VICTORY FOR M. NIGHT SHYALAMAN! SPLIT still leads the weekend box!

Paramount’s Rings and STX’s teen romance The Space Between Us which are respectively opening to $12.8M in second and $3.8M in seventh..


The entire concept of RINGS appears to be oddly disjointed anyway.. it has been 15 years since the original VHS related horror flick. The mess of this film attempts to bind together early century technology with modern file sharing, and what could have been a clever homage to some other time and age turns into a clunky pile of 21st century junk..

But guess what’s first? Pretty exciting news for an M Night Shyalaman fan like myself: SPLIT is still in the lead box -- three weeks now and running..

And it’s actually the first title in Shyamalan’s resume to hold the No. 1 spot at the B.O. for three weeks in a row since 1999’s The Sixth Sense! Talk about old style century tech getting its revenge!


Good show M NIGHT..

SPLIT was a good film with (to me) not the greatest ending of M Night’s career.. but he was setting Philadelphia up for a sequel whether the King of Prussia mall is ready for it or not.. Bruce Willis is.

Late night estimates put Split at $14.7M for the weekend, and a running cume by Sunday of $98.8M, -8% behind Sixth Sense at the same point in time..

Prognosticators don’t think that SPLIT outshines SENSE, as a matter of fact by Valentine’s Day plenty of other films--included animated and a lot of SHADES of gray--will fill theaters..

The predictions for the final tallies:

1.) Split (UNI/Blumhouse) 3,373 theaters (+174) /$4.8M Fri (-39%)/3-day: $14.7M (-43%)/Total: $98.8M/Wk 3

2.) Rings (Par) 2,931 theaters /$5.2M Fri. (includes $800K previews)/3-day: $12.8/Wk 1

3.) Hidden Figures (Fox) 3,401 theaters (+50)/$3M Fri (-20%) /3-day: $10.4M (-26%)/Total: $119.7M/Wk 7

4.) A Dog’s Purpose (UNI/Amblin/Walden) 3,178 theaters (+120)/$2.8M Fri (-46%) /3-day: $10.1m (-45%)/Total: $32.1/Wk 2

5.) La La Land (Lionsgate) 3,236 (+100) /$2.3M Fri (-31%)/3-day:$8.2m (-33%)/Total:$119.1M/ Wk 9

6.) Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (SONY) 3,104 theaters (0) /$1.36M Fri (-73%) / 3-day: $4M (-71%)/Total: $21.4M/Wk 2

7.) The Space Between Us (STX) 2,812 theaters /$1.48M Fri. (includes $170K previews)/3-day: $3.8M/Wk 1

8/9) Sing (ILL/UNI), 2,293 theaters (-409) /$905K Fri.(-33%) /3-day cume: $3.75M (-41%)/Total: $262.6M/Wk 7

Lion (TWC) 1,405 theaters (+830) /$1.1K Fri (+83%) /3-day: $3.75M (+63%)/Total: $24.4M/Wk 11

10.) xXx: The Return Xander Cage (PAR/REV) 2,478 theaters (-1,178) /$1.1M Fri (-50%)/3-day: $3.6M (-58%)/Total: $39.9M/ Wk 3

THE BEAST soars high again: SPLIT reigns for second weekend

THE BEAST soars again..

For the second week in a row, SPLIT reigned high at the box office, delivering another decisive victory for M Night Shyamalan.

From BOX OFFICE MOJO:

SUNDAY AM UPDATE: Looking to hold on to the number one spot with ease, Universal’s Split brought in an estimated $7.9 million on Friday and is looking at an impressive $25+ million second weekend.

Landing in second on Friday is Universal’s A Dog’s Purpose with an estimated $5.3 million as it looks as if it will finish around $18.5 million for the three-day weekend.

Screen Gems’s release of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is projected to take in $13.7 - $14 million for the weekend after taking in an estimated $5.1 million on Friday.

The stories and video about dogs from DOG’S PURPOSE being treated questionably probably didn’t help the film–and with the cloudy month we had we are sad enough without watching a movie about dogs dying continuously.. 

That said, I also loved the movie SPLIT.. The ending wasn’t the twist I completely have come to love with M Night, but it worked for the film and the atmosphere presented about a city of Philadelphia under siege from 24 personalities without knowing it..

James McAvoy was impressive, completely impressive. Anna Taylor Joy was as well–as usual M Night cast the film with the perfect people to perform the roles necessary..

This is also a much needed victory for M Night Shyalaman, so many films now he has been hit was criticism.. 

I have loved each movie he made–even the ones others didn’t..

So happy to see SPLIT performing well..

Weekend final numbers for this week: 

• Split (3,199 theaters) - $18.8 M
• A Dog’s Purpose (3,058 theaters) - $18.0 M
• Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (3,104 theaters) - $12.2 M
• Hidden Figures (3,351 theaters) - $11.6 M
• xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (3,651 theaters) - $11.0 M
• La La Land (3,136 theaters) - $10.0 M
• Sing (2,690 theaters) - $5.4 M
• Gold (2,166 theaters) - $4.1 M
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2,049 theaters) - $4.0 M
• Monster Trucks (2,496 theaters) - $3.5 M

THE EXTINCTION IS HERE

….in box offices. And as some scientists say, in real life too.. but real life doesn’t make as much money as TRANSFORMERS AGE OF EXTINCTION will..

