Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Adventureland - During the summer of 1987, recent college grad James Brennan (Eisenberg) takes what he thinks is a going-nowhere job at his local amusement park, only to discover it's a perfect opportunity to prepare himself for the real world.

Fast and Furious - The feud between ex-con Dominic Toretto (Diesel) and agent Brian O'Connor (Walker) is reignited back in Los Angeles, where a crime has pitted the two men against one another yet again. However, when they realize they have a common enemy, they put their past behind them and unite to stick it to their foe.

New DVDs this week!

Slumdog Millionaire
Seven Pounds
Marley and Me
Tell No One

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 Monsters vs. Aliens$58.2 M

2 The Haunting In Connecticut$23.0 M

3Knowing$14.7 M

4 I Love You, Man $12.6 M

5Duplicity $7.5 M

6 Race to Witch Mountain $5.6 M

7 12 Rounds$5.3 M

8Watchmen $2.7 M

9Taken $2.7 M

10The Last House on the Left (2009) $2.6 M

"Monsters vs Aliens" dominated over the weekend and earned a lot of money. Yeah, family films do well. And not to mention that over 50 percent of the gross earnings came from screens tat showed this film in 3-D (which had to have higher ticket costs, of course).

"Haunting in Connecticut" did well for a ghost horror story. Based on a true story...yeah...

"Knowing" has actually gotten good word of mouth and stayed in the Top 5. People are actually saying good things about this film except for Nick Cage.

All other films are just staying in the Top 10. No one really wanted to see "12 Rounds" and "Watchmen" is hanging in there (though will most likely not be in the Top 10 next weekend). This might also be the last weekend for "Taken." It has had an amazing run since January. Was this film profitable? Heck yeah!

Check back next week to see what film earns No. 1 Movie in America. I'm thinking "Fast and Furious" unless more kids beg their parents to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" (I actually think parents bring kids to the movies to make them shut up).

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Knowing - When Ted Myles (Cage) begins to suspect that his son has discovered an artifact that accurately predicts natural disasters and other catastrophes, he goes on to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

Duplicity - A pair of corporate spies (Owen and Roberts) who share a steamy past hook up to pull off the ultimate con job on their respective bosses -- but can they learn to truly love and trust one another?

I Love You, Man - Friendless Peter Klaven (Rudd) goes on a series of man-dates to find a Best Man for his wedding. But when his insta-bond his new B.F.F.(Segel) puts a strain on his relationship with his fiancée (Jones) can the trio learn to live happily ever after?

Movies coming out on DVD this week!
Elegy
Punisher: War Zone
Twilight

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 Race to Witch Mountain$25.0 M

2 Watchmen $18.0 M

3The Last House on the Left (2009)$14.6 M

4 Taken $6.6 M

5Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail $5.1 M

6 Slumdog Millionaire $5.0 M

7 Paul Blart: Mall Cop $3.1 M

8He's Just Not That into You $2.9 M

9Coraline $2.6 M

10Miss March $2.3 M

"Watchmen" can be considered a great movie while also being considered a commercial failure. The film was made with a large budget (well over $100 million) and in two weeks has made $86 million. It dropped almost 70 percent from the previous week.

Families needed to take kids to movies and "Watchmen" certainly isn't that film, so "Race to Witch Mountain" won the weekend simply for that family reason. "The Last House on the Left" did well considering it is another remake of a horror film.

All the other films are just petering out the month of March. "Miss March: itself failed in getting its audience, but I didn't expect it to do that well anyway.

What film will be No. 1 next weekend?

Taken 2

"Taken" is a great action thriller starring Liam Neeson. Bryan Mills (Neeson) has to go on an adventure full of face smashing and gun shooting to save his daughter from the slave trade. The film was written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, the hit team behind "The Fifth Element" and the "Transporter" franchise.

The LA Times wrote an article on Kamen's career and an interesting tidbit in the article comes at the end.

"With more action films in the works, including a sequel to 'Taken' and an American version of 'District 13,' a popular 2004 French thriller that Besson produced, Kamen says he's never been happier."

The LA Times article describes "Taken's" success as the years biggest hit.
"Taken" has grossed $118 million and was still the No. 3 box-office movie this past weekend after five weeks in release, was produced by Besson and co-written by Kamen.

So a sequel is on the way and Mills will have to go on another journey to bust some skulls to save someone. So there will be another kidnapping? Will his daughter get taken again or will she be smarter now and know how to fight too?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Race to Witch Mountain - When a cab driver (Johnson) picks up an unusual fare -- a brother and sister duo with paranormal powers, who are being pursued by a nefarious organization -- he teams up with a discredited astrophysicist (Gugino) to protect the kids and, ultimately, the rest of humankind.

