“Sony's `Green Hornet' Opens as Top Weekend Movie With $34 Million in Sales - Bloomberg” plus 1 more

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Sony's `Green Hornet' Opens as Top Weekend Movie With $34 Million in Sales - Bloomberg Posted: 16 Jan 2011 05:22 PM PST The superhero movie "The Green Hornet" opened in first place in U.S. and Canadian theaters, taking in $34 million for distributor Sony Corp. The Vince Vaughn comedy "The Dilemma," the weekend's other new film, debuted in second place with $17.4 million, researcher Hollywood.com Box-Office said yesterday in an e- mailed statement. The films, Hollywood's first major releases this year, failed to revive slumping ticket sales. Box-office revenue for the top 12 movies has declined for 10 straight weekends as new releases have proved unable to match blockbusters such as "Avatar" and Sherlock Holmes" that were in theaters last year. "It's going to be a while before business picks up, if it ever does," said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo, an audience reporting service. "What we're lacking are truly broad, mainstream successes to catapult the box office to respectable levels." Sales for the weekend's top 12 films fell to $115.2 million from $156.8 million in the year-earlier period, according to Hollywood.com. This year's domestic box-office sales total $442.5 million, down 24.6 percent from a year earlier. Attendance is off 27 percent. "The Green Hornet," based on the 1930s radio program and comic books, stars Seth Rogen as a wealthy newspaper heir who secretly fights crime while hiding behind a playboy image. He is helped by driver and martial-arts expert Kato, played by Jay Chou. 'True Grit' "'The Green Hornet' did very well, all things considered," Gray said. The serious superhero movies "do well, but the comedic ones often struggle. It's also impressive because it stars Seth Rogen, who's coming off a losing streak." In "The Dilemma," Vaughn plays a man who discovers that his best friend's wife is having an affair. The film, directed by Ron Howard, co-stars Kevin James and Winona Ryder. "True Grit," the western from directors Joel and Ethan Coen, dropped to third place from first with $11.2 million in receipts. The film stars Jeff Bridges as Deputy U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn, a role that won John Wayne the best-actor Academy Award in 1970. Based on the novel by Charles Portis, "True Grit" tells the story of Mattie Ross, a teenage girl who hires Cogburn to track down her father's killer. Hailee Steinfeld plays Ross and Matt Damon co-stars as a Texas Ranger who joins the search. The film has had sales of $126.4 million in four weeks of release. 'Black Swan' "The King's Speech," from Weinstein Co., was fourth with $9.1 million in receipts. The film stars Colin Firth as King George VI of England, crowned after brother, King Edward VIII, abdicated the throne. The story chronicles George's speech impediment and his struggle to overcome it when he's forced to give a radio address to rally his people. Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush co-star. The thriller "Black Swan," featuring Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis as rival ballerinas, was fifth. It had $8.1 million in sales in its seventh week of release for News Corp.'s Fox Searchlight and has earned $72.9 million, Hollywood.com said. The amounts below are based on actual ticket sales for Jan. 14-15 and estimates for yesterday. Rev. Avg./ Pct. Total Movie (mln) Theaters Theater Chg. (mln) Wks ================================================================ 1 THE GREEN HORNET $34.0 3,584 $9,487 -- $34.0 1 2 THE DILEMMA 17.4 2,940 5,925 -- 17.4 1 3 TRUE GRIT 11.2 3,459 3,238 -23 126.4 4 4 THE KING'S SPEECH 9.1 1,543 5,878 41 44.6 8 5 BLACK SWAN 8.1 2,328 3,490 0 72.9 7 6 LITTLE FOCKERS 7.1 3,394 2,103 -47 134.2 4 7 TRON: LEGACY 5.7 2,439 2,326 -44 156.9 5 8 YOGI BEAR 5.3 2,702 1,978 -20 82.1 5 9 THE FIGHTER 5.1 2,414 2,123 -27 65.8 6 10 SEASON OF THE WITCH 4.5 2,827 1,592 -58 18.0 2 11 TANGLED 3.9 2,048 1,928 -23 180.9 8 12 COUNTRY STRONG 3.7 1,424 2,598 -49 13.3 4 Top 12 Films Grosses: This Week Year Ago Pct. (mln) (mln) Chg. =================================== $115.2 $156.8 -26.5 Year-to-date Revenue: 2010 2009 YTD YTD Pct. (mln) (mln) Chg. =================================== $442.5 $586.8 -24.6 Year-to-date Attendance: -27% To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net; Donal Griffin in New York at dgriffin10@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Sylvia Wier at swier@bloomberg.net This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon And More 2011 Movie Pairs - MTV Posted: 04 Jan 2011 12:36 PM PST As frigid temperatures and frozen banks of filthy snow have taken hold