‘Tropic Thunder’ Leads Box Office For Third Week, While ‘Dark Knight’ Tops $500 Million
The Box-Office Top Five
#1 “Tropic Thunder” ($14.3 million)
#2 “Babylon A.D.” ($12 million)
#3 “The Dark Knight” ($11 million)
#4 “The House Bunny” ($10.5 million)
#5 “Traitor” ($10 million)There’s an old rule of fashion that says you’re not supposed to wear white after Labor Day. Rival studios might want to seriously think about convincing Robert Downey Jr. that the adage is supposed to say black.
Downey and Ben Stiller’s “Tropic Thunder” continued its late-summer dominance over the holiday weekend, scoring $14.3 million to lead the American box office for the third consecutive week. In doing so, the action parody bested four new wide releases and boosted its overall total to $86.6 million — or about one dollar for every time I’ve heard someone use the phrase “full retard” within the last month. (Note to pop-culture savants: It’s not funny anymore.)
Also not laughing this weekend: Vin Diesel (and anyone who saw “Disaster Movie”). Already extensively ragged on by its director, Mathieu Kassovitz, Diesel’s sci-fi epic “Babylon A.D.” failed to catch on with audiences either, managing less than $10 million for the three-day weekend and just $12 million including the holiday. Oh well, there’s always “The Chronicles of Riddick II,” Mr. Diesel. Or another “Pacifier” movie, for that matter. Frankly, I want to see both about the same amount. Which is to say, not at all.
- from MTV
Hollywood endures summertime blues
The lucrative summer moviegoing season in North America ended on a lackluster note on Monday as ticket sales limped to a new record while attendance slumped to a three-year low.
The U.S. Labor Day holiday weekend, which marks the traditional end of summer, was led for a third round by “Tropic Thunder.” Ben Stiller’s Hollywood satire earned an estimated $14.3 million during the four-day period. It marks the lowest tally for a Labor Day holiday chart-topper since 2004, when the martial-arts film “Hero” opened to $11.5 million.
The DreamWorks/Paramount comedy, which Stiller directed and stars in alongside Robert Downey, Jr., has earned about $86.6 million to date. Four new entries were largely ignored, with 20th Century Fox’s Vin Diesel sci-fi picture “Babylon A.D.” coming in at No. 2 with just $12 million.
The overall picture for summer was not particularly shiny, with a 4 percent rise in the average U.S. ticket price to $7.16 saving the day for the movie industry.
Estimated sales inched up 0.43 percent from last year’s record to $4.2 billion, while the number of tickets sold slid 3.5 percent to 586.9 million, according to tracking firm Media By Numbers. The previous low for attendance was in 2005, when 563 million tickets were sold.
- from Reuters
‘Tropic,’ ‘Babylon’ in dead heat at B.O.
Twentieth Century Fox’s Vin Diesel sci-fi actioner “Babylon A.D.” and holdover DreamWorks/Paramount comedy “Tropic Thunder” were in a dead heat as the Labor Day weekend got underway at the domestic box office.
“Babylon”grossed $3.1 million as it opened in 3,390 theaters Friday, while “Tropic Thunder” grossed $3 million. There’s a good chance that “Thunder” could pull ahead of “Babylon” for the top spot at the weekend B.O. In the midst of its third frame, “Tropic Thunder’s” cume is $75.4 million.A co-production with StudioCanal, “Babylon” opened in France on August 20, grossing close to $4 million to date.
Overall, the top 10 films Friday totaled an estimated $19.6 million, off 28% from the same day a year ago, when MGM-Dimension redux “Halloween” grossed $10.9 million on its first day and $30.6 million for the four-day weekend.
Among the holiday’s other new offerings, Overture’s Don Cheadle-Guy Pearce suspense pic “Traitor” grossed $2.17 million from 2,054 to come in No. 5 for for the day. The pic’s cume since opening Wednesday is $3.7 million.
- from Variety
Download Rain of Madness from iTunes free, the documentary featured within Tropic Thunder
Grab it while you can! Rain of Madness is available from iTunes free, a 30 minutes mockumentary, which was featured within Tropic Thunder. It’s like getting a DVD extra, but at a “nice price.” The documentary was filmed and narrated by filmmaker Jan Jürgen (see below). In real life, Jan Jürgen is Justin Theroux, former actor and co-writer of Tropic Thunder and the upcoming Iron Man 2.
“We wanted to do a fake documentary about the making of the movie within the movie which is called ‘Tropic Thunder’ — not the actual movie ‘Tropic Thunder.’ The fake documentary focuses on the real movie’s fake director, and what happens to the fake cast before they go into the real jungle. It’s pretty straightforward,” says Ben Stiller, one of the stars of the documentary and the director/star/producer and co-writer of “Tropic Thunder.”
Click here to grab Rain of Madness from iTunes….
Below is the poster to Rain of Madness, click to embiggen.