The Last House on the Left - After kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang led by a prison escapee (Dillahunt) unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging the parents of one of the victims -- a mother (Potter) and father (Goldwyn) who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.

Miss March - Waking up from a four-year coma, Eugene (Cregger) takes a cross-country trip with his sex-crazed best friend (Moore) in order to crash a party at a famous men's magazine's legendary headquarters so he can win back his former sweetheart -- who is one of the mag's hottest new pin-ups.

1 Watchmen$55.6 M

2 Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail $8.8 M

3Taken$7.4 M

4 Slumdog Millionaire $6.9 M

5Paul Blart: Mall Cop $4.2 M

6 He's Just Not That into You$4.0 M

7 Coraline $3.3 M

8Confessions of a Shopaholic $3.1 M

9Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience $2.7 M

10Fired Up $2.6 M

"Watchmen" did not meet the success of the studio estimates, which was around $70 million. This may be due to the long running time and causing the film to not have as many showings as other movies, but hopefully it won't tank much in the second week. Otherwise this film will be considered a bomb.
Everything else didn't even make it past $10 million. Other films stayed pretty much in the Top 10 (except "Street Fighter" bombed so bad it was at No. 14). "Jonas Brothers" also fell down 77 percent. Fans have showed their vote. The like Hannah Montana better.
Notice "Taken" hasn't left the Top 5 since its stateside debut in January? Yeah, it is a good movie.
"Mall Cop" has been a profitable movie. Its profit is currently at five times it production rate. Sequel anyone?

Next week we have some interesting movies coming out. Will one dethrone "Watchmen" or will the gritty comic movie stay the king?

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Watchmen - Set in an alternate vision of the year 1985, the murder of an ex-superhero causes a vigilante named Rorshach (Haley) to look into the matter, an investigation that reunites him with his surviving old colleagues -- all of them former superheroes themselves -- and gradually unveils a conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future.

Movies coming out on DVD!

Australia
Beverley Hills Chihuahua
Wonder Woman

Box Office Results for the weekend.

1 Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail$16.5 M

2 Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience$12.7 M

3Slumdog Millionaire$12.1 M

4 Taken $9.9 M

5He's Just Not That into You $5.8 M

6 Paul Blart: Mall Cop$5.6 M

7 Coraline $5.2 M

8Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li $4.6 M

9Confessions of a Shopaholic $4.5 M

10Fired Up $3.8 M

"Madea Goes to Jail" made "The Jonas Brothers" its you-know-what over the weekend. Really slow weekend at that, with low numbers down the board. But "Slumdog Millionaire" is still raking in the dough from its Best Picture (and many other) wins while "Taken" does well because it is just a cool movie.
"Street Fighter" just bombed, tripped, fell and all other sayings that represent and downward spiraling of failure.
This was one of the worst opening weekends since last December, but this weekend has "Watchmen" coming out. What are your predictions on how much it will make?
I'm going to guess at more than $70 million.

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this Friday!

Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience - A 3-D concert film of the 2008 Jonas Brothers "Burning Up" concert tour, as well as documentary footage on the lives of the three brothers.

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li - Interpol agent Chun-Li (Kreuk) enters an underground fighting tournament, with her eyes set on M. Bison (McDonough), the contest's founder and leader of a crime syndicate who may have been responsible for the death of Chun-Li's father.

Movies coming out on DVD!

What Just Happened
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder
Sex Drive
Hounddog

Box office results for the weekend!

1 Tyler Perry's Madea Goes To Jail$41.1 M

2 Taken $11.4 M

3 Coraline $11.0 M

4 He's Just Not That into You $8.5 M

5 Slumdog Millionaire$8.0 M

6 Friday the 13th (2009) $7.8 M

7 Confessions of a Shopaholic$7.0 M

8 Paul Blart: Mall Cop $7.0 M

9 Fired Up$6.0 M

10 The International $4.4 M

Tyler Perry makes bank again with his continuing series of films that I have not seen. But this is his biggest opening debut yet, so I say good job to him.
"Taken" stays at the top where it deserves to be among other films that are out right now.
No one wanted to see "Fired Up" and "Friday the 13th" dropped over 80 percent from what it made last weekend.
And winning eight Oscars should have "Slumdog Millionaire" staying in the top 10 for a few more weeks while people go to see it to see what all the buzz was about.

This week we a videogame adaptation starring Lana from "Smallville" and then the movie that teen girls will rush to. What do you think will become No. 1 next weekend?
Hint: There are more teen girls out there than you actually think there are.

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Madea Goes to Jail - When Madea's (Perry) trouble-making antics land her behind bars, among the cast of characters she meets is Candy (Pulliam), a prostitute whose life is off-track and in need of the type of tough love that only Madea can provide.

