Weekend Receipts: It's Ava (yawn) tar
Join us now, your stalwart Movieline editors, as we re-adjust to non-Sundancian life with an analysis of the weekend's box office numbers. And hey -- what do you know? Avatar is the biggest movie in America. So much has changed! It's all Rip Van Winkle up in here.
Friday Box Office: Waning Avatar Clings to First
As January winds down, so, too, does Avatar's box-office momentum -- not enough to cost the blockbuster first place in the weekend sweepstakes, but quite possibly enough to keep it below $30 million for the first time in its staggering seven-week run. Attribute it to what you will, though Mel Gibson's comeback Edge of Darkness can no doubt claim a little bit of credit despite a softer than expected opening. The romantic comedy When in Rome settled into third place as expected with its own solid $4.4 million Friday, while The Book of Eli, Tooth Fairy and Legion are all on track for drops of more than 50 percent since last week. Click through for Friday's complete top 10.
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Dance! Dance! Dance!
Altitude sickness, sleep deprivation, burning eyes, one broken computer and a few extra pounds aside, our Sundance orbit this week resulted in one of the most sweeping weeks of coverage to date at Movieline -- and that's not even counting all the scintillating news and commentary that flowed in around it. We're still trying to get our heads around what happened; click through and help us sort it all out with the Week in Review. And have a great weekend!
Our Commenters of the Week Win a Personal Retelling of 2010's Best Pedophilia Joke!
The Lovely Bones did its darnedest to quash our love of the age-old pedophilia joke, but Louis C.K. rejuvenated our passion. We live! We thrive! We love jokes about calling the parents of the kid you schtupped! Now you, blessed Movieline commenters, have a chance at hearing a personal retelling of Louis C.K.'s fine work -- perhaps in a Skype session with Julie Miller or Stu VanAirsdale. Should be pretty great. So, who wins the offensive monologue?
And the Sundance Audience Award Goes to... Our Sponsors
Please find herewith a grateful shout-out to all our sponsors during Sundance Week, without whom your festival experience as a reader would largely have relied on whatever bed space and wi-fi we could cadge while stowing away in the back room of the Park Avenue Albertsons. (Hint: Not much!) If you love us, please join us in thanking the noble souls at:
· Cold Souls, coming soon to DVD
· Tequila Don Julio
· 500 Days of Summer, now on DVD
· Green Lodge at Sundance
Thanks also to our tireless colleague Mariana Stanciu, whose diligence and dedication helped make Movieline's coming-out party in Park City such a huge success. Let's do it all again next, year, shall we?
Say Whaaaa? Sarandon Spanks, Murphy Lecters and More of the Week's Absurdities
It's that time again, dear reader: Time to break out the mic, scan the headlines and join together in another rousing chorus of Say Whaaaa? We found several of this week's most notable pop-culture boners, missteps, bafflements and ridicule magnets at the Sundance Film Festival, but not even Park City could contain the scope of the absurdity catalogged after the jump. Back once more to lead the charge are the beloved Say Whaaaa? Singers -- take it away, fellas!
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HBO's Funny or Die Show: It's Like the Internet, Only Longer
Nearly a year and a half ago, HBO announced that it was teaming up with Judd Apatow and Funny or Die creators Will Ferrell, Chris Henchy and Adam McKay, for a ten episode series called Funny or Die Presents. And finally, Will Ferrell & Co. have released the trailer for their sketch comedy orgy, which features no less than two dozen comedians (count them!), a classic FoD bit (Drunk History), Wayne Newton and at least one hawk. Click through for the insane result.
Buzz Break: Pink is the New Blue
· I was hanging around the Filmmakers Lodge last night and ran across the (new to me?) Blue Valentine poster. Your sensitive ex wants this up in his bedroom now. Click for bigger.
· Flight of the Conchords director James Bobin either will or will not direct the next Muppet movie.
· Guy Pearce and Mary-Louise Parker are boarding the psychological thriller The Well for director Tim Guinee.
· Top Chef's Kevin Gillespie is dropping out of the prestigious Bocuse d'Or competition after winning his semifinalist slot on the show.
· What did being a Dollhouse producer mean to Eliza Dushku? "I made sure my crew was caffeinated," she told the LAT. "I made sure to have the coffee truck come in!"
Lost Leak
DarkUFO's got the first four minutes and change from Tuesday's Lost premiere, if you dare spoil yourself in the home stretch. The footage was sent in a flash drive to a couple hundred lucky sweepstakes winners who got roughly five minutes of exclusive cuddle time with the clip before all of us on the internet could access it. I'm trying to stay strong...just a few more days! [DarkUFO]
Hollywood Ink: Miramax is Dead. Long Live Miramax!
· Despite the obituaries and condolence notes making their ways around the industry this morning, surely nobody actually believes Miramax Films -- which shuttered its Los Angeles and New York offices this week -- is actually gone for good, do they? The Weinsteins have already made overtures that they're interested in buying back the brand they founded in 1979, and now Summit Entertainment has come along with an informal interest in the name and the library featuring Pulp Fiction, No Country For Old Men, Shakespeare in Love, Chicago and hundreds of other prestige titles. Disney reportedly refuses to split the two up. If only Harvey had something more he could leverage to make this deal happen... [Deadline]
Get ready for an explicit 3-D Caligula remake, don't hold your breath for a J.D. Salinger movie, and more Hollywood Ink after the jump.
Attractions: We Know the Feeling, Mel
Welcome back to Movieline Attractions, your regular guide to everything new, noteworthy and/or acutely nauseating at the movies. This week, an old pal of the box office returns, another rom-com is dumped on the public, and a horror-film festival very likely comes to a theater near you. Let's sort it out after the jump.
They Could Go. All. The. Way.
· Since CBS announced that it's accepting "advocacy" commercials for the Super Bowl, gay dating site Mancrunch.com has submitted the following ad for approval. CBS has already accepted a pro-life spot, so the obligation to broadcast this "liberal" clip is mighty. I want John Madden's play-by-play.
Fockers Bumped, Pilgrim Locked
The new-ish Universal regime has pushed Little Fockers out of summer blockbuster season and into the holiday frame, announcing a new Dec. 22 release date for one of its big franchise hopefuls for 2010. The move means extra time on post-production but also ups the stakes for a studio that needs all the hits it can get this year; Fockers will now go up against a whole different crop of high-octane Christmas-week releases including Gulliver's Travels and The Green Hornet. Meanwhile, Universal replaced Fockers with the Matt Damon thriller The Adjustment Bureau, and locked in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World for Aug. 13. Fanboys/girls rejoice. [LAT]
Quickstepping Down
Samantha Harris, who co-hosted Dancing with the Stars for eight seasons, is leaving the show to focus on her duties at The Insider and Entertainment Tonight Weekend. In truth, Dancing with the Stars is no longer a good fit for Harris, who spent last season's finale trying not to fall down. Mya disapproves. Meanwhile, DWTS judge Bruno Tonioli reportedly wishes Harris sexy, sexy times in her next endeavors and horny leaps onto tables full of opportunities, ay, yiy, yiy, what a woman, ten. [People]
