CptBuz runs and buzzes in the lead, having front loaded his studio slate, including high flyer "Eagle Eye" ..
Mzpro5 indicates that East Ave. is uptown, moving into second with the high performing suckage of "Beverly Hills Chihuahua", PTA scoring "RockNRolla" and this weeks box office champion "Max Payne"..
EdieRaye vaults into third, similarly scoring with talking dogs (despite their crappy IMDb score) and "Eagle Eye" and "Max Payne" performing well above their cost... Water slides to fourth, possibly while considering where her stream should flow, since she has no future movies yet on her slate...
Zipper's fly is open, as she moves down to fifth, burdened by "Humbolt County" (showing no stats despite having opened), "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" not winning any ticket buyers over, and the flaccid "Sex Drive" needing some viagra... Alt-Ctrl-Tom is tied for 6th, hurt by the underperforming and expensive "Body of Lies", but with half of my slate yet to open and potentially positively affecting inertial movement upwards ...
Lily34 joins in the tie for 6th, similarly hurt by "Flash of Genius" expensive underperformance (aside from IMDb score) and "Body of Lies". In reality, she should be placed higher - since "W" has opened but is statistically empty (insert joke here) ...
Newwavegurly is all alone in the basement, but has the majority of her slate yet to open, so her future may be so bright that she has to wear shades ...
Yet again, "quality" isn't the primary arbitrator for success - as "Bevery Hills Chihuahua" performed well above it's price tag, and continues to contribute in multiple categories. (Though it is definitely a barking dog for IMDb score.) "Eagle Eye" joins "Righteous Kill" as the best selection values for the cost, continuing to add points in categories well after its release. As noted in a previous post, "Max Payne" delivers in its release week with box office victory, certainly justifying its relatively inexpensive cost to the moguls who selected it. "Body of Lies", though apparently well received by those who went to it, didn't have enough people actually go to it.
Lots of potential blockbusters yet to open this season, and possibly there will be some other "value picks" in the upcoming releases as well. Will those who front-loaded their slates prove victorious? We will see fellow moguls, we shall see...
Action-packed "Max Payne" shot its way to the top of the North American box office, grossing $18 million during the video game adaptation's first weekend in theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
The dark, atmospheric film, which stars Mark Wahlberg as a cop in search of the men who killed his wife and child, outshone Oliver Stone's much-talked-about "W.," which debuted at No. 4 with a take of $10.6 million.
"The estimates for 'W.' were all over the place," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "You can't really expect that a politically charged movie like that would take the weekend over a big video game adaptation with a movie star in the lead role."
"Max Payne" follows in the footsteps of games turned into films including the "Tomb Raider" movies starring Angelina Jolie, which were commercial hits but critically clobbered by gamers.
Stone's portrait of U.S. President George W. Bush was released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
Walt Disney Co's family comedy "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" was kicked to the No. 2 spot with a take of $11.2 million, bringing its total receipts to $69.1 million.
The civil rights era movie "The Secret Life of Bees," which is based on a best-selling novel, was a close No. 3, debuting with take of $11.1 million for the weekend.
"Max Payne" was released by 20th Century Fox and "The Secret Life of Bees" by Fox Searchlight, both units of News Corp.
The action thriller "Eagle Eye" slipped to the No. 5 spot on the list with a take of $7.3 million, bringing its total so far to $81.3 million.
"Eagle Eye" was released by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.
Summit Entertainment's teen comedy "Sex Drive," debuted at No. 9 on the weekend roster with a total of $3.6 million.
Los Angeles (E! Online) – Leonardo DiCaprio? Russell Crowe? Nope.
If you wanted a movie star that turned on—and turned out—the young audience this weekend, then your best option wasn't DiCaprio or Crowe, or their A-list-credentialed Body of Lies.
"I think they went for Quarantine, obviously," Exhibitor Relations box office analyst Jeff Bock said today.
The $12 million horror movie "starring" a team of TV actors, led by Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter, trumped the $100 million, Ridley Scott-directed political thriller, $14.2 million to $13.1 million, per studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations.
And that wasn't the worst of it for Body of Lies.
The DiCaprio-Crowe movie didn't finish second at the box office. It finished third, lorded over by both Quarantine and, um, Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($17.5 million; $52.5 million overall), which scored its second straight No. 1 weekend finish.
"Talk about a paradigm shift," Bock said.
For DiCaprio, Body of Lies was his latest underperforming thriller, after 2006's Blood Diamond.
"Look for Leo to jump into tights pretty soon," Bock said. "I think he's next in line to jump into a superhero costume."
