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Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: May 20th 2012

Niall Browne — Sun, 20 May 2012 16:57:21 +0000

The Avengers fought-off top competition to retain its strong hold at the top of the box office. The Marvel adventure should gross an estimated $55 million worth of green over the three days, a number which gives the film an amazing $457 million total.

The Avengers is now on track to become the third highest-grossing film of all time at the US box office, and it should beat fellow comic book adventure The Dark Knight in the coming weeks (that film topped out at $533 million). The $220 million Shawarma advert probably won’t beat Titanic ($658 million) or Avatar ($760 million), but it should end its run in the company of those James Cameron films. On a worldwide level, Avengers has become Disney’s highest-grossing film ever, and it will likely beat Harry Potter and ...

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Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: April 8th, 2012

Niall Browne — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 19:18:09 +0000

The Hunger Games remained the box office champion over the weekend, scoring another $33 million and upping its mighty cume to $302 million. The Jennifer Lawrence-led adventure has now scored over $400 million globally.

Audiences showed that they love pie – American Pie. American Reunion (read our review) took a healthy $21.5 million worth of green at the box office over the weekend, showing that sometimes nostalgia rules the wallet. However, it must be noted that it was the lowest debut for the series since the first film in 1999. That film banked $18 million on its way to $102 million, while the sequel scored a mighty $45 million and topped out at $145 million. American Wedding in 2003 opened to $33 million and closed with just over $104 million.

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Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: April 1st, 2012

Niall Browne — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:47:33 +0000

The Hunger Games held off competition from Sam Worthington and Julia Roberts and retained the top spot at the box office. The Jennifer Lawrence starrer grossed $61.1 million over the weekend, a number that ups its cume to a fantastic $251 million. The production budget for the film is a reported $78 million, so this is a major success for Lionsgate, especially considering that The Hunger Games has crossed $364 million worldwide.

Sam Worthington’s second clash with the titans debuted to disappointing results in second place. Wrath of the Titans should see out the weekend with $34.2 million, a far cry from the $61 million that Clash of the Titans banked in 2010 – that film went on to gross $163 million at the domestic ...

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Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: March 25th, 2012

Niall Browne — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 17:59:58 +0000

The Hunger Games hunted down and killed all the competition over the weekend at the box office. The big screen adaptation of the hugely popular young adult novel banked a record breaking $155 million on its debut. The opening was the biggest ever for a non-sequel and the third largest of all time (trailing The Dark Knight’s $158 million)

The Suzanne Collins adaptation grossed $68.2 million on its opening day, almost the same amount as the original Twilight did on its first weekend ($69.1 million). In fact, The Hunger Games is acting like a sequel, with so much pent-up demand, and unlike Stephanie Meyer’s vampire romance, the dystopian drama is also attracting boys.

The Hunger Games has had great reviews (read ours) and the young cast featuring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam ...

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Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: March 18th, 2012

Niall Browne — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 21:46:00 +0000

The big screen adaptation of the Johnny Depp-starring 80s television show 21 Jump Street topped the box office chart, grossing an impressive $35 million. The Channing Tatum/Jonah Hill action comedy has had strong review (read ours) and it should have a shot at hitting the $100 million mark.

TV to movie adaptations are often a mixed bag, and for every hit (Mission: Impossible) there are a slew of misses (Sgt. Biko, Car 54, Where Are You?, and McHale’s Navy). Tatum is having a strong couple of months at the box office, with both 21 Jump Street and The Vow scoring big. He also has the action sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation and Steven Soderbergh’s stripper drama Magic Mike on the way in June.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax scored an additional ...

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‘John Carter’ Fans Campaign for Sequel; New Fan Trailer & Woola Clip

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 20:28:03 +0000

Disney’s John Carter may not have had a(n) (inter)stellar opening weekend, but there aren’t people (apparently many of them) who not only enjoyed seeing Carter’s journey to Barsoom (Mars) – they want Disney to make a return trip to the red planet.

You may (or not) remember a few weeks back when we posted an impressive John Carter fan-made trailer that circled the Net; that trailer came from a user named “Dotar Sojat,” who runs a site called The John Carter Files. Sojat pointed us to a grass-roots campaign where JC fans are gathering to collectively pledge their desire for a sequel film. As a bonus, Sojat has also cut a brand new fan trailer for the film.

Despite the pointed criticisms of some, we here at Screen Rant found ...

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SR Underground Ep. 29: ‘John Carter’

Ben Kendrick — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 16:00:30 +0000

The Screen Rant editorial team is back with episode twenty nine of the Screen Rant Underground.

Join host Ben Kendrick as well as fellow SR editors Rob Keyes, Anthony Ocasio, and Kofi Outlaw as we discuss the rumored Iron Man 3 storyline, a Project X sequel, Game of Thrones season 2 trailer and details, as well as review Andrew Stanton’s John Carter adaptation.

Screen Rant Underground is available in the iTunes Music Store (where you can subscribe as well as download individual episodes) but if you’re not near your home computer, check out our twenty-ninth episode in the player below.

