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ScreenCrave’s Top 10 Worst Films and Trends of 2011

Damon Houx — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:08:48 +0000

With year-end worst of lists, it’s rarely fun to pick on films that are dead and buried. Is it really worth rehashing why I Am Number Four or Apollo 18 are bad movies? In five years no one’s going to remember those films, to say nothing of Shark Night or One Day. in fact it’s likely everyone’s forgotten them. What’s much more disappointing and terrible is cinematic good will squandered. And so here is our list of the ten worst films and trends in cinema in 2011:

10. The Artist (as an Oscar Contender)

There’s nothing all that wrong with Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist as a film. A throwback, it attempts to recreate the look and feel of a silent movie with some laughs and some forced melodrama. But as an end of the year film that is now looking like the Best Picture winner to beat, it’s all wrong. The filmmakers don’t seem to really love silent movies and so the film works more as a homage to something they’ve never directly experienced than a period movie. Perhaps that’s the point, but a light soufflé such as this can’t stand the heavier implications of greatness. If it does go on to become one of the best pictures of the year it will join the class of films like Driving Miss Daisy or Crash as “things that seemed like a good idea at the time” or “what the heck were they thinking?” winners. And in a year as rich with cinematic treasures as 2011, that’s just sad.

9. Hall Pass

Bobby and Peter Farrelly have unleashed two terrible cinematic nuggets on us this year. The first would be the trailer for The Three Stooges, but more painfully (and much more feature length) would be Hall Pass. A film that seems to suggest that its filmmakers are on the verge of divorce, Hall Pass is neither unfunny or insightful. The Farrelly brothers had the perfect mixture of gross-out and heart in There’s Something about Mary, and have spent the last decade trying to reproduce the formula. At this point, they should stop.

8. Thor

Though most would argue that The Green Lantern is the lesser of the two, Thor – in some ways – stands in for all these recent films that function more as franchise empire-building than cinema. Routine and poorly staged, Thor falls apart by using one of the most boring conventions of big-budget cinema: the main character can’t use his superpowers for an hour of the film’s running time because it’s too expensive. Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are perfect casting, and there’s some beautiful sets, but the end result is a film that exists to get viewers to The Avengers, and there’s nothing so offensive as a film that functions as a trailer for the next one. If The Green Lantern has a saving grace, it’s that it doesn’t seem to inspire future projects as readily.

7. Faithful Adaptations

Speaking of, this year we’ve had films like Harry Potter and Breaking Dawn bifurcate their narratives to supposedly service fans, and we’re about to get David Fincher’s take on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, where the book was too successful for Fincher to strip it down to what worked and what doesn’t. We’re in a culture where fans are being spoon-fed adaptions. The end result – while none of these films are terrible in and of themselves – are movies that don’t so much function as films proper but either collections of scenes that add up to a translation of the books – or a cliff notes version – with no sense of pacing. There’s a great scene in the classic film The Bad and the Beautiful where a director tells the producer that you have to choose what are the most important scenes in a film, and it appears that none of these movies have had to make those decisions. And on top of that, it’s simply a craven way to milk more money out of a popular franchise.

6. Another Earth

Another Earth is an art-house film that was a Sundance triumph, and represents the worst sort of pretentious meandering drivel that often passes for deep. “What if there was a parallel Earth where maybe our alternate selves didn’t make the same mistakes?” Maybe you should learn better film-making skills and drop the philosophy 101 courses. It’s also a film that’s hit a lot of best of lists, but it’s painfully obvious narrative suggests that too often low and no budget films get passes for having ideas.

5. The Change-Up

Body swap comedies were the fad in the late 80’s (meaning it spawned about four films), and so perhaps the genre was due for a re-imagining, but the end result feels slapped together, and makes you feel sorry for Jason Bateman, Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann and Olivia Wilde for appearing in such an empty and mean-spirited comedy. Throw in some over the top feces humor, and CGI nudity, you get one of the least enjoyable comedies in since Hall Pass. There’s nothing so unfunny as an unfunny comedy, and with such talented performers, it’s a travesty.

4. Cowboys and Aliens

With such a talented cast, it’s impressive that Jon Favreau managed to lay such a goose egg. A non-western, Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford are wasted in what amounts to a chance for talented people to dress up like cowboys and waste money. The plot is terrible, but more offensively, there’s a good movie in there somewhere. This probably kills the chance for any reasonably budgeted western from the studios for the next three years. Thanks.