$104 mil + for the weekend? Apparently that is what experts are expecting or at least craving.. big money for HOLLYWOOD baby, let’s let the good times roll. And go extinct.

The heat of the summer is here.. no better time than the present to make oodles of cash off of people on dates and yearning for a cool seat in a heat wave. 

But this is amazing: TRANSFORMERS made $81 mil internationally on Friday night for the opening day extravaganza. 

Nothing can stop it now. 
Not even 22 JUMP STREET.  Whatever that is.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRipBOQl95o?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=281]

Get ready for heroes in a half shell. My son is already enthralled by the minute plus trailer for the NINJA TURTLES movie with Megan Fox coming out this summer.. Although I have read a few sources that are not as excited as today’s youth are with the Michael Bay rethink of the TURTLES..

And others are providing harsh commentary on Megan Fox’ abilities to transform into April O’Neill. The only thing I really noted about the trailer was the lack of substance, but instead the reliance on big action bombs and blasts and Megan Fox’s face. Not three seconds of the trailer went by without seeing Megan Fox ..

It seems that every time the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES come around, they get bigger. This one is no different. It appears that Michael Bay made them absolutely huge, as though they were steroid-using weight lifting heroes in a half shell .. Maybe too big?

As a student of the 1980s and 90s, the cartoon featured turtles who were short and fun.. As a matter of fact, even April O’Neill was taller than them. Not this go around, though.. Michael Bay made them ugly and huge.. They looked more like alligators than turtles.

And Megan Fox looks more like Megan Fox than April.

And Michael Bay looks like Michael Bay.

But does TMNT look more like Pearl Harbor than a hit? Time will tell, this summer…

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Who built the ark? Noah.. Who won the BOX, brother Noah won the box

Get ready.

The box office will be Bible thumping this weekend.. holy times are high, movie theaters will be filled with the faithful, praising Jesus and fearing the almighty, who flooded the world and forever promised not to with a rainbow. And then flooded the world OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Forget the actual ‘story’ of Noah for a second, or anything factual, or anything scientific, or any reality of it at all.. Instead. It’s TIME FOR NOAH. Brother Noah.. And his Ark.

We know this so far: The movie NOAH cost a lot of cold, hard cash to create. It faced a steady stream of criticism from the hardest of hardcore Christians, those hell-bent (no pun intended) on making sure Noah stayed true to the ‘real’ story from the Bible. It’s not in box offices around the world, and America.. And now Darren Aronofsky’s movie is making big inroads with the faithful, doing especially great with Catholic Hispanics and any town USA that has a strong Christian population.. You can read more about those Friday night facts from the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER..

Experts who get paid to run numbers on these types of things figure that NOAH will earn about $40 mil for the week—far less than it cost to make. But then again.. Sunday afternoon sales could be ALMIGHTY higher than expected. Just imagine if Father NamethatPriest rants and raves from the pulpit about this film.. The fervent will be filled with the holy ghost, enough perhaps to go streaming into theaters with friends and families instead of roast beef dinners at the family diner. Most movies have a date night like Friday or Saturday registering that largest numbers.. But just like PASSION OF THE CHRIST, NOAH could be huge on Sunday, bloody Sunday..

But for now, we only know this: NOAH is being released in 3,567 theaters strong. SABOTAGE is next with 2,486. And just judging from early numbers, Arnold Schwarzenegger will not ‘sabotage’ NOAH, but instead bomb huge at the box…

The darker they rise the lighter they fall

The more they rise, the more they fall.. this DARK KNIGHT falls hard.. This weekend’s developing box office story may be just how much THE DARK KNIGHT RISES has fallen in money when compared to last week.. Industry insiders predicted the film would have staying power, but on Friday Warner Bros and experts were amazed at the startling speed down that ticket sales have taken.. Insiders say there has been a 76% drop.. Could it be the week of news about James Holmes? Fear of a dark theater? Madness used to be confined to the screen. Now it’s in the audience.. Watching the rest of the weekend to see if the slide continues.. 

The box office wrap:

GOES BANANAS: RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES WITH $55 MIL IN BIG OPENER; RYAN REYNOLDS CRASHES WITH ‘CHANGE-UP’ AT $14 MIL

Epic flop? Final numbers are no where near close to being in, but if things stay on the path they are on, RIO will finish a strong first at the weekend box office with SCREAM 4 numbers being surprisingly weak .. many thought the return to late 20th Century horror would bring a rebound for Wes Craven and company.. however the new numbers reported by Nikki Finke show a one weekend wonder in possible for the newest and hopefully last in the fractured franchise..

The battle for the box office

Box office this weekend: The battle for LA tops? A UFO sighting that inspired the new flick written about..
Aliens take to the box office..
A review: “Immitation”..
Review: The big what if..
This week at the box: BATTLE: LOS ANGELES expected to pound contender MARS NEEDS MOMS.. Because Mars may need moms, but big box office budget busting techniegraphic flicks need disaster, UFO invasions, and a city being destroyed. And this weekend, the box office will get it.