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Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)

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News Corp's Profits Triple
8 May 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Selling DirecTV to Liberty Media for $1.7 billion and acquiring the Wall Street Journal helped News Corp post third-quarter profits of $2.7 billion, nearly three times as much as those for the same quarter a year ago. The company also benefited from lower content costs for its TV operations as a result of the writers' strike. Operating income at the Fox network soared 53 percent to $419 million, as the TV division also profited from the Super Bowl telecast in February and the continued success of American Idol, all of which offset the costs of launching the new Fox Business Network cable channel. However, the film unit, including 20th Century Fox, reported disappointing results, down 36 percent to $261 million, with only Alvin and the Chipmunks showing solid box-office returns. Nevertheless, despite the strong results, News Corp shares remained in the doldrums. (They're down 10 percent since the first of the year.) In an interview with Bloomberg News, Gamco Investors fund manager Larry Haverty said, "Hopefully, we who invest in [News Corp] will live long enough to see a point when the market recognizes what is going on."

DVD Buyers Shout "Alvin!"
17 April 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The number of DVDs that have remained at the top of the DVD sales charts for two consecutive weeks have been few and far between this year, but Alvin and the Chipmunks managed to stay there last week, despite competition from last year's award-winning sensation There Will Be Blood. In fact, Blood managed only to take third place on the Nielsen VideoScan chart behind The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. At the rental stores, Blood took the top spot with $8.5 million in rentals, according to Home Media Magazine. Alvin, which led on both charts last week, slipped to No. 2 on the rental chart with $7.2 million. The top-selling high-definition disc was I Am Legend.

'Legend' This Week; 'Alvin' Next Week
3 April 2008 (StudioBriefing)
In its second week on the DVD charts, the Will Smith drama I Am Legend took over first place from Disney's Enchanted on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart. It also remained at the top of Home Media magazine's rental chart for a second week, bringing its rental gross to $20 million. But Legend's tenure at the top is likely to be shortlived. Home Media reported today (Thursday) that consumers grabbed 2.6 million copies of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment's Alvin and the Chipmunks during its first day in stores on Tuesday.

Holy Hannah -- It's Miley Again!
31 March 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Miley Cyrus added two new trophies to her prodigious collection Saturday as the Hannah Montana star was voted favorite TV actress and favorite female singer at the Kids Choice Awards, broadcast by Nickelodeon channel. The show, which originated at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, attracted more than 10,000 fans, mostly teen and preteen girls. Drake Bell also was a double winner, for favorite TV actor and favorite TV show, Drake and Josh. Ryan Seacrest accepted the award for best reality show for American Idol.The award for favorite movie went to Alvin and the Chipmunks, which was accepted by Jason Lee. Host Jack Black: said that 88 million votes were cast online this year versus about 40 million last year.

Movies Get Off To Their Best Start in Years
31 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Hollywood got off to a roaring start in January with the domestic box office reporting ticket sales up 18 percent over January 2007. According to media-measurement firm Rentrak, total sales for the month came in at $773.4 million vs. $657.9 million a year ago. The box office also reported higher earnings than in 2006 ($703 million) and 2005 ($648 million). Particularly auspicious was the fact that three films crossed the $200-million mark in January, including 20th Century Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks, Warner Bros.' I Am Legend, and Disney's National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Perhaps just as surprising, the Fox Searchlight movie Juno crossed the $100-million mark, an achievement that few independent films can boast about.

Moviegoers Flock to Theaters on Martin Luther King Day
23 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The box office posted solid results on Monday, the Martin Luther King Day holiday, with the top 12 movies recording $27 million in ticket sales, according to final figures released Tuesday by Media by Numbers. Paramount's Cloverfield led the pack with a gross of $6.09 million. It also set a record for the four-day holiday with a total of $46.1 million. It's three-day total of $40 million set a weekend record for January, erasing the previous record of $35 million set by Star Wars (Special Edition) in 1997. Paramount says that the total budget for Cloverfield was just $25 million, although it was assumed that the studio spent far more than that to promote it. In a successful effort at counter-programming, Fox's 27 Dresses came in second with $27.4 million for the holiday, $4.43 million of which was earned on Monday.

