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Thursday, November 26, 2009

News Stories About Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over

Village Leads Limp Box Office

2004-08-31

As the summer box office comes to a close, The Village continues to set career best records for M. Night Shyamalan, but it's the sophomore stint drop-offs that the real story. The previously mentioned career best openings were in Belgium, Sweden and Norway totaled $2.6 million, but at the same time saw its U.K. and French numbers cut nearly in half from last weekend. This week it took in a total of $10.2 million in 14 markets, lifting its international total to $30.8 million

Arthur, King of the International Box Office

2004-08-24

A trio of new openings pushed King Arthur into first place this week with $13 million in 33 markets. The film now sits at $88 million internationally, and should break $100 million by next weekend. Worldwide it looks headed for $200 million.

DVD Releases for February 24, 2004

2004-02-23

Every week films get a second chance at success from the home market; or, in some cases, a first chance at success. Here is a list of wide releases, limited releases and a few from the growing TV on DVD section. There was a very eclectic mix the week, but the comedy / heist movie Foolproof - (Buy from Amazon) is my pick of the week. But if you have kids you probably won't go wrong picking up Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over - (Buy from Amazon).

Bad Boys are the Best

2003-10-14

the-numbers.com/movies/2003/BADB2.php>Bad Boys II added another $16.1 million from 3,625 screen in 41 markets to push its international box office total to $64.3 million and worldwide total past $200 million. The sequel opened number one in an amazing 10 markets and is now just one week away from topping the original's total international box office of $75.6 million.

Despite playing on less than 1000 screens in just 14 markets, Finding Nemo earned $13.4 million and second place for the weekend. Nearly half the screens and more than 90% of its box office came from its first wide release in the U.K. Finding Nemo's international total now stands at $108.3 million with many more major openings to come.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen took in $13.0 million this week, which put its international total ahead of its domestic total, $68.7 million to $66.4 million. The results are still disappointing, but not the disaster they were domestically.

After seven weeks at number one, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl finished second last week. This week it dropped to fourth with just $6.1 million, roughly half of last week's figure. With no more major openings, it is unlikely the film will climb much higher on the all-time charts.

The final installment in the Spy Kids Trilogy has yet to open in most major markets, but it still earned $4.1 million and a fifth place finish last weekend. While the three movies earned an average of more than $100 million domestically, they didn't fare as well internationally. However, with $17.2 million in only 10 markets, Spy Kids 3D: Game Over should easily beat the previous two films' totals.


Submitted by:

Nemo Watch and Other Milestones

2003-08-22

=http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/FNEMO.php>Finding Nemo became the undisputed highest grossing animated movie of all time beating The Lion King total including its IMAX run. And that's not the only milestone Finding Nemo could beat this week. It is now less than $1 million from topping Forest Gump for eighth place overall. Also, each dollar it brings in increases the odds it will finish number one for the year. Right now it has a 1 to 2% chance of doing that. While its release is still four months away, I'd estimate The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King final tally will be $350 million, plus or minus $20 million. (And nearly double that internationally.)

There were other milestones that were crossed or will be crossed this week. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl crossed $250 million, only the third film to do that this year. And Spy Kids 3D will cross $100 million tonight, (it's currently only $500 thousand below that figure.)

Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle and The Italian Job are both widening their respective releases to try and hit $100 million. Charlie's Angels was about $4 million back of the milestone when the pushed started last week and it has since cut the gap in half. The Italian Job needs about the same and will expand next weekend. This strategy doesn't always work. Pearl Harbor was just $5 million back of $200 million when Disney tried to do the same, and it only managed to add an extra $3 million.

Onto other, more esoteric milestones, Chicago is less than $100 thousand from topping A Beautiful Mind. When it does, it will be in third place on the All Time Never Hit #1 Chart.

Submitted by: C.

Will S.W.A.T. Finally Make Colin Farrell a Superstar?

2003-08-09

wide releases this week, one of which was already released on Wednesday. Reviews for both movies started out strong, but only one was able to hold on to the positive press.