Also, Screen Rant Underground is an EXPLICIT podcast. We don’t go out of our way to say controversial things or use explicit language but it does happen – so use discretion when playing the podcast at work and around young, or sensitive, ...

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Director Andrew Stanton Talks About His Passion For ‘John Carter’

Roth Cornet — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:07:13 +0000

Director Andrew Stanton’s John Carter opened in theaters last weekend (read our review) and has been the subject of a plethora of online discussions and debates for the past several days. Whatever a given individual’s take on the elements that surround the film may be, one thing is clear: the man at the helm had a deep passion for the material. We had the opportunity to sit down with the director in a roundtable discussion at the Arizona press event for John Carter, to talk about the path to his live-action debut.

Stanton has a life-long connection to author Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Barsoom” series, the first of which, “A Princess of Mars”, served as the source material for John Carter. The books were brought to his attention when he saw a friend’s drawings of – what he ...

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Weekend Box Office Wrap Up: March 11th, 2012

Niall Browne — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 17:43:16 +0000

For the last few weeks the eyes of box office watchers have been on Disney’s mega-budget John Carter (read our review). The pricey project has had poor tracking and many were wondering if Disney would recoup their $250 million investment – that’s just the production budget - at least another $100 million has been spent on the muddled marketing of the film. The result? A flaccid $9.8 million opening day, leading to an unspectacular opening weekend take of just $30.6 million.Director Andrew Stanton’s film has had a troubled production – it has been in development at a variety of studios for around a century. That’s not even hyperbole – they’ve been trying to make this film since the book was first published in 1912!

The Edgar Rice Burroughs source material has ...

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Counterpoint: 5 Reasons Why ‘John Carter’ Is A Disappointing Movie

John Hanlon — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:29:54 +0000

[EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is a counterpoint to our positive review of John Carter, and reflects the sole opinion of contributor John Hanlon.]

John Carter could have been a good movie. In fact, I included it in a list of 10 films that we here at Screen Rant were looking forward to this month. The trailer made the imagery look exciting and I was eagerly anticipating one of the first leading movie roles that Friday Night Lights alum Taylor Kitsch was taking on. Unfortunately, I was massively disappointed by this tired adaptation of the iconic Edgar Rice Burroughs story.

Admittedly, some here at Screen Rant have enjoyed this wannabe sci-fi epic, including managing editor Kofi Outlaw, who wrote our official John Carter review. But as a viewer and a critic, I was greatly disappointed – so ...

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‘John Carter’ Spoilers Discussion

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:06:54 +0000

While our readers are already this sci-fi adventure in the comments section of our John Carter Review, this is the place where you can discuss John Carter spoilers without concerns about ruining the movie for folks who haven’t seen it yet.

If you’re posting comments here, assume that anyone in the conversation has seen the movie – if you haven’t seen the movie, we would recommend you don’t read the comments here until you have.

We’ve set up a poll below where you can rate John Carter for yourself. Other than that, feel free to discuss the film and all its surprises!

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Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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Willem Dafoe Talks ‘John Carter,’ Tars Tarkas & Motion-Capture on Stilts

Roth Cornet — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:50:30 +0000

Willem Dafoe is not the voice of Tars Tarkas, in the sci-fi actioneer John Carter. Willem Dafoe is Tars Tarkas. When a reporter recently asked Dafoe how he enjoyed voicing the leader of the warrior alien race known as the Tharks, the actor responded: “Voiced schmoiced! I did that! I was up on stilts in the middle of the desert!”

Indeed, Dafoe has added some unusual skills to his already impressive resume with this film. In order to portray the towering alien fighter, Dafoe donned stilts, a performance capture suit, and learned a new (entirely ficitional) language.

The veteran actor spoke about his time on said stilts and what drew him to be a part of this epic retelling of author Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic “Barsoom” novel series at the Arizona press event for John Carter. (Read our ...

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‘John Carter’ Review

Kofi Outlaw — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:22:25 +0000

Screen Rant’s Kofi Outlaw Review John Carter

Disney’s John Carter takes on the daunting task of trying to adapt sci-fi icon Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1917 novel, A Princess of Mars, into a 3D modern blockbuster. Not an easy task for a family-friendly studio when the (much beloved) book in question is a mix of century-old sci-fi tropes, violence, skin-baring costumes and bizarre alien creatures. It’s even more of a challenge for director Andrew Stanton, who has (to this point) only helmed animated features like Finding Nemo and WALL•E. The stakes get even higher when you factor in the untested leading man (Taylor Kitsch) and lady (Lynn Collins), who are tasked with carrying the film.

With so much riding on it, does John ...

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Interview: Taylor Kitsch Talks ‘John Carter’

Roth Cornet — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 07:46:42 +0000

Disney’s sci-fi/fantasy epic John Carter opens in theaters this weekend. Based on the science-fiction series by Edgar Rice Burroughs that influenced multiple genres and enduring properties such as Superman, Star Wars and, ultimately, even Avatar, John Carter follows the story of a an embittered Civil War veteran who makes an unlikely journey to Barsoom (Mars) where the lovely and fierce Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) and the warrior Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) seek to enlist him to fight in a brutal planetary conflict.

