Box Office Guru Wrapup: American Gangster Crushes Competition at #1

The North American box office exploded thanks to the scorching debuts of the Denzel Washington-Russell Crowe crime drama American Gangster and Jerry Seinfeld's animated comedy Bee Movie which combined for over $85M in ticket sales. Following weeks of sluggish business where the marketplace failed to match 2006 levels, this weekend's box office enjoyed a healthy bounce over last year and kicked off the holiday movie season with a bang.

Washington and Crowe both scored new career highs with the estimated $46.3M opening weekend for the crime saga American Gangster which dominated the multiplexes. Universal opened the R-rated tale in 3,054 theaters and generated a scorching $15,175 average per location. Directed by Ridley Scott, Gangster tells the true story of a drug kingpin who built up a heroin empire in Harlem in the early 1970s. The opening easily beat out the former all-time biggest debuts for the Oscar-winning actors: Washington's Inside Man with $29M and Crowe's Gladiator with $34.8M.

American Gangster enjoyed the second highest launch of the year for an R-rated film trailing only 300's $70.9M. Much of the success came from strong sales from young males and the urban audience which saw it as a Scarface for today's generation. The same audience also helped to power Eminem's R-rated hip hop drama 8 Mile to a surprising number one opening of $51.2M in November of 2002. Brian Grazer produced both Mile and Gangster. Reviews were mostly favorable and early Academy Award buzz could help the film in the weeks ahead. Despite the long running time of nearly two hours and forty minutes, moviegoers lined up and found their showtimes.

Paramount and DreamWorks settled for a second place debut for their latest animated film Bee Movie which grossed an estimated $39.1M in its opening weekend. The PG-rated toon averaged a sturdy $9,954 from 3,928 locations and performed just a bit below the levels of recent November animated titles. Last year, the penguin pic Happy Feet bowed to $41.5M while the previous year's Chicken Little launched with $40M. The two went on to gross $198M and $135.4M, respectively, from the North American market. Co-written by and starring Jerry Seinfeld, Bee Movie enjoyed virtually no competition in the current marketplace for family audiences. Critics were not too kind, but ticket buyers showed interest on the opening weekend. For 2007, the toon posted the fourth biggest debut for an animated film after Shrek the Third ($121.6M), The Simpsons Movie ($74M) and Ratatouille ($47M).

Suffering the largest sophomore drop in franchise history, Saw IV tumbled 65% from its top spot bow and grossed an estimated $11M. The Lionsgate title has still banked an impressive $51.1M in ten days and should finish with nearly $70M.

Buena Vista's Dan in Real Life fared much better in its second weekend dropping a slim 31% to an estimated $8.1M. With $23M in ten days, the romantic comedy might find its way to around $50M despite playing in less than 2,000 theaters.

Sony's vampire thriller 30 Days of Night declined by 42% and took in an estimated $4M lifting the total to $34.2M. Buena Vista's The Game Plan followed in sixth with an estimated $3.9M, off only 37%, for a cume to date of $82M.

Neglected and landing in seventh place was the new John Cusack drama Martian Child which opened with an estimated $3.7M. Playing in 2,020 locations, the PG-rated story of a man that adopts a boy who says he's from Mars averaged a pitiful $1,807 for New Line. Child was the seventh wide release in the past six weeks to debut with an average of less than $2,000.

Three adult-skewing fall pics followed. George Clooney's legal thriller Michael Clayton collected an estimated $2.9M, down 41%, for a sum of $33.2M for Warner Bros. Lionsgate's Why Did I Get Married? got hit hard by Denzel's arrival tumbling 52 to an estimated $2.7M. Cume is $51.2M. The Miramax mystery Gone Baby Gone captured an estimated $2.4M, off 37%, for a $14.9M total.

Warner Independent saw a solid platform bow for its documentary Darfur Now which saw an estimated $24,000 in ticket sales from only three theaters. Averaging $8,000 per venue, the Don Cheadle-narrated film will expand on Friday to more cities.

Three October titles fell sharply and left the top ten this weekend. Disney's latest re-release of Thee Nightmare Before Christmas saw its post-Halloween sales slump 55% to an estimated $1.5M for a cume of $12.8M. A $15M final seems likely. The Joaquin Phoenix/Mark Wahlberg drama We Own the Night fell 59% to an estimated $1.4M. The Sony release has taken in $27.7M and could make it to $30M. The spoof comedy The Comebacks grossed an estimated $1.5M, down 56%, and has collected a disappointing $11.9M for Fox. Look for a $13M final.

