Katzenberg says "Panda" box office "heartbreaking"

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - After being mired in a stock slump in recent months, DreamWorks Animation announced a stronger than expected second quarter.

Revenues at DreamWorks Animation climbed 38 percent to $218.3 million during the second quarter on the strength of the worldwide box office performance of "Kung Fu Panda 2," the company announced Tuesday.

Profits for the company also increased, rising 42 percent to $34.1 million, or $0.40 per share.

Revenues for the Glendale-based animation studio beat analysts' projections, while profits met their benchmark. A poll of analysts by Thomson Reuters anticipated earnings of 40 cents per share on revenue of $198.2 million.

Shares rose nearly 5 percent in after-hours trading.

"Kung Fu Panda 2," which was released on May 26, 2011, contributed $55.8 million of revenue in the quarter, generated by its worldwide box office performance as well as merchandising and licensing.

The animated sequel's $440 million gross at the international box office was impressive, but on a conference call with investors after the earnings announcement, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg described the film's $160 million take at the domestic box office as "heartbreaking."

Katzenberg said that the studio miscalculated by positioning "Kung Fu Panda 2" as family friendly counter-programing to "Hangover Part 2."

"I think we had a terrible, terrible calamity in the US and it's heartbreaking because there's no recovering from it," Katzenberg said.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/27/industry-us-dreamworks-idUSTRE76Q04A20110727

Green Lantern

AT A RECENT PROMO screening of "Green Lantern," a few hundred avid comic book fans flawlessy answered the most obscure questions radio DJs could throw at them.

There was no stumping these people. They knew everything about every iteration of Hal Jordan, every narrative evolution of the DC character, the name of every illustrator, every writer.

You don't get that deeply into the Green Lantern without an obvious passion for the subject.

Almost none of that passion is on display in the workmanlike "Lantern" movie - a by-the-book Hollywood tentpole that exhibits competent blockbuster craftsmanship, but no special feel for the material at hand.

Making superhero movies is a tough gig right now. The more comic book franchises that hit the screen, the harder it becomes for any one of them to make an impression.

The most recent to do so was "X-Men: First Class," given a new cast and groovy '60s makeover by UK hipster Matthew Vaughn. He was able to summon some of the creative energy that Chris Nolan brought to "The Dark Night," or Jon Favreau (in a comic way) to "Iron Man."

The "Green Lantern" director is Martin Campbell, a talented journeymen, but a guy with no obvious affinity for the superhero genre, or for this particular character.

Nobody involved seems to know how seriously to take the story - that of a hotshot pilot, Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), nominated by a dying alien to join a galactic force of heroes (powered by will) who fight interstellar evil (powered by fear).

Reynolds has always excelled at slightly facetious line readings and he's best suited to comedy. He's most comfortable in half-serious scenes, played for slapstick laughs as Jordan adjusts to his superpowers, his new body suit.

The thin strip of green meant to mask his true identity is an old-fashioned farce, so "Lantern" turns it into a joke - Jordan's love interest (Blake Lively) sees right through it.

Moments that require soul-stirring conviction from Reynolds play less well, but you have to feel for him - in almost every big, serious scene, he's acting in an empty room against a green screen.

My personal rule of thumb is the more green screen and animation a superhero movie needs, the less interesting that movie becomes.

All Kevin Bacon needed to carve out a memorable villain in "First Class" was an ascot and a martini. "Green Lantern" doesn't even have a villain - just a gaseous cloud of fear with the head of Mr. Magoo.

Peter Sarsgaard tries to fill the void, in a smallish role as a scientist who gets fear goo on his finger and turns into an angry elephant man, but he's undone by goofball dialogue.

In one scene, he explains his new telepathic abilities to Angela Bassett.

"Physical contact allows access to mnemonic data."

Blank stare.

"I can see your memories."

A paraphrase, no doubt, of what he said to Blake Lively after viewing her online photos.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/movies/124028574.html#ixzz1PVuvNF8b

Foreign Box Office Preview: 'Rio' Opens Overseas Ahead of U.S.

Opening a full week before it debuts in the U.S., the animated film -- voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway -- could clear $45 million in its international debut.

