'Iron Man' Leads Visual Effects Society Nominees

I was particularly impressed by the creation of Iron Man in the film of the same name last summer. As much as I dug Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, the real star, for me, was that Iron Man suit, a terrific visual effect that has now earned the film some nominations for the upcoming Visual Effects Society Awards.

There are way too many awards to go through, because the VES has a broad scope that includes TV series, commercials, movies, and video games, but the highlights for our purposes are that Iron Man leads the nominees with five total, followed by four each for The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones, and Bolt. Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Motion Picture:
Prince Caspian
Benjamin Button
Hellboy II
Cloverfield
Iron Man Oustanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture:
Changeling
Eagle Eye
Valkyrie
Nim's Island
Synecdoche, New York Oustanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Benjamin Button
Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Elemental Sequence
Iron Man
The Spiderwick Chronicles - Hogsqueal

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Box Office - Tryptophan Causes 50% Drop in Ticket Sales

The weekend box office was really below par as December kicked off. Punisher: War Zone, the weekend's biggest release, only made $4 million, winding up with an eighth-place debut. Ouch. The rest of the top ten, therefore, looks suspiciously like it did the previous weekend, only with smaller numbers. For example, the entire top ten only generated $73 million from Friday to Sunday, and just two weeks ago, Twilight did just under $70 million all on its own. It looks like some studio somewhere missed a golden opportunity to open big this weekend. Four Christmases repeated as the top film in the land, with Twilight and Bolt rounding out the top three. Australia had its last hurrah, earning $7 million, which was good enough for fifth place. It's about a 50% drop from its opening weekend, and because it's only made $30 million in the U.S., the prospects are not good. Baz Luhrmann's pet project was tremendously expensive, and it's unlikely that it can make the kind of money on the international stage that it would need to turn a profit. So, it's on to the DVD market for that one. Quantum of Solace finished the weekend in fourth place, but has slowed down a bit over the past two weeks, and looks less likely to become the first 007 movie to cross $200 million in U.S. ticket sales. It should still get to $175 million without too much trouble, but Casino Royale definitely had a stronger run after its opening weekend. This weekend was particularly bad, as the film lost 65% of its crowd from the previous weekend. If you compare them head-to-head, Casino Royale actually made more money than Quantum of Solace in its fourth stanza - in fewer theaters. The Top Five:1 - Four Christmases ($18.2 million)
2 - Twilight ($13.2 million)
3 - Bolt ($10 million)
4 - Australia ($7 million)
5 - Quantum of Solace ($6.6 million)

Fearless Forecast - 'Four Christmases,' Round Two

We said a few weeks ago that the real box office action this fall was in November, not December. Just look at the results: Three straight movies debuting with over $60 million, three straight movies setting a new mark for the fourth-highest opening of 2008. Madagascar had $63 million, and it now sits just shy of $150 million, then Quantum of Solace beat that debut by about four million, and its worldwide number is staggering - it'll hit half a billion this weekend, and might still get to $700 million overall. Twilight, of course, was the wild card, and we're looking at at least $150 million for that after a $70 million opening.And December kicks off with...Punisher: War Zone. Meh. There will be a little life in December with The Day the Earth Stood Still, although I don't think that's a $70 million debut, and looking ahead, maybe Seven Pounds and Yes Man will do pretty well, and I think Bedtime Stories will rule Christmas, but are we going to get three movies that combine for $500 million here in the U.S.? Nope.So this week is all about the retreads, because Punisher is not going to make much of an impact at all. In fact, I think the redheaded stepchild of the Marvel hit machine might make half of its total revenue this weekend before falling off the face of the Earth. (The reviews won't help, believe me.) Four Christmases bested projections last week, and I expect the good times to keep rolling for Reese and Vince. Twilight will still be a strong player, though it has lost significant steam. Bolt, the Disney 3-D flick that got overshadowed by teenage vampires two weeks ago, has played Twilight pretty even ever since, and it seems safe now to predict a total box office between $100 - $115 million here at home. It's certainly not one of the studio's big successes, but it may be enough to call it a minor hit.The only other new releases of note are Cadillac Records and Nobel Son, and neither one is popping up in wide enough release to throw the final standings for a loop.The Top Five: 1 - Four Christmases ($15.5 million)
2 - Twilight ($12 million)
3 - Bolt ($11 million)
4 - Quantum of Solace ($9 million)
5 - Punisher ($8 million)

Box Office - 46 Million 'Christmases'

Keep in mind that these are five-day totals we're talking about, but Four Christmases still did better than expected, which based on the reviews of the movie means people were just in the mood to laugh at a loud heavyset guy over Thanksgiving. In some families, that's a holiday tradition. But the Vince Vaughn-Reese Witherspoon flick made $46.7 million from Wednesday to Sunday, and was the clear winner over the five-day weekend, besting projections for the holiday comedy by almost $10 million, or even more in some cases.That doesn't necessarily mean the bloom is off the rose for Twilight. The $37 million movie made more than that in its second "weekend," good enough for second place, and a sign that this was not just an opening night phenomenon. And I promise that's the last time I'll use that word in conjunction with the vampire movie, which has now grossed a cool $120 million in ten days.Both Australia and Transporter 3 failed to scare up much business. They made far less than Four Christmases combined, at $20 million and $18.5 million respectively, and here's another example of being cognizant of the time frame: $18.5 million over five days is under $4 million a day, including a Friday and Saturday. So, Transporter is not a hit. The news is worse for Australia, which cost well over a hundred million bucks and won't make that back here in the United States. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and Milk, as we discussed yesterday, have slid into the lower rungs of the top ten, a great achievement considering the number of theaters in which they're playing.The Top Five (Wednesday - Sunday): 1 - Four Christmases ($46.7 million)
2 - Twilight ($39.5 million)
3 - Bolt ($36 million)
4 - Quantum of Solace ($28.1 million)
5 - Australia ($20 million)

Box Office - 'Four Christmases' Heads Toward Weekend Number One

Thanksgiving has been profitable for Christmases. The new comedy Four Christmases, starring Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, has done tremendous business since its release on Wednesday, earning $28 million over the three-day period beginning Wednesday, with a cool $13 million of that coming on Friday, according to Box Office Mojo. It seems likely that the holiday-friendly movie will hit $40 million or more over the extended weekend.

Barring some kind of huge reversal, Twilight will finish the weekend in second place. Though it has clearly been the weekend's second biggest hit, it has lagged behind Christmases on Thursday and Friday, and now trails is new competition by about four million dollars for the weekend prize. It's possible that Twilight can explode again on Saturday, but Christmases doesn't appear to be losing steam the way its negative reviews would generally indicate.The rest of the top five features Bolt, Quantum of Solace, and Madagascar, which is bad news for two other new releases. Australia, the sweeping, three-hour epic by Baz Luhrmann will be hard pressed to make $20 million in its five-day debut, a terrible sign for a movie that cost around $150 million. The reviews haven't been stellar, not good enough to support a big Oscar push, so Fox will probably back off of this film in the next couple of weeks; there's no sense throwing good money after bad.As for Transporter 3, I'm a little surprised that it's a stiff. Of course, history tells me that the series has not been overwhelmingly successful and that Jason Statham's last film, Death Race, was also a bit of a box office loser, but we're again looking at maybe a $20 million debut over five days, after $11 million in the first three.

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