“THE INTERVIEW” SETS ONLINE SALES/RENTALS RECORD — BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

A week after it was yanked from major theatrical release, Sony’s The Interview earned a record $15 million online. (It also took in an additional $2.8 million from 331 mostly small independent theaters.) That’s $15 million that Sony didn’t have to split with theaters. But what does that mean for the future of cinema as […]

HOLIDAY BOX OFFICE SOARS ABOVE PREDICTIONS

A slew of new releases and strong holdovers drove the box office to the heights of Santa’s sleigh over the four-day holiday weekend. Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies led the field with an estimated $54.5 million for the period from Christmas Day Thursday through Sunday, but Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken far surpassed […]

FINAL BOX OFFICE RESULTS: WEEKEND OF DEC. 19-21

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Studio Systems News (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Warner Bros., $54,724,334, 1 Wk., ($89,131,544 — from Wednesday); 2. Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, 20th Century Fox, $17,100,520, […]

XMAS HOLIDAY KICKS OFF WITH $90-MILLION HOBBIT DEBUT

After last week’s anxiety over Sony’s The Interview, theater owners were rejoicing this weekend over the solid debut for Warner Bros.’ The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, which earned $90.6 million domestically and $105.5 million overseas, according to studio estimates. Twentieth Century Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb, opened a […]

OBAMA: SONY’S MOVIE CANCELLATION WAS A “MISTAKE”

President Obama said at a news conference today (Friday) that it was a “mistake” for Sony to have canceled its planned release of The Interview, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, following threats from a group that appeared aligned with the government of North Korea. Earlier the group had hacked into Sony’s computer system, leaking […]

SONY BOWS TO TERROR THREAT, CANCELS THE INTERVIEW

Sony Pictures has yielded to the hackers group aligned with the government of North Korea that threatened violence if the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy The Interview was released as scheduled next week. The studio’s decision to yank the film came after the nation’s largest theater chains announced that they would refuse to screen it. The […]

FEARING VIOLENCE, SOME THEATERS MAY CANCEL SCREENINGS OF THE INTERVIEW

Some theaters are considering canceling the opening of Sony’s The Interview following threats of violence by the group that hacked into the studio’s computer system, releasing thousands of pages of documents, including sensitive emails between executives. The group, calling itself Guardians of Peace and siding with the North Korean government, said in its message that […]

HOLY MOSES! SCOTT’S EXODUS OPENS WITH JUST $24.5M

Although it topped the weekend box office, Ridley Scott’s critically drubbed Exodus: Gods and Kings earned only about $24.5 million, a baleful indication that the $140 million (estimated) movie, which stars Christian Bale as Moses, may need a miracle to save it from the fate of the golden calf. That miracle is likely to come from […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: EXODUS: GODS AND KINGS

Plagued by overwhelmingly poor reviews, a controversy over the racial makeup of the cast, been-there-done-that special effects, and the glittering example of Cecil B. DeMille’s classical biblical epic The Ten Commandments, Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods and Kings will likely need a divine intervention if it is to earn more than $30 million this weekend, analysts […]

“BIRDMAN” FLIES HIGH OVER GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES

Birdman has led the list of this year’s Golden Globe nominees, receiving recognition in seven categories, including best motion picture – musical or comedy. Boyhood and Imitation Game were runners-up with five each. Here is the complete list of nominees in both movie and TV categories.

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