This week sees the release of Colin Farrell's fourth of five movies this year. Each one will either bring him closer to superstardom or overexposure. And while it's almost a sure thing S.W.A.T. will finish first, it looks like this movie won't make Colin Farrell a superstar. Reviews started out strong, over 80% on Wednesday, but have now fallen to just over 50%, and they could fall farther as the weekend progresses. In the end $25 million for the weekend and a total take equal to its production budget are in the cards.

My prediction for Freaky Friday's Wednesday opening was right on the money with $6 million. However, my prediction that the reviews would take a drop was not. In fact, reviews have increased to 89%. Because of this I'm increasing my prediction for the weekend to $20 million.

After disappointing figures its first week, American Wedding will start to quickly drop down the list landing in third place this week. Its box office will be cut in half to just under $17 million, which is better than most this summer.

Its weekday numbers are tracking on par with last week, but Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is starting to shed theatres so a slightly bigger drop-off than last week is in the cards. That still leaves Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl $15 million and just shy of Bruce Almighty. It should beat that movie sometime mid-week.

The battle for fifth place is too close to call at this point. Seabiscuit did have a miniscule 15% drop last week, but it also had a more than 20% increase in theatre count. And without a significant increase in theatres with week I see a much larger drop in box office, down to $13 million. That's the same number I see for Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over. That would bring its three week total to $90 million, ahead of Spy Kids 2's total run.

Nemo Watch takes a break this week as there are no milestone that Finding Nemo is likely to cross this week. At least not on the domestic front.

Submitted by: C.

Wedding Weaker than Expected but Still Wins

2003-08-04

ter than expected this week, however in most cases it was just a slight increase. And one of the movies that missed expectations really missed them. This led to an overall drop in the box office, 8.8% from last week and 7.7% from last year.

While American Wedding finished first, it didn't dominate the box office like predicted. $33.4 million is quite short of the predicted $42 million, but not bad for a movie that cost $50 - $60 million to make, (advertising not included.) Reviewers were quite kind to the movie giving it a 55%, just shy of the overall positive mark. But considering it's a sequel, longevity at the box office is still an issue.

To say Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over didn't live up to expectations would be unfair. Sure, it only made $19.5 million when I predicted $21 million. However, my prediction was higher than most and the drop was only 42%, much better than most movies this year. Nearly $69 million after two weeks is also a great success and it should become the highest grossing movie in the Spy Kids Trilogy.

Just 25 days into its run Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl crossed the $200 million dollar mark. That ties Titanic for 10th fastest to reach that milestone. It should beat X-Men 2 sometime this week to rise to fourth place for 2003.

Seabiscuit did better than expected dropping only 15% to $17.6 million. However, that was with an increase of nearly 22% in theatre count. Taking that into account it’s a Per Theatre average drop of a little more than 30%, still impressive. But it is most likely not impressive enough for its budget.

Bad Boys II did much better in its third week dropping only 42%. The movie earned $12.7 million and could beat the original's worldwide gross with just its domestic run.

Gigli did better than expected both critically and financially. That is not to say that it did well in either case, cause it didn't. I just had really, really low expectations. It got better ratings than Boat Trip and better box office than From Justin to Kelly. Both were mild surprises. However, 7% overall and 3% from the Cream of the Crop reviewers (which was much lower than the 10% Boat Trip received) and only $3.8 million at the box office were both incredibly low. This movie's final box office could end up being less than one tenth its total budget.

On a much happier note, Finding Nemo actually climbed a spot in its tenth week in release. It reached $320 million and now sits in 9th place all time.

Also on a happy note, Fox Searchlight expanded Bend it Like Beckham into more than 1000 theatres this week. This is almost twice its previous high of 555. It pulled in another $1.8 million the most it earned in a single weekend since Memorial Day and by the end of next weekend should cross $30 million.

Submitted by:

Another Week, Another Trilogy

2003-08-01

g released this week and both are getting better reviews that I thought they would. Neither is getting good reviews, but they are higher than I thought they'd be.

A safe bet to take first place, American Wedding is the third feature in the American Pie trilogy. Reviews for this installment are surprisingly high, currently at 58%, just shy of the overall positive mark and just shy of the first film. Also, given it's a straight up comedy and not an action film I think it will get a bit of a boost. $42 million for its opening weekend and a profitable run.