3. 3-D

Though 2010 took the cake for terrible 3-D post conversions (last minute jobs like The Last Airbender and Clash of the Titans), we still saw many of the summer’s biggest films in 3-D for little reason other than a ticket price bump. There’s nothing wrong with the format per se, but after a year of bad 3-D in such films as Thor, Fright Night, Conan the Barbarian, Pirates 4, the Greens (Hornet and Lantern) it’s something that needs to be done by people who are paying attention (like Martin Scorsese or – god help us – Michael Bay), and not slapped on to increase ticket sales. As we’ve seen, it often doesn’t help.

2. J. Edgar

With the recent SAG nominations it’s quite possible that J. Edgar will be an awards contender, even though the film died at the box office. There may be a critical divide on this film, as some have noted those over 40 seem to enjoy the film more. But if we are to accept the argument that Clint Eastwood is a truly great director (and the man has made at least two masterpieces), then this Wikipedia page summary of J. Edgar Hoover’s life and times deserves to be lambasted as a terrible work. Bad old age make-up aside, the film never feels like it has a spine so much a collection of J. Edgar’s greatest hits assembled in a way where sum is much less than the parts. Naomi Watts, Leonardo DiCaprio and Armie Hammer waste themselves in a film that seems to have been made simply as Oscar bait.

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

One of the laziest and least imaginatively staged blockbusters of all time, On Stranger Tides is half baked every step of the way, from its nonsensical plotting to barely awake performances from Johnny Depp. Directed – terribly at that – by Rob Marshall, it was the least successful of the series domestically, and yet crossed a billion dollars worldwide. Which means we’re getting more. What makes this the worst movie of the year is that everyone involved knew they could half-ass it and still make money. And there is nothing so offensive as successful people making crap simply because they know they can get away with it.

What did you like the least about the past year in film?

George Takei Asks Star Trek And Star Wars Fans To Hate Twilight

Damon Houx — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:03:24 +0000

For years, there has been a rift in the science fiction and fantasy community. There are some who love Star Trek, and there are those who love Star Wars, and for many it’s a one or the other sort of deal. Unfortunately, this divide has been escalated recently when William Shatner took some shots at the George Lucas-owned franchise, and Carrie Fisher responded in kind. But now George Takei made a video to broker the peace by offering a new target: Twilight.

Will this satisfy fans? Hard to say. Though Twilight is imminently hateable by people who like the idea that Star Trek is filled with ideas, and those who prefer escapist fantasies that are more about Joseph Campbell than vampire marriage, the conflict between Trekkers and Star Wars fans has more to do with them being similar. Here’s George:

Can these two worlds ever find peace enough to hate Teams Edward and Jacob? Doubtful. But it’s good to see Takei act as an ambassador for the goodwill and forward thinking that comes through in the Trek universe. But it is likely that the crossover audiences between all three fanbases is minimal at best. Perhaps they could all go to a mixer and find that hard core fandom is very similar no matter what team you’re on.

What’s the worst Science Fiction or Fantasy franchise?

Weekend Box Office: New Year’s Eve Takes Top Spot From Twilight

Laura Aguirre — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:29:26 +0000

The Twilight Saga finally got knocked down from its three-week perch at the top of the box office by none other than, New Year’s Eve. Although the star-studded movie took the top spot during its debut weekend, it is off to a dreadful start — $13.7 million. Jonah Hill‘s The Sitter followed New Year’s Eve with another low score of $10 million. Breaking Dawn Part 1 fell to No. 3, and brought in $7.9 million, bringing its worldwide total to an outstanding $633.5 million. The Muppets was No. 4 with $6.6 million; and Arthur Christmas fell to No. 5 with $6.6 million.

