Hollywood Movie Report

Another Monday morning has arrived, and this means it is time to look at what happened at this weekend’s box office. Some might be shocked to see what happened this weekend though. After clearly dominating in its first week, Watchmen dropped in its second week of release to second place. This week’s top player at the box office was Dwayne Johnson and Carla Gugino with Race To Witch Mountain. Yes, Carla is also in Watchmen, so now she can say that she had two number one movies at the box office in the month of March 2009.

What is most shocking about this is the fact that Watchmen dropped so much from its first week. It only brought in a third of its first week’s sales with $18 million in earnings. Race To Witch Mountain came out on top with $25 million. The other new releases this weekend, The Last House On The Left and Miss March, came in at third place and tenth place, respectively. The Last House On The Left is another horror movie remake, but it did well with $14.7 million in earnings at the box office.

As for what is coming out new in the week ahead, we have three new movies hitting theaters - Duplicity, I Love you, Man, and Knowing. I am quite interested in Knowing based on the trailer alone, but Duplicity has star power with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen together again. On DVD, Twilight fans can pick up their copies on Tuesday as the movie hits store shelves. For a full list of this week’s releases, check out after the jump.

March 20
Duplicity
I Love You, Man
Knowing

March 17
Twilight (PG-13)
Punisher: War Zone (R)
Elegy (R)

Barney Miller The Complete 3rd Season
F Word, The Series 2: Uncensored
Ghost Hunters Season 4, Part 2
Head Case Season 1
Hollywood Residential Season 1
JAG The 8th Season
Married… with Children The Complete 10th Season
Marvel Superheroes The Mighty Thor: Enter Hercules
Mr. Belvedere Seasons 1 & 2
Nanny The Complete 3rd Season
Pup Named Scooby-Doo Complete 2nd, 3rd & 4th Seasons
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon Complete Season 1
Spectacular Spider-Man Volume 2, Volume 3
Suspense The Lost Episodes, Collection 3
Zeta Project Season 1

March 17
The Script - The Script
Lionel Richie - Just Go
Gabriella Cilmi - Lessons To Be Learned
Jupiter Rising - The Quiet Hype
Willie Nelson - Naked Willie
BoA - BoA
Marianne Faithfull - Easy Come, Easy Go
Static-X - Cult Of Static
Ida Maria - Fortress Round My Heart
Randy Weeks - Going My Way
Superdrag - Industry Giants
Caroline Weeks - Songs for Edna
Nick Lowe - Quiet Please: The New Best Of Nick Lowe
Mick Fleetwood Band - Blue Again [live]

Hollywood, Box Office Report: 'Race to Witch Mountain' casts a spell at No. 1

The Disney family film update Race to Witch Mountain won the weekend box office in fine fashion, grossing $25 million, according to Sunday's estimates from Media by Numbers. That's the second best opening ever for a movie fronted by Dwayne Johnson alone, trailing only the first feature that starred the artist formerly known as The Rock, The Scorpion King, which banked $36.1 in its 2002 debut. Race to Witch Mountain's take was in line with expectations and garnered an okay CinemaScore grade of B+ from an audience that was 60 percent female. It should stay strong at the box office at least until Monsters vs. Aliens opens in two weeks.

Also in Race to Witch Mountain's favor: weak competition from reigning champ Watchmen (No. 2), which dropped a hefty 67 percent from its big opening last weekend to gross $18.1 mil. Zack Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's landmark superhero saga is clearly slowing down, although it has grossed $86 mil in 10 days.

Freshman fright flick The Last House on the Left was next at No. 3, with an anticipated $14.7 mil. That's a decent sum for a horror movie that had the added benefit of opening on Friday the 13th; indeed, it's in line with what most scary remakes tend to bring in on their first weekends. Thus, you can expect this film (which got a so-so B CinemaScore review) to fall off the map after this frame, since that's also what most horror movies do.

Taken (No. 4 with $6.7 mil) remained in the top five well into its second month at the multiplex. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail came in at No. 5 with $5.1 mil. And the weekend's other new wide release, the Playboy-centric comedy Miss March, grossed an unsexy $2.3 mil way down at No. 10.

Meanwhile, the limited indie release Sunshine Cleaning, starring Emily Blunt and Amy Adams, scored the highest opening-weekend per-theater average thus far in 2009, dusting up a stellar average of $53,500 in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles.

