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Madagascar Escape 2 Africa Best Cartoon

Madagascar Escape 2 Africa Best Cartoon

Madagascar Escape 2 Africa Best Movie Cartoon

Madagascar Escape 2 Africa Popular Cartoon

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BOX OFFICE 2008

I'm not sure if you noticed but 2008 came to a close a few days ago. This means the box office is officially closed and we can tally up what were the biggest hits of the year. Overall, the 2008 North American box office pulled in a staggering $9.6 billion dollars, moving 1.4 billion tickets. Believe it or not, this is actually down from 2007. It is only down by 0.4% mind you. Apparently, no matter what the economic climate, we've always got money for the movies.


Let's see ... what was the biggest box office story of the year? Geez, that's a hard one. Alright, I'll knock it off. The biggest box office story of the year was easily the success of Eddie Murphy's MEET DAVE. OK, now I will seriously knock it off. So, again, the biggest box office story of 2008 was easily the colossal success of Christopher Nolan's THE DARK KNIGHT. For the first time since its release, a film came within reach of sinking TITANIC to become the number one box office hit of all time. This did not come to pass but I'm sure no one really cares. THE DARK KNIGHT, be it because of the Heath Ledger fascination factor or just because it was so darn great, crossed over every single demographic it could to score the biggest opening weekend in history. I knew it was going to be big; I couldn't even get tickets for opening night. However, I didn't think it was going to be that big. You could feel it though. There was a very strong sense of urgency to see this film and it carried over for weeks. THE DARK KNIGHT also played well on IMAX theatres as well as internationally, where it almost topped $1 billion. It is sure to do so in a couple of weeks though when it is rereleased in theatres to push its Oscar chances. The best thing about THE DARK KNIGHT is that it brought people together. It isn't often that a film connects with so many people so congratulations to the whole cast and crew for all their success.


The second and third place films finished very tightly with less than $1 million difference between them. IRON MAN ultimately won out over INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL though. Well, at least domestically. Internationally, INDIANA JONES was the second biggest hit of the year, while IRON MAN finished fifth. These two films are funny to compare as they are both huge money makers but one could describe their domestic takes as both a huge success and a disappointment. IRON MAN opened to nearly $100 million to kick off the summer season. No one expected this one. I also don't think anyone expected to enjoy it as much as they probably did. Meanwhile, INDIANA JONES opened slightly higher but I think the industry was expecting bigger things. I certainly don't think they thought the bat would best them; that's for sure.


Not surprisingly, the Top 10 contains no less than four animated features. While, MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA is still tracking, I doubt it will move much higher on the chart and surpass the two biggest kid flicks. When WALL-E opened, it too surpassed expectations. The response was extremely positive as well so prognosticators expected WALL-E to go on to become one of Pixar's biggest triumphs. The public did not follow up though and WALL-E merely went on to just pass last year's RATATOUILLE. And while WALL-E is the animated king domestically, KUNG FU PANDA whooped WALL-E's metal butt internationally, earning over $120 million more to become the third biggest international hit of the year. This may just be because KUNG FU PANDA came first and got the jump on WALL-E. Personally, I did my part as I saw WALL-E in the theatre three times. Yup, I'm that geeky.


Hollywood learned a valuable lesson this year, the value of the female dollar. For so many years, it was assumed that the box office was primarily male driven but three films in particular this year made it very clear that women should never be ignored. The most successful female driven pic was TWILIGHT but that also has a huge book following so it may not be fair to discount that. The other two films have huge built-in followings as well but SEX AND THE CITY and MAMMA MIA! made people take notice. SEX AND THE CITY opened to just under $60 million and went on to pull in $152 million, just missing the Top 10. MAMMA MIA! (which opened opposite THE DARK KNIGHT) pulled in half of the SEX AND THE CITY gals in its opening weekend but showed some very strong legs throughout the summer. Both films are also huge international hits. In fact, MAMMA MIA! did in the UK what THE DARK KNIGHT was not able to do domestically; it surpassed TITANIC as the biggest box office in UK history. I would never have expected that ... ever. Now, all they have to do is start making these female skewed pics better as I didn't care for any of these movies. And yes, I know I'm not a girl.


Speaking of movies I didn't like all that much, two other Top 10 hits need singling out as they were also both huge hits internationally as well. HANCOCK is the fourth biggest international hit of the year, proving that Will Smith is still one of the biggest stars on the planet. He followed that one up with his weakest performer in years, mind you, SEVEN POUNDS. James Bond also returned this year with QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The sequel to CASINO ROYALE just squeaked past its predecessor domestically but still has a ways to go to beat CASINO ROYALE's $594 million international total.