Other box office highlights:
• After two weekends, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist ($6.5 million; $20.8 million overall) doesn't look like it'll make Juno money. But the Michael Cera comedy only cost $12 million to produce, and as a result, Bock joked, distributor Sony has "emo money coming out of its ears."
• The disastrous debut of the fantasy film City of Ember ($3.2 million) could be likened to that of The Golden Compass, except The Golden Compass opened with way more money ($25.8 million).
• Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla rocked in limited release, grossing $141,000 at seven theaters for the highest per-theater average of any weekend movie.
• Grubby Anne Hathaway continued to do the trick for Rachel Getting Married, which stayed hot, grossing $464,336 from 27 theaters.
• The new football movie The Express ($4.7 million) got clotheslined. Even George Clooney's own non-hit gridiron movie, Leatherheads, opened with $12.7 million last spring.
• The Billy Graham biopic, Billy: The Early Years, which managed less than $200,000 at 282 theaters, made the remarkable run of fellow Christian-courting movie Fireproof ($3.2 million; $16.9 million overall) look all the more remarkable.
• Flash of Genius, Blindness and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People died last weekend, but, sadly, lingered, each grossing less than $800 per theater in inexplicable wide release. Take Flash of Genius out of that sentence, and the two remaining films made less than $300 per theater.
• Wall Street was down; Hollywood was up, with the top movies selling about $3.7 million more tickets compared to the same weekend last year. Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:
LOS ANGELES - Shia LaBeouf's conspiracy thriller "Eagle Eye" debuted at the top of the weekend box office with $29.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
The Paramount-DreamWorks release was the second No. 1 premiere for LaBeouf and director D.J. Caruso, who also teamed on 2007's hit "Disturbia."
Opening in second place with $13.6 million was another reunion, the Warner Bros. romantic drama "Nights in Rodanthe" featuring "The Cotton Club" and "Unfaithful" co-stars Richard Gere and Diane Lane.
The previous weekend's top flick, Sony's thriller "Lakeview Terrace," slipped to No. 3 with $7 million, raising its 10-day total to $25.7 million. (...)
Spike Lee's World War II drama "Miracle at St. Anna" opened weakly with $3.5 million, coming in at No. 9. The Disney release features Derek Luke in a saga of four soldiers from an all-black unit stuck behind enemy lines in Italy.
Two other movies — Fox Searchlight's "Choke" and Lionsgate's "The Lucky Ones" — opened in narrower release of about 400 theaters each, compared to 3,510 cinemas for "Eagle Eye."
"Choke," starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston in a quirky tale of a sex addict who feigns choking in restaurants to get money for his mom's psychiatric care, opened outside the top 10 with $1.3 million.
"The Lucky Ones," a road trip tale among three Iraq War veterans (Tim Robbins, Michael Pena and Rachel McAdams), bombed with just $208,000.
"Eagle Eye" stars LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan as strangers hurled together in an escalating series of politically motivated adventures, their lives controlled by a mysterious female voice directing their actions through technology.
"The conceit of the film is intriguing to all," said DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan. "Between GPS, employee codes, bank PIN numbers, this could conceivably be within the realm of possibility within a few years." The movie secures LaBeouf's position as a steady box-office draw. His other credits include "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" and "Transformers," along with the latter's upcoming sequel.
"Nights in Rodanthe" features Gere and Lane as strangers who fall for each other over a weekend at a secluded inn as a hurricane approaches. The romance made for good counterprogramming to the action-oriented "Eagle Eye," said Warner Bros. general sales manager Jeff Goldstein. Female movie-goers made up three-fourths of the audience for "Nights in Rodanthe," he said.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "Eagle Eye," $29.2 million.
2. "Nights in Rodanthe," $13.6 million.
3. "Lakeview Terrace," $7 million.
4. "Fireproof," $6.5 million.
5. "Burn After Reading," $6.2 million.
6. "Igor," $5.5 million.
7. "Righteous Kill," $3.803 million.
8. "My Best Friend's Girl," $3.8 million.
9. "Miracle at St. Anna," $3.5 million.
10. "Tyler Perry's the Family That Preys," $3.2 million.
i picked a lot of movies i wouldn't see. and my judgment on box office draw is still off. i'm not very good at this moguls stuff, ya know.
but i'm good with this:
yes, indeed, you are.
who knows? there's still lots of time to go in this season, maybe your mogul slate could still rock the theater. but please, no more violence with mzpro5 ... it scares the grips.
I looked for Fireproof but it didn't make the list. Thought it might be a good buy if it was cheap enough. Don't think it will be hit or anything but it is only opening on about 1,000 screens and it has a built-in audience. Church groups are already buying up blocks of tickets.
