WEEKLY CineBUZZ - 28 November 2011 (Revised)

Twilight's Stewart & Greene

GOBBLE! GOBBLE! GOBBLE!

Although they get a A for effort, the kiddie pics couldn't unseat Twilight from the head of the Thanksgiving table.  Nonetheless, there were no turkeys at the box office over the 5 day extended holiday weekend.

Twilight Breaking Dawn - Part 1(Summit) ended its second week with a total box office gross of $61 million.  It has now amassed $221 million domestically and $268 million internationally, not too shabby for a film with a $110 million production cost.
The Twilight saga is on warp speed to reach a franchise total $3 billion.  It will easily score another $1-2 billion in ancillary product and down-stream presentations - and there is still another installment (BD-Part 2) in the hopper for 2012.

The current cinema marquee boasts a cadre of good pics for all ages.  In addition to The Muppets (Disney), which grossed $41.5 million and took 2nd place to Twilight, and should have good legs throughout the pre-X-Mas period. Happy Feet Two (Warners) in its second week, took 3rd and grossed $18.4 million.  Arthur Christmas (Sony) came in 4th and grossed a rather disappointing $16.3 million.  5th place went to newbie Hugo (Paramount) at $15.4 million.
The U.S. cinema has now grossed a YTD total of $9.1 billion with 1.14 billion admissions.  This is in line with 2010's performance.
Sneaks - Do They Work?

War Horse Should Do Well

We Bought The Zoo (Fox) had a sneak preview over the weekend to mixed results but it may help when it debuts on 12/23 against some stiff competition: War Horse (Dreamworks), Alvin & The Chipmonks-ChipWrecked (Fox), and The Adventures of TinTin (Paramount) 3 good family flix.  We'll wait and see how the Zoo makes out.

Sequels -  We Love Them!

Sherlock Holmes #2 out 12/16

Hollywood is all about risk management. And to decrease risk sequels are the way to go. One good pic deserves a follow-up and if possible a 3rd, 4th, and more - until moviegoers tire of the premise.Some sequels are serial, ie. Harry Potter or Twilight, others are new stories with the same characters, like Mission Impossible (the 4th MI film to debut shortly) or Sherlock Holmes (in its 2nd plot).  Either way sequels make sense for the studios - as they limit risk in a very risky business.

Cheers.
Jim Lavorato