The top ten films over the four-day Martin Luther King Day holiday weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Cloverfield, Paramount, $46,146,546, (New); 2. 27 Dresses, Fox, $27,442,040, (New); 3. The Bucket List, Warner Bros., $16,664,347, 5 Wks., $44,223,780; 4. Juno, Fox Searchlight, $11,966,082, 7 Wks., $87,092,615; 5. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Disney, $9,606,326, 5 Wks., $199,489,171; 6. First Sunday, Sony Screen Gems, $9,504,908, 2 Wks., $30,170,510; 7. Alvin and the Chipmunks, Fox, $9,433,049, 6 Wks., $198,813,230; 8. Mad Money, Overture Films, $9,273,645, (New); 9. I Am Legend, Warner Bros., $5,905,443, 6 Wks., $248,482,867; 10. Atonement, Focus, $5,528,377, 7 Wks., $32,653,183.

Australian Police Stage Biggest Pirate Raid
23 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Police in Melbourne, Australia today (Wednesday) staged the country's biggest raid on DVD pirates, seizing more than 400,000 bootleg DVDs and confiscating 170 DVD recorders. Among the seized DVDs, were copies of three films currently playing in Australian theaters, American Gangster, I Am Legend, and Alvin and the Chipmunks. According to Australian news reports, the raids came about following complaints from neighbors of the homes where the DVDs were being manufactured.

'Cloverfield' Grows Greener
22 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Paramount's Cloverfield added another $4.9 million to its record-setting (for January) weekend gross, to bring its total over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday to $44.3 million, according to Media by Numbers. Equally impressive -- if not more so -- Fox's 27 Dresses added $4 million to its gross, bringing it to $26.8 million for the four days. And with kids out of school for the holiday, Alvin and the Chipmunks rose to third place as it took in $2.4 million and put itself just an acorn's throw away from hitting the $200 million mark. (Its gross now stands at $198.7 million.) Warner Bros.' The Bucket List continued to perform solidly with $2.1 million on Monday to bring its gross to $43.7 million, while Fox Searchlight's Juno rounded out the top five with $1.7 million. Its total gross now stands at $86.7 million

'Cloverfield' Is a Godzilla of a Hit
21 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Cloverfield turned out to be not quite the equal of 1998's Godzilla in its opening weekend, but the monster movie nevertheless became the biggest hit of the year as it took in $41 million domestically. By contrast, Godzilla earned an estimated $55.7 million, but that was during the Memorial Day holiday. Moreover, ticket sales for Godzilla quickly trailed off, and the movie wound up with a domestic gross of $136 million. Cloverfield is now expected to exceed that figure. What's more, Godzilla had a budget of $130 million; Cloverfield was made for just $25 million. Debuting in second place was 20th Century Fox's 27 Dresses, which also exceeded prediction with sales of $22.4 million. Two other newcomers did not fare as well. Mad Money took in $7.7 million. Opening in limited release, Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream performed reasonably well, given generally unfavorable reviews. The movie earned about $501,000 in 107 theaters, for an average of $4,700 per screen. Surprisingly, the film with the highest per-screen average was the French animated film Persepolis which took in $281,000 in 30 theaters, or an average of $9,400 per theater. The overall box office was up 39 percent over the same weekend a year ago with ticket sales of $135.3 million for the top 12 films.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Cloverfield, $41 million; 2. 27 Dresses, $22.4 million; 3. The Bucket List, $15.2 million; 4. Juno, $10.3 million; 5. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $8.1 million; 6. First Sunday, $7.8 million; 7. Mad Money, $7.7 million; 8. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $7 million; 9. I Am Legend, $5.1 million; 10. Atonement, $4.8 million.

Fogie Flick Flies
15 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
For the first time in recent memory a film co-starring two 70-year-olds has topped the box office. The Bucket List, with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, scooped up $19.4 million in its first week of wide release by attracting a mostly older audience. The film's success was especially surprising given a chorus of negative reviews for it when it was originally released. Overall the box office was up 4.1 percent over the comparable weekend a year ago, tallying $108.8 million for the top 12 films, according to box-office trackers Media By Numbers.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. The Bucket List, Warner Bros., $19,392,416, 4 Wks, $20,816,129; 2. First Sunday, Sony Screen Gems, $17,714,821, (New); 3. Juno, Fox Searchlight, $13,612,682, 6 Wks., $70,862,478; 4. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Disney, $11,302,002, 4 Wks, $187,114,947; 5. Alvin and the Chipmunks, Fox, $9,302,895, 5 Wks., $187,943,374; 6. I Am Legend, Warner Bros., $8,179,610, 5 Wks., $240,283,451; 7. One Missed Call, Warner Bros., $5,981,373, 2 Wks., $20,493,337; 8. P.S. I Love You, Warner Bros., $4,827,212, 4 Wks., $46,830,324; 9. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie, Universal, $4,251,320, (New); 10. Atonement, Focus, $4,221,866, 6 Wks., $25,130,656.

