Box office Friday: 'Avatar' still on top; 'Legion' grabs second slot

Looks like its gonna be a rough weekend for new releases. Early estimates for Friday show Avatar back on top yet again, adding another $9 million to its cumulative haul. Legion, from Sony’s Screen Gems division, performed best of the new releases, with the sci-fi thriller starring Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid scoring an estimated $6.7 million for the day. Third place belonged to holdover The Book of Eli, which grossed close to $5 million in its second Friday in theaters. And it doesn’t look like kids are buying The Rock as The Tooth Fairy. The PG-rated comedy starring Dwayne Johnson earned only $3.4 million on its opening day for a fourth place slot. Number five belonged to The Lovely Bones, which garnered an additional $2.6 million for the day.

Meanwhile, CBS Films looks like its going to be asking for a do-over on their debut film from the new company. Extraordinary Measures, with Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, landed in the sixth slot with only $2 million for the day. Check back tomorrow for a full weekend report.

Thumbs Up For 2 Sundance Documentaries

While Sundance buyers try to hook Catfish, two other docus that came with distributors unveil today and tomorrow, and I found them great viewing. Alex Gibney has a 6 PM premiere today for the competition entry Casino Jack And The United States Of Money, about disgraced Washington DC lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Tomorrow, PR mogul-turned-filmmaker Dan Klores unveils Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks, which like Catfish is part of the Documentary Spotlight program.

Gibney -- the Oscar-winning director of Taxi To The Darkside and Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room --gave me an early peek at his docu, which makes a compelling case for campaign finance reform. The film bares outrageous abuses and moral corrosion that transformed Abramoff from GOP true believer to fatcat lobbyist who got rich protecting the interests of Asian slave labor-sweat shop owners, murderous third world “freedom fighters,” Russian gangsters, Indian casino operators, and drug companies. Through Abramoff, pols fed at the money trough until they, too, were brought down by the ensuing scandal.

Abramoff comes across as a colorful but deluded movie-loving rogue who patterned himself as a Jason Bourne-type character but ended up cast as a villain who is serving four years for corruption and fraud. “Jack started with ideals, but at the end of the day, money becomes the moral universe for all these guys," Gibney told me. “Ultimately, you have to take the money out of the political election system, or we’re done as a democracy.”

The only thing missing from Gibney’s superb dissection is an interview with Abramoff himself. Gibney said the rogue gave him plenty of input but the director couldn't get a camera into prison. He blames a rival feature film drama with the same name Casino Jack being made by director George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey as Abramoff. That film did meet with Abramoff in prison. “Hickenlooper said, 'if only Mr. Gibney had bothered to take the trouble to reach out to Jack', but the fact is I spent a lot of time with him ,” said Gibney, who is bitter about the rival film. "I was upset when they appropriated a title we made public early on, and then they did a title search and pounced anyway. But I’ve produced and edited fiction films, and it's an advantage here to show the real larger-than-life subject. Will Smith is a great actor, but he was not Muhammad Ali, and Spacey is magnificent but he’s no Jack Abramoff.”

In Klores’ hoops documentary, the surprise for me, a longtime Knicks fan, is how funny it is in retrospect. Because it was agony to watch the 1990s rivalry between the Patrick Ewing-led New York Knicks and Reggie Miller’s upstart Indiana Pacers. I saw the film at a screening with a small group of Gotham journalists and the iikes of Knicks legend Earl Monroe and Spike Lee, and the latter steals this film with a display of disarming humor. That almost makes me forgive him for the infamous time his courtside trash talk during a blowout goaded Miller into a super-human 25-point fourth quarter comeback performance that was soul-crushing to any Knicks fan. Also a surprise is how funny Ewing is: during his playing days the only way to get a smile out of the ferocious competitor was to turn him upside down.

Klores smartly traces Miller’s arrogance to an inferiority complex when compared to sister Cheryl, arguably the greatest female player ever. Klores is keeping short the Q-&-A tomorrow so the sports fan audience won't miiss the Jets play the Colts in the AFC Championship game. Miller, now an announcer, will be at the premiere.

