Monday, July 20
The above headline is true ... in China.
China Film spokesman Weng Li recently announced that director Michael Bay's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the new all-time Chinese box-office champion, soundly defeating James Cameron's Titanic. The first Transformers movie didn't come close to Titanic's $52.7 million record, with ticket sales of only $37 million. But its sequel earned $58.5 million, making it the new leader by a wide margin.
To protect locally produced films, China has a quota system in place that limits the number of foreign-film releases to approximately 20 per year. Despite this, Hollywood films have already had a successful run in China, with Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Terminator Salvation already topping the $15 million mark this year — the Chinese equivalent of "blockbuster" status. China currently has approximately 4,100 screens, and Transformers: ROTF received a wide release because of the absence of any major motion picture competition.
According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has earned $364 million domestically, with an additional $383 million earned internationally. This pales in comparison to the overall ticket sales for Titanic, which earned $600 million domestically and $1.2 billion internationally.
Posted 7/20/2009 by BrentJS
Related: James Cameron | Titanic | Michael Bay | Transformers | Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Thursday, April 30
It's been over a decade since James Cameron thrilled the world with his epic film Titanic. After producing several documentary films, the director of The Terminator and Aliens returns to science fiction with Avatar, a photorealistic CGI film in 3-D.
Except for the rumors of ground-breaking technological advancements in filmmaking, a few images and a short synopsis about a wounded ex-marine and a struggle to exploit an alien world, there is little known about Avatar. However, if director Steven Soderbergh (Solaris) is to be believed, Cameron's fans haven't waited in vain. In a recent interview, Soderbergh said:
I've seen some stuff and holy $#@%. It's the craziest $#@% ever.
Next Showing: Avatar is scheduled to be released December 18
Posted 4/30/2009 by BrentJS
Related: James Cameron | The Terminator | Titanic | Aliens | Avatar
Thursday, June 21
Yesterday The American Film Institute unveiled an updated version of its top 100 movies of all time, with Orson Welles's 1941 masterpiece Citizen Kane once again topping the distinguished list.
AFI issued its first top-100 list in 1998 in commemoration of the institute's 100th anniversary. If the updated rankings are any indication, AFI apparently doesn't think much of movies made over the last decade. The new list includes only four films released after the initial rankings were compiled: Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Saving Private Ryan, Titanic and The Sixth Sense.
Click here for the full list of AFI's top 100 movies of all time.
Posted 6/21/2007 by reelz
Related: Titanic | Saving Private Ryan | The Sixth Sense | The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring