The Report – January 3, 2010

Happy New Year!

The Holiday season is over, and the first #1 movie of the year is, well, the same as the last #1 of 2009. James Cameron’s Avatar continues to pack ‘em in, bringing in $68,300,000 from 3461 theaters. Looks like you can add one theater to that list, as the First Family went to see the film over the holiday weekend. Avatar has made a total of $352,111,000 domestically in 3 weeks. It hasn’t done too shabby around the world, either. It’s done $1.02 BILLION in the same time period. (translation: even if the worst case scenario is true, and this film cost $500 million dollars to make, it’s already made its money back.) It’s rapidly closing in on becoming the second highest grossing film of all time. That would make it the biggest film since “Titanic“, directed by, heeeeeey, wait a minute!

James Cameron is well on his way to being the biggest American filmmaker in history, and got there with a catalog of mostly science fiction films.

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Here’s the official rundown of this weekend’s biggest movies.

Box Office for the Weekend of January 1, 2010

1 Avatar

2 Sherlock Holmes

3 Alvin And The
Chipmunks: The
Squeakquel

4 It’s Complicated

5 The Blind Side

6 Up In The Air

7 The Princess and
the Frog

8 Did You Hear About
The Morgans?

9 Nine

10 Invictus

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BET Networks had its best year ever in its 29-year history with an average of 512,000 total viewers. For all of 2009, the Network has enjoyed double-digit gains in all four quarters and in all key demographics. Highlights of its successful year include:

Original Programming:

* The finale of TINY & TOYA, attracted more than 1.9 million total viewers. TINY & TOYA finished the season with an average of 1.8 million viewers making it the #1 original series in BET history.
* The premiere and encore of MONICA: STILL STANDING garnered 3.2 million total viewers making it the #2 series debut in BET history behind the debut of TINY & TOYA. MONICA: STILL STANDING was the #1 cable reality series telecast on Tuesday, October 27 (Total Viewers).
* 1.5 million viewers tuned in for the series opener of BET’s late night talk show THE MO’NIQUE SHOW, which premiered on Monday, October 5. Through its debut night THE MO’NIQUE SHOW series premiere was the #1 entertainment talk show in cable television history. THE MO’NIQUE SHOW ranked as BET Network’s highest-rated show for the season. The inaugural episode also outperformed the competition, coming in as the number one entertainment talk show on cable overall and the number one talk show among adults 18-49 (850,000). Since the premiere, THE MO’NIQUE SHOW has averaged 753,000 viewers.
* The SUNDAY BEST season two premiere telecast is BET’s most watched SUNDAY BEST telecast ever. SUNDAY BEST season two is the number one gospel series on television. With 1.7 million viewers, the SUNDAY BEST season two premiere was up 68% versus SUNDAY BEST season one premiere (.80), making this the highest percentage gain for a series premiere in BET history.

Signature Specials:

* The live premiere of the BET AWARDS ’09 on Sunday, June 28, drew 10.7 million total viewers – the #1 award show on cable for 2009 and reigns as the #1 program among blacks in cable television history. The BET AWARDS ’09 capped a record-breaking second quarter for BET.
* The Monday, February 9 premiere of THE BET HONORS garnered 2.5 million viewers. Additionally, THE BET HONORS and BET AWARDS ’09 had the biggest year over year growth versus all other television award shows this year.
* The 2009 BET HIP-HOP AWARDS garnered 3.8 million total viewers, making it the #1 hip-hop telecast in BET History and television’s #1 hip-hop themed telecast for the 4th consecutive year.
* The BET premiere of the CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS on Sunday, November 29, drew 4.0 Million Total Viewers – making it the #1 telecast for the fourth quarter in BET history.

* Season three of THE GAME averaged 1.1 million viewers and was the #1 acquired series in network history. BET’s airing of THE GAME 3 on Wednesday, October 21 outperformed every premiere episode of THE GAME 3 on the CW.

A lot has been said about the programming on BET, but SOMEBODY is watching these shows, and more and more of us are every year. Is BET getting better? The numbers say you think so.