The top ten films grossed an estimated $124.1M which was up 14% from last year when Borat debuted in first place with $26.5M; and up 8% from 2005 when Chicken Little opened in the top spot with $40M.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Fans Pay $31.8 Million to See 'Saw IV'

Audiences sought out a fresh dose of torture as "Saw IV," the horror sequel about sadistic traps laid by a serial killer, led Hollywood's weekend with a $31.8 million debut.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Media By Numbers LLC are:

1. "Saw IV," Lionsgate, $31,756,764, 3,183 locations, $9,977 average, $31,756,764, one week.

2. "Dan in Real Life," Disney, $11,809,445, 1,921 locations, $6,148 average, $11,809,445, one week.

3. "30 Days of Night," Sony, $6,862,764, 2,859 locations, $2,400 average, $27,480,907, two weeks.

4. "The Game Plan," Disney, $6,129,720, 3,342 locations, $1,834 average, $76,939,167, five weeks.

5. "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?", Lionsgate, $5,643,899, 1,897 locations, $2,975 average, $47,204,260, three weeks.

6. "Michael Clayton," Warner Bros., $4,924,374, 2,585 locations, $1,905 average, $28,668,168, four weeks.

7. "Gone Baby Gone," Miramax, $3,817,451, 1,713 locations, $2,229 average, $11,226,975, two weeks.

8. "Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas," Disney, $3,446,012, 564 locations, $6,110 average, $10,100,435, two weeks.

9. "We Own the Night," Sony, $3,395,012, 2,402 locations, $1,413 average, $25,065,018, three weeks.

10. "The Comebacks," Fox Atomic, $3,371,708, 2,812 locations, $1,199 average, $9,925,268, two weeks.

11. "Rendition," New Line, $2,372,487, 2,250 locations, $1,054 average, $7,821,105, two weeks.

12. "The Heartbreak Kid" DreamWorks-Paramount, $1,768,720, 2,003 locations, $883 average, $35,139,137, four weeks.

13. "The Darjeeling Limited," Fox Searchlight, $1,761,335, 699 locations, $2,520 average, $6,126,748, five weeks.

14. "Across the Universe," Sony, $1,687,341, 964 locations, $1,750 average, $19,296,796, seven weeks.

15. "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," Universal, $1,651,340, 1,603 locations, $1,030 average, $14,058,975, three weeks.

16. "Bella," Roadside Attractions, $1,328,448, 165 locations, $8,051 average, $1,328,448, one week.

17. "The Kingdom" Universal, $1,232,210, 1,053 locations, $1,170 average, $45,951,010, five weeks.

18. "Lars and the Real Girl," MGM, $926,675, 296 locations, $3,131 average, $1,330,732, three weeks.

19. "Things We Lost in the Fire," DreamWorks-Paramount, $731,976, 1,142 locations, $641 average, $2,849,142, two weeks.

20. "Lust, Caution," Focus, $475,480, 143 locations, $3,325 average, $2,825,183, five weeks.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Jigsaw Needs to Study Up on Vincent Price

The 2000s have seen plenty of horror movies, remakes, sequels, remake prequels, etc. But no 21st century horror series has set up shop like Saw, out of which part IV opens this weekend. Few series gets past part II these days, so having a part IV makes Saw's antagonist Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) the closest thing today's little horror fans have to a Freddy or a Jason.But in truth Jigsaw's shtick is not like any of the '80s slashers. He's more reminiscent of two characters played by Vincent Price: Dr. Anton Phibes (The Abominable Dr. Phibes and Dr. Phibes Rises Again) and Edward Lionheart (Theater of Blood). These guys are all bitter, arrogant old men who believe they have been wronged. They have a knack for setting up elaborate, sadistic traps, for eluding the authorities, for giving away clues without being caught.

Jigsaw traps people in dirty rooms, he forces them to consider horrible things like cutting off their own legs or cutting open a guy's stomach to escape. He builds devices that split people open; he nearly drowns a guy in pig guts; he puts a junkie in a situation where she has to dig through a pile of dirty needles. In short he is a mean dude. Dr. Phibes is similar: he builds a mask that crushes a man's throat, a unicorn head that impales a guy, a deadly ice machine, and inundates people with bees, bats, rats and locusts. Lionheart cuts out a man's heart, electrocutes a woman with hair curlers, even force-feeds a guy his own dogs until his stomach explodes.