Fired Up - Two high school jocks decide to ditch their annual football training session for cheerleading camp, where they think their ruse will result in plenty of hook-ups.

Movies coming out on DVD!

Choke
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Changeling
Body of Lies
Quarantine

Box office results for the weekend.

1 Friday the 13th (2009) $42.2 M

2 He's Just Not That into You $19.6 M

3 Taken $19.2 M

4 Confessions of a Shopaholic$15.4 M

5 Coraline $15.3 M

6 Paul Blart: Mall Cop $11.7 M

7 The International$10.0 M

8 The Pink Panther 2 $9.0 M

9 Slumdog Millionaire $7.1 M

10 Push $6.9 M

"Friday the 13th" remake dominated over the weekend. Goes to show how even over Valentine's Day weekend,a horror film can beat down and slash up and chick flick, though "He's Just Not That Into You" and "Confessions of a Shopaholic" are up in the Top Five. "Taken" takes it place near the top of the list too, showing that also over Valentine's Day weekend an action thriller can break some noses to earn the big bucks.

The other films are just surviving because people still want to see them but just weren't in the mood for the opening weekend rush. This weekend only has two new movies coming out and neither look to be big 'spectacular' films. I expect that this weekend shall pretty much have the same films in almost the same places. Maybe the bottom two here will get pushed out for the new two movies.

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

Confessions of a Shopaholic - Charming Manhattanite Rebecca Bloomwood (Fisher) is an out-of-control spender/fashionista, so it's a bit ironic when she lands a job as an advice columnist for a financial magazine, and she becomes an instant celebrity -- complete with access to all the fabulous things she so desires. But will her compulsive habits ruin her career, and her new-found romance?

The International - Interpol Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) pool their resources in an attempt to break up an international arms dealing ring financed by a high-profile bank.

Friday the 13th - A group of young adults discover a boarded up Camp Crystal Lake, where they soon encounter Jason Voorhees (Mears) and his deadly intentions.

Movies coming out on DVD!

Nights in Rodanthe
W.
Miracle at St. Anna
Frozen River

Box Office results of the weekend!

1 He's Just Not That into You$24.6 M

2 Taken $20.3 M

3 Coraline$16.3 M

4 The Pink Panther 2$12.0 M

5 Paul Blart: Mall Cop $11.0 M

6 Push $10.2 M

7 Gran Torino $7.4 M

8 Slumdog Millionaire $7.4 M

9 The Uninvited $6.4 M

10 Hotel For Dogs $5.8 M

"He's Just Not That Into You" exceeds as the latest in a series of chick flicks to be shown in these slow months in the beginning of the year, and it seems a lot of women out there will just flock to them. Then again...I am a male writer, so I could be biased, but at least I realize this while others do not.

"Taken" stays at the top too, only dropping 17 percent since last weekend. That is great since most films usually drop over 50 percent.

"Coraline" and "Pink Panther 2" both opened over the weekend and the clay made film did fairly well considering it might be too frightening for children. "Pink Panther 2" dropped 40 percent from the opening of the first film in the fracnhise.

The rest of the films are rehashes from previous weekends except for "Push," which is low on the numbers and might not survive into next weekend. "Slumdog Millionare" is at $118m on a budget of $15m, and this is before it is going to win Best Picture and get released on DVD. So yes, that means it is doing well. "Gran Torino" is still on the Top 10 since Jan. 9, which is over a month ago. Which means people like it, it is good and you should see it.

Next month, another chick flick, a thriller and a horror film. Take you picks for Valentine's Day weekend and find the results here!

Taken

Imagine if James Bond, in one of his many times with women, ended up having a daughter, and a few years later quits his work to spend more time with her. Imagine his daughter his kidnapped and now he must use all his past skills in getting her back.
Imagine this same scenario with Jason Bourne. The gritty attacks methods and genius ways of tracking people down.
This is Bryan Mills in "Taken."

Mills goes off to Paris to find his daughter, who has been kidnapped into the slave trade. He uses all his skills and contacts to find those who helped in taking her, and the audience follows him on his path of destruction.

Though the first half hour is an introduction to the characters, it lays out the groundwork for the relationship between Mills (played excellently by Liam Neeson, "Batman Begins") and his daughter while also showing an introduction to the skills that he has.



Mills his on the phone with his daughter when she is kidnapped while on a trip in Paris to follow U2. The kidnapper picks up the phone and Mills speaks to the unseen foe.
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills; skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

After a long pause, all we hear is, "Good luck."

With that, the dramatic part of the story is pretty much over and the next hour of the film is fist/elbow/gun to the head.