An Oldster Weekend at Box Office
14 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The pairing of Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman produced better-than-expected results over the weekend as Warner Bros.' The Bucket List went into wide release with an estimated $19.5 million in ticket sales. According to preliminary figures, it edged out Sony/Screen Gems' First Sunday, which took in $19 million. The Fox Searchlight comedy Juno came in third with $14 million. It was one of those rare weekends when the teenage dating crowd did not control box-office results. "This was definitely a win for the older audience," Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media By Numbers, told the Associated Press.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. The Bucket List, $19.5 million; 2. First Sunday, $19 million; 3. Juno, $14 million; 4. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $11.5 million; 5. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $9.1 million; 6. I Am Legend, $8.1 million; 7. One Missed Call, $6.1 million; 8. P.S. I Love You, $5 million; 9. The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie, $4.4 million; 10. Atonement, $4.3 million.

'Juno' Winds Up in Second Place
8 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The critically acclaimed indie comedy Juno rocketed up the box-office chart to place second over the weekend, according to final figures released Monday by Media by Numbers. Although weekend studio estimates showed Warner Bros.' I Am Legend taking second place, official results showed Juno at No. 2 with $15.9 million and Legend at No. 3 with $15.7 million. Disney's National Treasure: Book of Secrets remained at the top of the list with $20 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Disney, $20,062,684, 3 Wks. ($170,870,795); 2. Juno, Fox Searchlight, $15,860,744, 5 Wks. ($51667586); 3. I Am Legend, Warner Bros., $15,717,458, 4 Wks. ($228,055,662); 4. Alvin and the Chipmunks, 20th Century Fox, $15,546,125, 4 Wks. ($176,283,861); 5. One Missed Call, Warner Bros., $12,511,473, (New); 6. Charlie Wilson's War, Universal, $8,106,250, 3 Wks. ($52,552,540); 7. P.S. I Love You, Warner Bros., $7,834,467, 3 Wks. ($39,202,724); 8. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, Sony, $6,230,489, 2 Wks. ($30,823,470); 9. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, DreamWorks/Warner Bros., $5,536,538, 3 Wks. ($38,608,100); 10. Atonement, Focus Features, $5,064,577, 5 Wks. ($19,155,607).

'Juno': Birth of a Big Hit
7 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
Disney's National Treasure: Book of Secrets stayed at the top of the box office for the third consecutive weekend with an estimated $20.2 million. But the big story was the rise of Fox Searchlight's Juno to No. 3 on the list with $16.2 million, just a notch below I Am Legend, which earned $16.4 million. When final figures are released today (Monday), rankings of the two runner-up films could well be reversed. Also performing strongly was the critically praised Atonement, which came in at No. 10 on the list of top films with $5.1 million despite playing in only 538 theaters. Overall, the box office was up about 7 percent above the comparable weekend last year. Meanwhile, I Am Legend remained the No. 1 film overseas for the third weekend in a row, with ticket sales of $34 million, according to studio estimates. The Golden Compass, a disappointment domestically, remained in second place overseas with $29 million. It has now taken in $232 million abroad compared with $62 million in North America.

The top ten films at the box office over the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $20.2 million; 2. I Am Legend, $16.4 million; 3. Juno, $16.2 million; 4. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $16 million; 5. One Missed Call, $13.5 million; 6. Charlie Wilson's War, $8.2 million; 7. P.S. I Love You, $8 million; 8. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, $6.3 million; 9. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, $5.4 million; 10. Atonement, $5.1 million.