*snip*
That boys and girls is my good deed for the day. I went off on one of my rambles that included reminiscing about the first time I saw She's Gotta Have It to my 30 page term paper on the montage sequence from Battleship Potemkin. See what I mean? Saved by the delete button!
Hey Moguls! If you want to have one of this weekends movies on your slate, you need to make sure you have it on your slate before Midnight (pacific time) Thursday night.
I looked for Fireproof but it didn't make the list. Thought it might be a good buy if it was cheap enough. Don't think it will be hit or anything but it is only opening on about 1,000 screens and it has a built-in audience. Church groups are already buying up blocks of tickets.
*snip*
That boys and girls is my good deed for the day. I went off on one of my rambles that included reminiscing about the first time I saw She's Gotta Have It to my 30 page term paper on the montage sequence from Battleship Potemkin. See what I mean? Saved by the delete button!
Hey Moguls! If you want to have one of this weekends movies on your slate, you need to make sure you have it on your slate before Midnight (pacific time) Thursday night.
At this moment, I have "Eagle Eye" on my slate - and it's staying there. I'm intrigued by the film, the last two movies Shia LeBeouf has been in were blockbusters, and I think it will do well across the categories - particularly for its price. "Nights In Rodanthe" has received some good reviews, reunites Richard Gere and Diane Lane and their screen chemistry, and should be quite popular amongst those who like romantic tearjerkers. "Miracle at St. Anna" also has some solid potential, with Spike Lee directing a compelling war-themed story - though the initial reviews at Rotten Tomatoes aren't terribly positive. Greg Clark's "Choke" looks like the likely PTA winner, opening at limited locations with positive advance reviews, and a built in audience for those who were fans of Chuck Palahniuk's bestselling novel. (He was also the author of "Fight Club", which we can't talk about )
It should be an interesting weekend - a large number of quality movies to choose from, both as a theater goer and as a fantasy mogul. Remember, if you want to have a new release this week on your slate, make sure to get your choice(s) in place before midnight pacific on Thursday ... don't linger in the ticket line and miss the movie
Water moves into sole possession of first place as "Lakeview Terrace" and "My Best Friend's Girl" rain upon her slate...
CptBuz bucks into second place, with the addition of "Appaloosa" to the buzz and run stable..
Zipper wraiths into third, with "Ghost Town" laughing up her slate .. Mzpro5 slips his women into a righteous kill tie for fourth, adding no films this past week..
Newwavegurly burns without reading to tie for fourth, also adding no films this past week but benefiting from its continued strong performance...
Lily34 preys into sole possession of sixth, corralling "Appaloosa" into joining her slate ...
Bringing up the rear (insert joke here), are Alt-Ctrl-Tom and EdieRaye, adding no films this week and each hoping for a righteous kill with their future selections...
As I'd posted the box office results and a quick analysis earlier, I won't repeat it here ... other than a couple of observations. "Appaloosa" came in second on PTA points (the unselected "Duchess" romping over the field) and has a solid IMDb score of 7.3, and may pay off in future box office dividends as well if the good word of mouth translates when it goes into wider release. And "Righteous Kill" was clearly a righteous $2 choice, delivering more box office, top 5 points, and a higher IMDb score than a number of substantially more expensive films.
The upcoming weekend has a number of interesting films opening ... the suspense mounts! Who will the top movie mogul be this season? Who?
"Igor" rebounded to finish in the top 5! Go figure.
I saw that. Still, I'm glad I dropped it.
Oh, and I forgot to mention my encounter with Righteous Kill last week. I was at the movie theater (finally got around to watching Wall-E) and as you walked in they had a HUGE stack of Righteous Kill posters. Trying to give them away. There were no takers while I was going through the line.
As for Mr. Wonderful - I am crossing my fingers AND toes that he nails Dreiberg. Watchmen is THE movie I am looking forward to next year. Of all the comic book adaptations this one will get the most scrutiny from die-hard fans. It will be a tough sell. The majority won't have heard of Watchmen so it won't have the instant name recognition of, say, Spiderman. Yet for the minority who have read Watchmen - it is almost sacred. You know, some mighty big names have been kicked around to play Wilson's role including John Cusack who really wanted the part.
"Igor" rebounded to finish in the top 5! Go figure. As much as the trailer for "Lakeview Terrace" left me cold - I love that Patrick Wilson's star is rising, he's fantastic. And I admit to a little pleasure that Dane Cook's ascendancy may be flattening out a bit...
