reviewing this movie after this evening, as I am going to see it tonight (I know, it's been out for 3 weeks, but it's not a priority on my "Must see list"!) The Jim Carrey Animated movie, still has a few weeks before Christmas, and there is a chance that it will have some legs, but there is still a lot of competition from blockbusters in the coming weeks.

"Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire", the Oprah/Tyler Perry backed film is sticking in there, with another $11 million in business this weekend ($21.4 Million in 3 weeks). For sixth place, it's not doing too bad. Especially when you consider that it's got a near 50% increase in ticket sales from last weekend. So in fact it's doing better this week than last, the mark of "Word of mouth" advertising!

"The Men Who Stare At Goats" (Forch Rating: 9/10) pulled in a measly $2.77 million ($27.6 million in 3 weeks) coming in seventh. This is to be expected as well, as this is not a huge release, and it's going to start to get swept under the rug now for much larger box-office fare, like "New Moon" (Shudder)

"Couples Retreat" (Forch Rating: 5/10) is still hanging in there in Eighth Place with $1.95 million ($105 million in seven weeks). Look for this to be the last week that it is in the Top 10, as usually a movie won't last that long in this position, unless it's got some sort of "Staying Power", and this film is lucky to have survived as long as it has.

"The Fourth Kind", with Milla Jovovich comes in at ninth place with $1.73 million ($23.3 Million in three weeks). Again, don't look for this movie in theaters much longer, unless the theater has like 20 screens in it.

"Law Abiding Citizen" (Forch Rating: 6/10)is just eeeking into tenth place with another $1.61 million ($70 Million in six weeks). This movie has surpassed my expectations for how long it was going to last in theaters. But it was a pretty good movie, so how can I fault it?

So that is the Box Office Boffo for this week: Next week: Can "New Moon" hold onto the top spot? More than likely? Yes. With the "Lemming Effect" in full swing for the "Twilight Juggernaut" as well as the fact that there are 2 "Not so strong" films opening next weekend ("Old Dogs, with Robin Williams and John Travolta as well as "The Road" with Viggo Mortensen) look for everyone's favorite Vampire/Human couple to retain as next weekend's reigning champion. Until next time, the Basement lights are off.


By: Forch F. Fortier (Who reminds you that for as great as every 13 year old girl thinks that Edward is, Forch is much better, and much sexier, and sure, he doesn't have a ripped physique like Edward or the other dude who looks like a Native American (I can't remember his name, and why should I?) but at least he can eat garlic, and doesn't have to worry about growing fur!)

Box Office Boffo: It's The End Of The World As I Know It!

Well it's Sunday, and once again, it's "BOFFO-TIME!" This week, we saw one Blockbuster hit theaters, and several other releases hit the big screen. What happened? Let's find out in this week's installment of "Box Office Boffo"!!!

We're now in Mid-November, still a time of year that isn't very stong, box office wise, but judging by the amount of money brought in at theaters, The studios have to be happy that people are going to the movies.






There was very little doubt that opening at the theaters this week, that the #1 movie was going to be "2012" (Forch Rating: 7 1/2 out of 10). The Roland Emmerich Blockbuster finished its first weekend with an impressive $65 million in ticket sales. The question that begs to be answered, however is how much "Staying Power" does the film have. With a budget reported at about $260 million, 2012 is quite a ways away from breaking even, and it's going to need a second week at #1 to secure its chance at doing that. It's very unlikely that word of mouth is going to maintain ticket sales for this film.

In second place, down one spot, "Disney's A Christmas Carol" brought in another $22.3 million bringing in a total of $63.3 million in its second week in release. Compared to the $31 million from last weekend, it looks like there may be some staying power to this Robert Zemeckis "Future Classic". Generally, the second weekend will drop about 50% from the first, and this is not the case. So look to see this film to remain in the Top 10 for the holiday season, and perhaps a spike in ticket sales closer to Christmas.

