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Box office report: '22 Jump Street' is the big winner; 'How to Train Your Dragon 2' solid #2
3 hours ago | EW - Inside Movies | See recent EW.com - Inside Movies news »
Neither the World Cup nor the Stanley Cup finals kept moviegoers out of the theater this weekend as a pair of box office newcomers both opened strong.
22 Jump Street was the big winner, grossing an estimated $60 million its opening frame—a massive 65% higher than the original’s $36.3 million in 2012. The bumbling cop duo of Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum turned in the second-highest-grossing opening weekend for an R-rated comedy, ranking just below Hangover II ($85.9 million), but besting both Ted ($54 million) and Sex and the City ($57 million).
How to Train Your Dragon 2 brought the heat as well, with an estimated $50 million opener. »
- Nicole Sperling
John Cusack, Adrien Brody Join China’s ‘Dragon Blade’
11 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Shanghai – John Cusack and Adrien Brody have joined the cast of “Dragon Blade,” a period action movie that is one of the most expensive ever in China.
Cusack will play Lucius, a Roman general who leads a legion of soldiers into China. Brody plays power-hungry Tiberius, who has killed Roman Consul Crassus and chases after Lucius with 100,000 troops.
The previously announced Jackie Chan stars as commander of the protectorate of the western regions, who teams up with Lucius to protect China’s borders and sovereignty.
Producers confirmed the production budget as $65 million, making it one the three most costly Chinese films of all time.
The film is backed by Sparkle Roll Cultural Media, Huayi Brothers Media Corporation, Shanghai Film Group and new film investment group Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film & Television Fund. World sales are handled by Hong Kong-based Golden Network.
Under the direction of Daniel Lee, the film has »
- Patrick Frater
'How to Train Your Dragon 2': Is Gobber really gay? -- Spoilers
6 hours ago | EW - Inside Movies | See recent EW.com - Inside Movies news »
In the How to Train Your Dragon films, Craig Ferguson voices Gobber the Belch, Hiccup’s Viking mentor and a comic sidekick whose early belligerent encounters with dragons cost him an arm and a leg. Stomping around on his peg-leg and wielding a variety of interchangeable tools as arm prostheses, Gobber is more useful in the armory forging weapons than he is in the fight. But he’s brave and loyal and enjoys a place of distinction and respect in the community of Berk. So why hasn’t he married?
In the new sequel, which reunites Hiccup’s parents, Gobber »
- Jeff Labrecque
Field of Dreams Star Kevin Costner Celebrates 25th Anniversary at Iowa Festival
2 hours ago | PEOPLE.com | See recent PEOPLE.com news »
Actor Colin Egglesfield wasn't in the classic baseball film Field of Dreams. But if they built a screen in center field, he would come. When Egglesfield heard about plans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the movie's release during Father's Day weekend in Iowa, he flew to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, picked up his dad and drove six hours to the farm where it was filmed. The Los Angeles-based Egglesfield, most recently seen on TV shows such as Rizzoli and Isles and The Client List, and his father reached rural Dyersville in time for a viewing of the movie on »
- Associated Press
‘Godzilla’ Stomps to $36 Mil Debut in China
27 minutes ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
“Godzilla” crashed through the $400 million mark at the global box office this weekend thanks to a massive debut in China.
The monster reboot earned $36 million on 9,000 screens, a record opening haul for Warner Bros., though just short of two other recent tentpoles, the $39.35 million Chinese debut of “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and the $39.23 million People’s Republic bow of “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”
“Godzilla” has now scared up $440 million worldwide, surpassing the $380 million figure that its backers said it needed to break even.
See Also: China Box Office: ‘Godzilla’ Continues Weekend Rampage
“Godzilla” was a co-production between Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, which will receive 75% of its profits. The film’s Chinese haul may also tie the $4.5 million record that “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” put up in its IMAX showings in China.
