'Black Swan' continues its twirl overseas

LOS ANGELES: Despite "Tangled's" continued lock on first place, "Black Swan" landed just a feather away from taking the top spot at foreign theaters over the weekend, missing No. 1 by a mere $131,664.

An obvious "Oscar Bump" is strongly in play as international audiences in 29 territories boosted the mainstream art house wonder over the $150 million mark in global revenue with $16.7 million in weekend receipts.

Third place got an unexpected visitor as the Franco-Belgian comedy "Nothing to Declare" in just four territories earned an impressive $13.95 million and is approaching $50 million worldwide. For a film that most people stateside have never heard of, that's not a bad haul.

In six more territories than last week another Oscar darling, "The King's Speech," held steady in fourth place with $13.2 million and a global cumulative that is just a shilling shy of $200 million. And other Oscar contenders continued to make their mark in the Top 20, with "True Grit" in ninth place and "The Fighter" in 19th place, having just crossed the $100 million mark in global dollars.

Here are the top 20 movies at international theaters last weekend, followed by international gross for the weekend (excluding North America), number of theater locations, number of territories, worldwide gross to date (including North America), and number of weeks in release as compiled Wednesday by global media measurement company Rentrak Corp. and provided by Hollywood.com:

"Tangled," $16,871,286, 4,400 locations, 44 territories, $490,473,734, 12 weeks.

2. "Black Swan," $16,739,622, 3,484 locations, 29 territories, $155,421,621, 11 weeks.

3. "Nothing to Declare," $13,956,964, 1,129 locations, four territories, $46,882,950, three weeks.

4. "The King's Speech," $13,211,028, 3,893 locations, 26 territories, $199,976,798, 12 weeks.

5. "Sanctum," $11,958,392, 3,856 locations, 13 territories, $45,453,535, two weeks.

6. "The Green Hornet," $10,787,977, 7,822 locations, 59 territories, $200,046,313, five weeks.

7. "Yogi Bear," $9,278,119, 4,246 locations, 31 territories, $155,338,796, nine weeks.

8. "Kokowääh," $8,524,143, 876 locations, three territories, $21,659,756, two weeks.

9. "True Grit," $8,469,692, 3,385 locations, 16 territories, $177,921,814, eight weeks.

10. "Gulliver's Travels," $7,644,591, 1,992 locations, 36 territories, $183,300,808, eight weeks.

11. "Tron Legacy," $6,289,869, 2,075 locations, 26 territories, $356,084,840, nine weeks.

12. "No Strings Attached," $5,525,670, 3,098 locations, 17 territories, $71,811,219, four weeks.

13. "Gnomeo and Juliet," $5,348,317, 3,633 locations, seven territories, $34,476,335, one week.

14. "Just Go With It," $5,229,806, 4,463 locations, 13 territories, $44,182,893, one week.

15. "Hereafter," $4,487,711, 1,500 locations, 27 territories, $88,829,879, six weeks.

16. "The Tourist," $4,234,232, 2,601 locations, 50 territories, $230,777,671, 10 weeks.

17. "Femmine Contro Maschi," $3,362,288, locations NA, one territory, $10,450,509, two weeks.

18. "Detective K: Secret of a Peddler's Inn," $3,354,139, locations NA, one territory, $24,321,180, three weeks.

19. "The Fighter," $3,321,450, 1,942 locations, 19 territories, $102,820,739, 10 weeks.

20. "Gantz," $3,092,464, locations NA, one territory, $25,870,868, three weeks. (AP)

'The Roommate' slips into box office top spot

LOS ANGELES: The low-budget and widely panned horror flick "The Roommate" opened at the top of the North American box office during a sluggish weekend, industry estimates showed Sunday.

The psychological thriller starring Leighton Meester as a deranged college freshman obsessed with her roommate Minka Kelly grossed $15.6 million in its three days, despite receiving poor reviews.

Survey aggregator Rotten Tomatoes said only nine percent of critics gave the film a thumbs-up.

Box office earnings were dented this weekend by the hugely popular Super Bowl American football championship game, due to take place later Sunday.

"Sanctum," which also got trashed by critics -- came in a distant second. The 3-D underwater cave adventure produced by James Cameron of "Avatar" fame secured $9.2 million in ticket receipts.