Speaking of profitable runs, Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over should do much better during its second weekend that most this year. It should earn another $21 million to raise its total take to $70 million in just two weeks. That's more than its total budget, but after taking the Theatres' share into account, it still has a few more weeks till the studio sees a profit.

Becoming the 5th film of 2003 to break $200 million, Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is looking at $16 million at the box office. At this point $250 million is looking like a sure thing. Can The Matrix Reloaded be overtaken, again?

Dropping the least this week will be Seabiscuit with $15 million. That's less than 30%, but still not enough given its high budget. The best the studio can hope for is some Oscar buzz when it's released to video.

Another 50% drop is in store for Bad Boys II. This will leave it with only $10 million at the box office and in fifth place. That's enough to cross the $100 million mark, but it won't beat its production budget.

Gigli has been getting a lot of press recently, and none of it good. Some are already calling it the worst movie of all time. Reviews are the worst for a widely reviewed movie this year, 4% overall and 0% from the Cream of the Crop reviewers. Most predictions have Gigli bombing at the box office, but I'm going to buck the trend and say it's going to bomb in epic proportions. We're talking bombing of From Justin to Kelly proportions. So bad Sony's stock will drop into negative numbers. So bad Miramax will push back Jersey Girl to some time in the next century. So bad the very fabric of space-time will be torn asunder. Ok, maybe not that bad, but it certainly won't be good. $3 million this week, less than $1 million the next and out on video by September.

On a happier note, Finding Nemo entered the Top Ten All-time Domestic Grosses this week. And it should pass Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by the end of the weekend. After that, there's a large gap to the next film, Forrest Gump.

Submitted by:

The Kids are More Than Alright

2003-07-28

a shocker with only one movie acting as predicted. Overall, there were more positive surprises than negative ones with the top five all making more than $20 million at the box office. And this is reflected in the 5.7% growth from last week and the 4.2% growth from last year.

The end of the Spy Kids trilogy started off with a bang. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over beat every prediction I saw earning an impressive $33.4 million in its opening weekend. That's very nearly double what the last one earned, and significantly above the original. Reviewers were not so kind giving it just below 50%. Weaker reviews, the fact that it's a sequel and the 3-D gimmick could lead to smaller legs, but $100 million is still an attainable goal.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl dropped more than I expected, but it still earned an impressive $23.1 million this weekend. That's just a 32% drop, better than Finding Nemo during its third weekend. It's too early to say it could top Finding Nemo, but Bruce Almighty is in danger of losing third place.

Bad Boys II managed to recover after really weak mid-week numbers. It only dropped 53% to $22.1 million. (It's a sad indictment of the movies when a 53% drop can be seen as doing good.)

On Friday when I said somewhere in Paramount there is someone asking, 'Is it too late to get our money back on Tomb Raider?' I had no idea it would be this bad. For a movie that cost nearly $100 million grabbing only $21.8 million is a bomb, plain and simple. And the news isn't getting any better, abysmal reviews and the sequel effect will lead to weaker legs and $50 million could be out of reach.

The only movie to get positive reviews finished in fifth place. Seabiscuit did beat my prediction with $20.9 million, but with a total budget of over $100 million it's going to need very long legs to show a profit.

Finding Nemo is finally showing signs of weakness at the box office. It earned $4.4 million in its ninth week of release, which was significantly below my prediction. And because of that it just missed making the top ten. It did beat The Lion King to become the highest grossing animated movie of all time (Not counting The Lion King's Imax run.) It should beat The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring tonight and move into the top ten of all time.

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Will Lara Croft bring Life to the Box Office?

2003-07-25

er three movie compete for the all-important opening weekend. This time we have two sequels and a biopic competing. However, only one movie has a real chance at taking the top spot.

Somewhere in Paramount there is someone asking, 'Is it too late to get our money back on Tomb Raider?' With a price tag the same as the first, but prospects that are much, much lower. No prediction I've seen has it matching the original's $47.7 million, and some even go as low as $30 million. I'd go that low too, especially considering some of the reviews. Any way you slice it, 25% is bad, but it's much higher than the orginal's 18%. Still, most moviegoers are wary of sequels so I think $33 million will be as good as it gets, and big drops will be in store for the coming weeks.

