The Twilight Saga: New Moon

It was speculated something such and the makers of the vampire saga were not let down. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” wolfed $140.7 million in its opening weekend. On the first three days the movie minted total $258.8 million worldwide as per reports of studio estimates on Sunday.

A year back “Twilight”, the first installment of Stephenie Meyer’s popular vampire series, grossed $69.6 million haul over the same weekend. A year after the picture was completely changed. The No. 1 domestic debut for Summit Entertainment’s “New Moon” was more than twice.

“Obviously, with the success of ‘Twilight’ itself, sequels being what they are will generate X-number of dollars more, particularly if it’s a satisfying sequel”, Richie Fay, head of distribution for Summit, was quoted as saying.

“New Moon” ranked third on the all-time domestic chart, with Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight” ranking 1st with a gross of $158.4 million opening weekend and “Spider-Man 3″ ranking 2nd with a gross of $151.1 million. On the opening day itself, “New Moon” earned $72.7 million, which is an all time domestic high for opening day. This surpassed the previous record of $67.2 million by last year’s “The Dark Knight”. “New Moon” is also the second-biggest non-holiday weekend ever in Hollywood, the top being none other than the July 18, 2008 release of “The Dark Knight”.

Outside “New Moon” debuted in 25 countries and took in $118.1 million over the first weekend. There was no doubt that “New Moon” would emerge this big.

The third installment of Meyer’s next “Twilight” chapter, “Eclipse,” arrives in the heart of summer, next June 30 and is expected to do as big as this.

Twilight had showcased the supernatural teen romance between a school girl and a vampire (Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson) and New Moon adds a love triangle with a werewolf (Taylor Lautner) to the plot. Both the films have been hot favorite among female fans resulting to around 80% of the audience for “New Moon” being female. The “Twilight” franchise “taps into something primal and visceral that drives women crazy, and they’re willing to pay for the privilege” commented Dergarabedian. The viewers for the film were mostly young who apparently left to chance to fall in love with vampire and werewolf heartthrobs.

The five films that grossed highest during last weekend are:

1. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” ($140.7 million)
2. “The Blind Side” ($34.5 million)
3. “2012″ ($26.5 million)
4. “Planet 51″ ($12.6 million)
5. “A Christmas Carol” ($12.2 million)

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson

Its a one year anniversary of the most popular vampire movie “Twilight” and Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson remembers how they were simply floored by the welcome they received from thousands of eager fans of the the Stephenie Meyer’s book. Throngs of fans had gathered to greet the stars at the premiere of the big-screen adaptation.

At the same location the stars were caught unveiling the sequel “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” amid thousands of eager fans. Monday night in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles Kristen Stewart and the hottest vampire on screen, Robert Pattinson arrived for the premiere of their forthcoming film. The stars, surrounded by fans waiting for them impatiently, quite knew what was coming their way this time.

“I’m not as scared as I was last year. At some point, the security guy said, ‘This is very unsafe.’ And I was like, ‘Uh.’ Other than that, everything was cool”, Stewart said while she signed autographs finding moments out of her very short visit.

The biggest heartthrob and “The Sexiest Man Alive”, Robert Pattinson, said the crowed was much larger than the previous year’s and this they had expected. “And it seems different to me because we have done this world tour in the last week and it has just been unbelievable in every single city. It is about 10 times bigger than any other city in the world”, the star, who plays Edward Cullen in the movie, added.

A group of fans who called themselves as “Twi-Hards” reached the venue on early Thursday afternoon to secure a place in the line for get the tickets to watch their favorite stars’ arrivals on the red carpet from close.

Taylor Launter, Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson

The “Twilight: New Moon” stars, Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Launter finally landed in Tokyo for the promotion of the film. New Moon will hit the theaters on November 20th. The stars have been recently all over from Vancouver to Los Angeles to Sao Paulo, Brazil and finally to Tokyo promoting their film. And all these in less than a week’s time. Well, it almost requires a vampires sleeping habit to carry on with such a routine.

Rob, Stewart and Launter arrived in Japan early Tuesday morning. The photographs of the stars soon were all over the internet. The most handsome vampire on screen arrived at the press conference in a sharp dark suit. The 23 year old actor spoke about their forthcoming release, New Moon, at the event sponsored by Volvo. Rob was later joined by Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner, who arrived straight from Brazil.

All the three tried too look less tired but it seems that they only get to sleep once in a “New Moon”. Rob, Stewart and Launter have been really busy with their last minute promotion of Twilight’s first sequel to be released on 20th November.

Pattinson, the heartthrob of millions across the globe, wore a charcoal suit, a deep chocolate shirt, brown striped skinny tie and fit brown shoes. Ahem! Rob is a perfect Englishman, no doubt about that! Kristen Stewart flaunted a short black leather-esque number with a fitted bodice, barely-there straps and a jagged ivory hem. Bella surely looked romantic and sensuous! Taylor Lautner simply stole the hearts of all those present all in black.

