'Harry Potter' strong heading into the weekend
Sequel rings up $21.9 million on Thursday
By Gregg Kilday
July 17, 2009
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" continued to bewitch moviegoers Thursday as it took in an estimated $21.9 million at the North American boxoffice.
Piling that coin atop its opening-day tally of $58.2 million (including a record $22.2 million from its midnight previews), the Warners release has conjured up a domestic cume of $80.1 million in its first two days.
By comparison, 2007's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," the only other Potter movie to open on a Wednesday, drew a first-day gross of $44.2 million and a second-day take of $18.4 for a two-day figure of $62.6 million.
"Phoenix" went on to pull in $139.7 million by the end of its first weekend, its fifth day in theaters, but "Prince" is already on track to score well above that number.
'Harry Potter' strong heading into the weekend
Unseen Jackson footage on the way
Unseen Jackson footage on the way
ITV to screen docu from Uri Gellar home movies
By Mimi Turner
July 17, 2009
LONDON -- ITV is promising exclusive unseen footage of Michael Jackson from the private collection of the singer's friend Uri Geller in a forthcoming documentary, "My Friend Michael Jackson: Uri's Story," its production and distribution division ITV Global Entertainment said Friday.
The documentary will feature hitherto unseen footage of Jackson on a midnight shopping spree at London department store Harrods and visiting the grounds of Exeter soccer club, as well as footage from Geller's private archive showing the singer acting as best man at Geller's wedding.
It will also feature interviews with Geller offering his frank recollections of the star and some of the controversies that surrounded him.
"This is the real Michael Jackson, the way that just a handful of friends were privileged to see him -- relaxed, witty, loving, smart, sincere and genuine," said Geller. "This film gives audiences around the world the opportunity to experience the reality of life with Michael."
The doc, to be produced by Lesley Gardiner and exec produced by Alexander Gardiner, will be directed by Paula Lichtarowicz and distributed globally by ITV Global Entertainment.
Rob Thomas album treads dark waters
Rob Thomas album treads dark waters
'Cradlesong' focuses on misery and death
Associated Press
July 17, 2009
Rob Thomas' new CD, "Cradlesong," reveals a more complex side of the singer: Themes of despair, and even death, are explored in various songs.
While it may suggest a darker mood, the 37-year-old, best known as the frontman for Matchbox Twenty and hits like his "Smooth" collaboration with Santana, says it simply reflects life from a more mature vantage point.
"As you get older, your themes change and the things that are important to you change, your focuses change," said Thomas as he talked about his sophomore CD, which was released last month.
"And so there's a lot of stuff on here about -- obviously, not about being old, but just about being older. And the things that were important to you maybe not being as important to you now, and you have a whole new set of burdens to bear as you take on the responsibility of family, the responsibility of wanting to be an adult -- not just getting older, but being an adult, which are two separate things."
The first single, "Her Diamonds," was written for his wife, Marisol, who suffers from an autoimmune disease. It deals with his sadness over her health challenges (the music video features Alicia Silverstone).
Thomas said that to him, the process of making music is fundamentally about being honest.
"That's my job as a songwriter," he said.
Thomas also mused about his starkly dramatic album cover, which features a haunted-looking Thomas, his face half-shadowed, embellished by artwork. Thomas says he was inspired by French surrealist paintings.
"Like, some people hate it, and I think I love that. I can't remember the last time that people have cared about an album cover enough to hate it. So I think I've done something right," he said. "But I think it's a striking image."
Thomas begins rehearsals for his tour in support of "Cradlesong" in September. But even in the midst of developing his solo career, Matchbox Twenty isn't far from his mind. Thomas said before he hits the road, he plans to meet with his bandmates and start hashing out ideas for the next album to keep their "forward momentum" in high gear.
'Harry Potter' casts worldwide spell
'Harry Potter' casts worldwide spell
Sequel banks $104 mil during first day of global business
By Jill Serjeant and Steve Gorman, Reuters
July 17, 2009
The latest "Harry Potter" movie cast a $104 million spell over worldwide box offices during its first day in theaters, setting a new record for the boy wizard, distributor Warner Bros Pictures said on Thursday.