Check out the numbers…

New Year’s Eve | NEW | Warner Brothers | Weekend Gross $13,705,000 | Average Per Theater $3,910 | Total Gross $13,705,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 1
The Sitter | NEW | FOX | Weekend Gross $10,000,000 | Average Per Theater $3,636 | Total Gross $10,000,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 1
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 | Last Week #1 | Summit Entertainment | Weekend Gross $7,900,000 | Average Per Theater $2,192 | Total Gross $259,500,000 | Film’s Budget – $110 | Week 4
The Muppets | Last Week #2 | Buena Vista | Weekend Gross $7,073,000 | Average Per Theater $2,125 | Total Gross $65,837,000 | Film’s Budget – $45 | Week 3
Arthur Christmas | Last Week #4 | Sony | Weekend Gross $6,600,000 | Average Per Theater $2,017 | Total Gross $33,490,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 3
Hugo | Last Week #3 | Paramount | Weekend Gross $6,125,000 | Average Per Theater $2,349 | Total Gross $33,489,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 3
The Descendants | Last Week #7 | Fox Searchlight | Weekend Gross $4,835,000 | Average Per Theater $5,519 | Total Gross $23,635,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 3
Happy Feet Two | Last Week #5 | Warner Brothers | Weekend Gross $3,750,000 | Average Per Theater $1,320 | Total Gross $56,850,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 4
Jack and Jill | Last Week #6 | Sony | Weekend Gross $3,200,000 | Average Per Theater $1,148 | Total Gross $68,642,000 | Film’s Budget – $79 | Week 5
Immortals | Last Week #8 | Relativity | Weekend Gross $2,442,000 | Average Per Theater $1,068 | Total Gross $79,850,000 | Film’s Budget – $75 | Week 5

Warner Brothers’ executives must be pretty disappointed that their star-filled Holiday movie didn’t attract many people. This just goes to show that putting a bunch of big, big stars in one movie doesn’t guarantee big, big grosses. Still, we don’t feel too bad for the execs at WB, after all, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is still the highest grossing movie of 2011.

What did you watch this weekend?

Box Office Predictions: New Year’s Eve Celebrates Early

Damon Houx — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:47:35 +0000

This Fall has been modest in comparison to many other recent years, in terms of major film releases. On paper there were a number of films that could have been $100 Million plus titles, but only Breaking Dawn has done blockbuster business, and has remained on top of the box office for three weeks. That’s going to change with the release of New Year’s Eve. Still, it’s been a slow, slow Fall.

It’s hard not to be slightly disappointed with the numbers if you’re a studio person. Films like Puss in Boots, Tower Heist, Happy Feet Two and The Muppets are decidedly underperforming – especially in relation to cost. Some may be saved by international ticket sales, but with the flood of Christmas pictures is about to hit, perhaps this year will end with more of a whimper than a bang.

The five films that should get to over $100 Million are Alvin and the Chipmunks 3, Sherlock Holmes 2, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Adventures of Tintin and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. All of which hit theaters within eight days of each other. Now, of course it’s possible that all could perform strongly as there’s only so much crossover, but still. An outlier would be something like War Horse or Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, both of which will have their fates decided by critical reception.

We’ll get into more of this when their dates approach, but after the number of pictures that underperformed this year in general, and the last two months in particular, it’s hard to say if any of those films are guaranteed hits. Mission: Impossible is probably in the best boat in that the MI films have always done well internationally, and it’s likely this will follow that pattern. But Sherlock Holmes is one of those franchises that doesn’t make that much sense. I guess if it’s the Robert Downey Jr. show, then I get it, but the first film made $200 domestic and $500 worldwide, so it’s not that it isn’t viable. It’s just hard to picture people excited by it. Chipmunks is its own phenomenon. The first film was terrible. Both films so far have done over $200 Million. Kids films.

And then we have this weekend, with Fox unleashing The Sitter. You have to feel a bit bad for David Gordon Green as he’s going to have two flops this year between this and Your Highness. Once one of the strongest voices in independent cinema, his work for hire product in Hollywood has not had the same sort of traction. And this is also bad for Jonah Hill – though he should rebound a bit with 21 Jump Street -as this should do less than Get Him to the Greek (which ended up around $60 Million). With The Sitter’s 81 minute run time, you can tell the studio wanted it as short as humanly possible. They are not proud of this film and they’re dumping it.

New Year’s Eve follows up Valentine’s Day, which was a big hit for Warner Brothers and director Gary Marhsall. Why mess with the formula? That had a great opening weekend ($56 Million) and then fell off quickly. This doesn’t have the same heat, and most people would rather be at a party than watching a movie on New Year’s eve, which makes this a harder sell. The success of a film like this involves how quickly they shot out their cast. If you’ve got A-listers working for four or five days it’s likely they got a nice package, but it could keep the film’s costs down. Valentine’s Day supposedly cost around $50 Million, so this is probably around that number, but I don’t think this is going to do as well.