Signaling the might of the international box office, Fox’s 3D toon Rio is opening in most of the world this weekend, a full week before it debuts in the U.S. And if projections are right, it could easily be the top grossing title of any film anywhere.


Rio — voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway — goes out in 46 markets, including major territories Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, the U.K., Germany, Spain, India and China. Conservative estimates show the animated family film clearing at least $45 million, if not more. [Read The Hollywood Reporter's review here.]

Historically, Hollywood studios have always unspooled their films at the domestic box office first. But that’s changed with the rapid growth of the international market. Now, event films and animated pics often make far more overseas.

Rio was tailor-made for international audiences. The movie, directed by Brazilian filmmaker Carlos Saldanha, is about a domesticated Macaw named Blu who is afraid of flying. His life takes an adventurous turn when he travels from the U.S. to Rio to mate with the last female of his kind.

Rio is based on an original story by Saldanha and was nurtured by Fox Animation Studios president Vanessa Morrison.

The voice cast also includes Jamie Foxx, George Lopez, will.i.am and Wanda Sykes. Rio is the sixth film from Fox partner Blue Sky Studios.

Box Office Preview: Russell Brand to Dominate Weekend With 'Arthur,' 'Hop'

In opening first overseas, Fox wanted to capitalize on kids getting out of school in Europe and other regions for spring break. In the U.S., only about 20% of kids are now out of school.

Rio could make life difficult for Universal’s CGI/live-action hybrid Hop, which opened last weekend in the U.S. and in a number of territories, including the U.K., Germany and Italy.

Hop overperformed in the U.S. but saw a softer bow internationally. Part of the problem could have been good weather in Europe, which kept families outside. Some box office observers suggest the pic’s uniquely American take on the Easter bunny could make it difficult to sell overseas.

Rio goes up against Hop in several major European markets as well as in Australia, where both films opens this weekend.

Rio bows in the U.S. on April 15.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/foreign-box-office-rio-opens-176224

Sanctum Movie Review

"What could possibly go wrong diving in caves?" asks one of the newer members of an underwater expedition through one of the world's most breathtaking but least accessible cave systems.

She's about to find out the hard way, along with the rest of her ill-fated team, when a violent South Pacific storm cuts off their only known exit in the subterranean 3D adventure, Sanctum.

Watch Sanctum Movie Trailer

Despite being presented by James Cameron and inspired by a real-life incident experienced by caver and co-scripter Andrew Wight, the thriller proves to be a considerably less harrowing experience than it might have been.

Banal dialogue, over-modulated performances and melodramatic scoring combine forces to sink the stirringly photographed proceedings quicker than that treacherous flash flood.

While Cameron's name and the mid-winter promise of an exotic 3D locale could give the $30 million production an initial boost, the only blue characters to be found here are the ones with hypothermia.

Set in the South Pacific's Esa'ala caves but actually filmed off Queenland's Gold Coast as well as in South Australian caves, the picture concerns the not necessarily unified efforts of the assembled crew, led by seasoned, headstrong master diver Frank (Richard Roxburgh), to find an alternate escape route.

Among those who aren't so great at taking orders are Frank's estranged 17-year-old son, Josh (Rhys Wakefield), an obnoxious American financier (Ioan Gruffudd) and his inexperienced girlfriend (Alice Parkinson).

With time quickly running out in their water-logged labyrinth, the dwindling crew members must either follow Frank's lead or come up with their own survival plan.

It's admittedly hard not to think of 127 Hours while watching Sanctum unfold.

But where the Danny Boyle film created unbearable tension through an economy of dialogue and skilled filmmaking, Alister Grierson's second feature effort (after 2006's fact-based war story, Kokoda) suffers from a talky script and thematics that play out more like The Poseidon Adventure minus the camp guilty pleasure aspect.

The film does best in its quieter sequences, where there's an undeniable ethereal beauty in Jules O'Loughlin's underwater photography, especially when the occasional shaft of light is pressed into stirring high relief by the same Cameron/Pace Fusion 3D Camera System utilized for Avatar.

Unfortunately that spell is constantly being broken by either the forced dialogue (credited to Wight and John Garvin) or composer David Hirschfelder's heavy symphonics, which are just too outsized for those tight, claustrophobic spaces.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/sanctum-film-review-95667

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Big Oscar Bet for '127 Hours'; Major Expansion Planned

Danny Boyle's Oscar hopeful, now in 76 theaters, will expand to 600 screens Jan. 28.


