Harry Potter finale grosses $92.1 million in its first day - a new record

It seems like Harry Potter's fortunes just keep multiplying. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 brought in an estimated $92.1 million dollars on its opening day of 7/15/2011, according to Box Office Mojo. We'll learn the complete number on Sunday, but the sequel is easily the most successful opening (monetarily) in U.S. box office history, beating The Twilight Saga: New Moon $72.7 million opening in 2009 and The Dark Knight $67.2 million opening in 2008. 

Click to read more ...

Inception extracts an impressive $61.7 million over the weekend (box office)

For a while, I thought I might be dreaming, but Inception is officially a hit. Audiences around the country have recognized a great film for its merits, not its brand. The Christopher Nolan epic brought in $61.7 million from around 3,792 theaters, topping even the best estimates of $60 million. It's the best opening ever for star Leonardo DiCaprio, and probably most everyone else in the film, and also the 2nd best opening for a science fiction film that isn't a sequel. Avatar is first.

Click to read more ...

Will BATMAN 3 be in 3D or IMAX?

Will Batman 3 jump on the 3D bandwagon? Well, we don’t know just yet. Neither does series cinematographer Wally Pfister. Cinematical caught up with him on April 15, hours before he received the Star Award for achievement in cinematography from the Dallas Film Society. He was pretty vocal on 3D and IMAX. Christopher Nolan and he decided against filming Nolan’s upcoming Inception in 3D, but he wouldn’t rule it out for the next Batman. IMAX though, that might be difficult.

Read the rest of the story here

Here's a cool video tribute to DC Comics movies

While we should never forget how bad Batman & Robin is, there have been some great movie moments for DC Comics characters. This collection of cool moments was found by Peter Sciretta at /Film. Though some of these movies are pretty bad, this video sure paints a different picture.

Next BATMAN may be the last for Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan is usually very tight lipped about his upcoming projects. The director of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Insomnia, The Prestige, and Memento now has a third Batman and a new Superman film and on his plate. However, the LA Times managed to pry some info from him about the upcoming films.

On the upcoming sequel to The Dark Knight, Nolan said his brother Jonah is locked away writing the final draft of the film. Quotes and info on Superman after the jump.

Click to read more ...

SUPERMAN 6, from the makers of THE DARK NIGHT

Superman is returning to theaters again, this time shepherded by Batman Begins and The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan. Even better, today reports indicate that Batman series writers Jonah Nolan and David Goyer are writing the new film, still tentatively titled The Man of Steel. 

Rumors went flying today, but the consensus is that the new film is moving forward and will not retell Superman's origin story. We don't yet know if it will acknowledge the older films. Superman Returns director Bryan Singer and star Brandon Routh will not be returning for the new film, which is now a priority for Warner Bros. The company must get another Superman film into production by 2011 or face losing the Superman license. Even worse, it might have to pay a boatload of cash to get that license back. It's always about the Benjamins.

Click to read more ...

News Bits - David Spade profits off of dead Chris Farley in DirecTV ad, Hollywood downsizes, Batman vanishing video (Funny), SNOW WHITE imagery in CITIZEN KANE

This will be a fairly short and offbeat edition of news bits. There isn't a whole lot of interesting news to cover today. 

David Spade sells out Chris Farley in DirecTV ad

I saw this ad the other day and, I'm sorry, but it rubbed me the wrong way. I'm no huge Chris Farley nut, but didn't anyone think this is a wee bit insulting to the dead comedian? Take a look yourself. /Film seems to agree with me. 

More news and videos after the jump.

Click to read more ...

The Box Office is quite Twittery lately

Reuters has written about something I’ve been noticing lately. Movies are flopping a lot faster this year. They’re also rising a lot faster. From my experience, midnight showings are growing more popular, though perhaps its because this year is particularly full of sequels (what year isn’t).

Reuters speculates that social site Twitter is responsible for a lot of the hastening.It’s one of many new ways movie fans are instantly communicating with one another. Many times, people text or Twitter right during the movie, to the dismay of everyone sitting around them.

Click to read more ...

Harry Potter 6 posts the largest midnight opening ever

I totally predicted this one. $22.2 million from 3,003 theaters: that’s how much Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince grossed at 12:01am last night. It’s a new record, besting The Dark Knight by $4 million. The movie has a shot at the single day record too, which Dark Knight also set at $67,165,092, if it can rake in another $45 million by the end of the night tonight. $45 million is do-able. Transformers 2 made $46 million in it’s opening day, after a midnight showing of $16 million.

I don’t think Harry Potter will be setting any weekend records though. It may trend more like Bruno: down. Much of the audience leaving seemed bewildered and disappointed at my midnight showing. Word of mouth may not go so well, despite the high critical acclaim Half-Blood Prince seems to be getting. From what I’m told, this movie also butchers the book a lot more than the other movies, which will bother hardcore Potter-ites. My review of the movie is here.