BoxOffice101 Movies

TW	LW	Title (click to view)	Studio	Weekend Gross	% Change	Theater Count /Change		Average	Total Gross	Budget*	Week #
1	N	The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey	WB	$84,617,303	-	4,045	-	$20,919	$84,617,303	-	1
2	2	Rise of the Guardians	P/DW	$7,143,445	-31.3%	3,387	-252	$2,109	$71,085,268	$145	4
3	4	Lincoln	BV	$7,033,132	-21.1%	2,285	+271	$3,078	$107,687,319	$65	6
4	1	Skyfall	Sony	$6,555,732	-39.2%	2,924	-477	$2,242	$271,921,795	$200	6
5	5	Life of Pi	Fox	$5,413,066	-35.0%	2,548	-398	$2,124	$69,572,472	$120	4
6	3	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2	Sum.	$5,136,074	-43.9%	3,042	-604	$1,688	$276,826,143	$120	5
7	7	Wreck-It Ralph	BV	$3,216,043	-33.8%	2,249	-497	$1,430	$168,721,592	$165	7
8	6	Playing for Keeps	FD	$3,146,443	-45.3%	2,840	+3	$1,108	$10,737,535	-	2
9	8	Red Dawn (2012)	FD	$2,408,882	-43.1%	2,250	-504	$1,071	$40,904,305	$65	4
10	11	Silver Linings Playbook	Wein.	$2,109,274	-2.9%	371	-	$5,685	$16,979,323	$21	5

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the eagerly awaited prequel for fantasists of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Based on legendary British writer J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 fantasy novel, The Hobbit earned an impressive $84m (estimated budget $180m) becoming the highest December debut in Hollywood history shattering 2009's I Am Legend's $77.2m.
Now there has been a long time since a Will Smith movies hasn't grossed about or over $100m in the United States but with such a fan database and The Lord of the Rings being the 3rd highest-grossing novel ever with an estimated $150m sold, it had the reputation to debut with $100m but sadly missed.
The prequel is also directed by the filmmaker of all previous 3 films Peter Jackson. Jackson is also known for high-budget adaptations of popular works such as King Kong in 2005. And his movies are money-making gems with Lord of the Rings grossing $2.92m on an overall budget of $285m. John Carter was one movie with a total production cost of $250m.

2003's The Return of the King has the topmost cumulative of over $1 billion. The Hobbit may have been a long-awaited journey for cinema-goers but critics have deemed otherwise. With an 'unexpected' 65% on the Rotten Tomatoes tally, criticism has been based a lot on whether it matches up to the earlier parts. And also on the pacing of the movie that the fun is demolished before the final half-hour. Still, I will watch this when it comes out on blu-ray as I've seen the previous films with Return of the King being my solid action-packed favourite.
But being a prequel also leaves potential viewers more in a wait-and-see position rather than just hurling themselves into the theatre seats. Next week's Jack Reacher will probably be on number 2 introducing with $25m-$35m according to BO101 statistics.
Steven Spielberg's epic historical Lincoln has set records for most awards nominated. It has also surprisingly surpassed other Oscar nomination Argo's gross by a tiny margin in the US. Argo was a surprise hit stating that Ben Affleck still has some gross juice left and that his childhood friend Matt Damon is not the only face that sells tickets. Lincoln has grossed an impressive $107m in domestic markets. With main thespian Daniel Day-Lewis being a strong contender for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He was also brilliant in the other critically acclaimed movie There Will Be Blood.
The last and yes, hopefully last Twilight part distributed by Summit Entertainment 'summits' to 6th position from number 3 with Skyfall on 4 with more weeks on the American box office. Still Breaking Dawn: Part 2 has become the first Twilight movie to make over $500m worldwide. And some say there's no such thing as luck.
Skyfall will also make $1 billion at year's becoming the first film in the 23 film series of James Bond to do so. Lord of the Rings was only a 3-part series! Skyfall has also become the most paramount-grossing film of all time in the UK which does not come as a surprise. But yes after Quantum of Solace's being the 19th film on the British list this is a great achievement for the franchise and may be I'll be alive for the 50th anniversary flick.
Silver Linings Playbook stars one of my favorite actors Bradley Cooper and curvy actress Jennifer Lawrence and it jumps up from 11 to 10 this weekend. It is also mounting to a 2013 Oscar nomination. Denzel Washington's Flight exits the top 10 with over $84m in gross while The Collection is at 16 with $6m to its name. It has a bigger debut than its prequel but still is $1m behind The Collector. Maybe it will become more advanced at the end of the year after a superior amount of major country openings.
That's all from me folks. The Hobbit has a better opening than Return of the King but with 3-D/IMAX premiums so it was very possible. Also, it has 222.8 million dollars internationally but I still think it won't match the 2003 final film's aggregate. Here's the HD trailer below:

