Friday, December 6, 2024

Box Office: “The Butler” Crosses $100 Million Mark, “Insidious” is Number 1

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Box office over the weekend was probably lower because of Yom Kippur. But the big news was that Lee Daniels’ “The Butler” just crossed the $100 million mark. That’s quite an accomplishment for an original drama, not based on a bestselling book or play. “The Butler” is adapted from a magazine article by Wil Haygood, but enlarged into its own creation by Danny Strong. If $125 million in its sights, “The Butler” is a grand slam homerun.

Meanwhile: genre flick “Insidious Chapter 2” made $41 million over the weekend. The drop off to number 2 is pretty steep–the widely panned “The Family” made only $14.5 million. The rest of the box office was stagnant. But Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine” is at $27 million and on its way to $30 million. The trick will be keeping both “Blue Jasmine” and “The Butler” in theatres through October and November even in limited runs until awards season starts kicking in with nominations.

I did read some “breaking news” yesterday predicting the winner of the 2014 Oscar for Best Picture– even though most of the films haven’t been seen by anyone. To say something might be nominated or is Oscar worthy is one thing. But really, to jump ahead and announce the winner a full six months in advance is a tad silly and shows very little knowledge of how that game works. If that were possible both “Brokeback Mountain” and “The Social Network” would have gotten Oscars. Uh, they did not.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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