But the Price characters have a deliberate pattern or theme to their killings, something that seems to make their game with the police a little fairer. Phibes bases his crimes on the Biblical plagues, and Lionheart on the plays of William Shakespeare. Jigsaw's are free-form, based on his corny moral lessons so that the police aren't given the same opportunity to predict the next crime before it happens.

Of the three, Lionheart gives the most bang for your buck. With Phibes, or especially with Jigsaw, you get a series of increasingly horrible deaths. With Lionheart you get that too, but also you get to see Vincent Price performing a Shakespearian monologue with each one. Price always said his role in Laura was the one he was most proud of, but I bet he had the best time doing Phibes, dressing up in all kinds of costumes and playing so many great parts all in one movie.

Another move Jigsaw took from Price was the female sidekick. Phibes has Vulnavia (Virginia North, Valli Kemp in the sequel), as a silent assistant. Lionheart has his daughter (Diana Rigg), who spends half the movie in an unconvincing mustache and Afro wig, and the movie acts like it thinks we're gonna fall for it. Jigsaw's sidekick Amanda Young (Shawnee Smith) is pretty cool because she has a pig mask and she started out as a victim in part I before she switched teams. She's no Diana Rigg in drag, but she should serve Jigsaw well in parts IV through VII, even if he runs out of traps and videos he already made before dying, and if he doesn't come back as a zombie, cyborg or ghost.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Interview: An Interview with Saw IV's Marcus Dunstan

Two years ago I was fortunate enough to meet Marcus Dunstan at the world premiere of his screenwriting debut, Feast (co-written with writing partner Patrick Melton). Since I don't have cable (swear to god), I had never seen the Project Greenlight that led up to this wonderfully post-modern cult masterpiece: this was my first exposure to both the guys and to the film.I've since run into Marcus at a couple of conventions and festivals and we've become friends. And since he and Patrick took on the duties of writing for the Saw series, I felt I should probably shoot him an email and ask him a few questions in honor of the release of Saw IV. He was kind enough to oblige.

Cargill: What was it that attracted you to the Saw material? What about it excited you? What couldn't you wait to play around with?

Marcus: The Saw films are like the Dr. Phibesfilms with Vincent Price re-imagined for the modern age. There is no safety. Good guys can lose; bad guys lose more; and the villain is several steps ahead of all of us. The whole series reminded me of a line Gene Hackman said in Heist. His character was asked roughly how he outsmarted people and his response is "I imagine someone smarter than me and then I ask him what he would do." That was pretty much the thought we pressed into our heads every step of the way on this one. It just had to push. It had to be rough and vital. Otherwise, we would be the kids that pissed in the pool. Nobody needs that. What couldn't we wait to play with? The dark side of poetic justice. The recklessness of anger. And, what would Jigsaw do to someone that hurt him deeply? That excited the hell out of us.

Cargill: Was it intimidating to pick up a series that was so far along and had already developed its mythology?

Marcus: YES! Friggin' scary as acne. However, that intimidation led to more focus and effort than we could ever imagine. We just didn't want to screw this up. This is a terrific series, one that has to earn its viewers time and time again with evolving dynamics and grounded storytelling. It is a machine set to "pain" and it just keeps chugging along.

Cargill: What is your favorite moment out of the series?

Marcus: I have one "fan" answer and one conceited answer. The fan answer is actually the moment in Saw III where Detective Mathews outsmarts the leg shackle by breaking his foot, jerking open the door and screaming for murder. I jerked back in my seat and nailed my head on the wall when it happened. I thought that concoction of horror, intelligence and thrill were all turned up to ten in that moment. Stellar.

The conceited answer is a moment in SAW IV. Darren took a really difficult scene involving a red tinted room and made it into a recruitment film for the dark side. It was the make it or break it moment for me as a viewer and when the audience started clapping last night after that scene went down...oh man...that felt GREAT!

Cargill: What was it that you didn't like or felt lacked in the previous three films that you wanted to improve upon here?

Marcus: I was thrilled we had a chance to bring a grisly "who dunnit" vibe back to the series. This is Agatha Christie on meth.

Cargill: What angle did you decide to take with this new film? Was there anything you took in a new direction (without spoiling anything of course)?

