I. Loved. Twilight. How fierce was this movie? I would watch Twilight again and I rarely say that about any movie. I can’t wait for the sequels!!
A female-dominated audience drove Twilight’s opening weekend to among the biggest in Hollywood history: a $70.6 million Friday-Sunday gross, per studio estimate.
“This is a game-changer. This is an industry-changing performance,” Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock said today.
“…With the success of Sex and the City, and Mamma Mia!, we’ve awoken a sleeping giant at the box office.”
Exit polling showed 75 percent of Twilight’s audience was female. Box-office stats show the movie is the biggest opener for a movie directed by a woman (Catherine Hardwicke).
Going into the weekend, Twilight was expected to make, at best, a big $60 million. Where did the extra $10 million come from? Word of mouth, said Summit Entertainment distribution president Richie Fay, who talked of teen girls catching the Friday midnight screenings, and then deciding they had to see the movie again—and again. “It turned out they really liked the movie,” Fay said.
Of the top 30 openers of all-time, of which Twilight is now one, only seven cost less than $100 million to produce. And only one, The Passion of the Christ, cost less than the $35 million Twilight.
Twilight didn’t just sell tickets; it sold tickets fast. At one point Friday, Fandango reported selling five Twilight tickets per second.
So, when’s the sequel opening? Fay said he guessed an official announcement, detailing a release date and principle players, could come this week.
1. Twilight, $70.6 million
2. Quantum of Solace, $27.4 milliion
3. Bolt, $27 million
4. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, $16 million
5. Role Models, $7.2 million
6. Changeling, $2.6 million
7. High School Musical 3: Senior Year, $2 million
8. Zack and Miri Make a Porno, $1.7 million
9. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, $1.67 million
10. The Secret Life of Bees, $1.3 million
Arizona State University student Alex Botsios is not to be fucked with. The law student was sleeping at home when intruder Gabriel Saucedo (pictured above) entered Alex’s apartment through an open window. Gabriel was armed with a baseball bat. When Alex woke up, Gabriel thought he was all bad ass, so he cut to the chase and told Alex, “I’m going to smash your head in.”
Alex allowed him to take his wallet and guitars, but when Gabriel wanted to steal Alex’s laptop, he turned the intruder into a punching bag.
Alex had four months of work on his laptop and he warned the robber it wasn’t such a good idea.
According to Botsios, he said “Dude, no — please, no! I have all my case notes…that’s four months of work!”
Saucedo, obviously underestimating the fury of an overstressed, overworked first-year, was unsympathetic. That’s when Botsios could take no more.
Wrestling Saucdeo to the floor, Botsios separated the bat from the thief and repeatedly punched him in the face. When it was all over, police had to get Saucedo stitched up before charging him with armed robbery and kidnapping, while Botsios only suffered some scrapes and a bruised knuckle.
Alex’s laptop remained unharmed and he said, “It’s my baby, don’t mess with my computer.” Now this is what I call a happy ending!
Comedian Wanda Sykes says the passage of a same-sex marriage ban in California has led to her be more outspoken about being gay.
“You know, I don’t really talk about my sexual orientation. I didn’t feel like I had to. I was just living my life, not necessarily in the closet, but I was living my life. Everybody that knows me personally they know I’m gay. But that’s the way people should be able to live their lives,” she said.
Sykes, who is known for her feisty and blunt style, said the passage of California’s Proposition 8 made her feel like she was “attacked.”
“Now, I gotta get in their face,” she said. “I’m proud to be a woman. I’m proud to be a black woman, and I’m proud to be gay.”
Sykes’ appearance at the Las Vegas rally surprised organizers. She was in town performing at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino.
When I heard that Wanda’s gay, I was like, huh?! Which is kind of funny how it’s surprising to find out some people are gay or lesbian. It’s something we don’t really think about. We pretty much assume someone is straight unless they fit into a LGBTQ stereotype. Banning same-sex marriages affects so many people that we know are gay or lesbian, and so many others that we just don’t know their sexuality, like all the guys who dumped me after I put out - I’d like to think that they’re gay.
I haven’t read Twilight but I am loving the hype!!! I worked at a bookstore and I witnessed the madness first hand. First time novelist Stephenie Meyer’s vampire series books fly off shelves and the movie will probably outperform industry estimates. It makes me ridiculously excited when I see young kids inhaling books. We can never have enough literacy here in the States.
Anyway, the Twilight series is like Anne Rice for kids. I need to really get into these books; I heard they’re amazing and have some racy sexiness in ‘em too.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the studio has also secured the services of Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg to pen New Moon and Eclipse, the second and third installments of the would-be blockbuster franchise.
Further ensuring squeals from the masses: Lead bloodsucker Robert Pattinson is also on board for the first three films.
