The initial estimates for the weekend box office have Transformers 2 and Ice Age 3D tied with $42.5 million.  Elsewhere, Public Enemies had a solid five-day gross of $41 million, and The Hangover became the fourth movie of the year to top $200 million domestically (the fastest to $200 mil ever for an R-rated comedy).  And The Hurt Locker is still in limited release, but had the highest per-theater average ($14,000), as it should, because it’s easily the best movie out right now.

The “Transformers” sequel — produced by Paramount, DreamWorks and Hasbro — fell 61% in its second weekend for $293.5 million in cumulative boxoffice through 12 days of domestic release.
The “Transformers” sequel was filmed for a reported $200 million and carries costly backend commitments to director Michael Bay, not to mention hefty global marketing expenses. But with its worldwide boxoffice approaching $600 million, Paramount and its co-producer partners already might be treading into profitability, and a potentially leggy theatrical run and deep ancillary revenue should help the rich get richer. [THR]

Hold on, with a gross approaching $600 million it MIGHT be treading into a profitability?  First of all, even with Bay’s bazookas and tigers budget there’s no way it cost $400 million to market, especially not when he’s getting paid by GM, Audi, LG cell phones, Green Day, et. al.  The movie was essentially two hours of getting eyeball raped by Super Bowl commercials while Shia LaBeouf sped through the plot exposition like the Micro Machines guy reading the fine print on your Verizon contract (over gratuitous slo-mo shots of Megan Fox’s tits).  Secondly, Michael Bay doesn’t tread into anything. He hires an army of assistants to do it and then fines them if they let him touch the water.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Haha, get it?  Women be shoppin’ and men be hatin’ commitment! It’s funny ’cause it’s true!)

The Proposal earned $34 million to land a big number one on the box office chart, despite looking like a lame mashup of every crappy romantic comedy ever.  They make this movie once a month.  The only thing good about this one was that it didn’t have Kate Hudson or Matthew McConaughey in it.

The Hangover was number two with $26.9 million, only declining 18% from last weekend and holding better than just about any movie in recent memory (again, that’s movie blogger code for “I don’t want to look it up”).  So far it’s made almost $153 million on a $35 million budget, which is good news for anyone who wants to make or see an R-rated comedy.  The bad news is that without Todd Phillips and Zach Galifianakis, The Hangover would basically have been an Entourage episode.  So what’ll happen now is, they’ll greenlight a bunch of pandering, “raunchy” comedies which will suck (think American Pie sequels) and won’t make money, and then we’ll be right back to it being hard to make R-rated comedy again.  Also?  We’re all gonna be dead in 40 years anyway.  Happy Monday!

(full top 10 below)

Read the rest of this entry »

(“Movie of the year,” raves Schadenfreude Sloth)

The Hangover and Up spent a second weekend at the number one and two spots this weekend, while the aggressively mediocre Taking of Pelham 123 debuted at number three, and Eddie Murphy’s Imagine That opened at number six, earning just $5.7 million even though it opened on 3,000+ screens.  As Schadenfreude Sloth reminds me, that’s Eddie’s second bomb in a row after Meet Dave.

The Hangover and Up both held well, with the Hangover dropping only 26% in its second weekend and Up declining 31% in its third.  Compare that with Land of the Lost‘s 51% drop and you wonder if maybe studios will stop trying to market everything to kids.  Or in the case of Eddie Murphy, maybe stop trying to make the same  movie over and over again, including twice in the same year once with Eddie Murphy and once with Adam Sandler.  But don’t count on it.  They’ll probably just try to recoup their expenses with Imagine That 3D.  This time with a “more mainstream” plot. (top 10 after the jump)

Read the rest of this entry »

Er, I mean boobs.  I mean actress.  Anyway, here’s Heather Graham at the Hangover premiere in England proving that the quickest way to a man’s heart is through his giant boner.  Because the color of her dress really brings out her eyes (she has eyes, right?).

I’d be pissed if I was the director.  There’s no way anyone within a 15-seat radius of Heather Graham paid any attention to the movie.  That’s like being the groomsman at a wedding and just hanging your balls out of your zipper during the ceremony.  Except sexier.  If that’s possible.

[via BWE]

For everyone who wants to relive the magic of The Hangover, here’s Ed Helms singing “Stu’s Song”, or “What Would Tigers Dream Of.”  It’s not as funny as his Here Comes Treble songs on The Office but I figured I’d post it while everyone’s searching for it.  Mmm, topical.   Elsewhere, Nikki Finke claims to have the real story behind the film.

It all started with Chris Bender who heard the story of how his Hollywood friend went mysteriously missing from his bachelor party in Las Vegas. The pal was film producer Tripp Vinson [Most Hollywood name outside of Vin Diesel].

“I remember being a drunken fool, as you’re supposed to do at your bachelor party, and having a really good time with all my friends,” Vinson told me. “But then I remember being a mess. And when people are f-cked up, crazy sh-t happens.” That’s when Tripp went missing from his bash. Even now, all Vinson knows is, “I got separated from my friends, and I blacked out. And when I was revived, I was in a strip club being threatened with a very, very large bill I was supposed to pay. It was not a fun experience at the time, but it made for a funny story.”

[about 5 paragraphs of studio insider stuff on who bought what pitch from whom - including how the head of New Line would only buy it if it was called "What Happens in Vegas." Idiot.]

As for Tripp Vinson, he wasn’t involved with the movie at all. “I wasn’t even aware of it. Once the spec went out, I became aware of it. I know they embellished the story.” Nor did Warner Bros buy his life rights: he laughed when I told him a good lawyer could secure a trust fund for his kid. As for Chris Bender, this is the 3rd time he’s taken a real-life Hollywood producer’s life story and put it on the big screen. You may already know this, but American Pie is based on Bender’s high school experiences. Jason Biggs plays Bender, who got a producer credit on the pic. And Just Friends also was based on Bender’s life and he got a producer credit. [DeadlineHollywoodDaily - video via ThePlaylist]

So let’s see… so far he’s written about: high school guys trying to get laid, a guy trying to get laid who has to just be friends instead, and blacking out at a bachelor party.  Boy, truth is stranger than fiction.