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26 Dec 2011 10:43

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U.S.: 2011 box-office’s big drop: Major stars, horror flicks, family films flop

  • $500 million the expected drop in box office between 2010 and 2011
  • 4.5% decline the fall in box office this year, partly blamed on the lack of “Avatar”
  • hits The biggest hit of 2011? “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” which scored $381 million in the U.S. alone. The latest “Transformers” and “Twilight” movies also scored this year.
  • bombs On a $150 million budget, “Mars Needs Moms” only made $39 million worldwide. Horror films struggled, and even major stars like Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts were no longer bankable.
  • surprises The two biggest were “Bridesmaids” (a female-focused twist on the Apatow film) and “The Help,” both of which had solid box-office runs. The secret? Both were aimed at older audiences. source
  • » Better news in 2012? Possibly. With such high-profile films as “The Hunger Games” and a remake of “21 Jump Street” hitting the theaters, it’s entirely possible that 2012 could hold up way better than 2011. And as “The Lion King” showed this year, 3D remakes are proving to be especially financially sound. Two fairly large ones — “Star Wars: Episode One” and “Beauty and the Beast” — will hit the box office in 2012.

18 Sep 2011 22:07

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Culture: Circle of cash: “The Lion King” re-release roars back to life — in 3D

  • 45% of viewers went to see the second “Kung Fu Panda” movie in 3D
  • 58% of viewers saw “Rio” in 3D — a format which has been on the wane of late
  • 92% of viewers saw “The Lion King” re-release in 3D — which is like whoa source
  • » Waaaaaaaaaay above expectations: Disney expected “The Lion King” to make $15 million during its first weekend of a two-week re-release, 17 years after Simba walked his way into our hearts. Instead, the movie made $29.3 million this weekend, which tells us one thing — Disney needs to get on re-releasing movies in 3D format, stat, because it’s a money machine.

29 Sep 2010 10:41

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Culture: “Star Wars,” which we’ve never seen, getting the 3D treatment

  • good George Lucas’ Lusasfilm is going to release the “Star Wars” series in 3D starting in 2012, meaning it’ll be back in theaters.
  • bad They’re starting with “The Phantom Menace.” Dear Mr. Lucas, you should probably forget the last three movies existed.* source
  • * Disclosure: The staff of ShortFormBlog is basing that comment on the comments of many other people, because we’ve never actually seen any of the “Star Wars” movies. Out of principle.