Staying in second and moving in on $200 million is Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. By Tuesday it had overtaken Bad Boys II for top spot and is tracking for another sub 30% loss. $26 million and a place in the Top 100 of All Time will happen this weekend. And it should make $200 million by the end of the next.

Bad Boys II has really fallen during the week. By Tuesday it was traking similar to Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, and that movie lost more than 60% during its second weekend. I don't think Bad Boys II will do quite so bad, but it will drop a lot. Just north of $20 million for the weekend and $100 million is now a safe bet.

The third installment in the Spy Kids trilogy is here. Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over is getting just average reviews and its 53% postive at Rotten Tomatoes is quite a drop from the first two. Kids movies should be more impervious to the sudden sequel adversion at the box office. But beating the last movie will be difficult. A slightly better opening at $19 million the first weekend is an improvement, but $75 million overall is a bit of a drop.

The last movie to open wide this week is Seabiscuit. Opening in less than 2000 theatres will hurt its box office. But the reviews will not; 79% is the best-reviewed wide release of the week. The highest predictions are more than double the lowest, and I'd be more inclined to agree with the low end here. $12 million for the weekend and no come from behind finish here.

Lastly, the Finding Nemo watch continues. These weekend it will earn about $6 million, putting its total at nearly $314 million. That will make it the highest grossing animated movie of all time beating The Lion King. It will also put it ahead of The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and into the top ten of all time.

Submitted by:

Movie Websites Launches for July 17 - July 23

2003-07-24

k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.


American Wedding
Current Content: Cast and crew bios and production notes are up, TV Spots and clips are still marked coming soon, however.


Buffalo Soldiers
Current Content: One word: Miramax. This is a Miramax site. Small image of the poster. Trailer. Showtimes. Cast and crew, (no bios.) Synopsis. Just like every other Miramax site.


Civil Brand
Current Content: The placeholder site was removed and replaced with the standard Lions Gate Films under construction warning. Eventually it redirects you to the Lions Gates Films index page. This might be due the 'Caged Heat' vibe the images used on original site was giving off. Or was I the only one that felt that way?


Fighting Tempations
Current Content: Just a placeholder site with a synopsis, trailer and nine images.


Gigli
Current Content: A flipbook was added with about half a dozen images. I also heard Jennifer Lopez's 'booty' was trimmed down for the poster. But I can neither confirm nor deny that.


Hotel
Current Content: Another movie being released this week whose site that hasn't been updated since the last review. Which is a shame, as this site's only purpose seems to be to try to shock. It uses foul language, nudity and violence in a most unappealing way. Maybe if they talked more about the plot and characters it would be more engaging. Then again, if what some people are saying is true Hotel doesn't have a plot.


Intolerable Cruelty
Current Content: None, the URL just redirects you to Universal Pictures movie index.


Lara Croft: Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life
Current Content: Major new look right before its release. It's mostly the same content with a better format. Animated segues, sound effects, background music. In fact, there are clips of nine songs. Impressive. In addition to the usual suspects there is also information about some of the mythology in the movie, lots of images and video clips. Also, there was something called iPIX but that wouldn't work with my browser.


Masked and Anonymous
Current Content: It appears that nothing has changed since this site was last reviewed in the beginning of the month. So the review again before it opens this week: This movie has a huge cast of very famous people, and the site wisely focuses a lot of attention on them. There’s page after page of information: Cast and crew bios, production notes, two essays, etc. The amount of multimedia is limited to the trailer and a couple of songs. But the text is so well written that no more is needed.


Mondays in the Sun
Current Content: As far as I can tell, nothing has changed on this site since it opened three months ago. More time is still spent on the director and producer than the rest of the movie.


Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Current Content: Sony's typical placeholder site. Synopsis, cast and crew (no bios), trailer and a few images. Expect a flash site within a few weeks.


The Run Down
Current Content: Another placeholder site. This time with a synopsis, cast and crew (no bios) and 9 images in the image gallery.


Seabiscuit
Current Content: The rest of the content has filtered in, but the overall continuity failed come together. Too bad, because it is an otherwise great site.


Second Hand Lions
Current Content: This movie site received a bit of a rework this week. It has the same content as before, just a different format. Now each section is linked by a picture with some animation and sound.