In total, 24 films passed the century mark to gross over $100 million. That total will likely go up to 26 if MARLEY & ME and YES MAN stay on track. And while I hate to end on a negative note, I can't get away with not pointing out what seem to me like the three biggest box office disappointments of 2008. I believe you may know them better as flops. When you take international gross into account though, none of them seem that bad. I mean I wouldn't want to lose that kind of money but I just pay to see movies, not to make them. The first high profile flop of 2008 was the Wachowski's SPEED RACER. Audiences scoffed at this colorful explosion and this lead to an $18 million opening weekend. Given the reported $120 million price tag, the future looked grim. SPEED RACER crossed the finish line with $93 million internationally, losing just under $30 million. I never understood why rival studios decided to open THE LOVE GURU and GET SMART on the same weekend. The Steve Carrell pic easily killed Mike Myers' disaster. THE LOVE GURU opened to a mere $13 million and finished its international run at $40 million. That's $22 million less that what it reportedly cost to make. And finally, I mentioned it first so I guess it is fitting to wrap things up with it. MEET DAVE, a movie about I believe Eddie Murphy's multiple personality disorder, I can't be sure, opened to a horrific $5 million. Luckily for Murphy, his international fans were more forgiving and the film ended up pulling in $50 million total, only $10 million less than its budget.

So that is it for 2008, folks. My prediction for biggest film of 2009 ... BRIDE WARS. That's right. You read that right.

Alright, I'm kidding ... again.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Leftover's Anyone?

Typically, the weekend after Thanksgiving is not a busy one at the box office. This year proved to be no exception to that rule. The only major wide release was almost completely ignored and the rest of the Top 10 dropped off on average by 56%. I guess everyone is still full after last weekend.


If they are full, it is of Christmas cheer. Sorry, cheesiness is unavoidable when it comes to the holidays. I’m sure its likely fairly avoidable in FOUR CHRISTMASES as well. The Vince Vaughan/Reese Witherspoon holiday comedy has earned over $70 million in 12 days and had one of the strongest holds in the Top 10. The film will certainly see strong holds as the happy day grows nearer. As for the rest of the holdovers, it was a matter of watching to see who would fall off the most. The biggest losers were BOLT, QUANTUM OF SOLACE and MADAGASCAR 2, all dropping off over 60%. Meanwhile, AUSTRALIA held the fourth narrowest decline overall but 52% is probably still a great deal lower than Fox had hoped for. So far, AUSTRALIA has made $30 million domestically. That’s only about $100 million off from the production cost. G’day, mate!


The Top 10 saw two debuts this week. One was a modest success and one was an embarrassment. PUNISHER: WAR ZONE pulled in one third of what its 2004 predecessor, THE PUNISHER. No other new title came close to 2500 screen count and yet, right below it on the chart, a title playing in three times less screens, made nearly as much coin. CADILLAC RECORDS, a film that is more likely to earn Golden Globe nominations rather than Oscars, stars Adrian Brody and Beyonce Knowles as the legendary Etta James. The film finished with the second highest average in the Top 10 but with the onslaught of more prestigious prestige pictures coming in the weeks ahead, the music will fade pretty quick.


As per usual, all the art house love happened below the Top 10. With awards season now in full swing, limited runs will be the hottest tickets around as they test the waters in different markets in hopes of a healthy expansion. Two titles with no such worries thus far are National Board of Review winner for Best Picture, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE and six-time Satellite Award nominee, MILK. The two have certainly started strong and each earned on average around $18K per screen. These numbers are incredibly high for holdover art titles. They aren’t the only game in town though. Opening on just three screens in New York, L.A. and Toronto this weekend was Ron Howard’s FROST/NIXON. The film took in the second highest per screen average of the year with $60K. It too has received some very promising early award nods and Frank Langella’s performance is sure to drive more audiences to see the successful stage translation in the weeks to come.

NEXT WEEK: The art house gets crowded with Stephen Daldry’s THE READER, WENDY AND LUCY, starring Michelle Williams in a much buzzed about performance, Clint Eastwood’s grumpy old man movie, GRAN TURINO and another stage translation, DOUBT. On the heavier side of the scale, Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly attempt to toy with sci-fi gold with the remake of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Four American Christmases and an Australian Turkey

Ah, Thanksgiving. You can always count on this special holiday, even in times of crushing economic woe, to reinvigorate the marketplace and get people spending again. It just makes me feel so warm inside. After all, there are now less than 30 days until the mother of all holidays. You can avoid putting up the lights or block out the holiday tunes at the mall but Christmas has hit the theatres. In fact, four Christmases have hit.