Dropping into third was "No Strings Attached," a romantic romp starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. The Ivan Reitman film about casual sex between friends took in $8.4 million.

British historical drama "The King's Speech" jumped up one notch to fourth after drawing 12 nominations from the Oscars race. It has earned $84.1 million so far in 11 weeks of showing.

Action movie "The Green Hornet" got fifth with $6.1 million, pulling ahead of Anthony Hopkins exorcism thriller "The Rite." The horror inspired by 1970s classic "The Exorcist" captured $5.6 million.

Dropping to seventh with $5.4 million was "The Mechanic," while the Western "True Grit" came in eighth with $4.8 million.

Oscar-winning brothers Joel and Ethan Coen's remake features Jeff Bridges in the John Wayne role as a drunken, hard-nosed US marshal. The film has earned $155 million in seven weeks.

Vince Vaughn's relationship comedy "The Dilemma," in its fourth week in theaters, slipped from seventh to ninth with $3.4 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was "Black Swan," a gritty ballet-themed thriller starring Natalie Portman which earned $3.4 million, for a 10-week total of $95.9 million.

The film was nominated for five Oscars, including best picture and best performance by an actress for Portman.

China sets $1.5 bln box office record in 2010

BEIJING: China's film industry had a record year in 2010, grossing 10.17 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) at the box office, but domestic movies struggled against Hollywood blockbusters, according to state media.

National box office takings rose 63.9 percent on-year as more Chinese than ever went to the movies, Tong Gang, director of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television's State Film Bureau told the China Daily on Saturday.

"Ten billion yuan is just something to feel good about, but not to show off about," Tong was quoted as saying.

"So far, it has not been possible to compete with such films as 'Avatar' and 'Inception'. Far too few domestic films are well received by the public," he added.

Combined, Hollywood's sci-fi fantasy "Avatar" and thriller "Inception" represented about a fifth of China's total box office takings while the highest-grossing domestic film, disaster epic "Aftershock", earned only 673 million yuan.

"China still lacks good films," Tong said.

Beijing officials are increasingly stressing that China needs to expand its cultural industries, which account for less than two percent of the country's gross domestic product.

China made 526 feature films in 2010 -- up 15 percent from 2009 -- making it the third-largest film producer after Bollywood and Hollywood, the China Daily said.

But critics, including "Aftershock" director Feng Xiaogang, one of the country’s most successful commercial directors, say censors at the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television often block the kind of originality needed to make great films.

"This is not an era that can produce masters," Feng told Sina.com in an interview last year.

China currently limits the number of foreign films screened in cinemas to 20 a year but in March it is due to address the World Trade Organization's call for it to open up its film market.

Tong declined to comment on what impact that ruling could have on the domestic film industry, the report said.

Tron leads weak pack of newcomers at box office

LOS ANGELES: "Tron: Legacy," a costly 3D sci-fi movie that Walt Disney Co has promoted for more than three years, opened disappointingly at the weekend box office in North America, while a new comedy starring Reese Witherspoon was one of the biggest flops of the year.

The "Tron" movie, a massively hyped sequel to an obscure 1982 movie, earned $43.6 million during its first three days of release, Disney said Sunday. Industry observers had been expecting a three-day start in the $50 million range, although Disney said the opening was within its own expectations.

The effects-laden update reportedly cost $170 million to make, and more than $100 million to market worldwide. Disney never divulges budgets.

Internationally, the film earned a modest $23 million from No. 1 openings in all 26 of its markets, including Japan, Australia, Britain and Brazil. These markets represent about half of the international sales pie.

Meanwhile "How Do You Know" opened at No. 8 with just $7.6 million in the United States and Canada, far short of modest expectations in the $12 million range. The Columbia Pictures project cost about $100 million to make, with half the budget spent on salaries for Witherspoon, co-stars Jack Nicholson, Owen Wilson and Paul Rudd, and writer/director James L. Brooks. Extensive reshoots also drove up costs.

Executives at the Sony Corp unit were despondent about the opening, although the film had suffered bad buzz for some time with no help from a forgettable title.

A third newcomer did not do much better. "Yogi Bear," a live-action/animated update of the old television cartoon, came in at No. 2 with $16.7 million. Distributor Warner Bros. said it had hoped for an opening between $18 million and $20 million, but the Time Warner Inc unit expected the Christmas holiday would boost business. The $80 million film stars Dan Aykroyd as the voice of the title character and Justin Timberlake as his sidekick Boo Boo.