Marcus: We wanted to adrenalize the proceedings. By the fourth entry, in order to demand attention, the film must be as tough and strong as the first. A part II or a part III is no stranger to multiplexes, but a part IV? A good part IV? There just aren't that many I can name. With that in mind, Patrick and I went at this film like it was alone. It had to earn back every single person out there. It had to be as good on the second viewing as it was the first. It had to be made of steel. If last night's premiere was any indication...I can't wait for FRIDAY NIGHT!!

Cargill: What's the toughest part of writing a horror sequel?

Marcus: Honoring the opportunity with quality. No matter the budget. No matter the time crunch. I think if I am going to be associated with anything my parents or friends are going to be forced to sit through, it better be damn good. The one thing we don't get back is time. I don't dare want to waste anyone's time.

Cargill: Speaking of sequels, you're presently putting together Feast 2 and Feast 3. Anything you can tell us about that?

Marcus: I can tell you that Feast II: Sloppy Seconds begins shooting on Halloween day! It will be a blast! These suckers are going to be a frenzy of unrated mayhem. This is unfiltered Gulager-vision unleashed to terrorize the world! We were laughing so hard the other day at one of the painful moments that we had a lovely assortment of tears and fluids shooting from our noses. The Feast [films] will be 100% unredeemable shock-o-rama!

Cargill: I was fortunate enough to see the test footage for your upcoming directorial debut Midnight Man. What can you tell us about that?

Marcus: Thank you! I hope to be shooting The Midnight Man for Dimension this February but... I will believe it when I am whispering "action."

Saw IV opens this Friday. Like I had to tell you that.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com

Saw IV Slays in $32.M Debut Weekend

The killer of the "Saw" franchise may be dead, but his sadistic spirit lives on. Lionsgate's "Saw IV" led the weekend box office with $32.1 million, maintaining the horror franchise's position as a Halloween perennial, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Debuting at No. 2 was Disney's "Dan in Real Life," a romance starring Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche and Dane Cook that took in $12.1 million.

Overall Hollywood revenues declined for the sixth-straight weekend, though business was off only a fraction compared to the same weekend last year. The top-12 movies took in $86.1 million, down 2 percent, better results than the previous weeks, when business had fallen significantly more.

The results for "Saw IV" were on par with the debut of "Saw III," which pulled in $33.6 million over the same weekend last year. Since the original low-budget "Saw" became an out-of-nowhere fright sensation in 2004, Lionsgate has released a new chapter each October, all hits.

"I would expect to see `Saw V' next year, `Saw VI' the year after that and `Saw VII' the following year if they can keep it up," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers. "There's just something inherently gruesome and compelling about these movies. I don't know what that says about society in general, but it certainly works at the box office."

"Saw IV" features post-mortem horrors concocted by the fiendish killer Jigsaw (Tobin Bell, seen in flashbacks), whose autopsy turns up a cassette tape in his entrails that leads the cops into a new snare of torture puzzles the madman left behind.

"Dan in Real Life" was the prime choice for the date crowd. The movie stars Carell as a widower raising three daughters who falls for his brother's new girlfriend (Binoche) during a family reunion.

In narrower release, Roadside Attractions' "Bella" opened solidly with $1.3 million. The film stars Eduardo Verastegui as a former soccer player who hooks up with a pregnant waitress (Tammy Blanchard).

Thinkfilm's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," directed by Sidney Lumet ("Dog Day Afternoon," "Network"), opened strongly in limited release at two New York City theaters with $73,500. The film, which gradually expands into nationwide release through November, stars Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke as brothers in financial straits who plot to rob their parents' jewelry store.

A high-profile documentary, Sony Pictures Classics' "Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains," had a poor debut, taking in just $10,573 at seven theaters. The film from director Jonathan Demme ("The Silence of the Lambs") follows the former president during a tour to promote his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Media By Numbers LLC. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "Saw IV," $32.1 million.

2. "Dan in Real Life," $12.1 million.

3. "30 Days of Night," $6.7 million.

4. "The Game Plan," $6.3 million.

5. "Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?", $5.7 million.

6. "Michael Clayton," $5 million.

7. "Gone Baby Gone," $3.9 million.

8. "The Comebacks," $3.45 million.

9. "We Own the Night," $3.4 million.

10. "Tim Burton's the Nightmare Before Christmas," $3.35 million.

Source: www.cinema-pedia.com