Fox Searchlight is plotting a big return for filmmaker Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours.

On Jan. 28—three days after Academy Award nominations are announced—the film will up its theater count to more than 600 locations. Currently, 127 Hours is playing in only 76 theaters.

The move is designed to take advantage of expected attention from the Oscars. But while all indications are that James Franco will be nominated for best actor, additional nominations are not necessarily a given. Searchlight is campaigning in the best picture and best director categories, among others. The film scored one of the 10 best-picture nominations from the Producers Guild, but Boyle was not among the Directors Guild’s five nominees.

There is a sense among box office observers that 127 Hours hasn’t gotten the love it deserves. At the same time, the stranded-hiker drama is tough sell given its subject matter. But attention from Oscar could help draw in audiences.

Opening on Nov. 5 in four theaters, 127 Hours has grossed $11.1 million to date. At its widest, the film played in 433 locations (that was in late November).

In re-launching the film Searchlight is borrowing a page from its past.

The Last King of Scotland, opening in late September 2006, had only grossed $3.7 million by the time Forest Whitaker was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor.

The weekend following Oscar nominations, Searchlight upped the film’s theater count from four to 497. King of Scotland went on to gross a total of $17.5 million.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/big-oscar-bet-127-hours-74095

Natalie Portman's 'No Strings Attached' Goes Up Against 'Green Hornet' at the Box Office

The question will be if Seth Rogen's latest superhero drama can top the actress' new comedy with Ashton Kutcher in its second week.

Natalie Portman goes up against herself this weekend when Paramount opens Ivan Reitman’s R-rated romantic romp No Strings Attached in 3,018 theaters at the domestic box office.

Neither Paramount nor Fox Searchlight could have predicted that Portman starrer Black Swan would still be going strong when No Strings Attached — also starring Ashton Kutcher — hit theaters. Last weekend, Portman won the Golden Globe for best actress in a drama for Searchlight’s Swan, which could give that movie a bump.

No Strings Attached, which explores whether casual sex can actually stay casual, is the only new film opening nationwide this weekend. Tracking is great among younger women and older female teens.

Paramount expects the film to open in the mid- to high teens, in line with other R-rated romantic comedies.

Newmarket is taking a more limited approach with Peter Weir’s The Way Back, which opens in 650 theaters. The World War II drama is the Australian filmmaker’s first film in almost a decade.

The Weinstein Co. launches John Wells’ The Company Men in 106 theaters, exactly one year after the film made its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Originally, the Weinstein Co. was going to open Company Men in time for awards consideration, but it pushed back the release.

Overall, it’s going to be another down weekend at the domestic box office. Once a movie graveyard, January turned in strong performances the past several years, and especially last year with Avatar. January 2011 is a return to less prosperous times.

The one exception is awards fare like Black Swan and the Weinstein Co.’s The King’s Speech, both of which have overperformed. Swan’s cume through Wednesday was $76.6 million, while King’s Speech stood at $48.6 million. Like Swan, King’s Speech scored a top Globe acting award (for Colin Firth).

No Strings Attached was produced for a modest $25 million, so Paramount doesn’t need a huge opening weekend. From a script by Elizabeth Meriwether, the film tells the story of lifelong friends who end up becoming casual sex buddies.

The big question is whether Sony holdover The Green Hornet can beat No Strings Attached in its second weekend. Last weekend, Hornet debuted to $33.5 million for the three-day weekend and $40 million for the four-day holiday frame.

Weir’s Way Back is his first movie since Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World in 2003. Way Back stars Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell and Ed Harris as prisoners of war who escape a gulag in Siberia.

Company Men, about corporate downsizing, is even more star-packed. The cast is led by Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones. Company Men marks Wells’ feature directorial debut.
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'Gulliver's Travels' Bumps 'Little Fockers' From No. 1 Overseas With $24 Million

'Tron: Legacy' glides into a close second place with $23.7 million, and 'Tangled' crosses the $300-million mark at the global box office.

