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'Jobs' movie disappoints with $6.7 million opening weekend
The Ashton Kutcher-led Steve Jobs biopic Jobs had a disappointing opening weekend, earning just US$6.7 million at the US box office. That puts Jobs in seventh place for the week. As we've written about before, Jobs has received a number of critical remarks from former Apple employees saying the movie is inaccurate, as well as generally bad reviews. Still, with an opening at more than 2,300 theaters and a production budget of just over $12 million, a $6.7 million take on opening weekend is bad. As BoxOfficeMojo reports: Jobs had plenty of issues, including awful reviews and a comedy star playing dramatic (almost never a good idea). Most important, though, was the movie's apparent tonal issues: while plenty of people enjoy their Apple products, the deification of Steve Jobs is a bit of a turn off. Jobs received a weak "B-" CinemaScore, and all indications are that it will disappear from theaters quickly. See it while you can, folks (or, if the reviews are any indication, don't).
Resident Evil: Afterlife nets first place at the box office
It seems that the combination of 3D technology, video game inspiration and the acting chops of Milo Jovonovich ... Milli Jovovonich ... that lady from The Fifth Element proved undeniable for moviegoers this past weekend. Paul W.S. Anderson's latest foray into the world of game movies, Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D took first place in the box office over the weekend, netting $28 million on opening night alone. That's the best opening for any film in the series so far, but with an estimated budget of $60 million, it's got a little ways to go to break even. But hey -- enough about the monies. Did you see the movie? How was it? And how was Mrs. Jovavonov ... Joovajanavich ... M.J.?
Prince of Persia becomes highest grossing video game-based movie
Though Jerry Bruckheimer's latest opus, a film adaptation of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, wasn't received with commercial fanfare in the U.S. (it's only pulled in about $80 million domestically), it's fared far better overseas. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie's received worldwide earnings of $293 million, making it the highest grossing game-to-film adaptation to date. The previous holder of this prestigious title was the original Tomb Raider film, which currently stands at $274 million worldwide. We're overjoyed that Prince of Persia managed to surpass this record -- mainly because, hey, it's about time someone took Jon Voight down a peg or two.
Prince of Persia movie opens with $37.8M domestically [Update]
Update: IMDB has updated its projected totals for the weekend box office to include the Memorial Day holiday, increasing ticket totals of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time from $30.2 million to $37.8 million for the four-day weekend. The increase pushes the video game-based flick to second place ahead of Sex and the City 2. Original: If you only considered its current Metacritic ranking, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time could be called the first disaster movie of the summer season. According to IMDb, the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced time manipulation romp cracked third place in the US with $30.2 million in its opening weekend, behind first-place Shrek Forever After ($43.3 million) and Sex and the City 2: Electric Boogaloo with $32.1 million. While Bruckheimer may have been wishing for Pirates of the Caribbean-style opening numbers, Box Office Mojo reports that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is the third largest box office opening ever for a video game-based film. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Pokemon: The First Movie, currently own the first and second spot respectively in that extremely specific category. Internationally the Prince fared better, bringing in $59 million from overseas theaters and capturing first place. So far, The Sands of Time has earned a total of $87.5 in the two weeks it has been released overseas. [Via BigDownload]
Patriot's $130 Box Office 1080p media player streams on the cheap
Eying a Popcorn Hour device, are you? We know Patriot isn't exactly the first name you think of when pondering your next media streamer, but the $129.99 price tag affixed to the black box shown above definitely piqued our interest. Like most of its rivals, this one features a 2.5-inch HDD slot (though you'll need to bring your own drive, obviously), a trio of USB sockets, 10/100 Ethernet for content streaming, UPnP support, a rather decent file support list and a bundled remote. There's also an optional USB WiFi adapter for those not keen on running 80 feet of Ethernet cabling through their den, and while the GUI won't revolutionize your life, it certainly ain't bad given the low barrier to entry. Too bad it's still stuck in that painful-to-watch "pre-order" stage, huh?[Via thegadgetsite]
Apple pulls Box Office from App Store
Gizmodo is reporting that Box Office, an app that gives showtimes for your area, along with movie synopses and images from RottenTomatoes.com and other online sources, has been pulled from the App Store. Metasyntactic, the developer, claims they have received no communication from Apple on the subject, despite emailing Apple about the situation. They also say they communicate regularly with all their data providers, and none have issues with the app. Late last week, NetShare was mysteriously yanked under the same cloud of secrecy. As we mentioned in last night's talkcast, it's clear that Apple has complete control over what you install on your iPhone or iPod touch. Gizmodo speculates that something might be going on "under the surface -- an undiscovered security flaw, maybe." Update: Our commenters are pointing out that this could be nothing more than a name change. The app will be called Now Playing but it doesn't appear to be available in (at least the U.S.) App Store yet. Metasyntactic also hasn't commented beyond their original confusion as to why their app was pulled.
DoA movie even deader after arrival
After what seems like a lifetime in development, direct-to-DVD speculation and a dismal 18th place opening last weekend, we thought things couldn't get much worse for the Dead or Alive movie. But we were wrong. Dead wrong, if you will. This weekend's box office numbers show earnings for the movie dropping off an incredible 91.9 percent to just over $21,000. Total. For the whole country. For reference, top-earner Evan Almighty made that much off just three of its 3,604 opening screens. The 54th-most popular movie for the weekend, DoA was shown in just 98 theaters, earning an average $214 per screen. For even more context, action flick 300 was shown in 140 theaters and averaged $737 per showing despite being four months old. Granted, DoA was a low-budget popcorn flick with no big names attached and next to no advertising. Still, what does this unmitigated flop say about the prospects of other upcoming, game-based movies like Prince of Persia or Spy Hunter ... or Metal Gear Solid or Diablo ... or City of Heroes or The Sims? They can't all be Tomb Raider, after all. [Via 1up]
