'Blockbuster Fatigue' Hits Hard

(NEWSER) - Warner Brothers restructured last year to focus on producing blockbusters like The Dark Knight, and now the studio is waiting to see if the move pays off with Watchmen, the Financial Times reports. Warner can finance a slew of films with profits from one “tent pole” movie. “The obvious thing we’re going to take from” Dark Knight, Time Warner’s CEO said, is “more Dark Knight.” More»

Dark Knight still rules, banking $43M in third weekend win

(NEWSER) - Even the undead can't stop Batman: The Dark Knight defeated The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in its third weekend win, grossing an unexpected $43.8 million and hitting nearly $400 million. The Mummy sequel took second with $42.4 million, while Kevin Costner's Swing Vote, the only other newcomer, grossed $6.9 million. Step Brothers took third with $16.3 million. More»

Anti-piracy tactics kept bootlegs from diluting buzz just long enough

(NEWSER) - In a dazzling covert operation, Warner Bros. kept the lid on The Dark Knight so tight pirated copies didn’t hit the Web until 2 days after its Australian premiere—long enough to keep the film’s record opening on track, the Los Angeles Times reports. Digital piracy can keep fans online and out of theaters; early bad buzz can also kill a film’s box office in the crucial first weekend. More»

'Dark Knight' and 'Transformers' aren't far behind

(NEWSER) - The 2009 3D blockbuster Avatar ranks No. 1 on the list of most pirated movies, reports MovieFone via TorrentFreak . Despite director James Cameron's prediction that 3D would discourage illegal copies, pirates still downloaded Avatar 21 million times. (It's still the highest-grossing movie of all time.) Runners-up for most pirated include the Dark Knight and Transformers, each with 19 million downloads, followed by Inception (18 million) and the Hangover (17 million). Full list here . More»

Sorry, Transformers fans

(NEWSER) - The summer blockbuster: proof that, when it comes to movies, budget is often inversely proportional to quality. In Time , Everett Rosenfeld and Gilbert Cruz reflect on the worst of the worst:

1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Director Michael Bay’s only priority: explosions.
2. Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace: “This is the story of a man with too much power and the terrible things he did”—that is, George Lucas.
3. Sex and the City 2: Our heroes go to the Middle East and “proceed to act closed-minded and condescending.”