The story is written by Robert Kamen ("Transporter," "Transporter 2" and "3," and "The Karate Kid") and Luc Besson ("Transporter," "The Fifth Element," "Transporter 2" and "3," and "Arthur and the Invisibles"). While this team has slacked on the "Transporter" series, this film picks their writing back up and creates a story that the audience can't stop watching even though they know that in the end Mills will save his daughter.
The trick was to take the audience on that journey with Mills.

This film may be short, only clocking in at about 90 minutes, but the watch is worth it and any longer probably would have made the chase too depressing with moments of Mills contemplating time with his daughter. Instead we get the action.

Some complain that the film is sexist since most (actually...all) the women in the film are seen as naive and helpless. There are no leading ladies who can tough it out and fend for themselves. But face it when I say that this movie probably wasn't made with women in mind. It was a film written by men for men, and it achieves this purpose. Having a woman come into play halfway through the movie would have added more dramatic scenes that wouldn't be needed, and the absence of seeing the daughter be moved about or trying to escape adds to the mystery of the film. It lets us follow Mills in his search for his daughter without any unnecessary distractions.



This film is really good and definitely worth a watch, though it isn't for the weak hearted since there is lots of fighting and a bit of torture. Most of the enemies remain faceless, leaving no ultimate bad guy for Mills to really go after, yet there is still some semblance of a final fight at the end, which is pretty darn cool.
So in the end, worth the watch.

8.7/10

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this Friday!

The Pink Panther 2 - Insp. Jacques Clouseau (Martin) teams up with a squad of International detectives who are just as bumbling as he is. Their mission: Stop a globe-trotting thief who specializes in stealing historical artifacts.

Push - In Hong Kong, a trio of young people with special abilities are pursued by a clandestine U.S. government agency who wants the gifted ones back in their fold.

He's Just Not That Into You - Romantic woes affect an interconnected group of Baltimore singles and marrieds.

Fanboys - Four guys and their galpal plan a cross-country trip in order to steal a print of Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace from Skywalker Ranch so their dying friend can see it before its world premiere.

Coraline - A secret door in her family's new house offers a passage way to an unusual parallel world for young Coraline.

Movies coming out on DVD!

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
The Secret Life of Bees
Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 Taken$24.6 M

2 Paul Blart: Mall Cop$14.0 M

3 The Uninvited$10.5 M

4 Hotel For Dogs$8.7 M

5 Gran Torino$8.6 M

6 Slumdog Millionaire $7.6 M

7 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans $7.2 M

8 New in Town $6.7 M

9 My Bloody Valentine 3D $4.2 M

10 Inkheart $3.7 M

"Taken," which has been out overseas for a while now, has come to America to kick some mall cop butt. For those that have seen this movie, know that "Taken" will come out on DVD with an extended cut.
All other films did mediocre for Super Bowl weekend. Next weekend is going to have a big influx of new movies, so the competition is high. Which film do you think will become America's new top movie?

Box Office Results and Weekly Movie News

Movies coming out this week!

The Uninvited - After her mother's death and her subsequent hospital stay, Anna Rydell (Browning) returns home to be with her sister (Krebbel) and her father (Strathairn), who has become engaged to Rachel (Banks), her mother's former nurse. During her first night back, Anna is visited by her mother's ghost, who reveals that the new woman in her father's life is not who she pretends to be, leading to a fateful confrontation between the women of the house.

Taken - A former spy (Neeson) relies on his old skills to save his daughter (Grace), who was kidnapped by slave traders during her vacation in Paris.

New in Town - A Miami-based consultant (Zellweger) is shipped out to small-town Minnesota for her newest project: supervising the restructuring of a local manufacturing plant. After a frosty reception, she warms to the townspeople (and vice versa), though a tough business mandate causes her to reconsider her personal and professional objectives.

Movies coming out on DVD!

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Pride and Glory
RocknRolla
Lakeview Terrace

Box Office results for the weekend!

1 Paul Blart: Mall Cop$21.5 M

2 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans$20.7 M

3 Gran Torino$16.0 M

4 Hotel For Dogs$12.3 M

5 Slumdog Millionaire$10.5 M

6 My Bloody Valentine 3D $10.0 M

7 Inkheart $7.7 M

8 Bride Wars $7.0 M

9 The Curious Case of Benjamin Button$6.0 M

10 Notorious$5.7 M


Oscar nominations brought "Slumdog Millionare" up the rankings while keeping "Benjamin Button" alive. Silly comedy movies seem to do well as "Mall Cop" becomes #1 movie in America twice in a row, beating out the "Underworld" prequel. "Gran Torino" still stays up near the top despite the lack of any Oscar nominations (which it deserved). And I am pretty sure only one-third of the people I know even knew a movie called "Inkheart" came out. Not a lot of advertising for that one...
In the end, a slow weekend.