MCN Originals Archive for December, 2014
The Weekend Report
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 made the hat trick as it topped session moviegoing with an estimated $21.7 million. In what’s been traditionally one of the slowest weekends on the calendar. Distribution propped up the self-fulfilling prophecy by largely avoiding new product apart from low-budget horror adventure The Pyramid that grossed only $1.3 million. On the bright side, limited launch of Wild opened to a sturdy $622,000 from 21 screens and The Imitation Game continued to post strong numbers with the addition of four engagements. The significant expansion of The Homesman also generated OK results.
Read the full article »Friday Box Office Estimates
On one of the weekends of every year which distributors avoid like the Bermuda Triangle of old, no new wide releases. Fox shoves The Pyramid out onto 589 screens and may get past $1 million for the weekend. Otherwise, last weekend’s Top 10 jostles for position. And Searchlight’s Wild starts its trek on 21 screens and has its eye on $24k per screen for the weekend.
Read the full article »Gurus o’ Gold: The Rise of Selma
The Gurus are back from the holidays with a look at Best Picture and Best Director, where Ava Duvernay is red hot and some of the big names aren’t diddly squat.
Read the full article » 11 Comments »The DVD Wrapup: Penance, 100 Foot Walk, Copenhagen and more
Anyone who simply can’t wait for every new season of shows like “True Detective,” “American Horror Story” and “The Killing” ought to check out the sensational Japanese mini-series, “Penance.” Shown in New York last spring as a single five-hour movie, it is best suited for the small screen in series form. Easily translatable, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find it adapted for American television someday, just as the creepy French mini-series “Les revenants” was shown intact on Sundance and re-imagined for American audiences by ABC as “The Returned.”
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