X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE Dominates Box Office

Online leak or no, X-Men Origins: Wolverine slashed its competition at the North American box office with a remarkable $87 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Released by 20th Century Fox, the Gavin Hood-directed action spectacle scored an average of $21,225 per theater at 4,099 locations.
Starring Hugh Jackman in the title role, the film follows Wolverine as he seeks revenge against the evil-minded Victor Creed (Liev Schreiber) and William Stryker (Danny Huston). Also in the cast are Ryan Reynolds and Taylor Kitsch.

Debuting in second place with $15.3 million was Mark Waters‘ latest romantic comedy, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, which stars Matthew McConaughey as a celeb photographer [...]

Zac Efron’s 17 AGAIN at the Top of the Box Office

Zac Efron’s latest teen comedy, 17 Again, beat the competition at the North American box office this weekend with $24 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Directed by Burr Steers, the film follows a 37-year-old man who despises his existence and gets to relive his past as a 17-year-old. Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon and Michelle Trachtenberg co-star.

Debuting in second place with $14 million was Kevin Macdonald’s thriller State of Play, which stars Russell Crowe as a print journalist who launched his own investigation into the murder of a congressman’s assistant. Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams round out the lead cast.

Things didn’t turned out as well [...]

Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams in STATE OF PLAY Photos

Ben Affleck

Helen Mirren

Rachel McAdams

Ben Affleck

Robin Wright Penn, Ben Affleck
Photos: © Universal Pictures
Click on the images to enlarge them.

 
Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe in STATE OF PLAY Photos
Sylvia Miles, John Barry at MIDNIGHT COWBOY Screening
Oscar 2009: Robert Pattinson, Sophia Loren, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon
Oscar 2009: Jennifer Aniston, Penélope Cruz, Zac Efron, Daniel Craig
Oscar 2009: Penélope Cruz, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey

Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe in STATE OF PLAY Photos

Ben Affleck, Russell Crowe

Directed by Kevin Macdonald and adapted by Matthew Michael Carnahan, Tony Gilroy, and Billy Ray from Paul Abbott’s television series, the thriller State of Play stars Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Robin Wright Penn, Jeff Daniels, Justin Bateman, and Michael Berresse.
State of Play opens in the US on April 19.
Official site
Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams in STATE OF PLAY
Photos: © Universal Pictures
Click on the images to enlarge them.

Helen Mirren, Rachel McAdams, Russell Crowe

Helen Mirren, Russell Crowe

Jeff Daniels, Russell Crowe

Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck

 
Sylvia Miles, John Barry at MIDNIGHT COWBOY Screening
Oscar 2009: Robert Pattinson, Sophia Loren, Kate Winslet, Reese Witherspoon
Oscar 2009: Jennifer Aniston, Penélope Cruz, Zac Efron, Daniel Craig
Oscar 2009: Penélope Cruz, Angelina Jolie, Brad [...]

2007 Critics’ Choice Awards: Nominations

There were quite a few surprises among the nominees for the Broadcast Film Critics Association’s 2007 Critics’ Choice Awards.
Both Todd Field’s psychological sex drama Little Children (above, with Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson) and Clint Eastwood’s Japanese-language Letters from Iwo Jima were nominated in the best film category, but Eastwood’s highly praised Flags of Our Fathers was not.
Letters from Iwo Jima also showed up in the best foreign language film shortlist (a first at the Critics’ Choice Awards), along with Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, which has been both panned and praised (sometimes in the same review).

Leonardo DiCaprio received two best actor nods (another first), for Blood Diamond and The Departed, while Ben Affleck (above, with Diane Lane) was [...]