Critics trashed all three films, which vied for the attention of holiday-distracted moviegoers alongside national expansions of acclaimed awards-season contenders Paramount Pictures' "The Fighter" (No. 4, $12.2 million) and Fox Searchlight's "Black Swan" (No. 7, $8.3 million).

Last weekend's champion, 20th Century Fox's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader," fell to No. 3 with $12.4 million in its second weekend.

"The Tourist," a widely mocked caper starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp, dropped three places to No. 5 with $8.7 million, also in its second weekend. The Columbia release tied with Disney's former chart-topping cartoon "Tangled."

The final weekend before Christmas is traditionally slow, although films often enjoy long runs as school holidays start to take effect. But overall business has been weak for some time, with year-on-year sales down for six weekends in a row.

"A malaise has crept over the marketplace," said Paul Dergarabedian, head box office analyst at Hollywood.com. "The lack of momentum is hurting everybody across the board."

But Disney was bullish about "Tron: Legacy," a project that has occupied the attention of two regimes at the studio in recent years. It has been offering tantalizing glimpses to movie fans at the annual Comic-Con convention since 2008, and raised the heat in recent months with cross-marketing efforts across its theme parks, consumer-products and cable TV wings.

Jeff Bridges returns to "Tron" as a videogame developer trapped in a virtual environment called the Grid. While the original film appealed only to male youngsters, Disney targeted the reboot at men and women of all ages.

But exit polling indicated the film skewed to men aged 18 to 30, with relatively little interest in mainstream multiplexes. Instead, the film's tech-savvy constituency thronged 3D and big-screen theaters. About one-quarter of sales -- $10.3 million -- came from Imax Corp's 234 screens. The film played in almost 3,500 theaters overall.

'Tron' sequel set to hit $40 million at box office

Hollywood is once again overstuffing the Christmas stocking with films of all shapes and sizes, hoping to benefit from the most lucrative and intense stretch of the year at the box office.

Among the four new wide releases, Disney's 3D tentpole "Tron: Legacy" is expected to top the weekend with three-day sales north of $40 million.

Also battling for moviegoers are Warner Bros.' 3D family picture "Yogi Bear," Paramount/Relativity Media's "The Fighter," and Sony's romantic comedy "How Do You Know."

"Tron: Legacy" is tracking well among men of all ages. Disney introduced the $170 million follow-up to the 1982 cult classic to fanboys two years ago. Jeff Bridges returns in the role of Kevin Flynn, while Garrett Hedlund plays his son.

Yogi Bear brings an even more recognizable character to the big screen, at least among older moviegoers who grew up on the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Warners will be happy if the film breaks $20 million this weekend.

Tracking for "How Do You Know" is on the softer side, indicating an opening of $12 million and possibly lower. The $100 million film stars Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd, Owen Wilson and Jack Nicholson.

The two wild cards are "The Fighter," which opened in limited release last weekend, and Fox Searchlight's "Black Swan," which makes a major play in expanding from 90 theaters to 959. On Wednesday, "Swan" ups its screen count to 1,426.

Both films are early awards favorites, as is the Weinstein Co.'s "The King's Speech," which expands to 43 locations from 19 Friday. All three picked up significant Golden Globe, Critics' Choice and SAG nominations this week.

'Megamind' tops box offices for second week

Animated comedy 'Megamind' topped film charts for the second week on Sunday, claiming No. 1 at North American box offices with $30 million and beating new releases, including action flick "Unstoppable."

The family-oriented comedy pushed its two-week total to $89.8 million and showed staying power in theaters with a decline of 35 percent from last week's debut of nearly $48 million for its producers at DreamWorks Animation.

The relatively small drop, compared to other major releases that often see ticket sales fall 50 percent or more, has DreamWorks Animation hoping "Megamind" can hold its own against the widely anticipated "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" when it debuts in theaters next weekend.

"We're seeing lots of momentum with kids and especially young boys," DreamWorks Animation global marketing chief Anne Globe said, adding that the company expects "Megamind" to continue performing well in theaters equipped with 3D.

The new "Harry Potter" will not be show in 3D.

In second place over the weekend was runaway train movie "Unstoppable," starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine. It pulled in $23.5 million and was the top-grossing new release, pleasing its distributor 20th Century Fox.

