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Sunday, August 17, 2014

Box-Office Update: Sly's Expendables Get Beat Bad....

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" stayed number one at the cineplex this weekend while "The Expendables 3" bombed out--getting beat by the action comedy Let's Be Cops. After years in development, the film adaptation of The Giver did ok biz but was at the low end of its expected tally. James Gunn's great film adaptation of Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" (My Review) crossed $200 Million in the U.S.

I saw "Cops" on Friday...My review posts this week.



Pamela McClintock of THR:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Guardians of the Galaxy easily stayed atop the North American box office as The Expendables 3 underperformed in its debut, grossing just $16.2 million.

That's by far a franchise worst. The first Expendables debuted to $34.8 million domestically in August 2010, followed by $28.6 million for the sequel in August 2012. Both those films were rated R, while the threequel is rated PG-13, meaning it should have seen a boost from being more family friendly.

In addition to potential fatigue, a pristine copy of Expendables 3 leaked on the Internet hurt the movie's box office performance, much like what happened when X-Men Origins: Wolverine was pirated before its release in 2009.

From Lionsgate and Millennium, Expendables 3 was even beat by 20th Century Fox's Let's Be Cops to come in No. 4 domestically. Let's Be Cops, placing No. 3, took in $17.7 million for the weekend for a pleasing five-day debut of $26.1 million (the R-rated comedy opened Wednesday). The weekend's third new player, YA film adaptation The Giver, rounded out the top five with $12.8 million.

Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies' TMNT remained at No. 1 in its second weekend, falling 57 percent to an estimated $28.4 million for a domestic total of $117.6 million. Overseas, the Michael Bay-produced film earned another $25.6 million for an international total of $67.5 million and world haul of $185.1 million.

Disney and Marvel's Guardians, crossing the $200 million mark in its third weekend domestically, followed in North America with an estimated $24.7 million for a cume of $222.3 million through Sunday (that's ahead of fellow summer tentpole The Amazing Spider-Man 2, which grossed $203 million in North America). Better yet, Guardians raced past the $400 million mark at the global box office.

Expendables 3, featuring a multigenerational lineup of action stars, is hoping to make up ground overseas, where it began rolling out this weekend in a number of markets, including Russia, a haven for action. Numbers weren't immediately available.

The Expendables series is the brainchild of Sylvester Stallone and Avi Lerner, whose Nu Image/Millennium partnered with Lionsgate on the series. The films have generally cost in the $90 million range to produce and have done especially big business overseas. Expendables 2 took in $220.4 million internationally, compared to $85 million in North America.

This time out, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Jason Statham) and other team members battle villain Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson). The sprawling cast includes Harrison Ford, Kellan Lutz, Ronda Rousey, Randy Couture, Antonio Banderas, Jet Li, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Kelsey Grammer, Terry Crews, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz and Robert Davi.

Lionsgate distribution chief Richie Fay said he couldn't comment on the impact of the piracy, but said a number of factors played a role in the movie's diminished opening. He noted the series is playing older, despite the deliberate attempt to make the threequel more appealing to younger audiences. Moviegoers over the age of 25 made up 66 percent of ticket buyers this weekend, compared to 65 percent for Expendables 2 and 60 percent for the first Expendables.

"The good news is the A- CinemaScore. The folks that are getting to see it are really enjoying it. I think we're in a good place as far as the older audience coming out over a period of time," Fay said.

Buddy action comedy Let's Be Cops, starring Damon Wayans Jr. and Jake Johnson, cost Fox a modest $17 million to make. Directed by Luke Greenfield, the comedy follows two friends who pretend to be Los Angeles police officers. Andy Garcia, Nina Dobrev, Rob Riggle, Keegan-Michael Key and James D'Arcy also star in the film, which earned a B CinemaScore.

"Honestly, it shows that people want to go to the movies and laugh," said Fox distribution chief Chris Aronson. Let's Be Cops skewed notably younger, with moviegoers under the age of 25 accounting for 54 percent of all tickets bought. Caucasians made up 50 percent of the audience, followed by African-Americans (20 percent) and Hispanics (17 percent).

Going after younger moviegoers and faith-based audiences was The Giver, directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Lois Lowry's 1993 YA novel of the same name. More than two decades in the making, the $30 million film was co-financed and co-produced by The Weinstein Co. and Walden Media.

The Giver, starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Brenton Thwaites, came in slightly less than expected after earning a B+ CinemaScore.


Next Up: After a long nine year wait The Weinstein Company' finally delivers "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For". Robert Rodriguez co-directed the film with Frank Miller using their adapted screenplay written with William Monahan.

The characters of Nancy Callahan (Jessica Alba), Hartigan (Bruce Willis) and Marv (Mickey Rourke) are back, Nancy's mini-story will act as a bridge for both the other stories in this film as well as those in the first film-Rosario Dawson is back as well. The stories told in the sequel take place before and after the events in the first Sin City. Jaime King, who played Goldie and Wendy in the first film, is going to reprise her role as Wendy. She will be joined by Jamie Chung, who will be taking over the role of deadly little Miho, previously played by Devon Aoki. Eva Green has been cast in the role of Ava Lord. Stacy Keach ("Prison Break," "The Bourne Legacy") has signed to play mob boss Wallenquist, described by Miller as "the one man who can't be redeemed in Sin City. He is pure evil." Clive Owen was expected to come back. However, since his character undergoes a radical face change, Josh Brolin is playing Dwight Dennis Haysbert will play Manute in the film The role was previously played by Michael Clarke Duncan, who unfortunately passed away. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is poised to play a smooth talking gambler named Johnny, a role which was originally offered to Johnny Depp. Christopher Meloni plays a brutish cop. Julia Garner (Martha Marcy May Marlene) will play a young stripper opposite JGL's Johnny. Ray Liotta, Juno Temple and Jeremy Piven also star.

Author Gayle Forman's novel "If I Stay" comes to the big screen. Mia Hall (Chloƫ Grace Moretz) thought the hardest decision she would ever face would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at Juilliard or follow a different path to be with the love of her life, Adam (Jamie Blackley). But what should have been a carefree family drive changes everything in an instant, and now her own life hangs in the balance. Caught between life and death for one revealing day, Mia has only one decision left, which will not only decide her future but her ultimate fate.

R.J. Cutler (“The September Issue”) directed the film from an adapted screenplay by .

When The Game Stands Tall is based on the inspirational true story of high school football coach Bob Ladouceur, (Jim Caviezel) and his assistant coach Terry Eidson (Michael Chiklis). who led the perennial losing California team, the De La Salle Spartans Football to twelve consecutive undefeated seasons from 1992 to 2004 and a streak of 138 straight victories.

Laura Dern will play Ladouceur’s wife, Alexander Ludwig will play the Spartans’ standout running back Chris Ryan. "Coach Carter" and "Save the Last Dance" helmer Thomas Carter is directing using Scott Marshall Smith's ("The Score") adapted screenplay from the book by Neil Hayes

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