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Mike Judge's Next Movie Being Dumped?
Cinema Blend News — Mike Judge's Next Movie Being Dumped? Mike Judge continues to be underappreciated. For his next movie Extract , he’s gotten away from Fox, the studio which screwed him over twice and dumped his movies where no one could see them. Now he’s at Miramax, and it looks like they could be positioning themselves to do the same thing. Extract has a release date, and it’s not a good one. According to Exhibitor Relations they’ve slated the movie for a September 4, 2009 release. That’s right, September, the month where movies go to die. The movie will debut in limited release and then ...

Mike Judge's 'Extract' Gets September 4th Release Date
:: The Playlist :: — ... "Extract," Mike Judge's latest film, recently received a September 4th release date from its distributor, Miramax. Judge, the mind behind the cult classic "Office Space," and the lesser cult-film, "Idiocracy," ...

SUNDAY CENTS: A ‘Star’ is reborn
In Contention — ... What do you guys think for “Angels & Demons?”  Here are the weekend’s top domestic grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations: ...

SUNDAY CENTS: Holy hit
In Contention — ... crown with $78 million or so through Monday. Whew! But wait. The Wayans Brothers want in on this action. No, not the Wayans Brothers you already know, but their sons and nephews. That’s right. Damon Wayans Jr. and Damien Wayans are taking over the family name with “Dance Flick.” The expiration date on this type of comedy has long past so I can’t see more than $8 million for the four days. Here are the weekend’s top domestic grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:

SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Terminator’ frustration
In Contention — ... raves from Cannes, this one remains a tough sell for Disney. I think $46 million would be a win, even though it would mean Pixar’s lowest debut ever (barely). Sam Raimi also enters the fray with “Drag Me to Hell,” a film which I thought would be marketed heavier. A few weeks ago I would have said $30 million easy, but now I’m looking at $19 million for the weekend. What do you guys think?  Here are the weekend’s top domestic grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:

SUNDAY CENTS: Stocked ‘Up’
In Contention — ... Academy Award nominee Nia Vardalos returns to the screen in “My Life in Ruins.” You could easily substitute the word “life” for “career” as this thing looks like it could only possibly appeal to grandmothers. Preferably senile ones who can’t remember that Vardalos already made all the same Greek jokes in her last movie and TV show. $4 million if there’s a God out there. What do you guys think? Here are the weekend’s top box office grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:

SUNDAY CENTS: Dark clouds ‘Hangover’ Ferrell
In Contention — ... marketing so I think it can go the distance with $35 million or so. Eddie Murphy has a wildly inconsistent recent career but his milquetoast-looking family films do the best business.  “Imagine That” is one of those but “Meet Dave” and “Norbit” are still leaving a bad taste in the mouth of any Eddie fans so I think $16 million might be the limit here. What do you guys think?  Here are the weekend’s domestic grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:

SUNDAY CENTS: Bad ‘Hangover’ for new openers and holdovers
In Contention — After denying “Up” the bragging rights of a repeat at the top of the box office at the last minute, “The Hangover” has accomplished that feat itself. The R-rated comedy dropped a minuscule 26% to add another $33.4 million to the bank and give it a very real shot at $200 million-plus. That’s a benchmark reserved for very few comedies and only the best of the best like “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Crocodile Dundee.” Speaking of those two, it’s a pity Nia Vardalos didn’t look to Paul Hogan’s career for a glimpse at the dangers of repetitive ethnic-centric comedy. If there’s a bigger success story ...

SUNDAY CENTS: Audiences accept Bullock’s ‘Proposal’
In Contention — With absolutely nothing targeted towards the date crowd yet this summer, Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds took the stalest looking romantic comedy all the way to the top of the box office with $34.1 million. That’s far and away Bullock’s best debut as she’s used to figures in the high teens and then leggy runs after that. For Reynolds, well, it’s not even his biggest opening this summer but he now has thousands of Grandma’s to count as new fans. Given the dearth of direct competition, I think this has enough gas in the tank to get to $100 million. Way past that figure is “The Hangover,” ...