In Third: "The Men Who Stare At Goats" (Forch Rating: 9/10) sticks around in the Third place spot, taking in another $6.2 Million ($23.4 Million/2 Weeks of release) The George Clooney comedy looks like it has done pretty well in the time it has been out. Box office grosses are over 50% less than they were last week, so don't look for it to stay in the top 10 much longer with some strong films coming out in the next few weeks.

Fourth Place shows a newcomer to the top 10: "Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire" brought in $6.09 Million which actually opened on November 8th ($8.91 million in 2 weeks total) received a huge push by having Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey adding promotional assistance to the film, hence the boost in ticket sales. "Precious" won the audience award in January at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. I, of course won't see the movie, but it does feature one of the women of my dreams: Sherri Shepherd (Yes, she's hot, deal with it!).

In Fifth: "This Is It" (Rob Johnson enjoyed it) slides three spots, bringing in $5.1 million more ($67.2 million in 3 weeks). I really don't have much more to say about this film...

"The Fourth Kind" drops to Sixth place, with $4.74 million ($20.6 Million in 2 weeks)

Seventh Place sees "Couples Retreat" (Forch Rating: 5/10) in the same position it was in last week. The Vince Vaughn comedy brought in another $4.25 million ($102 million in 6 weeks) This film still has some staying power, which is really surprising, because this film should have been a lot funnier...

"Paranormal Activity" moves down to Eighth place, with another $4.2 Million ($104 Million to date) which is great to see, considering that word of mouth is what got this movie the amount of money it has brought in.

In Ninth, "Law Abiding Citizen" (Forch Rating: 6/10) brought in another $3.93 Million ($67.3 Million in Five Weeks)

And rounding out the top 10, "The Box" brought in $3.19 million ($13.2 Million in 2 weeks) This film has failed to perform, and it looks like those who have seen it, were very disappointed.

Failing to make the Top 10: "Pirate Radio", I was extremely disappointed to see that the film was not even brought to local theaters here. It was a really good movie, and thank GOD for the ability to buy import DVD's....

So that was the Top 10. Not a lot of money brought in by anything other than 2012, look for next week to be nuts, and 2012 to be knocked out of first place, and why???


Well "New Moon" (Shudder) comes out, as well as the Children's film: "Planet 51" (Featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) are going to being in some serious cash. I don't think that Planet 51 will do so well as Tristar Pictures' Animated feature is going to be overshadowed by "New Moon"... Look for every 15 year old girl to shriek with glee at Edward and Bella's latest chapter of romance.

For me? I won't see it. Unless a REALLY attractive woman wants to go with me, then I will sit through it, even though I really don't want to..






By: Forch F. Fortier (Who reminds you that despite "New Moon" being such an anticipated "Lemming Effect" movie, Forch is smart enough to know that he doesn't get suckered by "The Hype"... Unless of course it's the "Flash" movie, then of course, I will geek out huge! BTW: If Warner Bros is looking for an unknown to play the Flash, I fill out a costume well!)

Box Office Boffo: Bah Humbug!!!

Well it's Sunday, and you know what that means! Time for another Edition of "Box Office Boffo"!!!

We had Four movies in wide release this weekend, and judging by the marketing of the three, the placing of each was more or less to be expected, so really, there are not too many surprises at all in store for this week!








The new releases this weekend, I would not consider them to be as "low end" as the week previous, but this is still a time of year that is not traditionally known as a huge moviegoing season. But this week's box office takes show an increase from the week previous, if you were to compare the top 10 movies last week to this week you'll see a reasonable jump in overall ticket sales, which is a good thing for Hollywood, at least.


The #1 movie of the week comes as no surprise. "Disney's: A Christmas Carol", featuring the talents of Jim Carrey blew away the competition this weekend pulling in a total of $31 million dollars. I do see this as an overall disappointment, though. Judging by the approximate amount of money that it took to make the movie, and the amount of advertising that Disney put behind the movie, I don't see this as a huge success, even though about $17 million separates #1 from #2. I imagine that this movie would have done better, had it been released closer to Christmas.