So the weekend breaks down like this:

New Year’s Eve – $27.5 Million
The Sitter – $10 Million
Breaking Dawn – $7.8 Million
Hugo – $7.5 Million
The Muppets – $7.3 Million

The Sitter could go lower. Next weekend the big guns show up.

What are you going to watch this weekend?

Weekend Box Office: Twilight Reigns For Third Week In A Row

Laura Aguirre — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 18:20:31 +0000

Three weeks in and Twilight is still on top of the movie box office, though not as powerful. We predicted that The Muppets would take the title over the weekend, but once again the puppet film failed to do so. Breaking Dawn Part I brought in a relatively humble sum of $16.9 this weekend, but has racked up an outstanding total of $247.3 million in the U.S. The Muppets took second place with $11.2 million; Martin Scorsese‘s critically acclaimed Hugo jumped from last week’s fifth place to third place, and brought in $7.6 million; Arthur Christmas took fourth place with $7.3 million; and Happy Feet Two fell from third to fifth place with $6 million.

Check out the numbers…

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 | Last Week #1 | Summit Entertainment | Weekend Gross $16,900,000 | Average Per Theater $4,177 | Total Gross $247,300,000 | Film’s Budget – $110 | Week 3
The Muppets | Last Week #2 | Buena Vista | Weekend Gross $11,200,000 | Average Per Theater $3,256| Total Gross $56,137,000 | Film’s Budget – $45 | Week 2
Hugo | Last Week #5 | Paramount | Weekend Gross $7,625,000 | Average Per Theater $4,144 | Total Gross $25,188,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 2
Arthur Christmas | Last Week #4 | Sony | Weekend Gross $7,350,000 | Average Per Theater $2,177 | Total Gross $25,292,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 2
Happy Feet Two | Last Week #3 | Warner Brothers | Weekend Gross $6,000,000 | Average Per Theater $1,697 | Total Gross $51,785,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 3
Jack and Jill | Last Week #6 | Sony | Weekend Gross $5,500,000 | Average Per Theater $1,804 | Total Gross $64,308,000 | Film’s Budget – $79 | Week 4
The Descendants | Last Week #9 | Fox Searchlight | Weekend Gross $5,200,000 | Average Per Theater $9,059 | Total Gross $18,087,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 3
Immortals | Last Week #7 | Relativity | Weekend Gross $4,394,000 | Average Per Theater $1,673 | Total Gross $75,588,000 | Film’s Budget – $75 | Week 4
Tower Heist | Last Week #10 | Universal | Weekend Gross $4,100,000 | Average Per Theater $1,705 | Total Gross $70,800,000 | Film’s Budget – $75 | Week 5
Puss In Boots | Last Week #8 | Paramount | Weekend Gross $3,050,000 | Average Per Theater $1,109 | Total Gross $139,522,0000 | Film’s Budget – $130 | Week 6

The Descendants keeps climbing up the box office ladder–the George Clooney film jumped from ninth to seventh place and brought in $5.2 million. There weren’t any big releases over the weekend, just a handful of smaller films like Shame, the NC-17 rated movie with Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan.

What did you watch this weekend?

‘Breaking Dawn Part 1′ Is Giving Audience Members Seizures

traviswoods — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 20:06:47 +0000

Oh my. Because Breaking Dawn Part 1 isn’t bad enough already, featuring as it does a tween fantasia in which a blank young girl finds happiness by abstaining from sex until marrying the much older and emotionally controlling vampire with goofy hair who loves her, the movie is now giving people seizures.

“At least two audience members in separate cities have gone into seizures during the movie’s climactic birth scene,” because, well, who wouldn’t pass out when a weird vampire baby pops out of Kristen Stewart? I mean, the sentence alone makes me dizzy.

Actually, the birth scene in Breaking Dawn Part 1 is edited together with sequences of “flashing red, black, and white images that trigger photosensitive epilepsy.” Thus far, at least two members of the audience in two separate cities (one in Utah, one in California) have had seizures during the scene. Also interesting? Both victims are men.

What does this mean? Either they were simply freaked out by the monstrous vampire baby-thing being born, or they realized that they were actually grown men who had paid to see Breaking Dawn Part 1. All that can be sure, though, is that these two guys are probably the greatest boyfriends in the whole world, having been dragged to a teenage vampire movie by their gals, only to suffer a seizure for their troubles. Stiff upper lips, brave lads.

