Disney's Popular "That's So Raven" Doesn't Deliver The Box Office Gold The Studio Envisioned For "College Road Trip"

'10,000 BC' Wins Weekend, Bringing in $35.7 million

Disney's "College Road Trip" ran out of steam, bowing a so-so 14 million, while Will Ferrell laffer "Semi-Pro" continued to miss the hoop, falling a steep 62% in its second frame.

Though hopes for the Rolland Emmerich-helmed "10,000 BC" rose as high as $40 million-plus, the pic's perf ended up right in line with studio expectations. No one expected the Warner Film prehistoric adventure epic to come close to the $71 million debut mounted by "300" over the same weekend last year.

If "10,000 BC" holds well, it could end up topping $100 million domestically, though predominantly negative reviews may foretell a weak hold. Pic opened strongly overseas, however, and is expected to hold up better there.

Opening gross for "College Road Trip" was a bit less than that of Martin Lawrence's last pic, "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins," which bowed to $16.2 million in February. That movie went on to gross $39 million, but Disney is hoping for higher returns from "Road Trip" as students begin their spring break this week. That could lead to weekday grosses that are much better than normal.

"College Road Trip" played 2,706 locations and averaged $5,174.

Lionsgate actioner "Bank Job" opened to a modest $5.7 million, right around where the studio had expected. Jason Statham starrer, which was a negative pickup for the studio, averaged $3,561 at 1,603 theaters.

Focus opened "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" at 535 locations, where the Frances McDormand-Amy Adams starrer averaged $4,750 and grossed a total of $2.5 million.

New Line's swan song "Semi-Pro" grossed just $5.8 million on its second weekend. Cume on the basketball comedy is $24.7 million after 10 days. New Line is officially folding it's tent and is being merged into Warner Brothers. [Variety]

American Gangsta May Not Be Shooting Blanks, But Beowulf Is Clearly The New Box Office Sheriff With The Biggest Guns

American Gangsta Bullies Its Way Pass $100mil

The animated flick "Beowulf," slew the competition over the pre-Thanksgivng weekend and gave a huge shot in the arm to the future of 3-D films. The Paramount Pictures release earned $28.1 million in its opening weekend — 40 percent of which came from special 3-D showings in regular theaters and on Imax screens.

Still enjoying a little box office honey at number two was “Bee Movie”, sweetening its pot to $94 million with a $14.3 weekend. Denzel Washington's “American Gangster” continues to blow the competition away, however, with another $13.2 million to pass the $100 million mark and rounding out the top three.

Is American Gangsta an American stereotype???

Unfortunately for "Gangsta", various reports have Denzel's film, the budget of which has been rumored to be more than $100 million, selling on street corners in New York, Los Angeles and elsewhere for $5 or less. Unlike other pirated films, however, is the breakneck speed in which "Gangster" moved beyond Internet file-sharing and typical movie-studio headaches. In light of this ongoing writers strike, what does this portend for the industry as a whole? Whatever the answer is, I find it ironic that here you have a movie about illegal activity and now these street hustlers are taking the story to heart. Literally!

Black Action Star Chris Tucker Helps Propel 'Rush Hour' To Top Spot

'Rush Hour 3' Debuts At No. 1

Darfur Forced To Be 'All African'

Two-Thirds Of New Orleans Returns, Services Lag

4th Suspect In Newark Newark Slaying Case Named
Urban Scholars Program Helps Students At Higher Level

Agency Warns Against Black Farmers' Settlement Emails

'Magic' Johnson To Hold Fundraiser For Hillary Clinton

Michelle Obama Decries 'Blackness' Issue Against Barack

Blacks, Latinos In North Carolina Try To Find Commonality

MATT 'ULTIMATUM' DAMON KICKS MAJOR BOX OFFICE BUTT: IS JASON BOURNE THE WHITE SHAFT?

'The Bourne Ultimatum' sets opening record

Superspy Jason Bourne delivered this weekend as the third in a series of spy thrillers topped box office charts and delivered the biggest August opening of a film ever at $70.2 million, according to MSNBC.

That Bourne is a bad mutha... shut yo' mouth!

The opening also pushed last week’s top film, “The Simpsons Movie,” to second place, with $25.6 million. The big-screen version of the animated TV show has topped $315 million worldwide for distributor Twentieth Century Fox.

Not to take away from Matt Damon, but c'mon, who's the private dick that's a sex machine to all the chicks?

Ya damn right... but we digress!

