YOUNG ADULT: Worth A Ticket – Theron + Oswalt = The Real Thing   Charlize Theron plays the hell out of her character Mavis Gary in the new YOUNG ADULT.  Theron has had a curious Hollywood career, with the usual big-budget flops (remember Aeon Flux?) mixed with a clearly wholehearted commitment to difficult, independent projects […]

>Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows jumped to over $175 million overseas and has a shot at $400 million worldwide.  Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol moved well past $500 million worldwide.  Complete updated chart after the jump.    

>Cars 2 is looking like a $68 million opening weekend now, lower than the estimate based on Friday’s numbers but very close to the initial ShowBuzzDaily forecast.  Bad Teacher is looking like a solid $31 million for the R-rated comedy.  The weekend is now looking like 10% higher than the same weekend in 2010, a […]

> For everyone journeying to the multiplex this long weekend, some reviews to click on: THE TREE OF LIFE:  An often stupendous achievement that courts ridicule–and sometimes earns it. THE HANGOVER PART II:  It wasn’t broke, they didn’t fix it. KUNG FU PANDA 2:  This franchise has been working out. MIDNIGHT IN PARIS: A tasty […]

> After what seemed as long as a presidential primary season, the Oscar nominations are finally here. What do they tell us? THE ARTIST Is Still The Film To Beat. There were plenty of surprises sprinkled throughout today’s nominations, but none that seriously challenged the conventional wisdom. If Martin Scorsese were still looking for his […]

  James Ponsoldt’s SMASHED (not to be confused with NBC’s Smash), which premiered in the Dramatic Competition at Sundance, is a new spin on a fairly old story.  The concept goes back (at least) to 1962’s Days of Wine and Roses:  a couple (Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Aaron Paul), very much in love with both […]

Weekend #38 of 2015 is looking like $120 million for the top 12 films this weekend, well above the norm for this weekend (see comparisons below). Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials from Fox should open with a $40.5 million weekend. Reviews are fairly positive: 59% positive at RottenTomatoes. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials is on track for around $119 million domestic. […]

> What a catastrophe at the box office this weekend.  No film above $20 million for the weekend, and the top 12 films are down a staggering 37% from the same weekend last year (when Jackass 3-D opened to $50 million).  Footloose, The Thing and especially The Big Year missed their forecasts.  The Big Year […]