Its debut cut into the second weekend of another Warner Bros. picture, “Edge of Tomorrow, »
- Brent Lang
Bart & Fleming: Selling Summer Sleepers Like ‘The Fault In Our Stars,’ ‘Jersey Boys’ ‘Begin Again’ And ‘Boyhood’
45 minutes ago | Deadline New York | See recent Deadline New York news »
Peter Bart and Mike Fleming Jr. worked together for two decades at Daily Variety. In this weekly Sunday column, two old friends get together and grind their axes on the movie business. Fleming: The success that Elizabeth Gabler’s Fox 2000 had with The Fault In Our Stars has me entertaining the unthinkable. Is it possible that between the giant lizards, robots and superheroes that populate studio tentpoles, there is room for thoughtful sleeper films in the summer? The Fault In Our Stars might be the most stirring summer sleeper success I can remember since 1990’s Ghost, another movie about loss. […] »
Specialty Box Office: Big Weekend For A24 As 'The Rover' Opens Solid and 'Obvious Child' Expands Well
1 hour ago | Indiewire | See recent Indiewire news »
Here's a rundown of the specialty box office this weekend, which saw A24 find both the best opener and best holdover with David Michod's "The Rover" and Gillian Robespierre's "Obvious Child" both having very strong weekends. Full report below: The Debuts: Debut Winner of the Weekend: "The Rover." A24 saw strong (though not spectacular) numbers from David Michod's follow-up to "Animal Kingdom," "The Rover." Coming off a Cannes debut last month, the film stars Guy Pearce and Robert Pattinson and takes place in a lawless Australian outback 10 years after a global economic collapse. The film took in $70,000 from 5 theaters for a $14,000 average -- certainly the best among the weekend's debuts, though how it does as it expands in the coming weeks will be the true test. "The film received strong reviews, particularly for Robert Pattinson's breakthrough performance, and his fans responded as the audience breakdown was close to »
- Peter Knegt
Specialty Box Office: Robert Pattinson’s ‘The Rover’ Runs Strongly In Blah Weekend
1 hour ago | Deadline New York | See recent Deadline New York news »
Specialties generally had a blasé weekend with newcomers mostly flat at best. A24 has had a streak of chart-topping opening weekends of late with last week’s Obvious Child and, earlier in the spring, Under The Skin. The company continued its roll this weekend with The Rover, though with more modest results. The crime drama set in the Australian Outback starring Guy Pearce, Robert Pattinson and Scoot McNairy was nevertheless the weekend’s PTA-topper, grossing $70K in five New York and L.A. theaters, averaging a strong $14K per theater. A24 noted Sunday that the film “received strong reviews, particularly for Robert Pattinson’s breakthrough performance, […] »
’22 Jump Street’ Box Office Haul Shows Power of Female Crowds
1 hour ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
“22 Jump Street” was a broad comedy in the best way possible, playing equally well with males and females.
The Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum vehicle burst onto the Father’s Day box office scene with a superb $60 million debut; a figure that was sliced up evenly between the genders. It’s another example of the power of the female audience (sadly one that’s still needed) and a warning to filmmakers that ignoring this demographic would be to their financial peril.
“That formula really works because you get everybody in the theater,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak. “Guys don’t feel put out and women don’t feel threatened because it’s all in this comedic wrapper. It sets the stage for men and women to go on a date.”
See Also: ‘Maleficent’ Shows Strength of Female Audiences at the Box Office
Indeed, the latest “Jump Street »
- Brent Lang
Box Office Top Ten: So Far Comedy, Family Fare and Fox Dominate the Summer
2 hours ago | Thompson on Hollywood | See recent Thompson on Hollywood news »
Hollywood front-loaded the summer with big-budget actioners to get ahead of the month-long World Cup, which provides massive international competition. But this weekend two sequels, Sony comedy "22 Jump Street" and Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon 2" scored well stateside. And both improved on their previous efforts' March openings, delivering more than $50 million, which is rare for the same weekend. Last summer, for example, only "Monsters University" and "World War Z" both opened at over $60 million. Nonetheless the weekend Top 10 total is down $12 million from last year, when the mighty "Man of Steel" managed $116 for its initial three-day weekend (on top of Thursday), with long-legged hit "This Is the End" supplementing the returns. The year-to-date is about 2.5% above last year, with June performing comparatively better than May (despite boasting more tentpole releases). Both of this week's openers disappointed on Saturday. Was it the World Cup? It's not usually. »
- Tom Brueggemann
This Week In Trailers: Let Us Prey, Love Eternal, The Kill Team, What We Did On Our Holiday, The Referee
2 hours ago | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: What better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? This […]
The post This Week In Trailers: Let Us Prey, Love Eternal, The Kill Team, What We Did On Our Holiday, The Referee appeared first on /Film. »
- Christopher Stipp
‘Earth to Echo’ Cast Talk World Cup, Social Media, ‘E.T.’ Comparisons
2 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Kids will be kids. At the L.A. Film Festival’s “Earth to Echo” premiere at L.A. Live Saturday afternoon, 15-year-old star Teo Halm said his favorite scene to shoot in the film was driving a car.