SUNDAY CENTS: Box office ‘Trans’-stormed!
In Contention — ... Between the Confederations Cup and Michael Jackson, this was a rushed post but feel free to have at the “Transformers” performance in the comments section below.  Here are the weekend’s top domestic grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations: ...

SUNDAY CENTS: One fine gay
In Contention — *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Sacha Baron Cohen’s full frontal assault on audiences took the top spot at the box office this weekend with an estimated $30.4 million from 2,756 screens. Considering that “Borat” made $29 million from 837 screens in its debut and then $31 million from 2,566 in its second weekend, I think it’s safe to say that lightning hasn’t struck twice in the same spot here. Universal can still be happy with its $40 million investment as the film has bright prospects overseas and on home video. But with almost 50% of the ...

SUNDAY CENTS: Wild about ‘Harry’
In Contention — *All historical figures are adjusted to today’s dollars. To the surprise of no one, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” was the number one movie at the box office this weekend with $79.5 million. The film made an additional $80.1 million on Wednesday and Thursday, so Daniel Radcliffe and company have just under $160 million in the bank after five days. Comparisons to other Potter flicks are pointless except the previous entry since it was the only other film to debut on a Wednesday in the summer. “Order of the Phoenix” opened in 2007 to $80.5 million over ...

SUNDAY CENTS: ‘G.I.’ dough
In Contention — *All historical figures are adjusted to today’s dollars Paramount secured what is likely to be the last blockbuster opening of the summer with “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” this weekend. For a film that was plagued with bad buzz a few months ago and was withheld from most critics, a $56.2 million start is a fantastic result and on par with other kid-friendly action films like “Fantastic Four” and the early August start of “XXX.” Of course, legs will be atrocious and a total gross of around $120 million is the likely tipping point, but Paramount will be more than happy to take that to ...

SUNDAY CENTS: ‘District’ shines
In Contention — *All historic figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Internet hype doesn’t always translate into box office success, but “District 9” was able to live up to the buzz and debut with a strong $37 million and the top spot this weekend. For a film that cost a reported $30 million to make, this is obviously a huge win for Sony and one of the bigger surprises of the summer. As a buddy succinctly put it in a tweet: “’District 9’ might be the only movie this year I want to see that I didn’t know I wanted to see six months ago.” Credit the fantastic marketing and an ...

SUNDAYE CENTZ: Glory for ‘Basterds’
In Contention — ... What do you guys think? “Final Destination” or “Halloween” for the win?  Here are the weekend’s top box office grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations: ...

SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Halloween’ suffers ‘Final’ cut
In Contention — *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. When it comes to a death match, would anyone bet against death himself? Two high profile horror franchises released their latest installments on the last weekend of the summer and the winner is “The Final Destination.” $28.3 million is a new high for the series and proves the value of 3D, at least as far as body parts flying out of the screen are concerned. There’s no other explanation as to why these movies would continually improve since they are, quite literally, the exact same plot done again and again with only the ...

MONDAY CENTS: ‘Destination’ Labors to another victory
In Contention — ... to get in. I want to give it $7 million, but if it hits, this could be a surprise $13-$16 million performer. Number one should easily go to “I Can Do Bad All By Myself,” though. Tyler Perry has the midas touch and has pioneered the combination of church video drama and fat suit comedy. This one should be able to do $25 million easy but probably closer to $30 million. What do you guys think?  Here are the Labor Day weekend’s top domestic grossers, courtesy of Exhibitor Relations:

SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Do Bad’ does good!
In Contention — *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Another day, another dollar for Tyler Perry. The man has released two films a year since 2006 and can’t seem to be unsuccessful if he tried. “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” is an easy candidate for worst title of the year, but it opened to the tune of $24 million and first place by a mile. That ranks as Perry’s third-biggest debut as director and his best outside of February. If you are looking for one of the most unique and successful box office stories of the decade, look no further than the rise of the Perry Empire. He is ...

SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Cloudy’ clears up box office
In Contention — (EDITOR’S NOTE: My fault on the belated nature of Chad’s column.  Back on track next week.) *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. It had been almost two months since a PG-rated film hit the marketplace and parents were desperate for something to take their kids to. The result is “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs” topping the chart with $30.1 million and the seventh-biggest September debut of all time. It also tops the $25.9 million of “Open Season” to become the biggest animated debut ever for Sony, which is not really considered a major player ...

SUNDAY CENTS: Phenom ‘Activity’
In Contention — The number one movie at the box office this weekend was Universal’s “Couples Retreat” with $35.3 million. That’s the ninth-biggest October debut in history and the biggest total ever tallied on this particular weekend of the year, but it’s not the biggest success story of the weekend. Not by a mile. No other films were released wide to compete against Vince Vaughn and company, so the (last) resort comedy was able to stretch its legs and monopolize the date crowd despite poor reviews. Mainly, people showed up to see if the filmmakers actually had the gall to cast Jon Favreau as the irresistible ...

SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Wild Things,’ you make everything…groovy
In Contention — Well, it was maybe the most anticipated PG-rated film amongst the young adult set since “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace” and “Where the Wild Things Are” landed with a bang this weekend. The Spike Jonze adaptation grossed $32.5 million to top the box office and justify all the bickering and problems during production between director and studio. Warner Bros. is having quite a year with unique directors tackling projects and possibly turning in a different movie than the studio was expecting (“Observe and Report” and “The Informant!” also come to mind), but it’s hard to ...

SUNDAY CENTS: Jigsaw scared off by ‘Paranormal Activity’
In Contention — Four weeks after opening on 12 screens with only midnight shows, “Paranormal Activity” has topped the box office and made mincemeat out of the “Saw” series. Paramount’s no-budget thriller earned $22 million this weekend on 1,945 screens and saw its total stretch past $60 million. This type of ascent to the summit hasn’t been seen since “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” in 2002 and with at least one more lucrative weekend over Halloween, the film has surely etched its name in the record books as one of the most profitable of all time. Congratulations to everyone involved and thanks for ...

SUNDAY CENTS: That was it?
In Contention — *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars Michael Jackson’s concert footage was finally released upon the public amid a whirlwind of hype that caused many, including myself, to get a little carried away. The documentary grossed $21.3 million from the three-day weekend, second only to “Fahrenheit 9/11” for docs, and $32.5 million since opening on Wednesday. Compared to what Sony must have thought it MIGHT get, this is a disappointing result, but compared to what was spent and what type of product this actually is, it’s still phenomenal. If it wasn’t for the fluke ...

SUNDAY CENTS: Slight ‘Christmas’
In Contention — *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. The first weekend in November is considered the official kick-off of the Holiday season at the box office and so it’s appropriate that Robert Zemeckis’s yuletide digital experiment, “A Christmas Carol,” is the film leading the way. The film grossed $31 million for the weekend to easily claim the top spot and set itself up very nicely for a strong, two-month run. Sure, it’s nowhere near the $63.1 million that “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” claimed on this weekend last year, but “The Polar Express” ...

SUNDAY CENTS: Apocalypse wow
In Contention — *All historical figures are adjusted to today’s dollars. Roland Emmerich’s still got it. And by “it,” I mean the ability to make blockbuster hits out of the same movie again and again. “2012” opened at the top of the box office with $65 million and the seventh-biggest opening of 2009. It’s also the 10th-biggest November opening of all time, sliding in between last year’s “Quantum of Solace” and 2002’s surprise juggernaut “8 Mile.” Mid-November releases have the benefit of the highly lucrative Thanksgiving holiday coming somewhere around their second or ...

SUNDAY CENTS: ‘Twilight’ning strikes again!
In Contention — *All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Well, that happened. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” proved the franchise was no one-hit wonder by opening with $140.7 million over the weekend, breaking numerous records in the process. The $72.7 million pulled in on Friday is a new single day record, leaving “The Dark Knight” in the dust. The November opening weekend record of “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” is disintegrated. The two days Chris Weitz’s film took to reach $100 million equals the fastest on record. The weekend figure ...