Overall, the box office was a little on the sluggish side, dropping nearly 17 percent from the same frame a year ago, when Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! was the big winner. Still, this is just the first "down" weekend in more than a month, which is comforting.

Movie Report - 3/9/09

A good Monday to you! Watchmen was the only movie released into theaters this passed weekend, so it is no surprised that the movie managed to come in at number one. Everyone I spoke to this weekend went to go see this one movie, so the only question for the weekend was just how much the movie would make. We now know that answer. Watchmen managed to pull in an estimated $55.7 million at the box office this weekend. Will it be able to top the box office for a second week in a row?
We know it will try, but will any of the new releases set to come out stand a chance? The biggest release this weekend is Race To Witch Mountain, which brings Dwayne Johnson back to the big screen with a movie directed to the kid market. This is another one of those remakes as well. I remember watching Escape To Witch Mountain when I was a kid, so now I’m wondering just how well the movie will do. I am predicting Watchmen to top the box office for second week in a row.
As for other releases, we have a number of movies hitting DVD this week on Tuesday including the award-winning Milk, Transporter 3 and Cadillac Records. Fans of Caroline in the City, Family Ties and Get Smart also have new seasons of those series hitting DVD this week. As far as music, season one American Idol winner, Kelly Clarkson, is out with a new CD Tuesday. Check for a full list of releases after the jump!

March 13
The Last House on the Left
Miss March
Race to Witch Mountain
Sunshine Cleaning

March 10
Role Models (R)
Transporter 3 (PG-13)
Milk (R)
Rachel Getting Married (R)
The Boy in Striped Pajamas (PG-13)
Cadillac Records (R)
Happy-Go-Lucky (R)
Synecdoche, New York (R)

Adventures of Champion Best of Season 1
Baron The Complete Series
Best Years The Complete 1st Season
Caroline in the City The 2nd Season
Cracker The Complete Collection
Family Ties The 5th Season
Get Smart Season 2
Girls Next Door Season 4
Only When I Laugh The Ultimate Collection
Red Green Show 2001 Season
Samantha Brown: Passport to Great Weekends Season 1
South Park The Complete 12 Season
Starter Wife Season 1
Woody Woodpecker Show Woody Woodpecker Favorites

Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted
Corbin Bleu - Speed Of Light
Chris Cornell - Scream
Taylor Hicks - The Distance
Madeleine Peyroux - Bare Bones
New Found Glory - Not Without A Fight
The-Dream - Love vs. Money
Dope - No Regrets
J. Holiday - Round 2
Razorlight - Slipway Fires
The Rippingtons - Modern Art
Ronnie Milsap - Then Sings My Soul [2 CDs]
John Wesley Harding - Who Was Changed And Who Was Dead
Cursive - Mama, I’m Swollen
Yngwie Malmsteen - Angels of Love
Sarah Brightman - Symphony: Live In Vienna [CD + DVD]
Elvis Presley - I Believe: The Gospel Masters [4 CDs]
Rick Springfield - My Precious Little One [Amazon.com exclusive]
Nat King Cole - Re: Generations
Ballas Hough Band - Ballas Hough Band
Rocco DeLuca - Mercy
Mirah - (a)spera
Francisca London - Francisca London

Entertainment Charts

Movies: Box Office

Box Office Chart of the top 10 movies this week

	Top Movies	Weekend Gross*	Number of Screens	Per-Screen Average	Weeks in Release	Gross to Date*
1	Watchmen Warner Bros	$55.7	3611	$15413	1	$55.7
2	Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail Lionsgate	$8.8	2151	$4091	3	$76.5
3	Taken Fox	$7.5	3016	$2470	6	$118.0
4	Slumdog Millionaire Fox Searchlight	$6.9	2890	$2396	17	$125.4
5	Paul Blart: Mall Cop Sony	$4.2	2558	$1642	8	$133.6
6	He's Just Not That Into You Warner Bros.	$4.0	2445	$1644	5	$84.6
7	Coraline Focus	$3.3	1959	$1691	5	$65.7
8	Confessions of a Shopaholic Buena Vista	$3.1	2290	$1363	4	$38.4
9	Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience Buena Vista	$2.8	1276	$2183	2	$16.8
10	Fired Up Screen Gems	$2.6	1798	$1446	3	$13.4