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," the sixth in the film series based on the popular books by J.K. Rowling, grossed $58.18 million in North America and $45.85 million overseas on Wednesday, the Time Warner Inc-owned studio said.
The U.S.-Canadian tally, which includes a record $22.2 million from midnight showings, marks the second-biggest Wednesday opening domestically.
Only last month's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" scored a bigger midweek first-day gross, with $62 million in domestic ticket sales on Wednesday June 24, according to Paul Dergarabedian, box office analyst for Hollywood.com.
The latest "Harry Potter" also ranks as the fourth-highest single-day gross for a film release in North America, behind No. 1 "Dark Knight" ($67.1 million), No. 2 "Transformers: Revenge," and third-place "Spider-Man 3" ($59.8 million).
"Quite simply, we owe this record-breaking opening to the remarkable fans who have stood by us and who stood in line to be among the first to see 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,'" Warner Bros President and Chief Operating Officer Alan Horn said in a statement.
Said Dergarabedian: "This is a tremendous opening. It's in the box office stratosphere."
The previous "Harry Potter" movie, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," also opened on a Wednesday last year with first-day domestic receipts of $44.2 million. That film went on to gross $937 million worldwide.
The first five films in the franchise, one of the most lucrative in Hollywood history, have so far taken in about $4.5 billion collectively at the global box office.
'Orphan' horrifies adoption groups
'Orphan' horrifies adoption groups
Warner Bros. removed objectionable dialogue from trailer
Associated Press
July 17, 2009
NEW YORK -- Often divided over policy and practice, America's adoption community has unified in dismay over "Orphan," a horror movie opening next week that its critics say will fuel negative attitudes toward real-life orphans.
Some adoption advocates are urging a boycott of the movie, which opens July 24. A coalition of prominent national adoption and foster care groups, while not joining the boycott call, has asked for a meeting with Warner Bros. CEO Barry Meyer to discuss their concerns.
"We are concerned that in addition to its intended entertainment value, this film will have the unintended effect of skewing public opinion against children awaiting families both in the United States and abroad," said a letter to Meyer from the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute.
Warner Bros. said it has taken the concerns seriously. Spokesman Scott Rowe told the Associated Press the company is considering adding a pro-adoption message at the end of the film when it comes out in DVD form.
Trailers for the film, shown nationwide for two months, make the basic plot clear without revealing the twist at the end. A couple mourning the loss of an unborn baby decide to adopt a girl from a local orphanage -- and their hopes for happiness give way to unease and fear as the new family member turns out to be far different from what they expected.
The trailer itself prompted outrage from many adoption advocates and adoptive families, and Warner Bros. responded by removing a much-criticized line from it in which the orphan, Esther, says, "It must be hard to love an adopted child as much as your own."
Rowe, while noting that virtually every film Warner Bros. makes offends someone, has stressed that "Orphan" is a make-believe story.
"It is not a depiction of any real-life events or situations and has never been portrayed as anything but an entirely fictional story," he said. "We apologize if we appeared insensitive with the initial trailer, as it's never our intent to offend anyone with our products."
Rowe said he'd not yet seen the letter from the adoption coalition requesting to meet with Meyer.
The letter, co-signed by leaders of 11 adoption and child-welfare groups, noted that an estimated 129,000 children are in U.S. foster care system waiting to be adopted, and that millions of children abroad also need adoptive families.
The letter said the film "may impede recruitment efforts by feeding into the unconscious fears of potential foster and adoptive families that orphaned children are psychotic and unable to heal from the wounds of abuse, neglect, and abandonment."
Among those signing the letter were leaders of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, the National Council for Adoption, and the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys.
Another signatory was Jedd Medefind of the Christian Alliance for Orphans. His group has launched a Web site -- OrphansDeserveBetter.org -- featuring a petition urging Warner Bros. to add a pro-adoption message at the end of the film and to donate a portion of box office receipts to aid orphans.
The Web site also asks individuals and families to share real-life stories, pictures and videos about their own experiences with adoption.
The film "seems to suggest that orphans are damaged goods, and that adoption could destroy a life," Medefind said. "We need truer stories."
Adam Pertman, executive director of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, suggested that Warner Bros. could improve matters by helping produce educational materials about the value of adoption.
