CHURCHGOERS MAKE CHRISTIAN DRAMA COURAGEOUS NO. 1 ON DVD

Churchgoers flocked to the video stores and DVD sales counters last week to make the Christian drama Courageous tops in sales. The movie, written and directed by Alex Kendrick, who also costarred, took in only $35 million in its theatrical release, but it only cost $2 million to produce. No. 2 on the Nielsen VideoScan […]

OSCAR-NOMINATED FILMS TO GET A SECOND CHANCE

The major studios are hoping to capitalize on Oscar nominations this weekend by expanding nominated films that have not yet been released on DVD. “The Oscar spotlight could boost several contenders at the box office,” Daily Variety observed, then commented, “It better: The class of 2011 consists of some comparative underachievers.” Only one film in […]

SO, WHERE WERE ALL THE BLOCKBUSTERS?

If there was a major surprise at Tuesday morning’s Oscar nomination announcements it was that the best picture category was so devoid of studio blockbusters. The motion picture academy had expanded the category to include ten films in the hopes that voting members would include a few popular favorites, thereby boosting television ratings. But not […]

MONEYBALL IS ON THE MONEY ON DVD

January may not seem like the time of the year when anyone is thinking about baseball, but the Brad Pitt baseball drama Moneyball easily became the No. 1 DVD and Blu-ray seller last week, according to Nielsen VideoScan First Alert. It also debuted in first place on Home Media magazine’s rental chart. The movie, about […]

NY FILM CRITICS CIRCLE NAMES THE ARTIST BEST PICTURE

The New York Film Critics Circle, the first major film group to announce its selections for best picture and performances each year, has given its top honor to The Artist, a black-and-white silent film. Its director, Michel Hazanavicius, was named best director. Meryl Streep received the best actress award for The Iron Lady, in which […]

REAL STEEL STEALS BOX OFFICE (Updated)

Disney/DreamWorks’s Real Steel clambered into the box-office ring and clobbered its opponents over the weekend, raking in an estimated $27.3 million domestically and an additional $22.1 million overseas (19 countries). Sony’s The Ides of March was a distant second with $10.4-million debut. Last week’s champ, Warner Bros.’ Dolphin Tale, held over nicely, sliding 37 percent […]

DOLPHIN TALE A SPLASH HIT IN SECOND WEEK

Movies that rise to the top of the box office in their second week of release usually have some formidable word-of-mouth going for them, and, it would seem, such was the case with Dolphin Tale, which leaped ahead of The Lion King and Moneyball to lead the pack with $13.9 million, according to final figures […]

DOLPHIN TALE MAKES A BIG SPLASH AT BOX OFFICE

Once again, box office pundits turned out to be all wet with their predictions of weekend ticket sales as Dolphin Tale, in its third week, came from behind and finished ahead of the pack with an estimated $14.2 million. The Brad Pitt baseball drama Moneyball produced the second-best score with about $12.5 million. And Lion […]

LION KING RETURNING FOR THIRD WEEKEND

Given its unpredicted success over the past two weeks, Disney is keeping The Lion King 3D in theaters this weekend, where it could very well retain its throne as the box-office leader for the third weekend in a row. Originally, the studio had planned to give the 1994 movie a two-week revival, primarily to help […]

THE LION ROARS AGAIN

Far fewer people went to the movies on Sunday than the studios had estimated, final box-office figures revealed. Sunday’s estimates, which are based on actual ticket sales for Friday and Saturday but on just an educated guess for Sunday, had each of the top three films grossing more than $20 million, a remarkable occurrence in […]

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