Speaking of #2, "This Is It" maintained a high spot on the charts, pulling in another $14 million, bringing its tally thus far to $57.9 million in just its second week at theaters. Not too bad, I suppose, considering that it's a documentary. Let's just hope that some of the money being made off of Michael Jackson's legacy gets put to good use. (It never really does)

Coming in third, "The Men Who Stare At Goats" (Forch Rating: 9/10) with a total of $13.3 million. This total for me should be seen as a victory for this film, as there was not a lot of marketing behind it, and movies like this one generally get by on word of mouth, so this movie (Which I highly recommend) did well with a third place finish. The key to this film's success will determine on whether or not it generates positive buzz from the people who have seen it.

In Fourth Place, ironically enough, "The Fourth Kind". The creepy paranormal/alien abduction film took in $12.5 million, a respectable take. Another film that can do good things, depending on the Buzz that it generates.

Fifth place sees "Paranormal Activity" still holding strong, and taking in another $8.6 million. Now nearing the $100 million mark, it just goes to show how much that word of mouth can spell a lot of the success of a film. It has been so successful, that it has out-placed a movie that was debuting this very week.

And that film: "The Box" debuted in Sixth place with a paltry $7.86 million in ticket sales. As I mentioned last week in Box Office Boffo, I had said that this movie could have been the dark horse of the releases, and it debuted very poorly, but then again, I did say that it could do really bad, or really good.

Seventh place gives "Couples Retreat" more money (Not much more) than last week's tally. $6.43 million was brought in this week (Compared to $6.1 last week), bringing a 5-week total of $96 million. A respectable amount for an alright movie (Forch rating: 5/10).

In Eighth, "Law Abiding Citizen" with Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx, brought in another $6.17 million dollars, bringing $60.9 million in just 4 weeks. This, I see as a good total overall, since the movie had no major studio backing it, and it did not have a lot of promotion behind it. (Forch Rating: 6/10)

"Where The Wild Things Are" drops from sixth place last week, down to ninth, bringing in $4.22 million ($69.3 million in 4 weeks). I can only imagine that the studio (Warner Bros.) sees this as a massive disappointment, due to the fact that the film cost $80 million to make. I would imagine that WB is hoping that it does well on Home Video.

And rounding up the Top Ten is "Astro Boy". This MASSIVE disaster managed another $2.59 million in ticket sales, now tallying a 3-week total of a whopping $15.1 million dollars. I imagine that among the films of 2009, this has to be one of the biggest flops, considering that Astro Boy cost about $40 million to make, and it's pulled in about 1/3 of that... Yeah. Flop...

So that's the Top 10 for this week, no real surprises at all, really... Here's a look at Next week's releases:

Expect the biggest of the releases next week to be "2012". The "Disaster of all Disaster" movies, starring John Cusack, and directed by One-Dimensional Director: Roland Emmerich (I say that, because he seems to only be interested in destroying the earth). The film is a special-effects junkie's wet dream, by the looks of it. Look for it to either be a Huge hit, or a Huge Flop. I don't see another of next week's films beating it out.


The only other wide-release next week is "Pirate Radio". This is actually a film that has come out already in Europe, but it was entitled "The Boat that Rocked". The movie has a great ensemble cast, featuring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans and Nick Frost. It's about a band of DJ's in england who board a ship and broadcast from the water, so that Rock and Roll can be played in England, where it had been banned. The trailer looks awesome, and I will be reviewing it for sure, next week when it is released!

Until Next Time! The Basement is closed... :P







By Forch F. Fortier (Who reminds you that in a world.... Filled with fear.... One Man.... Had the courage to fight back.... His name... Was Forch.... Sorry. I was just thinking that my life was turning into a movie trailer....)

Box Office Boffo: If "This Is It", Please Let Me Know!

It's Sunday, and judging by the amount of Candy I gave out, and the amount of houses that had their lights off, it looks like people had better things to do than Trick Or Treat. But was it because they were at the Cinemas? Let's take a look at this weekend's box office tally in this week's edition of: BOX OFFICE BOFFO!



