Tag Archives: project x

Lessons We Can Learn From 2012’s Most-Pirated Films

Good news, everyone! 2012 has been a pretty great year for the film industry. Ticket sales were up worldwide by 5% over 2011, and a record box office haul of $10 billion means plenty of celebrating at studio holiday parties. Of course, Biggie wasn’t lying when he preached the harsh truth that with mo’ money comes mo’ problems, and so it is that while bootleg film watching didn’t quite rival ticket sales, with hundreds of millions of illegal downloads piracy is nothing to sneeze at. TorrentFreak has helpfully compiled a list of the year’s most frequently stolen films, and while it contains few surprises – is anyone shocked that the year’s biggest films would also be among the most pirated? – we can learn a lot from what it is people are actually pirating. Here are the films you were most likely to steal in 2012: 1. Project X 2. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol 3. The Dark Knight Rises 4. The Avengers 
5. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows 
6. 21 Jump Street 7. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo 8. The Dictator 9. Ice Age: Continental Drift 10. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 So what can we learn from this? For starters, Robert Downey Jr. clearly needs to invest in an illegal file sharing operation. No, we definitely do not condone piracy, but the pirates have spoken, and they’re firmly on team RDL. He might as well cash in on their adoration. Also noteworthy is the fact that the single most pirated film was Project X, which also has the distinction of being the lowest-grossing film on the list. It’s probably rational to think the film’s R-rating led to a lot of underage downloads from people who might otherwise be its target audience. But while some might suggest this only means teen comedies should be tamed down for a PG-13 rating, we think there’s a more obvious solution: eliminate the ratings system entirely. We look forward to a G-rated Machete sequel with plenty of nudity. Finally, this list conclusively proves that pirates have zero interest in prestige films. Every single one of these movies was a giant hit aimed at a wide audience. Now some might argue that movies with broad appeal are going to be more sought-after targets than those that play for a few weeks in an arthouse theater in Pasadena, but it seems just as likely pirates simply don’t like film snobs. The obvious take away: all tentpole movies should debut at Sundance and TriBeCa. [Source: Screen Crush ]

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Lessons We Can Learn From 2012’s Most-Pirated Films

Weekend Receipts: The Lorax Sends a Very, Very Green Message

What a weekend for Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax : The environmentally tinged adaptation became the latest of the beloved author’s film spinoffs to capture the top box-office perch. Meanwhile, the raunchy Project X settled in quietly behind it, earning roughly a dollar per topless scene en route to second place. Your Weekend Receipts are here. 1. Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax Gross: $70,700,000 (new) Screens: 3,729 (PSA $18,960) Weeks: 1 What can I say? A generation is indoctrinated to the left! Lou Dobbs will be outraged ! Malia Obama for president in 2036! 2. Project X Gross: $20,775,000 (new) Screens: 3,055 (PSA $6,800) Weeks: 1 Not so bad an opening for the critically reviled bit of mayhem from the mind of Todd Phillips — but good enough for a sequel? Project Y , coming to DVD and Blu-ray by the holidays? Hell, the way these things are shot, maybe by Memorial Day. 3. Act of Valor Gross: $13,700,000 ($45,239,000) Screens: 3,053 (PSA: $4,487) Weeks: 2 (Change: -44%) The Navy SEALs-against-the-world propaganda exercise held up reasonably well in its second week, setting up next weekend’s crucial Lorax vs. Valor ideology face-off for fourth place — or maybe even third place, considering the smallish release for Eddie Murphy’s A Thousand Words . Place your bets. Or I can just wake you when it’s April, your call. 4. Safe House Gross: $7,200,000 ($108,200,000) Screens: 2,533 (PSA $2,820) Weeks: 4 (Change: -34.1%) I can only imagine the back-and-forth between Denzel Washington’s WME team and Ryan Reynolds’s CAA crew this morning as they struggle to take primary credit for their stars’ stunning collaborative success. If I didn’t know any better, I’d just attribute the whole phenomenon to Harvey Weinstein, because what triumphs hasn’t he wrought in the last seven days? 5. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds Gross: $7,000,000 ($25,745,000) Screens: 2,132 (PSA $3,283) Weeks: 2 (Change: -55.1%) Tyler Perry is nothing if not consistent, on track for another mid-$30 million performer sans the Madea muumuu. He’d argue that a wider release would sweeten the box office, and for this one in particular I’d agree — though I’d rather simply see him split the franchise difference and attempt Why Did I Get Married 3-D . They’ve got The Rock in the series now! Seriously, blockbuster city. [Figures via Box Office Mojo ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .

