Consider this weekend a study of three animation companies. Temporarily forget about ‘The Amazing Spider-Man‘ and ‘Ted‘ and ‘Moonrise Kingdom.’ What do the box office numbers of ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift,’ ‘Brave‘ and ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted‘ tell us about their respective studios? ‘Ice Age’ won the weekend, but is it actually a winner?
It’s Check It or Chuck It, a weekly column in which we recommend five things to check out and five things to “chuck.” Highlights this week include some web-slinging superhero fun, Oliver Stone’s return to the criminal underworld and BBC America’s Summer Olympics spoof. And, as always, we recommend a few things to avoid in your weekly media diet, including a fairy tale-based Blu-ray release and a p
When ‘Prometheus‘ opened big last month, there was the usual “Ah, so R-rated movies can perform well at the box office!” discussion that tends to happen every year or so. Well, that has nothing on this weekend, which found two R-rated movies topping the box office. And it’s not like ‘Ted‘ and ‘Magic Mike‘ just did okay either…both films opened big, blowing away expectations and leading the charge
Putting a marquee name in a new movie is never a guarantee of success. But if a group of Japanese physicists are to be believed, there actually is a mathematical formula for predicting box office gold.
When it comes to winning big at the box office, never bet against Pixar. ‘Brave‘ is not only the acclaimed animation studio’s thirteenth film, it is their thirteenth film to open at number one at the box office. It’s a track record that just about everyone else in Hollywood would kill for.
The box office can be a funny thing. Last weekend, ‘Men in Black 3‘ made $55 million and was considered a disappointment. This weekend, ‘Snow White and the Huntsman‘ pulled in $56 million and it’s considered a roaring success. As bizarre as that sounds, it all makes sense when you look at the details.
Continuing its quest for world domination, ‘The Hunger Games’ earned another $21.5 million this weekend and marked its fourth straight week atop the box office charts.
The juggernaut known as ‘The Hunger Games’ shows no signs of slowing down — it sold another $33.5 million in tickets to take the top spot at the box office for the third weekend in a row.
‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,’ the fourth movie in the popular franchise, ruled the box office with an iron hand last week. With a $31.2 million haul over the New Year’s holiday, Tom Cruise and company again reigned supreme.