Jacob Hall

This stagnant post-Summer weekend was the perfect time and place for ‘The Possession,’ After all, September is where many movies go to die, so isn’t it an appropriate place for a horror movie? With no new competition, it wasn’t a question of whether or not the film was going to grab the number one spot, but how much it was going to make while doing so.

How do you know that the summer movie season is officially done? Check the box office and if it looks like this weekend, it’s over. The months of massive openings and long legs are over. Welcome to the doldrums that are late August and September. Sorry, ‘Premium Rush.’ You never had a chance.

Michael Phelps is a bonafide star. In addition to being one of the best athletes in history and the United States’ crown jewel at the Olympic games, the world’s greatest swimmer is also humble, funny, sweet and a just a joy to watch in those post-competition interviews. With his retirement from professional competition pending (if you had as many gold medals as him, you’d consider giving a rest, t

After nearly a month at the top of the box office, Batman has fallen. In his place stand two new Hollywood champions: ‘The Bourne Legacy‘ and ‘The Campaign,’ both of which opened to strong numbers. Still, these solid openings won’t blow anyone’s socks off, mainly because we’ve seen the likes of these do so much better in the past.

Hey there, ‘Total Recall.’ You know how you were supposed to be pretty big movie? Well, hopefully you’re sitting down because, well…you’re not. You see, there’s this little thing called ‘The Dark Knight Rises‘ that isn’t a remake of a much-beloved film and it doesn’t star Colin Farrell and people actually seem to generally kinda’ like it. Yeah, sorry buddy. You didn’t stand a chance.

Since the box office numbers from last week were not formally released until after the weekend passed, we need to play a quick game of catch-up with ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ The third and final of Christopher Nolan’s Batman movies opened to $160 million, a number that is staggering, but not record breaking. Did it even stand a chance of breaking the $200 million mark and challenging ‘The Avengers‘

Consider this weekend a study of three animation companies. Temporarily forget about ‘The Amazing Spider-Man‘ and ‘Ted‘ and ‘Moonrise Kingdom.’ What do the box office numbers of ‘Ice Age: Continental Drift,’ ‘Brave‘ and ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted‘ tell us about their respective studios? ‘Ice Age’ won the weekend, but is it actually a winner?

With the exception of poor Katy Perry, everyone was a winner at the box office this week. Seriously. Of the top ten films, nine of them either opened well or held well, making this one of the most consistent weekends of the summer season. Filmmakers and studios: pat yourselves on the backs. You’ve earned this one.

When ‘Prometheus‘ opened big last month, there was the usual “Ah, so R-rated movies can perform well at the box office!” discussion that tends to happen every year or so. Well, that has nothing on this weekend, which found two R-rated movies topping the box office. And it’s not like ‘Ted‘ and ‘Magic Mike‘ just did okay either…both films opened big, blowing away expectations and leading the charge

When it comes to winning big at the box office, never bet against Pixar. ‘Brave‘ is not only the acclaimed animation studio’s thirteenth film, it is their thirteenth film to open at number one at the box office. It’s a track record that just about everyone else in Hollywood would kill for.

For those of us who follow the box office, this weekend was a case of deja vu. Once again, ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted‘ headlined the top ten and once again, ‘Prometheus‘ snatched the number two spot. Both films managed to keep their momentum despite the opening of two new releases starring two of the biggest movie stars in the world. That’s good news if you’re ‘Madagascar 3′ or ‘Prometheu

Boy, talk about perfect timing. Disney and Pixar’s ‘Brave‘ opens in less than a week, it’s a movie that deals heavily with family and today is Father’s Day. How could a savvy marketing team possibly resist the chance to pull on your heart strings with a special trailer tailored for today?