BAD GRANDPA SHOOTS DOWN GRAVITY

After three weeks at the No. 1 spot at the box office, Gravity began its descent this weekend, brought down by Johnny Knoxville’s Bad Grandpa. Knoxville’s Jackass-with-a-storyline production kicked off with an estimated $32 million, while Gravity slipped to the runner-up position with $20.3 million, bringing its gross after four weekends to just under $200 […]

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: MAY 17-19

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Box Office Mojo (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Star Trek Into Darkness, Paramount, $70,165,559, 1 Wk. ($83,701,981 — From Wednesday); 2. Iron Man 3, Disney/Marvel, $35,770,094, 3 Wks. ($337,661,977); 3. The Great Gatsby, Warner Bros., $23,939,228, 2 Wks. […]

SAUDI ARABIA ALLOWS A MOVIE TO BE SHOWN

For only the second time in 30 years, a movie has been shown publicly in Saudi Arabia. Authorities in that country, which shut down theaters under Islamic law in 1982, allowed the 2009 IMAX movie Journey to Mecca to be screened at the Jeddah Hilton on Sunday, Daily Variety reported. “Some would say the impossible […]

MURDOCH PRAISES CHINA, CRITICIZES IT

“The truth is there is no more exciting market in the world” than China, Rupert Murdoch declared on Saturday. Appearing at a news conference at the Shanghai Film Festival, the News Corp chairman said that while revenue growth at the Chinese box office has been breathtaking — it rose from $150 million to $1.5 billion […]

CHINA MISSES DEADLINE TO ALLOW MORE U.S. FILMS

China has failed to relax its restriction on the number of foreign films that it allows to be theatrically distributed despite a March 19 deadline to do so, the Los Angeles Times reported today (Wednesday). A ruling by the World Trade Organization gave China until March 19 to open its markets to foreign-produced movies, music, […]

MOVIE: LEGEND OF THE GUARDIANS: THE OWLS OF GA’HOOLE

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole may seem like a strange title for an animated movie, but several critics suggest that the movie itself is mighty strange, something that one might expect from 300 and Watchmen director Zach Snyder. What with all of its characters — heroes and villains — owls, some critics […]

NETFLIX CFO ADMITS STREAMED VIDEO SERVICE LACKING

Netflix CFO Barry McCarthy acknowledged on Wednesday that the online video rental outfit’s streaming service wasn’t all it could be. At an investors’ conference in Chicago, McCarthy observed that movies available on the service are mostly old movies and TV shows, something that investors as well as customers complain about. “Is the streaming service all […]