TW	LW	Title (click to view)	Studio	Weekend Gross	% Change	Theater Count /Change		Average	Total Gross	Budget*	Week #
1	1	The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2	Sum.	$17,416,362	-60.1%	4,008	-62	$4,345	$254,598,866	$120	3
2	2	Skyfall	Sony	$16,555,894	-53.4%	3,463	-63	$4,781	$245,585,083	$200	4
3	4	Rise of the Guardians	P/DW	$13,388,852	-43.7%	3,672	+19	$3,646	$48,836,105	$145	2
4	3	Lincoln	BV	$13,376,696	-47.9%	2,018	-	$6,629	$83,566,169	$65	4
5	5	Life of Pi	Fox	$12,151,853	-45.9%	2,928	+1	$4,150	$48,512,994	$120	2
6	6	Wreck-It Ralph	BV	$6,948,550	-58.1%	3,087	-172	$2,251	$158,184,813	$165	5
7	N	Killing Them Softly	Wein.	$6,812,900	-	2,424	-	$2,811	$6,812,900	$15	1
8	7	Red Dawn (2012)	FD	$6,500,245	-54.5%	2,781	+57	$2,337	$31,272,953	$65	2
9	8	Flight	Par.	$4,479,067	-47.0%	2,603	-35	$1,721	$81,465,903	$31	5
10	N	The Collection	LD	$3,104,269	-	1,403	-	$2,213	$3,104,269	-	1

Dreadful because of movies like the Twilight franchise to cause fear among cinema-goers like me to state that there is no hope in Hollywood. The Twilight series is based on the best-selling (among females) novels written by Stephanie Meyer. And no, although the grosses match that of Harry Potter, Meyer is no JK Rowling who has written original magic-themed stories. Meyer is one lucky daughter of pulp fiction.
I read the first 10 pages of the first Twilight and it was dreadful. I can't contradict how anybody could read the approximate 500 pages of it and live to tell, unless they're actually undead, also the first 10 minutes of any part. So following Harry Potter's style of ending the franchise with two parts released of the final film, Breaking Dawn Part 2 opened up with a little over $140m in the US on a budget of $120.
As of December 4, the entire film series has made over $3b worldwide with 5 adaptations. Except for the 3rd film, all others have achieved rotten ratings from critics. Roger Ebert, my favourite critic, has also not given any of them a positive rating and his highest applause rate was 2 out of four. Some critics have given such negative reviews calling it more of a comedy than a romance phenomenon. Thankfully, Shakespeare wasn't alive to watch it.
All in all, this was the last movie and 2012 be the end of the world if there is another one. The Collection is a torture porn sequel to 2009's The Collector. Written by the creators of Saw's latter parts: Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton and directed by the former. The Collector was originally going to be a prequel of the Saw franchise but luckily the idea got dismissed, and the two screenwriters ended up with a more creative release than any of their contributed Saws.

The Collector is one my favourite 2000 decade movies. More strategically designed than many of the Saw sequels and with the titular character being a the epitome of a vehement menace. The Collector was released in a lesser number of theatres domestically but managed to carve out a worthy gross of a little over $7m on a budget of $3-3.4m. The worldwide total being $9 million.
The Collection has an amazing trailer but I can't say anything about the movie prior to watching it. With a budget of $10m it managed to do a better opening than the original with $3m. Accumulation from other countries and Blu-ray/DVD releases will managed to give it a profit though I wonder if it should've been released on Halloween to fare better at the top 10.
Killing Them Softly is another new release entering at 7. This was an unlucky one for Brad Pitt with blockbusters like Breaking Dawn 2 and Skyfall dominating the chart. Red Dawn flops at the US box office and will not even meet its budget, and is yet to be released universally. But it still has a chance to just make a tiny profit in foreign markets. It has made $31m off $65m.
B-wood thriller Talaash starring Amir Khan, Kareena Kapoor and the ever-irritating Rani Mukerjee lands on 14 with Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning at 76 on 3 screens. The latter stars oldies Van Damme and Lundgren, and famous Light Heavyweight boxer Roy Jones Jr. along with The Expendables 2 villain Scott Adkins. This is the first film in the series to be filmed in 3-D although that shows no accomplishments in earnings.
That's all from me folks. Check The Collection trailer below but remember it's not for the faint of heart. And join me next week for more BO101 news and reviews. Also later on for Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit's nationwide performance that is bound to be a big one.

