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'Bridesmaids' Producer Judd Apatow Weighs In On The Kristen Wiig Comedy's Big Box Office Weekend

Posted 5/17/11 11:11 am EST by in Box Office, News

Judd ApatowFROM MTV MOVIES: In the run-up to the debut of "Bridesmaids" this past weekend, with theaters jammed with popcorn action flicks like "Thor" and "Fast Five," industry insiders were predicting a box-office gross of around $15 million to $17 million. But stellar reviews, strong word of mouth and, most importantly, a staggeringly funny film combined to thrust "Bridesmaids" to a $26.2 million opening.

Yet while the rest of Hollywood might have been surprised that the movie, starring "Saturday Night Live" star Kristen Wiig and a slew of hilarious supporting women, did so well, producer Judd Apatow had a feeling the comedy would connect with a previously untapped slice of the movie-going public.

"I always hoped that there was this huge neglected audience out there hoping someone would start making movies for them," Apatow said in an email to MTV News on Monday (May 16). "I am so excited I was not imagining things. Hopefully this will lead to a lot more movies being made starring funny women."

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'Thor' Holds Onto First Place And 'Bridesmaids' Surpasses Expectations At The Weekend Box Office

Posted 5/16/11 10:31 am EST by in Box Office

ThorFROM MTV MOVIES: "Thor" held on to the top spot at the box office over the weekend while runner-up "Bridesmaids" surpassed industry expectations with an impressive $24.4 million debut, according to studio estimates.

Meanwhile, the new post-apocalyptic vampire film "Priest" floundered and a pair of indie flicks in limited release, "Everything Must Go" and "Hesher," posted up low per-screen averages.

Based on the Marvel Comics hero drawn from Norse mythology, "Thor" earned $34.5 million in its second weekend of release for a total take of $119.2 million. The action flick, starring Chris Hemsworth in the title role, helps set the stage for this summer's "The Avengers." It has earned $225 million worldwide.

Ninety percent of critics loved "Bridesmaids," according to Rotten Tomatoes, and the positive word of mouth generated since the film's South by Southwest festival screenings contributed to its number two placement. "Saturday Night Live" veterans Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph lead an ensemble cast in the Judd Apatow-produced R-rated comedy, whose drawing power was underestimated by most industry analysts.

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'Thor' Dethrones 'Fast Five' At The Weekend Box Office

Posted 5/9/11 11:50 am EST by in Box Office

ThorFROM MTV MOVIES: The "god of thunder" stormed the box office over the weekend as comic book fans and other moviegoers rained $66 million upon theaters to see "Thor." The latest big-screen adaptation of a beloved Marvel Comics superhero, this one drawn from Norse mythology, kicked off the summer movie season as the #1 movie in America, according to studio estimates.

Alas, a pair of romantic comedies proved to be no match against Thor's power. "Jumping the Broom" opened at #3 with $13.7 million, while "Something Borrowed," based on Emily Giffin's best-selling novel, is in fourth place with $13.1 million. Co-starring rom-com veteran Kate Hudson, "Borrowed" was far behind the $21.1 million her "Bride Wars" took in when it opened in 2009, or the similar numbers generated by "Fool's Gold" the year before.

"Thor" launches a potential franchise for Disney-owned Marvel Studios and serves as yet another piece of the comic-book-like continuity tapestry leading to 2012's "The Avengers." That ambitious movie recently started shooting and will unite Thor with Marvel heroes like Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Captain America (Chris Evans), whose own movie arrives on July 22. "Thor" benefited greatly from the critic-approved charisma of newcomer Chris Hemsworth in the title role and the Shakespearean sensibilities of director Kenneth Branagh. Technology didn't hurt, either, as roughly 60 percent of the film's business came courtesy of 3-D.

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'Fast Five': Why The 'Furious' Franchise Still Dominates The Box Office Ten Years Later

Posted 5/3/11 11:22 am EST by in Box Office, News

Fast FiveFROM MTV MOVIES: As observers of both Hollywood and United States national security have noted, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been enjoying a pretty incredible last few days. He apparently learned about Osama bin Laden's death hours before the rest of us and hinted about the news on Twitter ("Just got word that will shock the world," he wrote). Monday is his 39th birthday. Oh, and his new action flick, "Fast Five," opened to $83.6 million in ticket sales — not the biggest debut of the year but Universal's largest opening since "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" in 1997.

