Bee Movie Goes to Head of the Class

Holdovers Bee Movie and American Gangster claim second and third spots

(NEWSER) - Beowulf reaped $28.1 million and claimed top spot this weekend in the best debut ever for a digital 3D film, Variety reports. Other newcomers fumbled, as Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium landed fifth and Love in the Time of Cholera banked a sickly $1.9 million in tenth. Sales were down 30% overall from last Thanksgiving weekend, when Happy Feet and Casino Royale made more than $40 million each. More»

Actor indulges in wee-hours phone calls, prima donna behavior on set

(NEWSER) - With Russell Crowe's latest film on the horizon, a new book about DreamWorks is perfectly timed to take advantage of curiosity about the famously short-tempered actor. Some juicy details from Nicole LaPorte's The Men Who Would Be King: An Almost Epic Tale of Moguls, Movies, and a Company called DreamWorks, courtesy of Gawker :

• Crow began a 3am phone call with a Gladiator producer by barking: "You motherfucker. I will kill you with my bare hands."

Fey-Carell vehicle wins down-to-the-wire weekend battle

(NEWSER) - Steve Carell and Tina Fey held off a challenge from a horde of 3D Greek gods as Date Night recorded a narrow preliminary victory over Clash of the Titans at the weekend box office, Variety reports. The mistaken-identity caper raked in $27.1 million to $26.9 million for the action fantasy flick. In third place, the animated How to Train Your Dragon ($25.4 million) turned in another solid performance. More»

With $32M haul, tearjerking chick flick unseats blue beings after 8 weeks

(NEWSER) - For the first time in 2010, a movie other than Avatar ruled the weekend box office, as the Nicholas Sparks chick flick Dear John unseated the sci-fi phenomenon with a $32.4 million debut. James Cameron's latest, which opened Dec. 18, did $23.6 million to finish second and run its domestic total to $630.1 million. It has already passed Cameron's Titanic as the all-time international box office champ. More»

Gone with the Wind may trump Cameron's epic

(NEWSER) - Avatar will soon gross $1.85 billion worldwide, but becoming the box office champ doesn't mean it's the most successful movie of all time. Remember, a ticket to Gone with the Wind cost an average of only 23¢—45 times less than an Avatar ticket. This list ranks films by inflation-adjusted domestic gross, and the big picture is quite humbling for Avatar—its $560 million places it 26th, between Grease and Thunderball. More»