The fast-paced thriller generally earned good reviews from both critics and positive response from fans, Fox said, which is rare in theaters these days.

"Unstoppable" debuted in about 3,200 theaters, for an average of $7,300 per location. "Megamind" pulled in $7,600 per venue in approximately 3,900 locations.

In its second week in theaters, Warner Bros. comedy "Due Date," starring Robert Downey Jr., dropped one position to the No. 3 slot on box office charts with $15.5 million, or $4,600 per theater in more than 3300 locations.

Sci-fi thriller "Skyline" was No. 4 with $11.7 million, while romantic comedy "Morning Glory" rounded out the top 5 with $9.6 million, a disappointing opening with major stars like Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton working alongside Rachel McAdams.

Director Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls" fell to the No. 6 spot with a 65 percent drop in ticket sales to a total $6.8 million. That figure pushed its cumulative box office to just under $31 million in two weeks.

Rounding out the top 10 in descending order were four holdovers from recent weeks, "Red," "Paranormal Activity 2" "Saw 3D" and "Jackass 3D."

"Megamind," "Morning Glory," "Paranormal Activity 2" and "Jackass 3D" were all distributed by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc.. "Megamind" was produced by DreamWorks Animation.

"Skyline" was released by Universal Pictures, a unit of General Electric's NBC Universal media division, and "Unstoppable" by 20th Century Fox is a division of News Corp. "For Colored Girls" and "Saw 3D" were released by Lions Gate, and "Red" by privately held Summit Entertainment.

Box office update: No let up in ‘Endhiran’ craze!

As fans continue to line up to watch Rajinikanth’s latest film Endhiran, the movie is smashing all box office records and writing history.

Making a film with a 60-year-old star and a whopping budget of Rs 160 crore did seem like a big gamble. But director Shankar has silenced all detractors, as the movie Endhiran shows no sign of slowing down at the box office down south.

According to a trade analyst, the Tamil movie (and its Hindi version Robot) has raked in a collection between Rs. 200 to 225 crores in just two weeks since its release on October 1. No other film in the history of Indian cinema has made so much money in just two weeks.

Going by the figures, Endhiran has collected Rs. 150 crores from Tamil Nadu only. Its collection from other south centres is close to Rs. 50 crore. And the earning of Robot (Hindi) stands close to Rs. 15 crore.

That’s not the end of it, as the film is likely to continue its good run in the weeks ahead.

'The Robot' may break box office records

Industry experts have predicted that the Bollywood science-fiction film Enhiran will break box office records due to the huge amount of hype and promotion surrounding its release.

BBC confirms that the film is the most expensive production ever made in India with a budget of 1.6bn rupees, the equivalent to £23 million.

The thriller, directed by S. Shankar, stars Rajinikanth as the scientist Vaseegaran who successfully creates a human robot hybrid and co-star Aishwarya Rai as his girlfriend.

The film's special effects have received universal praise, and it has been well-received by critics.

Enhiran, also known as The Robot, was released worldwide on Friday.

Affleck's heist film tops US box office

The Town, Ben Affleck's fast-paced bank heist flick set in his hometown of Boston debuted as the top movie at North American theaters this weekend, industry estimates showed on Sunday.

Supplanting Resident Evil: Afterlife in the top spot, The Town, the second film to be directed by the actor, earned 23.8 million dollars in ticket sales, according to projections from box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Second place went to another new film, teen comedy Easy A about a high school girl who lies about losing her virginity to improve her social standing, which earned 18.2 million dollars.

M. Night Shyamalan's Devil supernatural thriller about Satan trapping victims in a Philadelphia high-rise came in third, raking 12.6 million dollars in tickets sales.

Resident Evil, the latest in a long-running science fiction series, fell from the top spot last week to fourth with 10.1 million dollars.

Alpha and Omega, about a wolfpack in the wilds of a Canadian nature reserve, opened in fifth place with 9.2 million dollars in tickets sold.

In sixth place was Takers, the bank-robbery thriller starring Hayden Christensen, Idris Elba and singers Chris Brown and T.I. which earned three million dollars.

George Clooney's spy flick The American was seventh with earnings of 2.76 million dollars.

Rounding out the top ten were Inception in eighth place with a shade over two million dollars in ticket sales; crime comedy The Other Guys with two million dollars, and romance flick Eat, Pray, Love which claimed 1.7 million dollars to finish in 10th place.

