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My box office gurus are telling me that New Line Cinema's holiday tentpole The Golden Compass is going to be a huge bomb. They predict an opening domestic weekend starting today only in the high $20s million from 3,528 theaters. That's disastrous because, with a pricetag of $200+ million without P&A costs, the fantasy epic should be making a minimum $50 million debut. Not to mention that the studio has spent big bucks marketing the heck out of the PG-13 pic based on UK author Philip Pullman's young adult book trilogy His Dark Materials. Problem is, Golden Compass has sparked...

"The Golden Compass" is more than enough proof to demonstrate the Christmas culture wars are alive and well. We've drifted so far way from the innocence of Christmas movies like Jimmy Stewart's "It's a Wonderful Life." We've shifted from celebrating a savior to crying out for more secularism. I respect artistic ability and one's right to freedom of speech, religion and creativity, but that does not mean I or millions of others have to agree with or tolerate it. It is also my American right to say, "My name is Chuck Norris, and I disapprove of this movie." And it's...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Lions for Lambs," the star-studded first film from United Artists since Tom Cruise and his longtime producing partner took over the fabled studio, has so far generated more yawns than roars at box offices. After three weeks in theaters, the antiwar drama directed by Robert Redford with an A-list cast featuring Redford, Cruise and Meryl Streep, has grossed a meager $14 million in North American ticket sales and about $26 million more overseas. That tally surpasses the $35 million reportedly spent to make the film, which was distributed domestically by UA parent company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and...

Jabbar Magruder is an active duty Army National Guard sergeant who served 11 months in Iraq. He was hoping that stateside Americans would get a glimpse of what the war was like when several dramas featuring the Iraq conflict either in the foreground or the background hit theaters this fall. Few have. Despite A-list casts - including Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones - and generally good reviews, war-related dramas tanked this fall at the box office, failing to attract a substantial audience during Hollywood's serious film season. And now, with the lighter holiday movie fare blanketing screens...

Jabbar Magruder is an active duty Army National Guard sergeant who served 11 months in Iraq. He was hoping that stateside Americans would get a glimpse of what the war was like when several dramas featuring the Iraq conflict either in the foreground or the background hit theaters this fall. Snip.But to some Iraq veterans, like Magruder, who have tried to raise awareness about the war's perils, the apathy represents a larger disconnect many Americans feel toward the war. Implicit in the Redford, Streep and Tom Cruise film "Lions for Lambs" is a challenge to filmgoers to become impassioned about...

IT'S hard for Hollywood pacifists like Brian De Palma to capture the hearts and minds of America if Americans won't see their movies. While the public is staying away in droves from “Rendition," “Lions for Lambs" and “In the Valley of Elah," audiences are really avoiding “Redacted," De Palma's picture about US soldiers who rape a 14-year-old Iraqi girl, then kill her and her family.

Lions for Lambs ranked 19th in the average total box office proceeds per theater per day over the 11/16-11/18 weekend. Because of the large number of theaters carrying this film it ranked 8th in gross proceeds. Box office per theater is what theater owners care most about and this poor showing will hasten the dropoff in total theaters carrying this bomb. Movie Fri Sat Sun Avg Rank NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN 6,014 8,682 6,236 6,977 1 MARGOT AT THE WEDDING 1,500 6,500 3,500 3,833 2 BEOWULF 3,148 3,330 2,434 2,971 3 OM SHANTI OM 1,880 3,291 2,906 2,692 4...

LIONS FOR LAMBS United Artists # Thteaters 2,216 $11,592,000 estimated gross proceeds through 10 days of release. Lions for Lambs is a bomb!

Debbie Schlussel: Early Movie Review: 3-D Spectacle "Beowulf" is Fun "300" as Played by WWE Characters By Debbie Schlussel It's definitely not for kids. And I didn't care for the right-in-your-face naked CGI rear ends of Beowulf (Ray Winstone) and Grendel's Mother (a skank played by a skank--Angelina Jolie). But I thoroughly enjoyed "Beowulf"--the 3-D marvel, in theaters tomorrow (Friday). And, yes, guys, this movie is for you. Dragons, fire, monsters, kings, warriors, swords, damsels in distress--this has all those and more. It's the story of the swashbuckling, but exaggeratingly braggadocious, fair-haired warrior Beowulf who saves Danish King Hrothgar's (Anthony...

Hollywood misreads response to war on terror Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 12/11/2007 Hollywood has misjudged the public's appetite for films about Iraq and the war on terror, Cathering Elsworth says, as a slew of new movies have flopped at the box office. The latest casualty, Robert Redford's "verbose" Lions for Lambs, starring Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise, took just over 2 million dollars when it debuted on Friday, lagging far behind the animated adventure Bee Movie, which opened the week before. Cruise, Redford and Streep in Lions for Lambs Despite its a-list cast - Redford not only directs but stars...

