weekend box office

The summer is over and September is upon us. The result? One of the most boring weekend box office reports in months. Months! The month or so following the end of the summer movie season is traditionally one of the worst of the year, the time when Hollywood unleashes all of the films that they have little faith in, a buffer between the blockbuster months and the award season months. In other words

Consider this weekend a study of three animation companies. Temporarily forget about ‘The Amazing Spider-Man‘ and ‘Ted‘ and ‘Moonrise Kingdom.’ What do the box office numbers of ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift,’ ‘Brave‘ and ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted‘ tell us about their respective studios? ‘Ice Age’ won the weekend, but is it actually a winner?

When ‘Prometheus‘ opened big last month, there was the usual “Ah, so R-rated movies can perform well at the box office!” discussion that tends to happen every year or so. Well, that has nothing on this weekend, which found two R-rated movies topping the box office. And it’s not like ‘Ted‘ and ‘Magic Mike‘ just did okay either…both films opened big, blowing away expectations and leading the charge

When it comes to winning big at the box office, never bet against Pixar. ‘Brave‘ is not only the acclaimed animation studio’s thirteenth film, it is their thirteenth film to open at number one at the box office. It’s a track record that just about everyone else in Hollywood would kill for.

The box office can be a funny thing. Last weekend, ‘Men in Black 3‘ made $55 million and was considered a disappointment. This weekend, ‘Snow White and the Huntsman‘ pulled in $56 million and it’s considered a roaring success. As bizarre as that sounds, it all makes sense when you look at the details.

Poor Barnabas Collins never stood a chance. Tim Burton’s ‘Dark Shadows‘ found itself clobbered to death over the weekend courtesy of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, who rode a perfect cocktail of hype and stellar word-of-mouth to an unprecedented second weekend. It’s no longer a question of whether or not ‘The Avengers‘ will be one of the biggest movies of all time, mainly because it already is one of t

’21 Jump Street,’ the movie version of the 1980s television show that introduced the world to the phenomenon known as Johnny Depp, opened strong with $35 million to easily take the top spot at the box office this weekend.

Americans’ fascination with the Navy SEALs translated to a big opening for ‘Act of Valor,’ which earned $24.7 million and first place at the box office this weekend.

Liam Neeson’s movie about being hunted by a pack of rogue wolves, ‘The Grey,’ was apparently red meat to movie-goers. It brought in $20 million in its debut to take the top spot at the box office this weekend.

Proving action movies are still box office catnip, Mark Wahlberg’s ‘Contraband‘ had a $24 million debut, making it the most popular flick at theaters this weekend.

‘Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,’ the fourth movie in the popular franchise, ruled the box office with an iron hand last week. With a $31.2 million haul over the New Year’s holiday, Tom Cruise and company again reigned supreme.