We had the chance to sit down with the film’s star Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights, the upcoming Battleship) at the John Carter junket in gorgeous Comfort, AZ to talk about the fight training, and the physical and emotional marathon that was John Carter, as well as potential sequels.

Screen Rant: One of the elements ...

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10 Movies We’re Looking Forward To: March 2012

John Hanlon — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 17:55:28 +0000

Now that the Oscars have passed and we’ve survived the doldrums of the past two months, it’s time to get excited about movies again. Although we still have a few months before 2012′s biggest films hit theaters – I’m talking to you, The Dark Knight Rises – March offers a few films that we at Screen Rant are especially excited about.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of “10 Movies We’re Looking Forward to in March 2012.” Some are slated to be big blockbusters while others will likely just attract a niche audience. But, all together, they will all make for an interesting month at the cineplex.

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‘John Carter’ 10-Minute Clip Suggests a Fun Movie Experience

Kofi Outlaw — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:44:10 +0000

It’s safe to say at this point that the marketing campaign for Disney’s John Carter has been something of a mishandled affair. From the decision to cut the title “John Carter of Mars” down to the all-too-generic John Carter, to the decision to release an atmospheric first trailer as opposed to an action-packed one, the studio’s mission to position their film as the first big blockbuster of 2012 has instead resulted in an attitude of lackluster interest amongst the general public.

The marketing team for John Carter apparently knows that the film still needs a big push onto the mainstream radar, because in the final weeks leading to opening day, we’seen the the campaign ramp up dramatically, with action-heavy trailers and multiple clips of footage all being released to help prove ...

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New ‘John Carter’ Trailer Offers More Aliens & Warfare

Sandy Schaefer — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 20:06:57 +0000

It’s easy to forget that there have been only two theatrical trailers unveiled for director Andrew Stanton’s live-action/CGI treatment of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ sci-fi novel “A Princess of Mars”, here re-titled John Carter. There has been so much in the way of advanced footage released for the film, it almost feels as though anyone who regularly visits their local movie theater should be sick of hearing about it by now.

That’s far from the case, though, judging by the film’s weak preliminary tracking results, which suggest that awareness and interest are not that high among casual moviegoers. Hence, Disney has released a third (and final) John Carter trailer that’ll be airing on big screens around the U.S. during the week-and-a-half left until the movie hits theaters.

John Carter tells the tale of the titular character, a Civil ...

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New ‘John Carter’ & ’21 Jump Street’ Featurettes

Sandy Schaefer — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:49:25 +0000

A widowed Civil War vet attempts to reconcile with his past by engaging in other-planetary warfare, while a pair of newbie police officers have to revisit their embarrassing teenage years while working undercover at a high school. The premises couldn’t be further apart and yet are the setups for two major upcoming March 2012 releases, John Carter and 21 Jump Street.

Today we have new featurettes for the titles which both focus on the respective films’ central character duo: the titular hero (Taylor Kitsch) and Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) in John Carter, along with the nerdy Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and dumb hunk Jenko (Channing Tatum) in 21 Jump Street.

John Carter is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic sci-fi novel “A Princess of Mars” and tells the story of its namesake (Kitsch), a ...

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‘John Carter’: Fan-Made Trailer, Mondo Poster, & Early Reviews

Sandy Schaefer — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:00:39 +0000

Disney is pushing hard for its John Carter adaptation to become a ticket-selling smash when it hits theaters next month, but early tracking results are not boding well for the film’s box office prospects. Many people have chalked that up to the bulk of the movie’s marketing material, which has mostly painted the classic sci-fi literary adaptation as a bland “Disney-fied” variation on such effects-heavy blockbuster properties as Star Wars and Avatar (and other thematic descendants of author Edgar Rice Burroughs’ trendsetting John Carter source material, ironically enough).

Today, however, we have new material in the form of a nicely structured fan-made mashup trailer, a beautiful Mondo poster, and the release of several entertainment journalists’ Twitter reactions to John Carter (spoiler: they’re largely positive). All of these items suggest that director Andrew Stanton’s adaptation may turn out ...

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‘John Carter’ Sequel Is Already Being Planned

Sandy Schaefer — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:27:38 +0000

Walt Disney Pictures is wasting no time on setting the stage for next month’s John Carter adaptation to become the first in a new blockbuster series for the studio. The plan all along has been for the sci-fi flick to kick off a new trilogy – something which co-writer/director Andrew Stanton has previously made no secret of – and now progress on the next installment is already heating up.

Screen Rant‘s own Roth Cornet has learned that Stanton and his John Carter co-writer, Michael Chabon, have not only written outlines for the next two films in the series, but they’ve also actually begun penning a script for the sequel, tentatively known as John Carter: The Gods of Mars (the subtitle comes from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ second Carter novel). But is Disney ...

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