'Alvin' Amazes
3 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
The box-office success of Alvin and the Chipmunks has surprised executives of 20th Century Fox, which produced it, as much as industry analysts and especially movie critics, who wrote scathing reviews about it. "I look at the numbers [box-office receipts] every day, and we just laugh," Elizabeth Gabler of Fox 2000 told the Los Angeles Times. The film had grossed $153.6 million through Tuesday and could wind up taking in as much as National Treasure: Book of Secrets and I Am Legend, the holiday's two blockbuster releases, the Times observed. But since it cost only $55 million to produce, it is likely to be far more profitable than the two other films.

Studios Prepare for Slow January
3 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
With January regarded as traditionally a slow month for the movie industry, only one film, Warner Bros.' One Missed Call, starring Edward Burns and Shannyn Sossamon, is scheduled to open this weekend. The result is that National Treasure: Book of Secrets is likely to repeat as the top film for the third week in a row, earning between $18 million and $22 million, analysts predicted. Fox Searchlight's Juno, which played in only about 1,000 theaters last weekend -- but still wound up in fifth place in the box-office standings -- is due to double that number this weekend and is expected to give films like Alvin and the Chipmunks, I Am Legend and Charlie Wilson's War, which finished second, third, and fourth last weekend, a run for the money.

'Treasure' Grows by $55.4 Million
2 January 2008 (StudioBriefing)
As expected, National Treasure: Book of Secrets remained No. 1 at the box office, taking in an estimated $55.4 million over the five-day New Year's holiday. What wasn't expected was the strong $42.2-million take of Alvin and the Chipmunks, which surged ahead of the Will Smith thriller I Am Legend, which slipped to third place with $38 million. (However, it crossed the $200-million mark in total sales, as it brought its gross to date to $205.1 million.) Also surprising analysts was the poor performance of 20th Century Fox's Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, which took in just $10.1 million. Charlie Wilson's War, which got off to a slow start, continued to show solid results as it tallied $20.5 million in ticket sales. And the comedy Juno made it into the top five with $15.7 million despite playing in just 1,014 theaters. (It posted the highest per-theater average among wide releases.) Opening in just two theaters in New York and Los Angeles, Paul Thomas Anderson's critically acclaimed There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, sold out every performance and averaged $92,000 per theater. The holiday box office overall was up 7 percent over last year.

Moviegoers Open 'Treasure' Box
31 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Without the distraction of last-minute Christmas shopping and family get-togethers, moviegoers returned to the theaters over the weekend to see the movies that they may have missed over last weekend's holiday. (No new movies opened wide.) The result was a second big weekend for Disney's National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which declined just 20 percent, to take in an estimated $35.6 million, bringing its 10-day total to $124 million. Surprisingly 20th Century Fox's I Am Legend for second place with $30 million in ticket sales. Legend placed third with $27.5 million, bringing its total to $194.6 million and putting it on track to cross the $200-million mark today (Monday), as moviegoers return to theaters on New Year's Eve. Charlie Wilson's War came in fourth with an estimated gross of $11.8 million. The film, which stars Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts and was directed by Mike Nichols, has been making steady progress since opening slowly last week. Widening its release to 998 theaters, Fox Searchlight's Juno placed fifth with $10.3 million, giving it a per-theater average of $10,321, a figure that exceeds the $9,290 per-theater average of Treasure. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that the critically hailed There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, took in $185,525 in just two theaters -- that's $92,763 per theater. On the other hand, The Golden Compass and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story fell out of the top ten faster than most analysts had thought possible.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $35.6 million; 2. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $30 million; 3. I Am Legend, $27.5 million; 4. Charlie Wilson's War, $11.8 million; 5. Juno, $10.3 million; 6. Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem, $10.05 million; 7. The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, $9.2 million; 8. P.S. I Love You, $9.1 million; 9. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, $8 million; 10. Enchanted, $6.5 million.

Box Office Full of 'Treasure'
27 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The five-day Christmas holiday brought joy to studio execs as ticket sales soared 34 percent higher than those for the comparable weekend a year ago. The leader of the pack was National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which finished with $65.4 million over the five-day period. In second place was Will Smith's I Am Legend, which collected $47.6 million. Alvin and the Chipmunks finished third with $38.6 million. Opening on Christmas Day Alien vs. Predator: Requiem took in $9.5 million and presumably drew moviegoers away from Treasure, which had the same young-male target audience. Also opening wide on Christmas were The Great Debaters, which took in $3.5 million, and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, which brought in $2.4 million. In limited release, the award-winning animated film Persepolis took in $37,118 in seven theaters.

