SMAUG IS LESS THAN BREATHTAKING IN DEBUT

With an estimated $73.6-million opening, Warner Bros. and MGM executives had nothing to feel desolate about, but The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug earned 13 percent less than The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey did over the comparable weekend a year ago. That film set a record for December, and some forecasters had predicted that the […]

TYLER PERRY: HIGHEST PAID MAN IN ENTERTAINMENT

Tyler Perry, the creator of the Madea movies, is the highest-paid man in entertainment, Forbes magazine reported today (Tuesday). The financial magazine observed that while the likes of Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp receive most of the public’s attention, only two personalities at the top of the list are actors — and one is Perry, […]

RIO STILL PERCHED ATOP BOX OFFICE

The birds of Rio continued to defend their nest atop the box office over the weekend as their animated comedy edged out Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family, which had been favored to take over as the weekend’s top film. As it was, only a little over a million dollars separated the two films. According […]

RIO STAYS ON TOP

Rio gave all of its competitors the bird over the Easter weekend as it took in an estimated $26.8 million domestically and $44 million overseas to bring its worldwide total to $286 million. The film, which is voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway, has in less than three weeks (it opened abroad a week […]

MADEA PREDICTED TO TOP BOX OFFICE

Birds, elephants, and lions will be battling one another at the box office this weekend, and when the dust settles, the winner will be … Madea. That’s the conclusion of most industry forecasters, who note that Tyler Perry’s character has been drawing ever bigger audiences — the last Madea movie, Madea Goes to Jail, opened […]