outside the MTV News offices in Times Square, we've been warming ourselves with thoughts of what's to come at the multiplex in 2011, where heavy doses of buttered popcorn and Sno-caps will keep us content all year round. In the months to come, we'll take in a series of films featuring highly anticipated twosomes, some romantic and others platonic, some heavy on explosive laughs, and others featuring heavy explosions. Here are our picks for the big-screen pairings we're most looking forward to checking out this year: Robert Pattinson & Reese Witherspoon in "Water for Elephants" Sure, RPattz will once again share the screen opposite Kristen Stewart in 2011, but he's been mining the same limited "Twilight" material for a while now, and we're keen to see how he manages when his character has more emotional motivation than simply protecting his beloved. While we enjoyed his turn in last year's romantic drama "Remember Me," a performance opposite the Oscar-winning Witherspoon in "Elephants" will mark Pattinson's biggest opportunity yet to establish himself as a formidable talent. The first trailer mostly showcased RPattz in smoldering default mode. Can the 24-year-old Brit step it up? Can his chemistry with Witherspoon begin to compare, in fan's eyes, with the Bella-Edward-Jacob love triangle? Answers will arrive with the film's release in April. Brad Pitt & Jonah Hill in "Moneyball" At first glance, we'll admit, this seems like an odd match. But consider: Hill is just beginning to scratch the surface of his acting range, as his deeply strange and strangely affecting turn in "Cyrus" made clear. Pitt, meanwhile, is a proven comedic talent. The two play fast-talking, ego-heavy execs for the Oakland A's. With a dramatic, real-life story line about the hard-scrabble, small-market ball club and a script that got a makeover from dialogue whiz Aaron Sorkin, "Moneyball" has the perfect framework for a memorable dynamic between Pitt and Hill. Shia LaBeouf & Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" One can hardly call what LaBeouf and Megan Fox shared onscreen in two "Transformers" flicks "magical," so LaBeouf and Huntington-Whiteley's pairing in "Dark of the Moon" won't be a case of recapturing cinematic gold. Yet the comparisons will be inevitable, even if Michael Bay's directing for his leading "Transformers" ladies seems to begin and end with, "Look hot!" We look forward to seeing how LaBeouf and Huntington-Whiteley play off each other, one a savvy vet of Spielberg and Stone movies, the other a Victoria's Secret model making her big-screen debut. Johnny Depp & Penelope Cruz in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" Jack Sparrow's adventures on the high seas have usually taken precedence over his adventures in the bedroom. "On Stranger Tides" could well change all that. With Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley out of the picture, the head-butting between Depp's Captain Jack and Cruz's swashbuckling beauty will take center stage. Are we ready to see the softer side of the dreadlocked pirate? Simon Pegg & Nick Frost in "Paul" Has it really been almost four years since these comedic pals were onscreen together in "Hot Fuzz"? Any time the British funnymen get together, we'll be first in line for a ticket. This year will bring them back for a third cinematic turn, following "Fuzz" and 2004's "Shaun of the Dead." "Paul" is a sci-fi comedy in which Pegg and Frost play conspiracy-minded friends on a road trip to a purported alien-landing sight, where — much to their surprise — they actually discover an alien. Frost and Pegg excel when challenging themselves with such high-concept comedic obstacles, and if the film's trailers are any indication, they've got another winner on their hands. Daniel Craig & Rooney Mara in "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" The role of troubled hacker Lisbeth Salander was one of the most coveted in Hollywood last year until Mara, a relative unknown, won the part. She'll star opposite Craig, who plays journalist (and Salander's love interest) Mikael Blomkvist. The "Tattoo" stars have a lot to live up to: The book on which the film is based was a best-seller across the globe, and the Swedish adaptation has garnered plaudits from critics and audiences alike. But we've got high hopes: David Fincher is in the director's chair, and the story line sizzles with emotional stakes and high-tension plot twists. Which onscreen pairing are you most looking forward to in 2011? Tell us your pick in the comments below! For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php Five Filters featured site: So, Why is Wikileaks a Good Thing Again?. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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