The Blog at Guess The Gross

THIS WEEK'S CONTEST: THE EYE

This week’s contest? The Eye.

Why oh why did I choose The Eye? Would you rather guess the gross of the Hannah Montana concert film?

Right.

Get those picks in by 8pm Friday.

Technorati Tags: Film, Weekly Contest

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD LEAD OSCAR NOMINEES

No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood each received eight Academy Award nominations Tuesday (January 22) when the contenders were announced at a pre-dawn press conference in Hollywood, California.

Many will spend the next few weeks overanalyzing the nominees, but it’s not unfair to ask how Norbit gets more nominations than Knocked Up did.

In support of the striking writers I won’t add any additional commentary. Here are the nominees for the 80th annual Academy Awards:

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
George Clooney in Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s Wa
Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie in Away from Her
Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney in The Savages
Ellen Page in Juno

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There
Ruby Dee in American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan in Atonement
Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM OF THE YEAR

Persepolis
Surf’s Up
Ratatouille

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
American Gangster
Atonement
The Golden Compass
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
There Will Be Blood

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Across the Universe
Atonement
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
La Vie en Rose
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War/Dance

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Freeheld
La Corona (The Crown)
Salim Baba
Sari’s Mother

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
Beaufort
The Counterfeiters
Katyn
Mongol
12

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
La Vie en Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Atonement
The Kite Runner 
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Falling Slowly" from Once
"Happy Working Song" from Enchanted
"Raise It Up" from August Rush
"So Close" from Enchanted
"That’s How You Know" from Enchanted

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
I Met the Walrus 
Madame Tutli-Putli
Même Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven) 
My Love (Moya Lyubov)
Peter & the Wolf

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
At Night
Il Supplente (The Substitute)
Le Mozart des Pickpockets
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood
Transformers

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
The Bourne Ultimatum
No Country for Old Men
Ratatouille
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Transformers

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Atonement
Away from Her
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno
Lars and the Real Girl
Michael Clayton
Ratatouille
The Savages

THIS WEEK'S CONTEST: RAMBO

This week, we’re guessing the gross on Rambo. Rambo is back and he’s pissed off. The trailer looked great. How much will the film gross?
Technorati Tags: Film, Weekly Contest

THIS WEEK'S CONTEST: THE GTG BOYS MAKE THEIR PICKS

If you’re looking for some guidance about this week’s prediction, look no further than two distinct guesses from Kernan and Roy. One of them might be right.

KERNAN: Can JJ Abrams fool audiences into thinking he made Cloverfield? That is the question as the much buzzed about monster flick rolls out wide this weekend. Fanboys have been buzzing about this one since the trailer debuted on Transformers and the promise of an Abrams-related monster destroys New York movie has been the talk of the town.

Then came the announcement that Abrams was hard at work on Star Trek and the confusion ensues. Did Abrams make Cloverfield before Trek? No, in fact Cloverfield is not a JJ Abrams movie. Oh sure, he is branding it but folks, Matt Reeves (?) is the auteur here. Of course, this only matters to fanboys and likely won’t play to general audiences. Nor do I believe will Cloverfield, which will struggle to $20 million if only by fooling the hardcore fan. That is good enough to open near $20 but by no means the buzzy blockbuster the studio had hoped for.

Prediction: $18.7 million

And now for something completely different, a man with three buttocks:

ROY: I’ve spent the past 15 minutes sitting here trying to figure out a creative way to say that I disagree respectfully with my esteemed colleague, but I’m not feeling terribly creative, so here’s the deal: Kernan is WAY off. The buzz on this film is huge and the fact that it’s a PG-13-rated monster movie that has revealed very little in its trailers, save for a headless Statue of Liberty, means that this film will top $50 million easily this weekend. Throw in the fact that there is little competition from new releases -- is anyone other than Scientologists looking forward to Mad Money? -- and that Cloverfield runs approximately 84 minutes in length, and you’re looking at a huge holiday opening.

Prediction: $78.36 million.

Technorati Tags: Film, Weekly Contest

THE WRAP: OLD GUYS TOP WEEKEND BOX OFFICE

The Bucket List took the top spot at the box office this weekend after expanding to 2,911 screens. The film, in its third week of release, jumped from No. 23 to No. 1 after taking in $19.392 million. It has grossed $20.816 million in the past three weeks.

First Sunday debuted impressively at No. 2 after taking in $17.714 million. The film grossed an average of $8,004 per screen, the best of any new wide release.

Juno continued its amazing run this weekend, taking in $13.612 million despite dropping from No. 2 to No. 3. The film, which added 523 screens this weekend, has taken in more than $70.862 million in its first four weeks of release.

Last week’s top film, National Treasure: Book of Secrets dropped to No. 4 after taking in $11.302 million in its fourth weekend of release. The film has taken in $187.115 million in one month.

Rounding out the top five is Alvin and the Chipmunks, which continues to perform impressively. The film took in $9.303 million and has taken in $187.943 million in its five weeks in theatres.

Elsewhere in the top 10, The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything, grossed $4.251 million in its first three days of release and entered the chart at No. 9.

Outside the top 10, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale entered the chart at No. 14 after taking in $2.985 million.