"It has been a long time since a movie caused this much angst and worry in the adoption, foster care and orphan care communities, even before its release," Pertman said.
Not every adoption-related group shared the angst.
"The moral panic 'Orphan' has induced is more entertaining than the film itself, which will pass into oblivion and DVD a month after release," wrote Marley Greiner, a leader of the adoptees-rights group Bastard Nation, in her blog.
"The 'outrage' is an opportunistic moment for drum banging and fund raising," Greiner wrote. "What better way is there to make publicity and $$$$$ for yourself than to create a victim where none exists?"
'Transformers' sets $59 mil record
'Transformers' sets $59 mil record
'Fallen' sinks 'Titanic' after 11-year boxoffice reign
Associated Press
July 17, 2009
HONG KONG -- The "Transformers" sequel has become China's biggest boxoffice hit ever by earning 400 million Chinese yuan ($59 million), a publicist for one of the country's two film importers said.
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" surpassed the 11-year-old record of 360 million yuan set by "Titanic," spokesman Weng Li at the state-run China Film Group said. "Titanic" made about $43 million based on exchange rates in 1998, the year it was released.
Weng said the "Transformers" sequel, released June 24, received a wide release on several thousand screens. China had about 4,100 screens by the end of 2008. The first "Transformers" installment raked in 280 million yuan in 2007.
"This is a tremendous achievement for the market in China and clearly shows that there is a strong growing demand for international films," said Mike Ellis, Asia-Pacific managing director of the Hollywood trade organization, Motion Picture Association of America.
The group wants China to relax its movie import quota of allowing in just 20 foreign blockbusters a year, aimed at boosting its domestic industry.
Weng said both installments of John Woo's two-part Chinese historical epic "Red Cliff" earned 300 million yuan ($44 million) this year and last, as did Chinese director Feng Xiaogang's 2008 romantic comedy "If You Are the One."
"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," a science fiction movie, was apparently slightly censored. In the film's opening sequence, the Autobots and Decepticons battle in an industrial part of Shanghai, but when a U.S. military commander refers to the city, the word "Shanghai" is muffled.
Chinese censors are sensitive to portrayals of their country in foreign movies.
The "Transformers" record also highlights the earning potential of Hollywood films in China. But with piracy a lingering problem and moviegoing largely the habit of wealthier urbanites, the growing Chinese box office revenues remain small compared to the U.S.
The "Transformers" sequel earned $62 million on its opening day in the U.S. alone. The $200 million production has grossed $348 million in the U.S. and $380 million outside the country, according to the box office tracking Web site Box Office Mojo.
Chinese boxoffice revenues totaled 4.3 billion yuan ($630 million) in 2008, compared to $9.8 billion in the U.S. in the same year.
Pink - Please Don't Leave Me
Da da da da, da da da da
Da da da, da da
Da da da, da da
I don't know if I can yell any louder
How many time I've kicked you outta here?
Or said something insulting?
Da da da, da da
I can be so mean when I wanna be
I am capable of really anything
I can cut you into pieces
But my heart is broken
Da da da, da da
Please don't leave me
Please don't leave me
I always say how I don't need you
But it's always gonna come right back to this
Please, don't leave me
How did I become so obnoxious?
What is it with you that makes me act like this?
I've never been this nasty
Da da da, da da
Can't you tell that this is all just a contest?
The one that wins will be the one that hits the hardest
But baby I don't mean it
I mean it, I promise
Da da da, da da
Please don't leave me
Oh please don't leave me
I always say how I don't need you
But it's always gonna come right back to this
Please, don't leave me
I forgot to say out loud how beautiful you really are to me
I cannot be without, you're my perfect little punching bag
And I need you, I'm sorry
Da da da, da da
Da da da da, da da da da
Da da da, da da
Please, please don't leave me
(Da da da, da da)
Baby please don't leave me
(Da da da, da da)
No, don't leave me
Please don't leave me no no no
You say I don't need you
But it's always gonna come right back
It's gonna come right back to this
Please, don't leave me
Please don't leave me, oh no no no.
I always say how I don't need you
But it's always gonna come right back to this
Please don't leave me
Baby, please, please don't leave me
© EMI BLACKWOOD MUSIC INC.; PINK INSIDE PUBLISHING;
