Surprise box office tie for "Cowboys", "Smurfs"
7:25 PM
emorejez
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The tiny blue "Smurfs" battled big-name, big-budget "Cowboys & Aliens" to a surprising tie at the domestic weekend box office with each film ringing up an estimated $36.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
"The Smurfs" live-action and animated 3D film drew families to the latest adventure of the classic Belgian cartoon characters and grossed higher-than-expected sales. "Cowboys & Aliens" fell short of pre-release estimates from box-office watchers.
The totals are estimates of ticket sales from United States and Canadian theaters for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The leader will not be known until actual sales are tallied on Monday.Going into the weekend, "Cowboys & Aliens" was seen easily topping box-office charts with starpower from James Bond actor Daniel Craig and "Indiana Jones" star Harrison Ford, plus director Jon Favreau from the hit "Iron Man" series and Steven Spielberg among the producers. The film is set in the Wild West in 1873, when a spaceship arrives in Arizona and runs into a posse of cowboys.
The movie offered "a fresh and unique concept," said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal Pictures, a division of Comcast Corp that released the film. "It was a bet worth taking with these filmmakers."A lower-than-expected total for "Cowboys & Aliens" collided with a bigger draw from "The Smurfs," a movie that revived characters that debuted more than 50 years ago.
"In the summer, family films are a hot commodity," Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst with Hollywood.com, said of the "Smurfs" success.
Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Columbia Pictures, said the "Smurfs" film "performed beyond our expectations." Columbia Pictures is the unit of Sony Corp that released the movie.
Third place for the weekend went to superhero flick "Captain America: The First Avenger" with $24.9 million in domestic ticket sales during its second weekend in theaters.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2," hitting its third weekend, finished fourth with $21.9 million. The final installment of the popular boy wizard series topped $1 billion in worldwide sales to date, the ninth film in history to hit that mark, distributor Warner Bros. said.
"Crazy, Stupid, Love," a new romantic comedy starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Julianne Moore, took the No. 5 spot in the U.S. and Canada with a solid $19.3 million.
"Captain America" was released by Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom. Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros released "Crazy, Stupid, Love" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2."
(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)
'Potter' finale conjures up $1 billion worldwide
7:25 PM
emorejez
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Harry Potter has joined the billion-dollar club.
Distributor Warner Bros. said Sunday that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office. It's soon expected to pass "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," which is this year's top grossing movie at $1.03 billion.
The last of the eight films about the young wizard is the first in the franchise to reach the billion dollar mark. The previous best global haul was $974.8 million for the original film, 2001's "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."
With $21.9 million domestically this weekend, "Deathly Hallows: Part 2" climbed to a domestic total of $318.5 million. That tops the franchise's previous best of $317.6 million for "Sorcerer's Stone."
But factoring in today's higher admission prices, "Deathly Hallows: Part 2" has not caught up to "Sorcerer's Stone" in terms of actual tickets sold.
The 2009 film "Avatar" holds the record for the biggest worldwide box office haul, grossing $2.8 billion. It's followed by another James Cameron film, "Titanic," which brought in $1.8 billion.
Captain America: The First Avenger trailer movie
7:24 PM
emorejez
Captain america poster.jpg
There's an element of slavish worship to any superhero myth, but that's particularly true for Captain America, a WWII-era propaganda comic that took a sickly young man who just really wanted to fight those damn Nazis and made him into the pinnacle of the American ideal -- which is, of course, a 'roided up war-machine in a red-white-and-blue lycra suit. Now, because interminable, ambiguous wars with no clear objective are for pussies, we are privileged to welcome back the Cap'n into our popular consciousness equipped with Adolf Hitler as his foil -- every hero needs a villain, after all, and plus, comic-book-origin flicks are totally hot right now with nostalgic Gen-Xers, all of whom are expected to walk out of theaters and immediately vote Republican.
It's hard to argue that, like pretty much every cinematic effort Marvel has been cranking out for the last decade or so, Captain America: The First Avenger looks like a pretty engaging flick. But it's also hard to argue that it lays on the nationalism pretty thick -- the "new breed of super-soldier" thing actually comes off pretty sinister within the context of the ensuing years of American warfare. But then again, Captain America is not exactly inviting us to consider the context, either.
