Author Archive

EDITORIAL: “Resident Evil 5: What the Horror Flick’s Performance Tells Us About Industry Trends in 2012”

Sequel may be a dirty word among jaded moviegoers but it remains an exciting one for most of Hollywood. In troubling economic times, nothing excites studios more than consistent results, which explains why we’ve seen a slew of sequels across multiple series in recent years. Horror has largely dominated the realm – Saw and Final […]

EDITORIAL: “The Oogieloves: A Box Office Disaster for the Ages”

Labor Day weekend is usually one of the sleepiest box office periods of the year and 2012 was no exception. The weekend’s top performer, low-budget Lionsgate horror-pic The Possession, grossed an acceptable $17.7 million with Shia LaBeouf’s gangster adaptation Lawless coming in second with $9.6 million. The low-key nature of the last unofficial weekend of […]

EDITORIAL: “The Expendables 2: Why Stallone’s Ragtag Crew of Action Heroes Didn’t Deliver the Box Office Goods in Their Second Outing”

For an action movie with 11 genre heavyweights, The Expendables 2 really didn’t do that much damage at the box office this weekend. The testosterone-soaked sequel, delivered a mere two years after the original, took in a mediocre $28.75 million, an opening gross 17% lower than that of the original. Factor in the higher budget […]

EDITORIAL: “Total Recall: Lessons to be Learned from the Sci-Fi Remake’s Poor Performance at the Box Office”

Somewhere in California, Arnold Schwarzenegger is having a good laugh. This weekend’s remake of the action star’s 1990 sci-fi flick Total Recall opened to a so-so $26 million across 3,601 screens, a result that only slightly outperformed the original’s $25.5 million first weekend gross, and that’s before ticket price inflation is taken into account. For […]

EDITORIAL: “The Watch: How Marketing Doomed The Sci-Fi Comedy’s Chances at the Box Office”

As predicted, The Dark Knight Rises continued to hold audiences in its grip this weekend, easily defeating a duo of new releases including The Watch and Step Up Revolution. Although both debuts opened to unimpressive numbers, The Watch was the biggest loser of the two. The star-studded sci-fi comedy, which finds a group of suburban […]

EDITORIAL: “The Dark Knight Rises: Why The Caped Crusader Couldn’t Take Down The Avengers”

The Dark Knight Rises marks the unofficial end of the 2012 summer movie season, one that has seen its fair share of surprises and disappointments. Although August still has some high-profile releases left – Total Recall, The Bourne Legacy, and The Expendables II among them – the major studios have all released their $200 million […]

EDITORIAL: “Part of Me: Behind the Scenes of Katy Perry’s Box Office Flop”

Wrapped up in The Amazing Spider-Man’s web this weekend, few noticed the other new releases that snuck into national theaters underneath the radar. Although all debuted to unimpressive numbers, the most surprising result came from Katy Perry’s tour documentary Part of Me which collected a paltry $7.1 million to land in 8th place. The film’s […]

EDITORIAL: “Ted: How a Foul-Mouthed Teddy Bear Broke Box Office Records”

The man who made his name in raunchy comedy is once again laughing his way to the bank. Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane’s first motion picture, the R-rated Ted, opened to a stellar $54.1 million this weekend, exceeding studio expectations by $10-15 million. The result places the comedy, which finds tough guy Mark Wahlberg struggling […]

EDITORIAL: “Brave: Why Pixar Should Take the Animated Flick’s Healthy Performance with a Grain of Salt”

Even with 13 record-breaking animated pictures under its belt, Pixar’s success continues to astound. There is arguably no entertainment company with as much goodwill as the Disney-owned, California-based production studio. Since it unleashed Toy Story in 1995, Pixar has amassed one of the most loyal fan bases in movie history. The company’s consistent track record […]

EDITORIAL: “That’s My Boy: Does the Failure of Two Adam Sandler Flicks in a Row Signal the End of his Box Office Reign?”

Do movie stars still exist? Summer 2012 seems determined to answer that question with a resounding “No”. Hollywood has long been obsessed with the idea of a box office star – an actor who can reel in a healthy audience to theaters regardless of the quality of their newest picture. With the “guarantee” of a […]

EDITORIAL: “Prometheus: How the Sci-Fi Flick’s R-Rating Helped It Conquer Audiences Worldwide”

Earlier this year, Universal cancelled a proposed $150 million adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness when director Guillermo del Toro refused to settle for less than an R-rating. A fervent devotee of the novella, the Pan’s Labyrinth director had been working on the script for more than half a decade and didn’t […]

EDITORIAL: “Snow White and the Huntsman: How the Action Flick Defeated the Comedic Mirror Mirror”

Was it sheer coincidence? Perhaps a secret rivalry between major studios? Or maybe it was an industry-wide desire to exploit the growing fantasy genre? One can only guess why Hollywood decided to release two Snow White films within several months of each other in 2012. The lighthearted, comedic Mirror Mirror and the gritty, action-packed Snow […]