***UPDATE: This post was updated to correct a factual error.
1. Lion King 3-D $29.3M: A 17 year-old cartoon not only landed in first place but more than doubled the take of second place. You can blame that on the lack of alternatives, but obviously people wanted to experience “The Lion King” again. Did they really want to experience it in 3-D, though? Could it have sold as many tickets as straight-forward re-release? After all, for generations Disney re-released their films every seven years or so and with great success.
Regardless, we can expect a lot more 3-D re-releases now.
I love “The Lion King” but have no desire to see it in 3-D. A few years ago I saw the 3-D version of “Nightmare Before Christmas” (a movie I love), and got nothing from it. In fact, I would’ve preferred to have seen it in its original 2-D form.
2. Contagion $14.5M: This is a better hold than expected. Still, with that many “big” stars and only $44M after ten days, this has to be a disappointment.
3. Drive $11M: Great reviews and 2800-plus screens didn’t add up to much and there appears to be a pretty wide gulf between critics and moviegoers. The art-house actioner received a terrible C- from CinemaScore, but critics adore it.
4. The Help $6.4M: With a total take of $147M, it’s unimaginable Oscar doesn’t come calling. A dramatic, critically-acclaimed and “important” box-office smash is a dream come true for Hollywood.
5. Straw Dogs $5M: With no built-in audience for the obscure original, no name stars, a story that looked like something out of a Lifetime Channel movie, and all the bad publicity surrounding the bashing of the South — what did they expect?
6. I Don’t Know How She Does It $4.5M: I don’t know who would think Sarah Jessica Parker could carry a movie a movie without “sex” or “city” in the title on nearly 2500 screens. Oh, that would be Harvey Weinstein.
8. Warrior $2.8M: Ten days with a take of $10M equals a flop. If it’s as good as everyone says, as I mentioned last week, you can expect this mixed-martial arts family drama to find an audience on home video.
12. Crazy, Stupid Love $1.6M: Out of nowhere, this romcom snuck over the $80M mark. Producer/star Steve Carrell always seems to find a way to make money
NETFLIX APOLOGIZES, INTROS NEW NAME
Netflix’s stock lost a whopping 26% of its value after a million subscribers jumped ship over the price hike. CEO Reed Hastings is now apologizing for his handling of the price increase, appropriately calling his approach “arrogant,” and is now renaming its DVD by mail service “Qwikster.”
Sheesh. Whatever.
Streaming is the future and as soon as the final disc of “The Closer: Season One” arrives tomorrow, I’m cancelling the mail service.
The bottom line is that I can wait for what I want to see to arrive via streaming or to hit Redbox for a buck or to move to the dollar rental shelf at Blockbuster Video.
What Netflix effectively did was get itself caught in its own wringer. They’re the ones who created the Streaming powerhouse and now that they’ve separated the mail service from the streaming service, they’ve given consumers the option to opt-out of a major portion of their own operation. This can only result in their physical DVD market slowly drying up over time. DVD by mail was a marvelous supplement to streaming and this supplement kept the by-mail service relevant. Now it will become irrelevant.
Incredibly, Netflix brought down Blockbuster and then stupidly copied their business plan when what they should’ve done was keep both rental programs together and raised the price three to five bucks. I would’ve happily paid twelve to fifteen dollars for what I have now.
Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
‘DAILY SHOW’ WINS UMPTEENTH CONSECUTIVE EMMY
I’m sure Jon Stewart’s a wonderful husband, father and friend, but as a public figure I don’t like the man and I think he’s dishonest in how he presents himself and many of his arguments. But you will never hear me question his talent.
VIN DIESEL TEASES THE FINAL STAND OF ‘RIDDICK’
Can someone tell me if this flick is really happening? There’s a lot of hype and news around the final chapter of this proposed trilogy I’d love to see happen, but my BS detector wonders if Diesel and director David Twohy aren’t releasing this stuff in the hopes of generating enough interest to make a part three possible.
If someone in the know could let me know, I’d appreciate it.
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SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINK-TACULAR
SAY THIS IN BOUNCERIFFIC SLO-MO: “BAYWATCH: THE MOVIE”
ABC DEVELOPING JEKYLL & HYDE SERIES
SIX TERRIFYING VILLAINS PLAYED BY COMEDIANS
CIA PITCHES SCRIPTS TO HOLLYWOOD
WHAT WOULD A 1970S-ERA ‘EXPENDABLES’ CAST LOOK LIKE?
ANDREW KLAVAN JOINS GBTV AND, SADLY, A PAYWALL
YES, YOU’RE OLD: OLSEN TWINS’ LITTLE SISTER OLD ENOUGH FOR NUDE SCENE
‘RESIDENT EVIL 5’ CHARACTER AND PLOT DETAILS
BATWING VIDEO FROM ‘DARK KNIGHT RISES’ SET
USA NETWORK: BEST SUMMER RATINGS FOR CABLE EVER
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LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING
“Expendables” on Streaming. Better movie on TV than in theatre. Shaky-cam not so distracting.
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CLASSIC PICK FOR TUESDAY, SEPT 20
7:30 AM Quo Vadis (1951) — A Roman commander falls for a Christian slave girl as Nero intensifies persecution of the new religion. Dir: Mervyn LeRoy Cast: Robert Taylor, Deborah Kerr, Leo Genn. C-175 mins, TV-PG, CC.
Superb Christian epic.
–Please send tips/suggestions/requests to jnolte@breitbart.com
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