“I couldn’t really drive it because I’m under age, but they had it rigged with a stunt driver in the back,” said Halm. “So I was up there and it was super scary, because if I touched anything the car would veer off the road.”
Halm also couldn’t contain his excitement when asked about the World Cup.
“Oh my gosh! I’ve been super busy with this, but in between every interview I’ll be looking at my phone to see the scores. I’m a huge Belgium fan, I have no Belgian ties in my family, but they are such a good squad this year,” he said. “There are too many matches! »
- Nikara Johns
Weekend Box Office: 22 Jump Street Leads with $60 Million; How To Train Your Dragon 2 in Second
3 hours ago | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
In this weekend’s box office battle of the sequels, 22 Jump Street remained firmly out front after its strong Friday opening. Jump Street earned an estimated $60 million through Sunday, giving it the second-highest R-rated comedy debut of all time. Meanwhile, How to Train Your Dragon 2 took in an estimated $50 million. That beats the original film’s $43.7 million debut, but remains far below what many expected. Title Weekend Total 1. 22 Jump Street $60,000,000 $60 2. How to Train Your Dragon 2 $50,000,000 $50 3. Maleficent $19,008,000 $163.5 4. The Fault in Our Stars $15,725,000 $81.7 5. Edge of Tomorrow $16,175,000 $56.6 6. X-Men: Days of Future Past $9,500,000 $205.9 7. Godzilla $3,155,000 $191.3 8. A Million Ways to Die in the West $3,077,000 $38.9 9. Neighbors $2,484,000 $143.1 10. Chef $2,000,000 $13.8 Full story after the jump. Looking back to last weekend’s box office analysis, this is certainly not the outcome I expected. Like many others, I had How to Train Your Dragon 2 on top with $70 million or more. Clearly, dabbling in box office predictions is a good »
- Nicole Pedersen
Director Dean DeBlois And Producer Bonnie Arnold Talk ‘Dragon 2′ Bow At Taormina
3 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Taormina, Sicily – “How To Train Your Dragon 2” opened the Taormina Film Festival in Italy, just as the DreamWorks Animation sequel bowed at the U.S. Box Office with a projected $53 million via Fox, a debut which both director Dean DeBlois and producer Bonnie Arnold seem content enough with.
“In the film business there is this tremendous pressure to have the opening weekend be the be-all and end-all,” said Arnold, speaking in the Sicilian seaside resort where “Dragon” screened Saturday for thousands in an open-air ancient Greek theatre.
“I think you have to be a little weary of that, especially with a film like this,” added the producer.
“I do feel that, at least domestically, there is some space, and I do feel that the word of mouth is going to be strong.”
DeBlois said he found it hard to know what to think of his film’s projected opening »
- Nick Vivarelli
Weekend Box Office: '22 Jump Street' Opens Huge, Pushing 'Dragon 2' to Second Place
4 hours ago | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
I can't deny being a little surprised to see 22 Jump Street take the #1 slot over How to Train Your Dragon 2, but it would seem the mere fact Dragon 2 is a well-reviewed movie on the heels of a much-appreciated original doesn't mean much if it isn't loaded with fart jokes and pop culture references. With $50 million in its opening weekend and an "A" CinemaScore, Dragon 2 is up $6.3 million from the first film's total back in 2010, but that isn't nearly the sequel bump we've come to expect. You want to talk about a sequel bump, let's talk about 22 Jump Street... In 2012, 21 Jump Street opened with $36.3 million, fast forward two years and the sequel has opened with more than one-and-a-half times that amount, hauling in an estimated $60 million this weekend to go along with an "A-" CinemaScore. If the estimate holds, this will give 22 Jump Street the fifth largest opening ever for »
- Brad Brevet
Gotham Series Preview: Fun and Promising Pilot with a Gritty Crime Element and Stand-Out Performances from Jada Pinkett Smith and Robin Lord Taylor
4 hours ago | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
One of the most highly anticipated new shows for the Fall TV season is the Fox drama series Gotham. From executive producer/writer Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome) and with a beautifully cinematic pilot directed by Danny Cannon (the CSI franchise, Nikita), it is the origin story for a number of the characters in the Batman universe, including Catwoman, The Penguin, The Riddler and Poison Ivy, as it shows what made them the formidable adversaries that they eventually become. At its core, it is the story of Detective James Gordon’s (Benjamin McKenzie) rise through a dangerously corrupt city teetering on the edge of evil, and it chronicles the birth of one of the most popular superheroes of our time. Collider was invited, along with a group of other press members, to attend the big-screen debut of the pilot at the super-swanky iPic Theater in Westwood, which was a great »
