Box Office Feels the Payne

It's a midnight record for a non-sequel

(NEWSER) - Sold-out theaters scored a record-breaking $19.7 million for The Hunger Games at its midnight premiere last night. The box office receipts rank as the highest midnight total for a non-sequel, reports Entertainment Weekly , and the blockbuster is well on its way to an opening weekend above $100 million. The midnight take was the seventh-highest ever behind three Harry Potter sequels and three Twilight sequels. Click to read what critics think of the movie. More»

Sam Worthington leads 'Young Hollywood' pack

(NEWSER) - Which of Hollywood’s young guns can claim the title of most likely to get you to the multiplex? Entertainment Weekly crunched the numbers to find out. Here they are by name, age, and box office average:

1. Sam Worthington, 34, $329.6M
2. Daniel Radcliffe, 21, $244.7M
3. Taylor Lautner, 18, $186.6M

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»