FOUR CHRISTMASES opened behind last week’s champ, TWILIGHT, on Wednesday, when it and a number of other releases entered the marketplace to capitalize on the holiday. It quickly took over on Thursday and led through the weekend for a $31 million debut and a $46 million five-day take. The critically-panned feature is Witherspoon’s return to comedy and a blatant attempt to recapture America’s hearts and it is Vince Vaughan’s second holiday feature in a row in his apparent course to be America’s family man. As obvious the choice is, FOUR CHRISTMASES has opened better than anything either has put out in ages so I’m sure the eggnog is flowing freely by the fire for these two this weekend – that is if they didn’t hate each other. I’m just telling you what I heard.


The next three positions in the Top 5 went to holdovers, which meant that the week’s two other wide releases had to settle for much less prestigious debuts. Baz Luhrmann returned to theatres for the first time since his 2001 Best Picture nominee, MOULIN ROUGE! with AUSTRALIA, a $120 million epic love story. Expensive epic disaster sounds more appropriate right now. This was considered to be a major box-office and award season contender and now it looks like it could end up being neither. Earning a modest but respectable $5,600 per screen average would ordinarily be a solid start but this costly mess needed a grand slam debut to recoup its costs. The fact that critics are split on it certainly didn’t help matters much and without award season kudos, Luhrmann won’t be getting any second helpings. Meanwhile, the TRANSPORTER series starring Jason Statham went back for thirds. The third and likely last installment brought in about $8 million less than its predecessor did in its opening frame. Even TRANSPORTER 3’s five-day take didn’t match the $20 million debut of TRANSPORTER 3. Still, the franchise is relatively cheap to produce so Jason Statham is still sitting pretty at the head of the B-list celebrity action stars table.


There was much to be thankful for if you almost any other movie in the Top 10. As expected (and desperately wished for by the Disney people), BOLT improved upon last week’s take and inched up a notch to the number two spot. Bond’s QUANTUM OF SOLACE saw a slight decline of just 27% as good working folk who had not had a chance to catch their favorite international spy finally made their way out to catch him. The cuddly if not irritating animals of MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA caught another wave of kids out of school for the break and only slipped off a scant 7%. And ROLE MODELS continued to make good on its strong word of mouth, dropping off just 28%. The most troubling stumble was also somewhat expected as the front heavy TWILIGHT plummeted over 62% in its second week. Still, $120 million is 10 days is a bloody mouthful.


Sure it’s great that a little film like THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS can spend two consecutive weeks in the Top 10, even improving in its second week. But it’s hard to take too much notice when two other even smaller releases are producing mind boggling numbers. Danny Boyle’s SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE is becoming a surprise Best Picture contender and is stuck just outside the Top 10 for a second week at number eleven. On just 49 screens, SLUMDOG pulled in an average of almost $28K for a grand total of $3.6 million. All this before it has even gone wide. One other film though shut it out from the Top 10 it is gunning for so badly and that film is MILK. The buzz on this one is almost deafening and considering the controversial vote on Proposition 8 earlier this month in California, MILK, a biography of the first openly gay American politician, Harvey Milk, could not be more topical. Gus Van Sant and Sean Penn will likely see many reasons to celebrate as the weeks ahead unravel but whether they can reach BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN numbers remains to be seen.

NEXT WEEK: One needs at least one week to recover from this much consumption. This would explain why next week is pretty quiet. The widest release is the new PUNISHER movie (huh?). Aside from that, there are a couple of mid-size releases, CADILLAC RECORDS and NOBEL SON. At least the art house crowd can get excited over FROST / NIXON but it seems pickings will be slim so eat up now.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Bands of Bond

After performing to sold out crowds and record-breaking grosses in Europe for the last two weeks, it is no surprise to see Bond debut atop the charts with QUANTUM OF SOLACE, the 22nd film in the franchise. After the success of CASINO ROYALE and overwhelmingly positive response to Daniel Craig’s new Bond for the new age, it is also no surprise that QUANTUM OF SOLACE commanded the biggest opening weekend for any Bond film in history. But Bond’s $70 million haul still managed to surpass most industry expectations and actually beat out Jason Bourne’s last opening weekend haul. That, people definitely did not see coming.


THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM debuted last August to $69 million and while QUANTUM OF SOLACE only narrowly surpassed that number, no one expected it to come close. With its $20K per screen average, Bond collected more than the rest of the Top 5 combined. Reviews have been mixed but audiences were craving two things that Bond delivered fully, action and franchise. Each Bond film has done better than its predecessor with rare exception and QUANTUM OF SOLACE is certainly going to have no difficulties accomplishing this same feat. Craig and the entire Bond crew have proven beyond a doubt that you can reinvigorate a long running franchise without alienating the people who kept you going for so long. Martinis shaken and not stirred for everyone!

Dreamworks’ MADAGASCAR sequel easily crossed the $100 million mark in its second weekend. Last time Bond premiered, he had to settle for second place to a bunch of dancing penguins (HAPPY FEET) but no toon could keep him down this time. MADAGASCAR’s drop was somewhat steep but the sequel is outpacing the first hit by $18 million, ensuring that many more entirely implausible scenarios for these zoo animals will inevitably arrive and that David Schwimmer will continue to get work and not got hungry.


This week’s Top 10 saw no other major debut, as any studio head stupid enough to open a major release opposite James Bond would likely be fired shortly after his announcement. The most significant release past Bond is the audience favorite, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. Danny Boyle picked up the people’s choice award at the Toronto International Film Festival this year and is riding a wave of amazing reviews toward what could be the most successful film of his career. The advance Oscar buzz certainly doesn’t hurt either. On just 10 screens, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE pulled in $350K for a per screen average that outpaced Bond’s by $15K. Who knows? Maybe Danny Boyle could end up directing the next Bond. Go ahead, get that rumour out there.

NEXT WEEK: Originally, next weekend belonged to the next Harry Potter chapter but with that safely moved to some time next summer, the doors have been left wide open for two drastically different wide releases. Disney has high hopes for BOLT, featuring the voices of John Travolta and Hannah Montana, I mean, Miley Cyrus. And Stephanie Meyer fans will finally be able to see how Hollywood has handled their precious TWILIGHT. Vampires, talking dogs and tons of people under the age of 17 … should be good times.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Escape 2 the Bank

Wow. I totally missed this one. I knew the Dreamworks MADAGASCAR sequel would do well, that it would be the king of the forest, or desert or wild kingdom or whatever the African animals preside over but I did not see this much money coming its way. MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA outpaced the original right out of the cage, I mean gate, on Friday with $17 million. It then went on to crush every competitor out there, with its mammoth $63.5 million haul (compared to a first weekend of $47 million for the first outing) but audiences showed up in meerkat or lemur or lemming or “whatever that thing that likes to move it, move it is” size numbers for many other titles as well, making this a huge early jump to the holiday season.


Another title that surpassed expectations this week, hold its own very well against the family friends toon, was ROLE MODELS. The comedy, starring Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, skews slightly older but does certainly have a kid-friendly appeal to it, making its near $20 million take pretty impressive considering the competition. Rudd, who incidentally also co-wrote the screenplay, does not usually place himself in lead roles but this success will certainly make that more likely in the future. Meanwhile, Scott got some much needed love that has been lacking for him with recent misses like THE PROMOTION or MR. WOODCOCK.


The only other Top 10 debut this week was an unfortunate misfire for Bernie Mac’s last screen work before his death earlier this fall, SOUL MEN. This film opened in sixth place, thanks to strong holds for CHANGELING and ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO that shut it out of the Top 5. This title is a sure fire rental hit so audiences will get their chance to see Mac’s last show before this title drifts into obscurity but it would have been nice for his memory to be honoured in a larger fashion.


Below the Top, this week’s biggest success story was THE BOY IN STRIPED PAJAMAS. The WWII story about two boys, one on each side of a fence to a concentration camp, pulled in $15K per screen for the second highest per screen average of any film this week, behind the MADAGASCAR sequel. The most unlikely of art house heroes, Jean Claude van Damme saw a promising start for his self-referential fictionalized account of his current life, JCVD. The film opened to $11K per screen on just two locations. I’VE LOVED YOU SO LONG, SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK and NOAH’S ARC: JUMPING THE BROOM continued to pull in averages just below $10K. And, the wedding of the year, RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, added another 258 screens, bringing it ever so closer to the Top 10 with a 133% increase. If you haven’t RSVP’d to this one already, you should get on that. You wouldn’t want to miss this dessert table.