What do you think of the Breaking Dawn news?

Source: The AV Club

Weekend Box Office: Twilight Still On Top

Laura Aguirre — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 17:12:11 +0000

The Muppets were unable to take down the vampires and wolves of Twilight during the Thanksgiving holiday. The race to be No. 1 at the box office wasn’t even close: once again Breaking Dawn Part I dominated the box office, pulling in $42 million. The fourth film of the Warner Brothers franchise has already grossed $221.3 million domestically and is nearing $500 million worldwide. As for the group of puppets from The Muppets, well they aren’t doing too bad. The kids’ film pulled in $29.5 million over the weekend, and $42 million in total over the holiday. Despite Twilight’s big win, the box office Top 5 were all about the family. Happy Feet Two followed The Muppets with $13. 4 million; Arthur Christmas kept up with $12.7 million; and Martin Scorsese‘s first family film Hugo rounded off the Top 5 with $11.3 million.

Check out the numbers…

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 | Last Week #1 | Summit Entertainment | Weekend Gross $42,000,000 | Average Per Theater $10,330 | Total Gross $221,300,000 | Film’s Budget – $110 | Week 2
The Muppets | NEW | Buena Vista | Weekend Gross $29,500,000 | Average Per Theater $8,576 | Total Gross $42,000,000 | Film’s Budget – $45 | Week 1
Happy Feet Two | Last Week #2 | Warner Brothers | Weekend Gross $13,400,000 | Average Per Theater $3,716 | Total Gross $43,773,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 2
Arthur Christmas | NEW | Sony | Weekend Gross $12,700,000 | Average Per Theater $3,762 | Total Gross $17,000,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 1
Hugo | NEW | Paramount | Weekend Gross $11,350,000 | Average Per Theater $8,888 | Total Gross $15,380,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 1
Jack and Jill | Last Week #4 | Sony | Weekend Gross $10,300,000 | Average Per Theater $3,400 | Total Gross $57,417,000 | Film’s Budget – $79 | Week 3
Immortals | Last Week #3 | Relativity | Weekend Gross $8,800,000 | Average Per Theater $3,287 | Total Gross $68,632,000 | Film’s Budget – $75 | Week 3
Puss In Boots | Last Week #5 | Paramount | Weekend Gross $7,450,000 | Average Per Theater $2,479 | Total Gross $135,361,000 | Film’s Budget – $130 | Week 5
Tower Heist | Last Week #6 | Universal | Weekend Gross $7,323,000 | Average Per Theater $2,960 | Total Gross $65,380,000 | Film’s Budget – $75 | Week 4
The Descendants | Last Week #10 | Fox Searchlight | Weekend Gross $7,200,000 | Average Per Theater $16,628 | Total Gross $10,741,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 2

The Descendants widened its release, and was able to keep its spot in the Top 10, pulling in $7.2 million, over the weekend. But The Descendants wasn’t the only indie film out there. My Week with Marilyn, which stars Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe, opened on Thanksgiving in 244 theaters. The film didn’t make the top 10, but it managed to pull in $2 million since its Wednesday debut. Also out is the black-and-white silent film The Artist, which is only playing in four theaters. A Dangerous Method, with Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender and Viggo Mortensen, is also out in four theaters.

What did you watch this weekend?

Box Office Predictions: Can Breaking Dawn Hold Off Children(‘s Films)?

Damon Houx — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:15:34 +0000

Last weekend Breaking Dawn made a ton of cash, which was a surprise to no one. But not everyone who wants to see the latest blockbuster sequel goes opening weekend, and so though the fall off should be heavy (over 50%, possibly over 60%, and just as likely near 70%) it may be able to fend off the newcomers, which will probably hurt each other and let Twilight win. What must have happened is that no one blinked about this weekend, as there’s three films aimed at parents and children hitting theaters: The Muppets, Arthur Christmas and Hugo. On top of a week-old Happy Feet Two. It’s a Children’s film blood bath is what it is.

