Monsters vs. Aliens Wins Box Office Showdown

(NEWSER) - Knowing knew what audiences wanted this weekend and grasped top spot with a $24.8 million haul, the Hollywood Reporter says. Buddy flick I Love You, Man bromanced to second with $18 million, while Duplicity made off with $14.4 million in third. Holdovers Race to Witch Mountain ($13 million) and Watchmen ($6.7 million) rounded out the top five. More»

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»

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»