Spider-Man 2
Current Content: Would it be too early to call this the biggest movie of 2004? So far it's just a placeholder site with a synopsis and wallpaper.


Spy Kids 3D - Game Over
Current Content: The last two levels were added, theoretically. You see, you have to beat each level to progress to the next. And since I'm old and my reflexes are no longer as sharp as they once were, I'm unable to beat Platforms, the third level game. (Several hours pass) Woohoo! I finally beat Platforms. Never say I'm not willing to waste my time to bring you the information you desire. Moving on ... Level 4 (Lava Mountain) was much easier and allowed me to take on play the Unwinnable Level. If you can win here all hidden secrets can become unlocked, (with a little searching.) Even before the bonuses are unlocked this site is excellent, with them it easily wins the surreal Weekly Website Award.


Submitted by: C.

Movie Websites Launches for July 10 - July 16

2003-07-16

k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.


American Wedding
Current Content: The flash site launched this week, and while there is a few sections marked coming soon, most of the site is up. The starting section has good background music, which is not too short and loops well. It also has bubble rising up the left side and when you move the mouse over these bubbles they show clips of the movie. A lot of this site is interactive, a lot more than most sites. Trivia game, Stiffler's Learn to Boogie, Save the Cake, and more. Most of what's marked coming soon is the usual features. The trailer and synopsis is there, but cast and crew bios, production notes and clips are all marked coming soon.


The Anarchists Cookbook
Current Content: This site spends most of its time on character bios. The only other content is the trailer, a few reviews, cast and crew (no bios) and the poster that you can buy.


Bad Boys II
Current Content: Issue 5 launched with the usual four sections. Story contains bios and interviews with the cast and crew. Video has three clips from the movie, most of which has already been seen in the trailers and TV spots. There are six more images in the gallery and one wallpaper and one screensaver in Downloads. There's also a create your own Photo Album, but you have to be a member of Screenblasts to do so. There's a lot of content, and still one more issue to go. And so, it truly deserving the willy-nilly Weekly Website Award.


The Chosen One
Current Content: I found this site while trying to research upcoming traditional animation. Far from being traditional, this film will be done in flash animation. So far the site has a synopsis, character bios, crew bios, and under the news section a teaser trailer. Note: In the teaser is says the movie would be released in 2002. That obviously didn't happen. They are now aiming for a 2004 release date, and I'll keep you informed on how that progresses.


Civil Brand
Current Content: Just a placeholder site till the regular site launches. So far just the trailer is available.


Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
Current Content: Another placeholder site launched this week. This time it has just the synopsis and a surprisingly funny trailer.


Dirty Pretty Things
Current Content: Nothing new since last week's review, so here it is. This site doesn't treat the movie like a movie. So while there's a synopsis and character bios, there's not mention of cast or crew or behind the scenes, etc. There is a trailer, but even that's is off-site. There's not much in the way of sound or animation, which is a shame.


Freaky Friday
Current Content: Fitting in with the theme of the movie, this site has two sides. The Tess side, with trailer, synopsis, crew (bios coming soon) and more. The Anna side has trailer, synopsis, cast (bios coming soon) photos, downloads and more. You can also press the Get Freaky button to have the two switch bodies. The site has good sound effects and some audio clips, but could use some background music. There's plenty of content still marked coming soon, so that could be added later on.


Garage Days
Current Content: This site as twice the content most sites do. From text like the synopsis, production note, cast, crew and character bios to more multimedia oriented sections. There are dozens of images spread throughout the site. Pre-production, behind the scenes, and even a massive crew shot. There are 360-degree virtual tours of some of the film sets. Videos include the trailer and several interviews with cast and crew. And while there are sound effects (guitar cords), there is no music, which is strange for a movie based around a garage band.


Gigli
Current Content: The trailer was added to the site.


Honey
Current Content: This is the first site I looked at for the Weekly column. And in all that time it's always just been the synopsis, cast and crew (no bios) and two images. Now they have all that, and a release date. Of course, since I checked the site out last, the release date has changed. So it's more of a theoretical release date, as opposed to something you should make plans around.