Where this trailer gets bizarrely fetishistic, though, is right about at its halfway point -- at exactly 1:28, in fact, when our spunky hero emerges from his not-so-subtle cocoon like he just spent the last year at Goldberg's Gym. Did the tech guy just check him out under his shades like he was 2 Live Crew at the beach? Yes, he did, and as we all know, that means only one thing: Captain America is about to start getting all the chicks
There's an element of slavish worship to any superhero myth, but that's particularly true for Captain America, a WWII-era propaganda comic that took a sickly young man who just really wanted to fight those damn Nazis and made him into the pinnacle of the American ideal -- which is, of course, a 'roided up war-machine in a red-white-and-blue lycra suit. Now, because interminable, ambiguous wars with no clear objective are for pussies, we are privileged to welcome back the Cap'n into our popular consciousness equipped with Adolf Hitler as his foil -- every hero needs a villain, after all, and plus, comic-book-origin flicks are totally hot right now with nostalgic Gen-Xers, all of whom are expected to walk out of theaters and immediately vote Republican.
It's hard to argue that, like pretty much every cinematic effort Marvel has been cranking out for the last decade or so, Captain America: The First Avenger looks like a pretty engaging flick. But it's also hard to argue that it lays on the nationalism pretty thick -- the "new breed of super-soldier" thing actually comes off pretty sinister within the context of the ensuing years of American warfare. But then again, Captain America is not exactly inviting us to consider the context, either.
Where this trailer gets bizarrely fetishistic, though, is right about at its halfway point -- at exactly 1:28, in fact, when our spunky hero emerges from his not-so-subtle cocoon like he just spent the last year at Goldberg's Gym. Did the tech guy just check him out under his shades like he was 2 Live Crew at the beach? Yes, he did, and as we all know, that means only one thing: Captain America is about to start getting all the chicks
Harry Potter Tribute + Trailer
7:00 PM
emorejez
Watch Trailer
Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone (2001)
The first movie introduced audience to the bespectacled 11 year-old orphan boy who discovers he's a wizard and has gained admission into the witchcraft and wizardry school of Hogwarts. The movie serves as an introduction to Harry's miserable life with his aunt, uncle and cousin until he meets the gentle giant Rubeus Hagrid, Hogwart's headmaster Albus Dumbledore and finds friendship in Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is then he stumbles upon the truth of his parent's death; they were murdered by the evil Lord Voldemort while he managed to survive as the sole adversary who can defeat the dark wizard. The movie is most noted as the most faithful instalment of the saga, sometimes, even word-for-word. The accurate portrayal of the façade of the Hogwarts school, Diagon Alley, Platform 9 1/3, and the Quidditch sport on broomsticks, managed to bring the novel into the big screen visualisation it deserved, even if the acting skills of the young stars has its cringe worthy moments. Still, the movie grossed a whopping US $974 million at the worldwide box office.Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets (2002)
When audiences watched Chris Columbus' second entry in the franchise, like a fine aged wine, they preferred "Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets" compared to the first movie. This time around, our beloved trio Harry, Ron and Hermione shelved some of the awkwardness they had in the first movie, and progressed more in regards of their noticeable acting skills. Apart from the great moments such as the flying car sequence, Kenneth Branagh as the hilarious professor Gilderoy Lockhart and the Quidditch match with the rogue bludger, it was here that we first met with the timid yet adorable house-elf Dobby. The story follows Harry into his second year in Hogwarts where he encounters Tom Riddle's (Voldemort's) diary, which actually talks to him through the pages of the book and after some mysterious attacks on the pupils of Hogwarts, leads him to the Chamber of Secrets which houses a giant basilisk, leaving Harry to slay the gigantic serpent and destroying the diary which is discovered to consist a part of Voldemort's soul.Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, "Prisoner Of Azkaban" marked the transition of the "Harry Potter" films from childlike fantasyland into a much more darker setting to match the maturity of the actors as they aged. Its the movie that introduces us to Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, David Thewlis as Remus Lupin; the Defense against the Dark Arts professor, and Michael Gambon as Dumbledore, who took over the role of Richard Harris who passed away the year before. The movie saw Harry encountering escaped convict Sirius Black who is blamed for the death of his parents and is actually wrongfully imprisoned. As the movie explains more on Harry's family history and introduces Hagrid's latest pet Buckbeak, a wild 'Hippogriff' of mythical origins that is similar to a Griffin, which plays a pivotal role in saving Sirius from death, we are also introduced to the Dementors, the ghostlike guards of Azkaban that Harry has to fend with at the end of the movie.Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (2005)
