Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D murders the competition this weekend at the Box Office, kicking-off with a bang on Friday night with $10.2 million. Although slipping noticeably throughout the weekend, the Horror Remake starring Alexandra Daddario and Trey Songz still lands on-top with $23 million for Lionsgate Films/VVS Films, from 2.654 theatres across North America. Rising Star Daddario recently was in Toronto and we caught-up with her. Click here for more.
After menacing in second last weekend Django Unchained still is going strong in its third week with $20.1 million for The Weinstein Co./Alliance Films, keeping The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey behind in third with $17.5 million for Warner Bros., after a successful three weeks in-a-row at number one.
Les Misérables slips to fourth this weekend with $16.1 million, for Universal Pictures, at once surpassing the $100 mark domestically.
Parental Guidance meanwhile still continues to hang-on top the Top Five after a valiant fight, earning $10.1 million this weekend, giving Moviegoers some much-needed funny fare aside from some of the heavier-hearted options out right now.
Judd Apatow‘s This is 40 meanwhile continues to perform steadily, landing in seventh with $8.6 million, closing-in on the $60 million mark, keeping Best Picture Contender Lincoln at bay with $5.2 million in eighth.
Despite a relatively quiet promotional campaign, Gus Van Sant‘s latest Promised Land enters quietly in tenth with $4.6 million. Its Script was penned by its Stars, Matt Damon and John Krasinski.
Bubbling under, The Impossible, based on true story of a Family which survived 2004‘s devastating Tsunami while on vacation in Thailand, debuts in ninth spot with $2.76 million from 572 theatres and is set to expand next week to bigger numbers. Naomi Watts is expected to gain an Oscar nomination Thursday for her powerful performance as Maria Belon in the Film from Focus Features/eOne Films.
Best Picture Frontrunner Zero Dark Thirty, which stars the currently-on-Broadway Jessica Chastain is seeing an enormous amount of buzz for in the Oscars Race, earning an impressive $2.75 in just 60 theatres! The Drama about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, finally sees a wide release next Friday.
With the voting deadline having passed for Academy Members, Deadline is reporting much controversy over the transition of the voting process from over-the-mail to online. Apparently, some Movers & Shakers and even Oscar-winning Actors themselves were having technical issues accessing their accounts as they scrambled to make this week’s deadline. Click here to read more about that.
Non-theatrical Drama aside, I am beyond-excited for this Thursday morning’s Oscar Nominee Announcements. Expect Jessica Chastain to be the definitive Favourite to win Best Actress for Zero Dark Thirty, as is the case with Anne Hathaway in the Category of Best Supporting Actress based on her bone-chilling Les Misérables Performance. In a tight match, Hugh Jackman and two-time Winner Daniel Day-Lewis foreseeably will be neck-in-neck for Best Actor, while Django Unchained Co-Stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz likely will vie for Best Supporting Actor along with Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln, and Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master. In a year with several standouts, Zero Dark Thirty, Silver Linings Playbook, Django Unchained, Argo and Lincoln all to be in close contention, while divisive Dark Horse The Master, could surprise.
Seth MacFarlane hosts the 85th annual Academy Awards on February 24, 2013. ABC airs at 7:00 PM EST.
As a reminder, the Golden Globe Awards follow only a few days after the Oscar Nominations are unveiled, taking place on Sunday, January 13, 2012 at 8:00 PM EST, to air on NBC; Tina Fey & Amy Poehler host.
I live for this!
(Photo credit: Oscars.com)
Although they kicked-off with a bang on Christmas Day, neither Les Misérables nor Django Unchained could unseat The Hobbit from the throne on this final weekend of 2012 and believe me, the latter came close. The first installment of the Peter Jackson Trilogy earns $31.5 million this weekend in North America from 4,100 theatres and worldwide it already has grossed over $600 million for Warner Bros.
Quentin Tarantino‘s latest Opus, Django Unchained, debuts in second with $31 million for The Weinstein Co. and Alliance Films, already being touted potentially as the Auteur Filmmaker’s highest-grossing Film ever. With final numbers still come in, it is quite possible we might see a reverse in the order of finish tomorrow with this over-performing Oscar Contender on-top. Since Christmas Day, the Action/Thriller/Western/Drama was earned a stellar $64 million. Critics in addition to audiences are loving the Flick, earning a stellar 89% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer.