The opening weekend of 2011 on the foreign theatrical circuit saw 20th Century Fox's Gulliver's Travels narrowly taking the No. 1 box office spot for the first time, collecting $24 million from 4,495 venues in 33 territories.

In general, the box office take of the year's first weekend paled in comparison with that of 2010's initial round. Powered by 20th Century Fox's Avatar -- which alone grossed $136.8 million -- last year's opening stanza on the foreign circuit collected well more than double this year's opener.

Opening in 19 markets – all relatively small except in the U.K. and India -- Gulliver's generated most of its weekend action in the U.K. where it tallied $10.9 million (including previews) from 503 locations. The 3D adaptation of Jonathan Swift's 18th century classic has grossed a total of $47 million in 10 days of foreign release. The Jack Black vehicle opens this week in a half-dozen new territories, including Russia.

No. 2 was Tron: Legacy, which drew $23.7 million from 5,929 locations in 40 territories for an international gross total of $110 million since opening overseas in mid-December. A high-budget 3D sequel to 1982's Tron, Legacy premiered in six markets on the weekend of which Korea was the biggest.

Opening launch there delivered $3.2 million from 250 locations. Disney expected a No. 1 market ranking although Legacy experienced strong competition for the top spot from a trio of Korean productions: C.J. Entertainment's The Last Godfather, an English language gangster drama starring Harvey Keitel; comedy Hello Ghost; and Showbox Mediaplex's action thriller The Yellow Sea.

Third was Paramount's Little Fockers, last round's top box office draw offshore, and the current domestic box office champ. The third edition of the Meet the Parents comedy franchise collected an estimated $22.5 million from 4,683 locations, hoisting its foreign cume to $72 million and its global take to $175.2 million. A No. 1 Australia tally came to $3.7 million from 262 spots for a market cume of $10.5 million.

Fourth was Fox's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which played almost exclusively holdover engagements and grossed $21.4 million on the weekend from 8,095 locations in 68 territories.

Top market was France where it ranked No. 2 with $4.8 million drawn from 739 locations for a market cume of $23 million over four rounds. Narnia's overseas gross total stands at $210 million, nearly two-and-a- half times its domestic cume. A China opening is due Friday.

No. 5 on the weekend was Sony and other distributors' The Tourist, which collected $18.6 million from 3,550 screens in 43 territories. Costarring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, the action drama opened in first place in Spain ($4.8 million from 436 locations), Singapore and Vietnam. Overseas cume stands at $65 million.

Disney Animation's Tangled has grossed $146.5 million overseas thanks to another $14.8 million in its sixth weekend at 3,802 venues in 23 territories. Robust holdover market action pushed the 3D animation retelling of the classic Rapunzel tale to the No. 1 market spots in its fourth stanza in France and in Germany. Tangled has crossed the $300-million in global box office ($314.4 million), the 20th Disney animation title to do so.

DreamWorks Animation's Megamind in 3D pushed its international gross total to $134.5 million after an $11 million weekend at 4,938 in 56 territories. The Paramount release lured $2 million from 725 France sites in its third round for a market cume of $8.6 million.

Also coming in with an estimated $11 million take was Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, which played about 6,500 screens in 65 territories. Foreign gross total for the seventh Harry Potter title now stands at $616 million.

Fox's romantic comedy Love and Other Drugs opened in eight territories over the weekend, including a No. 3 bow in the U.K. ($2.4 million including previews from 412 sites) and $2.1 million debut from 280 sites in France for a No. 7 notch. Paramount is releasing the Weinstein Company's co-production The King's Speech in Australia, where the British royal drama drew $2.4 million from a mere 95 locations -- for a robust per-screen average of $25,263 per screen.

Other international cumes: Fox's Unstoppable, $58 million; Universal's Robin Hood, $215.6 million; DreamWorks Animation/Paramount's Shrek Forever After in 3D, $506 million; Studio Canal's Les Emotifs Anonymes, $5 million France only; Universal's Despicable Me, $290.3 million; Sony's Burlesque, $11.4 million; Universal's Un Altro Mondo, $2.6 million Italy only; EuropaCorp. Distribution's Un Ballcon sur la Mer (Balcony Overlooking the Sea), $5.4 million France only; Universal's Devil, $23.4 million; and Universal's Julia's Eyes, $9.8 million France and Spain only.