Resident Evil snatches box office lead

Sony's Resident Evil: Afterlife snatched the top of the North American box office this weekend with 26.7 million dollars in ticket sales, final figures showed recently.

The fourth in a long-running science fiction series, the film stars Milla Jovovich as a new age warrior fighting to protect humans from a world led by zombies.

Resident Evil films are based on a video game of the same name from Japan's Capcom. The latest film was directed by Paul Anderson, who also directed the original 2002 feature.

Jumping one spot into second place was Takers. The bank-robbery thriller starring Hayden Christensen, Idris Elba and singers Chris Brown and T.I. earned 5.7 million dollars in its third week of release, bringing its overall take to 47.7 million dollars, said industry tracker Exhibitor Relations.

George Clooney's spy flick The American fell from its top spot to land in third place with earnings of 5.7 million dollars. Mixing violence with a campy tribute to 1970s exploitation movies from directors Robert Rodriguez and Ethan Maniquis, Machete came in fourth with 4.3 million dollars from Friday to Sunday, or 20.9 million since its release.

Holding steady at number five was new release Going the Distance, a romantic comedy starring Drew Barrymore and Justin Long about a couple living on opposite US coasts who try to make their relationship work. It earned 3.8 million dollars in its second weekend.

The Other Guys, the latest Will Ferrell slapstick comedy, climbed up one spot to sixth place, taking in 3.3 million dollars for its story about two mismatched police officers paired on a high-profile crime investigation.

Seventh place went to the gruesome documentary-style horror movie The Last Exorcism, which fell from its fourth spot last weekend, taking 3.3 million dollars, or 38 million since its release.

The mockumentary, directed by Daniel Stamm and co-produced by Eli Roth, a director known for his bloody thrillers, follows a disillusioned minister supposedly filming his last exorcism for a documentary.

Falling to eighth place was The Expendables, Sylvester Stallone's film about a group of weathered mercenaries out to topple a South American dictator, which earned 3.2 million dollars in its fifth week in theaters.

Eat, Pray, Love, Ryan Murphy's adaptation of Elizabeth Gilbert's novel about a divorcee's jaunt to Italy, Indonesia and India, starring Julia Roberts, took ninth position with 2.9 million dollars.

Rounding out the top 10 was blockbuster Inception starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an expert infiltrator of people's dreams, which took in 2.8 million, or 282 million since its release.

'Inglourious Basterds' gives Quentin Tarantino a box office win on Friday

The folks over at Weinstein Co. must be breathing a big sigh of relief. Friday’s box office numbers suggest their gamble on in-house auteur Quentin Tarantino has paid off: His WWII drama Inglourious Basterds took in an estimated $14.3 million, putting it on track to win the weekend with what could be an impressive $36 million.

Robert Rodriguez’s new kid flick didn’t fare nearly as well. Shorts from Warner Bros. only earned an estimated $2 million for the day, giving it a sixth slot in the derby for Friday and a probable weekend gross that won’t reach double digits. Meanwhile last weekend’s big winner District 9 suffered severely at the hands of Inglourious Basterds and its star Brad Pitt, with its Friday number at $5.5 million, down 61% from its opening day a week ago. G.I. Joe also got knocked, though not as badly. The PG-13 actioner fell 48% from last Friday, to $3.6 million. Rounding out the top five were two of the more female-oriented movies, with The Time Traveler’s Wife taking in $3.3 million on Friday while Julie & Julia added another $2.6 million. Post Grad, the Alexis Bledel post-college comedy didn’t get high marks its first weekend in theaters. Earning just $1 million its opening day, its weekend outcome looks bleak. See Friday’s Top Five below, and check back here tomorrow for the full weekend’s Box Office Report.

Box Office Report: 'District 9' conquers competition with $37 mil

In what feels like a box-office weekend from The Twilight Zone, a low-budget and critically acclaimed movie with no stars and an unknown director managed to top the charts. District 9, the alien action pic produced by Peter Jackson and directed by the 29-year-old Neill Blomkamp — who shot the film in Johannesburg, South Africa, of all places – crushed the competition by grossing $37 million, according to early estimates. Audiences clearly enjoyed what they saw too: District 9 has already soared to #78 on IMDb’s top 250 movies list, although it’ll obviously drop some as the initial euphoria wears off.

