The Tree of Life wins FIPRESCI Prize!

Variety reports:

Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life has added to its Cannes Palme d'Or win this May by taking the Grand Prix for film of the year, awarded by the Intl. Federation of Film Critics (Fipresci).

“It's comforting to discover so many generous hearts that encourage myself and all those who work with me to continue forging ahead," Malick said in a statement.

The prize will be presented Sept. 16 at the opening gala of the 59th San Sebastian Film Festival, where The Tree of Life opens the fest's Zabaltegi-Pearls section.

The prize will be collected by an exec at Tripictures, the Spanish distributor of the film, the San Sebastian fest announced Friday, scotching major speculation that pic's stars Brad Pitt or Sean Penn will pick up the award.

Box Office Actuals (6/24/11-6/26/11): "Cars 2" Easily Takes The Checkered Flag...

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

Overcoming the distinction of being the first negatively reviewed Pixar film ever, "Cars 2" roared past the field and collected an impressive $66.1 million, besting the start of "Cars" in 2006 when strictly counting dollars. Attendance was down comparatively however with more than 40% of ticket sales for "Cars 2" coming off its 3-D exhibitions.

In the Pixar family of films, "Cars 2" looks impressive when compared to other openings from the studio. "Cars 2" represents the 4th largest June opening of all time and the 5th largest Pixar opening of all time, trailing behind "Toy Story 3" (2010, $110.3 million), "The Incredibles" (2004, $70.5 million), "Finding Nemo" (2003, $70.3 million), and "Up" (2009, $68.1 million).

And with all the negative reviews levied upon the film, "Cars 2" represents the always prevalent disconnect between critics and audiences. By the time of this writing, "Cars 2" had watched its Tomatometer drain down to 33% (?!) but CinemaScore polling of opening weekend audiences found the film score an A-. Additionally, the start for "Cars 2" also secured Pixar their 12th consecutive #1 wide opening (both "A Bug's Life" and "Toy Story 2" opened on one screen initially, only to move to #1 with its wide release the following weekends).

With so much of the news good for "Cars 2", Pixar and Disney seem unconcerned with the negative response the film received prior to its opening. Nikki Finke at Deadline reports one unnamed Disney source as stating, "Critics not liking a movie doesn't seem like it will hurt the Pixar brand in my opinion. It will be their 12th #1 film in a row and will rank near the top for opening weekends." And they were right.

One unexpected benefit from seeing "Cars 2" in theaters is having the chance to catch "Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation", a new animated short film which tore the house down at my screening and looks to be a player for the Best Animated Short Film Oscar, if it is submitted for consideration. Additionally, Pixar made the curious decision to launch promotional efforts for next summer's "Brave", a action/adventure epic featuring a female lead voiced by Kelly McDonald.

The debut of the teaser is not noteworthy per se, with studios piggybacking their next big project on the backs of their latest releases all the time. This, however, seemed different. Pixar did not just deliver a teaser, but they always sent out stills and production notes and other marketing gimmicks, almost as if to try and deflect attentions away from the increasingly lukewarm and bad PR for "Cars 2".

For what it's worth, "Brave" became the hot topic amongst those both in and out of the movie industry and the film, initially, looks fantastic.

Cameron Diaz hits a couple of milestones you may not be aware of, the now-weekly Allen/Malick analysis, and a flood of indie documentaries and dramas look to make their mark. All of this and the Top 40 after the cut!

Good luck getting a refund if you didn't care for The Tree of Life...

...at least at one theater. Thoughts?

Box Office Actuals (6/17/11-6/19/11): A flickering "Lantern" lights the way...

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

Despite a strong start with higher than expected numbers from midnight showings and a well attended Friday night, Warner Bros. saw its "Green Lantern" flicker and dim by the end of the weekend. The third superhero film to arrive in 2011, following "Thor" and "X-Men: First Class", "Green Lantern" was the least attended opening weekend of the three, starting at a $52.3 million clip. Most films would be thrilled to land that sum, but everything has perspective and Warner Bros. are hugely disappointed in the diminishing returns.

A strong midnight to strong Friday to lessening Saturday to dismal Sunday can be attributed to a lot of different factors. Initially, the film was ravaged by critics and although CinemaScore provided a B+ rating from audience members, the fact is that people stopped coming after the first eyes got a look at the final cut. That pesky word-of-mouth can be a helluva thing sometimes.

