Box-Office Round Up : 8.10.2008

Here’s this weekend’s box-office estimates!

1. The Dark Knight $26 million
2. Pineapple Express $22.4 million
3. The Mummy III $16 million
4. Sisterhood/Traveling Pants $10.7 million
5. Step Brothers $8.9 million

Well, well, well… The Dark Knight has done it again and breaking more records along the way! I was sure that given the opening two days, Pineapple Express would easily win the weekend. Though it deserves to be said that with its Wednesday opening, it has already grossed $40.4 million, which gives Sony it’s first hit of the summer! I’m sure many people over at the Sony lot are much less worried about losing their jobs now that this movie is the first one of theirs to make money all summer. Dag. Hang in there guys. Though Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ gross seems low, it did beat the opening weekend of the first installment of that movie, so congratulations! It’s also interesting that when the first one came out, I had no idea of who these girls were except Alexis Bledel. Now it’s got the main Gossip Girl, Ugly Betty, Rory and Joan of Arcadia! OMFG!

Elegy, the movie starring Sir Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz (which has a killer trailer, btw) opened with $102,000 on six screens. Not bad - $17,000 a screen for a small movie generally means that the main two nightly shows are sold out! We’ll see how this performs as it gains more screens.

It would just be wrong not to mention, even though The Round Up is not about this. Bernie Mac passed away this weekend at the age of 50 from complications due to pneumonia. Its sadness has a lot to do with it’s complete surprise. I had only heard he was sick on Friday evening and by Saturday morning he was gone. This was one seriously funny man. He had the rare ability to have a serious “angry” edge that was tempered with pure heart, which I think is why America loved him so much. He has quite a body of work, but for my money nothing beats his work in all of the Ocean’s movies. The interrogation scene with him and Matt Damon from Ocean’s 11 is an absolute classic! He left us too soon.

“Nuff Said!”

Also, many people may not know this name, but Bernie Brillstein passed away this week as well. Mr. Brillstein was head of his management company, Brillstein-Grey, which he founded with Brad Grey, who now runs Paramount Pictures. You are well acquainted with the results of his actions and the shows that Brillstein-Grey Television produced. One notable fact (and maybe my favorite) is that early in his career, Mr. Brillstein took interest in a young unknown puppeteer in New York City. Brillstein was his champion, and steered that career from unknown until he died in 1990. That person was Jim Henson. I only got to meet Mr. Brillstein twice, but immediately felt that this person was a class act. He fully understood the realities of this business but never let that interfere with his passion for it. Bernie Brillstein will be missed.





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