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Weekend Receipts: The Lorax Sends a Very, Very Green Message

Ray Liotta on The Son of No One, Working with Al Pacino, and Eating Brains in Hannibal

A quick scan of Ray Liotta’s filmography indicates that the 56-year-old actor has played tons of officers, captains and detectives. He sticks to that milieu in The Son of No One , a Sundance-debuted thriller about a young cop (Channing Tatum) who is assigned to protect the rough Queens neighborhood where he grew up. As Captain Marion Mathers, Liotta works authoritatively alongside a veteran detective (Al Pacino), even after an anonymous source reveals new information about unsolved murders and a potential police cover-up. Movieline phoned Liotta to talk about the new movie, memories of Goodfellas and traumatizing moviegoers in Hannibal .

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Ray Liotta on The Son of No One, Working with Al Pacino, and Eating Brains in Hannibal

Hunger Games Interactive Cast Photo is Sunnier Than Most Dystopian Deathmatches

Todd Phillips’ Crazy Project X Trailer: Party of the Century/Apocalypse

Todd Phillips doesn’t feel like directing the new Hangover right now, so he’s taking time to helm a cray-zay party movie where a self-declared “uncool” kid throws the bash of the century. Cars jump into pools! Music blares! Girls lick on some popsicles under Fiona Apple “Criminal” lighting! Parents call to make sure everything is going OK. It’s like a grittier version of Blank Check . I’ve been waiting for this since ’94.

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Todd Phillips’ Crazy Project X Trailer: Party of the Century/Apocalypse

Todd Phillips’ Crazy Project X Trailer: Party of the Century/Apocalypse

Todd Phillips doesn’t feel like directing the new Hangover right now, so he’s taking time to helm a cray-zay party movie where a self-declared “uncool” kid throws the bash of the century. Cars jump into pools! Music blares! Girls lick on some popsicles under Fiona Apple “Criminal” lighting! Parents call to make sure everything is going OK. It’s like a grittier version of Blank Check . I’ve been waiting for this since ’94.

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Todd Phillips’ Crazy Project X Trailer: Party of the Century/Apocalypse

Will James Cameron’s Next Film Star the Black Eyed Peas?

As we all know, James Cameron’s best work is not Aliens, Avatar , or Titanic , but instead his one contribution to music video history: Martini Ranch’s “Reach” video, a deliciously absurd parable about female bodybuilders and Kathryn Bigelow’s doability in a cowgirl outfit . Alas, Cameron hasn’t directed a music video since, although according to will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas, the director is going to put off Avatar 2 to direct their concert film. Um what?

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Will James Cameron’s Next Film Star the Black Eyed Peas?

Todd Phillips’ Project X Finds Its Cast

As promised , the conspicuously titled Project X — the Todd Phillips/Joel Silver co-produced guerrilla comedy — had found its no-name cast: Miles Teller, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Dax Flame, Nichole O’C onnor, Thomas Mann and Alexis Knapp will all hope to become the next McLovin’ — or Zack Galifianakis — when they take part in the Nima Nourizadeh-directed comedy. Precious few details about Project X are available, but it reportedly “revolves around a group of kids documenting a house party that suddenly goes awry,” and that “like Cloverfield , the movie would unfold from the point of view of the person videotaping the party.” So this is the Cloverfield sequel you’ve been waiting for! It’s gonna be the best night ever, etc. [ Variety ]

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Todd Phillips’ Project X Finds Its Cast