Warner Bros. Opens Its Film Vault Online

Law Abiding Citizen also enjoys strong opening weekend

(NEWSER) - Where the Wild Things Are ran wild at the weekend box office, exceeding expectations by doing $32.5 million worth of business. Spike Jonze's first foray into children's cinema earned the director his strongest opening weekend ever. "I can't imagine too many people who could do what Spike did," an exec with distributor Warner Bros. tells USA Today. The live-action adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic book topped Law Abiding Citizen, which also beat forecasts. The top five: More»

(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»

Post-strike surge doesn't materialize, so execs tap books, mags

(NEWSER) - Movie execs counting on a flood of scripts after the writers strike wrapped up in February are snug and dry and turning to books and magazine articles instead, Variety reports. Plump with new fiscal-year budgets, studios are snatching up literary pieces faster than in years past; prison escapes, sunken-ship salvage, and offshore drilling are likely subjects of upcoming flicks. More»

Despite writers' strike, Hollywood sets $26.7B box office record in 2007

(NEWSER) - Nearly 30 films took in more than $100 million each last year as the movie industry recorded its best box office year ever, reports the Wall Street Journal. The writers' strike, rising costs, and a spate of so-so releases at the end of the year put a damper on an otherwise outstanding 2007 that saw the industry earn $26.7 billion. More»

Sundance speech gets testy

(NEWSER) - Spike Lee screened his latest film—Red Hook Summer, a quasi-sequel to Do the Right Thing—at the Sundance Film Festival last night, but what really got people talking was the profanity-laden tirade he delivered in the Q&A afterward. The fireworks started when surprise attendee Chris Rock stood up and asked how the movie would have been different if Lee had gone through a studio. "What else would have happened? Would you have blown up some shit?" he asked, according to the Wrap . More»