Box Office: The Batman Still On Top

BuzzSugar — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:30:28 -0700

For the third weekend in a row, The Dark Knight was No. 1 at the box office, narrowly beating The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for the top spot. The Mummy earned about $42.5 million while The Dark Knight earned $43.8 million. Thanks to this win, The Dark Knight has just about crossed the $400 million line in domestic ticket sales.

Variety notes that most box office watchers had predicted this would be the weekend Batman would lose his crown, but I'm not all that surprised. The third addition to the silly action-adventure Mummy franchise failed to meet even the lowest critical expectations earning far worse reviews than the two before it.

Somewhat hilariously, Brendan Fraser now has two movies in the top five box office earners this week, as the 3-D adventure Journey to the Center of the Earth is holding strong at No. 5. So that would make him. . . a fairly hot box office commodity. Wow.

Elsewhere in the top five, Step Brothers came in third place and Mamma Mia! took fourth.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Box Office: The Dark Knight Continues to Reign

BuzzSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:30:00 -0700

In its second week in theaters, The Dark Knight continued to trample both the competition and box office records. According to Variety, it brought in $75.6 million from the 4,300 theaters screening it. This means that the Batman sequel brought in $300 million in less than 10 days, and grossed more than any other film has in its second weekend, a record previously held by Shrek 2.

Batman's competition mostly came from Step Brothers. The R-rated comedy took in $30 million which secured it the no. 2 spot. It seems that much of America did not have Will Ferrell fatigue after all.

Mamma Mia! grabbed the third spot with $17.2 million, bringing its total to $62.7 million.

The rest of the top five included The X-Files: I Want to Believe, which brought in $10.2 million, a very small number for what was expected to be a Summer blockbuster. To put that into perspective, the first X-Files film earned just over $30 million its first weekend during June of 1998. Journey to the Center of the Earth took fifth place, earning $9.4 million.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.

Box Office: Hellboy and Friends Kick Box Office Butt

BuzzSugar — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 08:15:15 -0700

Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army won the weekend box office with an estimated $35.9 million, not only handily beating the current competition, but also surpassing the first Hellboy's opening weekend earnings ($23.2 million). Yippee! I'm happy for that ragtag group of superheroes.

On the other end of the spectrum was Meet Dave, which Variety described as "one of the worst opening grosses ever for an Eddie Murphy pic." The details are even more painful. Consider this: It cost $60 million to make Meet Dave and it only earned an estimated $5.3 million over the weekend. That's not a pretty picture.

Hancock remained a draw (fun aside: at the movie theater over the weekend, a group of young boys sped past me while one yelled, "Hurry up! I don't want to miss a single second of Hancock!"), coming in second place, followed by the 3-D action flick Journey to the Center of the Earth. Pixar's Wall-E came in at No. 4 followed by Wanted to round out the top five.

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

NBC Announces Six New Shows - and Leaves Some in Limbo

BuzzSugar — Mon, 04 May 2009 08:30:07 -0700

NBC revealed a big chunk of its primetime plans for next TV season this morning, announcing six new dramas, four comedies, and four renewed series. But it left a lot of questions open, too - including the fate of Chuck and Law and Order and when all of these shows will fit on the new primetime schedule.

Those answers are supposed to come May 19 - the same week the rest of the networks will announce their schedules. But for now, here's what we know: The four new dramas are Parenthood, based on the feature film of the same name; Trauma, a fast-paced medical show; Mercy, another medical show revolving around the lives of nurses; and Day One, about the aftermath of a global catastrophe. The comedies are Community, about a band of misfits at a community college, and 100 Questions, about a young woman looking for love online.

Returning for sure next season are Heroes, Parks and Recreation, Southland, and Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday, which aired a few special episodes before last Fall's presidential election and will air six more times this Fall. Despite reports of a renewal over the weekend, no decision was announced about Medium. The network previously renewed The Office, 30 Rock, The Biggest Loser, The Celebrity Apprentice, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, and Friday Night Lights and had announced the new reality series The Marriage Ref, Breakthrough with Tony Robbins, and Who Do You Think You Are?

I'll be back with clips, photos, and my take on NBC's new shows a bit later, but for now, you can read official descriptions of all the shows if you read more.

Parenthood
From the executive producers of the box-office hit Parenthood - Ron Howard and Brian Grazer (Oscar winners for A Beautiful Mind), and writer/executive producer Jason Katims (Friday Night Lights) - this contemporary re-imagining of the blockbuster film depicts the colorful and imperfect Braverman family - four grown siblings sharing the headaches, heartaches and joy of being parents. The star-studded cast includes Peter Krause, Maura Tierney, Craig T. Nelson, Dax Shepard, Bonnie Bedelia, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen and Sarah Ramos. When Sarah Braverman (Tierney, ER), a financially strapped single mother, returns home to her parents and siblings in Berkeley, Calif. after packing up her Fresno apartment and uprooting her two inconvenienced kids, Amber (Mae Whitman, In Treatment) and Drew (Miles Heizer, ER), she is greeted by her opinionated father, Zeek (Nelson, Family Stone, Coach), and strong mother, Camille (Bedelia, Heart Like a Wheel), who are privately dealing with their own marital issues. As Sarah is reunited with her siblings - sister, Julia (Christensen, Traffic), and brothers Crosby (Shepard, Baby Mama) and Adam (Krause, Six Feet Under) - all struggling with issues of their own, it’s clear that the Braverman reunion is just what they need to face the everyday challenges of modern family life. Parenthood is a production from Imagine Entertainment and Universal Media Studios. Emmy winner Thomas Schlamme (The West Wing) directs the pilot.

