Box Office Update: It's A Kind Of Magic

It was a rather fantastical weekend at the box office, with the biggest opening weekend we've had since Toy Story 3 opened in July. Unsurprisingly, but more than welcome, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 took the top spot this weekend, posting the highest opening weekend for the beloved franchise, as well as the second best November opening, behind the infamous Twilight: New Moon. I'm glad to know that our fanbase isn't as crazed or insane as that one. It's still a really impressive take, especially considering that they didn't get the added price that comes with 3D. This definitely paves the way for Deathly Hallows: Part 2 to break some serious records.

Meanwhile, The Next Three Days disappointed, opening in fifth place with a meager amount. Megamind held on exceptionally well, barreling past the $100 million mark. Tony Scott's Unstoppable continues to defy the odds and succeed with audiences. I wish I could say that this weekend was up from the same last year, but for obvious reasons, that didn't happen. Still, it was favored better than the same weekend two years ago, when Twilight began to warp the minds of our teens.

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (First Weekend; $125.1 million)
2. Megamind (Third Weekend; $16.2 million)
3. Unstoppable (Second Weekend; $13.1 million)
4. Due Date (Third Weekend; $9.2 million)
5. The Next Three Days (First Weekend; $6.8 million)
6. Morning Glory (Second Weekend; $5.2 million)
7. Skyline (Second Weekend; $3.4 million)
8. Red (Sixth Weekend; $2.5 million)
9. For Colored Girls (Third Weekend; $2.4 million)
10. Fair Game (Third Weekend; $1.5 million)

Box Office Update: Safely Derailed

Well I'm feeling pretty confidant right now. Clearly not confidant enough to come up with a better title for this segment, but we can't expect all the problems with the world to be solved in one day, now can we? Needless to say that Megamind ended up keeping the top spot for one additional weekend, dropping a mere 35% despite the blunt force that Unstoppable was beginning to accumulate. Tony Scott's new thriller has a chance to post a higher total before the weekend is officially over, but I doubt it will end up topping the Dreamworks favorite. 3D sells when it is used properly and in service of a good story. As for Unstoppable, I'd much rather watch this SNL sketch that premiered last night than the actual film. You get the point easily from it.

Skyline didn't post a debut as high as analysts were expecting, though it somehow did break even this weekend due to a short budget. Morning Glory held up much better than I expected, though still nothing too impressive. Due Date dropped 52%, but only went down to third place, so it can still be called a success. Not as huge as The Hangover, but that's too much to hope for. For Colored Girls took to biggest drop of 65%, proving that audiences didn't quite adore it so much as expected. This weekend certainly paled in comparison to the same weekend last year, when 2012 opened in first with $65 million. Expect a huge increase next weekend when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 opens big while setting new records.

1. Megamind (Second Weekend; $30 million)
2. Unstoppable (First Weekend; $23.5 million)
3. Due Date (Second Weekend; $15.5 million)
4. Skyline (First Weekend; $11.7 million)
5. Morning Glory (First Weekend; $9.6 million)
6. For Colored Girls (Second Weekend; $6.8 million)
7. Red (Fifth Weekend; $5.1 million)
8. Paranormal Activity 2 (Fourth Weekend; $3.1 million)
9. Saw 3D (Third Weekend; $2.8 million)
10. Jackass 3D (Fifth Weekend; $2.3 million)

The Weekend Report: Back in (light) Blue

After a four week absence, The Weekend Report is back, giving you my insight on what you should and shouldn't see this weekend, based on my narrow perspective. We have three new releases, one of which has already had a trial run of two days, just to give it a head start. Morning Glory is the romantic comedy of the week, and it did have some potential to it. It seemed like an almost Devil Wears Prada sort endeavor, with Harrison Ford playing the Miranda Priestly sort of antagonistic force, while Rachel McAdams plays the naive female protagonist who falls for one of her coworkers, but not Ford himself. Unfortunately, reviews haven't been kind, and the film only raked in 1 million on its first day. It opened on silent buzz, and just hasn't delivered yet, so skip it.

The other two releases are varying action films with very different approaches. On the bottom of the spectrum is Skyline, which I was thinking of seeing because it has cool-ish visual effects. Then I found out from one reviewer that the aliens in the film want the humans for their brains, and that kind of killed any thought I had in my mind. If I ever see it, it will be on redbox. Finally, the film that I've already seen and weighed in on is Tony Scott's Unstoppable. I made my point clear that Scott's directing style just didn't rub me the right way. I suppose if I had seen more of his films, which it turns out are worse than this, I would've liked it more. As it is, the film gave me a pulsing headache throughout, not out of confusion, but out of sheer, loud, dumb fury.

What astonishes me about Unstoppable is that critics actually like it, and in fact love it. Maybe I'm just stupid. Maybe my site isn't actually legit. I don't know. So if you shouldn't go out to see any of the new releases this weekend, what should you see? Well, I've already given Megamind a huge thumbs up, and I just couldn't wait until the weekend to see it again. I almost made it, but it was Veterans Day and I wanted to celebrate not having any classes. It's a film worth seeing twice, and if you do decide to see it, see it with your friends, or better yet, your family. It's a ton of fun. Other than that, you could always go out and rent Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, now out on DVD. Then again, this is probably the weekend when everyone will be throwing their own Harry Potter marathon in preparation for the new film, so my opinion ultimately doesn't matter. In any case, comment below on what you want to see this weekend, or on what you've already seen and what you thought of it.

For Your Anticipation: NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Like that title? Well then you'll like this clip from Skyline even more. I'm of the firm belief that if you have nice visuals and action in a film, plot really does come second. I am one of the few people who didn't hate Transformers 2, and actually preferred it to the first film. Skyline looks like it will be successful in the same way. Give me action nice(ish) visual effects, then I'm good. Take a look for yourself, and let me know what you think.

Theatrical Trailer: Skyline

Well, so much for something good coming from this film. We got a vague idea of the cheesiness of Skyline from the teaser, but they really went all out for the final trailer. It's really something else. Take a look below.

"Skyline" Poster

Teaser Trailer: Skyline

The teaser trailer for Skyline premiered online just two days ago, and I find it discouraging that this is the first trailer for a film that arrives early this November. However, despite the little information it gives us, I actually kind of like this trailer. Sure, it's pretty much the same plot as every alien invasion movie ever made. A superior alien race wants to destroy us. FOR NO REASON! It does offer us some interesting CG visuals. Ever wonder what it looks like for a thousand people to be beamed up into a spaceship? This trailer answers that question. Take a look for yourself.

Comic Con 2010: Day 2 Panels!

Sorry if today isn't as eventful as yesterday. Nobody can expect any other major studio to pull what Disney pulled yesterday with their TRON Legacy panel. Today's panels were pretty standard, and we haven't really gotten anything special out of it. My source for Comic Con panel details yesterday, Kris Tapley from In Contention, hasn't done many posts today, but I thank him for the detailed look into the panels he saw yesterday. If you want to follow his twitter feed, you'll get a few more by the minute bits from Comic Con as they happen.

For the dish on today's panels, we turn to ComingSoon.net, who have given detailed descriptions of the goings on at Comic Con today. Today's panels included the Guillermo Del Toro produced Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, James Gunn's Super, Skyline, Green Hornet, The Other Guys, and Battle: Los Angeles. So check out the link provided above to find out more about the anticipated films.