• See movie grades from critics and readers
• Get showtimes and tickets in your area

Source: Nielsen EDI

Weekend gross and gross-to-date figures in millions; includes some multiscreen theaters and prints shipped as well as individual screens

Sunshine Cleaning (2009)

With Albuquerque as the setting, Alan Arkin as the rascally grandpa, and a happy atmospheric condition in the title, the makers of Sunshine Cleaning aren't exactly subtle about their recycled ideas… er, reconstituted artistic influences. And just in case a potential moviegoer doesn’t make the connection, this peachcolored comedy about a wacky family who shove their sadness into a bulging closet is being marketed as ''from the producers of Little Miss Sunshine'' All that's missing from the formula is a Volkswagen Microbus.

But wait! Soon enough, Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams), a single mother scrounging for income in bad-economy New Mexico, picks up a reasonable automotive facsimile — a junker van. The wheels, see, are necessary for Rose’s new specialty business in crime-scene cleanup and biohazard disposal. The learning curve, she figures, can't be that steep; she already works as a housecleaner, sometimes vacuuming the plush carpets of women she went to high school with. In search of a partner, Rose ropes in her younger sister, Norah (Emily Blunt), who's an even less functional grown-up. We know Norah is a bad girl because she wears raccoon eye-shadow and smokes. We don’t yet know why she’s so blue, but then, it took a while for Steve Carell, as Little MissSunshine’s droll, suicidal uncle, to share his pain. So hang on.

Now all that's missing is an adorable little wise-eyed kid who has a special relationship with Gramps. But wait! Rose's inquisitive son, Oscar (pint-size TV pro Jason Spevack), is a bright boy so bored in his local elementary school that he makes mischief. That's probably just as well, since the need to transfer Oscar to a private school is what awakens Rose's entrepreneurial spirit in the first place. Soon, this thirtysomething underachiever whose glory days peaked when she was a high school cheerleader is zipping around Albuquerque, cheerily mopping up blood and brains and, along the way, finding a new sense of self-worth. Don't ask why a woman who looks as radiant and charismatic as Amy Adams thinks scrubbing bathtubs is her only career path — after all, Jennifer Aniston wielded a mop in Friends With Money, and Jennifer Lopez cleaned hotel sinks in Maid in Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Oscar gets to spend quality out-of-school time with Arkin's Gramps, a generic failed dreamer with a million lousy moneymaking schemes that only somebody in a movie would think up. (At one point the old guy tries to sell a shipment of bad shellfish to an unimpressed restaurateur.) We're eventually told why Norah is so sad— and the backstory is one melodramatic storm cloud too many. At least she gets to hang out for a while with an interesting, equally bruised woman played by 24's always-welcome Mary Lynn Rajskub.

That's the silver lining in this emotionally inconsequential dramedy: Truly lovely performances by Adams and Blunt pierce the thoroughly artificial climate. New Zealand-born director Christine Jeffs and screenwriter Megan Holley were lucky to land these two talents when the film went into production back in 2007, just after Blunt broke through in The Devil Wears Prada but long before Adams' Oscar-nominated turn in Doubt. As blooming Rose, Adams taps into a delicate vein of warmth and humor that makes her every reaction fresh; we may not understand why this arbitrarily thwarted character has settled for so little, but we cheer for Adams in the role. (The actor makes a showstopper moment out of Rose's attendance at a shallow classmate's baby shower.) And wielding the attitude of a not-as-tough-as-she-thinks chick, Blunt complements Adams' honeyed energy with her own irresistible, more deadpan vigor. She's a great eye-roller.

One other bright spot: Both Rose and Norah have adult sex lives — imperfect, to be sure, but real sex lives all the same. For a time, Rose has a lusty relationship with a married cop (Steve Zahn). Norah, meanwhile, beds a guy who means as little to her as she means to herself. These brief nods to the reality of female sexuality seem almost accidental in an otherwise contrived movie. But I'm grateful for the sky-clearing flashes of insight. B–

'Madea' tops 'Jonas Brothers' for a second box office win

Jonas Brothers proved this weekend that they are no Miley Cyrus. The teen pop stars' 3-D concert film, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience, opened in twice as many theaters as last year's Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds but grossed a scant $12.7 million at the box office -- less than half of Cyrus' bow. Jonas still managed to pull in a solid average of $10,000 but grossed far less than what most prognosticators were predicting. It also wasn't strong enough to best Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail, which won its second weekend in a row with $16.5 million. Madea's total now stands at $64.9 million.

Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire showed that the Academy Awards can mean something at the box office, grossing $12.2 million in its widest weekend of release since bowing more than four months ago. The Danny Boyle-directed film's total gross soared 45 percent for the weekend and now stands at an impressive $115.1 million. Liam Neeson's Taken became the second unlikely film of the year, after Paul Blart: Mall Cop, to cross the $100 million, grossing an additional $10 million its fifth week of release. The film, whose gross stands now at $107 million, dropped an amazing 12 percent -- not bad for an under-the-radar action thriller. And rounding out the top five is New Line's He's Just Not That Into You. The romantic-comedy ensemble grossed $5.9 million to put its total at $78.5 million. The other new wide release, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, grossed $4.6 million as expected, for an eighth spot in the line-up. Box office as a whole was up 11 percent for the frame, which is quite impressive considering it was a pretty quiet weekend as everyone awaits the debut of next weekend's Watchmen.

'ER' final episodes: Doug reunites with Carol...and Dr. Benton?

When George Clooney left ER in 1999, executive producer John Wells began to conceive the series finale of his NBC drama. Okay, maybe he was a tad premature, but he realized that it was quite possible that all of ER's original cast members would eventually jump ship (as they did) and he wanted to be prepared. And he insists that his plans for the two-hour finale on April 2 at 9 p.m. (preceded by a one-hour retrospective) haven't changed much over the past decade. "I really wanted to say to the audience, 'This place is still here, and if you took the wrong off-ramp in Chicago, you'd end up in front of the hospital where these people have always worked,'" says Wells, who penned the final episode, which is currently shooting in Los Angeles.

Actually, the long good-bye to County General has been going on since November: Early cast members Noah Wyle (Dr. Carter), Laura Innes (Dr. Weaver), and Anthony Edwards (Dr. Greene) have already guest-starred. And Clooney -- whose return as Dr. Doug Ross is one of the worst-kept secrets in TV -- will be joined by costars Julianna Margulies (Nurse Hathaway) and Eriq La Salle (Dr. Benton) for much-anticipated cameo appearances throughout March sweeps. Wells won't say exactly when we'll see them (nor will NBC confirm reports that Clooney will appear March 12), but he does suggest that fans set their TiVos ASAP. "You should not expect them all to be in the finale," warns Wells. "We've spread them out over the season. I didn't want to do something like somebody dies, or there is a celebration, or the hospital closes, so that's why everybody comes back. I wanted it to be natural." He'll confirm one star for the finale: Wyle, the one original cast member who has appeared in the most episodes of ER.

For more about ER -- including how it almost got pink-slipped by NBC before it went on the air in 1994 -- check out the latest issue of EW.

Box Office Preview: 'Watchmen' will be No. 1, but how much will it make?

Watchmen opens this weekend, in case you haven't heard. Word of the comic-based film's long-awaited debut did get out around Hollywood, apparently: The competition is completely steering clear. So, as the only big new release, Zack Snyder's anticipated adaptation of Alan Moore's geek bible certainly will be No. 1. But just how well will it do? Read on. Oh, and did I mention that it's long-awaited and anticipated? Just making sure.

1. Watchmen -- $75 million
I still vividly remember the shockwaves that rumbled through Tinseltown when Snyder's last R-rated graphic-novel techy epic, 300, opened to a huge $70.9 mil on this weekend two years ago. (The ground shook so intensely that I felt tremors in Las Vegas, where I was that weekend.) That was huge. And this movie, with a similar pedigree, a similar fan base, a similar release pattern in more than 3,000 venues, including several expensive-ticket IMAX locations, should be pretty damn big, too. But will it be bigger than 300? Marginally, yes, I think. Watchmen could be hurt by its nearly three-hour running time, but it's based on a monumental book about which excitement has been building for two decades. What's more, it's opening in a few hundred more theaters than 300 did, and ticket prices have gone up in the years since the Spahhhhrtahhhns stormed the box office. Keeping track of its returns will be fun, indeed.

2. Slumdog Millionaire -- $10 million
The Oscar winner got a boost after its Best Picture win and has now grossed more than $200 mil worldwide.

3. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail -- $9 million
In less than two weeks, Tyler Perry's latest movie has become his top domestic grosser to date, with nearly $70 mil in the bank.

4. Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience -- $8 million
Eh, don't feel so bad for the boys. They may not have made Miley-sized millions last weekend, but their big-screen extravaganza averaged almost $10,000 per theater -- and it should hang on strong this time around.

5. Taken -- $7 million
With little direct boy-baiting competition (except, maybe, Friday the 13th, which was only viable for one day, really), Liam Neeson's action flick has cruised to a $110 mil take at the box office during the past month. Which is to say: Watchmen's debut could finally hurt a bit.

Box Office Report: 'Watchmen' wins the weekend with $55.7 mil

After all the anticipation and hubbub, the weekend is coming to an end and the box office results are here: Watchmen (No. 1) grossed $55.7 million during its first frame, according to early estimates from Media by Numbers.

That's a solid sum, to be sure, although it's certainly on the low end of most projections. Watchmen premiered in more theaters (3,611) than any other R-rated movie in history, and it averaged an impressive $15,413 per venue, despite a potentially problematic long running time. It also scored the biggest debut of 2009 so far. Nonetheless, the movie's $55.7 mil take (including $5.5 mil from 124 IMAX screens) is substantially smaller than the $70.9 mil that 300, the last R-rated graphic-novel movie from director Zack Snyder, earned on its opening weekend two years ago. And aside from that theater-count statistic (which almost any film could break at any time, really), there will be no major records to report on this weekend (for example, Watchmen's debut was just the fifth-best opening ever for an R-rated movie).

I'd argue, in fact, that this opening is a bit soft, considering the great expectations that came with Snyder's adaptation of Alan Moore's landmark comic book -- not to mention Watchmen's hefty grosses from screenings at midnight on Friday and throughout its first day. After attracting some major initial interest, banking $25.1 mil on Friday, the film's audience dropped off dramatically during the weekend: It grossed $19 mil on Saturday and is expected to bring in just $11.5 mil on Sunday. These are all big numbers, don't get me wrong, but, when combined with the fact that the film got a lukewarm CinemaScore grade of B from an audience that was largely comprised of older men, it all points to a rapid downward trend that may be difficult to reverse in the weeks to come.

Elsewhere -- yes, there were other movies playing at the multiplex this weekend! -- a number of films continued to do what Watchmen must now aspire to, perhaps in vain: They stayed strong deep into their long runs. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (No. 2) grossed $8.8 mil on its third weekend; the film, Perry's biggest yet at the box office, has banked $76.5 mil to date. Taken (No. 3) also moved along like the unstoppable force it has been for more than a month now, earning $7.5 mil and bringing its six-week sum to $118 mil. Best Picture winner Slumdog Millionaire (No. 4) was next with $6.9 mil, which boosted its domestic haul to $125.4 mil. And Paul Blart: Mall Cop (No. 5) took its eight-week total to $133.6 mil thanks to another $4.2 mil gross.

Meanwhile, Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (No. 9) completely fell off the map, dropping a staggering 78 percent to gross just $2.8 mil. According to Box Office Mojo, that's the 15th biggest second-weekend decline of all time.

Overall, the cumulative box office was up nearly 8 percent over the same frame a year ago, when 10,000 B.C. opened big, making this the fifth consecutive "up" weekend at the multiplex. So, all in all, I'd say today's was a good report, indeed.

Box Office Report - Feb 13 - 16

This Presidents Day weekend was a record-setting one. The return of Jason Voorhees prompted horror fans to turn out in record numbers and propelled this pseudo remake into first place with $45 million. Despite mostly negative reviews, audiences forked over cash to be scared by one of the most recognizable film villains in history. Apparently watching pretty people die in any number of bizarre ways was a great way to escape from all the bad news - and bad weather - hitting the United States.

Top 10 Films for the Weekend Ending February 16 (Estimates)
1) Friday the 13th - $45,200,000
2) He's Just Not That Into You - $23,300,000
3) Taken - $22,000,000
4) Coraline - $20,100,000
5) Confessions of a Shopaholic - $17,000,000
6) Paul Blart: Mall Cop - $13,800,000
7) The Pink Panther 2 - $10,800,000
8) The International - $10,700,000
9) Slumdog Millionaire - $8,700,000
10) Push - $7,900,000
_{(Photo © New Line Cinema)}

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