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The #1 Bollywood film of the weekend is, depending on where you live around the world, playing near you. It’s called 3 idiots. Based on a best selling book, it’s taking the world by storm and quickly becoming a must-see. Here’s a trailer so you know what you’re getting into:

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Here’s a rundown of all the films (big and small) opening this coming weekend:

BIG BUDGET FILMS

Daybreakers (R for profanity, graphic violence and brief nudity) post-apocalyptic, sci-fi thriller, set in 2019, revolving around a research scientist’s (Ethan Hawke) attempt to save humanity from extinction after a plague turns 95% of people on the planet into bloodthirsty vampires. With Sam Neill, Isabel Lucas and Willem Dafoe

Leap Year (PG for sensuality and mild epithets) Romantic comedy revolving around a scheming young woman (Amy Adams) who plans a trip with her boyfriend (Adam Scott) to Dublin where, in accordance with Irish tradition, a man must accept a woman’s marriage proposal on February 29th. With Matthew Goode, John Lithgow and Noel O’Donovan.

Youth in Revolt (R for sexuality, profanity and drug use) Raunchy sitcom about an 18 year-old’s (Michael Cera) quest to lose his virginity in the wake of his trailer trash parents’ (Steve Buscemi and Jean Smart) separation. With Portia Doubleday as the object of his affection, and a supporting cast including Zach Galifianakis, Justin Long, Fred Willard and Ray Liotta.

INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS

Bitch Slap (R for brutal violence, graphic sexuality, pervasive profanity and brief drug use) Campy crime caper about a trio of curvaceous lipstick lesbians, a stripper with a heart of gold (Julia Voth), a corrupt corporate executive (Erin Cummings) and a man-hating assassin (America Olivo), who hatch a plan to extort $200 million worth of diamonds from a ruthless mobster (Michael Hurst). With Lucy Lawless, Minae Noji, Kevin Sorbo, Zoe Bell and Rene O’Connor.

RED BAND TRAILER BELOW

Crazy on the Outside (PG-13 for sexuality and profanity) Tim Allen makes his directorial debut and stars in this dysfunctional family comedy as a recently-paroled ex-con trying to readjust to society while living with his supportive sister (Sigourney Weaver) and her cynical husband (J.K. Simmons). Ensemble cast includes Ray Liotta, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Kelsey Grammer.

Flooding with Love for the Kid (Unrated) Rambo redux as reinterpreted by jack-of-all-trades actor/scriptwriter/editor/producer/director Oberzan who shot the film in his own Manhattan apartment for less than $100 by playing all 24 characters.

Garbage Dreams (Unrated) Coming-of-age documentary examining the toll taken by globalization on the prospects of three teenagers struggling to survive among the 60,000 “garbage people” of Zaballeen, Egypt, a mammoth, trash recycling center located outside Cairo known as the world’s largest dump.

In Search of Memory (Unrated) Biomedical bio-pic chronicling the career of Eric Kandel who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2000 for his contributions to the field of neuroscience.

The Paranoids (Unrated) Argentinean romantic comedy, set in Buenos Aires, revolving around the love triangle which evolves after a depressed clown (Daniel Hendler) lets his ailing best friend’s (Walter Jakob) broke girlfriend (Jazmin Stuart) move-in with him after an argument. (In Spanish with subtitles)

Pyaar Impossible(Unrated) Bollywood romantic comedy about a nerdy college student (Uday Chopra) who gets a shot with the girl of his dreams (Priyanka Chopra) after a sudden twist of fate. With Dino Morea, Rahul Vohra and Anupam Kher. (In Hindi with subtitles)

Sweetgrass (Unrated) “Big Sky” documentary, set in 2003, follows a couple of aging cowboys on their final summertime trek as they drive a huge herd of sheep to slaughter across treacherous terrain through Montana’s Beartooth Mountains.

Waiting for Armageddon (Unrated) Faith-based documentary about America’s 50-million Evangelical Christians who fervently believe the end is near.

Wonderful World (R for profanity, drug use and sexuality) Romance drama about a depressed, divorce and unemployed proofreader (Matthew Broderick) who gets a new lease on life after the arrival of his hospitalized roommate’s (Michael K. Williams) sister (Sana Lathan) from Senegal.