The top ten films over the five-day holiday weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Disney, $65,444,195, (New); 2. I Am Legend, Warner Bros., $47,685,378, 2 Wks. ($150,950,671); 3. Alvin and the Chipmunks, Fox, $38,609,310, 2 Wks., ($94,476,107); 4. Charlie Wilson's War, Universal, $15,952,430, (New); 5. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, DreamWorks/Paramount, $13,635,390, (New); 6. P.S. I Love You, Warner Bros., $10,048,349, (New); 7. Alien vs. Predator: Requiem, Fox, $9,515,615, (New); 8. The Golden Compass, New Line, $6,931,000, 3 Wks, ($51,379,000); 9. Juno, Fox Searchlight, $6,817,494, 3 Wks., ($9,802,170); 10. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Sony/Columbia, $6,257,174, (New).

Christmas 'Treasure'
26 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
It appeared Tuesday that National Treasure: Book of Secrets would wind up with about $65 million for the five-day Christmas holiday. The figure, released by Walt Disney Pictures on Tuesday, was based on actual receipts through Monday and an estimate for Tuesday. However, a wild card for Tuesday was the opening of the latest Aliens vs. Predator movie, which was expected to compete for the same audience that would ordinarily be attracted to Treasure. Final results are due to be announced later today (Wednesday). Warner Bros.' I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, was expected to finish the holiday in second place with about $47.5 million, bringing its 12-day total for $150.8 million. Twentieth Century Fox's Alvin & the Chipmunks was expected to finish in third place. However, the studio declined to issue a five-day estimate, saying that it was impossible to forecast business for Christmas Day. It had taken in $32.8 million from Friday through Monday. Universal estimated that its comedy, Charlie Wilson's War, starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, had earned about $14.75 million, while DreamWorks figured its Sweeney Todd musical would take in $12.75 million. Sony's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story was widely believed to have bombed. The studio said that it had earned just $4.7 million through Monday with little hope for a significant pick-up in receipts on Tuesday.

Late Shows, Who Needs Them? Not New Movies
24 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
As it turns out, the movie studios haven't needed those late-night talk shows to promote their newest releases, after all. For the second weekend in a row, the box office produced solid results, soaring 36 percent above those for the comparable weekend a year ago. It was led by National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which recorded an estimated $45.5 million for the first three days of a five-day holiday weekend -- 30 percent more than the original National Treasure earned when it opened with $35.1 million in 2004. Last week's No. 1 and No. 2 films finished No. 2 and No. 3, with the Will Smith starrer I Am Legend producing $34 million and Alvin and the Chipmunks, $29 million. Charlie Wilson's War debuted in fourth place with a soft $9.6 million, a veritable bomb for a movie starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, directed by Mike Nichols, and written by Aaron Sorkin. The film received all-over-the-place reviews. Although it's supposedly based on a true story, Wall Street Journal critic Joe Morgenstern wrote, "I didn't believe a word of it," while Claudia Puig in USA Today described it as "an eye-opening and sassy tale." It barely edged out Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starring Johnny Depp, a veritable blockbuster for a non-stop singing musical -- and especially one showing on only 1,250 screens. Also surprising was the performance of P.S. I Love You, which was savaged by critics but nevertheless managed to draw $6.5 million in ticket sales. Its audience turned out to be 70 percent female. (They perhaps followed New York Post critic Lou Lumenick's advice: "Ladies, love means never having to force your significant other to sit through something as sloppy as P.S. I Love You.") Also surprising -- for the opposite reason -- was the poor performance of Judd Apatow's Walk Hard, which received mostly good reviews and strong studio promotion but tanked with just $6.5 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. National Treasure: Book of Secrets, $45.5 million; 2. I Am Legend, $34.2 million; 3. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $29 million; 4. Charlie Wilson's War, $9.6 million; 5. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, $9.35 million; 6. P.S. I Love You, $6.5 million; 7. Enchanted, $4.15 million; 8. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, $4.1 million; 9. The Golden Compass, $4 million; 10. Juno, $3.4 million.