Second place went to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which dropped 59% in its second weekend but still managed to recruit $22.5 million. The $175 million action movie should pass $100 million domestically by Monday. The Time Traveler’s Wife materialized into third place with $19.2 million in its debut weekend, proving that there is a market for watching Eric Bana disappear. Rounding out the top 5 were Julie & Julia (No. 4 with $12.4 million) and G-Force (No. 5 with $6.9 million), respectively.

Also opening wide was a trio of movies that failed to make a significant dent on the box office. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, a cars-salesmen comedy starring Jeremy Piven, barely registered on the mercury thermometer by earning $5.4 million. Ponyo, the 10th film by Japan’s animation auteur Hayao Miyazaki, grossed $3.5 million on 927 screens. While that amount represents Miyazaki’s best opening weekend in America, it’s still fish feed compared to Ponyo’s worldwide gross of $187 million. The music comedy Bandslam won’t be getting any requests for encores after making only $2.3 million from more than 2,000 screens — even the promise of seeing the “Taylor Lautner takes off his shirt” trailer of The Twilight Saga: New Moon couldn’t save the Vanessa Hudgens movie.

In limited release, the Jimmy Page/The Edge/Jack White music documentary It Might Get Loud opened promisingly, grossing $101,000 from just seven theaters. And (500) Days of Summer continues to cement its title as “the indie breakout of the summer” by charming $3 million more from moviegoers, bringing its total to $18 million so far.

'Transformers 2' wins Friday box office, becomes highest grosser of 2009

There's good news, great news, and not-so-great news for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. The good news: According to estimates from Box Office Mojo, the blockbuster grossed $17.8 million on Friday, edging past Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' $17 million for the top spot the second day in a row. The great news: With a ten-day total of $268.7 million, director Michael Bay can now stake his claim to making the highest grossing film of the year. (Second place Up, with $261 million, is poised to pass The Incredibles as Pixar's second highest grossing film ever.)
Now for the not-so-great news: For the ongoing five-day July 4 weekend, Ice Age 3 has still brought in more dough, with $41.9 million to Transformer 2's $40.2 million. Can Optimus Prime and the Autobots catch up with the Manny the Woolly Mammoth and his history-defying Pleistocene pals? Check back here tomorrow for the full Box Office Report.

Box Office: 'Transformers 2' earns $201 million its first five days

Michael Jackson's death may have overshadowed Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as the top entertainment story of the weekend, but it didn't hamper its box-office performance. After opening to an astounding $60.6 million on Wednesday, the PG-13 rated robot mash-up has grossed an estimated $201 million over its first five days, second only to The Dark Knight's 5-day opening of $203 million. Its Friday-Sunday total reached $112 million, the best three-day opening this summer. IMAX screens accounted for $14.4 million.

The only other new release of the weekend, the Cameron Diaz-weepie My Sister's Keeper, grossed $12 million for a fifth place in the box office derby. The rest of the top five was dominated by successful holdovers with The Proposal dropping only 45% its second weekend in theaters for a ten-day cume of $69.1 million and a weekend take of $18.5 million. The Hangover keeps on trucking, grossing an additional $17.2 million for a total cume of $183.2 million and third spot in the rankings. Pixar's Up has now outgrossed Cars, earning $13 million for a total take of $250 million.

In limited release, Summit Entertainment scored big with its Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker from director Kathryn Bigelow. Opening on only four screens in New York and Los Angeles, the festival fave grossed $144,000 for a per-theater average of $36,000. The film was sold out in its four theaters on opposite coasts. It will expand into more markets on July 10.

'The Proposal' celebrates with $34.1 mil: Box Office Report

Sandra Bullock will surely be popping open the champagne as her new romantic comedy, The Proposal, accepted the top spot at the box office this weekend by grossing $34.1 million, according to early estimates by Hollywood.com Box Office. Not only did The Proposal win the weekend, but it was by far the best opening of Bullock's career, nearly doubling the opening of her previous best, Premonition, which debuted to $17.6 million in 2007. While The Proposal's success was fueled mostly by women (73 percent of the audience was female), both women and men gave it a healthy "A-" CinemaScore rating, so expect the movie to hold up fairly well during the next few weeks.