Nikki Finke at Deadline has reported that there was a great deal of behind-the-scenes consternation by the marketing department, as they were only able to see 70% of the final cut two weeks prior to release day. Constant tinkering and refining of visual effects were cited as a blaming factor, but after audiences responded dismally to the teasers as far back as the fall of 2010, a push-and-pull developed with Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment on whether to focus on Ryan Reynolds solely in the marketing or draw in the supporting alien characters to define a new brand. What resulted was a bit of both strategies put into place which, it is speculated, led to confusion amongst those interested but not familiar with the source material.

Good marketing/bad marketing/late delivery of final product...ultimately, the film is just not good. Rotten Tomatoes assigns a 21% ranking for the film, which trails dozens of points behind "Thor" and "X-Men" earlier this year. Ultimately, all of the drafts and rewrites and rewrites again, along with the problematic post-production woes are what contributed to the film's precipitous slide from Friday through Sunday. Typically, with this opening Warner Bros. could expect a film to gross $150-$175 million; however, tracking and trending may place this closer to the $120-$130 million range, which would require huge worldwide numbers to make the film profitable.

Chilly penguins freeze up the box office, there is no actual art in getting by it seems, and a Tree sprouts while Paris suffers a minor setback. All of this and the Top 40 rankings, as of Monday afternoon, after the cut!

Circuit Round-Up, 05/19

* Last week, John H. Foote weighed in on The Tree of Life and submitted his Oscar predictions.

* Joey’s DVD Pick of the Week is a, well, terrible movie, but he didn’t have a strong release slate this week at all. On the plus side, we (specifically John) have a quote on the DVD box for True Grit!

* I didn’t fare much better in previewing the new theatrical releases.

* But I suppose I shouldn’t complain; I never gave an amazing performance that was snubbed by the Academy like Maria Bello.

* Okay, okay, no more grouchiness. On the more positive side, Anna Belickis discovers a great actress that she’s unknowingly been a fan of for a long time for this week’s Women in Cinema.

* Also on a very positive note, our online community did a great job distinguishing themselves with some interesting and quality nominees for ACCA 2001. Well done, guys!

* Finally, The Awards Circuit extends its congratulations to Clayton Davis for celebrating his first Father’s Day as a proud parent himself!

Box Office Actuals (6/10/11-6/12/11): "Super 8" Soars...

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

With a year-long build and teasers regarding what secret lies within the film, "Super 8" opened #1 at the box office with a less-than-estimated $35.5 million take. While critics had a largely favorable, if not somewhat tempered reaction to the film, audiences reportedly loved the film and reports show that the film could have strong word-of-mouth heading into its first full week and second weekend.

Estimates and expectations for the film were all over the board with "Super 8". On the one hand, the start was a disappointment when compared to director J.J. Abrams' two previous films, 2006's "Mission: Impossible III" (opened at 47.7 million) and 2009's "Star Trek" (opened at $75.2 million). "Super 8" was not a franchise or relaunch and thus, served as Abrams' first foray into wholly original content. And yet, even describing "Super 8" has completely or wholly original will generate guffaws from those who claim the film is too much of a copy of co-producer Steven Spielberg's own directorial and writing efforts of the past; namely, "E.T.", "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind", and "The Goonies".

Confounding pundits further was the more muted viral efforts of Paramount in promoting the film. Previously, with Abrams' TV creation "Lost" and the Abrams-produced feature "Cloverfield", several curiously named websites appeared with clues, anecdotes, and labyrinthine games and paths for fans and those interested to follow, send around, discuss, and debate. Short of wondering if there was in fact a monster, or monsters, or what it or they looked like, the only real non-trailered promotion for the film came in the form of a short film, truncated in the finished product, which shows archived government footage of a scientist attempting to feed something in a darkened cage. Near the end of the footage, one giant arm of a creature swoops down and takes the scientist high into the air.

All of this to say that Paramount reportedly was very satisfied with the opening weekend and feel the film is positioned to withstand the oncoming "Green Lantern" and "Mr. Popper's Penguins" this weekend, and then will have a strong foothold in the market to hold off an expected huge opening for Pixar's "Cars 2". Then, with the arrival of "Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon" on Wednesday, June 29, Paramount feels that both "Transformers" and "Super 8" will have cemented themselves as huge hits with legs to carry the studio and audiences through to July 22, when "Captain America" arrives.

