All articles by John Hazelton – Page 13
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News
Da Vinci strong, Poseidon mixed in international arena
The Da Vinci Code maintained its grip on theinternational marketplace this weekend, while X-Men: The Last Stand slidand Poseidon had mixed fortunes in its first major-territory launches.The Da Vinci Code's estimated $52m gross from 11,625screens in 84 markets kept the Holy Grail adventure from Sony PicturesReleasing International (SPRI) ahead of ...
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News
Poseidon starts major-market international cruise
Poseidon, United 93 and RV all maketheir major-market international debuts this weekend in the relative quietafter the successive worldwide launches of The Da Vinci Code and X-Men:The Last Stand. Unlike the two blockbusters that have dominated theinternational marketplace since mid-May, the new entrants - each with somethingto prove outside North ...
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News
LAFF to open with The Devil Wears Prada
A line-up of more than 250 features and shorts - including 19 world premieres andseven US premieres - has been announced for Film Independent's 2006 Los AngelesFilm Festival (June 22 to July 2).David Frankel's comedy The Devil Wears Prada (set for US releaseby 20th Century Fox on June 30) will ...
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News
Da Vinci beats X-Men in international arena
The Da Vinci Code fought off competition from newwide release X-Men: The Last Stand to stay dominant in the internationalmarketplace this weekend. The Sony thriller held up impressively with anestimated gross of $92.8m, while the Fox comic book sequel opened with a strong but not quite strong enough $76.1m. In ...
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News
X-Men makes mighty stand with $107m US debut
X-Men: The Last Stand grossed an estimated$107m at the North American box office over the weekend, becoming the fourthbiggest US opener in history and the biggest ever over the Memorial Day holidayweekend. The estimate -- released on Sunday by 20thCentury Fox, which made the film with Marvel Entertainment -- was ...
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News
Da Vinci holds well in international arena
The Da Vinci Code maintained much of its allure inthe international marketplace this weekend, in spite of competition from newultra-wide release X-Men: The Last Stand. The X-Men sequel -- which had a record-breaking $107mNorth American debut and opened day-and-date in 95 other territories - couldstill emerge as the international marketplace's ...
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News
X-Men makes mighty stand with $107m US debut
X-Men: The Last Stand grossed an estimated$107m at the North American box office over the weekend, becoming the fourthbiggest US opener in history and the biggest ever over the Memorial Day holidayweekend. The estimate -- released on Sunday by 20thCentury Fox, which made the film with Marvel Entertainment -- was ...
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News
X-Men: The Last Stand into battle with global launch
X-Men: The Last Standmuscles its way into 95 territories this weekend, giving the internationalmarketplace its second ultra-wide day-and-date release in quick succession. TheFox International action sequel is set to open with a total of 8,500 prints playingon around 10,000 screens, with only Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China notincluded in ...
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News
Da Vinci Code breaks international opening record...
Riding a global wave of publicity and controversy, The DaVinci Code this weekend became the biggest international day-and-dateopener ever, with an estimated gross of $147m from 12,213 screens in 90territories. Added to the film's estimated North American gross of $77m,the international take gives Sony's Holy Grail-themed adventure a worldwidefirst-weekend total ...
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News
...and delivers in US with $77m debut
The Da Vinci Code opened powerfully in NorthAmerica this weekend with a gross of $77m, making it the first of the year'ssummer blockbusters to live up to expectations. Unlike Da Vinci's massive $147m internationaltake, the domestic gross - from 3,735 screens, for a $20,616 per-screen average- broke no all-time records ...
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News
Da Vinci goes global with international launch
The Da Vinci Code floodsthe international marketplace this weekend, opening day-and-date (orthereabouts) with its US launch on nearly 12,000 screens spread across almostevery territory. The international opening is thewidest ever for distributor Sony Pictures Releasing International (SPRI) and itgives the film an even broader global launch than the summer's first ...
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News
Mission stays strong in international marketplace
Paramount's Mission: Impossible III stayed strongover its second weekend in the international marketplace with an estimatedgross of $40.5m, representing a relatively modest 42% drop from last weekend'simpressive $70.3m opening.The weekend take - from the same 7,390 sites in 57territories at which the Tom Cruise sequel opened - brought M:I:III'srunning international ...
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News
Poseidon can't sink Mission in US
Poseidon failed to knock Mission:Impossible III off the top of the North American box office chart thisweekend, as Paramount's Tom Cruise sequel grossed an estimated $24.5m and theWarner disaster movie managed a mediocre $20.3m.M:I:III's gross was down an acceptable 49%from last weekend's less than stellar opening figure of $47.7m. Poseidon'stake, ...
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Reviews
Just My Luck
Dir: Donald Petrie. US.2006. 103mins.Apparently designed to help teen queen Lindsay Lohan, Just My Luck ends up feeling like a teenromantic comedy not very convincingly dressed in adult clothes. Lohan's existing fan-base may still respond to the mix oflifestyle aspiration and fairy-tale romance, and the appearance of real-lifepop-rock group McFly ...
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Reviews
Over The Hedge
Dirs: Tim Johnson, KareyKirkpatrick. US. 2006. 87mins.Cute animals and energetic slapstick make up for anoverly generic storyline in Over The Hedge, DreamWorks Animation's entry in this year'scrowded field of computer-animated family movies. Younger kids should certainlyrespond to the impressively realised creatures and the rambunctious physicalcomedy, but teens and parents (even ...
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Reviews
Silent Hill
Dir: Christophe Gans. Can-Fr. 2006. 127 mins.Apparently designed to appeal both to fanboys and to a slightly older, mixed-gender crowd, videogame adaptation Silent Hill comes offas an atmospheric but disappointingly dull horror thriller. Interest fromhorror and game aficionados should be strong enough for the Sony-distributed chiller, produced by Samuel Hadidaand ...
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Reviews
Inside Man
Dir: Spike Lee. US. 2006.129mins.In Inside Man,Spike Lee applies his jazzy and provocative directing style to the bank heistgenre and turns out an ambitious, often intriguing, but extremely uneven crimethriller. The genre and a strong cast headed by DenzelWashington suggest that this Imagine Entertainment production has the potentialto end Lee's ...
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News
MGM unveils revitalised domestic distribution operation
MGMhas confirmed its return to the North American theatrical distribution businessand unveiled an initial slate of 14 films from independent production companiesfor domestic release over the next year.Includedin the slate are Lucky Number Slevin, Clerks II and several other titles from The Weinstein Company;Mirage Enterprises' Breaking And Entering, directed by ...
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Reviews
The Shaggy Dog
Dir: Brian Robbins. US.2006. 92mins.Disney's latest update of one of its vintagelive-action family comedies pairs SantaClause star Tim Allen with that reliably popular screen character, thecutely anthropomorphised canine. It's predictable and only mildly amusingstuff; but it's also the kind of innocuous entertainment that sometimes lures asizeable family audience, if not ...
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Reviews
16 Blocks
Dir: Richard Donner. US. 2006. 113mins.A grizzled Bruce Willis and a wisecracking Mos Def play the odd couple at the centre of 16 Blocks, a not very convincing yetstill quite likeable cop thriller from LethalWeapon franchise director Richard Donner.Though there are echoes of Donner's late-1980s buddy cop classics in the ...