Though there were no new limited releases this weekend, There Will Be Blood continues to perform well ahead of its wide release, taking in an average of $14,421 per screen. It has grossed $4.278 million in three weekends of limited release.

Technorati Tags: Film, Music, The Wrap

THIS WEEK'S CONTEST: CLOVERFIELD

Are New Yorkers ready to see the city destroyed again? Based on the pre-release hype, they -- and people around the country -- are waiting anxiously for the film that we will feature in this week’s contest: Cloverfield.

Same rules apply -- One guess per person before 8:00 pm ET Friday, 1/18/2008.

Good luck and think big grosses.

Technorati Tags: Film, Music, Weekly Contest

JUNO SOUNDTRACK DETAILS

The Kinks, Sonic Youth, Belle & Sebastian, and Kimya Dawson are among the artists featured on the soundtrack to the hit Fox Searchlight comedy, Juno, which is currently on more than 1,900 North American theatre screens.

The eclectic soundtrack also features songs from Mott the Hoople, Buddy Holly, and Cat Power. Already available at digital outlets, the disc hits store shelves Tuesday (January 8).

The track listing for the Juno soundtrack follows:

1. All I Want Is You, Barry Louis Polisar
2. Rollercoaster (Juno film version), Kimya Dawson
3. A Well Respected Man, The Kinks
4. Dearest, Buddy Holly
5. Up The Spout, Mateo Messina
6. Tire Swing, Kimya Dawson
7. Piazza, New York Catcher, Belle & Sebastian
8. Loose Lips, Kimya Dawson
9. Superstar, Sonic Youth
10. Sleep (instrumental), Kimya Dawson
11. Expectations, Belle & Sebastian
12. All The Young Dudes, Mott the Hoople
13. So Nice, So Smart, Kimya Dawson
14. Sea of Love, Cat Power
15. Tree Hugger, Kimya Dawson & Antsy Pants
16. I’m Sticking With You, Velvet Underground
17. Anyone Else but You, The Moldy Peaches
18. Vampire, Antsy Pants
19. Anyone Else But You, Ellen Page and Michael Cera


Technorati Tags: Film, Music, Soundtracks

THIS WEEK'S CONTEST: THE PIRATES WHO DON'T DO ANYTHING: A VEGGIE TALES MOVIE

This week, we’ll be guessing the gross of The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie, which opens Friday (January 11) on approximately 1,200 screens.

For this first contest of 2008, we’ll be playing for bragging rights, just to be sure that we have all of the kinks worked out. You’ll need to register for a free TypePad account. If you choose to use the same nickname that you used in the past, it will make my life slightly easier. Just remember, one entry per person (for now -- more on this soon) and yes, I have several ways of finding out if you provide multiple entries.

The contest closes Friday at 8:00 pm ET. Any entries submitted after that time will not be counted.

Good luck and don’t forget to tell your friends.

THE WRAP: NATIONAL TREASURE NO.1 AGAIN

National Treasure: Book of Secrets continued to hold the top spot on the weekend box office charts after taking in $20.225 million this weekend. The action sequel has taken in $171.033 million in its three weeks of release and is almost guaranteed to take in $200 million domestically. Get ready for National Treasure: Guidebook to New York City.

Will Smith’s I Am Legend is also likely to spawn a sequel after rising from No. 3 to No. 2 and taking in $16.3 million in its fourth week of release for a $228.638 million cume.

Juno performed exceptionally, jumping from No. 5 to No. 3 after expanding to 1,925 screens, taking in $16.225 million for a five-week total of $52.032 million.

Another surprising success, Alvin and the Chipmunks, took in another $16 million in its fourth weekend of release and dropped from No.2 to No. 4. The film has grossed $176.738 million during its North American theatrical run. The film, which was budgeted at $60 million, looks likely to crack the $200 million barrier -- a figure that all-but guarantees that there’ll at least one more go-round for this classic franchise.

Rounding out the top five is the weekend’s only new wide release -- One Missed Call -- which captured $13.525 million in its first weekend of release.

While no new film debuted in limited release, There Will Be Blood performed extremely well in limited release. The film expanded from two to 51 screens, but managed to take in an impressive $26,215 per screen, the best of any film playing this weekend. Other notable limited releases include The Bucket List, which took in an average of $19,687 on 13 screens, and Persepolis, which captured $11,428 per screen on seven screens.

Technorati Tags: Business, Film, News, The Wrap

WHAT THE?

I’m sure that’s what those of you who have landed here are thinking. No, you didn’t make a mistake. All Guess the Gross operations will originate here until further notice. The good news is that you can type guessthegross.com into your browser of choice and you’ll end up here. Weekly contests, previews, features, reviews, and contests will all take place on the blog until I can redo the GTG site. Over the next few weeks, I’ll do my best to transfer the old reviews to this site so that you can refer them if you want to.

For the time being, I won’t copy old columns to the new site, but if there’s a huge demand for any of Kernan’s columns or Keeley’s rants, I might change my mind.

In the meantime, check out the two previous posts for more information about the big changes at Guess the Gross. The new contest will be posted Sunday evening with instructions as to how to submit your guess. You might have to register for a Typepad login to leave comments, but it’s free.

Thanks to everyone for their support.

Technorati Tags: Announcements