This weekend’s top 12 films earned a whopping 36 percent more than the top 12 did in the same weekend last year. So far this year, the box office is up 6 percent with revenues of $6.073 billion, while attendance is up 1.42 percent, according to Media By Numbers LLC. .

“Underdog,” Disney’s live-action version of the animated crimefighter who speaks in rhyme, debuted in third place with $12 million. The weekend’s other openers didn’t bark quite as loud.

“Hot Rod,” a comedy from Paramount, earned $5 million.“Bratz,” a live-action comedy from Lionsgate based on the popular line of dolls, took in $4.3 million.

While it finished out of the top 12, “Becoming Jane,” from Miramax, the story of author Jane Austen starring Anne Hathaway, took in $1 million on 100 screens for an impressive average of $10,100 per screen in its opening weekend.

1. “The Bourne Ultimatum,” $70.2 million

2. “The Simpsons Movie,” $25.6 million.

3. “Underdog,” $12 million.

4. “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry,” $10.5 million

5. “Hairspray,” $9.3 million

6. “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” $9.3 million

7. “No Reservations,” $6.6 million

8. “Transformers,” $6 million

9. “Hot Rod,” $5 million

10. “Bratz,” $4.3 million

FYI: Did you know that Shaft is an academy award winning film?

So, what year was it made, who directed it and what was the Oscar for?

IN THIS WEEK'S BOX OFFICE SHOWDOWN, "CHUCK & LARRY" PUT A NET OVER "HAIRSPRAY"

1. Chuck & Larry - $34,775,250

2. Harry Potter - $32,185,000

3. Hairspray - $27,800,000

4. Transformers - $20,506,000

5. Ratatouille - $11,000,000

6. Live Free Or Die Hard - $7,300,000

7. License To Wed - $3,760,000

8. 1408 - $2,600,000

9. Evan Almighty - $2,455,020

10. Knocked Up - $2,318,400

IT'S OFFICIAL: HARRY POTTER IS A BLACK MAN!

We know this really has not much to do with African-Americans but we know also that a lot of black folks read the Harry Potter series and watch the movies. So... if you keep track of these things (we do), the sequel "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" racked up a $77.4 million debut to lead the weekend box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.

That raised the movie's total domestic gross to $140 million since opening Wednesday. And we haven't even added in world wide numbers!

Can we maybe do a spin-off with the brother in Harry's class? What's HIS life like being a wizard in the..? Hey, "Wizard In the Hood" -- now there's a title!!

BOX OFFICE TOTALS (In Millions):

1. Harry Potter - 77,410,000/ $140,017,000 (to date)
2. Transformers - $222,990,000/ $222,990,000
3. Ratatouille - $18,019,000/ $143,004,000
4. Live Free or Die Hard - $10,875,000/ $102,918,000
5. License to Wed - $7,440,000/ $30,508,000
6. 1408 - $5,010,000/ $62,202,000
7. Evan Almighty - $4,972,000/ $87,867,000
8. Knocked Up - $3,653,000/ $138,194,000
9. Sicko - $2,650,000/ $15,876,000
10. Ocean's Thirteen - $1,910,000/ $112,432,000

THE WEEK'S BIG NEWS IS ALL ABOUT IRAQ: EVERYTHING ELSE PALES IN COMPARISON

Death Toll In Baghdad is Causing Everyone To Say Enough!

Thank God! The White House Is Finally Set To Bail On Iraq

Tyrese & Anthony Anderson's "Transformers" Yields Big Box

Black College Cheerleader Gunned Down in L.A.

Black Mom Drives Teens To Park To Kill Latino Boy?

OCEAN'S 13 IS AWASH WITH BOUNTY, BUT WILL A 'FANTASTIC' BROTHER SAVE THE DAY?

Ocean's Thirteen was the number one movie but certainly not with a bang.

At $37 million it's the weakest weekend opening for an Ocean's movie.

Not by much, mind you. Ocean's Eleven bowed in at $38 million and Ocean's Twelve nudged it out at $39 million.

Next weekend promises to be a lot of fun.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer joins the summer sequel parade and the trailer look like it might actually be just as entertaining as the first.

Directed by a African-American brother named Tim Story, make sure you check it out!