As remarkable as Johnson's national security sources are, perhaps even more impressive is how well "Fast Five" performed at the box office a decade after "The Fast and the Furious" first hit the multiplex. Franchises tend to max out their public good will after two or three installments, but with this new picture, there can be little doubt that the "Fast and Furious" series has joined the likes of "Die Hard" in the pop-culture establishment. Much of the credit goes to Vin Diesel, industry insiders point out.

"Like Sly Stallone as Rambo, Bruce Willis as John McClane and Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, Diesel embodies the role of Dom Toretto, fusing his public persona with his fictional character, and in doing so making him an action icon," said Jeff Bock, box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "Simply put, in the pantheon of action studs, Diesel is now immortalized as Dom."

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'Fast Five' Races To First Place At The Box Office

Posted 5/2/11 11:48 am EST by in Box Office

Fast FiveFROM MTV MOVIES: "Fast Five" won the box-office race over the weekend and sped through several records in the process. The ensemble action flick's estimated $83.6 million opening was not only the best yet for the "Fast and Furious" franchise but the biggest opening of 2011 thus far (sorry, "Rio"), the largest in Universal Pictures history (beating "The Lost World: Jurassic Park") and the third-highest opening outside of the holiday or summer seasons. Overall, "Fast Five" gave the box office a 52 percent boost.

Co-producer and star Vin Diesel can also celebrate the movie's solid reviews. Set in Rio and uniting stars from the previous films for a heist story a bit removed from the franchise's street-racing roots, "Fast Five" is the first in the series to win over critics. Each previous "Fast and Furious" movie, including the 2001 original, was overwhelmingly panned, but "Fast Five" boasted a 79 percent positive critical rating on movie review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes at press time.

"Fast Five" clearly benefited from its ethnically diverse cast — which includes Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, and Chris "Ludacris" Bridges — as well as its international setting. It made $45.3 million overseas, and in the U.S., the mostly male audience was 35 percent white, 33 percent Hispanic, 19 percent African-American and 9 percent Asian, according to Universal.

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'Rio' Flies And 'Water For Elephants' Thrives At The Weekend Box Office

Posted 4/25/11 10:53 am EST by in Box Office

RioFROM MTV MOVIES: The box office got a boost from kids over the holiday weekend as "Rio" held on to the top spot with moviegoers and the Easter-themed "Hop" crossed the $100 million mark, according to studio estimates. Overall ticket sales were up 39 percent from the same period last year. Strengthened by 3-D showings, the animated "Rio" earned $26.8 million for a two-week domestic total of $81.2 million.

Filmmaker Tyler Perry has released three movies around Easter, and this year's entry, "Madea's Big Happy Family," sat right in the middle of his scorecard, with a $25.7 million debut ("Meet the Browns" opened with $20.1 million in 2008; "Why Did I Get Married Too?" made $29.3 million last year) but suffered the lowest debut of any of the entries in his poorly reviewed "Madea" series. Still, that was good enough to take the #2 spot for the weekend.

Robert Pattinson did double the business of his last non-"Twilight" starring role with "Water for Elephants," which debuted with $17.5 million to land at #3 on the box-office tally. Of course, last year's "Remember Me" didn't have Academy Award winners Reese Witherspoon and Christoph Waltz or best-selling source material from novelist Sara Gruen. The romantic drama opened on par with the similarly themed "The Notebook," adjusted for inflation. "Elephants" has split critics almost down the middle, according to movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.

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'Rio' Skewers 'Scream 4' At The Weekend Box-Office

Posted 4/18/11 10:16 am EST by in Box Office

RioFROM MTV MOVIES: Hollywood accountants got just what they needed from two little bluebirds over the weekend as "Rio" enjoyed the biggest debut of any movie in 2011 thus far. The latest animated outing from the company behind the "Ice Age" franchise, about a pair of endangered South American birds, beat the weekend openings of rival kid flicks "Rango" and "Hop" with its estimated $40 million weekend.

Featuring the voice talents of Jessie Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, George Lopez, will.i.am and more, "Rio" did 58 percent of its business in 3-D screenings, which helped lift the overall box office 11 percent, marking the first increase against 2010 numbers in eight weekends. The "Rio" debut is still far behind the opening of last spring's "How to Train Your Dragon" and previous Blue Sky Studios hits like the "Ice Age" series, "Robots" and "Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who!"

