February 2013

Editor: Zach Stewart

Box Office Ticket Times

March 4 March 11, 2013 Jack the Giant Slayer 2:00, 4:40, 7:20 21 and Over 2:30, 5:10, 7:30 The Last Exorcism Part II 2:20, 5:00, 7:50 Identity Thief 2:10, 4:50, 7:40 Escape From Planet Earth 1:40, 7:00, 4:20 Safe Haven 1:50, 4:30, 7:10

Argo Wins Best Picture at 85th Affleck previously won an Academy Academy Awards Award for Best Original Screenplay in 1997
The 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture was awarded to Hollywoods favorite film: Argo. Oscar looked good in Ben Afflecks hand, especially as the star was notably snubbed in the Best Directing category. Other films nominated for Best Picture included Lincoln (an early contender that fell out of favor after being swept by Argo in pre-Oscars award shows), Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, Django Unchained, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amour and Les Miserables. Jack Nicholson and Michelle Obama presented the award. I know what youre thinking: the three sexiest producers alive, producer Grant Heslov said as he stood next to co-producers Affleck and George Clooney. That Argo won is historic, as it becomes only the fourth film in the 85year history of the Academy Awards to win Best Picture without a nomination in the Best Director category.

Twilight Wanna-Be?

Beautiful Creatures is arriving in a marketplace full of Twilight junkies still eager for their supernatural teen-romantic fix, and the films concept couldnt be clearer: Its Twilight with the sexes reversed. This time its the boy whos the mortal: moody, bookish Ethan, the outsider in his sleepy small town of Gatlin, S.C., though Alden Ehrenreich plays him more like a sensitive jock on Glee. Lena (Alice Englert), the new girl at school, comes from a family of witches (or, as theyre known here, Casters), and on the day she turns 16 shell be claimed, either by the light side or (more likely, due to a family curse) the dark side. Adapted from the popular YA novel by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Beautiful Creatures is lushly pictorial and not-toobadly acted. The best thing in the movie is Englert, who has a fresh, unretouched, Jane Austen-gone-goth allure. (She is also Jane Campions daughter.) Jeremy Irons, as Lenas smoking-jacketed rotter-aristocrat uncle, and Emma Thompson, as her floridly angry mother, are like blithe spirits out of a Dark Shadows sequel you want to see. But Beautiful Creatures, more than the Twilight films, lacks danger and momentum. The audience, like Ethan, spends way too much time waiting around for Lena to learn whether shes a good girl or a bad girl.

for Goodwill Hunting. Argos win caps a stellar comeback for the filmmaker, who was once thought to have ruined his career in movies like Gigli. Last year, The Artist won Best Picture. Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences vote to select Oscar nominees and winners, which makes the Oscars differ from the Golden Globes, which are voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press. Guild awards (Screen Actors Guild, Writers Guild, Directors Guild) are awarded by members of a particular profession. Seth MacFarlane helmed this years Oscar telecast, which took place at Hollywoods Dolby Theatre and included a number of charming set pieces. A tribute to James Bond, a Chicago reunion, a Les Miserables medley, performances by Adele and Barbra Streisand and even Ted all made it into the busy evening.

Box Office Winners for the Start of March

Box Office Weekend March 8-10, 2013 1. Oz the Great and Powerful $79, 110, 453 2. Jack the Giant Slayer $9, 839, 135 3. Identity Thief $6, 334, 220 4. Dead Man Down $5, 345, 540 5. Snitch $5, 098, 235 6. 21 and Over $5, 091, 384 7. Safe Haven $3, 753, 384 8. Silver Linings Playbook $3, 618,171 9. Escape From Planet Earth $3,218,923 10. The Last Exorcism Part II $ 3, 167,040

Who Won the Box Office During the Oscars Weekend?