Michael Jackson's "This Is It"

Sony released “This is it”, a documentary which traced Michael Jackson’s rehearsals for the would-have-been concert, this Wednesday on the 28th of October. The 112 minutes movie showed footage of the time between April and June when Jackson had been rehearsing for the “sold-out concert” which he was going to stage at the O2 Arena in London. The concert sadly never happened, but some intelligent minds and hardcore fans like Director Kenny Ortega and some Sony Pictures executives brought out this idea of the documentary film. The whole behind-the-scenes régale is a treat to every Jackson fan and brings alive the real charisma of Jackson.

The documentary shows the rehearsals held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center and the Forum. Sony paid $60 million to get the rights of the more than 100 hours of footage. Ortega, who had been the creative director for MJ’s Memorial Service, compiled the interviews, backstage extras and rehearsals into a film that a fan recounts was “overflowed with his energy, passion, and dedication”.

Keeping the global Jackson-appeal in mind this documentary was released in 99 countries including Japan, South Africa, Brazil, China, Norway and the U.S. (of course). Fans all around the world got to see their beloved “King of Pop” at the premiere on Tuesday night. Although the film started at an extremely late hour, fans still remained faithful to their Pop-Czar.

The midweek release of “This is it” earned $7.4 million in U.S. and an additional $12.7 million from around the world. The total grossing in the first day was $20.1 million. This is supposed to be the highest for an October midweek release. For the individual money-scores, U.K. turned out to the highest seller grossing $1.9 million, just a little before France with $1.4 million. The global phenomena can be seen as Japan, Germany and China followed France with $1.2 million, $1.1 million and $730,000 respectively.

These numbers, although, might still turn a sad face for the Sony producers as their sales projections were much higher than this. They had expected a return of $20 million only from the U.S. which was not achieved. It is now to be seen whether the next few weeks will bring in the expected returns of $30 to &50 millions or not.

But, looking at the whole picture, this is a tribute film made for the fans, by the fans, to the fans. Let us just let it remain there and not remunerate them.

What say?

Michael Jackson

Two hours, and all tickets for advance booking of ‘Michael Jackson’s This Is It’ were sold out. The film will be previewed in Los Angeles and the film already have started reigning over the box office even before its release.  The studio behind the film has confirmed on Monday, the film has broken all earlier records for advance ticket booking and will dominate the box office in the forthcoming month. MJ fans are waiting anxiously to rock with the late King of Pop for one last time.

‘This Is It’ is based on the rehearsal footage of the “Bad” singer, shot weeks before his sudden death. The film is expected to hit the screen on 28th October. The advanced booking that was opened on Sunday resulted in thousands of tickets sold out in North America alone. Sony Pictures Entertainment revealed that the maximum number of tickets has been sold in cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston and New York.

Besides USA there has been a sale of of over $1 million in tickets in Japan alone on the very first day. Over 30,000 fans booked advanced tickets to the film on the opening day of advanced ticket booking in London. This huge number has overshadowed the ticket booking for “Harry Potter” and “The Lord of the Rings” in the city.

Other European nations like Holland, Sweden, Belgium and New Zealand  had also marked record booking for the film. According to reports from  Sony Pictures, the online booking of tickets were equally in demand. Fans also queued up for hours in Paris, Bangkok and Munich. Sony has pain a sum of $60 million for the footage to make the movie.

‘This Is It’ will be premiered on 27th October, a night prior to its nationwide release, at the new Regal Cinemas Stadium 14 in Los Angeles. The film showcases Jackson rehearsing for a  50-date run of London concerts. The “Thriller” singer was scheduled to perform live just weeks after his death on June 25th. There will be some behind-the-scenes footage as well as Jackson and his band and dancers rehearsing for the tour.

Jeff Blake, the chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution for Sony Pictures, was quoted as saying, “Michael Jackson has an army of fans everywhere around the world. We are giving the audiences an incredible opportunity to join together in celebration of Michael Jackson’s incredible career.”

The American Idol winner Kris Allen

The American Idol winner Kris Allen has recently debuted his first single album. The singer appeared at New York’s Z100 on Monday to debut his first single, “Live Like We’re Dying,” on Elvis Duran’s morning show.

Allen has been dropping in on radio stations for his first single’s promotion. The singer in an interview mentioned that he almost gave up on his one and only dream to become a singer. “I was playing in bars, playing three hour shows, singing every song under the sun, taking requests from people. I was actually trying to go back to school [before Idol]. This was one of the last ditch efforts. I’m just glad it worked out!” said Allen.

“I’m glad I was able to be a part of her last season. She was great. She cared for all of us. We got to know her the most, probably. She’s just a sweetheart. I’ve met Ellen [DeGeneres] as well, and she’s great. She’s awesome. I love Ellen to death”, Allen also added.

