Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Anna Camp
Director: Jason Moore
Running Time: 112 mins
Certificate: 12A
Release Date: December 21st 2012
Director: Jason Moore
Running Time: 112 mins
Certificate: 12A
Release Date: December 21st 2012
It films were marked purely on originality, Pitch Perfect wouldn’t do very well. It’s Bring It On meets Glee, with a plot that delves into pretty much every cliché of the underdog competition subgenre it can find. Thankfully though, Pitch Perfect has an excellent trump card, which is that it’s very, very funny.
Beca (Anna Kendrick) heads for college, but she doesn’t want to be there. She wants to go straight to LA and get into the music business, but her father has told her she has to get a degree first. He does eventually make one concession though – if she throws herself into university life and joins at least one club, he’ll support her move to LA after the first year if she still wants to go. [Read more…]
When it was first announced, few people gave Pitch Perfect much chance of box office success, due to the fact musicals are notoriously boom or bust, and not that many people have an innate interest in a cappella singing. However the film has grossed $64 million in the US and only cost $17 million to make (and it’s still to be released in many countries, so will add to the gross).
It might not have hit the $150-$160 million opening some were predicting, but The Twilight Saga – Breaking Dawn Part 2 was certainly no slouch at the US box office, taking $141 million, which is the eighth biggest first three-day take ever. It was slightly behind New Moon, which still holds the franchise record with $142 million, but slightly ahead of Breaking Dawn Part 1.
Throughout last week, the predictions of how well Skyfall would do on its US opening kept growing. It went from a possible $50 million debut, until the day before its opening many were thinking $60 million, perhaps even $70 million. By Friday the predictions had reached $80 million, but in the end even that was too conservative, as by Sunday it had hit $90 million.
While each of the previous Paranormal Activity movies has opened stronger than the last, Paranormal Activity 4 broke that streak with a soft $30 million debut. It will still be an incredibly profitable film, as it only cost $5 million to make, but it’s certainly a dip from part 3’s $52.6 million.
Taken 2 has topped the US box office for a second week running, taking another $22.5 million to take it total to $86 million after 10 days. While the holdover stayed top, Ben Affleck’s Argo was a strong second, outpacing many people’s expectations by taking $20 million to place second on the charts. It also got a very good reaction from audiences, suggesting it should have a good run at cinemas.
Sony execs will be smiling today, as while September is usually seen as a bad time to release family films in the US, Hotel Transylvania took a strong $43 million, which isn’t just good for an original animated movie, but is actually the biggest weekend gross any movie has ever taken in September. Indeed the month is normally such a slow time the previous record holder was Sweet Home Alabama, which took $35.6 million on its opening in 2002.