Trauma
Executive producer Peter Berg (NBC’s Friday Night Lights) delivers Trauma, the first high-octane medical drama series to live exclusively in the field where the real action is. Like an adrenaline shot to the heart, Trauma is an intense, action-packed look at one of the most dangerous medical professions in the world: first responder paramedics. When emergencies occur, the trauma team from San Francisco General is first on the scene, traveling by land, by sea or by air to reach their victims in time. From the heights of the city’s Transamerica Pyramid to the depths of the San Francisco Bay, these heroes must face the most extreme conditions to save lives -- and give meaning to their own existence in the process. Starring in Trauma are Derek Luke (Notorious), Cliff Curtis (10,000 B.C), Anastasia Griffith (Damages), Aimee Garcia (George Lopez), Kevin Rankin (Friday Night Lights) and Jamey Sheridan (Law & Order: Criminal Intent). Trauma is a production of Universal Media Studios and Film 44. Berg, Sarah Aubrey (Bad Santa, Friday Night Lights), Dario Scardapane and Jeffrey Reiner (Friday Night Lights) serve as executive producers. The pilot was written by Scardapane and directed by Reiner.

Mercy
Mercy a new medical drama with a unique point of view, portrays the lives of the staff at Mercy Hospital as seen through the eyes of those who know it best - its nurses. Nurse Veronica Callahan (Taylor Schilling, Dark Matter) returns to Mercy from a military tour in Iraq - and she knows more about medicine than all of the residents combined. Together with fellow nurses Sonia Jimenez (Jamie Lee Kirchner, Rescue Me) and Chloe Payne (Michelle Trachtenberg, Gossip Girl), Callahan navigates through the daily traumas and social landmines of life and love both inside the hospital and out in the real world. The cast also includes: James Tupper (Men in Trees) as Dr. Chris Sands, a new doctor at the hospital who complicates Veronica's life; Diego Klattenhoff (Supernatural) as Mike Callahan, Veronica’s husband; and Guillermo Diaz (Weeds) as Nurse Angel Lopez. Mercy is a production from Universal Media Studios and Berman Braun. Joining writer/executive producers Liz Heldens (NBC’s Friday Night Lights) and Gretchen Berg & Aaron Harberts (Pushing Daisies, Pepper Dennis) are executive producers Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun. Emmy Award winner Adam Bernstein (NBC’s 30 Rock, Rescue Me) is the director.

Day One
From executive producer/writer Jesse Alexander (Heroes, Lost, Alias) and director Alex Graves (Fringe, Journeyman), Day One tells the story of life on earth following a global catastrophe that has devastated the world's infrastructures. Beginning with the immediate aftermath of the cataclysmic event, an eclectic band of survivors - played by Adam Campbell (Date Movie), Catherine Dent (The Shield), Julie Gonzalo (Eli Stone), David Lyons (ER), Derek Mio (Greek), Carly Pope (24), Thekla Reuten (Sleeper Cell) and Addison Timlin (Cashmere Mafia) - strives to rebuild society as they unravel the mysteries of what happened and face their uncertain future. The group, all residents of one apartment building in suburban Van Nuys, Calif., embarks on a quest for survival and discovers that hope is found in small victories - and heroes are born every day. Day One is a Universal Media Studios production.

100 Questions
Emmy winner James Burrows (Will & Grace, Friends) directs 100 Questions, a new comedy series written and executive-produced by Christopher Moynihan (For Your Consideration) that provides hilarious answers to 100 questions about love. Charlotte Payne (Sophie Winkleman, Peep Show) is looking for love and has rejected multiple marriage proposals - but she has yet to meet Mr. Right. When she joins a popular online dating site, she gets a little help from her dating counselor Ravi (Amir Talai, The Ex List) - who requires her to take a 100-question compatibility test. The questions aren’t easy for Charlotte to answer, and each one requires her to recount a poignant and humorous time in her life with friends Leslie (Elizabeth Ho, Women’s Murder Club), Jill (Joy Suprano, NBC’s Law & Order), Mike (Christopher Moynihan For Your Consideration) and Wayne (David Walton, Quarterlife). The test becomes a journey of self-discovery for Charlotte who begins to realize what she truly wants in a relationship. Ron West (Psych), Kelly Kulchak (Psych) and Michelle Nader (King of Queens) join Moynihan as executive producers. The series is produced by Universal Media Studios and Tagline.

Community
From Emmy Award-winning directors Joe and Anthony Russo (Arrested Development) comes Community, a smart comedy series about higher education - and lower expectations. The student body at Greendale Community College is made up of high-school losers, newly divorced housewives, and old people who want to keep their minds active. Within these not-so-hallowed halls, Community focuses on a band of misfits, at the center of which is a fast-talkin’ lawyer whose degree has been revoked (Joel McHale, The Soup), who form a study group and end up learning a lot more about themselves than they do about their course work. In addition to McHale, the series also stars: Gillian Jacobs (The Book of Daniel); Yvette Nicole Brown (Rules of Engagement); Danny Pudi (Greek); Alison Brie (Mad Men); and comedy legend Chevy Chase (Saturday Night Live). Community is a Krasnoff Foster Entertainment, Harmonious Claptrap and Russo Brothers production in association with Sony Pictures Television and Universal Media Studios. Russ Krasnoff (The Soloist), Dan Harmon (The Sarah Silverman Program), Joe Russo (Arrested Development), Anthony Russo (Arrested Development) and Gary Foster (The Soloist) serve as executive producers. Joe and Anthony Russo directed the pilot that was written by Dan Harmon.

Photos courtesy of NBC