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Tuesday, 29 May 2012

"Moonrise Kingdom" breaks records at the box office

 Will Smith returned to theaters for the first time since 2008′s Seven Pounds with this weekend’s Men in Black 3, which put the A-list celeb back on top of the box office. Sony’s $230 million (some reports suggest a much higher budget) alien-zapping sequel earned an estimated $70 million over the extended Memorial Day weekend.
Men in Black 3 will easily become Smith’s thirteenth film to earn over $100 million at the box office — a truly impressive feat — but its opening weekend actually leaves much to be desired. Over the three-day portion of the weekend, MIB 3 grossed $55 million, which was higher than the debuts of Men in Black ($51.1 million) and Men in Black II ($52.1 million). (Due to higher ticket prices, 3-D surcharges, and IMAX fees, though, it sold far fewer tickets than its predecessors.) The original Men in Black earned $250.7 million in 1997. Men in Black II scored $190.4 million in 2002. Adjusting for ticket-price inflation, those totals soar to $432.6 million and $259.6 million, respectively. In today’s frontloaded box office culture, Men in Black 3 won’t likely reach those heights.
Sony says the film has taken in $133.2 million overseas and topped the box office in 104 countries. That gives the sequel a worldwide total of $203.2 million, and hopefully sets the stage for a lucrative run, because — between production, marketing, and distribution costs — MIB 3 likely needs to take in at least $650 million just to break even. That means the sequel will need great word-of-mouth from audiences (57 percent of which were above the age of 25) who issued MIB 3 a “B+” CinemaScore grade.


On Sunday, the film had already broken records, earning a per-location average of $130,752 while playing in four theaters - the highest average ever for a non animated film, said the film's distributor Focus Features in an  LA Times report. The  record  was previously held by 2006's "Dreamgirls."


"Moonrise,"  which stars Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman, has received favorable reviews with some  critics some even calling it Anderson's best film to date. The film opened this year's Cannes Film Festival.


Focus says it plans to expand the film's release to several hundred theaters through June. The film opened Friday playing in two theaters in New York and two more in Los Angeles, according to the LA Times.

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