TV Land has elected former president Bill Clinton to serve as a keynote speaker at the cabler's March 23 upfront. Oh, what Monica used to do up front.... Nick Jr. premieres a new episde of Dora the Explorer, "Star Mountain," on March 12.... Flushed Away unseated The Departed as the top DVD seller last week, while Babel was the No. 1 rental/OTC sleep aid.... DVD release dates have been set for Children of Men (March 27) and The Good Shepherd (April 3).
read more
Which film follies were not just dramatically anemic, but memorably cash-poor as well? In alphabetical order, as detailed by Variety:— All the King's Men ($7 million domestic gross versus a $55 million production budget, and despite an all-star cast)— Sharon Stone's Basic Instinct 2 ($5 million versus $70 mil)— Flushed Away ($61 mil versus $150 mil, though I cannot imagine it's any worse an animated film than Happy Feet, which my sons and I barely endured on Sunday afternoon. Subtle message that kids' film has.)— Flyboys ($13 mil versus $60 mil)— Hugh Jackman's The Fountain ($9 mil versus $53 mil)— Freedomland ($12 mil, despite a cast that included Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore and Edie Falco)— Russell Crowe's A Good Year ($7 mil, hampered by misguided marketing)— Lady in the Water ($42 mil versus $75 mil and a slew of critical barbs aimed at M. Night Shyamalan)— Poseidon ($60 mil versus $160 mil)— The Wicker Man (a $23 mil take ...
read more
So much for worrying about how it would play in Kazakhstan. Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat topped the box office in its first weekend of release, racking up $26.4 million (or 3.52 billion Kazakhstan tenge). What's more, Borat did that business in just 837 theaters, less than one-fourth as many as runner-up The Santa Clause 3 ($20 million). Rounding out the top five were Flushed Away (debuting to $19.1 mi), Saw III ($15.5 mil) and The Departed ($8 mil).
read more