Jacob Hall
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Weekend Box Office Report: A Good Day to be ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’
In retrospect, it's easy to say "Of course the new 'Die hard' movie was going to open at number one at the box office!" but you can bet Bruce Willis and company were a little worried. After all, 'A Good Day to Die Hard' opened in the wake of the failure of 'The Last Stand,' 'Parker' and 'Bullet to the Head,' three other macho, R-rated movies starring modern action icons. However, the strength of the 'Die Hard' brand seems to have broken that trend: John McClane's fifth outing made $25 million over the weekend.
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Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Identity Thief’ Steals $36 Million
Is Melissa McCarthy a movie star yet? The opening weekend of 'Identity Thief' suggests that yes, she is. After all, all of those people weren't flocking to this movie because of Jason Bateman (as delightful as he is). Anyway, all of this pretty much means that McCarthy's asking price just doubled.
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‘Argo’ Wins Big at Producer’s Guild of America Awards
With each passing awards ceremony, the Academy's snubbing of Ben Affleck for Best Director looks increasingly ridiculous. Some thought that 'Argo' winning Best Picture and Best DIrector at the Golden Globes was something of a fluke, but now that the critically acclaimed box office hit has won big at the Producer's Guild of America awards, you may want to shuffle around your Oscar bets.
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Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is Number One
You really only need to say one thing about the opening weekend of Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty': it made more in three days than 'The Hurt Locker' did in its entire run. If there's anything that's going to alleviate getting snubbed for at the Oscars in the Best Director category, it's that.
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Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Texas Chainsaw 3D’ Slashes Through the Competition
Here's the thing about January: it's usually a wasteland. With the studios concentrating on their Oscar campaigns and the profitable summer months still half a year away, this month is where all of the crap usually gets dumped. However, this is also one of the few months where crap has a chance of performing well, hence the success of last year's 'The Devil Inside' and now 'Texas Chainsaw 3D,' which took the weekend with a strong $23 million opening.
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Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Django’ and ‘Les Mis’ Anchor a Strong Weekend
Well, now we know why the box office was so incredibly light last week: everyone was waiting to see things this week! Although 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey' clung to the top spot for the third week in a row, it was a very tight race, with only $4 million separating the top three films.
Film
Weekend
Per Screen
1
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Jour
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Holiday Box Office Update: ‘Les Miserables’ and ‘Django Unchained’ Start Strong
Who says Christmas is about staying warm by the fire and exchanging gifts with your loved ones? Everyone knows that the holidays are all about movies! A depressing musical adaptation of a Victor Hugo novel and an ultra-violent revenge fantasy may not sound like Christmas material, but the opening days of 'Les Miserables' and 'Django Unchained' prove otherwise.
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Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Hobbit’ Leads a Weak Weekend
Something went horribly wrong this weekend. Despite a few high profile new releases and the mere presence of 'The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,' this weekend's box office was, uh...not great. What happened here?
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Weekend Box Office Report: Everyone Wins on Thanksgiving
Many Americans found themselves with four days off last week, ostensibly so they could go see their family and eat turkey and celebrate Thanksgiving from the comfort of their homes. Instead, they went to the movies. In fact, this was the biggest Thanksgiving box office of all time. Congratulations, America!
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Weekend Box Office Report: ‘The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2′ Conquers All
As expected, the fifth and final film of the 'Twilight' series opened huge. In fact, 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2' had the second biggest opening of the franchise and when you consider how huge these things tend to open, that's a big accomplishment. However, this was not just a victorious weekend for Twi-hards -- just about every film in the top ten had something to cheer about.