BEST BUY KARATE CHOPS PRICES FOR STRUGGLING KUNG FU PANDA 2 VIDEO

Just two weeks after Best Buy trumpeted the release of DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 2 in ads listing the Blu-ray combo pack for $22.99, a new ad for the consumer-electronics retailer now lists the pack for $14.99, a 35 percent discount. In a note to clients BTIG Research media analyst Richard Greenfield speculated today […]

CONSUMERS GO APES IN HOLIDAY DVD BUYS

It doesn’t sound like the kind of movie you’d give to someone as a Christmas gift, but 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes debuted at the top of Nielsen VideoScan First Alert’s DVD and Blu-ray Disc sales charts last week. A movie that does seem like one that you’d […]

KATZENBERG BLAMES HANGOVER FOR PANDA FALL

One might have supposed that the audiences for the raunchy comedy The Hangover: Part 2 and the family-friendly Kung Fu Panda 2 would be completely different. That apparently is also what DreamWorks Animation execs and chief Jeffrey Katzenberg supposed as well. But in reality, Katzenberg said during a conference call on Tuesday, when the films […]

BOX OFFICE GREENER THAN EXPECTED

Movie theaters sold more tickets on Father’s Day than studios had expected. Green Lantern, for example, raked in $53.17 million — about $500,000 more than Warner Bros. had estimated on Sunday. Super 8, which came in at No. 2, earned $21.47 million — about $250,000 more than Paramount figured it had made. Same for Fox’s […]

FIRST CLASS DEBUT FOR X-MEN SEQUEL

X-Men: First Class performed as studio 20th Century Fox had expected, earning an estimated $56 million over the weekend. That figure was slightly below the $60-65 million that many industry forecasters had predicted — but a solid debut nevertheless. It was also greeted relatively warmly by critics, and audiences polled by CinemaScore as they emerged […]

FOR WARNER BROS.: FIRST THE HANGOVER, THEN THE PARTY

TTalk about nursing a hangover! Moviegoers were doing just that in spades over the Memorial Day holiday as they spent $137.4 million between Thursday and Monday on The Hangover Part II, according to an estimate by Warner Bros. It marked the biggest gross for the debut of any R-rated comedy ever. While the film had […]

CHINESE CRITICS BLAST KUNG FU PANDA

Despite efforts by DreamWorks Animation to ensure that Chinese culture was treated with no disrespect in Kung Fu Panda 2, the film is already drawing condemnation on the Chinese mainland. Leading the critics is fashion designer Zhao Bandi, who sued DreamWorks Animation in 2008 for conspiring to undermine China’s national treasure. In an open letter […]

STUDIOS PLANNING TO TAKE BIGGER SHARE OF BOX OFFICE REVENUE

Movie theater owners who may have been hoping to negotiate a larger share of the box-office split with studios in return for allowing premium video-on-demand are likely to see their hopes dashed this summer when the studios begin demanding a larger share themselves, according to BTIG Research analyst Richard Greenfield. In a note to clients […]