The weekend's other big release, the prehistoric buddy comedy Year One, landed in fourth place with $20.2 million -- an okay debut for the $60 million movie. However, all indicators point to a quick descent for the Jack Black/Michael Cera flick. Year One dropped 24 percent from Friday to Saturday (never a reassuring sign), and the movie received an unimpressive "B-" rating from CinemaScore. Year One is all but certain to join Land of the Lost as another box-office disappointment for high-concept comedies.

On the other hand, The Hangover (No. 2 with $26.9 million) and Up (No. 3 with $21.3 million) continued to show off their box-office stamina, dropping only 18 percent and 31 percent, respectively, from the prior weekend. Up now stands at $224 million, and may levitate past Star Trek (currently at $239 million) to become the year's highest-grossing film.

Finishing off the top five was The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, which fell an alarming 52 percent for an $11.3 million weekend stash. Also opening this weekend was Woody Allen's Whatever Works, starring Larry David. The New York-based comedy laughed up $281,000 from just nine theaters for a weekend-leading $31,000 gross per theater. The film will expand to more than 300 theaters on July 3.

Overall, the box office was up 3 percent compared to last year's Father's Day weekend, when Get Smart debuted to a surprisingly sharp $38.7 million. Hope you all are having a splendid Father's Day!

Box Office Report (Hollywood)

'Up' squeaks past 'The Hangover' for a photo-finish win

Buoyed no doubt by repeat business and premium 3-D ticket prices, Disney/Pixar's Up lifted past the bona fide surprise hit The Hangover to be the first film of the summer to hold at No. 1 for two straight weeks at the box office. Well, maybe. Early estimates from Hollywood.com Box Office have Up grossing an estimated $44.2 million to The Hangover's $43.3 million, a less than $1 mil difference that gives the R-rated comedy a chance to push to the top spot once actual figures are released tomorrow. Regardless of the final numbers, Up's estimated total gross of $137 million places it firmly in the upper echelon of Pixar earners.

Even if The Hangover doesn't pop enough of Up's balloons to become No. 1, stars Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis as well as director Todd Phillips (Old School) have a lot to celebrate. Not only did the film pull in an outstanding "A" CinemaScore rating, the craziest-bachelor-party-ever dude-fest managed to draw in just about as many women as it did men. That bodes well for the film's staying power through the rest of the month, where its stiffest comedy competition will be the high-concept, ancient times Jack Black/Michael Cera flick Year One in two weeks.

And if Land of the Lost's box office fate is anything to go by, Black and Cera should be concerned. Will Ferrell's high-concept comedy under-performed, grossing just $19.5 million for third place -- nowhere near the star's best opening weekends. Worse yet, the film earned a dismal C+ CinemaScore average; audiences ages 35 to 49, ostensibly the age group that would best remember the original 1970s kids TV series on which the film is based, gave it a D+. Ouch.
My Life in Ruins, star Nia Vardalos' return to movies after a five-year absence, opened to just $3.2 million on 1,100 screens -- which, actually, is slightly better than My Big Fat Greek Wedding's first weekend in wide release, but it's probably best not to expect Greek lightning to strike twice. By contrast, the indie road dramedy Away We Go weathered mixed reviews to bank an estimated $143,000 on just four screens, for an outstanding $36,000 per-screen average.

Meanwhile, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian took fourth place with $14.6 million, a solid 40 percent drop for a $127.3 million three-week total. Star Trek continued its fantastic run, dropping just 33 percent with $8.4 million for fifth place and $222 million overall. Sam Raimi's horror-fest disappointed again, dropping 54 percent in its second week for a 7th place finish of $7.3 million (its cumulative total is $28.5 million). And Angels & Demons -- which slipped to 8th with $6.5 million in U.S. box office for a $116 million stateside total -- broke past $400 million in global earnings, making it the highest grossing film worldwide for 2009.

Release Dates of major Bollywood films announced

Post the extended dry spell at the box office owing to the stand-off between Bollywood producers and multiplex owners over revenue sharing, production houses have announced, beginning June 12, the release dates of some of the most awaited films slated hit the screens in the coming months.

The row between producers and multiplex owners over revenue sharing began in February. As a result, producers and distributors decided not to push any new releases in multiplexes after April 4.
Now that the strike is over, Hindi movie buffs will have quite a few reasons to cheer since there will be an array of big budget Bollywood films on offer - from Vishal Bharadwaj's "Kaminey" and Yash Raj Films' "New York" to Sajid Nadiadwala's "Kambhakkht Ishq" and Saif Ali Khan's "Love Aaj Kal".