Tom Hooper‘s Les Misérables started strong on Christmas Day earning $18 million, tailing-off a little since, but the $61 million Musical from Universal Pictures still performs exceedingly well in third with $27.4 million. With overall positive reviews at 72% on the Tomatometer, audiences worldwide are responding and in only a few days, it has grossed $68 million domestically.
Parental Guidance might not have gotten great reviews (17% on Rotten Tomatoes), but the Holiday–Comedy opens with $14.4million this weekend for 20th Century Fox in fourth, landing just a head of Jack Reacher starring Tom Cruise, in fifth with $14 million in its second week.
This is 40 gave Moviegoers a more lighthearted option this Christmas and gets rewarded with $12.5 million this weekend, already surpassing its production cost of $35 million in two weeks of release.
Meanwhile, Disney‘s Lincoln still is going strong in its eighth week with $7.5 million from 1,966 theatres at seventh spot. Rise of the Guardians in its fifth week rounds-out the Top Ten with $5 million from Paramount Pictures.
2012 was a memorable year for Music, with several standouts in Music and Film. I was busier than ever chasing Stars in the City, with several Celebrities having good reason to visit Toronto this year, including one of the most star-studded TIFFs in recent memory. Let’s take a walk down Memory Lane in honour what I feel were the most memorable Films, Pop Songs and personal Celebrity Encounters!
Top Ten Movies of 2012
1. Argo
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
3. Django Unchained
4. Ted
5. Silver Linings Playbook
6. The Hunger Games
7. End of Watch
8. The Sessions
9. Les Misérables
10. Rock of Ages
Top Ten Singles of 2012
1. Brokenhearted – Karmin
2. What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger) – Kelly Clarkson
3. Madness – Muse
4. Midnight City – M83
5. We are Young – fun. ft. Janelle Monáe
6. Dance Again – Jennifer Lopez ft. Pitbull
7. Skyfall – Adele
8. Wide Awake – Katy Perry
9. Starships – Nicki Minaj
10. Gangnam Style – PSY
Top Celebrity Encounters of 2012
Steven Tyler, Paula Abdul, Sheena Easton, Alanis Morissette, Nelly Furtado, Carly Rae Jepsen, PSY, The Wanted, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, fun., Karmin, Emeli Sandé, Adam Lambert, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Quentin Tarantino, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Robin Williams, Jon Voight, Malcolm McDowell, Viggo Mortensen, Matt Dillon, Andrew McCarthy, Rob Lowe, Linda Hamilton, Ben Affleck, Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Joe Manganiello, Aaron Johnson, Ben Whishaw, Dane DeHaan, Joel Kinnaman, Daniel Radcliffe, Josh Hutcherson, Zac Efron, Logan Lerman, Jeremy Irvine, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Michael Shannon, Patrick Wilson, John Krasinski, Adam Sandler, Tracy Morgan, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Mann & Judd Apatow, Allison Williams, Meg Hilty, Lisa D’Amato, Cobie Smulders, Zoe Kazan & Paul Dano, Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Mélanie Laurent, Marisa Tomei, Eva Mendes, Lily Collins, Alice Englert, Elle Fanning, Kristin Scott Thomas, Christina Hendricks, Kim Kardashian, Seann William Scott, Stephen Amell, Ricki Lake, Connie Chung, Jacky Cheung, George Takei, Mike Smith, Rosie Napravnik, Frankie Dettori, Andy Roddick & Brooklyn Decker and Jeremy Lin.
(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)
While we’re in the spirit of Les Misérables, I am thrilled to hear finally a full HQ Version of Anne Hathaway performing I Dreamed a Dream. The Track is available on Les Misérables – Highlights from the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, which originally was scheduled to be released on Boxing Day, but now is in-stores today.
Listen to Hathaway‘s raw, powerful and emotive performance in full right here on Tumblr. You won’t believe your ears that the is the same young Woman who starred in The Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted not too long ago.
Order the Soundtrack right here.
(Photo credit: Universal Pictures | Audio content: Universal Music)
If this doesn’t give you goosebumps, I don’t know what will. An Extended Look at Les Misérables has just been released and here we get insights from Amanda Seyfried, Hugh Jackman, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway on the groundbreaking process of recording all Songs while live-acting, versus in-studio weeks prior. Redmayne says it most eloquently about the process, “The fragility of emotions is matching the words the characters are saying”.
Watch the Extended First Look below:
Everything about this says Best Picture.
Les Misérables opens Christmas Day via Universal Pictures.
(Photo/video credit: Universal Pictures)
For advertising opportunites please contact mrwill@mrwillwong.com