1. Ocean's Thirteen * $37,080,000 - Total: $37,080,000

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: * $21,316,000 - Total: $253,614,000

3. Knocked Up $20,017,000 - Total: $66,241,000

4. Surf's Up * $18,000,000 - Total: $18,000,000

5. Shrek the Third $15,750,000 - Total: $281,892,000

6. Hostel Part II * $8,750,000 - Total: $8,750,000

7. Mr. Brooks $5,000,000 - Total: $18,682,000

8. Spider-Man 3 $4,400,000 - Total: $325,680,000

9. Waitress $1,650,000 - Total: $12,016,000

10. Disturbia $550,000 - Total: $77,795,000

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

WITH NO BLACK FOLKS IN SITE, HERE'S THIS WEEK'S BOX OFFICE NUMBERS

Okay, What's Wrong With This Quote:

Overall, Knocked Up came in 2nd place with $9.9 million Friday, $11.4 mil Saturday and a projected $7.7 mil Sunday from 2,871 theaters.

That not only covered the $30M cost of the pic, but fulfilled the studio's most optimistic expectations because execs didn't expect the raunchy laughter to play as well in the heartland as it did in urban centers and college towns.

It indexed high with both White and Latino audiences, and nearly half of its moviegoers went with their spouse. The audience also was evenly divided between older than age 30 and younger than 30.

African-Americans are increasingly being taken out of the equation when the mainstream media talks about poll numbers and percentages based on societal trends. The one exception is when it comes to the 2008 Presidential Election, no doubt because of Illinois Senator Barack Obama presence.

But we digress, let's get back to the business of Hollywood. Here are the projected numbers:

1. Pirates 3 $12.9M Fri, $18.1M Sat, and est $12.2M Sun. (cume $216.5M)
2. Knocked Up $9.9M Fri, $11.4M Sat, and est $7.7M Sun. ($29.2M)
3. Shrek the Third 3 $7.3M Fri, $11.3M Sat, and est $7.6M Sun. ($254.6M)
4. Mr. Brooks $3M Fri, $3.9M Sat, and est $2.6M Sun. ($9.6M)
5. Spider-Man 3 $2M Fri, $3.2M Sat, and est $2.2M Sun. ($318.2M)
6. Waitress $550K Fri, $865K Sat, and est $585K Sun. ($9.4M)
7. Gracie $425K Fri, $540K Sat, and est $435K Sun. ($1.4M)
8. Bug $385K Fri, $515K Sat, and est $350K Sun. ($6.1M)
9. 28 Weeks Later $350K Fri, $475K Sat, and est $375K Sun. ($26.5M)
10. Disturbia $356K Fri, $467K Sat, and est $265K Sun. ($76.7M)

Source

'PIRATES' GETS MAJOR BOOTY!

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," grossing $155 million in ticket receipts, hauled in U.S. box office treasure during the Memorial day weekend.

"Pirates" displaced "Shrek the Third," which took in an estimated $53 million at the box office and slipped to No. 2 for the four-day period that kicks off the summer season.

"Spider-Man 3," with an estimated $14 million, was in third.

Newcomer horror film "Bug" opened at a distant No. 4 with $3.3 million.

"Waitress" climbed to No. 5 from No. 12 with $3 million in estimated receipts.

In sixth was "28 Weeks Later," with $2.4 million.

Rounding out the Top 10 were "Disturbia," $1.9 million; "Georgia Rule," $1.8 million; "Fracture," $1.2 million; and "Wild Hogs," $1 million.

Receipts reported by Box Office Mojo.

MOVIE NEWS: DID WE SINK PRIDE?!

WHOA! WHAT HAPPENED?! This weekend we preferred turtles over trunks?! We opted to see 300 nearly naked white dudes dead in a field rather than 8 brothers diving in a pool?

We selected a shooter over a swimmer?! With the movie “Pride’ predicted at grossing only $4 million on its opening weekend (bringing it in at number 10) it certainly looks as if a whole lot of people did not see the movie or read our review. Yes, it was only on 1,518 screens but the average dollar per screen was $2,635 -- putting it well below TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) which averaged $8,183 per screen.

So, we’ll withhold wagging our fingers (mainly at those who clamor for more solid black films) and invite you to read what we have to say about “Pride” once again, and then take your cine-butt to the theater.

U.S. Box Office Totals - March 26, 2007

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - raked in $25.4 for the #1 spot.

300 - second with $20.5 million.

Shooter - debuted third with $15.4 million.

Wild Hogs - fourth with $14.3 million.

The Last Mimzy - opened fifth with $10.2 million.

Premonition - came in sixth with 10.1 million.

The Hills Have Eyes 2 - seventh with $10 million.

Reign Over Me - eighth with $8 million

Pride - number nine with $4 million. (RECOMMENDED)

Dead Silence - rounded out the Top 10 with $3.4 million, reports UPI.

Box Office Estimates Provided By Box Office Mojo