NEXT WEEK: Huge week! Only one major mass market release and one art house release worth noting. What? That doesn’t seem huge? Well, you haven‘t considered the titles we’re talking about here. For the art crowd, the audience winner at this year’s TIFF, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, from Danny Boyle. And for the masses, Bond, James Bond, in QUANTUM OF SOLACE. They didn’t even try to counter program. Welcome back, Mr. Bond.

SURF’S UP

Written by Lisa Addario, Christian Darren, Don Rhymner and Joe Syracuse
Directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck


Filmmaker: Do you have any other talents?
Cody Maverick: What? You mean like singing and dancing? Nah, man, I just surf.


Anyone who knows me, knows that I love me some penguin. Of course, I am referring to the line of clothing and not the waddling bird. Regardless, I too fell in love with the emperor penguins along with the rest of the world a couple of years back when THE MARCH OF THE PENGUINS swept the summer documentary box office. That was the same summer the mischievous animated penguins of MADAGASCAR had people begging for more (which they were unfortunately given months later with the dreadfully drab short, A CHRISTMAS CAPER). Penguins were all the rage. After winning the Best Documentary OSCAR, the penguin love only continued to grow with the holiday hit, HAPPY FEET. The premise there, after essentially crafting an animated reenactment of the mating ritual outlined in the aforementioned documentary, penguins sing to express themselves while one dances instead (see above quote for cheeky acknowledgement). HAPPY FEET was a big success and went on to a surprising win for Best Animated Feature at last year’s Academy Awards. And so the trend continues with another animated feature about penguins, SURF’S UP. Only now it may seem the public is growing weary of these tuxed-up birds. Perhaps there is only so much penguin love to go around. It’s a shame really because SURF’S UP may be the best of the (animated) bunch.


To differentiate itself from all the previous penguin fare, SURF’S UP, is constructed as a mockumentary. To capture an on-the-cuff style, a special motion capture camera system was mounted to an old Sony video camera to give the illusion that the movie was shot with a hand-held camera. Factor in jump cuts and film scratches from different stocks and you have a style that is both authentic and dynamic. A film crew (voiced by the actual directors, Ash Brannon and Chris Buck) has decided to follow an aspiring surfer by the name of Cody Maverick (voiced by Shia LaBeouf) on his journey that begins at his humble home in Shiverpool to the Penguin World Surfing Championship. With blizzards gusting in the background at home and forestry looking lush and wet at the championship, SURF’S UP uses nature to not only establish its fish-out-of-water story but to wow its audience. The beauty of the animation itself is enough to make SURF’S UP a serious contender come award season when the waves of praise come crashing ashore.


Set amidst these beautiful backdrops is a bevy of lovable, genuinely hilarious characters. What is perhaps the film’s strongest achievement is the spontaneity it creates in a style that is so meticulously designed and planned. The penguins sincerely seem as if they are on camera. They are both uncomfortable and candid. At home, Cody is surrounded by his doting, doubtful mother (Dana Belben) and oversized, pesky brother (Brian Posehn). The tension in this family is palpable and unnervingly funny. En route to the competition, Cody comes into contact with talent scout, Mikey Abromowitz (Mario Cantone), whose neurosis run through his head almost as fast as his little bird legs run on land and an oddball surfer/rooster named Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), who is as laid back (read potentially stoned) as one would expect a surfer to be. Cody is taken under wing by a former surfer named Geek (Jeff Bridges) once at the competition and their playful interactions keep your gliding through to the finals. SURF’S UP packs in more unexpected laughs than one would expect and the fact that they are unexpected is what makes it so incredible.


SURF’S UP also makes sure to bang home an important lesson for the kids. After all, this is a summer family film and there needs to be a lesson learned. Cody learns a number of things along his way but they all amount to understanding a thing or two about patience. “Winning isn’t everything” and “There are more important things to life than winning” make appearances but what is most important is the philosophy that will help Cody win out overall. Stop fighting and learn to ride the wave. It is a lesson that even the filmmakers should have heeded as there are times when the imposing hand of the powers that be can be felt in the film’s construction to ensure it is as marketable as possible. Oddly placed soundtrack choices and shots that could not have been caught by documentary filmmakers undermine the credibility of the mockumentary but hardly take away from the fun to be had. SURF’S UP will surprise you, crack you up and leave you wanting to catch the wave again and again.

The only question left to answer is whether polar bears will be over saturating the marketplace after the people who brought you THE MARCH OF THE PENGUINS bring you AN ARCTIC TALE later this summer.