Tagged: Caribbean

Comic Book Movies Hit $1 Billion

  • News
  • August 3, 2008

hellboy2poster5-2863943Comic book movies have finally been unseated from the top of the box office mountain, as the latest Mummy movie displaced The Dark Knight.

But there’s still no debating this being the summer of the superhero, as comic book movies hit one HUH-YUGE milestone: $1 billion in ticket sales, according to boxofficemojo.com.

That includes Chris Nolan’s Batman sequel (which is up to $363 million), Hellboy 2, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Am I forgetting any?

Dark Knight was also the fastest movie to hit $350 million in sales, doing so in a scant 14 days. That’s nine days faster than the previous best, set by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.

UPDATE — More official numbers now indicate Dark Knight is No. 1 again at the Box Office, pulling in $43.8 million to $42.5 for the Mummy. It’s also poised to hit $400 million by early this week, now only $5.1 million short of that marker.

Happy 58th birthday, Bill Nighy!

  • News
  • December 12, 2007

How can we let it go by without acknowledging the great squid pirate, the undead stepdad, the aged rockstar, the bad ass vampire lord, and Slartibartfast? 

In case you missed those references, please get a Netflix account (that way you don’t have to leave your man-cave, you hermit) and rent Pirates of the Caribbean, Shaun of the Dead, Love, Actually, Underworld (both 1 and 2) and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  He’s one crafty shape-shifter.  We won’t really examine  his dramatic works on Broadway, the West End, or Oscar nominated pieces because we all know those are just boring. 

Way to have that career surge at mid-life, sir, and a happy birthday to you.

Arrr arrr! A pirate’s been cast as Uhura!

  • News
  • September 19, 2007

zoecingular100x200-7182665zoesaldanaanamaria200x200-6988786While we be on the topic of pirates, we note with pride that Zoe Saldana, the saucy wench who played the pirate Anamaria in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl has been shanghaied into playing the role of Lieutenant Uhura in the upcoming Starrr… ahem, Star Trek movie. This be accordin’ to the stinkin’ landlubbers over at SciFi.com.

Clearly, a fine and outstanding choice — note that there already be photos of her next to a Cingular logo with a new cell phone, so the endorsement doubloons will be filling her treasure chest for many tides to come.

(Tip o’ the tricorner hat to Lisa Sullivan.)

The Weekend Numbers, Plus…

According to Variety estimates, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End was the top-grossing film this weekend, earning $43,188,000 over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The hilarious Knocked Up was second with $29,284,20, while Shrek the Third earned $26,704,000.  Newbie Mr. Brooks earned just over $10 million, while Spider-Man 3 took in $7.5 million.

Variety also says that Jack Black will star in Year One, a comedy produced by Judd Apatow and directed (and co-produced) by Harold Ramis.  Ramis is co-writer, and Owen Wilson will executive produce.

Along with the upcoming Superbad, Apatow’s plate is full.  He is producing and in some cases co-writing a series of Columbia projects, including Walk Hard, Pineapple Express and You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, which stars Adam Sandler, a former roommate of Apatow’s.

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Podcasts of the Caribbean: At Web’s End

A three day weekend and plenty of stuff to dig into — plenty of news, our list of Comics That are Late and the Top Ten best sellers on the racks! Plus we run down PIRATES 3 (hold on tight) and point out some very cool comic stuff waiting for you in the grocery store check out line. Fire up the BBQ, pass out some Bud Lights and listen to one of the biggest "non-hits" of the 90s!

Press The Button — or we’ll have Johnny Depp date your daughter!

Spider-Man 3 box office eclipses national debt!

simmon01-9233390Well, given all those mixed reviews and all that bitchy word-of-mouth, Sony’s Spider-Man 3 managed to only rake in a mere $148,000,000 (estimated) in its premiere North American three day weekend. 

Which means by the time it’s done, and all the pay-per-view and cable revenue has been added, and all the various DVD incarnations have come out, and all that worldwide income is counted, and all the merchandising and licensing revenue is tallied, Spider-Man 3 will bring in something in the neighborhood of a billion plus.

That’s a very nice neighborhood.

Spidey-3 beats the poo out of last year’s record-breaking Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest which scored a mere $135.6 million. But Pirates 3 is coming out soon in the Big Battle of the 3-Quels… and Pirates has Keith Richards going for it!

Don’t get your fingers and toes too close to that one.

Spider-Man 3 advance tickets set new records

Fandango, the phone and online advance movie ticket source, sent out a press release saying that as of 9 this morning, Pacific time, 94% of all weekly ticket sales online were for Spider-Man 3.  Most of the Thursday midnight shows around the country have sold out, and lots of theaters added 3 AM shows. 

As comparison, Fandango reports that SM3 is selling six times as many tickets as SM2, and two and a half times as many tickets as Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest at the same point in their sales cycles.

In an online poll, Fandango asked moviegoers their thoughts about possible Spider-Man movies in the future. In responding to the poll, 58% of fans said they would not consider buying a ticket to a fourth Spider-Man movie with someone other than Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker. Also, 52% of fans said they would not consider buying a ticket to a fourth Spider-Man movie if it were directed by someone other than Sam Raimi.

Depp’s daddy Disney disaster?

  • News
  • April 5, 2007

pirates3os-4672365

As you may have heard, earlier this week rock legend Keith Richards acknowledged snorting the ashen remains of his father. Within 24 hours, his publicist issued a retraction. April Fools, she said, a few days late.

O.K. Fine. I believed the former, I don’t want to believe the latter, but what the hell it wasn’t my dad.

But it was said by Johnny Depp’s dad – as in, "Keith Richards plays Johnny Depp’s father in Pirates of the Caribbean At World’s End."

There’s a wonderful opportunity for an exciting new ending here. Otherwise, Disney’s spin-meisters are going to have quite a tangled web to weave.

Pirates of the Caribbean At World’s End opens May 25th.

New UK Top Ten Film Lists

  • News
  • April 3, 2007

apes-1803437Over 3000 readers of the UK-based SFX magazine have chosen their Top Ten all-time classic science fiction movies and, in a surprise to many, Joss Whedon’s Serenity has knocked George Lucas’ Star Wars off its reigning pedestal, garnering 61% of the vote to SW’s 28%.  The poll results were met with much skepticism in the comments section of the news item, which did not specify what controls were in place to prevent vote tampering.

Also out of the UK, The Shiznit has announced its picks for Top Ten movie monkeys.  As with comics, there must be a school of thought in movieland that says you can’t go wrong with an ape on the poster.

There are two crossovers between the two lists (there might have been more if anyone had voted Raiders of the Lost Ark or King Kong into the Top 10 sf movies), and one amusing choice on the second list which isn’t an ape or a monkey.

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