The first film to hit multiplexes June 12 post the strike will be Vashu Bhagnani's "Kal Kissne Dekha" that will see his son, Jackky Bhagnani, and model Vaishali Desai making their debut.

The next in line is director Kabir Khan's "New York", a romantic thriller based on international terrorism. It is a contemporary story of three friends - John Abraham, Katrina Kaif and Neil Nitin Mukesh - and how their lives are turned upside down in New York. The film, produced by Aditya Chopra will release June 26.

Not far behind is Sajid Nadiadwala's "Kambakkht Ishq", a $20 million film co-produced by Sunil A. Lulla slated for July 10 release. The much-awaited caper will see Akshay Kumar playing a stuntman in Hollywood with Kareena Kapoor as his lady love. The highlight of the film is the presence of Hollywood stars Sylvester Stallone, Brandon Routh and Denise Richards.

After an action-packed film like "Kambakkht Ishq", audiences will get to see Saif Ali Khan's debut as a producer with "Love Aaj Kal", which is being helmed by "Jab We Met" director Imtiaz Ali. Saif has teamed up with Deepika Padukone in his home production which is set to release July 31. The film was originally slated to release in the first week of June.

Finally, a larger than life modern day adaptation of the evergreen Arabian Night's tale "Aladin" starring Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt and Riteish Deshmukh will hit the screens August 14. "Aladin" is produced by Eros International and Boundscript and directed by Sujoy Ghosh. Other films that were due to release in May and June but were pushed back due to the strike are "Luck" starring southern superstar Kamal Haasan's daughter Shruti Haasan opposite Imraan Khan; Subhash Ghai's "Paying Guest"; Bipasha Basu-starrer "Pankh"; director Satish Kaushik's "Tere Sang" and "Phirr", among others. The release dates of these have not been disclosed as yet.

Records set as folk escape 2 movies

Hollywood is set for a counter-cyclical boost to its fortunes after strong early box office sales for two high profile films.


The latest proof that people flock to cinemas in tough times is a record North American opening weekend for the new James Bond film, Quantum of Solace.
The movie earned $US70million ($107million) in four days, making it the best opening for a Bond film and the highest-grossing opening for any spy drama.
The movie, estimated to have cost $US200million, had already racked up $US250million worldwide.
"It could really, genuinely be a time to start relaxing, yes," the film's relieved star, Daniel Craig, said in Sydney yesterday.
"It's been about nine months of my life, and we're at that stage where we can kind of breathe a little. I haven't sucked in breath for eight-nine months now, because it's just been so intense working to get this film out."
Ben Stiller was a little more relaxed. He is in Australia to promote his latest film, the animated sequel, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, with co-star Chris Rock and producer Jeffrey Katzenberg.
That film has already banked a $US60million opening weekend in North America before it unspools around the world, including a December 11 release here.
The star of There's Something About Mary is a little wary of Hollywood's future as the global financial meltdown dries up the financing options.
"Everybody's affected, but it seems to me, even in the past few weeks, we've seen these big movies come out and open big," he said.
"People seem to want that -- to go to the movies to get a little bit of relief or escapism, which always seems to be the case."
Two films might not validate a theory, but Hollywood studios hope they may ride out the recession, just as Hollywood films, particularly gangster movies, boomed during the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Stiller believes the effect of businesses and consumers tightening their belts around the world will have some effect on the movie industry.
"I just hope it doesn't affect things in a way where the direction of movies becomes what has happened lately -- where these bigger films drive everything, and the independent film world is trying to find its way," he said.
"It doesn't seem like it's going to be positive for the film industry in that way, in the same way it's not going to be positive for anybody until we get through this time."
However, "this time" doesn't feel very different for the major film distributors.
In the space of four days, the premieres of three films expected to earn more than $20million each at Australian cinemas will take place: Quantum of Solace last Saturday, Madagascar 2 at Sydney's State Theatre last night, and Australia at Sydney's Greater Union George Street cinema tonight.
They're targeted marketing opportunities, though. In a sign of the times, only one of the premieres will hold a post-show party -- Baz Luhrmann's splashy Australia.