Yeah, I plan to see it. It sounds like it will a fun, diverting time at the movies.
I have the hardest time explaining my views to some of my friends. They'll ask me questions like "How is it you will pay to see 'Taken' or 'Face Off', yet hate movies like 'Crank' or 'Bad Boys 2' or 'Friday the 13th'?" I've given up the speech on good-throwaway fare, good-bad fare, good-camp fare, entertaining-diverting-forgettable fare, versus bad-throwaway, bad-bad, bad-camp, and excrutiating-annoying-wish-I -could forget fare. For example,when I confessed to one friend that I *liked* "Talladega Nights", he said "Then I don't get why you always dog out Adam Sandler's comedies". Told another friend my wife and I enjoyed "Knocked Up", and the response was, "Then why do you avoid Martin Lawrence's movies?" Sigh... ----- Original Message ----- From: "B. Smith" <daikaij...@yahoo.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 9:54:24 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: WTF - "Friday the 13th" Remake Pulls in Huge Numbers Don't worry about Taken. It's already closing in on $80 million after three weekends in the U.S. and has taken in close to that amount internationally. They are some rumbles about a sequel. Not bad for a French produced medium budget thriller. --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com , Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@...> wrote: > > Huh? All the reviews I read said that this is a dull movie, even by its own kill-by-the-numbers standards. Is this box office due to a bunch of young folk who simply never saw the original? It's a bit distressing to see this and "Mall Cop" doing so much better than "Taken" and "The International". > > Of course, it could be worse: Will Smith could star in a remake of Halloween! Course, it'd probably make over one hundred million the first weekend, right Rave? > > ************************* > > > > > > LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - What better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than to watch college kids get slaughtered in a remake of " Friday the 13th "? The revival of the venerable slasher franchise easily took the No. 1 spot at the North American box office this weekend, setting a new record for a horror opening with estimated sales of $42.2 million, distributor Warner Bros . Pictures said on Sunday. > > > > > The old mark was held by " The Grudge " with a $39 million debut in 2004. That film had a less-restrictive PG-13 rating, while the R rating for "Friday the 13th" ostensibly prevented fans under age 17 from buying tickets unless accompanied by an adult. > > > > > The new film is essentially a remake of the 1980 film that kicked off the horror series and eventually introduced a hockey-masked villain named Jason. His most recent appearance, in 2003's "Freddy vs. Jason," generated a $36.4 million opening. > > > > > Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc , predicted "Friday the 13th" would end up in the $48 million range once sales for the U.S. Presidents Day holiday on Monday were calculated. The film was directed by German filmmaker Marcus Nispel , who shot the hit 2004 retread of " The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ." Both films were produced by "Transformers" director Michael Bay , whose Platinum Dunes banner specializes in low-budget horror remakes. > > > > > Also new this weekend were Walt Disney Co's Isla Fisher comedy " Confessions of a Shopaholic " at No. 4 with a modest $15.4 million, and Columbia Pictures' Clive Owen thriller "The International" at No. 7 with $10 million. > > Columbia, a unit of Sony Corp , also had a disappointment last weekend with " The Pink Panther 2 " ($22 million to date). But the studio's surprise hit comedy "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" crashed through the century mark, tallying $110.5 million after an $11.7 million weekend. > > > > > Last weekend's champion, Warner Bros.' ensemble romance " He's Just Not That Into You ," slipped to No. 2 with $19.6 million, taking its 10-day tally to $55.1 million. The comedy, based on a self-help book that was itself inspired by the TV show "Sex and the City," revolves around the lives and loves of various couples. The A-list lineup includes Jennifer Aniston , Drew Barrymore , Ben Affleck and Scarlett Johansson . > > > > > The thriller "Taken" fell one place to No. 3 with $19.3 million in its third weekend. Liam Neeson plays a father in a race against time to prevent his kidnapped teen daughter's virginity from being taken by an Arab sheikh. The surprise success, produced by French filmmaker Luc Besson , has earned $77.9 million to date, and should hit $120 million, said distributor 20th Century Fox , a unit of News Corp . > > > > > (Editing by Eric Beech) > > (please visit our entertainment blog via www.reuters.com or on http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/ ) >