Judging by the selection of New Releases this weekend, it looks like the studios themselves were not anticipating much in way of Box Office gross. There were a bunch of "Lower-End" releases, with the exception of the Michael Jackson Tribute/Documentary: This Is It.


And this week really holds no surprise at all. "This Is It" opened with the #1 spot, taking in $21.3 Million dollars (A respectable amount for the type of film). Having opened a few days prior, the movie's made a total of $32.5 million dollars. I'm sure that this is a very profitable amount, as most documentaries cost very little to make.

Of course, I won't EVER see this movie, as I was not much of a fan of Jackson, and I really hate how much people turned him into a Saint after his death, even though he really wasn't. I'm not here to cast dispersions on his character, but aside from being a great entertainer, the man himself was no saint, and I feel that by glorifying him in this fashion, really shows how easily the public forgets things, especially when something shiny is dangled in front of them.

Uggggh.

Paranormal Activity is still holding strong, taking in another $16.5 million, bringing it's Box Office tally to $84.8 million total. Not bad for a movie that cost only $11 million to make! It seems that this is another "District 9"-type movie where word of mouth has helped the overall gross. Good to see!

Law Abiding Citizen (Forch Rating: 6/10) climbs up one spot from last week, and takes third place, with another $7.3 Million. Bringing it to a total of $51.4 million overall. Not bad for a 3-week tally.

Couple's Retreat (Forch Rating: 5/10) climbs up one spot to fourth, and took in another $6.1 million, bringing in a total of $86.7 million dollars in 4 weeks total. I am sure this is the type of movie that will do much better as a rental, as Vince Vaughn isn't pulling in the moviegoers as much as everyone seems to think that he does.

In fifth place, Saw VI, which brought in a measly $5.5 million ($22.8 million in 2 weeks) which is really disappointing to see (Not for me, of course). But like I said last weekend, people are coming to the realization that these movies are very stale, and no one really cares about them anymore. I imagine that Saws VII and VIII are not going to be much better, if they happen to even get made, that is.

In sixth, Where the Wild Things Are with $5.08 million. ($61.8 million in 3 weeks) which really is disappointing as well, as it looked like hopes were high on this one, but I don't think that it's going to pan out in the end.

The Stepfather came in seventh for the second straight weekend, bringing in $3.4 million ($24.7 million in 3 weeks). Just an awful looking movie... The trailer alone should tell you that, since the climax and the whole plot is pretty much given away in it.

Eighth place: Astro Boy... This Box-Office FLOP brought in another whopping $3.04 million in its second week, bringing its total to $10.9 million. A real disappointment, to be sure.

In ninth place: Amelia, the Amelia Earhart film starring Hillary Swank (Shudder) brought in $3 million, to bring its 2-week total to $8.31 million, which is respectable considering that it's in a limited-release, and really doesn't appeal to the mass-market moviegoer.

Rounding out the top 10, in Tenth Place: Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant. As I mentioned last week, I am sure the moviegoers are waiting for New Moon for their vampire fix, because $2.81 million in a second week is very, very crappy, and a 2-week tally over just over $10 million? Paltry! But then again, maybe the theatergoers know crap when they see it!

So this week? No better than last, really. But it's all relative to the time of the year. The larger releases either have already been released, and are heading toward home video (See This week's Celluloid Sell-Out on Tuesday for GI Joe!) or heading to theaters around Christmas.


Next week, I hope things will pick up a bit. Four reasonably big releases will be coming to theaters. The one that I am looking most forward to is "The Men Who Stare at Goats" with George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges.

We also have "The Fourth Kind" with Milla Jovovich which looks REALLY creepy, in a Blair-Witch kinda way.

Also the CGI-spectacle: "A Christmas Carol" comes to theaters, with a Jim Carrey-laden filled holiday treat, could we see another Grinch? Or are we looking at another "The Majestic"? I think I smell a potential hit, especially with Robert Zemeckis (Back To The Future, ForchMan movie #1!) at the helm!