As for Breaking Dawn, it’s going to be over $200 Million by end of weekend. I’m impressed and slightly baffled by people who wait to see these films, as it strikes me that with any major franchise seeing it right away is the point. Perhaps in the later weeks it’s the hardcore fans seeing it again (or for the last time on the big screen), but I don’t know if the young women raised on this series have that same pull toward going to the theater repeatedly that infected the generation that made Titanic the biggest film of all time (until Avatar). I don’t know how many people of a younger generation can have that same thrill – partly because the movie’s out on home video months later. Because until home video became a driving force, hit films would be in theaters for a year (at least), and the home video presentation was not very good. Though there are always stories about the hard core faithful going to see a film they love four or five times over a weekend, I don’t know if the people who loved Titanic would have gone back as much in the DVD era. Film itself may be slipping away, and if it is, you should sign this petition if you want to show some support.

Why the heck didn’t anyone blink this weekend? This end of year got crowded with stupid. I can see why The Muppets didn’t blink – it’s a family film, and they obviously have the best case to be made for being a hit. Parents who grew up on the show and movies may not so reluctantly take their kids. Of the new films it should open the best, though Disney paid through the nose with marketing on this one. The dirty secret is that an “A” Picture can spend upwards of $100 Million and over to market a picture, and even though the production budget on the film is listed at $50 Million or less, it may have made sense to spend that ad money because it’s not just the movies they’re selling with the advertising, but also the Muppets themselves, which have toys and DVDs and games and books. so even if the film does $120 Million in total, if they’ve relaunched the brand, it’s possible that the sales of the ephemera will amount to much much more than the ticket sales.

I get why Arthur Christmas didn’t blink. They’re basically following The Polar Express blueprint of having a month before Christmas to play slow and steady. Realistically it should have come out a couple weeks earlier against Jack and Jill and The Immortals, but Jack is also a Sony picture, so it gets complicated. And you can’t wait any longer as the picture is dead the minute Christmas is over, so you want to have a month to find an audience. The question is if it will pick up enough interest and business to keep playing. Sony didn’t seem to work too hard on this one, and it’s possible they won’t give it the support to keep playing. But it’s also possible that if they get to about $20 Million for the five day, they could – could – do over $100 Million domestic.

I didn’t get why Hugo didn’t blink, unless you look at Paramount’s schedule. They’ve had three movies back-to-back-to-back in October (Footloose, Paranormal Activity 3 and Puss in Boots) then they have Young Adult, Tintin and Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol in December. Paramount is not a studio that usually puts out that many films in a short period of time (often they’ll have a twelve picture year), and they have done well to not step on their own tail too much. Hugo is not only a hard sell, it looks like a co-production where Paramount only has the domestic rights. It’s a similar situation to Tintin, but with the Nickelodeon support that’s a much easier sell than a master director doing a kids movie. I’m not saying that Hugo‘s being put out this weekend to die, but if the cat is in the bag, the bag is in the river.so why not chase holiday weekend business and hope good reviews let it float just long enough to be replaced by Tintin or Ghost Protocol?

If you removed one of these pieces. it’s possible that The Muppets would do more business than Breaking Dawn when families want to see a movie to get the heck out of the house. With all three it might be close, but Twilight‘s got the edge.

So let’s do a little three-day predicting:

Breaking Dawn - $40.1 Million
The Muppets - $33 Million
Happy Feet Two - $14.4 Million
Arthur Christmas - $12.7 Million
Hugo – $7.5 Million

All three new pictures this weekend are great, by the way. But since they’re all kid-centric, it’s possible that these numbers could be dreadfully wrong. We could see Muppet support or family boredom frustration bring the numbers up on any of the new pictures. Hard to say. It’s a long holiday weekend.

Crazy for Renesmee: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Makes $30M at Midnight

Damon Houx — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:20:41 +0000

Though there was never any doubt the box office for the latest Twilight was going to be strong, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 grossed $30.3 Million in midnight shows, making it the second highest midnight gross ever. The champion is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which did $43.6 Million earlier this year. This bodes well for the film which could do anywhere from $120 Million to $150 this weekend.

The question – as I raised in my box office piece – is how front loaded is it? We already know there’s numbers of sold out shows during the day, but when it comes to franchise film, seeing it first is paramount. For Potter, that opening night business amounted to about a quarter of its weekend gross. If the multiplier was the same for this one, this would do around $120 Million.

The big difference between the two is that this isn’t the final chapter of the Twilight franchise – that comes next year, and that seems to put even more pressure on seeing it as soon as humanly possible than any other chapter. Regardless, the fan base is the fan base, and this will end up doing around $300 Million when all is said and done – as the last two have. But with international numbers already strong, this is gearing up to be one of the most successful films of the year.