(Chart by Box Office Mojo)

TW	LW	Title (click to view)	Studio	Weekend Gross	% Change	Theater Count /Change		Average	Total Gross	Budget*	Week #
1	N	Skyfall	Sony	$88,364,714	-	3,505	-	$25,211	$90,564,714	$200	1
2	1	Wreck-It Ralph	BV	$33,012,796	-32.7%	3,752	-	$8,799	$93,647,405	$165	2
3	2	Flight	Par.	$14,785,097	-40.6%	2,047	+163	$7,223	$47,455,396	$31	2
4	3	Argo	WB	$6,617,229	-35.2%	2,763	-11	$2,395	$85,583,187	$44.5	5
5	5	Taken 2	Fox	$4,012,829	-32.2%	2,487	-152	$1,614	$131,300,000	$45	6
6	6	Cloud Atlas	WB	$2,658,250	-50.6%	2,023	+10	$1,314	$22,844,956	-	3
7	4	The Man with the Iron Fists	Uni.	$2,592,705	-67.2%	1,872	+4	$1,385	$12,821,030	$15	2
8	11	Pitch Perfect	Uni.	$2,573,350	-16.0%	1,391	-111	$1,850	$59,099,993	$17	7
9	9	Here Comes the Boom	Sony	$2,522,790	-28.5%	2,044	-270	$1,234	$39,033,885	-	5
10	7	Hotel Transylvania	Sony	$2,400,226	-45.6%	2,566	-356	$935	$140,954,208	$85	7

Whoa, the greatest American Bond debut ever starring Daniel Craig in his third representation of the character. The previous films titled Quantum of Solace ($67m) and Casino Royale ($40.8) had quite lower openings although went on to gross a lot worldwide. And the latter case is no different for the 23rd movie in the British spy intelligence franchise.

It is also worth noting that Skyfall was released in US theatres when there was not much monetary competition and that was a very Bold idea. And with an estimated budget of $200m which is still less than John Carter's gamble of $250m, the film has made a total of $518m globally. It is also the first film in the series to be released on to IMAX venues.
Not only was Craig's performance applauded the movie has released universal critical acclaim, and Adele's theme song pushed up the ratings. So even after 23 Bond films the franchise continues to be impressive and I will miss Judi Drench who leaves the character of M after portraying it in six films. Skyfall features two lesser-known actresses as Bond girls with Javier Bardem, who is a fine actor, as the villain. Ralph Fieness' character will fill up M's position in the upcoming motion-pictures. MGM might of had money troubles but they should not lose focus on financing the series.
In other news, the animated action-comedy feature mainly for kids, continues its dominance with $33m this weekend, having grossed $93m in the States alone. It tells the story of of the titular arcade game villain who rebels against his dreams of becoming of a hero. With a RT score of $85% and that original plot, the movie had no chance of not being second this week. Also owing to Steven Spielberg's Lincoln opening across 11 theatres to garner positive word-of-mouth. Gamesite IGN advertised Wreck-it Ralph wholesomely before its North American and Canadian release.
3rd on the chart is Denzel Washington's Flight and like most of his thriller flicks this one has made almost $50m in at the US box office. It is yet to be released on a global basis. Hotel Transylvania will surely exit the top 10 next week.
Although this weekend showcases hit films there is a large disappointment in the mixture. Cloud Atlas is based on the 2004 novel on the same name by David Mitchell. With a budget of $102m, CA is one of the most expensive independent features of all time. Not only this but it stars H-wood biggies such as Tom Hanks and Halle Berry. But with all the hype, mostly critical, the sci-fi epic has only made $22m domestically and $1m foreign-wise having been released in countries like India, Turkey and Pakistan.
I thought John Carter was disappointing but this feature couldn't touch even the $50m mark. Directed by Tom Tyker, along with Lana and Andy Wachowskis who are the pair of bros who directed the Matrix trilogy marks their 4th directorial stand after 2008's mega-flop Speed Racer. They haven't had a film grossing above $100m since V for Vendetta which they wrote and produced. And Warner Bros. might spot sponsoring them altogether. Though they are making another sci-fi flick called Jupiter Ascending releasing in 2014. They should just make another Matrix because the 3 had a cumulative of over $1b.
Atlas has received mixed reviews but controversy was done over British actors portraying Asian roles through the use of make-up. Critics responded by stating that many creative leaps were done to the settings, characters and plot while there was no creative focus on the casting!
That's all from me folks. Check out the Cloud Atlas trailer below. I couldn't manage to go beyond the first minute of the trailer and will definitely not catch the almost 3-hour length boredom hole.

