THE SESSIONS HAS A FINE FIRST SESSION AT BOX OFFICE

In limited release, Fox Searchlight’s The Sessions made a solid debut in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles with $121,005 or an average of $30,100 per theater. (By contrast, Paranormal Activity 4 averaged $8,850 per theater.) The movie, starring John Hawkes, Helen Hunt and William H. Macy, exceeded the studio’s expectations. Fox Searchlight […]

NATO CHIEF SUPPORTS NC-17 MOVIES, CALLS FOR MORE

Persistent reports that newspapers will refuse out-of-hand to run advertisements for NC-17 movies and that many theaters will likewise refuse to screen them are perpetuating a “myth,” according to John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners. In an interview with the Associated Press, Fithian hailed Fox Searchlight for its decision not to […]

BLACK SWAN INTERNS SUE STUDIO

Two unpaid interns who worked on Fox Searchlight’s Black Swan are suing the production company, claiming that they were required to perform menial work and were not given the educational experience required by law for unpaid work. The two, Eric Glatt, 42, and Alex Footman, 24, are seeking class action for their lawsuit to include […]

STRONG DEBUTS FOR ART-HOUSE FARE

Two art-house films made impressive debuts over the weekend. Sarah’s Key, starring Kristin Scott Thomas and released by The Weinstein Co., earned $117,045 at four theaters in New York and Los Angeles for a per-theater average of $23,409. (By contrast, Captain America averaged $17,719 per theater.) And Fox Searchlight’s Another Earth also debuted in four […]

DID PORTMAN REALLY DANCE IN BLACK SWAN?

Director Darren Aronofsky has responded to claims by Sarah Lane, Natalie Portman’s dance double in Black Swan that Portman danced only 5 percent of the full-body shots in the movie. “I had my editor count shots,” he said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly‘s website. “There are 139 dance shots in the film. 111 are […]

BOX OFFICE LIKELY TO GO TO THE DEVIL

There are probably enough moviegoers eager to watch Anthony Hopkins exorcising demons and succumbing to them to drive New Line’s The Rite to the top of the box office this weekend with about $15-20 million. The horror film is expected to beat out CBS Films’ action flick The Mechanic, starring Jason Statham, which is likely […]

GREEN HORNET GREENER THAN EXPECTED

After a significant improvement in ticket sales on Saturday, Sony estimated that The Green Hornet would wind up with $34 million for the three-day weekend and $40.5 million for the four-day Martin Luther King holiday. On Saturday, the studio had estimated that Friday’s gross had totaled $11.2 million, at the low end of analysts’ estimates. […]

127 HOURS PRESENTS MARKETING NIGHTMARE

In times past, publicists for studios releasing horror movies would make the most of reports that audience members had fainted, vomited, suffered heart attacks or fled theaters in panic during intense sequences. They’ve been doing that at advance screenings of 127 Hours, too — but the studio, Fox Searchlight, is at work trying to play […]