blockbusters

19 Stories

Top Gun Sequel, Cruise Blow Away Cannes

Star unexpectedly receives Palme d'Or, movie fest's most esteemed prize, for 'Top Gun: Maverick'

(Newser) - Early buzz on the Top Gun sequel has been astoundingly good , and that only continued this week at the Cannes Film Festival, where the movie received a five-minute standing ovation, and star Tom Cruise was handed a surprise Palme d'Or, the festival's most esteemed prize. Deadline reports that...

10 Summer 'Blockbusters' That Flopped

'Ishtar,' 'Battlefield Earth,' and 'Evan Almighty' were all supposed to hit it big at the box office

(Newser) - After a summer devoid of the big screen last year, moviegoers are flocking back to theaters, though Scott Mendelson noted in his May preview in Forbes that most of the films being released this season are "smaller in scale and not aiming for blowout status. The hope is for...

Iron Man 3 Grabs $195M Global Win
 Iron Man 3 Grabs 
 $195M Global Win 
BOX OFFICE
Apr 28, 2013 2:16 PM CDT

Iron Man 3 Grabs $195M Global Win

Bodes well for US opening on Friday

(Newser) - Iron Man 3 hasn't even opened in the United States yet, but its global premiere got off to a thunderous $195.3 million start this weekend—even trouncing the $185.1 million mark set by last year's The Avengers, reports the Hollywood Reporter . That bodes well ahead of...

Biggest Flop This Summer: All of Hollywood

Tickets sales reached lowest level in 20 years

(Newser) - Hollywood is happy to call "cut" on this summer's less-than-blockbuster movie season, with box office numbers down across the board, reports the New York Times . US revenues fell 3% to $4.28 billion for the period from May to this Labor Day weekend, the first drop in summer...

Worst Summer Blockbusters Ever

Sorry, Transformers fans

(Newser) - The summer blockbuster: proof that, when it comes to movies, budget is often inversely proportional to quality. In Time , Everett Rosenfeld and Gilbert Cruz reflect on the worst of the worst:
  1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: Director Michael Bay’s only priority: explosions.
  2. Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace:
...

Transformers Nails $372M, No. 3 Opening Weekend

Behind only 'Harry Potter' and 'Spider-Man 3'

(Newser) - Transformers: Dark of the Moon notched a smashing weekend, pocketing an eye-popping $372 million from around the globe and grabbing the No. 3 opening weekend of all time. The third in the franchise pulled in $162 million domestically, but it's proving to be a blockbuster overseas, notes the Hollywood ...

The Best Summer Blockbusters
 The Best Summer Blockbusters 
May 16, 2010 5:07 AM CDT

The Best Summer Blockbusters

'Jaws' takes top honors, but some surprises make the list

(Newser) - Summer is all about the beach and blockbusters, and Time Out New York set out on a big mission: To rank the 30 best. It set a few restrictions—films had to hit theaters between May and August, had to gross more than $100 million globally, and couldn't be surprise...

Spider-Man 4 Off Because Director Saw Avatar

Director pushed for special effects studio wouldn't pay for

(Newser) - The problems with the Spider-Man 4 script were genuine, but the real reason the flick got the ax is that the director saw Avatar. Sam Raimi became infatuated with the advanced computer graphics in the James Cameron blockbuster and wanted to take advantage of them, insiders tell New York . Sony...

Fox Sitting Pretty With Avatar—Even if It Flops

Studio—and Cameron—hedged bets on $500M megapicture

(Newser) - James Cameron’s 3D game-changer Avatar may end up costing upwards of $500 million to produce and market, but, strangely, no one at the studio is losing sleep over the possibility of a flop. The business just isn’t the same as it used to be, when the collapse of...

Overwrought G.I. Joe 'Everything You Could Want'

(Newser) - Most critics—who didn't have access to advance screenings, normally a huge red flag—agree that G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra isn’t anything but a popcorn flick. For some, that’s enough. For others, not so much.
  • "It’s all put together with such verve and
...

What Happened to Kinder, Gentler Tom Hanks?

In search of the actor's earlier persona

(Newser) - Where has Tom Hanks gone? Sure, he's still around on the big screen, currently breaking the bank with Angels & Demons, but what happened to the Tom Hanks that is "our Jimmy Stewart, a heartland guy, good people," wonders Betsey Sharkey in the Los Angeles Times. The "...

10 Most Promising Summer Blockbusters

Blockbusters that will make the summer even hotter

(Newser) - In Hollywood, May flowers don’t bring Pilgrims; they bring summer blockbusters. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the season’s most promising flicks:
  • May 21: Christian Bale stars in Terminator Salvation, a prequel that tries to hew closer to the first two hit films instead of taking
...

Warner Bros. Watches Watchmen to Gauge Health
Warner Bros. Watches Watchmen to Gauge Health
ANALYSIS
Mar 6, 2009 4:10 PM CST

Warner Bros. Watches Watchmen to Gauge Health

(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...

Forget Oscar—Who Were 2008's Rainmakers?

(Newser) - The Oscars are coming up, but that orgy of self-congratulation doesn’t celebrate what really matters in Hollywood: money. Forbes crunched the numbers for 2008 and selected the winners of a different award: the Rainmaker.
  • Best Actor: Robert Downey Jr. returned $52.60 to Paramount for every dollar it spent
...

'Blockbuster Fatigue' Hits Hard
 'Blockbuster Fatigue' Hits Hard 
OPINION
Aug 12, 2008 8:30 PM CDT

'Blockbuster Fatigue' Hits Hard

(Newser) - This summer has seen several enormous hits, but moviegoers are nevertheless suffering from “blockbuster fatigue,” Stephanie Zacharek writes in Salon. "The whole point of going to the movies in the first place is to be overwhelmed," the critic acknowledges, pondering what draws us to a blockbuster...

Potter Fans Like Sneak Peek of Young Voldemort

Trailer for Half-Blood Prince makes its online debut

(Newser) - Harry Potter fans seem captivated by the new movie trailer that focuses heavily on a young Voldemort, MTV reports. The trailer for Half-Blood Prince will be in theaters Friday, but it's already made its online debut to generally positive reviews along the lines of "dark and creepy." The...

Studio Went Super-Secret to Protect Batman

Anti-piracy tactics kept bootlegs from diluting buzz just long enough

(Newser) - In a dazzling covert operation, Warner Bros. kept the lid on The Dark Knight so tight pirated copies didn’t hit the Web until 2 days after its Australian premiere—long enough to keep the film’s record opening on track, the Los Angeles Times reports. Digital piracy can keep...

Superheroes: Ruining the Day
 Superheroes: Ruining the Day 
OPINION
Jun 4, 2008 9:44 AM CDT

Superheroes: Ruining the Day

Summer's been hijacked by the spandex crowd, complains one curmudgeon

(Newser) - Once upon a time, summer movies appealed to everyone, not just 14-year-old nerds. They especially appealed to Chris Nashawaty, who outlines his love of big dumb action flicks in Entertainment Weekly. But now, our summers have been hijacked by an endless stream of lousy spandex-wearers, and Nashawaty is willing to...

Movie Industry on a Roll
Movie Industry on a Roll
Mar 6, 2008 8:10 AM CST

Movie Industry on a Roll

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...

19 Stories