A children's adaptation of a popular book series whimpers into theaters, Woody Allen makes history again, and huge attendance continued for "The Tree Of Life". Plus, a handful of indies look to make their mark. All of this and the Top 40 after the cut!

Box Office Actuals (6/3/11 - 6/5/11): "X-Men" Are Indeed "First Class"

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

Despite landing the weakest opening attendance-wise in the "X-Men" film series to date, "X-Men: First Class" ruled the top of the box office weekend with an opening weekend tallied at $55.1 million. While this does exceed the opening of the first film in the franchise speaking strictly in a dollars-and-cents capacity (2000's "X-Men" started with $54.5 million), simple inflation would tell you that a lot more people saw that film in its first 3 days then this one. Was it the absence of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine (save a hilarious and winning cameo by Jackman), the fact that James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, and a 2011 Kevin Bacon are not bankable box office commodities, or simply attrition with moviegoers on this series?

Eyes turned to the success that another fifth film in a series experienced when "Fast Five" conjured up $568 million worldwide. Fox was optimistic that they would deliver a healthier number than they did, hoping in the mid $60-low $70 million range. Executives were saying all the right things regarding the opening, indicating that this "X-Men" is a starting over or relaunch of a series and pointed to the opening of "Batman Begins" ($54.5 million) as more of a reasonable comparison. Regardless, the film may have opened to strong reviews, but will struggle to make back its $160 production budget on the domestic side of the ledger, especially with the eagerly anticipated "Super 8" looming in a few short days.

"X-Men" proved to be the only major opening of the weekend, but how did other independent films fare? Did Woody Allen deliver a third impressive return with "Midnight In Paris"? How did Terrence Malick's "Tree Of Life" expand? Details and the Top 40 after the cut!

Circuit Round-Up, 06/05

* Last week, Joey Magidson published his long-awaited (and very conflicted) thoughts on The Tree of Life, while Mike Ward mostly dismissed The Hangover: Part II.

* Joey also recommended something dumb but fun for his DVD Picks of the Week.

* The awards season has barely started and John H. Foote already felt comfortable betting the house on Steven Spielberg’s War Horse.

* I gave a controversial warning in response to the rapturously-received trailer for David Fincher’s upcoming remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

* Anna Belickis concluded her long-running series on “Dancing with the Stars,” with her predicted winner Hines Ward taking the Mirrorball.

* Anna also paid tribute to Dakota Fanning for Women in Cinema, almost a full decade after her first major film role in I Am Sam.

* Speaking of tributes, I celebrated the recent success and acclaim of actor Michael Fassbender.

* Finally, the weekend openings were previewed. As always, we love to hear what you saw and what you thought of it.

Box Office Actuals: Memorial Day 2011

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

Delivering the 4th largest Memorial Day weekend opening of all time (without accounting for inflation), "The Hangover Part II" eclipsed $100 million in its 4-day weekend and has already moved well past $130 million in 5 short days. The film delivered the second largest 5-day count for an R-rated film, trailing just 2003's "The Matrix: Reloaded" ($139.4 million in 5 days) and sliding in just ahead of "The Passion of the Christ" ($125.5 million in 5 days).

Bulletproof to poor reviews, the Wolfpack drew a huge number, far exceeding optimistic expectations within the industry. With an estimated $59 million in foreign box office counts, "The Hangover Part II" has nearly grossed $200 million worldwide in approximately 120 hours! This is an extraordinary haul for the most eagerly anticipated film of the first half of 2011. The only remaining question comes with the second weekend, as the film will be seriously challenged by "X-Men: First Class" (June 3) and "Super 8" (June 10). The same audience will be tapped into for those films and we will see if this "Hangover" lasts a lot longer than one weekend.

Oh by the way...another sequel landed at the box office Memorial Day weekend and while these particular numbers would look good for many other films, Paramount and DreamWorks are reportedly disappointed in the $67 million domestic take for "Kung Fu Panda 2"'s first 5 days. Well received by critics and CinemaScore polling, "KFP2" performed well internationally, almost matching "The Hangover Part II"'s take and earning $124 million worldwide. Budgeted at $150 million, profit will not be an issue ultimately, but the all-important domestic figures hinge on a strong second weekend, which could happen depending on the demos who turn out for "X-Men", the only major opening next weekend. All of this taken into account however does not spell well for this "Panda" scoring the same $215 domestic/$631 worldwide bank of its predecessor.