How to Deal
Current Content: It took me just a few seconds at this site to realize I'm not in its target audience, so writing a review for it is a little more difficult. There's a trailer, synopsis, cast and crew bios, quite a few clips from the movie, photo gallery, etc. There are also personality quizzes, relationship report cards, dating advice and other stuff that proves my feelings about the target audience and me. There are two whole songs that play in the background, but they are compressed enough to reduce the sound quality too much.


Johnny English
Current Content: No chances since the last time I reviewed the site. But the last time I reviewed the site it won the Weekly Website Award, so no changes were needed.


Madame Satã
Current Content: A simple design that would have benefited with some more formatting. For instance, the Press book section is just one long page filled with the synopsis, introduction, cast and crew bios, director's statement, etc. It would have been best if these were separated into their own pages, at the very least. In addition to the information found on that page, there is the trailer and an interview with writer director Karim Aïnouz.


Matchstick Men
Current Content: This would be a great site, if there were any sound. It has a lot of information, especially in the Production Notes section. Synopsis, cast and crew bios, screensaver, wallpapers, buddy icons, poster. There's even animated segues. So why there's no sounds is beyond me. However, there is a section for the soundtrack marked, coming soon. So there's hope sounds will be added later on.


The Medallion
Current Content: One of the features I like the most is background music. This site has background music, but the clip is less that four seconds long, so it becomes repetitive way too quickly. There's not much content overall, synopsis, trailer, character bios (cast bios are marked coming soon) images, wallpapers and e-cards. The best part is the game simply called, The Mission. Reminds me of a Double Dragon type game.


Spy Kids 3D - Game Over
Current Content: Another site that's been reviewed before where the flash site was just launched. So far just to first two levels are in place (Arena of Misfortune and Megarace.) As you explore these areas you unlock additional content for the main menu, (Synopsis, character bios, images, clips and build your own wallpaper.) So far this site is only half-way complete and it already looks great.


The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Current Content: So far just the trailer, the poster and nine images are on this site. But it's three months till the latest release date, and I expect at least one more delay from there.


This Thing of Ours
Current Content: The most unique feature of this site is the TV footage. Not TV spots, but footage of shows such as eXtra and Court TV talking about the movie. Most of which seems to talk about Danny Provenzano alleged mob connections. Besides this, the rest of the content is pretty sparse. Trailer, cast and crew (no bios), image gallery, etc. There's no sound effects and only two short music clips from the soundtrack.


Submitted by: C.

UK Box Office Report

2003-06-25

ttp://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2003/MTRX2.php>Matrix Reloaded made its sensational debut in May, no one could really tell how far THIS rabbit hole would go. But it soon became clear that Reloaded was a big thing, Critics say it has dropped off to quickly in the US. Nonsense, reloaded has stuck in the top ten for 40 days. Thats a Long time for any flick to stay in that reigon, and its takings offshores are still strong despite the same stiff competition that knocked it off the US top rolling out across the world. But reloaded is set to stop at around 720-740 Million, depending on US performance in the months to come. "2 Fast 2 Furious" furiously smashed in at number one in the uk after extensive advertising. It took $2.7 Million($4.5 Million) for its first weekend, but Reloaded only took 660k. But with a healthy $30 Million ($50.5 Million) from the UK alone in its bank, And no sign of slipping to let the nearest rival, Identity, overtake it, Reloaded should stay in the top three for a few weeks yet.

But Identity has started out strong, knocking Anger Management down to fourth. The movie has opened to brilliant reviews and good buzz, being likened to intellegent hits like "The Usual Suspects" it did take a fairly healthy $51 Million in the us, enough to cover its budget.

But the main competition for all, sure to crush the other grosses, its the mega-hyped and Uber advertised "Bruce Almighty" which hits cinemas this friday in the UK. With three weeks of pre-release advertising under its belt, Bruce is sure to demolish the box office competition, In previews alone in limited theartres this weekend, it took an astonishing $1.8 Million($2.9 Million).

The hit comedy looks like its legs will be challenged too, with Charlies Angels 2 making its debut the week after Bruce's release, it will just show how Mighty he is. One things a dead cert, 2 Fast wont be Furious enough to fight of Bruce and The Angels, its expected to drop to fourth when Bruce is released. Reloaded could make big dropoffs, but due to a surprisingly strong UK support base, its likely to fluctuate between 2-4th positions for a while.

