TOP 100 BOOK SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Book Buzz: What's new on the list and in publishing John Grisham's short-story collection makes a No. 2 debut; Barbara Kingsolver puts some truth in her newest novel; and Fancy ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Significant (Little) Moments Pulled From Obscurity Colum McCann, whose novel, “Let the Great World Spin,” won the National Book Award for fiction last week, finds inspiration by burrowing into lives unlike his own. feeds.nytimes.com |
Competition: Win copies of Auggie Wren's Christmas Story illustrated by ISOL Your chance to win one of five superbly illustrated editions of Paul Auster's haunting seasonal tale feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Avatar exceeds expectations in UK to corner the Christmas market James Cameron's 3D epic beat Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks this holiday, and gave Sam Taylor-Wood's Nowhere Boy and Rob Marshall's Nine a positive whippingThe winnerGiven Avatar's epic duration and the limited number of 3D screens in the UK, the film's box office performance was always likely to be more long haul than quick burn. But takings of ВЈ5.94m on its third weekend go far beyond expectations. For comparison, third-weekend takings on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – by some distance, 2009's biggest UK box office hit – were ВЈ2.92m. After 17 days on release, Avatar has taken a nifty ВЈ32.82m, but it's the film's earnings potential, rather than sums grossed so far, that have got the industry excited. The 17-day figure is hardly record-breaking, but much more significant is that Avatar has hardly dipped from its opening weekend of ВЈ6.67m; until it starts showing declines, it's impossible to project a final figure. And if Bafta and Oscar nominations follow, it will help Avatar reach that broad demographic that almost never visits the cinema – the Titanic/Mamma Mia! audience.This weekend Avatar took ВЈ4.9m from the 300 UK cinemas with 3D screens (about 120 of those venues have more than one 3D screen), ВЈ713,000 from 418 2D cinemas, and ВЈ282,000 from nine Imax sites. To make comparisons easier, site averages are as follows: ВЈ31,353 in Imax 3D; ВЈ16,340 in regular 3D; and ВЈ1,705 in 2D. It's fair to say that consumers have expressed a preference.The runners-upWhen one movie feasts at the box office, rival titles may experience a famine. But that's not the case right now, with Sherlock Holmes and Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel both in rude health. Guy Ritchie's Victorian-era buddy flick opened on Boxing Day, grossing ВЈ3.08m in two days. In the seven days since then, the film has added another ВЈ8.94m, for a nine-day total of ВЈ12.02m. That's very much in line with totals after two weekends for 2009 summer blockbusters X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Star Trek, and ahead of Terminator: Salvation and Angels and Demons at the same stage of release. Sherlock Holmes is already close to the lifetime total of Ritchie's previous biggest hit, Snatch.Backers 20th Century Fox opted for an unconventional release for The Squeakquel, rolling into cinemas on a Monday (21 December). The film has taken ВЈ12.59m in 13 days of release, compared to ВЈ3.65m in its first 10 days for the original Alvin and the Chipmunks. The Squeakquel has faced negligible competition for the family audience, unless you count St Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold. Fox's dating of Avatar on 17 December had the felicitous benefit of encouraging Disney to release its A Christmas Carol unseasonally early (on 6 November): the Dickens animation was positioned to grab the box office from 3D screens well in advance of Cameron's juggernaut. But with A Christmas Carol already a weary veteran by mid-December, the holiday family audience was there for the taking, and Alvin cleaned up. Still, no complaints from Disney: A Christmas Carol has just passed ВЈ20m.The also-ransThere can't have been