If you’re seeing the new Twilight, when? (Or have you already?)

Interview: Taylor Lautner on Imprinting in Twilight

Damon Houx — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:30:50 +0000

For Taylor Lautner, the biggest challenge of Breaking Dawn Part 1 wasn’t being on the losing end of a love triangle between himself, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), but figuring out how to play imprinted. In the latest and penultimate Twilight film, the werewolf love bond is enacted, and between Jacob (Lautner) and an interesting partner. Check out his thoughts on that and his non-denial about working with Gus Van Sant in out interview…

Also, check out our video version of the press conference (plus some Twilight clips) below…

Lautner has a sense of humor about his role as he joked about being shirtless often for his part (I guess it goes with being a werewolf), and acknowledged the fun and difficulty of doing so in less than friendly climates. He also didn’t want to talk about crazy fans, as he likes to call them “passionate” and talked up how some people want their body signed to have his signature turned into a tattoo (something Peter Facinelli also mentioned, and he wanted no part in it).

When a project involving Gus Van Sant came up, Lautner gave it a very classic “I can’t say anything” denial:

He is a very, very talented director who I’ve always looked up to and I’ve always wanted to work with. It’s very premature, so I really don’t have much so say now other than the fact that I really, really respect and would love the opportunity to work with him.

When pressed about the subject matter he added “there is a project like that floating around somewhere on this planet.” I guess that’s how you handle it when there’s no names on the dotted lines.

He also talks about the fame and wanting to keep your face out there, but finding it difficult to let go of the role, and his friends that he’s made through the shooting of the series. This was a common thread in the interviews, as everyone emphasized their sadness on the thing being over.

He also spoke to the challenges of playing a CGI werewolf and working with a new director on the series, and how protective he is of the character he made famous. Working with Bill Condon (the fourth director in the series) sounded very pleasant and Condon was open to the casts ideas if they felt their characters weren’t behaving as they had been established.

And though the cast have another year to wait until everything is said and done – and who knows if there might be some reshoots – the tone of the event was that everyone knew the big party was over.

The Twilight Sage: Breaking Dawn Part 1 opens November 18, and should quickly become one of the most successful film of all time.

Are you excited for Breaking Dawn Part 1?

Interview: Robert Pattinson on the End of Playing Edward in Twilight

Damon Houx — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:00:34 +0000

For Robert Pattinson, there is now an end to playing Edward Cullen. In the latest film he marries Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) against Jacob’s (Taylor Lautner) objections, and the film ends with a cliffhanger, but though Breaking Dawn is the final book in the Twilight franchise, it was broken into two halves for the big screen and both parts were shot at the same time. So even though we’ll have to wait until November, 2012 for the conclusion of the series, Pattinson’s work is almost all done except for possible reshoots and doing the press tour. He sat down at a press conference to answer questions about the film and other things.

Also, check out our video version of the press conference below…

It’s interesting that for many of the cast the journey of the films aren’t entirely over because they know they’ll be back doing publicity next year. That’s the final end to all of this. Pattison in person has a certain cool, the good kind, he seems amused by his fervent fanbase, and he was happy to answer questions from what was on his iPod, to filming the birth scene in the new movie, and we did talk a bit about the new film and the new challenges of playing a husband and an expectant father. He was also happy to talk about working with David Cronenberg on the film Cosmopolis.

Also a subject of interest for Pattinson was his music, and he talked about his nervousness about putting out something for the world to judge. It’s probably the best answer he gave. When it comes to movies, there are so many other people who help shoulder the blame if something sucks, but when it’s just you, that’s a world of difference.

But shyness doesn’t seem all that becoming for the actor, who’s been able to use the Twilight films to find other work successfully, and he’s smart to work with a talent like David Cronenberg. But it’s Twilight and team Edward for which he’ll be remembered, and he talked about how hours previous he, Lautner and Stewart were immortalized at Grauman’s Chinese theater, where the three left their hand and footprints alongside such luminaries as Tom Hanks, Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire. Robert Pattinson has a head on his shoulders and he should be working for years to come, it seems. He’s got it down.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 opens November 18, and should quickly become one of the most successful film of all time.

Are you excited for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1?