LOS ANGELES - Jerry Seinfeld turned more honey into money as his animated comedy “Bee Movie” buzzed to the top of the box office in its second weekend. The DreamWorks-Paramount flick, which had debuted at No. 2 behind Universal’s “American Gangster” the previous weekend, packed in family crowds to pull in $26 million, raising its total to $72.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. “American Gangster,” starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, was a strong No. 2 with $24.3 million in sales, lifting its total to $80.7 million.

LOS ANGELES—Jerry Seinfeld continued to turn honey into money as his animated comedy "Bee Movie" buzzed to the top of the box office in its second weekend. The DreamWorks-Paramount flick, which had debuted at No. 2 behind Universal's "American Gangster" the previous weekend, packed in family crowds to pull in $26 million, raising its total to $72.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. "American Gangster," starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, was a strong No. 2 with $24.3 million, lifting its total to $80.7 million. "We don't often see a movie start out in the No. 2 position then move...

I thought you all may enojoy reading the CRUSHING reviews from the regular movie audience of Robert Redford's new anti-America flick "Lions for Lambs." How Hollywood can contiue to dishonor our U.S. Armed Forces is simply beyond me. Anyway, at least these reviews by regular folks shows that real America is rejecting this nonsense. Some reviews: (more reviews at the link) Pure Garbage..... I had the opportunity to see this last week during a free screening (my wife got the tickets through work). I think I was robbed. About 20% of the audience walked out before it was over, the...

LIONS FOR LAMBS United Artists 2,215 Theaters $2,150,000

The wave of recent films set against the backdrop of war in Iraq and post-9/11 security has failed to win over film-goers keen to escape grim news headlines when they go to the movies, analysts say. In a break with past convention, when films based on real conflicts were made only years after the last shots were fired, several politically-charged films have gone on release while America remains embroiled in Iraq. Almost without exception, however, the crop of movies have struggled to turn a profit at the box-office and in many cases have received a mauling from unimpressed critics as...

LOS ANGELES - The wave of recent films set against the backdrop of war in Iraq and post-9/11 security has failed to win over film-goers keen to escape grim news headlines when they go to the movies, analysts say. In a break with past convention, when films based on real conflicts were made only years after the last shots were fired, several politically-charged films have gone on release while America remains embroiled in Iraq. Almost without exception, however, the crop of movies have struggled to turn a profit at the box-office and in many cases have received a mauling from...

With the help of Knights of Columbus councils around the United States, Bella, the major motion picture with a strong pro-life message, had a very good opening at the box office. With a limited release in 165 theaters in major markets around the United States., it grossed $1.3 million and had the highest per screen average ($7,928) of any movie opening on more than two screens the weekend of Oct. 27-28, including the top-grossing movie, Saw IV. For the weekend of Nov. 2-44, it grossed more than $1 million and had the third highest per screen average ($5,381) of any...

Bella begins with a bang Hollywood, Nov 2, 2007 / 10:06 am (CNA).- After a successful opening weekend, Bella promoters are hoping the film will continue to draw in viewers in subsequent weeks. Matt Brannon of Metanoia Films told CNA that despite a very limited release of Bella, the film grossed an amazing $1.3 million and finished in the top 20 films of the weekend even though it played on the fewest amount of screens of all its competitors. Bella was shown on 165 screens. Typically, Hollywood blockbusters are shown on 3,000 screens across the US. The movie also had...

Bella to Anti-War Movies: Show Me the Money!The independent pro-life film trounced Hollywood's anti-war movies in per-theater revenues, in spite of hostile mainstream media reviews.You won’t see this fun movie fact in any mainstream media outlets, but the little pro-life movie Bella, which just opened, beat the socks off of several anti-war/anti-American movies in opening weekend per-theater revenues. This despite the fact that Bella was panned by critics in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Variety and other mainstream outlets.(For an interesting article on how movie critics inject their politics into reviews, click here.) Here’s the breakdown. Bella opened...

Hollywood, CA -- Bella, the pro-life themed movie that has the potential to change hearts and minds on abortion, opened solidly with $1.3 million over the weekend in a limited release in just 31 cities. Though other movies achieved higher gross sales, they needed significantly more theaters to do so. The film stars Eduardo Verastegui as a former soccer player who learns the value of human life and helps a pregnant waitress, played by Tammy Blanchard, appreciate the value of the baby she's carrying. The number one movie this weekend, according to initial figures, was "Saw IV," a Holloween horror...