CONAN ON YOUTUBE FOR A BUCK DAY AFTER RELEASE

Only a day after Lionsgate’s Conan the Barbarian was released on home video, the movie popped up on YouTube’s Dollar Theater Collection — a collection of recently released movies that can be streamed online for 99 cents. The collection also includes such major theatrical hits as Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part […]

HALLOWS: FIRST IN SALES; SIXTH IN ATTENDANCE

It didn’t come close to the $195 million that some of the wildest forecasts envisaged, but Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 did earn slightly more than Warner Bros.’ Sunday estimate — coming in at $169.2 million, a record for a three-day domestic weekend (versus the estimated $168.55 million). That record was achieved, […]

HALLOWS IS DEATHLY TO BOX-OFFICE RECORDS

Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 shattered one record after another over the weekend, culminating with an estimated $168.6 million domestically for the three days, making it the all-time champion for a regular weekend opener. The previous record, $158.4 million, set in 2008, was held by another Warner Bros. film, The […]

TRANSFORMERS 3: BIGGEST MOVIE OF 2011

Transformers: Dark of the Moon officially became the top movie at the box office this year when it earned an additional $47.1 million in its second weekend to bring its domestic total to $261.1 million. It thereby replaced The Hangover: Part II in the top spot. Two other new — and relatively low-cost — films […]

TRANSFORMERS SEQUEL LAYS WASTE TO NAYSAYERS

Transformers: Dark of the Moon brightened up the July 4th holiday weekend as it earned $97.8 million between Friday and Sunday and $115.9 million over the four-day holiday. It represented the biggest opening for a July 4th weekend ever, beating Spider-Man 2‘s $88.2 million for the three days and $115.8 million for the four. The […]

HANKS AND ROBERTS STAR IN FLOP

Who would have thought that a movie starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts would flop right out of the gate? But that’s what appears to have happened in the case of Larry Crowne. The movie earned $16.1 million over the July 4th weekend, landing in fourth place, and today’s Hollywood Reporter, citing figures from CinemaScore, […]

TRANSFORMERS HOTTER THAN FIREWORKS

Forget all of those Decepticons transformed into movie critics! They were destined to be defeated — and they were, in spades, as moviegoers cold-shouldered them to make Paramount’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon the third-biggest three-day opener of all time. The Michael Bay-directed movie, excoriated by an overwhelming number of critics for what they said […]

PARAMOUNT OVER THE MOON ABOUT TRANSFORMERS‘ DEBUT

Moviegoers are not going to transform Transformers: Dark of the Moon into a bigger hit than 2009’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, but the latest sequel appears to be on track to open with the highest-grossing debut of the year, probably around $150 million for the six-day Independence Day holiday, according to box-office forecasters. The […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: LARRY CROWNE

Who would have thought that a movie starring Hollywood nice persons Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts — and produced and directed by Hanks — would be dumped on by most critics? Well, that has turned out to be the case with Larry Crowne. Consider Peter Howell’s review in the Toronto Star: “Somewhere in a dark […]