While Hollywood put their attention on the winners at Sunday nights Oscars, Melissa McCarthy managed to win back the box-office crown. The Bridesmaids star was at the Dolby Theater presenting at the 85th Annual Academy Awards as numbers poured in to reveal that her Identity Thief had returned to #1 in theaters. Featuring McCarthy in her first starring role, Identity Thief has become the first big hit of 2013. The movie opened with $34.5 million a few weeks ago and returned to the #1 spot over the weekend with another $14.1 million for a $93.7 million haul. McCarthy plays the title character in the film, opposite Jason Bateman, who re-teams with his Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon. The pair recently told MTV News that they actually bloodied each other up for real during the movies hilariously violent fight scene. Just as many industry experts predicted, even the muscle of The Rock couldnt take down McCarthy. Dwayne Johnsons action drama Snitch had to settle for #2 with $13 million. While the movies debut was soft, Johnson should take some comfort in the fact that it fared better than 2013 action flops from Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jason Statham. The weekends only other new film, the alien-filled horror flick Dark Skies, failed to crack the top five. Despite coming from the same producer as the Paranormal Activity movies and Insidious, Dark Skies was #6 with just $8.9 million. Oz the Great and Powerful handily won the weekend box office with an impressive $80.3 million take in the U.S. and Canada, making it the biggest hit of the year so far. The film, Sam Raimis quasi-prequel to the 1939 Oscar-winning musical The Wizard of Oz, benefited from its broad appeal (not to mention higher 3-D ticket prices). For the actors starring in the lavish fantasy inspired by the books of L. Frank Baum, though, the emphasis was on performance, not eventual box-office returns. Attempting to find the right approach to Finley, the sweet-natured talking monkey who becomes a boon companion to James Francos magician con man in the magical realm, proved an interesting assignment for Zach Braff, the actor explained last week at an early Hero Complex screening of Oz the Great and Powerful at the AMC Century City 15 & Imax.

Escape from Planet Earth was #4 with $11 million. The Nicholas Sparks adaptation Safe Haven was just behind it with $10.6 million, for an 11-day total of $48.1 million. Last weekends #1 film, A Good Day to Die Hard, fell to #5 with $10 million, bringing its domestic to $51.8 million so far. Its the worst-reviewed of the series that made Bruce Willis a movie star. The coming week should see a boost for the Academy Awards winners still in theaters, many of which were already doing well. Best Picture winner Argo, now on DVD and iTunes, had made nearly $130 million. Daniel Day-Lewis won his third Best Actor Oscar for Lincoln, which has made $178 million. Silver Linings Playbook, which earned Jennifer Lawrence her first, has made $107.4 million. Anne Hathaway won Best Supporting Actress for Les Misrables, which stood at $146 million after the weekend. Life of Pi won several awards, including Best Director for Ang Lee, and has made $113 million. Quentin Tarantinos Django Unchained is the biggest movie of his career with $158.8 million. Tarantino took him the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay; Christoph Waltz earned his second Best Supporting Actor Oscar the first time was for his breakthrough role in another QT film, Inglourious Basterds. Overall, the weekend box-office tallied a soft $105 million, which was down 21.5 percent from the same period in 2012.

The Hobbit Makes it Big in the WorldWide Box Office

Following a New Yellow Brick Road

Although he didnt study Baums books as some of his costars did, he did make at least one interesting field trip. The monkeys not in the books, so I dont know what Id be looking for, Braff said during a Q&A following the screening. I did go to the zoo because I thought that would be something an actor would do. Braff the actor famous for his work on televisions long-running sitcom Scrubs and his lauded turn behind the camera as director of the memorable indie Garden State, among other projects went on to describe the day-to-day experience of working on such an elaborate production.

Just in case anyone needed confirmation that Peter Jackson made the right move from a financial standpoint to divide his Hobbit story into three movies instead of two, the numbers from the first movie have rolled in and continue to justify his decision (at least, as far as Warner Bros. accounting division is concerned). The initial chapter in Jacksons planned trilogy, An Unexpected Journey, crossed the $1 billion mark in overall ticket sales, powered by more than $700 million in overseas ticket sales, where both Jackson (as a director) and Tolkien as a brand help draw audiences into theaters for 3D and IMAX trips into Middle Earth. As BoxOfficeMojo points out, the first Hobbit film is now the second-highest-grossing film in Jacksons franchise, sitting behind Return of the King, which banked $1.1B back in 2003. Oddly enough, Fellowship and Two Towers failed to cross the $1B mark during their runs. You know that they would have if they could have screened in 3D or IMAX, though factors that absolutely had to assist Journey as it marched through theaters. This bodes very well for the subsequent chapters in Jacksons second trilogy, which start arriving in theaters in December with The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on Dec. 13 this year. Imagine if the remaining two chapters of Jacksons story also are able to cross the $1 billion mark at the global market. Then Warner would have three $1-billion movies instead of the planned two and you easily can understand why Jackson was encouraged to split the movies in thirds. Audiences seem to want more of the directors Middle Earth vision. Well see of Smaug and the final chapter, There and Back Again, can continue the momentum established by this debut adventure.