Ghostbusters 3... Now in 3-D!

Sources at MarketSaw are reporting that Ivan Reitman's third installment of the Ghostbusters franchise is proceeding as planned... but in 3-D!

Clearly, Avatar has tipped the scales when it comes to stereoscopic filmed entertainment, and every other studio in town is clamoring to catch up to what James Cameron has done. Every major studio seems to be picking up on the 3-D releases, from Disney's Alice in Wonderland and Tron Legacy, to Sony's new Spider-Man reboot. Many studios are making last-minute choices to convert or add 3-D to some of their more immediate releases, like Warner Bros. with Clash of the Titans.

Either way, this isn't an official announcement, but you can probably put money down that we'll see our favorite paranormal investigators in 3-D. It just makes sense, what with all the slimers and marshmallow men.

Driector Joseph Kosinski Talks Tron Legacy

We won't be seeing Tron Legacy in theaters until December, and director Joseph Kosinski recently talked to MTV about why this is.

"I'm about two and a half years in on this, with about another year still to go. We still have a tremendous amount of work still to do, because there are a lot of visual effects on a movie like this, and we're also doing it in 3-D, which doubles up everything."

"Our approach is not like "Avatar," which I think is 3-D from the first shot to the last. Ours is sort of a "Wizard of Oz" approach. Ninety-eight percent of the 3-D is in the world of "Tron." The 3-D really starts once we get into the Tron world"

Kosinski did note that Tron Legacy used a newer version of the virtual camera system developed for Cameron's Avatar to capture performances in the digital realm, and that the Comic-Con teaser footage, while exceptionally cool, will not appear in the film.

"The teaser, at least tonally, represented the direction I wanted to take it. That sequence actually doesn't appear in our film at all. It represents a period of time before our film begins. We were able to refine the design of the light cycles, the characters, the world and kind of flesh it out to a much higher level of detail than we were able to do for the test," Kosinski said.

"What we're going to see in the film will feel a lot more photorealistic. They did that test with eight or 10 people in a matter of months. We have thousands of people working on the film. It's a whole different scale."

New Planet of the Apes Film Still in the Works

Vulture is reporting that 20th Century Fox has not given up on rebooting the "Planet of the Apes" franchise despite reports that the project was scrapped. The site says that Peter Chernin has come on board to produce the film, code-named "Caesar."

Scott Frank (Minority Report) was previously attached to write and direct for producer Scott Rudin. The studio has now hired writer Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to rework Frank's version, and the original writers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, were recently brought back to polish the dialogue.

According to Vulture, Frank's script "showed how genetic experiments on apes led to their evolutionary eclipse of humans. 'Caesar' refers to the genetically altered leader of the simian rebellion, so dubbed because the ape was capable of grand strategic thinking on par with Julius Caesar. The 'Caesar' code name also foreshadowed the script's plot: Like the actual Julius Caesar, the ape begins a (wait for it ... ) guerrilla war and emerges the emperor of the known world."

The studio, however, wanted to pursue a different take than Frank, and the writer/director was unwilling to change direction. A new director is expected to be hired soon.

What's interesting is that Chernin, after he became head of Fox Filmed Entertainment in 1992, tried to revive the "Planet of the Apes" franchise. He hired Oliver Stone to executive produce a Return of the Apes film that would center on a geneticist (Arnold Schwarzenegger was considered) who time-travels back to the Paleolithic Era, where he must help humans win a war against highly evolved apes and protect a young girl whose genes will ultimately save mankind from a plague.

Early Buzz: James Cameron's 'Avatar'

While the official Avatar Day took place back in August, the unofficial Avatar Day is today, as critics from across the country (and in London) will be seeing James Cameron's Avatar for the first time, one week before its official debut. As I write this, the film's premiere is getting underway in London and the first press screenings are letting out. The London critics had to sign a piece of paper promising not to review the film until Monday, but with so many screenings here in the states, it's a bit sketchy as to what precautions are being taken here. Needless to say, reactions are beginning to pour onto the web. Will Avatar really change the way we watch movies? Let's take a look ...

