11/19/09

Tops at the Box: As expected, Sony’s big budget end-of-the-world action film, 2012, starring John Cusack and a shload of CGI animators, took the top spot at the box office last weekend, bringing in a big, loud, explosion-worthy $65 million despite initial reviews being so-so. Written and directed by blockbuster hero Roland Emmerich (Independence Day, 10,000 B.C.), the film, which also stars Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson, Oliver Platt, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton and Chiwetel Ejiofor, has already brought in almost $250 million worldwide. Not bad for a film many industry types thought might have a Waterworld like future.

More From the Box: Coming in at No. 2 last weekend is $200 million holiday remake A Christmas Carol, which reigned in $22 million its second weekend, bringing its nine-day total up to just under $63 million. While initial reviews for this film were mixed, a few notable critics have stepped up, calling director Robert Zemeckis’ (Back to the Future, Forrest Gump) work the finest crafted 3D film ever made. Last weekend’s No. 3 film was The Men Who Stare at Goats, a $25 million film that has already made over $24 million in its first 10 days. Surprising, for sure. The success of last weekend’s No. 4 film, Precious, is no surprise - not in an era where executive producer Oprah Winfrey’s word is bond.  Bringing in an amazing $1.8 million while only playing on 18 screens two weekends ago, Precious saw an expanded release last weekend, bringing in another $6 million while only playing on 174 screens. Look for this film to hit more and more screens and, of course, get major Oscar attention and box office bucks. Rounding out last weekend’s Top 5 was This Is It, the posthumous Michael Jackson tour documentary that was supposedly only set to run for two weeks. The film, which has received solid reviews and has already brought in over $200 million worldwide, took in an additional $5 million domestic dollars last weekend. Oh, and the $50 million Pirate Radio scored a measly $2.9 million over its opening weekend. Ouch! (Good thing it was a minor hit overseas earlier in the year!) Wes Anderson’s much anticipated “children’s” film, Fantastic Mr. Fox, tested well in it’s first week, playing in four theaters and selling out almost every screening. Look for the film to see an expanded release soon, as it is currently receiving some of the most consistently positive - and downright giddy - reviews of 2009.

New This Week: While ScreenTime so badly wants to go on and on about the promise of the new Pedro Almodovar film, Broken Embraces (starring the increasingly captivating Penelope Cruz), which will see a limited U.S. release this week, there’s only one real box office film of note this week. And that film, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, directed by Chris Weitz (American Pie, About a Boy), could very likely be the year’s biggest theater sensation. Look for every talk show, entertainment show, newspaper, gossip rag, website, etc. to cover the release of this film for the next week or two. ScreenTime predicts a $100 million opening weekend, zero Oscar nominations and a whole lot of DVD presales on Amazon.com. Also out this week is Sony’s latest animated film, Planet 51, which looks perfectly amusing for what it is. Let’s hope it does better than AstroBoy, which recently lost Summit Entertainment something like $50 million dollars. According to ScreenTime’s own GWIFDQ Model (George Washington Indie Filmmaking Dollars Quotient), auteur David Gordon Green could’ve made 1,200 minor classics of the scenic/poetic/Malickian ilk with that kind of heavy bread. Drag.

The Buzz: The non-Twilight-related buzz this week is focused on two very different films: dark and dirty art house drama Precious (which we’ve read is actually something of a feel good film); and Wes Anderson’s stop-motion brush stroke, Fantastic Mr. Fox (which, honestly, we’re worried might be a letdown). Precious looks pretty great, and, all Oprah jokes aside, very likely is worth all the attention it’s seeing. We’ll leave that one at that for now; go check the trailer online if this film is news to you. Fantastic, on the other hand, requires much discussion. First off, let’s forget about all that “Wes directed the film via e-mail” chatter. Directors leaving the tedious duties of the stop motion production process to others has forever been the norm. Anderson’s set designs and general attention to detail (which is, let’s face it, the reason most of his fans love him so) on this film look to be even more top shelf than his past work - and that’s saying something. The soundtrack is a winner, too, featuring some seriously kick-ass Burl Ives cuts, “Street Fighting Man,” some Beach Boys classics and a score from the great Alexandre Desplat. Desplat, for those not in the know, has been blowing up lately, providing much of the score work for films such as Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution, New Moon, a couple of Stephen Frears flicks, Coco Before Chanel, Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia, Terrence Malick’s upcoming The Tree of Life, David Fincher’s Button flick and many more. But, really, obviously, honestly, clearly, the buzz this week belongs to the new Twilight film, which needs no hype from ScreenTime - by now you likely either know if you love it or hate it. And yes, you either love it or hate it, nothing in between.

New to DVD: Normally we’d here tell you all about what’s new on shelves this coming Tuesday. Not this week. This week we’re hell bent on telling you all about the Criterion Collection’s big holiday season sale. Head out to Barnes & Noble in the next couple of weeks and you’ll be able to purchase any film from the Criterion Collection at half price. If you know what the Criterion Collection is, you know how amazing - and unlikey - this sale is. ScreenTime recommends starting with any or all of the following immaculately package and mastered Criterion releases: Federico Fellini’s Amarcord; Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai; Krysztof Kieslowski’s The Double Life of Veronique; Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless; Richard Linklater’s Slacker or Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho.