Flying High

Rio 2

Marvel’s superhero in Captain America: The Winter Soldier claimed a third straight box-office win, collecting $26.6 million at the domestic box-office to beat the colourful birds of animated film Rio 2, which generated $22.5 million in ticket sales. Heaven Is for Real, based on a best-selling Christian book about a boy who claims to have witnessed heaven during surgery, was a strong third at U.S. and Canadian theaters earning $21.5 million over the Easter holiday weekend.
Transcendence, the science fiction thriller starring Johnny Depp as an artificial intelligence researcher, was a disappointing fourth with $11.2 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates provided by tracking firm Rentrak.
Captain America…, that stars Chris Evans as a scrawny World War Two reject given super powers from an experimental serum, is the latest superhero hit from Disney’s Marvel Studios.
The film has earned a global total of $586 million, including more than $200 million domestically, since it started rolling out internationally on March 26, validating the strategy of distributor Disney to ramp up its pipeline of films featuring Marvel Comics super heroes.
Rio 2 features the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway as blue Spix macaw birds, and follows recent big ticket weekends for animated films like Frozen and The Lego Movie, which lured kids and their parents to the theaters.
Heaven is for Real stars Greg Kinnear in the story of a young boy who claims he witnessed Heaven during emergency surgery. The expectations from this film that released on April 16, distributed by Sony through its TriStar Pictures unit was great.
“This result is really terrific and far exceeded our expectations,” said Rory Bruer, Sony’s president of worldwide distribution, adding that the studio was hoping for a five-day total of around $20 million for the film, which only cost about $12 million to produce. Bruer noted that the film was, “playing well across the board, appealing not only to a faith-based audience but to a more mainstream one. It’s a subject people like to talk about, and it has provoked a dialogue.”
Transcendence marked the directorial debut for long-time cinematographer Wally Pfister, who won the 2010 Academy Award for his work on Inception. With a budget of $100 million, it was projected to open with ticket sales of $21 million, according to the website Box Office Mojo. “Unfortunately, the movie just missed the audience,” said Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president for theatrical distribution at Warner Bros, which distributed the film. It was produced by Alcon Entertainment.
Transcendence was also savaged by critics, with only 20 percent of 134 reviewers giving it a positive rating, according to the website Rotten Tomatoes. Moviegoers rated the film a C+ in exit polling by CinemaScore.
A Haunted House 2, a horror comedy starring Marlon Wayans, rounded out the top five with $9.1 million in ticket sales. The film opened in about 2,300 theaters, compared with more than 3,400 for Transcendence.

Zadan, Meron invited back to produce 2015 Oscars show: Academy

Organisers of the Oscars ceremony invited the production team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron to run the live awards show for the third consecutive year, after this year’s show brought in the best television ratings in 14 years.
Some 43.7 million viewers in the United States tuned into the ABC live
telecast of Hollywood’s biggest night, hosted by comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, eight percent more
than the previous year and the highest number since 2000, according to
Nielsen ratings data.
“Their showmanship has elevated the show to new heights and we are excited to keep the momentum going with this creative partnership,” said Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, of Zadan and Meron.
The veteran film and musical producers were under pressure this year to deliver a show that would boost ratings, particularly among young viewers, and avoid the controversy of the previous year’s Oscars, when host Seth MacFarlane’s provocative comedy prompted harsh criticism. DeGeneres’ middle-of-the-road approach, which included a star-studded selfie and pizza delivery, received generally high marks, although critics complained about an overly long show.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has not yet said who will host the 87th Oscars on February 22, 2015.
The Oscars attract the biggest non-sports audience in the United States, and Walt Disney Co.’s ABC network has signed on to broadcast the film industry’s highest honors through 2020.