Box Office Predictions: Breaking Dawn Not Breaking Records

Damon Houx — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:10:51 +0000

$169,189,427. $91,071,119. These are the numbers that The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 would have to do in its weekend and on its first day to compete with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which holds the weekend and single day crowns. But those numbers tell a story of how front loaded sequels are these days. Still, it could be close, which would put a kick in the rear of the recent modest box office. And then there’s Happy Feet Two. All that, Renesmee Cullen and more…

When New Moon was released it took the one day record away from The Dark Knight, which seemed like a big deal in the moment for people who care about the numbers. Eclipse opened on a Wednesday before Fourth of July in 2010, so it had a five day weekend, and didn’t bust any records (or ghosts, for that matter). New Moon did $142 for its weekend while Eclipse made $157 over the five day. What’s notable here is also what’s notable about the Harry Potter numbers I mentioned before – they’re insanely front loaded. Potter opened to near $170 and did $380 total. Both Twilight pictures got near or over $300 Million. That means half their business is done in the first week.

What this also means is that the first day has become the most important for a franchise sequel. If you wanted to sneak in and see Breaking Dawn – Part 1, Friday is going to have sell out crowds for most of the day. By Sunday, they’ll be plenty of seats just by the simple math. And between the midnight shows and all day Friday, it’s likely that Dawn will do at least $70 Million or so on its opening day. Potter may have had the advantage numbers-wise by being in 3-D, and it may be an impossible number to beat for now. Next year, with the final chapter of Twilight or The Dark Knight Rises, we may yet see a film that does an over $100 Million day, or a $200 Million weekend. But as long as the economy is hurting, this seems unlikely. Both will have the selling points of being final chapters.

The weird thing for Twilight directors is that directing these films aren’t a boost to their careers. At all. It used to be that if you directed a huge studio movie that made boatloads of cash, your next project would be greenlit near immediately with a fairly hefty budget. Eclipse director David Slade has a film in pre-production. Chris Weitz, who directed New Moon, just made a small little independant called A Better Life. To that end, David Yates is still trying to figure out how to follow up Potter, and Pirates director Gore Verbinski‘s The Lone Ranger had to have a much smaller budget to move forward. Verbinski directed three of the most successful films of the 21st century and he doesn’t get carte blanche, or he doesn’t outside of the Pirates world.

Even Christopher Nolan has struggled with this. Inception was seen as a payoff for The Dark Knight‘s billion dollar worldwide total, and until people saw it and it became a hit Inception was considered a huge question mark and risk. So even though Dawn director Bill Condon should have two films that will do over or around $300 Million, it may not mean much for his career. In this way the industry is broken, and franchises have more power than any single director or actor.

Evidence of that is also available in the release of Happy Feet Two. The first film was a strong performer – it opened to $41 Million and did nearly $200 domestic. This one should open to less. Partly because it’s in 3-D, partly because it’s not going to have much time to find an audience, partly because they never figured out how to sell the sequel. People loved the first film, why isn’t this a bigger deal? Perhaps it’s been too long. The first one came out in 2006, and five years later, there’s no great enthusiasm. Three years seems to be the modern window, though obviously Toy Story 3 took much longer.

But the film is not targeted to do sequel numbers for a hit like that (which would be doing over $50 Million), nor new CGI animation from Pixar/Dreamworks (which is usually $60 or above). Maybe part of it is parents being tired of 3-D (I know I am), perhaps it’s the film itself. Hollywood is not very good at selling things people want if they don’t have that brand name. It will be interesting to see how Arthur Christmas fares (it’s a nice small Christmas movie) and The Muppets in this regard.

Anyway, the weekend:

Breaking Dawn – Part 1 - $153 Million
Happy Feet Two – $34.5 Million
Immortals – $15 Million
Puss in Boots - $11.7 Million
Jack and Jill – $10 Million

Huge numbers for Breaking Dawn is the story, it could go a little higher or lower, but again if it’s going to break records, it would be the last picture. Happy Feet Two could surge as tracking doesn’t really work on kids films. Or it could do less as parents wait a couple days to take their children to The Muppets.

What do you want to see this weekend?

ScreenCrave.com » twilight

ScreenCrave’s Top 10 Worst Films and Trends of 2011

10. The Artist (as an Oscar Contender)

9. Hall Pass

8. Thor

7. Faithful Adaptations

6. Another Earth

5. The Change-Up

4. Cowboys and Aliens

3. 3-D

2. J. Edgar

1. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

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