Don't Underestimate Will
18 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
It turns out that even the weekend studio estimate for Will Smith's I Am Legend was too low. Official figures released Monday indicated that the post-apocalypse movie earned $77.2 million, not the $76.5 million that had astonished box-office analysts when the estimate was released Sunday. Entertainment writers found it hard to believe that the film, in which Smith delivers virtually a solo performance, outperformed the "cast of thousands" Lord of the Rings films which had previously set December box-office records. Almost as surprising was the $44.3 million taken in by the kids movie Alvin and the Chipmunks, which received nearly universally bad reviews. On the other hand, New Line's The Golden Compass continued to travel south. The $200-million movie earned just $8.8 million in its second week. The figure amounted to twice what most analysts had forecast.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. I Am Legend, Warner Bros., $77,211,321, 1 Wks, (New); 2. Alvin and the Chipmunks, Fox, $44,307,417, (New); 3. The Golden Compass, New Line, $8,8255,49, 2 Wks. ($40,768,661); 4. Enchanted, Disney, $5,533,884, 4 Wks. ($91,801,187); 5. No Country for Old Men, Miramax, $2,827,530, 6 Wks. ($33,390,003); 6. The Perfect Holiday, Yari Film Group, $2,283,360, (New); 7. This Christmas, Sony Screen Gems, $2,260,812, 4 Wks. ($46,004,292); 8. Fred Claus, Warner Bros., $2,22,1438, 6 Wks. ($68,880,722); 9. Atonement, Focus, $1,806,862, 2 Wks. ($2,918,154); 10. August Rush, Warner Bros., $1,765,319, 4 Wks. ($28,045,110).

The Stuff of 'Legend'
17 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Will Smith could well have invoked the famous line of Muhammad Ali, the man he once played in a movie: "I am the greatest." For Smith, who performs a veritable one-man show in the movie I Am Legend, set a box-office record for December over the weekend as the movie debuted with an estimated $77.4 million. The previous record had been set by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which took in $72.6 million in its 2003 debut. (Warner Bros. observed that the results also represented the biggest success it has ever had with a "non-franchise" film.) Box office gurus, who were way off in their predictions on Friday, could only marvel at the Legend-ary results: $59.2 million on Friday and Saturday. And Warner Bros.' estimate that it took in an additional $18.2 million on Sunday could very well prove to be too conservative. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks also surpassed expectations, taking in about $44.7 million. The family film clobbered New Line's The Golden Compass, which wound up with just $9 million after opening last week with a disappointing $25.8 million, a fraction of its cost of more than $200 million to produce and market. The success of Legend and Alvin pushed box-office receipts 36 percent above those for a year ago.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. I Am Legend, $76.5 million; 2. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $45 million; 3. The Golden Compass, $9 million; 4. Enchanted, $6 million; 5. No Country for Old Men, $3 million; 6. The Perfect Holiday, $2.97 million; 7. Fred Claus, $2.3 million; 8. This Christmas, $2.3 million; 9. Atonement, $1.85 million; 10. August Rush, $1.8 million.

Movie Reviews: 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'
14 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
You can almost hear Ross Bagdasarian's chastising "Oh, Alvin!" in the tone of the reviews for Ross Jr.'s Alvin and the Chipmunks. In USA Today Claudia Puig writes, "Sure, rodents are hot this year. But unlike Ratatouille's chef prodigy Remy, these mischief makers bring nothing new to the table." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post acknowledges that he has been a longtime fan of Alvin, "but this partially animated, charm-free atrocity is awful enough to instantly cure any remaining nostalgia for the rodent trio." Andy Webster in New York Times describes the film as another example of Hollywood milking old television properties for nostalgia, and concludes: "Despite its shout-outs to the holiday season, this is essentially airplane fodder, not a perennial." But Stephen Cole in the Toronto Globe and Mail remarks that he watched both The Golden Compass and Alvin in theaters packed with 4-12-year-olds, and, he adds, "This reviewer is honor-bound to report that Alvin wins the kids' vote, paws down."

(Cash) Returns of the Zombies?
14 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Box office analysts expect the Will Smith sci-fi thriller I Am Legend to do more than $50 million at the box office this weekend. Today's (Friday) Los Angeles Times observed, "No one doubts the movie, which cost more than $150 million to make, will open No. 1. The only question is how big it will be." It quoted industry analysts and executives at rival studios as predicting that the film could open with ticket sales as high as $65 million. Almost certain to take second place is 20th Century Fox's family flick Alvin and the Chipmunks, which is expected to take in between $15 million and $20 million.