The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies
The Star Online: Entertainment: Movies |
| 'Man Of Steel' sets June record Posted: 16 Jun 2013 08:57 PM PDT (Reuters) - Man Of Steel, the big-budget reboot of the Superman franchise, leaped over the apocalyptic buddy comedy This Is The End, collecting a muscular US$113.1 million to lead the domestic box office with the year's second-largest debut weekend and the biggest June opening ever. Man Of Steel, starring British-born Henry Cavill in the first Superman movie released in seven years, carried a hefty budget of US$225 million and took in a total of US$125 million through Sunday including early screenings, according to BoxOffice.com. The special-effects laden film is the story of the infant Kal-El, who escapes his doomed home planet Krypton and grows up in the idyllic town of Smallville with his parents, played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. Amy Adams plays the budding super hero's girlfriend Lois Lane. The film, directed by Zack Snyder, with Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception) serving as co-writer and one of its producers, added US$71.6 million from overseas box offices in 24 markets. "Today is a big day for us," said Warner Bros' president of theatrical distribution Dan Fellman, noting the film's record opening. He added that Man Of Steel was now well-poised to reap big box office "in the heart of the summer play time." The studio was also pleased by 56 percent male, 44 percent female audience, which Fellman said bodes well being a higher-female makeup than was usual for superhero-centered pictures. "The film is playing extremely well for fan boys as well as the family," he said. This Is The End, written by star Seth Rogen and his childhood friend Evan Goldberg, collected US$20.5 million at theaters in the domestic market comprised of the United States and Canada, according to studio estimates collected by Reuters. "We're off to a really good start," said Rory Bruer, Sony Pictures' president of worldwide distribution. Citing "great word of mouth," Bruer predicted the movie "is going to be one of those films that's going to be around for a good part of the summer. It's so fresh and original," he added. The comedy depicting the end of the world stars more than a dozen well-known Hollywood actors including James Franco, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and Emma Watson. In third place, the comedy heist caper Now You See Me continued its stronger-than-expected showing with ticket sales of US$10.3 million, bringing its three-week total to US$80 million. Man Of Steel came out of the gate roaring, with US$9 million in midnight showings early on Friday morning, according to the box office division of Hollywood.com, adding US$12 million in Thursday showings in association with retailer Walmart. The film broke the record of US$110.3 million held by 2010's Toy Story 3 for a June opening and was this year's second-biggest debut weekend after Iron Man 3. The Purge, made for US$3 million by the producer of the low-budget Paranormal Activity series, finished fifth with US$8.2 million, behind the speeding car franchise sixth film, Fast & Furious 6, which took in US$9.4 million in its fourth week in release for a total of US$220 million since Memorial Day. Starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey, The Purge is set in 2022 when the U.S. government reduces crime by allowing almost all crime to go unpunished during a 12-hour "purge" period. The Internship, a comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson based on the antics of nerds in search of a job at internet giant Google, continued its lackluster box office showing, selling US$7 million worth of tickets to finish sixth. After Earth, a US$130 million post-apocalyptic thriller starring Will Smith and his teenage son Jaden, continued its weak showing at U.S. and Canadian box office with US$3.6 million, in ninth place. After Earth did perform well overseas, selling US$24 million worth of tickets outside the domestic market. |
| Shanghai opens star-packed film festival Posted: 16 Jun 2013 08:26 PM PDT SHANGHAI (AFP) - Shanghai on Saturday opened its annual film festival packed with star power in acknowledgement of China's role as the second largest box office in the world. The government-backed Shanghai International Film Festival is mainland China's premier event of its kind, though capital Beijing has tried to steal the show with its own film festival which marked its third year in April. American director Oliver Stone made a return appearance, after attending the first Shanghai film festival in 1993. "You're bigger and more exorbitant," Stone said, referring to the changes. Local favourites like Hong Kong star Chow Yun-fat and Taiwan's Jay Chou, who played sidekick Kato in the movie version of The Green Hornet made appearances on the red carpet to promote upcoming films. "This is the only category one film festival in mainland China," Teng Jimeng, professor of film at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told AFP. "The rise of the Chinese film market, absolutely, is why the Shanghai Film Festival is becoming increasingly popular and important in the eyes of film makers." British director Tom Hooper, whose films include Les Miserables and The King's Speech is heading the jury for the festival's main award. Actor Keanu Reeves is also due to attend during the nine-day festival to promote his directorial debut Man Of Tai Chi. China's box office surged 36 percent annually to US$2.7 billion in 2012, behind only North America with ticket sales of US$10.8 billion, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. But foreign films in China come under an annual quota and face censorship by cultural authorities who excise content deemed politically sensitive or obscene. Imports of foreign films into China on a revenue-sharing basis are limited to just 34 annually, though last year the quota was raised from 20. In a recent case of censorship, Chinese theatres mysteriously yanked director Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained in April then resumed showing the film a month later, apparently with cuts to a scene showing star Jamie Foxx nude. In the latest James Bond spy thriller Skyfall -- partly shot in Shanghai -- authorities cut a scene showing prostitution in Macau, a special administrative region of China, and a line in which Bond's nemesis mentions being tortured by Chinese security agents. Such censorship is one of the reasons why Shanghai's film festival lags behind others in the Asian region, which screen movies with more edgy content. "They (Shanghai organisers) do encounter quite a lot of challenges in terms of picking the controversial, experimental stuff from the West. Hong Kong and Tokyo don't seem to have that sort of obstacle," said Teng of Beijing Foreign Studies University. Shanghai's offerings include a collection of Oliver Stone films and a tribute to the early works of Alfred Hitchcock. Asian films include a retrospective of the films of Hong Kong actor Leslie Cheung, who killed himself in 2003. |
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