Clooney, Bullock sci-fi "Gravity" breaks record with $55 mln debutOctober 7, 2013 - 11:01 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - "Gravity" soars to the top spot at the North American box office, leaving other new releases far behind. The George Clooney and Sandra Bullock starrer opens to a solid $55.6 million, marking the biggest opening of all time for an October release ahead of the $52.6M debut posted by "Paranormal Activity 3" back in 2011, AceShowbiz said. It also becomes the largest openings ever for Bullock and Clooney, and the 2nd largest for director Alfonso Cuaron. Bullock's previous record was "The Heat" ($39.1M this summer), Clooney's previous best was "Batman & Robin" ($42.9M in 1997), and Cuaron's previous biggest entry was "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" ($93M in 2004). Boasted by Oscar buzz and an excellent "A-" grade from CinemaScore, "Gravity" appealed to adult audience evenly divided between male (54%) and female (56%). 82% of them was over the age of 25 and nearly 60% was over the age of 35. 80% of the movie's domestic weekend gross ($44 million) came from the 3D showing. "In two days, this movie has become a cultural phenomenon. People that haven't gone to the movies in years, or who only see one or two movies a year, are going to see Gravity," says Warner Bros.' domestic distribution chief Dan Fellman. He expects the movie about two astronauts left stranded after their ship was damaged to lure younger audience in the coming days. Overseas, "Gravity" also has a good start. It debuted to a solid $27.4 million from 27 markets, giving its worldwide total of $83 million. Russia led with $8.1 million, followed by Germany ($3.8 million) and Australia ($3.2 million). The movie will next open in Brazil (October 11), Korea (Oct. 17), Mexico (Oct. 18), France (Oct. 23), U.K. (Nov. 8), and Japan (Dec. 13). Two spots lower at the box office's No. 3 sits crime thriller "Runner, Runner" starring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake. The film made on $30 million budget opened to a weak $7.6 million Stateside. "Considering the movie's cost, we'll be just fine," insisted 20th Century Fox's senior vice president of distribution Spencer Klein. Last week's chart topper "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" slips to the runner-up place with $21.5 million, dropped 37 percent after its $35 million opening last weekend. The kiddie-friendly pic collected a domestic total of $60.6 million so far. Hugh Jackman's "Prisoners" and Chris Hemsworth's "Rush" round up the top 5 with $5.7M and $4.4M respectively. Related links: Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | European Parliament to discuss repression in Azerbaijan The European Parliament will discuss repression of civil society in Azerbaijan on April 24 PACE wants concessions from Azerbaijan to accept Baku back A PACE co-rapporteur said that Azerbaijani authorities must make certain concessions so that the country can return to PACE. Cyprus parliament honors Armenian genocide victims Acting House President Zacharias Koulias noted that April 24 marks the “black anniversary” of the Armenian genocide. Armenia PM, France envoy discuss regional matters Issues related to the consistent development of Armenia-France cooperation were discussed. |