'Tron' likely to beat 'Yogi Bear' and 'How Do You Know' at box office

Disney's resurrection of the 1982 cult classic is expected to take in a solid but not spectacular $50 million this weekend. 'The Fighter' and 'Black Swan' are expanding into nationwide release.

The legacy of this weekend's box office seems certain to be a victory for a visual effects-heavy event movie over a sophisticated adult comedy and a children's animated tale.

"Tron: Legacy," Walt Disney Studios' big-budget resurrection of the 1982 cult favorite, is strongly expected to be the most popular movie this weekend in the U.S. and Canada. People who have seen pre-release audience surveys say it should take in about $50 million, a solid but not spectacular start for such a highly anticipated movie.

"Yogi Bear," Warner Bros' hybrid of animation and live action, is appealing mainly to families with young children and is expected to kick off its run with a so-so $20 million.

The weekend's big question, however, is just how poorly Sony Pictures' "How Do You Know" will do. The costly adult comedy, directed by James L. Brooks and starring Reese Witherspoon, Owen Wilson, Paul Rudd and Jack Nicholson, is generating very soft interest and is projected to open to only about $10 million.

It could even get beat by two low-budget specialty films expanding into nationwide release this weekend. After a strong start in five theaters last weekend, the Mark Wahlberg boxing drama "The Fighter" is expected to gross $12 million to $15 million. The dark ballet fantasy "Black Swan" will play in about 1,000 theaters, fewer than half as many as "How Do You Know." But after two strong weekends in limited release, it should collect about $10 million this weekend.

Sony spent a little more than $100 million to produce "How Do You Know," a very hefty budget for an adult comedy, and will probably lose millions of dollars if ticket sales are in line with expectations. It appears likely to perform similarly to director Brooks' last picture, the 2004 comedy "Spanglish," which opened in mid-December to $8.8 million and ended up with $42.7 million domestically and only $12.3 million outside the U.S. and Canada.

Middling reviews could hurt "How Do You Know" with its target audience of adult women.

Disney is hoping "Tron" will be a "four-quadrant" movie that appeals to men and women, young and old. However, tracking surveys indicate that on the film's first weekend, at least, it will draw primarily men. Women appear to be more hesitant about the science-fiction sequel, which stars Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde.

The studio spent an estimated $170 million to produce the movie, and its sibling divisions have invested millions in the brand, developing products such as video games and an animated television series. Disney is also spending about $150 million to market the movie worldwide. An opening in the $50-million range would mean that to be profitable, "Tron" would have to perform strongly over Christmas and bring in even more money overseas.

The movie could perform well internationally, particularly in Asia, where films loaded with special effects tend to be particularly popular. It opens this weekend in a small number of foreign countries, including Argentina, Australia and Greece.

"Yogi Bear" is an effort by Warner Bros. to duplicate the success of 20th Century Fox's "Alvin and the Chipmunks," the 2007 surprise hit based on another classic cartoon that opened to $44.3 million. Although movies that appeal mainly to young children are difficult to track, it appears that "Yogi" will fall far short of the "Alvin" opening.

Warner spent about $80 million to produce "Yogi," whose animal characters are computer generated. The film has to prove popular with families over Christmas in order to become a big hit.

Also competing for the family audience this weekend, though for slightly older children, is "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader." After a soft domestic opening last weekend, Fox and Walden Media are hoping the movie's second-weekend decline is modest.

In limited release, Lionsgate's "Rabbit Hole" will open at five theaters in Los Angeles, New York and Toronto. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart star in the adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about a family coping with loss.

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http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-projector-20101217,0,3568787.story

'Tangled' Unfurls $11.8 Mil Opening But 'Harry Potter' Still No. 1

Disney's Rapunzel tale reboot Tangled opened with a better-than-expected $11.8 million tally Wednesday but Harry Potter's box office magic could not be rivaled. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 maintained its No. 1 spell on moviegoers by adding an estimated $14.5 million to its coffers, bringing its six-day cume to $159 million.

Tangled, meanwhile, nabbed the day's second place spot and looks to be the overachiever of cinema's Thanksgiving holiday fare: the film will likely surpass its $40 million long weekend estimates by at least $10 million.

