TopBilled
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Posts posted by TopBilled
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Hit: The biggest hit so far is PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES. This is not surprising since the Disney franchise has historically done very well. Its worldwide ticket sales have reached nearly $1 billion.
Hit: Universal had the second-highest grossing motion picture in the first part of 2011. Director *Justin Lin* scored a blockbuster with FAST FIVE starring *Vin Diesel*. It went over well at the box office, earning over a half billion.
Hit: The WB **** THE HANGOVER PART II has performed very strongly and is still doing business as of this writing. It currently has made in excess of $500 million.
Hit: DreamWorks did very well with KUNG FU PANDA 2. It earned a cool half billion and likely paves the way for the third installment.
Hits: 20th Century Fox has scored two top earners so far this year. Its animated treat RIO is its biggest winner with $469 million, but X-Men: FIRST CLASS also did brisk business for the studio, coming in at $320 million.
Hit: Paramount premiered RANGO in March. This computer animated hit, featuring the vocal talents of *Johnny Depp* and *Isla Fisher* has made back almost double the original $135 million cost.
Hit: The other top ten winner for Paramount this year has been THOR. Superhero movies based on comics continue to do big business. Director *Sam Raimi* dropped out of the project, but its success was still assured when *Kenneth Branagh* took over. The film has made $436 million.
Hits: Columbia rounds out the top ten list of hit movies. Movie goers threw $227 million into studio coffers for THE GREEN HORNET, and about the same amount of coin for JUST GO WITH IT, a rom-com starring *Adam Sandler* and *Jennifer Aniston*.
Miss: THE BEAVER. *Jodie Foster* reunited with *Mel Gibson*. But unlike their earlier hit MAVERICK, this project was a major flop. Though it had a modest budget of $20 million, it only made $1 million. Does the fact that this film only made back 5% of its overhead have anything to do with Foster slipping to third-billing in her next film?
Miss: MARS NEEDS MOMS. Mars needed a prayer at the box office. The sci-fi adventure comedy, produced in 3-D, failed to catch on with audiences this year. Only $39 million has been recouped from the hefty $150 million price tag.
Miss: Another film without a prayer in theatres was PRIEST. It cost $60 million, but made only $75 million. While that is indeed a profit, the film pretty much flopped in the U.S. and made most of its cash overseas.
Miss: YOUR HIGHNESS, a raunchy medieval comedy did not go over highly with audiences. Universal shelled out $50 million to make it, and it only earned back half that amount.
Miss: Someone thought remaking the *Dudley Moore* classic ARTHUR would be a good idea. Wrong. The new version, starring *Russell Brand*, cost $40 million and made back $45 million. At least it broke even, but what was the point?
Miss: Folks stayed home instead of going to the PROM. This film is the lowest earner in 2011. Disney aimed for the youth-oriented market and flopped badly. The problem? A cheap budget and bargain-basement entertainment that led to poor word of mouth. Cost: $8 million. Earnings: $10 million.
Other misses have included SUCKER PUNCH, a musical thriller distributed by Warners that failed to connect; GREEN LANTERN, another comic book-inspired superhero movie which barely broke even; and JUDY MOODY AND THE NOT BUMMER SUMMER, that arguably has had one of the strangest titles as well as box office misfortune.
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Obviously, you are starting an opinion thread. And obviously, many others will have opinions contrary to yours. LOL
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I agree, clore. I think they played up a matronly image for her, to make the contrast between her and Shirley's characters that much more noteworthy.
By the way, I am assuming these two ladies became good friends, because Brooks has them both again in THE HAPPY ENDING, with the billing exactly the same. In HAPPY ENDING, Jean looks radiant and very youthful...this is nine years after ELMER GANTRY.
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It sounds like you are implying that TCM is doing this to promote itself, and that if HBO and FLIX do not do it, then TCM being the classy channel it is should not do it either? Is that what you are saying? Please speak up so the jury can hear you...
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That's a very good post and gives us a much clearer picture of Tony Randall. I would not say he resigned himself to being typecast in secondary roles. In his movies of the late 50s, he is clearly the comic lead...in ROCK HUNTER without help from Rock Hudson, and in THE MATING GAME where he plays the main love interest, to Debbie Reynolds in an MGM production (definitely an A film from that time). Even in the 60s, he has leading roles in comedy films. Granted, some of them at that point are probably lower-budget, but he is still top-billed with Barbara Eden in THE BRASS BOTTLE and with Janet Leigh in HELLO DOWN THERE.
The role that probably stretched him as an actor was the TV movie he did that led to the Love, Sidney series. It was not yet the saccharin sitcom that NBC transformed it into, but it was a comedy-drama about a homosexual man. The gay orientation of the character would be much less overt in the weekly series.
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I think PROFESSIONAL SWEETHEART aired last year when she was SOTM. They really should've done the singing cowboys then, and saved her as SOTM for July 2011.
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Nostalgia sells. When DIRTY DANCING was all the rage in '87, it clearly drew on the music and memories of the 60s. Now, we are twenty some years later, and the trend is to look back at the 80s. These kinds of films connect the generation that first experienced and lived those times with their ticket-buying kids who are curious about what it was like 'back then.' It's smart Hollywood business when you think about it. I just hope the projects they've chosen to do result in satisfying productions for audiences.
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The way you described her versatility is exactly right. I bet if they had given her Lady Macbeth to do, she would've nailed it. There wasn't anything she couldn't do.
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Yes, that is when TV was good. Really good. The writing on today's shows is vastly inferior and most of the performances now lack style in my opinion.
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I have yet to see any titles with Helen Twelvetrees...maybe I missed some of the showings on TCM. Her work is completely obscure to me. I would like to see at least one of her films. MILLIE is the one that seems most interesting.
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There are different reasons why some threads have more replies than others. And as we know, replies are not always directly proportional to thread views.
I believe that any thread with over 50 replies signifies a discussion that has engaged many people on the message boards. This takes into account the fact the original poster may have made multiple replies in response to others.
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I have FLIX too and I thought they had a bug. Now, I will really have to pay closer attention! At least this thread is making us all more aware...
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How come I don't remember it in pig latin? LOL I will have to go back and re-watch it!
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I just watched her in a film I rented from Netflix yesterday. It was NIGHT PASSAGE with James Stewart and Audie Murphy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elaine_Stewart
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That's right, she did play Kramer's mother! He clearly did not inherit her looks. LOL
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Ginger's appearance on Here's Lucy occurred in 1971. It was one of the highest rated episodes of the season.
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TCM aired PARK ROW within the last year, but there was something terribly wrong with the print.
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Hi Prince,
I am going to post another one of my infamous 'where are they' threads, this time the focus will be Columbia. It looks like you have listed a handful from the 30s, mostly precodes. There will be slight duplication on my list, so I hope you forgive me for stealing a bit of your thunder. I don't focus as much on precodes, though. My group will contain more the titles that Cohn produced during the production code era.
Look forward to your feedback when I post the new thread today!
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There was a five year gap between the original GHOSTBUSTERS and its first sequel. Now over 20 more years have passed. Apparently, they are trying to get Sigourney Weaver to reprise her role, but she hasn't agreed yet. The billing this time around is rather interesting, because the main characters from the first two films are actually supposed to support a young lead couple, to make it appeal to modern audiences.
There are other 80s blockbusters that may get remade, too. Anyone remember COCOON? LOL And what about all those John Hughes teen comedies...?
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Thanks Fred for the trivia. I had forgotten that!
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I love the color westerns that Columbia did in the 50s with folks like Randolph Scott and Dorothy Malone. Then, there's the studio's black-and-white noir, such as Kim Novak and Fred MacMurray in PUSHOVER or Aldo Ray in NIGHTFALL, plus the ones starring Vince Edwards. As for drama, Crawford's QUEEN BEE is truly fabulous. Screwball comedies at Columbia during this time are filled with merriment and fun, in vehicles starring the incomparable Judy Holliday and resident nut Jack Lemmon.
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Just when you thought it would never happen, the 80s are back-- at least on screen. Hollywood seems to be caught up in a tidal wave of nostalgia. Studios are hoping that by greenlighting remakes of familiar movies, it will automatically translate into strong ticket sales. Of course, most of the films on the following list are only in pre-production right now. But the first one, a remake of the Kevin Bacon classic FOOTLOOSE, will make it to the multiplex very soon.
*FOOTLOOSE*. Filming began a year ago by Paramount. More than 17 years have passed since the original. This time the young leads are played by dancer Kenny Wormald and country singer Julianne Hough. Folks will start kicking up their heels when it hits theatres in mid-October.
*PRIVATE BENJAMIN*. Anna Faris has been hired to take over the role popularized by Goldie Hawn back in 1980. This project is in pre-production. Modern wars will be used as the backdrop. Expect this one from New Line in 2012.
*POLTERGEIST* is ba-a-ck. MGM has had a remake in the works since 2008. Scott Derrickson and Stiles White are working on an updated script. Director and cast have yet to be determined. The studio is hoping for 2013.
*RED DAWN*. MGM is pulling out all the stops in partnership with DreamWorks for this big-budget remake. The $75 million project stars Chris Hemsworth and Josh Peck. Interestingly, the bad guys in this one have been changed from Chinese to North Korean. Touchstone is distributing. Tickets will go on sale later this year, during Thanksgiving weekend.
*GHOSTBUSTERS III*. Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and Harold Ramis have all signed on for the latest installment. This is more a sequel as opposed to a remake, but you get the idea. Nostalgia for one of the 80s' biggest hits will probably make this latest version from Columbia just as popular with movie-goers. It is set for release in 2012.
Rumored: Several more similar projects are being touted as in-the-works. Among the others are a remake of the original *POLICE ACADEMY*; a modern re-telling of Disney's *HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS*; and *BEVERLY HILLS COP*, the most profitable movie from the decade that gave us PG-13 and countless blockbusters.
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I am going to try a haiku (5-7-5, right?).
I love RKO
It's my fav'rite studio.
Go RKO, go!
LOL
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It's been awhile since we have seen FIDDLER ON THE ROOF on TCM. I think it should be shown more often.
GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT recently aired on the 5 Star Max channel on June 16, so it is in rotation out there.
My one BIG complaint about TCM
in General Discussions
Posted
Comment that has not been addressed yet: when the film being presented is in letterbox format, the bug appears perfectly under the picture in the black area below.