And finally, "The Box" with Cameron Diaz, James Marsden and Frank Langella. This movie, looks to be the dark horse of the four, being that it looks like it could do really bad, but the premise might be enough to attract moviegoers, especially if there's a sellout for any of the three above. People might just walk into this one, and walk out very entertained.

I know I will be dying to see "The Men Who Stare At Goats" as I have been anticipating this since I first saw the Trailer in August. So expect a review of that one, at the very least this coming weekend, and perhaps another one, if there is time!


Until Next Weekend!

By: Forch F. Fortier (Who reminds you that he may not have the ability to kill a goat with his very mind, but he does have the ability to make the world's greatest grilled cheese without a spatula!!!)

Box Office Boffo: I "SAW" This Coming a Mile Away!

So this weekend's Box Office tally confirms what I had written yesterday. The Saw franchise is stale, and the fans know it, too!

The totals in general are typical for this time of year, seeing a decline in both the quality of releases, as well as the number of people going to the movies. It'll be several weeks before we see a jump in quality and quantity, with the Christmas releases nearing, as well as the Academy Award nominee-styled films set to be released around that time.



So Paranormal Activity won the box office tally this weekend with $22 million. Paramount put the movie out in wide release this weekend, and the movie going audience seemed to want to see that, rather than Saw VI (Thanks to a lot of word-of-mouth from the online community), which opened in second with a paltry $14.8 million, which is the lowest first weekend tally since the Original Saw film. The movie will still generate a profit, as it only cost $11,000,000 to make, which means that of course we're going to have a Saw VII (Actually there are still 2 Sequels in the works.) which is redundancy at work!



Where the Wild Things Are finished in third with $14.4 million, bringing its 2 week total to $54 million. This is a movie I have no intent to see, but it does look interesting. I know a lot of people enjoyed the book as children, however, not on my must-see list.

Law Abiding Citizen made another $12.7 million, and finished in fourth place. ($40.3 million in 2 weeks) (Forch Rating: 6 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches out of 10) This was a good movie, however quite predictable, hence the low score.

Couples Retreat finished in fifth with $11.1 million. ($78.2 Million in 3 weeks)
(Forch Rating: 5 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches out of 10) The movie had its moments, however it was not as great as it originally looked.

Astro Boy opened this weekend in sixth place with a paltry $7.02 million. A movie that looks good, however, I was never a fan of Astro Boy, so of course, it won't be a must-see for me.

The Stepfather (A movie that looks terrible, and I have no intent to see) finished seventh, with $6.5 million. This movie looks so bad, it looks like all of the film itself was put into the trailer.

In Eighth place, Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant opened to a miserable $6.35 million. This is a movie that was hyped quite a bit, but I have a feeling that the Twilight freaks are waiting for New Moon to come out to get their Undead Bloodsucker fix.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs still maintains a grip in the top ten with $5.6 million, bringing its six-week tally to $115 million. I'm going to wait for video for this one, however it looks quite funny.

Rounding out the top ten is Zombieland, which finished the weekend with another $4.3 million, tallying up to a total of $67.3 Million in its four weeks in release. (Forch Rating: 7 1/2 Grilled Cheese Sandwiches out of a possible 10) If you have not seen the movie, go and see it! It is a definite recommended viewing! I am going to go out on a limb and say that I think that it is Woody Harrelson's finest performance!



So all-in-all, quite an uneventful box-office weekend, and next week's is not looking to be much better, with the exception of Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day. The Michael Jackson Tribute movie: "This is it" is going to open, probably with the biggest opening, due to the Jackson-lemmings coming out in droves to worship him. Jared Hess' (Director of Napoleon Dynamite) latest "Oddity" is going to come out. Entitled "Gentlemen Broncos" it looks mildly entertaining, and The House of the Devil, another sub-par horror movie are all slated to rock the cinema-goers' pants off!