Sony/Screen Gems' Burlesque, starring Cher and Christina Aguilera, took the No. 3 spot Wednesday with a $2.8 million debut, followed by DreamWorks Animations/Paramount's Megamind at No. 4 and the Anne Hathaway/Jake Gyllenhaal romantic comedy Love and Other Drugs in fifth place with an estimated $2.2 million.

Another new film, the Dwayne Johnson actioner Faster, opened at No. 6 with a $1.6 million gross, while Unstoppable's $1.9 million kept it on track for a fifth place finish.

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http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tangled-unfurls-118-mil-opening-49165

Box Office Guru Wrapup: Harry Potter Enjoys Monster Opening

This weekend wizard fans united and sent the much-hyped fantasy sequel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 soaring to the number one spot with a massive opening weekend of $125.1M, according to estimates, making it the highest-grossing debut ever in the seven-film series. Launching ultrawide in 4,125 theaters, including a record 239 IMAX locations, the dark PG-13 adventure averaged a sensational $30,332 per site and ranks as the sixth best opening weekend of all-time behind The Dark Knight ($158.4M), Spider-Man 3 ($151.1M), The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($142.8M), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($135.6M), and this year's Iron Man 2 ($128.1M). IMAX accounted for 10% of the opening weekend tally with $12.4M with many upcoming shows already sold out.

For the wizard franchise, it was the best debut of any kind. The highest Friday-to-Sunday opening before was $102.7M for 2005's Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire which launched on the same November Friday while the top gross for the first three days of release was $107M for the last installment, 2009's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which bowed on a Wednesday in the summer. Ticket price increases helped set a new franchise record as Hallows, Goblet, and 2001's original Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone each sold roughly 16 million tickets on opening weekend. The fan base has remained relatively constant but moviegoers pay more for a stub with every film.

Still, it was a monumental performance and ranks as the second best ever outside of the busy summer tentpole season behind just New Moon which attacked this very weekend last year. Deathly Hallows even performed the same way throughout the weekend with a 37% Friday-to-Saturday drop compared to Moon's 42%. Both franchises are based on wildly popular books with fans obsessed with coming out on the first day, especially for Thursday night post-midnight shows. The new Potter banked an incredible $24M for those showtimes.

Looking at the daily journey, the first half of the two-part finale exploded on Friday with $61.2M including midnight shows, fell sharply to $38.2M on Saturday, and is estimated by Warner Bros. to slide by 33% to $25.8M on Sunday. The turnout was extremely front-loaded with the opening day tally accounting for a whopping 49% of the weekend haul. Similarly, New Moon's first day was 51% of the three-day figure and it tumbled by 70% on the second weekend despite it being the Thanksgiving holiday.

Reviews were mostly positive for the new wizard tale and cast and crew made the usual rounds for their global publicity push including glitzy premieres on both sides of the Atlantic in London and New York. David Yates directed as he did for the last two installments and his final offering, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is set to open next summer on Friday, July 15, in 3D two weeks after the third Transformers pic and a week before Captain America: First Avenger both of which will also be in 3D. The studio had wanted to make Part 1 in 3D but was unable to complete the conversion in time to make a product good enough for the fans.

Overseas, the latest installment was as gigantic as expected and grossed a colossal $205M from 54 countries and 91 markets resulting in a monstrous $330M global launch over the first weekend. The last film Prince bowed mid-week and debuted to $394M worldwide but over five days. Deathly Hallows set a new all-time opening weekend record in the U.K. with an estimated $28M haul. Other notable bows included $21.8M in Germany, $14.8M in Australia, $14M in Japan, $12.3M in Russia, $11.5M in Italy, $10.2M in Mexico, and $9M in China.

The 3D animated film Megamind was booted from the top spot after two weeks at number one and finished the weekend in a distant second place. DreamWorks Animation's latest hit held up reasonably well dropping 45% to an estimated $16.2M pushing the 17-day tally across the century mark to $109.5M. Paramount is still on a course to hit the $150M mark although Disney will unleash the rival 3D toon Tangled on Wednesday to give families another major option over the extended Thanksgiving holiday session.

Fox enjoyed an encouraging second weekend take for the Denzel Washington actioner Unstoppable which dropped 42% to an estimated $13.1M. The runaway train pic has taken in a solid $42M in ten days and is headed for the $75M vicinity.