Other notables, including a glorious "Midnight" and a sprouting "Tree", along with the Top 40 for the Memorial Day Weekend after the cut!

Why 'The Tree of Life' was a disappointment to me...

...or at least a partial disappointment. As you all have no doubt seen by now, my review of the film went up earlier today (you can find it here if you haven't seen it yet), and I obviously do not share in the opinion of some that Terrence Malick has crafted a masterpiece. I recognize the quality elements of the work, but it never came together for me. I figured I'd use this as a place for everyone to comment once more on the film (since it's generating a lot of chatter, not just on the site, too), now that it has been out for more than just a few days and the review is up to read and comment on. Have at it!

Has Cannes been a boon to a few films at the Box Office?

Apparently so, according to The Hollywood Reporter:

Did winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival do the trick for Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life?

Over the weekend, the Brad Pitt-Sean Penn starrer debuted in the U.S. to a per screen average of $93,320—a record for a Fox Searchlight title. Searchlight’s previous best was $80,000 for Black Swan.

Opening Friday in four theaters in New York and Los Angeles, Tree of Life grossed an estimated $372,920 through Sunday. Including Monday--the Memorial Day holiday--the moody drama grossed an estimated $488,920 for a per screen average of $122,230.

Searchlight senior vice president for distribution Sheila DeLocahe said the film’s performance was all the more impressive considering its running time is two hours and eighteen minutes. And Searchlight relied almost entirely on publicity to generate interest in the drama, versus an expensive media campaign.

“Winning the Palme d’Or really pushed it forward,” said DeLoache, adding that Tree of Life has become a must-see event title.

The last American film to walk away with the top honor was Michael Moore’s documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 seven years ago.

Tree of Life isn’t the only film feeling the Cannes glow. Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, the festival’s opening night film, continued to do strong business in its second weekend at the domestic box office.

Box Office Bulletin: A "Hangover" of Epic Proportions!

Via Box Office Mojo, The Numbers, Deadline, and other sources:

The supposed box office slump plaguing Hollywood has vanished as this past weekend may ultimately become the biggest Memorial Day weekend of all time, paced by the 1-2 punch of "The Hangover Part II" and "Kung Fu Panda 2".

THE HANGOVER PART II

First and foremost, the conversation starts with "The Hangover Part II" which delivered the third largest Thursday opening of all time ($31.6 million) and followed it up with the largest R-rated live action comedy opening ever. With a staggering 4-day take of $118.1 million, the film crushed the first film's 4-day start of $52.6 million. Now granted, things are much different this time around as the first film finished up with $467 million worldwide and one of the most popular comedies of the last several years. Additionally, "The Hangover Part II" was arguably the most anticipated mainstream release of the first half of 2011.

Surviving a tepid critical response, "The Hangover Part II" seemed made of teflon and reviews of a positive or negative vibe would not and did not matter at all. With "Part II" not as fresh or as original as "Part One" and largely a retread of the story and plot from the first film, industry analysts were wondering if word-of-mouth would lead to audiences diminishing as the weekend went on. Clearly, that was and is not the case and this "Hangover" is a certifiable smash.

KUNG FU PANDA 2

Receiving smaller than expected numbers, "Kung Fu Panda 2" nonetheless brought in an estimated $53.8 million in its opening four days. This effort at counterprogramming was expected to match or exceed the opening weekend of 2008's "Kung Fu Panda", as that film began with $60.2 million in 3 days domestically, before earning a massive $631.7 million worldwide haul.

Interestingly, audiences overseas bested the North American box office totals, as "Panda 2" earned $57 million across the water. The reaction internally is apparently mixed with some analysts saying that when the 5-day count concludes, the film will be precisely where they expected (approximately $65 stateside), while others reportedly felt the film would finish with a bigger figure. Budgeted at $150 million, the film will be profitable worldwide by next weekend, but may struggle to match the domestic take of the first film's $215 million.

More updates to come through the rest of the Memorial Day weekend, but two films, released on a much smaller scale, turned heads in a big way after the cut!