(Chart by Box Office Mojo)

With universal acclaim of 93% on RT and being a sleeper hit, I still had low expectations of Looper as it could have turned out to be over-hyped. It turned out to be rightfully rated.

Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) in the lead along with Hollywood A-star Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt. The film is based in 2044 where if the mob wants anybody dead they send him back 30 years into the present for execution. The killers are known as Loopers and things get topsy-turvy when Joe Simmons (Levitt) encounters his future self.

By the trailer the movie looks too cliched or kind of like this year's Total Recall. But this sci-fi venture packs more than a bunch of futuristic guns. The plot is original and the follow-through is unpredictable. The timing of events is notably brilliant, owing to the top-class direction. Although Blunt (pictured below) gained much acclaim to her acting I reckon Willis was more of a perfectionist. Maybe it was the swearing in almost all of his dialogues that didn't make the cut with critics. Levitt was also fine and this is his shot into the limelight for good having previous side roles in big productions. It was also amazing how the make-up artist got Levitt's facial features to resemble that of Willis'. No one could've thought of creating that pairing.

Action is guaranteed but less than promised in the teasers to put more emphasis on story. The settings are bleak but uncanny enough. On a lower budget it can't exactly become Inception.

However, there are noticeable flaws. The running time is too high. This could've easily been a 90 minutes picture so people wouldn't be hesitant of buying the ticket. Plus, pacing is too slow for a sci-fi action or even thriller. If these negative points were dismissed then Looper would've been perfect.

In conclusion, Looper made $132m worldwide off $32m at the end of its theatrical run, and I expect DVD and BR sales to be sky high. Written and directed by Rian Johnson being his third film and the first in this genre, he did a fancy job and hope he doesn't plunge into the depth of H-wood nonsense later on.

IMDB: 8.0/10.

Roger Ebert: 3.5/4.

BO101: 3/4.

Yes, the title certainly catches your eye. America's most popular president had a hobby of slaying vampires? This movie proves that the rumour is a true piece of fiction.

Directed by Timur Bekmambetov who has features such as Wanted under his chair, and produced by the likes of Tim Burton, so the chemistry is impressive. Written by Seth Grahame-Smith based on his own novel of the same name proves he is a newbie to screenwriting. The film was distributed by Fox studios and although the studio faces gross problems the movie managed to make $108m off $69m also being shot in 3-D.

Also owing to its financial success is that the novel was a bestseller. Starring Benjamin Walker in the titular role, the film follows Abraham Lincoln from early life to presidency with vampire throat-slashing in between. The main source of motivation being that his mother was killed by one.

The plot is original featuring a new theme to real-life presidency. Indeed newer films could be based on the same theme: Barack Obama - Oil Hunter for instance. The originality lacks in how the film times most of its scenes. It seems very unfocused and that the novel's length was not properly adjusted for the 105 minutes. The dialogues are average and timings of certain events are not so well timed. It also never reveals the power behind Lincoln's strength in detail. The first half is a bit boring although it gets quite interesting in the latter stage. The action scenes are over-done and too unrealistic. And it's not even scary. Vampires are averagely depicted.

The pros are the acting. Walker played Lincoln well especially when he gets into the full person hats, beard and all. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who starred in The Thing remake, plays the wife decently showing that she can actually act. But the best performance was by Dominic Cooper (The Devil's Double) who is a brilliant thespian and hope the best is to come for him. Although the flick seems predictable at start-up it becomes unpredictable afterwards. The ending was also awesome given the OK beginning. Though I still question Lincoln handling an ax so skillfully.

In conclusion, Abraham Lincoln is a completely passable neither good nor bad. It has no replay value. Also, pieces of Lincoln's life, adding to the war, were not peacefully put together. 3-D was a proper addition.

BO101: 2/4.

Rotten Tomatoes: 35%.

IMDB: 6.1/10.

As the heading suggests, a low-budget film such as Stolen must be viewed with caution. Not for what not to expect but for what to expect.

