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‘Chronicle’ Wins Weekend Box Office Race

Bobbie Braceros — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 07:28:37 +0000

In a Super Bowl weekend record, two movies – “Chronicle” and “The Woman in Black” — opened to more than $20 million at the domestic box office.

Fox’s “Chronicle” grossed an estimated $22 million and CBS Films’ “Woman in Black” took an estimated $21 million, making the movies the top two in North America. Considering that Super Bowl weekend is traditionally weak and that studios had figured the two PG-13 movies would take in about half what they did, the numbers are especially striking. While studios generally offer conservative pre-release estimates, outside box-office watchers also predicted lower numbers than “Chronicle” and “Woman in Black” achieved.

Less conservative pre-release predictions for “Chronicle” had it taking about $15 million. Estimates for “Woman in Black” had it grossing about $14 million. The overall box office was up 38 percent compared to the same weekend in 2011.

While Fox and CBS had reason to cheer, Universal was less fortunate. The studio’s “Big Miracle” pulled in $8.5 million — in line with expectations, and enough to make it the No. 4 movie at the box office, but not especially impressive for a $40 million movie.

Fox spent about $12 million to make “Chronicle,” a found footage action film about a group of high school friends who develop superpowers. CBS picked up domestic distribution rights for “The Woman in Black,” about a young lawyer who travels to a remote village where he encounters the ghost of a scornful woman, for $3 million.

“Both pictures way overperformed, which is good for everybody,” Chris Aronson, Fox’s distribution chief, told TheWrap Sunday morning. “It’s good for the business.” And he pointed out that both “Chronicle” and “Woman in Black” attracted the increasingly elusive under-25 moviegoer.

“The aesthetic that Josh created for this movie really hit a nerve with the intended audience,” Aronson said. It certainly brought them into the multiplex: 61 percent of the audience was younger than 25. And while the movie skewed toward male viewers, it drew more females than the studio anticipated: about 45 percent of the audience was made up of females.

“That’s getting darn near balanced,” Aronson said. And the audience liked the movie well enough. The audience polling firm Cinemascore gave “Chronicle” a “B” overall and a “B+” among its target audience of people younger than 25.

Young people drove “The Woman in Black,” as well. That movie’s audience was 57 percent younger than 25. As expected, it was overwhelmingly female — 59 percent.

Russell Brand Got Smitten By Katy Perry Lookalike Zooey Deschanel

Bobbie Braceros — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 07:51:52 +0000

He most certainly has a type, if reports are to be believed.

Just months after Russell Brand and Katy Perry announced they were divorcing, the comedian is said to have set his sights on another stunning brunette – who is the spitting image of his estranged wife. The 36-year-old funnyman is said to be determined to woo New Girl actress Zooey Deschanel, who filed for divorce from her husband Ben Gibbard just three days before Russell and Katy’s split announcement.

A source told America’s OK! magazine: ‘Russell has had his eye on Zooey for a long time. And he’s been sending funny, flirty texts to see if they can get together.

‘He thinks she’s hysterically funny and cute, too. He loves her quirky sense of humor, and thinks they’d be great together both on-and off-screen. There’s a real spark there.’

However, while Zooey is said to be ‘intrigued’ by Russell’s interest in her, the insider added: ‘But she’s heard about his reputation as a womanizer, and isn’t sure whether she’s ready to rush into another relationship so quickly.’

Zooey is also apparently ‘very aware that she looks strikingly similar to Katy and has been mistaken for Katy by fans’. Asked in a recent interview with Allure magazine if she minded being compared to Katy, Zooey replied: ‘No, she’s really pretty!’

American actress Zooey, 32, made a name for herself in movies such as Elf, Yes Man and 500 Days Of Summer. But she has enjoyed something of a career revival of late thanks to her role in hit US TV show New Girl.

Daniel Radcliffe Admits Alcohol Problem Affected Him

Bobbie Braceros — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:32:03 +0000

Daniel Radcliffe has admitted that his alcohol problem caused him to ‘black out’ every time he drank.

Asked if he had ‘fun drunken nights out’ before giving up alcohol in August 2010, the Harry Potter star said: ‘Yeah, but I can’t remember them. ‘Seriously, in the last three years of drinking I blacked out nearly every time. Blacking out was my thing.’

He has admitted that his alcohol problem caused him to ‘black out’ every time he drank. The 22-year-old added that he was so concerned with his public behaviour when drunk that he became ‘a recluse at 20’, boozing alone at home.

‘The drinking was unhealthy and damaging to my body and my social life. That’s beyond question,’ he said in an interview.

‘I was living in constant fear of who I’d meet, what I might have said to them, what I might have done with them, so I’d stay in my apartment for days and drink alone. ‘I was a recluse at 20. It was pathetic – it wasn’t me. I’m a fun, polite person and it turned me into a rude bore.

‘For a long time people were saying to me, “We think you have a problem,” but in the end I had to come to the realisation myself.’ With his problem worsening, he spoke to Gary Oldman, who played Sirius Black in the Potter films and battled alcoholism himself in the 1990s.

Radcliffe said: ‘I did talk to him about it once. I didn’t say I had a problem -–because I didn’t think I did at that point – but I told him I shared that mentality he had for actively seeking out chaos. ‘He just said, “You can’t keep doing this. You’ve got too much to lose”. And that really went in. But not even he could have stopped me alone – I had to stop myself.

‘And stopping has shown me a world of happiness that I didn’t think was possible.’ Radcliffe admitted last year that he quit drinking after he became ‘so reliant on [alcohol] to enjoy stuff’. At the time he said: ‘As much as I would love to be a person that goes to parties and has a couple of drinks and has a nice time, that doesn’t work for me. I do that very unsuccessfully.’

Reese Witherspoon Uses New Hair To Hide Scar

Bobbie Braceros — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:29:01 +0000

Many Hollywood stars get a fringe for a new look or to give a more youthful appearance.

But Reese Witherspoon admitted she decided to cut her hair after she was left with a scar following a road accident in September. The Oscar winner ended up with a cut on her forehead and a black eye after she was knocked down by a pensioner’s vehicle while jogging.

The mother-of-two, 35, recalled the accident in Santa Monica during an interview on Graham Norton Show. Assuring Norton she had totally recovered following the ‘particularly un-showbizzy’ incident, she said: ‘I was jogging and I got hit by a car, it’s not funny at all.

‘They said I am very hard-headed because I landed right on my head and I have a scar, hence my new hairdo. ’I don’t remember much about it but miraculously and thank God I am fine.’ Witherspoon refused to press charges against the 85-year-old driver, who was cited by police for failing to stop for a pedestrian.