If you saw 'The Tree of Life'...

...use this space to let us know what you thought! I've seen the film and tweeted my thoughts (found here), but look for my full review in a day or two. For now, just know that it's definitely going to inspire debate in the Circuit community. For now, sound off on Terrence Malick's opus!

The Tree of Life is finally out today...now what about Malick's Voyage of Time documentary?

Well, 24 Frames might have the answer:

Terrence Malick left a lot of “The Tree of Life” footage on the cutting room floor. But the writer-director’s elaborate visual presentation of the birth of the universe and the origin of life may have a second life in an Imax documentary.

The publicity-phobic maker of “The New World” and “The Thin Red Line” has been developing a documentary called “Voyage of Time.” It was originally designed as a companion piece to “Tree of Life,” which opens in Los Angeles and New York on Friday. But the producers of “Tree of Life” were concerned that two films—one fiction, one not—covering similar ground might confuse audiences, and decided to push back “Voyage of Time” to an unspecified future date.

Go figure...The Tree of Life wins the Palme d'Or!

Behold the prizes:

Official Competition Palme d'Or: The Tree Of Life (dir: Terrence Malick)

Grand Prix (Runner-up to main award): (tie) Kid With A Bike (dir: Dardenne brothers), Once Upon A Time In Anatolia (Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Best Actor: Jean Dujardin (The Artist)

Mise en Scene (Best Director): Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)

Best Actress: Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia)

Prix du Scenario (Screenplay): Joseph Cedar, Footnote (Israel) Prix Du Jury: Poliss (dir: Maiwenn)

Palme d'Or Court Metrage: Cross Country (dir: Maryna Vroda)

Camera d'Or (Best First Film): Las Acasias (dir: Pablo Giorgelli)

-Joey's Two Cents: The top prize going to The Tree of Life was mildly surprising, but it was always going to be an all or nothing endeavor (shame on me for predicting otherwise). Overall, I was right about the acting awards, which I'm kind of proud of, and counting my alternates, I hit on Director as well...thoughts?

Cannes Film Festival: Terrence Malick and Brad Pitt's 'Tree of Life' draws boos, but also counter-applause.

According the Entertainment Weekly:

It’s daunting to describe Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, but scattered audience members at its first screening in Cannes needed only one syllable: boo.

The many supporters of the movie pushed back with counter-applause, but it was a shocking way for the movie to debut.

The Tree of Life is an elegiac litany of images and memory-like scenes more than a traditional narrative. Let’s see — in brief, it’s the origin of time and infinity through the lens of one troubled, 1950s-era Texas family, and stars Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain, though they share copious screen time with evolving galaxies, nebulae, and surreal, symbolic representations of the world beyond.

Call it a coming of age story about the universe.

Here’s how the chaos — on screen and off — unfolded today …

The Tree of Life gets a very different German Poster!

Thoughts?

Want a look at the dinosaurs in The Tree of Life?

Of course you do, and we have that for you here (along with a bunch more things from Malick's film) courtesy of The Film Stage:

We got a tiny glimpse when Fox Searchlight debuted the theatrical poster for Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life, but now, with 36 days left before it debuts in the US, we have the the first high-resolution look at the dinosaurs in the film. Look no further if you don’t want to be spoiled. Check it out below and more photos from TwoWaysThroughLife.

The Tree of Life gets a new Poster!

Click the image to make it bigger...thoughts?

Curious how long The Tree of Life might run when it hits theaters?

Well, wonder no more, according to The Film Stage:

If you’ve been following our site, you know Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life is, one of, if not the most-anticipated film of the year. The Austin-area director won’t be having a secret screening at SXSW this month, but rather a likely Cannes premiere before its May 27th debut via Fox Searchlight. While snooping around its French distributor’s site, EuropaCorp, I came across the runtime for the film. Also letting us know it will premiere May 18th over there, it revealed a running time of 2 hours and 18 minutes. With not much to go on, let’s look how it stacks up against his previous four films:

• Badlands (1973) – 1 hour and 34 minutes
• Days of Heaven (1978) – 1 hour and 34 minutes
• The Thin Red Line (1998) – 2 hours and 50 minutes
• The New World (2005) – 2 hours and 15 minutes (excluding extended cut adding 37 minutes)
• The Tree of Life (2011) – 2 hours and 18 minutes