Stolen (2012) is directed by Simon West who also shot this year's The Expendables 2 which proves a film-maker should not concentrate on two action projects annually. Written by David Guggenheim who wrote the super-hit Safe House earlier this year shows that he only retained his dialogue delivery in the script. Nicolas Cage stars as an ex-thief who's just gotten out of jail to find his daughter kidnapped and shoved inside a taxi's trunk.

The plot is reminiscent of 2008's Taken without Liam Neeson's charisma or perfect plot-pacing. This was less than half of the film that Taken was. The only thing it succeeded in was with the similarly-themed title. Stolen does have its good points: Action cinematography is decent although I sincerely doubt that a robber who deals in bank theft has so much combat experience. Dialogues are hilarious and cynical, with fun exchanges between the main FBI officers. Josh Lucas acted top notch outshining all the other who couldn't shine anyhow:

However, these are only distractions. Stolen has a mediocre plot. The follow-through after the kidnapping is weak. The opening scenes promise much but the later running time disappoints badly. West directed this feature well but the mediocre screenwriting flawed it all. Predictability is just another word for Stolen.

Unless you have nothing else to die or are a die-hard fan of Cage, you can bare to watch this. The box office revenue was so bad it was shipped out of US theatres after just a couple of weeks. That's what happens when a film makes just a petty $304,318 off $35m. The film co-stars Malin Akerman and Danny Huston.

Cage hasn't had great role since 2009's Knowing. This is 2nd worst film after The Wicker Man. And only the possible National Treasure 3 or the confirmed The Expendables 3 can save his career. Simon West created box office genius with 1997's Con Air comprising of Cage but did the complete opposite with this one.

B0101: 1/4.
Rotten Tomatoes: 14%.
IMDB: 5.2/10.

In 2010, The Expendables was met by critical pressure, yet managed to open up at no.1 in a number of countries including the US, India and so on. That had a roster of famous Hollywood action oldies and the sequel does not only deliver a bigger ensemble cast but also a bigger bang!

The Expendables 2 grossed $289.2m off a budget of $100m at the end of its theatrical run showing a better performance but with a larger production cost largely due to the actors' salaries. The Expendables had a $80m budget grossing $274m globally so the sequel was more successful although it would've grossed about $330m if not for the mass murder in Colorado this year. Also, if a regular cast was chosen I doubt the production cost would surpass the $50m mark. Directed by Simon West this time around who is well-known for action flicks like Con Air (1997) and badly-known for flops like Stolen (2012). The writing by Richard Wenk and Sylvester Stallone with a plot following Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) offering the team a jail-free pass if they recover something for him but things get topsy-turvy after encountering the ruthless killer Jean Villain.

Willis and Schwarzenegger were both given more prominent roles this time and rightfully so. Chuck Norris was a waste and shows he doesn't have that movie flair any more. Luckily, he declined the 3rd's offer. Sylvester Stallone is known not only for starring in superb action flicks but also writing them. His 2006's Rocky Balboa was brilliant and this one was no less. The Expendables 2 boasts all one can expect: adrenaline-fueled sequences and impressive verbal exchanges between Stallone and Statham. The latter was the best performer from the heroes' side. More humour tones were added to the mix that really impressed the critics this time around. There was also an unannounced female addition this time around (Yu Nan). Dialogue delivery from other cast member is also worth-mentioning, especially from Dolph Lundgren, and it was better than the predecessor.

Though the cons of this film cannot be ruled out even with a blind eye. The plot is weak and the follow-through immensely predictable. The villains are played by Jean-Claude Van Damme and Scott Adkins being more charismatic than the last time around. Van Damme declined the previous film's offer due to the fact he was to lose a fight against Jet Li. The role was changed to meet Lungren's specifications and he carried out well, and did the same this time. The settings were quite similar to the previous one's and the monotonous pacing irritating.

Also, the mega-brawl between Stallone and Van Damme was disappointing though Statham's no-holds-barred MMA battle with Adkins was the most superior in the franchise. Adkins is a great fighter if you've seen Undisputed 2 and 3.

But nothing compresses the action-packed mania and the Call of Duty shooting. This film was made specifically for males and whoever has a soft spot for action must catch this one.

The Expendables 2 is better than its predecessor still not showing any improvement over story. Mickey Rourke who played the tattooist in The Expendables was too busy to show up this time. Nicolas Cage confirmed for the next part (and he so needs a non-straight-to-DVD role). Liam Hemsworth was the only male addition to the heroes' squad.

BO101: 3/4.

Rotten Tomatoes: 66%.

IMDB: 7.2/10.