Wolverine Bites Into $87M Box Office

(NEWSER) - Angels & Demons ascended to the box office heavens this weekend with a $48 million debut, Entertainment Weekly reports. That’s well behind The Da Vince Code’s $77.1 million opening in 2006, due in part to Star Trek’s strong second-weekend haul of $43 million. Wolverine came in third with $14.8 million, while sleeper hits Ghosts of Girlfriends Past ($6.9 million) and Obsessed ($4.6 million) rounded out the top five. More»

(NEWSER) - Star Trek set phasers for box office “kill” this weekend with a $76.5 million debut, Entertainment Weekly reports. Falling short of Wolverine’s $85.1 million opener last week, the take still exceeds expectations and bodes well for a franchise that needs a boost. Wolverine dropped a hefty 68% at $27 million, followed by Ghosts of Girlfriends Past ($10.5 million), Obsessed ($6.6 million), and 17 Again ($4.4 million). More»

Teen slasher knocks off Pitt's Inglourious Basterds

(NEWSER) - Supernatural slasher flick The Final Destination slaughtered its competition at the box office this weekend, taking in $28.3 million, USA Today reports. The latest installment of the Final Destination franchise—this time in 3D—knocked Inglourious Basterds ($20 million) to second. Halloween II, the 10th Michael Myers movie, debuted to a disappointing $17.4 million. District 9 ($10.7 million) and GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra ($8 million) rounded out the top five. More»

Sharp performance from Jackman saves stale X-Men spinoff from total mediocrity

(NEWSER) - A charismatic Hugh Jackman gamely slashes his way through X:Men Origins: Wolverine, say critics, but he's let down by a stale script and effects that fail to lift the movie above generic superhero fare.

• Hollywood.com: The "action-filled spinoff delivers on the brawn but not the soul of the X-Men franchise that spawned it."

Hollywood faces challenges of reviving classics

(NEWSER) - Hollywood’s set for a summer of prequels, with the backstories of Star Trek, X-Men, and Terminator ripe for the telling. But how do you make a film exciting when everyone knows how it turns out? “We didn’t want to fall into the trap of the first three Star Wars movies, and just make a straight-up reboot,” a Trek writer tells the Wall Street Journal. More»