Samuel L. Jackson has opened at the top of the box office for a second time in 2008. His racially-charged, crooked-cop flick Lakeview Terrace (Sony) is the new No. 1 movie in America, as I first reported Friday night, with a $15.6 million opening. The movie clearly "clicked" with audiences, surging almost 26 percent on Saturday from Friday's $5.1 million opening day, and Sony is anticipating $3.92 million today. The three-day for Terrace is about 15 percent higher than the $13.5 million that I projected Friday night. Jackson opened much bigger at No. 1 back in February with Jumper ($27.3 million), and Lakeview Terrace represents only the all-time 13th-best opening for him, about on par with 2000's Rules of Engagement ($15 million).
(...)
Actor Patrick Wilson's star continues to rise quickly. He opened to excellent reviews on Broadway in All My Sons, also starring John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest and Katie Holmes on Thursday night in New York City. Add to his resume the weekend’s No. 1 movie, next month's Passengers (Sony), Tom Cruise's Valkyrie (MGM/UA) due on Christmas Day and Zack Snyder's hyper-buzzed Watchmen (Warner Bros.) set for March, and Wilson's trajectory seems pointed to superstardom.
(...)
The Coen Brothers's Burn After Reading (Focus) will finish the weekend at No. 2 in exactly the range I called for Friday night. The studio-estimated $11.29 million for the goofy spy comedy was down just 41 percent from opening weekend, and Burn is already the all-time fourth-best grossing movie from Joel and Ethan Coen, trailing only last year's Oscar winner No Country for Old Men ($74.2 million cume), O Brother, Where Art Thou? ($45.5 million) and The Ladykillers ($39.8 million.
The new Dane Cook R-rated comedy My Best Friend's Girl (Lionsgate) will slow down the stand-up-comic-turned-actor's film careera little. With an opening of $8.3 million and a third-place finish, the movie is only the comic's fifth-best opening as a lead, behind Good Luck Chuck ($13.6 million), Dan in Real Life ($11.8 million), Employee of the Month ($11.4 million) and Mr. Brooks ($10 million). This movie is comparable to his first film vehicle, Waiting ($6 million opening), and it is hard to see how BFG will push much past $20 million domestic.
Igor (MGM), the new low-budget animated family film received a much larger-than-expected 64 percent bounce, and that has translated to an estimated $8 million and a No. 4 finish. Meanwhile, Righteous Kill (Overture) appears to have nosed out Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (Lionsgate) for the weekend $7.7 million-$7.5 million.
The other new wide release, Ghost Town (DreamWorks/Paramount) starring HBO Extras star Ricky Gervais, has stumbled out of the gate with just $5.17 million. Written and directed by Steven Spielberg pal David Koepp, Town was on a limited number of screens concentrated on the east and west coasts, but its $3,436 Per Theater Average was still very soft.
Speaking of PTA, Saul Dibb's The Duchess (Paramount Vantage) was the biggest success among specialty releases. The Keira Knightley/Ralph Fiennes period costume drama posted a $29,000 PTA at 7 locations. Apaloosa (Warner Bros.), directed by Ed Harris and starring Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger, scored the No. 2 PTA, nabbing $18,429 at 14 playdates.
3-DAY STUDIO ESTIMATES 1. NEW Lakeview Terrace (Sony) — $15.6 million, $6,331 PTA, $15.6 million cume 2. Burn After Reading (Focus) — $11.29 million, $4,251 PTA, $36.4 million cume 3. NEW My Best Friend's Girl (Lionsgate) — $8.3 million, $3,187 PTA, $8.3 million cume 4. NEW Igor (MGM) — $8 million, $3,425 PTA, $8 million cume 5. Righteous Kill (Overture) — $7.7 million, $2,443 PTA, $28.8 million cume 6. Tyler Perry's The Family That Preys (Lionsgate) — $7.5 million, $3,623 PTA, $28.35 million cumez 7. The Women (Picturehouse) — $5.3 million, $1,772 PTA, $19.2 million cume 8. NEW Ghost Town (DreamWorks/Paramount) — $5.17 million, $3,436 PTA, $5.17 million cume 9. The Dark Knight (Warner Bros.) — $2.95 million, $1,549 PTA, $521.92 million cume 10. The House Bunny (Sony) — $2.8 million, $1,047 PTA, $45.72 million cume
I wasn't interested in Appaloosa until I read Variety's review. Harris and Mortensen are both interesting actors.
While I don't understand Cook's appeal I know he is popular with the kids. One of my neighbors made me sit through a few minutes of one of his routines - that is as long as I lasted. And Kate Hudson might be considered this generation's Meg Ryan. My nieces and their friends consider How To Lose A Guy a classic. She IS romantic comedy for them. And to be fair - she is pretty good at it. I've watched one or two (or five) of her movies. If I pick anything up it will probably be that one. Or Appaloosa based on that one review. Or I might go back to my faithful Igor. Or....
