News
The best stories from the CinemaNerdz News Desk and our independently opinionated reporters.
Box Office Weekend: Box Office Gain for Mild Critical Pain as Michael Bay’s Caper Takes Top Spot
To say that Pain & Gain is getting mixed critical praise is perhaps an understatement; it is Michael Bay’s best reviewed movie since Transformers, but then, Transformers was not a critical success. Bay, however, can make money despite critics, and his newest true story crime caper is no exception. On a low (for Bay anyway) budget of only $26 million, Pain & Gain has already made an estimat...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Living in Oblivion Not Such a Bad Thing
Tom Cruise may have been the best thing going for the science fiction action film Oblivion, which has only been getting lukewarm critical reception, but it still took the box office weekend easily. Costing $120 million, it made an excellent head start against its costs domestically with an estimated $38.2 million, though foreign box office has already made it a success with an additional $112 mill...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Robinson Leads the Way over a Tepid Scary Movie
Is it wrong for a well-regarded biopic to win the weekend over a comedy that was not even screened for critics? Well, of course not, though to say the abysmally reviewed Scary Movie 5 is a bomb is not exactly true. While the Jackie Robinson movie 42, starring Chadwick Boseman in the title role and veteran actor Harrison Ford, made a comfortable estimated $27.3 million, it has yet to make good on i...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: In Gore vs. Guns, Evil Dead Triumphs Over G.I. Joe
Having missed the weekend in which G.I. Joe: Retaliation took charge of the box office thanks to a horrific flu (though to be fair, no movie was responsible for that condition), Box Office Weekend returns only to report that the sequel has been upended, both critically and financially, by the remake of Sam Raimi’s 1981 horror classic Evil Dead. Scoring a strong estimated $26 million in revenue, th...[Read More]
TCM Road to Hollywood: Marnie with Tippi Hedren Visits Ann Arbor!
Turner Classic Movies and XFINITY are bringing the Road to Hollywood tour to Ann Arbor in celebration of the TCM Classic Film Festival this April in Hollywood. Join TCM host Ben Mankiewicz and special guest Tippi Hedren for a free screening of MARNIE on Tuesday, April 9 at 7:30 PM at the Michigan Theater. Log on to tcm.com/roadtohollywood to get your free tickets now!
Box Office Weekend: Being “Crood” Not a Bad Thing
Oz the Great and Powerful finally met its match in not one, but two films released this weekend. The Croods got off to a rousing start with an estimated $44 million, proving itself a winner among audiences and critics. Olympus Has Fallen got mixed critical response, but with an estimated $30.5 million the so-called “Die Hard in the White House” had a better reception than the fifth Die Hard film, ...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Oz Remains Top Draw as Audiences Ignore the Other Films Behind the Curtain
Oz the Great and Powerful did it again; though it has yet to make up its costs domestically (the film cost $215 million), it is well on its way there, with a second week performance of an estimated $42.2 million. So far, the film has been a strong contender here and overseas, its $281.1 million in worldwide totals making it a solid blockbuster success. The Call cannot claim that level of success, ...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Oz Truly is the Great and Powerful with a Solid #1 at the Box Office
If there was to be any film to slay the mediocre Jack the Giant Slayer, it would be Oz the Great and Powerful, and the Sam Raimi-directed prequel did not disappoint; while it still has a long ways to go to make up its $215 million budget, it made a much better head start than the Bryan Singer-directed megaflop. Oz the Great and Powerful made an estimated $80.3 million, well ahead of any contender,...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Jack the Giant Slayer Climbs the Beanstalk But There’s Not Much Gold at the Top
Originally slated for release last year, Jack the Giant Slayer opened in first place with (for any other film) a strong $28 million estimate…but whether it is due to the delays or other factors, it faces a serious uphill battle, with middling reviews and a budget bigger than its CG giants at a whopping $195 million. However, it has yet to see overseas release, where special-effects laden films hav...[Read More]
Box Office Weekend: Identity Thief Sneaks to the Top of a Down Box Office
On a night all about the movies, it may be ironic that overall profits are down to early February levels…with the red carpet bringing out the stars and awards for the films of 2012, the current fare at the theaters are not bringing out the dollars, especially with only three of the top ten being critically acclaimed. Identity Thief, which fell to A Good Day to Die Hard last week, came back to the ...[Read More]