11/26/09

Tops at the Box: Cute vamps and studly boywolves, duh. Fangs out, the second of four planned films based on Stephanie Myers’ “Twilight” books, New Moon, dominated last weekend, not just posting the third best first domestic weekend numbers ever ($141 million), but setting a new all-time midnight debut record ($26.3 million) and a new all-time opening day record ($72.7 million). The film, which had a somewhat modest $50 million production budget, has, by the time you read this, already grossed over $300 million worldwide. So, sure, the lovey dovey vamp sequel is a already smashing success, but two questions remain: 1) are people actually liking the film (I’m hearing very mixed reviews); and 2) how much was spent promoting the film (I’ve heard that the promotion budget is also a new record). Your move, James Cameron/Avatar. 

More From the Box: Surely even more notable to the cinephile crowd than the second Edward Cullen film is how well Pedro Almodovar’s new film, Broken Embraces, fared in its test weekend. Playing in just two New York City theaters, the film (which has seen next-to-no promotion) sold nearly every available ticket, brining in $108,000 last weekend. Look for **Embraces - which stars the increasingly amazing Penelope Cruz (swoon) - to hit more theaters through December. Okay, back to reality. Coming in at No. 2 last weekend was feel-good drama The Blind Side, starring Sandra Bullock. Bringing in a surprising $34.5 million over it’s first weekend, Blind tells the true story of Baltimore Raven offensive tackle Michael Oher and the family who helped him go from impoverished youth to the nation’s No. 1 high school football prospect. Supposedly a decent flick, despite Bullock’s involvement. Coming in at No. 3 last weekend is disaster flick 2012, bringing in just over $26 million over the weekend, upping it’s 10-day domestic total to over $100 million. Sony continues to struggle as their should’ve-been-huge Planet 51 took the weekend’s No. 4 spot, bringing in a disappointing $12.6 million in its opening weekend. Lionsgate indie phenom Precious continues to impress, selling $11 million in tickets last weekend, placing them at the five spot. Possibly awesome wartime drama The Messenger, featuring Woody Harrelson (cool), Ben Foster (cooler) and Samantha Morton (coolest), continues to test well. Oh, and the flick ScreenTime is dying to see, An Education, continues to chug along.

New This Week: Fort Wayne moviegoers will finally get their chance to see Wes Anderson’s new film, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, as it hits at least one local screen (at the Rave, natch) the day this paper lands on stands - just in time for Thanksgiving. Apparently the film has tested well (Anderson’s best per-screen opening to date), as it is all set to roll out to at least 2,000 screens nationwide over the next two weeks (Anderson’s biggest release ever). The two other major releases this weekend, Warner Bros.’ Ninja Assassin and Buena Vista family comedy Old Dogs, likely won’t fare too well - not as long as New Moon, The Blind Side and 2012 are still sponging up the commercial dollars. Additionally, two very promising pseudo-indie films will begin testing in New York, L.A. and other select cities this week. First is director John Hillcoat’s (The Proposition) adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s excellent The Road. Looks to me like the film was definitely given the Hollywood faux-grit treatment, but should be good nonetheless. One of ScreenTime’s favorite current directors, Richard Linklater, has a new film, **Me and Orson Welles, that will also begin testing in big cities this weekend. The film, about a young actor working with a young then-stage director named Orson Welles, stars the girly-faced Zac Efron (swoon). Looks fantastic, as per usual for post-Newton Boys Linklater, who has surprisingly only had three wide releases in his great, great career.

The Buzz: Look through any film rag or at any film website and you’ll suddenly find plenty of Oscar season speculation. ScreenTime’s favorite time of the year! Many are talking about Cruz’ performance in Embraces and George Clooney’s performance in the upcoming Jason Reitman (Juno) drama, Up In the Air, as probable Best Actor frontrunners. Air will see a wide release on Christmas day and Embraces … well … Embraces might not hit Fort Wayne screens anytime soon. We’ll hold off on our predictions for now, but feel free to send yours to the below e-mail address.

New to DVD: Seeing as how this weekend, aka Black Friday Weekend, is supposedly the biggest shopping time of the year, there are more than a few notable releases hitting shelves this week. Rather than go into detail about every this and that, we’ll just quickly list the major releases seeing the DVD and Blu-ray treatment either this week or next: Funny People; Angels and Demons; Four Christmases; Snow White (Disney reissue); 2009 World Series Highlights; Shorts; Imagine That; the Criterion edition of 2008 Cannes winner Gomorrah; Santa Buddies and much, much more.