"... the terrible film that some had been anticipating had not materialised. It was good ... There is, though, a certain amount of suspension of disbelief needed when watching Avatar. Cynics might sneer at the plot ... There is more shock and awe in this movie than almost any other." - The Guardian

"Everything feels real. It's as if Cameron has happened upon this alien world and got his camera out ... It is overwhelming, and that is because you are emotionally tied up in the characters and the story ... James Cameron has described his new filming process as "emotion capture". And it's a boast he lives up to." -- The Sun

One critic who wished to remain anonymous for now: "Was not as thrilled by Avatar as my colleagues; eye-popping visuals, but story is Dances w/Wolves + District 9; I preferred District 9."

From Twitter:

@petershall: "The AVATAR buzz is an understatement. That movie was unbelievable."

@dmann11: "Holy effing crap!!! Avatar was FREAKING AWESOME KICK ASS SWEET!!!!!"

@TheGate: "For the record 'Avatar' was worth the $400 million, and no it is not even remotely "vomit inducing".

@gholson: "Spectacular. A visual feast and the new benchmark in cinematic world building."

@chasewhale: "Just finished AVATAR. Special effects were top notch. The movie ran a little long for my likings but I liked it!"

@comingsoonnet" "Okay, about Avatar?.... WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW! Unbelievable... amazing."

@MikePereira21: Was blown away by Avatar! For 150 minutes, I was a kid again. Thank you James Cameron! BTW, the groundbreaking 3D was mindblowing."

@rejects: "I'm not supposed to talk about Avatar... That said, it was a spectacular experience. Like nothing I've seen before."

More after the jump ...

@markwalters74: "Just saw AVATAR. Not allowed to talk about it yet. Not allowed to say how it's an amazing visual feast, or that Jimmy C's still got the gift."

@massawyrm: "So I just got back from a movie. It was pretty great...if by pretty great I mean OMFGHOLYF**KINGSH*TOMGOMGOMG. Because that's what it was ... Oh, and if I hear one more "Dances with Wolves" joke I'm gonna throw up in my mouth. Has no one seen DUNE? Because this was DUNE. In a good way ...You have officially been to your last Con in which blue people, spoken Navi and the word "hometree" were absent."

@firstshowing: James Cameron is a freakin' genius! I can't say much but wow, I loved it. #Avatar was phenomenal, pretty much blew me away

@DrewAtHitFix: I think the most accurate way to say it would be OMFGOMFGOMFG. Or words that effect. #avatar

@EDouglasWW: I'll take my chances with Fox legal.... Avatar was amazing, I loved it!

@rejects It's impossible to say that something is a "gamechanger" or that it will "redefine" movies. But I can say that I've seen something I've never seen before. And that I've seen something that shows the potential for the craft of filmmaking in this new century.

@sizemore So *that* was James Cameron's AVATAR. Holy f**king f**k.

@JonTT Avatar = outstanding. Really. Truly. See it. Soon.

@slashfilm I'm not allowed to say anythng about what I thought of Avatar, but saw it in a screening room with neill blomkamp, who didn't sign an NDA. He loved it... I will say this, it's hard to disagree with Neil :)

@LarsenOnFilm First Impression: Avatar. Stronger story than I expected, amazing visuals. Still no need for 3-D though. Full review next week.

@simonpegg Avatar ........................ tweetless. Just tweetless in the best possible way.

@johndollin Such a small word to describe a huge film 'EPIC', I entered a dream and didn't want to return. 3D just made it all the more real.

Zombieland Sequel in 3D?

Sony hasn’t yet announced the development of a Zombieland sequel, but with a worldwide budget of over $85 million, it is likely only a matter of time. Moviehole has an interview with Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer, who revealed that not only is Sony interested in a sequel, but if they can “crack” the story for a sequel, it will probably be shot in 3D. Fleischer believes that “the genre really lends itself to [3-D]“, and is convinced the technology is now there. And who wouldn’t want to see a fun 3D zombie film?

