April 15, 2013 – Back Seat Producers

#1 42 from Warner Bros. opened at #1 with a gross of $27.5 million in 3,003 theaters. Budget was $40 million.

#2 Scary Movie 5 from Weinstein Company opened at #2 with a gross of $14.2 million in 3,402 theaters. Budget was $20 million.

#3 The Croods from 20^th Century Fox held at #3 with a gross of $13.1 million (-36.5%) in 3,689 theaters (-190). Total gross to date is $142.4 million. Budget was $135 million.

#4 G.I. Joe: Retaliation from Paramount fell from #2 to #4 with a gross of $10.9 million (-47.8%) in 3,535 theaters (-199). Total gross to date is $102.5 million. Budget was $130 million.

#5 Evil Dead (2013) from TriStar fell from #1 to #5 with a gross of $9.5 million (-63.2%) in 3,025 theaters. Total gross to date is $41.5 million. Budget was $17 million.

#6 Jurassic Park 3D from Universal fell from #4 to #6 with a gross of $8.9 million (-52.4%) in 2,778 theaters (+7). Total gross to date is $32 million. Budget was $10 million.

#7 Olympus Has Fallen from FilmDistrict fell from #5 to #7 with a gross of $7.3 million (-28.7%) in 2,935 theaters (-124). Total gross to date is $81.6 million. Budget was $70 million.

#8 Oz The Great and Powerful from Buena Vista fell from #7 to #8 with a gross of $4.9 million (-39.3%) in 2,504 theaters (-401). Total gross to date is $219.4 million. Budget was $215 million.

#9 Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor from Lionsgate fell from #6 to #9 with a gross of $4.5 million (-55.4%) in 1,805 theaters (-242). Total gross to date is 45.4 million. Budget was unknown.

#10 The Place Beyond the Pines from Focus Features rose from #13 to #10 with a gross of $3.9 million (+449.6%) in 514 theaters (+484). Total gross to date is $5.2 million. Budget was $15 million.

#11 The Host (2013) from Open Road Films fell from #8 to #11 with a gross of $2.4 million (-54.2%) in 2,172 theaters (-1,030). Total gross to date is $23.4 million. Budget was $40 million.

#12 The Call from TriStar fell from #9 to #12 with a gross of $2 million (-44.2%) in 1,630 theaters (-372). Total gross to date is $48.6 million. Budget was $13 million.

The combined gross of the top 12 movies this weekend was $108.8 million.

Sources:
Box Office Mojo

BSP Episode 266: Argo

Release date – 10/12/2012

Warner Bros. Pictures

Directed

Ben Affleck

Produced by

Grant Heslov
Ben Affleck
George Clooney

Screenplay by

Chris Terrio

Based on The Master of Disguise by Antonio J. Mendez and The Great Escape by Joshuah Bearman

Cast

Ben Affleck

Tony Mendez

Bryan Cranston

Jack O’Donnell

Alan Arkin

Lester Siegel

John Goodman

John Chambers

If the intern was there, she’d have been screaming THE DREAM TEAM!
Vaginas are always serious… a well-established fact.
Mixed reviews
A bit of comedy in the first half, then it tightened up.
A good period piece for the 1970s.
Also mixed reviews as to whether it should have won the Oscar.
Affleck did a good job in not over-acting the character, but it might have been too much in the other direction.
Hey, Argo F%#k yourself!
The conversation quickly veers off to the other movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar
Nice touches that lent to the 1970s-ness of the movie.
The Civil War would have been over in a week if they had Twitter
#ShermansMarch
#AtlantaBurns
The would have liked a bit more Jack Kirby.
The 70’s pornstache was brilliant!
Oscar expectations, when seeing the movie after the fact, weren’t met. BUT, still a good movie.
David lists movies that he thought were better than Argo.
Did it win Best Picture because of politics?
Discussing past Best Picture winners and whether they were warranted.
Thoughts on acting – well cast, well acted.
Alan Arkin stole every scene he was in.
Bryan Cranston goes all Walter White toward the end of the film!
Why are so many movies nominated for Oscars?
Netflix: House of Cards, Hemlock Grove, Lilyhammer and Arrested Development
This is the End

Trivia bits-n-pieces:

In order to make the movie feel like the 1970s, Affleck shot it on regular film, cut the frames in half and blew the images up 200% to increase the graininess.
Argo is the first movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture without a Best Director win since Crash (2005) and the first movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture without the Director being nominated since Driving Miss Daisy (1989).

Awards won (partial list):

Academy Awards – Picture, Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing
British Academy Film Award – Film, Director, Editing
Critics Choice Awards – Picture, Director
Golden Globe Awards – Picture/Drama, Director
Los Angeles Film Critics Association – Screenplay
National Board of Review Awards – Top 10 Films, Special Achievement in Filmmaking, Spotlight Award/John Goodman
Directors Guild of America – Director
Producers Guild of America – Picture
Screen Actors Guild Awards – Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
St. Louis Film Critics Awards (shout out to BSP’s homeland) – Film, Director