- Christina Radish
Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson Talk How To Train Your Dragon 2, the Evolution of the Film, London Has Fallen, and More
4 hours ago | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »
How to Train Your Dragon was not only a great and highly entertaining film that did huge worldwide box office numbers, but it was one of the best uses of 3D that I’ve seen in the cinema. Needless to day, I was excited to see the sequel, How to Train Your Dragon 2, and it did not disappoint. Five years have passed since the heroic young Viking Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) befriended a dragon named Toothless that led the residents of Berk to live side-by-side in peace with the fire-breathers. Hiccup now has the respect of his father, Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), the love of his girlfriend Astrid (America Ferrera) and has discovered his long-lost mother (Cate Blanchett), but the power-hungry Drago Bludvist (Djimon Hounsou) is threatening everything. At the recent L.A. press day, Collider had the opportunity to chat with Gerard Butler and Craig Ferguson, who are both clearly friends, »
- Christina Radish
Box Office: ’22 Jump Street’ Tops ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2′ With $60 Mil
4 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
“22 Jump Street” edged out “How to Train Your Dragon 2″ to capture the weekend box office crown as the two hotly anticipated sequels swooped into multiplexes just in time for Father’s Day.
The undercover cop comedy reunited Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, and had the two leads matriculate to college to the tune of $60 million across 3,306 locations. Its opening is the second biggest for an R-rated comedy in history, right behind “The Hangover Part II” ($85.9 million) and just ahead of the first “Sex and the City” ($57 million) cinematic adventure.
“How to Train Your Dragon 2″ nipped at Hill and Tatum’s heels, soaring to $50 million across 4,235 locations.
“It’s extraordinary to have two films open to $50 million on the same weekend,” said Chris Aronson, Twentieth Century Fox domestic distribution chief. “Any time you have a PG animated film opening against an R-rated comedy, that’s the kind of competitve environment you’re looking for. »
- Brent Lang
What I Watched, What You Watched #249
4 hours ago | Rope of Silicon | See recent Rope Of Silicon news »
As I wrote in my journal entry on Friday, this felt like a very long week, and what felt like a lot of movies, but I think that was only because of when I saw them. Seeing How to Train Your Dragon last Saturday is out of the norm and then I saw The Rover on Thursday night, which is also out of the norm, not to mention seeing Snowpiercer and then 22 Jump Street back-to-back on Tuesday. It was just an odd week like that and I'll have reviews of The Rover and Snowpiercer for you this week, though that same journal entry already gave you a heads up on what I thought of those two movies. Also this week I watched Criterion's L'eclisse Blu-ray, which I will also be reviewing next week and I started watching Goyokin last night, but I only watched 30 minutes once I realized I wasn't »
- Brad Brevet
Casey Kasem, Shaggy on ‘Scooby-Doo,’ Voice of ‘American Top 40,’ Dies at 82
4 hours ago | Variety - Film News | See recent Variety - Film News news »
Casey Kasem, the resonant voice of Top 40 radio and a vocal fixture on cartoon programs for the past 40 years, has died, according to his daughter. He was 82.
Kasem died Sunday of Lewy body disease, a common form of progressive dementia. Daughter Kerri Kasem confirmed her father’s death in a Facebook post on Father’s Day.
In May, his second wife Jean Kasem and her stepchildren waged a public fight over what daughter Kerri claimed were Jean’s efforts to prevent her from visiting her father. The dispute went to court as reports spread that Casey Kasem’s whereabouts could not be confirmed. Kerri Kasem was ultimately granted visitation rights to her father and the right to make medical decisions on his behalf.
See Also: Ryan Seacrest, Carson Daly React to Casey Kasem’s Death
He became a national fixture starting in 1970 as host of the syndicated radio program “American »
- Variety Staff
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