Life On The Bubble

Box Office: Sandler Tracking Strong, But Bieber's No Hannah Montana | TheWrap.com

ever say never ... unless you're predicting that a Justin Bieber 3D concert movie is going to beat an Adam Sandler romantic comedy at the weekend box office.

That ain't gonna happen.

Sandler's latest Sony comedy, the PG-13-rated "Just Go With It," is being projected by tracking firms to open to over $30 million at the domestic box office this weekend, with Paramount's "Justin Bieber: Never Say Never" finishing a distant second with projected grosses that vary widely.

Early awareness levels led some box-office watchers to conclude that the quickly assembled Bieber movie could approach the $31.1 million total acheived by the February 2008 opening of Disney's "Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour."

The more downer comparison would be the Jonas Brothers' 3D concert movie in 2009, which opened to only $12.5 million.

Two other movies open widely this weekend: Disney's kiddie targeted "Gnomeo and Juliet" and Focus' Channing Tatum-led Roman Army action film "The Eagle."

via www.thewrap.com

KCRW's "The Business" (2/7/2011 Episode): Interview with Showrunner Shawn Ryan

Yet another great episode of KCRW's The Business this week:  Kim Masters interviewed Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield, the late and lamented "Terriers" and the new Fox drama "The Chicago Code."  It's embedded below - enjoy.

 

 

'Roommate's' $15.6M Easily Tops Soft Super Bowl-Weekend Box Office | TheWrap.com

Sony's crazy-chick-thriller "The Roommate" grossed $15.6 million at the box office this weekend, according to studio estimates, easily topping a domestic market that was soft, even by Super Bowl-weekend standards.

Universal and Relativity's James Cameron-produced 3D thriller "Sanctum" came in second place, also meeting very conservative tracking projections with $9.2 million on a weekend in which only one film broke into double figures.

Overall, the domestic box office was down 21 percent from the same NFL championship weekend in 2010.

Finishing in third place, Paramount's Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman romantic comedy "No Strings Attached" is showing some legs, declining only 38 percent in weekend No. 3 while grossing an estimated $8.4 million.

The Weinstein Company's "King's Speech," meanwhile, still has momentum from those 12 Academy Award nominations more than a week back, taking in an estimated $8.3 million for a solid 28 percent week-to-week drop.

Last weekend's box-office champ, Anthony Hopkins exorcism movie "The Rite," grossed just $5.6 million while declining sharply at 62 percent.

via www.thewrap.com