Elsewhere on the UK Charts, Igby Goes Down, the "Indie-Teen Movie Of The Year" rose a place, knocking X-2 down to 11th while it nestled into the top ten. And John Travolta's "Basic" debuted with an embarrasing £248k ($412k) Weekend, while a good figure for UK, the number was much lower than the millions expected, but the critics trashed the return of travolta, "Connie Nielsen is like a walking acting folio, she morphs her accent more than she blinks, and Travolta is totally outshone by Jackson"

Bringing Down The House slipped three places in the charts. The Queen Latifah hit had not mirrored the huge success it enjoyed in the US, it is expected to close in the UK at around $5 Million.($8.3 Million)

British Classical Diva, Charlotte Church's acting debut, "I'll Be There" is also opening soon, but reviews have been mixed, one speaking on Church-"Is worse than Madonna and makes you realise Britney wasnt that bad in Crossroads" and another on the same subject "Church is up to the role, it was written with her personality in mind, so the acting wasnt challenging, and it shows"

Forthcoming UK Releases Summer 2003

Sure Hits:
Bruce Almighty, Charlies Angels 2: Full Throttle, T3: Rise of The Machines, Legally Blonde 2*, Tomb Raider 2
Maybes:
The Extraordinary Leauge Of Gentlemen, Hollywood Homicide, Bad Boys II, The Hulk, Spy Kids 3D

Report Researched and Writ

Movie Websites Launches for May 8 - May 14

2003-05-14

k promotional websites for several movies were launched and some older ones added additional content. Here’s a list of highlights, plus one last look at websites for films opening this week. If you know of any new movie websites not on this list feel free to e-mail me with the details.


L’Auberge Espagnole
Current Content: No change from when I first reviewed it. A website is still marked coming soon, but since the movie opens this Friday, they don’t have a whole lot of time.


Battle of Shaker Heights
Current Content: Like all Miramax movie sites, this one has just the synopsis and cast and crew (no bios) and a trailer marked coming soon.


Casa de los Babys
Current Content: This site uses the same format as other films from IFC. The content is also similar with a synopsis, trailers, cast bios, and some behind the scene information.


Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle
Current Content: The first of the animated adventures is up. More episodes will be shown as the release date comes closer.


Down with Love
Current Content: Three clips from the movie are available. They’re fun clips that fit well into the cheesy 60s feel of the rest of the site.


Dumb and Dumberer
Current Content: There’s a slashdot parody called slashdumb.


Freddy vs. Jason
Current Content: A trailer and a quiz have been added to the site.


The Last Samurai
Current Content: None, just the flash intro.


The Matrix Reloaded
Current Content: This is the only site I know that comes with schematics to help you navigate, and you need them. There are literally dozens of buttons, and none of them are marked. However, when you move your mouse over them, the Navigation Display does tell you what it does. Normally this focus on style at the detriment of ease of use would irritate me to no end. However in this case, once I got used to the interface it added to the overall atmosphere. As for the actual content, there’s a lot. 10 different trailers / TV spots, dozens of images, cast and crew bios, posters, wallpapers, etc. Then there are the more unusual aspects, like the 360 degree Quicktime VRs. When you add in all the content from the first movie and other Matrix sources (comic books, anime, video games, etc.) you could surf this site for days. And it’s the combination of style and content that lets this site win the immutable Weekly Website Award.


Pokemon Heroes
Current Content: Like most Miramax films, this site lacks any real content. It does at least look different, but there’s only a trailer and synopsis to keep the surfer interested.


The Punisher
Current Content: None, just a placeholder site. But it does say when the site will launch, June 20th.


Rugrats for Wild
Current Content: Three more Rugrat adults are added to the Spike search game, as are some e-collectibles. However, you have to log into Nick.com to get them.


The Sea
Current Content: This site just has the bare bones, trailer, synopsis and cast and crew (no bios.)


Sinbad - Legend of the Seven Seas
Current Content: A new flash intro was added to the falsh site.


Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over
Current Content: Just the trailer and a section on the 3-D aspect / synopsis of the movie.


Sweet Sixteen
Current Content: No changes since I last reviewed the site.


Submitted by: C.