Kingdom of Heaven tops US box office

[saurabh]

The epic battle tale Kingdom of Heaven fought its way to the top of the box office, taking in $20 million in its debut weekend, but the film did little to boost slumping revenues at the start of the summer movie season.

The film by Gladiator director Ridley Scott features heartthrob Orlando Bloom as a warrior in Jerusalem between the Second and Third Crusades.

The film also features Liam Neeson as Balian's father, the knight Godfrey of Ibelin, as well as Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson.

The R-rated movie was followed in the rankings by another new R-rated movie, House of Wax, which brought in $12.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

"House of Wax, featuring Elisha Cuthbert and Paris Hilton in a remake of the Vincent Price horror tale, is the latest from producer Joel Silver's Dark Castle Entertainment.

The other notable new movie this weekend was Crash, which features Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon and rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges in intertwining stories examining racial stereotypes in Los Angeles. The R-rated film played in 1,864 theaters and finished fourth with $9.1 million.

"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy dropped to third place with nearly $9.13 million after debuting last weekend at the top spot.

Hollywood's box office slump continued with revenues down for the 11th straight weekend compared with the same weekend last year.

The top 12 movies grossed $76.9 million, down 24 per cent from last year at this time when Van Helsing and Mean Girls were the top movies.

 

[nick_danger]

More proof that

A) Hollywood sucks; or
B) People prefer home theaters; or
C) People are saving up vacation/sick time and money to see Revenge of the Sith 100 times.

 

[Audioholics]

I vote C!

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

I vote mostly A.

Of course I don't plan on seeing KOH, SW:ROTS or any other movie locally since I would have to suffer through a craptacular theater that charges $8+ for stereo sound w/ no subwoofers, a questionable projector.... and other people. I imagine people will sneek their children into the Star Wars movie, all the more reason to wait for the DVD rental. Its not like we don't already know what happens or anything.

 

[SeenThatMovie2]

C) People are saving up vacation/sick time and money to see Revenge of the Sith 100 times.

lmao I vote "C"

Actually read a couple comments here and there that O. Bloom does well in the movie. From the previews and snippets I've seen his acting came across as a bit stronger than in past roles, although he was new to movies when he got the role as leggyless in LOTR and was just warming up in Pirates of the Car. and Troy was -well- forgettable altogether to me, but not because of Mr Bloom. Ok the song at the end was nice.

Hope to see better roles/acting/directing from him as he develops his acting muscles, and maybe he won't be typecast.

 

[anamorphic96]

Inside Info

None of the above. Big deal if things are down now. Some other film balances things out in the end. SW is a good example. Things are up and down each week. Look at the end of the year number this is what counts. Even when you factor in ticket price increases, sales still rise each year. Keep in mind summer and Holiday movies have not come out yet. January thru end of April is considered the dumping ground for crap movies. This is where alot of movies that have been sitting around or for some reaason or another did not get released as scheduled. You also have the September thru mid November dumping ground which works the same way.

This cycle is the same every year. An 11 week slump in comparison to the previous year means nothing especially coming off the slow season. Your talking less than 20 million dollars. Factor in Passion Of The Christ and things look different.

 

[anamorphic96]

Try A Little Harder

I vote mostly A.

Of course I don't plan on seeing KOH, SW:ROTS or any other movie locally since I would have to suffer through a craptacular theater that charges $8+ for stereo sound w/ no subwoofers, a questionable projector.... and other people. I imagine people will sneek their children into the Star Wars movie, all the more reason to wait for the DVD rental. Its not like we don't already know what happens or anything.

If you live in a small town with only one theatre I might undestand your contempt. But if youe anywhere near a major city you should be able to find a quality presentation. I wont deny there are theatres out there with less than stellar presentations but if you search a little you might be surprised.

A good tip is buy a ticket to a movie and walk into all the auditoriums and judge the consistency between houses. This will give you a good idea if someone gives a crap upstairs. If your nervous about sneaking around speak with a manage and see if you can walk around for five minutes and look at the presentations. Better yet see if can get a tour of the booth.

Both of these suggestions would take just a little bit of time and could potentnially help you find a great place to watch movies.

 

[nick_danger]

Here's an article that attempts to explain the current Hollywood rut and that SW:ROTS will probably save the day:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/10/movies/10holl.html?ei=5065&en=67278460a41b98cc&ex=1116302400&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print&position=

 

[furrycute]

I am turning more and more to foreign films, like the ones released on the Criterion label.

I was an avid collector of mainstream DVDs, but somehow these mainstream movies just don't apeal to me anymore. Almost everything Hollywood makes is all about big budget action, there are no plots and character developments anymore.

 

[Leprkon]

I was an avid collector of mainstream DVDs, but somehow these mainstream movies just don't apeal to me anymore. Almost everything Hollywood makes is all about big budget action, there are no plots and character developments anymore.

I think it's not just the big budget action that is a waste (for example, the Italian Job was really good). This could be overlooked if they didn't always insist on adding that "comic relief" character like Hannibal in Blade III. It would have been a much better movie without that. They could have gotten by with just the three or four snide little remarks from Blade and the sex kitten in Jessica Biehl and left Ryan Reynolds on the cutting room floor. If Triple H acts better than you, it's time to find another line of work !!

Don't even get me started on Owen Wilson in Behind Enemy Lines.. he needs to keep doing Shanghai movies where his whining is actually funny, not just annoying. Maybe it's just that, in this day of Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler, that none of the younger male actors bother to learn how to do serious roles. Is there any male in his twenties who can really act anymore ?

I don't know if it's Hollywood or Marvel Comics (who seem to be tied into every picture made these days) who call for such a character in every single movie, but it's time to go back to making "movies", even if they are based on "comic" books.

 

[nick_danger]

I would post a direct link if I could, but my work firewall forbids it. Maddox, http://maddox.xmission.com , has a hilarious piece on Hollywood and its obsession with "buddy films". He also has a less funny, but still entertaining, piece on how Ben Stiller is in every movie.

I don't know if he's in his twenties, but the man who played Bruce Banner in Hulk was great. Of course, I guess I'm one of the few that really loved The Hulk movie. Ang Lee did an incredible job, I think...

 

[furrycute]

Speaking of comic book heroes coming to the big screen. The latter Batman movies were dreadful, absolutely dreadful.

Other ones that come to mind, Catwoman, (what's the name of that movie with the blind hero?), etc. Absolutely horrendous.

I am getting back to the days of Conan, the barbarian. Now that was a good movie