Jacob Hall
In retrospect, it's easy to say "Of course the new 'Die hard' movie was going to open at number one at the box office!" but you can bet Bruce Willis and company were a little worried. After all, 'A Good Day to Die Hard' opened in the wake of the failure of 'The Last Stand,' 'Parker' and 'Bullet to the Head,' three other macho, R-rated movies starring modern action icons. However, the strength of the 'Die Hard' brand seems to have broken that trend: John McClane's fifth outing made $25 million over the weekend.
While the British Academy of Film and Television may not have the international clout of the Oscars, they're still a big deal and can often drop some useful tidbits for all of the awards prognosticators out there. In this case, the BAFTA awards have only further propelled Ben Affleck's 'Argo' to the front of the pack.
There was much fanboy rejoicing when is was learned that Lawrence Kasdan was on board to write a new 'Star Wars' spin-off movie and consult on 'Star Wars Episode 7.' After all, this is the man who wrote 'The Empire Strikes Back,' a movie that isn't just the best 'Star Wars' movie, but one of the best science fiction movies ever made. Although the full details of whatever Kasdan is working on (a Yoda movie? Young Han Solo?) are buried in an underground bunker somewhere, he recently spoke about his involvement in the new films.
Eventually, the popular opinion on zombies is going to shift and people are going to stop watching 'The Walking Dead' and buying zombie-themed video games, but that day is not today. People still love zombies and if the opening weekend is any indication, they love 'Warm Bodies.'
The Annie Awards may not be as high profile as the Oscars, but they're always a fascinating look at a corner of the film and television world that is often overlooked during the awards season: animation. Considering the company's legacy, it feels appropriate that Disney dominated at the 40th Annual Annie Awards, with 'Wreck-it Ralph' and 'Paperman' going home as the big winners.
Okay, this is just getting silly -- another major Hollywood award ceremony, another victory for Ben Affleck and 'Argo,' this time at the Director's Guild of America awards. If this was like any other year, Affleck would look like a shoe-in for the Oscar...except that he's not nominated. Which means that Affleck's repeated victories make this year's Academy Awards the hardest to predict in recent memory.
Make no mistake: this was a slow and bad weekend at the box office, an example of the January doldrums at their absolute worst. However, this was probably the only environment where a film titled 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters' could have flourished, so at least someone is happy.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard the news: JJ Abrams is officially directing 'Star Wars: Episode VII.' Even if you didn't hear it, you surely felt the rumble that shook the entire planet after the news caused the entire internet to break in half. While fans and critics alike debated what this meant for the 'Star Wars' franchise, another question arose. With Abrams departing for a galaxy far far away, what was going to happen to the 'Star Trek' franchise?
Well, now we know why the box office was so incredibly light last week: everyone was waiting to see things this week! Although 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' clung to the top spot for the third week in a row, it was a very tight race, with only $4 million separating the top three films.
Film
Weekend
Per Screen
1
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Jour
Something went horribly wrong this weekend. Despite a few high profile new releases and the mere presence of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,' this weekend's box office was, uh...not great. What happened here?