Meanwhile, the first "Scream" movie in 11 years fell well below expectations with its $19.2 million opening. "Scream 4" was #2 in the box office tally, according to studio estimates. Uniting returning castmembers Neve Campbell, David Arquette and Courtney Cox with a cast of younger newcomers wasn't enough to beat the debuts of either of the other sequels to the 1996 original.

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'Hop' Beats 'Hanna,' 'Arthur' And More At The Weekend Box Office

Posted 4/11/11 11:30 am EST by in Box Office

Box OfficeFROM MTV MOVIES: "Hop" leapt over the competition to become the first movie of 2011 to enjoy two consecutive weeks at #1 on the box-office tally over the weekend. Featuring Russell Brand as the voice of the Easter Bunny, the kids' flick successfully thumped four new movies: "Hanna," "Soul Surfer," "Your Highness" and Brand's own "Arthur." All figures are according to studio estimates released on Sunday.

The $12.6 million opening for English comedian Brand's remake of the 1981 comedy "Arthur" was no match for the $21.6 million collected by the live-action/animated hybrid "Hop," which has earned a total of $68.1 million since its premiere. Neither film is a hit with critics, with both garnering just a 24-percent approval rating, according to Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from major film columnists across the country.

The first "Arthur" earned original star Dudley Moore an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of an alcoholic millionaire and grossed $95.5 million, which is equivalent to $260 million in 2011 when you adjust for ticket-price inflation. The new version, which co-stars Helen Mirren (who hosted "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend) and Jennifer Garner, doesn't seem likely to come close to the original's success. And the remake's debut is far behind the $17.6 million generated by the opening weekend of last year's "Get Him to the Greek," which co-starred Brand alongside Jonah Hill.

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'Hop' Beats 'Source Code' At The Weekend Box Office

Posted 4/4/11 1:00 pm EST by in Box Office

HopFROM MTV MOVIES: "Hop" (featuring the voice of outrageous jokester Russell Brand as an Easter Bunny who poops candy) had the strongest opening weekend of any movie released thus far in 2011. The holiday-themed kids' movie enjoyed a $38.1 million opening, which is just a hair (or "hare"?) more than the $38 million debut of "Rango" five weeks ago.

Both flicks are rated PG. "Hop," which co-stars James Marsden ("X-Men") in the lead human role, earned the rating for some mildly crude humor, whereas "Rango," featuring Johnny Depp voicing a cartoon lizard, has some crude humor, a bit of cowboy action and characters who smoke.

"Rango" remains the better reviewed of the two, with 89 percent of critics finding it worthwhile, according to Rotten Tomatoes, which collects reviews from critics. "Hop" sits at just 20 percent on the Tomatometer at press time. ("Rango" was produced by Paramount Pictures, which like MTV is a subsidiary of Viacom.)

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'The King's Speech' Director And Cast Opposed To Re-Editing The Film For A PG-13 Rating

Posted 1/31/11 4:15 pm EST by in Box Office, News, Oscars

The King's SpeechWith "The King's Speech" pulling ahead in the Oscar race, Harvey Weinstein may be even more anxious to have the film re-edited to reach a wider audience.

Last week it was reported by the Los Angeles Times that Weinstein, whose Oscar-friendly studio The Weinstein Co. released the film, wanted to find a way to trim an intricate scene of the currently R-rated movie in which King George VI (Colin Firth) lets a string of expletives fly under the instruction of his speech therapist (Geoffrey Rush).

Weinstein argued that the success of the film in Great Britain was due to a lower rating, as he told the LA Times, "The British numbers are huge because the rating lets families see the movie together,” he said, adding, “[Director] Tom (Hooper) and I are trying to find a unique way to do this that keeps his vision of the movie.”

But, it seems Hooper may have no intention of changing his vision after all. Hooper, who bested "The Social Network" director David Fincher in an upset win at the Director's Guild of America Awards on Saturday (January 29), spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the possible re-cut.

"I wouldn’t support cutting the film in any way. I think we looked at whether it’s possible to bleep out the f—s and stuff, but I’m not going to actually cut that part," Hooper said of the scene in contention. Read More...

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