The album that has not yet been titles is all set to hit the stores on 17th November. Allen would be busy till then promoting his album and has mentioned that he would miss his home in Conway, Ark. “I miss everything about that place. I miss Chick-Fil-A. It is the best chicken sandwich out there. I love it, man. It’s one of my favorite places in the world”, the singer said.

Kevin Skinner

Kevin Skinner flew back home with the grand prize on “America’s Got Talent”. Skinner is a chicken farmer from Mayfield, Ky., who is passionate about singing besides his professional.

The singing sensation was awarded $1 million grand prize along with the headlining spot at a Las Vegas show by NBC for winning one of the most talent shows of the world. Skinner achieved the maximum number of votes by the viewers of the show, which led him to win the season finale on Wednesday.  Barbara Padilla, an opera singer from Houston, came close second. Skinner, who was all in tears, had beat eight other finalists to win the prestigious title.

“I’ve always loved to perform. I want to go out there, and give ‘em the best show I can”, said Skinner after the win.

The country singer will be seen performing at  the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on Wednesday in a show organized by Jerry Springer in an “America’s Got Talent” show.

The season finale of ‘America’s Got Talent’ was full of surprises. Just before Skinner was announced as the winner, Susan Boyle took the center stage to make her U.S. TV singing debut with a cover of the Rolling Stones ballad “Wild Horses”.

Skinner, the 35 year old country singer, also revealed that he had been playing guitar since the age of 12. He had never missed a single episode of ‘America’s Got Talent’ ever since it began and had been one of the biggest fans of the show.

He defeated fellow singers Lawrence Beamen, Drew Stevyns, and a trio from Texas, along with 75-year-old comedian Grandma Lee and the Fab Five, tap-dancing sisters from Utah to bag the winning title.

Kanye West in The Jay Leno Show

It had to happen and it did happen! “The Jay Leno Show” drew 18.4 million viewers on its Monday night’s premiere episode. The controversial 10 p.m. show on television is liked by more than the reviews actually speak. The warm reception from viewers made it the leading show of television on that day.

The full credit must be given to Kanye West, who had been creating flaring headlines with his unexpected outburst in MTV’s VMA. The data submitted by Nielsen Media Research stated that the viewership rose three times more than Leno averaged on “The Tonight Show”.

With a rating of 5.3/ 14 share that Leno scored and viewers aged between 18 to 49, this was certainly the top rated television program of the night. According to reliable sources this was the highest watched program of NBC in the time period since last year’s Summer Olympics.

The producers are not taking a comfortable seat after the huge success of its premiere as they speculate the viewership might drop dramatically as the curiosity factor diminishes in coming days. With fresh episodes of popular television series such as Season 8 premiere of CBS’ “CSI: Miami” coming up next week, Leno seems to have a hard time to regain its position.

Renee Zellweger

After the most successfully talked about return to the silver screen, the Oscar winning actress Renee Zellweger was in the house to premiere her upcoming movie “My One and Only”.

The “Down with Love” actress stunned all those were present as she dazzled down the red carpet outside the Paris Theatre in New York City. Zellweger flashed in a sexy black one-shoulder mini dress.

In a recent interview the actress was quoted talking about how she has been spending the summer recently. Zellweger said, “I’ve absolutely been living my life for myself this summer. I started to take a look around at my personal life and fill it up a bit with things that didn’t have anything to do with being an actor and having a public persona”.

It also seems like many other Hollywood celebrities, Miss Zellweger, has also been bitten by the restaurant bug. The actress mentioned, “I opened up a restaurant [in East Hampton], The Blue Parrot. A little taco joint with some really good margaritas”.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

Jolie and Pitt are always in news for good reasons. The couple was present for the premiere of Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi-killing flick “Inglourious Basterds”, on Monday night at Los Angeles. Surrounded by thousands of fans Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt talked candidly about their active ad very interesting love life, their kids and twins and the possibility of tying knots.

Earlier in an interview for Parade the 45 year old actor labeled their secret grotto as “a great place for sex”. When Jolie was asked by Extra to put some light on this, the actress added, “Yeah, well, we got a few special places. You keep it going”.

There are not much chances of the couple getting married anytime in the near future. Pitt said that he will be sticking to his comment strongly that they won’t think of wedding until all couples were allowed to marry legally in the United States. The actor added, “I did say that, so now I’m stuck with it”.

Jolie is also comfortable with Pitt’s decision since the actor recently called her his “soulmate”. In a statement Jolie was quoted as saying, “That is very cool. Well, he’s mine. It is what it is”.

Angelina, who appeared in a skin-tight black leather dress, spoke very affectionately about their a year old twins. “The twins are great. They’re walking. I hope to get all of my kids involved [in humanitarian efforts]. I hope to raise them properly so that they have a good conscience, and they’re good people”.