BOX OFFICE REMAINS IN DOLDRUMS

The domestic box office remained sluggish as it entered March with only a single weekend of the year performing better than last year — and that was the Presidents Day weekend, which occurred one week later than Presidents Day weekend in 2010. Last weekend, the top 12 movies earned a combined $121.14 million — only […]

CBS FILMS MAY FINALLY HAVE ITS FIRST NON-LOSER

The relatively low-budget Beastly, starring Alex Pettyfer and Vanessa Hudgens, may finally make some money for CBS Films, whose initial releases have amounted to a string of flops. The film, a contemporary take on Beauty and the Beast set in high school, earned an estimated $10.1 million at the box office, a respectable amount given […]

RANGO WRANGLES THE MOST MOVIEGOERS

Rango outgunned all of its rivals at the box office over the weekend, hauling in an estimated $38 million. But Paramount’s animated feature pulled in far less than what box office forecasters had predicted, and it didn’t even begin to approach the $116.1 in ticket sales that Disney’s Alice in Wonderland earned over the comparable […]

HIGH NOON FOR RANGO

True Grit is no longer the only Western at the box office. Paramount this weekend is debuting Rango, a Western with a difference. First of all, it’s the first one in memory to be animated. Second, the hero is a chameleon. Third, he’s voiced by Johnny Depp. Fourth, it cost $150 million to make, making […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: FASTER

CBS Films, which has been experiencing a difficult reincarnation since it returned from the dead after 20 years last year — its first two movies, Extraordinary Measures and The Back-up Plan flopped and a third film, Beastly, was yanked from its scheduled release — is trying again with Faster, this time pinning its hopes on […]

CBS FILMS: “A TINY PART OF OUR BUSINESS,” SAYS MOONVES

In an SEC filing on Tuesday, CBS reported solid results for its second quarter, with revenue from advertising, new cable-TV carriage fees, and pay-TV revenue boosting operating profits by 80 percent. However, the company barely mentioned its CBS film division, which has struggled since its rebirth in 2007. The unit has released two films this […]

CBS FILMS DENIES IT’S IN TROUBLE

Just because CBS Films moved its planned July 30 release of Beastly, starring Vanessa Hudgens, from July of this year to March of next year doesn’t mean the recently launched film unit is in trouble, executives of the company have told TheWrap.com. The decision, which leaves the studio without a single summer release, comes after […]