EIGHT NEW FILMS — COUNT ‘EM EIGHT! — TO OPEN OVER HOLIDAY
December 21, 2012 by admin · Leave a Comment
Pity the poor studio scheduler. Each one of them knew that if they had opened a movie a couple of weeks before The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was released — never mind the same weekend that it was — their movie would be killed. Their only alternative was to release theirs after The Hobbit‘s opening. […]
CATHOLIC LEAGUE TO WAGE WAR ON JON STEWART
Jon Stewart’s comedic commentary taking to task the Fox News Network for referring to various “wars” on everything from Christmas to chocolate milk but having nothing to say about the “war on women, (i.e. recent efforts to reimpose discriminatory rules affecting women in the workplace) has ignited the anger of Bill Donahue, president of The […]
BASKETBALL RETURNS ON XMAS — NO AUDIENCE LOSS EVIDENT
December 27, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
It would appear that the NBA lockout that delayed the start of the current season until Christmas Day had little or no effect on viewership — that is, judging from ratings for Sunday’s quadrupleheader carried by ABC, ESPN and TNT. In fact, the Boston Celtics-New York Knicks game on TNT averaged 5.9 million viewers, making […]
FOOTBALL CRUSHES XMAS COMPETITION
December 26, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
NBC’s Sunday Night Football coverage of the Chicago Bears/Green Bay Packers game averaged 20.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen overnight ratings. Because of the live nature of the game, that figure is almost certain to rise when final figures are released late today or tomorrow. The game overwhelmed just about everything else on television, which, […]
M:I — GHOST PROTOCOL A TOWERING HIT (Updated)
December 26, 2011 by admin · 2 Comments
Paramount’s Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol towered above a slew of imposing openers and strong holdovers as it grossed an estimated $29.5million over the Friday-to-Sunday holiday period and $39.5 million between Friday and Monday. The film, which opened last weekend primarily in a limited number of IMAX theaters, expanded on Wednesday, and will have earned […]
A FEAST OF PLENTY AT THE BOX OFFICE
December 23, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
There have been scattered releases throughout the week of the some half-dozen films that are opening over the Christmas holiday — but two films aren’t opening until Christmas Day itself, the 3D horror/sci-fi film The Darkest Hour and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse. It’s hard to figure out why those two films aren’t making it into […]
NEW HOLIDAY BARGAINS AHEAD; WALMART PLANS BLACK SATURDAY
December 15, 2011 by admin · Leave a Comment
With some reports indicating that holiday sales have not been living up to expectations since last month’s Black Friday, some department stores and consumer electronics outlets are reportedly moving quickly to make sure they’ve reduced inventory substantially before Dec. 25. Walmart said Wednesday that on Saturday, Dec. 17 it plans to offer its “lowest prices […]
HOLIDAY BOX OFFICE: BAH, HUMBUG!
December 27, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
(Updated) Studios and theater owners were no doubt in full agreement with Ebenezer Scrooges assessment of the Christmas holiday this weekend as total ticket receipts plunged 49 percent below last years. The ghost of Christmas past surely haunted Universals Little Fockers, which, although coming in first, earned just $34 million over the weekend and $48.3 […]
WEATHER MAY FREEZE HOLIDAY BOX OFFICE
December 24, 2010 by admin · Leave a Comment
A white Christmas may have been a pleasant thing for Bing Crosby to croon about, but weather conditions over most of the U.S. and Europe during this season is threatening to force many of the usual holiday moviegoers to remain home. The dreadful weather is also being blamed in part for a sudden slowdown in […]