So maybe you can’t hear the crunching of leaves under your feet (or don’t want to quite yet — don’t blame you there), but fall movie season is upon us and it starts with a bang. Well, it started Wednesday with a quiet, brooding thriller in “The American” with George Clooney, a good film, but not exactly a major high note. Today, however, is the bang.
Summer finally closes out on an unexciting note. There’s a low-budget-style horror film in “The Last Exorcism,” a heist-centered action film in “Takers” and the release of that little film from last winter called “Avatar.” Read the rest of this entry »
And so we’ve reached the summer dumping ground. With schools getting started either earlier this past week or next week, most of the films coming out these next couple weeks will not be particularly worthwhile — for most people. Read the rest of this entry »
The undisputed biggest weekend of August starts today. Three of the summer’s most anticipated films will all compete for the box office this weekend: Sylvester Stallone’s consummate action flick “The Expendables” featuring men whose average biceps circumference is bigger than my head, Julia Roberts in “Eat, Pray, Love” based on the bestseller and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” an romantic comedy stuck in the melee of an rock ‘n roll action sci-fi fantasy. Read the rest of this entry »
That brings us to August. Anyone else feel as if there were a whole month of summer movies that were supposed to come out but never did? 2010 has been one of the bigger movie letdown years in awhile. Hopefully a few of these August films can make me change my mind. Read the rest of this entry »
The last weekend of July is always a dud at the box office. Last year, “Funny People” with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen took in just $22 million to finish first. The year before, “The Dark Knight” did so in its third week. That’s what I think we’ll happen with “Inception.”
We have a talking animal action comedy this weekend along with a contemporary comedy and a teenage drama. By far the biggest mystery of the group is “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore.” The first “Cats & Dogs” came out in 2001 and grossed $200 million worldwide. Hardly the sign of a future franchise, let alone a sequel nine years later. At least there are some solid if not great films still in theaters. Read the rest of this entry »
After a film like “Inception” comes out, you know you can expect a letdown weekend at the box office. Even if Angelina Jolie were doing full-front for “Salt,” it still wouldn’t make headlines this weekend. (Mainly because it would be R-rated and limit the audience, but still …)
Much like “Avatar” last year, this is the film everyone’s being told to see by their friends. Now unlike “Avatar” I don’t expect numbers to actually go up for “Inception” (it’s not the holiday season), but it could see a very minimal drop as people go back to theaters to look for clues to interpret the film’s ending or new people come in to see what all the fuss is about. Read the rest of this entry »
If you’re not a Twi-hard, then you marked this weekend as your biggest of the summer. Sure, there was the first weekend of the “summer” in “Iron Man 2,” but Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” has been the only buzz-worthy potential blockbuster of the summer.
The box office is primed to give “Inception” a big weekend. Last week was one of the more surprisingly good weekends with “Despicable Me” surprising everyone with $56 million, which was something I hinted at but didn’t have the stones to officially project. Read the rest of this entry »
This might be the time of year when everyone wants to cool down, but the box office is hoping it can stay hot off the holiday weekend. With “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” still fresh and some new (but classic) horror and a family film coming down the pipeline this weekend, there’s a good shot it can stay relatively on track heading into a surely big weekend when “Inception” hits theaters next Friday.
This week its the sci-fi/horror reboot “Predators” along with supervillain-meets-”Adventures in Babysitting” family movie “Despicable Me,” which showcases the voice talent of Steve Carell. Read the rest of this entry »
The first live action blockbuster since “Iron Man 2″ (which feels like ages ago) finally hit theaters today and made $30 million just at midnight showings. Another potential young adult hit also finds its way into theaters tomorrow in “The Last Airbender” directed by the ever-controversial M. Night Shyamalan. Read the rest of this entry »
We have an awkward early edition of Weekend Preview this week as “Knight and Day” jumps into theaters today. We’ll have the same thing next week with “Eclipse,” so I suppose I’ll have to suck it up.
After family films have dominated the box office for the last six weeks , we finally get some movies for, well, grown ups, which is the title of the other movie coming out this week. The shortage of June comedies is officially over. Read the rest of this entry »
After more than ten years of pioneering new classics, Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney return to the franchise that made it all possible: Toy Story. “Toy Story 3″ hits theaters today and already the reception is dazzling. Another Pixar mega-hit is on our hands. Read the rest of this entry »
School’s out for the summer. That’s the biggest factor heading into this weekend and it could pay dividends for both of this weekend’s new releases: team action blockbuster “The A-Team” and sports movie remake “The Karate Kid.” Read the rest of this entry »
If you’re in summer movie denial (which I can never, ever imagine having), it’s Memorial Day weekend, so get out and smell the fresh air! Two potentially big movies along with the earlier May hits will all go after everyone’s money on the holiday weekend, hoping the extra weekend night and day will maximize their profits. Read the rest of this entry »
A familiar face for the month of May drops into theaters this weekend for his farewell tour. It might not be easy being green, but when you’re Shrek and DreamWorks, it’s sure easy making it. “Shrek Forever After” plans to make some more effortless cash at the box office this weekend and put Tony Stark back in his place.
More obviously, we have our first family-geared film of the early summer season. It will be interesting to watch what “Shrek” does this weekend. The big question is whether 3-D can help rejuvenate a franchise that appears to be heading down. If “Shrek Forever After” manages to outdo “Shrek the Third,” it will likely be a summer of big pay-offs for those who invested in 3-D.