“Rain of Madness,” starring Jay Baruchel, Jack Black, Steve Coogan, Robert Downey Jr., Bill Hader, Nick Nolte and Ben Stiller, is a companion piece to the hit comedy “Tropic Thunder,” which debuted in theaters nationwide on August 13, and serves as a documentary of the making-of the feature film. It was shot on location in Hawaii, at the same locations used in the feature film, and details the demise of the fictitious cast & crew of “Tropic Thunder,” as they struggle to finish shooting their film despite numerous shooting, budgeting and casting problems.
“Original material for web consumption is a growing area for us, and ‘Rain of Madness,’ dovetails perfectly with the theatrical release of ‘Tropic Thunder.’ They complement and reinforce one another, while staying true to the comedic sensibility that Ben and his team brought to ‘Tropic Thunder’. We hope fans will appreciate this exclusive digital content and continue the experience at http://www.RainOfMadness.com,” says Amy Powell, Senior Vice President, Interactive Marketing, Paramount Pictures.
‘Tropic Thunder’ tops boxoffice again
Moviegoers were again drawn to the surprisingly resonant allure of “Tropic Thunder” this weekend.
DreamWorks/Paramount’s R-rated comedy repeated atop the domestic boxoffice amid weaker-than-expected competition, marking a modest 38% decline from its first session for an estimated $16.1 million on the frame and a 10-day cume of $65.7 million.
Sony’s PG-13 comedy “The House Bunny” hopped into second place with a sprightly $15.1 million in opening grosses. But Universal’s action thriller “Death Race” — which had been expected to speed to the top spot — found its boxoffice throttle stuck at just $12.3 million in a third-place bow.
Elsewhere, the grosses were similarly tepid over summer’s penultimate boxoffice frame, though Warner Bros.’ “The Dark Knight” reached a phenomenal cume of $489.2 million in a fourth-place showing of $10.3 million over its sixth session.
- from THR
‘Thunder’ Dethrones a Batman Blockbuster
“Tropic Thunder,” a controversial movie industry spoof from Paramount and its disbanding DreamWorks unit, took in an estimated $26 million at the weekend box office, knocking “The Dark Knight” out of the No. 1 spot after an extraordinary monthlong run on top.
“The Dark Knight,” a Batman sequel from Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures, placed second at the box office with $16.8 million in weekend ticket sales, for a total of $471.5 million since it opened on July 18.
It passed “Star Wars” to become the No. 2 movie of all time at the domestic box office, behind “Titanic,” which posted $600.8 million in sales after its release in 1997. That ranking does not account for the considerable effect of inflation over the years.
Over the weekend Warner scored another success with its “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” an animated picture from LucasFilm, which took in $15.5 million for third place.
“Tropic Thunder,” directed by Ben Stiller, who is also among its stars, has been dogged by the protests of advocates for people with disabilities. More than a dozen groups called for a national boycott of the movie because of what they saw as its blatant disregard for the intellectually disabled.
The film opened about as well as similar R-rated comedies, though it cost considerably more than most. Studio executives have acknowledged spending more than $90 million, at least triple the cost of “Pineapple Express,” an R-rated comedy released Aug. 6 by Sony Pictures Entertainment.
- from NYTimes
‘Tropic Thunder’ thwarts ‘Wars,’ ‘Knight’
“Tropic Thunder” continued to make noise at the B.O. in its third day, pulling in an estimated $8.2 million Friday and topping fan boy entry “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and the former No. 1 champ “The Dark Knight.”
Playing in 3,319 theaters, Paramount-DreamWorks’ “Thunder” advanced its overall cume to $19.2 million. It is still estimated that the action comedy could pull in a $20+ million Friday-Sunday haul similar to that of “Pineapple Express” last weekend.
George Lucas’ animated production “Clone Wars,” distributed by Warner Bros., drew $6.2 million from 3,452 locales in second place. The PG-rated pic, which features voiceovers from “Star Wars” thesps Samuel L. Jackson and Christopher Lee, could potentially get a boost from Saturday matinees as is typical with toon fare.
- from Variety
‘Thunder’ to strike down the ‘Knight’
After four weekends at the top, “The Dark Knight” should finally get washed out of first place.
DreamWorks and Paramount’s big-budget comedy “Tropic Thunder” opens at 3,319 playdates on Wednesday and has a good shot at staying No. 1 through the weekend.
Studio is looking for the Hollywood sendup, which stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr., to at least match the overall five-day take of last week’s “Pineapple Express” at $41.3 million.
- from Variety
DreamWorks shuts down Simple Jack site
DreamWorks has put the kibosh on simplejackmovie.com — a website aimed at promoting the studio’s upcoming comedy “Tropic Thunder” — in response to criticism from disability rights advocates.
The elaborate site was created by the marketing department of Paramount Pictures, which releases all of DreamWorks’ films, as an homage to a character played by Ben Stiller’s Oscar-chasing actor character. In the film, which opens Aug. 13, Stiller plays a thesp best known for his performance in a fictitious drama titled “Simple Jack” — a satirical jab at Hollywood actors’ proclivity for taking on mentally challenged characters.
The site, which was aimed at teenage boys and garnered fewer than 35,000 hits, featured a poster with Stiller and the tagline “Once upon a time … there was a retard.”