Sony Pictures ends 2012 as top studio

Sony Pictures earned $4.4 billion, giving it the largest worldwide market share of the big movie studios. Sony was led by “Skyfall”, which joined the billion dollar club, as well as strong performances from “The Amazing Spider-Man”, “Men in Black 3” and “Hotel Transylvania”. Warner Brothers was second, led by “The Dark Knight Rises” and Fox took third. Disney was fourth Universal was fifth and Paramount brought up the rear in sixth, being the only big studio not to amass $3 billion in total receipts during 2012.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: What was the best animated film of the year?

As many people get their “best films” list together, I thought I’d start breaking down categories. 2012 was a pretty solid year for animated films. From hits like “The Lorax” to “Brave” to “Madagascar 3” and “Ice Age 4” all the way to “Rise of the Guardians”, this year’s had a pretty decent year in terms of quality.

Let me start by saying “The Lorax”, “Madagascar” and “Ice Age” are out of the running for me. Not that any of these were bad films, though “Ice Age” is growing tiresome for me, fast, but it just lacked any real punch that made them stand out. “Hotel Transylvania” is also out of the running. It was a lot better than I thought it would be, but lacked the depth of modern animated classics. Speaking of modern animated classics, Pixar has been responsible for most of them. Unfortunately, “Brave” was just too much of a by-the-books Disney princess movie. It didn’t have that wide appeal across ages and genders and was surprisingly predictable and lacked depth and emotional weight.

This year, my favorite animated film came down to two: “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Rise of the Guardians”. Both surpassed my expectations, both had solid storylines, a great blend of heart, humor and action and were just plain fun to watch.

I am going to give the edge to “Wreck-It Ralph”. Disney seems to have captured some of the Pixar magic. the voice acting was great, especially John C. Reilly, the characters were cute enough to appeal to children but also emotional enough to keep older audiences interested without getting too corny. To be fair, “Rise of the Guardians” also had all of these elements. But the difference for me was that “Wreck-It Ralph” was something new (I know it took cues from video games), where as “Rise of the Guardians” is an adaptation.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: Animation directors look at this year’s animated films

The L.A. Times hosted a fascinating roundtable discussion with Mark Andrews (Brave), Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians), Chris Butler (ParaNorman), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph),and Genndy Tartakovsky (Hotel Transylvania). The hour long discussion takes a look at this year’s animated films and these are likely to be some, if not all, of the Oscar’s final nominees for Best Animated film. The only notable animated films that didn’t have representation here in person is Pirates! Band of Misfits, Ice Age: Continental Drift and Madagascar 3:Europe’s Most Wanted.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Hotel Transylvania getting a sequel

“Hotel Transylvania” made a boatload of money so this is no surprise, “Hotel Transylvania 2” is coming in 2015. Director Genndy Tartakovsky won’t be coming back, though. The first one featured the voice talents of Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade and Jon Lovitz.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: 10/12/12

No less than five new wide releases are hitting theaters this weekend. Can any of them stop Liam Neeson?

Probably not. “Taken 2” will likely suffer a more than 50 percent drop, but that still puts it in the low $20 million range. That should be enough against this weekend’s new offerings.

If any film can do it though, it will be Ben Affleck’s new film “Argo”. “The Town” opened in the low $20s on its way to $96 million. “Argo” has a strong cast, rave reviews and a lot of buzz going behind it. But, it’s ceiling for its opening weekend is likely in the same range of “The Town”. It should have good legs though, given the expected great word of mouth. But, how well it does in the coming weeks will probably depend on how well films like “Cloud Atlas” connect with audiences.

Opening weekend: $20-22 million

Total box office gross: $90-95 million

Appealing to a very different crowd, “Sinister”, starring Ethan Hawke hits theaters. This one seems to have generated enough buzz, avoiding the shadow of “Paranormal Activity 4”. This weekend is very important for the film, however, since PA 4 will be a behemoth next weekend.

Opening weekend: $16-18 million

Total box office gross: $40-45 million

And appealing to yet another different crowd is Kevin James in “Here Comes the Boom”. For reasons I can’t understand, James has had successes with “The Zoo Keeper” and “Paul Blart: Mall Cop”. That being said, “Hotel Transylvania” (which also features the voice of James) and “Frankenweenie” are already out, look for “Here Comes the Boom” to flop.

Opening weekend: $13-15 million

Total box office gross: $40-45 million

“Seven Psychopaths” is the wild card from the director of the underrated “In Bruges”. The cast includes Christopher Walken and Colin Farell, but though I’m excited for this film, I have trouble seeing it make above $10 million.

Opening weekend: $8-10 million

Total box office gross: $30-35 million

Finally, there’s “Atlas Shrugged Part II”. I can count the number of people I know who saw the first film on one hand. None of them liked it. This film will tank.

Opening weekend: $1-3 million

Total box office gross: Not very much.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

 

Neeson dominates box office, Burton has second flop of the year

“Taken 2” easily took the top spot at the box office. The film, starring Liam Neeson, earned more than double the original film made its opening weekend, with an estimated $50 million and is the third highest October opening ever.

“Hotel Transylvania” which features the voice of Adam Sandler, Kevin James and more held up extremely well, earning another $26.3 million, down just 38 percent from last week.

“Pitch Perfect”, starring Anna Kendrick, Brittany Snow and more, earned $14.7 million. Adding in last week’s preview showing and this film has already earned back the film’s budget.

Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” failed to find an audience, opening in fifth place with just $11.5 million, well below what “Corpse Bride” opened with.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: 10/5/12

Liam Neeson takes on an a cappella group and a dead dog brought back to life this weekend. Which new film will do the best?

Neeson returns to the role that kick started his second career as an action star in “Taken 2”. This one, directed by Olivier Megaton doesn’t do much to mess with the formula with another kidnapping and Neeson going on the offensive. That shouldn’t matter to most audiences who just want to see Neeson kick some butt again. That being said, this film will be incredibly front loaded. And, with less than stellar reviews, it won’t have the same legs as the first film either.

Opening weekend: $50-52 million

Total box office gross: $140-145 million

Tim Burton releases his latest film, “Frankenweenie”. But, “Dark Shadows” bombed earlier this year. And, with “Hotel Transylvania” having a huge opening and “ParaNorman” being moderately successful before that, one has to wonder if this film will be on the outside looking in. It should still get families in, but it’s also darker than those other two films and Transylvania should have a strong second weekend.

Opening weekend: $18-20 million

Total box office gross: $45-50 million

Here’s the dark horse. After a strong showing in limited release, “Pitch Perfect”, starring Anna Kendrick, gets a wide release. Conventional wisdom says this film should open in the low to mid teens because many people who wanted to see this film saw it last weekend. But, those people are likely to see it again. And, a strong social media marketing campaign, surprisingly strong reviews and word of mouth means this film could break out. I have a feeling it’s going to open higher than this, maybe in the low $20s, but I’ll stick to conventional wisdom for this.

Opening weekend: $15-17 million

Total box office gross: $60-65 million

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

 

“Hotel Transylvania” has huge opening

Sony has to be very happy right now. “Hotel Transylvania”, featuring the voices of Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, David Spade, Steven Buscemi, Fran Drescher, Molly Shannon, Adam Sandler and more opened with a whopping $43 million, setting a September record, previously held by “Sweet Home Alabama”.

Sony also had a hit with “Looper” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis with $21.2 million. “Won’t Back Down” tanked very badly, earning just $2.7 million.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: 9/28/12

September closes as two Sony pictures vie for the top spot along with a teacher’s drama.

This week will come down to three very different films. “Hotel Transylvania” will likely take the top spot. The only recent offering for families this month has been “Finding Nemo 3D”, so this is the first new family film in a while. This film has an all-star voice cast with singers Selena Gomez and Cee Lo Green, comedians Andy Samberg, Kevin James, David Spade, Fran Drescher, Molly Shannon and Adam Sandler. But, with Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” coming out next week, one has to wonder if families will simply wait for that one.

Opening weekend: $24-26 million

Total box office gross: $80-85 million

The film’s main competition will come from the sci fi film “Looper” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis. The film has been getting solid reviews and has two pretty big actors. So, it would seem like a slam dunk right? Except, JGL’s last film, “Premium Rush” tanked and Willis’ last sci fi film was…”Surrogates”. This will draw the young male crowd, but I doubt it will be able to expand its audience much past that. It too may have trouble holding up next week as “Taken 2” will hit theaters.

Opening weekend: $17-19 million

Total box office gross: $50-55 million

The final new film getting a wide release is “Won’t Back Down” starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis. The film will resonate with some, especially with the Chicago teacher’s strike recently ending. But, this film will struggle to find an audience. The lack of advance showings to try and build up buzz is worrisome. And, “Freedom Writers”, a similar film tanked way back in 2007.

Opening weekend: $7-9 million

Total box office gross: $20-25 million

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Genndy Tartakovsky still trying to bring “Samurai Jack” to the big screen

Even though the show ended in 2004, Genndy Tartakovsky, director of the upcoming film “Hotel Transylvania”, is still looking to bring “Samurai Jack” to the big screen. Here’s what he had to say in an interview with IGN:

“The one amazing thing about Jack is that I did it in 2001, you know, and it still survived. There’s something about it that’s connected with people. And I want it, it’s number 1 on my list, and now Bob Osher, the President [of Digital Production at Sony Picture Entertainment], is like ‘Hey, let’s talk about Jack. Let’s see what we can do.’ And I go, ‘You’re going to do a 2D feature animated movie?’ and he’s like, ‘Yeah. Maybe. Let’s do some research and let’s see.’ So it’s not dead for sure by any means, and it’s still on the top of my list, and I’m trying as hard as I can.”

So, the project isn’t in active development, but it looks like discussions have opened again. Do you want to see a “Samurai Jack” movie?

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.