As for the sequel, who knows when it might get off the ground. Fleischer has a bunch of potential projects lined up, and the screenplay hasn’t even been written, although there are plenty of ideas. As you probably know by now, Zombieland was conceived as a television pilot, and was rewritten to fill a feature film. Screenwriters Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick told io9 in October that they already planned a “23 episode season” out, “So divided by two that’s about 12 movies in our head swimming around.” … “And we’ll take what we intended to be episode three of the television show and start movie number two.”

New Moon Breaks Box Office Records

There can't be that many of you left who haven't looked at the intertubes since Saturday - and if you haven't, we're guessing you were a part of the world-wide throng who were watching Twilight: New Moon on its opening day/weekend. Every. Single. Session of it. So if you're on of the few who's been too busy swooning to have heard the news, let us confirm it for you: The R-Pattz / K-Stew / T-Laut show has smashed the opening day box office record, ringing up an estimated $72.7 million and change on Day 1 - and that's just in the US.

This is more than double the Day 1 take of Twilight, and of course edges out previous record-holder The Dark Knight. But before anybody protests that Chris Weitz's vampire/werewolf mope-off is a good 45 minutes shorter than Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel (enabling it to fit in more sessions per day), it's important to remember that New Moon reached its total on fewer screens and at fewer sites, which pretty much evens out the balance; fair and square, folks.

Additionally, more than a third of the record-beating sum ($26.3 million is the current estimate) was taken from midnight screenings - another Bat-surpassing record, comfortably past its $18.5 million.

Once these figures were announced, pretty much the only surprise was that the Twilight sequel didn't continue its storming run through the entire weekend. Again, concrete figures are yet to be announced, but box office bean-counters are confident that New Moon will now sit at the number three spot on the all-time opening weekend chart; The Dark Knight will remain at number one, and Spider-Man 2 doesn't look in any great danger of losing second place. The fact that Friday was the biggest day suggests that the results were somewhat "front-loaded", and that the film won't continue to the sort of mammoth numbers that Dark Knight did, but it's still a storming result for the vamp franchise.

Elsewhere in the charts, the Sandra Bullock-starring sports drama The Blind Side saw its stars overcome a cliched trailer huge odds to take $34.5m, the best-ever opening for a sports drama and about twice what it was expected to take. Animated sci-fi comedy Planet 51 opened to $12.6m, a disappointing opening but one that probably reflects the value of a named animation brand like Pixar or Dreamworks; Planet 51 came from newcomer Ilion Animation Studios.

UK box office results to follow (and probably follow suit in relation to New Moon). For the rest of the US results, head on over to Box Office Mojo.

Sam Toy

Summit Over The Moon On “Twilight” Results

The Twilight Saga: New Moon sank its teeth into box-office analysts who had predicted that the movie would earn $70-90 million over the weekend. A few had wildly predicted that it would cross the $100-million mark. In the end, it did so easily and flew off with an estimated $140.7 million, the most any movie had ever earned over a three-day weekend with the exception of The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3 (both released during the lucrative summertime period.) The Los Angeles Times called the figure "mind-bending." But even employees of Summit Entertainment, which produced the movie, were surprised. Distribution chief Richie Fay told Us Weekly: "I dare say in all the office pools, I don't think anyone had near this top gross." (In fact, the total could go higher. For unexplained reasons, Summit appeared to lowball its estimate for Sunday. The $140.7 million figure was based on actual results for Friday and Saturday and an educated guess as to how the film would perform on Sunday). The result challenged conventional wisdom in Hollywood that teenage boys control the box office. New Moon's audience was overwhelmingly female, and more than half were adults. Overseas, New Moon grossed $118.1 million, bringing its worldwide total to about $258 million. Also performing far above expectations was the sports drama The Blind Side, which earned $34.5 million in its opening. And, as it expanded to 629 theaters, Precious grossed more than $11 million, an astounding average of $17,500 per screen. But the animated Planet 51 disappointed with a fourth-place $12.6-million opening.

Update: Final total for New Moon: $142,839,137. »