Monsters Vs. Aliens Archives - The Playlist

And The Trailers Keep Coming: ‘Shrek Forever After’ and ‘The Bounty Hunter’

Oliver Lyttelton — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:31:00 +0000

The busy, pre-“Avatar” week for trailers continues, with another one of next summer’s big movies debuting its first footage, along with a big rom-com. And they both look excruciating.

“Shrek Forever After” at least has one thing going for it – the promise that it’ll be the last in the franchise of diminishing returns. We discussed our favorite animated films of the decade earlier in the week, and you may have noticed that none of the Shrek films, or any other Dreamworks CGI films, made the cut, and deservedly so.

Continue reading And The Trailers Keep Coming: ‘Shrek Forever After’ and ‘The Bounty Hunter’ at The Playlist.

How Will Ruben Fleischer Follow Up ‘Zombieland’?

Oliver Lyttelton — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:55:00 +0000

“Zombieland” has proven to be that rare thing, a (relatively) low budget genre picture that is now beloved by both critics and audiences – only “District 9” has had a better reaction this year. Director Ruben Fleischer, a former assistant to Miguel Artera (“The Good Girl”), who moved on to music videos for the likes of Dizzee Rascal and M.I.A, is now hotly sought after in town, and has been linked to a series of projects.

Continue reading How Will Ruben Fleischer Follow Up ‘Zombieland’? at The Playlist.

SNIKT! To Piracy- ‘Wolverine’ Scores Year’s Biggest Opening

Gabe Toro — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:25:00 +0000

All that gloom-and-doom shit over whether “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” would be affected by the biggest blockbuster leak in film history can be put to rest. The mutant-powered spinoff, which was advertised to look nearly as unwatchable and embarrassing as it actually was, still managed $87 million to register the year’s biggest opening. We guess some might make points regarding how the box office might have been bigger sans piracy- the first weekend of May is usually home to a knockout debut that kickstarts the season, but “Wolverine”‘s bow is lower than last year’s near-$100 million opening for “Iron Man” and ’07’s then-best-ever $151 mil.

Continue reading SNIKT! To Piracy- ‘Wolverine’ Scores Year’s Biggest Opening at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office: Tweens Show Up For Further Substandard Programming In ’17 Again’

Gabe Toro — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 23:56:00 +0000

A week after the boffo “Hannah Montana: The Movie” bow, Disney spawn Zac Efron courted the same audience and won with the insipid body-jumping comedy “17 Again.” The laffer, from formerly respectable “Igby Goes Down” director Burt Steers brought in $24.1 million, outdistancing its closest competitor, the much older-skewing “State of Play.” For comparison’s sake “17 Again”‘s $24 million pales in comparison to “Montana”‘s $34 million take and doesn’t approach “High School Musical 3″‘s $42 million take, but hey, it’s the biggest opening of Matthew Perry’s career, topping the $13.7 million bow of “The Whole Nine Yards.” Hey Matt, send Zefron a fruit basket or something.

Continue reading Weekend Box Office: Tweens Show Up For Further Substandard Programming In ’17 Again’ at The Playlist.

Weekend Box Office: ‘Hannah Montana’ Defeats Mall Cops, Monsters, Aliens, Cars

Gabe Toro — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:32:00 +0000

To no one’s surprise, “Hannah Montana: The Movie” took the box office by storm. Top heavy as all get-out, the film fell quite a bit from a $17 million opening day, but still scored $34 million to hit #1. It tops the $31 million the “Best of Both Worlds” concert film scored even though it was a fairly modest, non-IMAX affair. Does this mean Miley Cyrus is something of a box office draw? With the two “Hannah Montana” hits and “Bolt” on her resume, one could argue that she’s become less of a teen niche star and more of a genuine headliner.

Continue reading Weekend Box Office: ‘Hannah Montana’ Defeats Mall Cops, Monsters, Aliens, Cars at The Playlist.

‘Babylon A.D.’ Forgiven- ‘Fast & Furious’ Scores ’09’s Biggest Opening

Gabe Toro — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:58:00 +0000

$145 million. $127 million. $63 million. You’d think after severely shrinking grosses for each film in the franchise, the “Fast And Furious” series would be dead in the water. $72.5 million worth of ticket buyers evidently disagree, giving “Fast And Furious” the year’s biggest opening. Moviegoers have always been fond of car films, so despite diminishing returns, most pegged this installment, bringing back Vin Diesel and Paul Walker for the first time since the first film, as a big earner.

Continue reading ‘Babylon A.D.’ Forgiven- ‘Fast & Furious’ Scores ’09’s Biggest Opening at The Playlist.

Monsters, Aliens Dominate Weekend Box Office

Gabe Toro — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:19:00 +0000

To the surprise of no one, Dreamworks’ “Monsters Vs. Aliens” scored a decisive #1 bow, scoring $58.2 million in receipts. The kiddie hit registered the year’s biggest opening numbers, besting the WB’s “Watchmen,” but they still might need a little bit of legwork to register a success. Indeed, the Hollywood accounting system is screwy like this, with “Monsters” opening on 4,000+ theaters, rendering the opening a tad less impressive considering how the film flooded the market.

Continue reading Monsters, Aliens Dominate Weekend Box Office at The Playlist.

Box Office Options March 27-29: ‘Monster Vs. Aliens’ For The Kids, ‘Goodbye Solo’ For Your Brain

Seth Valentine — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 13:31:00 +0000

Weekend movie time has rolled around again and we’re aflutter with excitement. It’s a slower weekend but a few of the smaller releases look like they might be worth a shot. Anyway, anything to knock the Nicolas Cage thriller that won the top spot last week off probably can’t be all bad, right? So check your local listings for any of the following non-numerological films set to drop today!

In Wide Release
First up is the extremely dumb-looking “12 Rounds” from action film maven and professional bozo Renny Harlin (“Die Hard 2,” “Deep Blue Sea”).

Continue reading Box Office Options March 27-29: ‘Monster Vs. Aliens’ For The Kids, ‘Goodbye Solo’ For Your Brain at The Playlist.

‘Monsters Vs. Aliens’ Soundtrack Hits Today

Rodrigo Perez — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 19:04:00 +0000

The “Monsters Vs. Aliens” soundtrack features original music by Henry Jackman with songs by The Buchanan Brothers, The Exciters, The B-52s, Little River Band, Sam The Sham and the Pharoahs, and Sheb Wooley.

It comes out today via Lakeshore Records.

The animated Dreamworks film features the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and Hugh Laurie and comes out in theaters this Friday, March 27 (which will also give you a first look at the new teaser trailer for “Where The Wild Things Are”).

Continue reading ‘Monsters Vs. Aliens’ Soundtrack Hits Today at The Playlist.