Adapting 636-page book is not an easy feat, however director Mike Newell, did somewhat a decent job with the movie, as it did try to include every important section of the book onto the big screen. Voted as fan's favourite "Potter" book, "Goblet of Fire" as Harry's fourth year in college sees the boy wizard thinking that the year will be a pleasant one until he gets mysteriously thrown into participating in the Triwizard Tournament. The event is participated by all magical schools as their representatives battle among one another in a series of deadly tasks that include, diving underwater in land of hostile mermaids, stealing a dragons golden egg and a colossal maze with danger lurking at every corner. It is also where British actor Ralph Fiennes makes his entry as Lord Voldemort in the flesh. By the end of the movie, we find out that it was Voldemort's plan all along to get Harry into the tournament and to kill him, but as Harry narrowly escapes, another participant by the name of Cedric Diggory (played by Robert Pattinson) gets killed. Well, at least we now know how Edward Cullen came to be a sparkly vampire in "Twilight".Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix (2007)
In Harry's fifth year in Hogwarts, he deals with aftermath of the Triwizard Tournament and the return of Lord Voldemort as everyone doubts if he's telling the truth. With the interference of the Ministry of Magic (the magical world's governing body), Headmaster of Hogwarts; Dumbledore, is replaced by Dolores Umbridge, which is just about the most annoying character in the series, ever. The mean witch (which rhymes with another word that well describes her), confines the student of Hogwarts into a tightly controlled web of rules and finds sadistic pleasure in punishment. As Harry then leads a group of pupils for a revolution by the name of 'Dumbledore's Army", he defies Umbridge and heads on towards the headquarters of the Ministry of Magic to battle corruption and save his kidnapped godfather, Sirius. The event then turns into another trick of Voldemort's to capture Harry, as the Dark Lord's sidekick Bellatrix Lestrange (played by Helena Bonham Carter) ruthlessly kills Sirius. The movie then features the fireworks display of duelling between Voldemort and Dumbledore where Harry manages to escape once again with a prophecy stolen from the Ministry in hand. The ending of the movie reveals the contents of the prophecy that states neither he or Voldemort can survive, unless either one dies by the hand of the other.Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince (2009)
As Harry deals with the death of his godfather, Sirius, he then deals with ways to finally destroy Lord Voldemort. As he goes by his classes in Hogwarts, he then stumbles upon a potion book that belongs to a mysterious person by the name of the 'Half-Blood Prince'. "Dumbledore then reveals to Harry of Voldemort's dark past in Hogwarts and how he turned evil. It is discovered that Voldemort split his soul and created seven Horcruxes, which is basically random objects that safeguards a portion of the creator's soul, granting him immortality unless the Horcrux is destroyed. The first Horcrux is discovered to be Tom Riddle's diary in the "Chamber Of Secrets", and the second is a ring which Dumbledore finds and destroys, leaving 5 Horcruxes remaining. When Harry has a vision of another Horcrux (a locket) hidden in a cave, he journeys with Dumbledore to retrieve and to destroy it. They discover the locket is a fake and rush back to Hogwarts only to realise that the school is invaded by Voldemort's followers; the Death Eaters. Snape reveals himself to be the 'Half-Blood Prince' and kills Dumbledore as Harry is stunned and immobilised from saving him.Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (2010)
Due to Dumbledore's death in the last instalment, Harry along with his best friends Ron and Hermione abandon Hogwarts as it gets taken over by the Ministry of Magic. In this movie which is touted to be the best of the franchise, we see the actors grow up like never before; both in their appearances as well as their characters who build up to their emotional peaks. Harry, Ron and Hermione travel to the Ministry of Magic to retrieve the original locket for which Dumbledore died for, and figure out ways to destroy it. They also discover that Dumbledore has bestowed them with 3 things in his will, which leads to the Deathly Hallows, a mysterious trio of magical objects. Whoever possesses the three objects will be a master of death, and to Harry, it's his one chance to beat Voldemort. The objects are discovered to be a Resurrection Stone, a Clock of Invisibility and the Elder Wand, which is buried with Dumbledore's body. As the trio then battle the Death Eaters who had closed in on them, Dobby the house elf helps them to escape, but at the cost of his life. The last scene of the film shows Voldemort breaking into Dumbledore's tomb and stealing the Elder Wand to defeat Harry for the conclusion we will only see in the upcoming movie "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2". Just like the first movie, "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1" grossed US $954 million worldwide.