Yeah, my niece and nephews love Dane Cook. I blame hormones.
I went with no new movies this week ... just couldn't get behind any of them, even though some of them are certain to contribute PTA and Top 5 points. I'm hoping the rest of my slate makes up for it.
I wasn't interested in Appaloosa until I read Variety's review. Harris and Mortensen are both interesting actors.
While I don't understand Cook's appeal I know he is popular with the kids. One of my neighbors made me sit through a few minutes of one of his routines - that is as long as I lasted. And Kate Hudson might be considered this generation's Meg Ryan. My nieces and their friends consider How To Lose A Guy a classic. She IS romantic comedy for them. And to be fair - she is pretty good at it. I've watched one or two (or five) of her movies. If I pick anything up it will probably be that one. Or Appaloosa based on that one review. Or I might go back to my faithful Igor. Or....
Ah, poor Igor. If you told me that there was a movie opening this weekend starring:
Steve Buscemi John Cleese Jennifer Coolidge John Cusack Sean Hayes Eddie Izzard Jay Leno Molly Shannon Christian Slater AND James Lipton as himself
I would so be there. But the reviews have started rolling in. Everyone agrees that the premise is promising and the cast amazing. That isn't stopping the movie from being universally panned. So I am dropping it from my slate too. Haven't decided if I am going to replace it with something this weekend or wait and add something at a later date. Of course, if it turns out to be a runaway success I am blaming you!
Yeah, potential wasted is a shame. additional example: my life Of course maybe "Igor" will actually deliver some goodness to go with the great cast ... if so, feel free to blame me.
I think I'm going to pass on all new releases this week.. just can't bring myself to choose "Lakeview Terrace" when I dislike the trailer so much, and "My Best Friends Girl" with Dane Cook as a romantic lead. Yeah, uh, no.
And it isn't because EdieRaye scared me off of "Igor"
Ah, poor Igor. If you told me that there was a movie opening this weekend starring:
Steve Buscemi John Cleese Jennifer Coolidge John Cusack Sean Hayes Eddie Izzard Jay Leno Molly Shannon Christian Slater AND James Lipton as himself
I would so be there. But the reviews have started rolling in. Everyone agrees that the premise is promising and the cast amazing. That isn't stopping the movie from being universally panned. So I am dropping it from my slate too. Haven't decided if I am going to replace it with something this weekend or wait and add something at a later date. Of course, if it turns out to be a runaway success I am blaming you!
Hey Moguls! If you want to have one of this weekends movies on your slate, you need to make sure you have it on your slate before Midnight (pacific time) Thursday night.
At this moment, I have "My Best Friend's Girl" on my slate - of course, that may change... twitch! purely a fantasy mogul pick, if it lasts. There's not a chance in hell that I'm ever going to watch that film, ever ever ever.
The trailer for "Lakeview Terrace" leaves me cold, despite the presence of the most wonderful Patrick Wilson and Samuel mothafukka Jackson, though I suspect it will win the weekend. "Appaloosa" should have good legs beyond this week, if it is as good as it appears it may be ... Depending upon how wide "The Duchess" opens, it may rock the PTA points for this week.
Aside from additonal box office dollar contributions, holdover points in the Top 5 category (and maybe PTA as well) from last week releases are likely, for "Burn After Reading" most assuredly and possibly for "Righteous Kill" and "The Family That Preys" as well.
"Battle In Seattle" isn't available for selection in our league ... I remember living through it, including giving reports of the riots from my office window to co-workers at other offices, getting hit with tear gas while I was making my way home from work through a demonstrating crowd of anarchists, watching out my window as the police pushed the crowd up from downtown into the densely populated Capitol Hill neighborhood where I live, and wandering through downtown after it was all over just dazed at what my city looked like and what had happened to it. by the way - getting hit with tear gas - not recommended. and anarchists? so not a fan.
Based in that, I doubt I'll go see it ... though I will watch it on cable and/or DVD, and likely spend a fair amount of time comparing flashback-memories to what the filmmakers put together.
And remember, if you want to have a new release this week on your slate, make sure to get your choice(s) in place before midnight pacific on Thursday ... don't linger in the ticket line and miss the movie
Updated standings ....
Action-packed "
"The estimates for 'W.' were all over the place," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "You can't really expect that a politically charged movie like that would take the weekend over a big video game adaptation with a 
The civil rights era movie "
Los Angeles (E! Online) – 
yes, indeed, you are. 
Uh ... thanks ... ? 