Finishing in fourth place was the R-rated road trip comedy Due Date which declined by 41% to an estimated $9.2M. Warner Bros. has taken in $72.7M in 17 days and should end up in the $90-100M range depending on strength over the long Thanksgiving holiday.

Audiences gave the cold shoulder once again to Russell Crowe whose latest film The Next Three Days flopped opening to an estimated $6.8M. The PG-13 film about a teacher who desperately tries to break his wife out of prison averaged a weak $2,633 from 2,564 locations giving Lionsgate its worst debut in almost two years. Elizabeth Banks co-starred and Liam Neeson contributed a one-scene cameo while Oscar winner Paul Haggis directed. Crowe's last film - the expensive summer epic Robin Hood - barely inched its way over the $100M mark in North America and his recent adult dramas have mostly opened in the $13-14M range.

Paramount's TV industry comedy Morning Glory fell a moderate 43% in its second weekend grossing an estimated $5.2M to boost the ten-day total to a soft $19.9M. The Rachel McAdams film looks to end with $32-34M. Fellow sophomore Skyline completely fell apart thanks to poor buzz. The Universal release dropped 71% to an estimated $3.4M for a cume of $17.6M in ten days. With a reported production budget of $10M, plus plenty more for marketing, the alien flick could end with $21-23M. Summit's action hit Red grossed an estimated $2.5M, off 50%, for a $83.6M total.

Falling 63% to an estimated $2.4M was Lionsgate's For Colored Girls... which has banked $34.5M to date. Jumping into the top ten for the first time was the CIA thriller Fair Game which expanded in its third frame from 175 to 386 theaters collecting an estimated $1.5M. The average for the Summit release was a mild $3,808 and the sum rose to $3.7M.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $185.3M which was down 25% from last year when The Twilight Saga: New Moon opened in the top spot with $142.8M; but up 20% from 2008 when Twilight debuted at number one with $69.6M.

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http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_deathly_hallows_part_i/news/1921306/box_office_guru_wrapup_harry_potter_enjoys_monster_opening/

Due Date Movie Review

The Plod Couple: An inspired pairing in Due Date quickly resorts to cheap laughs.

You’re either going to love or loathe Zach Galifianakis when he puts himself into Todd Phillips’ hands. In The Hangover, Galifianakis’ borderline-pedophiliac, mentally challenged man-child was annoying enough to sink the movie. (Yes, the most successful R-rated comedy of all time does have some detractors.) And in Due Date, Galifianakis plays a gentler version of more of the same. His Ethan Tremblay is a 23-year-old (!) aspiring actor with a pocket pooch and the demeanor of a six-year-old kid.

This time, at least, he’s occasionally funny instead of just irritating. In Phillips’ follow-up to his box-office smash, Ethan’s the thorn in an expectant father’s side from the time they meet disastrous at an airport. Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is trying to get back to Los Angeles in time for the birth of his first child. Ethan, meanwhile, is trekking to “Hollywood” to pursue his ain’t-gonna-happen dream.


Due Date Trailer

A car accident, bag mix-up, and light tussle on the plane gets both of them on the no-fly list, and with Peter’s wallet buried in his confiscated luggage, he has little choice but to accept Ethan’s offer to drive cross-country in his rented car. Near homicide, naturally, ensues.

Four scripters’ efforts (including one responsible for the horrendous Made of Honor) result in a tone that’s all over the place: There are light Odd Couple-esque squabbles, dark humor, and, when all original ideas seem to have been exhausted about halfway through the film, strenuous wackiness à la car crashes and ridiculous schemes. Galifianakis is more likable here than he was in his breakout

Hangover role—Ethan’s insistence on rules, such as not letting anyone touch his luggage in an airport, is mildly amusing—but it’s Downey’s wry, tightly wound, foul-mouthed bitterness that earns the best and most surprising laughs. (Bet you never thought you’d giggle at a grown man punching a kid in the gut.) Running jokes such as a coffee-can urn and that damn dog lose their bite quickly, however, as does the film in the aggregate. What starts out as an inspired coupling turns into another hate-you-love-you buddy flick, a moratorium on which is long overdue.

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