many smiles at the UK distributor of Nowhere Boy when the opening weekend numbers arrived: ВЈ148,000 from 172 screens over the 26-27 December period. That's a two-day rather than a three-day figure since cinemas are closed on Christmas Day, but, even so, it was hardly a propitious start. Matters have now improved, with a 59% increase this weekend, and a nine-day total of ВЈ749,000 for the teen John Lennon tale. But given that Ian Curtis biopic Control grossed ВЈ596,000 in 10 days from a compact 82 screens back in 2007, it's reasonable to wonder whether Icon's aggressively wide release of its film, expensive TV ads and all, is a tad optimistic. Nine, which is benefiting from an even more aggressive marketing campaign, isn't faring so well, either. The Rob Marshall musical managed ВЈ269,000 on the Dec 26-27 weekend from 123 screens, and following its expansion to 384 cinemas has now grossed ВЈ1.65m. Comparisons with Marshall's previous musical Chicago are tricky, since the two films expanded from platform debuts at different rates, but this much we know: Chicago grossed ВЈ1.98m on its first weekend of wide release, from 276 screens; Nine grossed ВЈ780,000 from its first full weekend, from 384. The Bollywood hitOnly one Bollywood film cracked ВЈ1m in 2009 – Love Aaj Kal, starring Saif Ali Khan. However 3 Idiots has already taken ВЈ1.12m after just 10 days of release. The Aamir Khan comedy is the best UK result for a Bollywood release since Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, starring Shahrukh Khan, grossed ВЈ1.5m in December 2008.The losersWith holdover titles Avatar, Sherlock Holmes and The Squeakquel dominating the charts, it was thin pickings for new releases, especially raunchy Ashton Kutcher drama Spread and Alexis Bledel comedy Post Grad. The latter managed a screen average of just ВЈ357, but we can't imagine its distributor Twentieth Century Fox had time to be depressed, given the ВЈ45m it has grossed so far with Avatar and Alvin. Hugh Grant/Sarah Jessica Parker romcom Did You Hear About the Morgans? fared better, with a not-disgraceful ВЈ1.16m from 399 cinemas.The futureWhile 2009 represents the UK's best ever year for cinema box office, 2010 has begun in even sturdier style, with the market an impressive 25% ahead of the equivalent weekend from last year, when Yes Man, Bedtime Stories, Madagascar 2, Australia, Twilight and The Spirit all managed grosses of ВЈ1m-plus. This weekend, Meryl Streep comedy It's Complicated should connect with the one audience that isn't being effectively targeted by current hits – older females – while less-predictable outcomes await Ethan Hawke vampire flick Daybreakers, rock biopic Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll and Viggo Mortensen post-apocalypse drama The Road.UK top 101. Avatar, ВЈ5,940,479 from 493 sites. Total: ВЈ32,815,6182. Sherlock Holmes, ВЈ3,439,616 from 484 sites. Total: ВЈ12,021,7303. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, ВЈ2,457,029 from 489 sites. Total: ВЈ12,594,4104. Did You Hear About the Morgans?, ВЈ1,155,060 from 399 sites (New)5. Nine, ВЈ780,255 from 384 sites. Total: ВЈ1,653,5476. St Trinian's 2: The Legend Of Fritton's Gold, ВЈ671,480 from 416 sites. Total: ВЈ5,575,7877. 3 Idiots, ВЈ331,166 from 53 sites. Total: ВЈ1,115,5308. Nowhere Boy, ВЈ237,782 from 176 sites. Total: ВЈ749,0539. The Twilight Saga: New Moon, ВЈ215,681 from 194 sites. Total: ВЈ26,888,09210. Planet 51, ВЈ163,542 from 327 sites. Total: ВЈ4,277,237How the other openers didSpread, 40 screens, ВЈ28,420Tokyo Story, 5 screens, ВЈ13,963Post Grad, 35 screens, ВЈ12,486I'm Gonna Explode, 10 screens, ВЈ4,309Science fiction and fantasyJames CameronGuy RitchieWalt Disney CompanyArthur Conan DoyleViggo MortensenRobert Downey JrSam Taylor-WoodCharles Gantguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds feeds.guardian.co.uk |
Newly Released Books Novels by Elizabeth Kostova, Tracy Chevalier and Randy Susan Meyers; a memoir from Ozzy Osbourne; and a pair of team-written thrillers. feeds.nytimes.com |