Final Destination 4 Wins Horror Sequel Battle

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In the battle of horror franchises, "The Final Destination" scared off "Halloween II" to claim top honors at the weekend box office in North America, according to studio estimates issued on Sunday.

"The Final Destination," boosted by higher ticket prices for its 3-D screenings, sold $28.3 million worth of tickets during its first three days, setting a record for the series.

The latest "Halloween" outing of masked serial killer Michael Myers opened at No. 3 with $17.4 million, compared to the $26 million bow of the previous entry.

In between was last weekend's champion, "Inglourious Basterds," with $20 million. After 10 days, Quentin Tarantino's violent World War Two movie has earned $73.7 million. Its early international total stands at $59.1 million after a $19.4 million weekend from 31 territories.

With yet another horror film, "District 9," claiming the No. 4 spot with $10.7 million in its third weekend, movie theaters were no place for the squeamish or intellectually curious.

Or for nostalgic hippies: Taiwanese director Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock," a comedy set against the 1969 music festival, opened at No. 9 with just $3.7 million for the weekend.

In the dying days of summer, overall ticket sales rose for the fourth consecutive weekend and appeared to set a new record for Hollywood's most lucrative season. Sales for the 18 weeks since the first weekend in May were $4.26 billion, up 1.5 percent from last year's record, according to preliminary estimates by tracking firm Hollywood.com Box Office. The rise was powered by higher ticket prices, since attendance was off by 2.2 percent.

The biggest movie of the summer -- and the year so far -- was "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" with $399.4 million through Sunday, while "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" was a distant No. 2 with $294.4 million.

Business traditionally slides in September as school resumes and the studios quietly release their leftovers before focusing on prestige offerings vying for awards consideration.

Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Final Destination" revolves around a youngster quickly running out of friends since he can foretell their brutal deaths. It's the fourth installment in a franchise that was launched in 2000, and marks the best opening in the series. In 2003, "Final Destination 3" opened to $19 million, and finished up at $54 million.

Just more than half the theaters showing the movie offered the 3-D option, for which ticket prices were $2 to $3 higher. In all, 3-D sales accounted for 70 percent of the haul, said the Time Warner Inc-owned studio. Warner Bros. had hoped the $40 million movie would break the $20 million mark.

"Halloween II" is the sequel to a successful 2007 reboot of a venerable series dating to 1978. Both the previous one and the new one were directed for the closely held Weinstein Co by rocker Rob Zombie.

The studio's decision to risk cannibalization by opening the movie against "Final Destination" and just one week after its "Inglourious Basterds" raised eyebrows among industry observers. But a spokeswoman said it was a very respectable start for a movie that cost just $15 million to make.

"District 9," with $90.8 million banked so far, was released by TriStar Pictures, a unit of Sony Corp. "Taking Woodstock" was released by Focus Features, a unit of General Electric Co's NBC Universal.

#	Title	Aug 28 - 30			Theaters	Weeks		Cumulative	Distributor
1	The Final Destination	$ 28,335,000			3,121	1		$ 28,335,000	Warner Bros.
2	Inglourious Basterds	20,041,000			3,165	2		73,760,000	Weinstein Co.
3	Halloween 2	17,405,000			3,025	1		17,405,000	Weinstein Co.
4	District 9	10,700,000			3,180	3		90,813,000	Sony
5	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	8,000,000			3,467	4		132,436,000	Paramount
6	Julie & Julia	7,400,000			2,503	4		70,992,000	Sony
7	The Time Traveler's Wife	6,745,000			2,961	3		48,193,000	Warner Bros.
8	Shorts	4,870,000			3,105	2		13,565,000	Warner Bros.
9	Taking Woodstock	3,749,000			1,393	1		3,769,000	Focus
10	G-Force	2,845,000			1,926	6		111,801,000	Buena Vista

In Theaters This Week 28th August

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Final Destination 4
Copyright © 2009 New Line Cinema

"The Final Destination" series gets a kick-start with this fourth outing, headed up by the production team behind the second film -- director David R. Ellis and writer Eric Bress. The New Line franchise will be presented for the first time in 3-D with this installment focusing on a teenager that dodges a trip to the grave at a racetrack, only to find that death has a way of equaling the playing field after the fact. Shantel VanSanten, Bobby Campo, and Hayley Webb star in the sequel.

	August 28th, 2009
	David Ellis
	Eric Bress
	Bobby Campo, Shantel VanSanten, Krista Allen, Mykelti Williamson, Haley Webb, Nick Zano, Andrew Fiscella, Richard T. Jones
	New Line Cinema
	Horror, Thriller
	finaldestinationmovie.com
	R strong violent/gruesome accidents, language and a scene of sexuality
	1 hour 22 minutes

Halloween 2
Copyright © 2009 Dimension Extreme

Michael Myers is still at large and no less dangerous than ever. After a failed reunion to reach his baby sister at their old home, Laurie Strode is immediately taken to a hospital to be treated by the wounds that had been afflicted by her brother a few hours ago. However, Michael isn't too far off and will continue his murdering "Halloween" rampage until he gets his sister all to himself.

	August 28th, 2009
	Rob Zombie
	Rob Zombie
	Scout Taylor-Compton, Tyler Mane, Malcolm McDowell, Daeg Faerch, Danielle Harris, Daniel Roebuck, Ezra Buzzington, Mark Christopher Lawrence, Jeffrey Daniel Phillips, Dayton Callie, Richard Brake, Matt Bush, Howard Hesseman, Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams, Brea Grant, Bill Fagerbakke
	Dimension Extreme (The Weinstein Company)
	Horror
	halloween2-movie.com, h2trickortreat.com, facebook.com/HalloweenII, twitter.com/H2_TheMovie
	R strong brutal bloody violence throughout, terror, disturbing graphic images, language, some crude sexual content and nudity
	1 hour 41 minutes

Blu-ray Chart 22nd August

Top Blu-ray Sales 22nd August 2009
**All previous top sales will be announce on every Thursday.
Please visit http://astore.amazon.com/screamvideobl-20

Hannah Montana The Movie (3-Disc Combo Pack Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray]

RANK	TITLE (LABEL/DISTRIBUTOR, SRP)
1	HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE (DIS, $44.99)
2	THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (UNI, $39.98)
3	FAST & FURIOUS (UNI, $39.98)
4	WATCHMEN (WB, $35.99)
5	I LOVE YOU, MAN (PAR, $39.99)
6	DEXTER: SEASON 3 (PAR, $57.99)
7	CORALINE (UNI, $39.99)
8	RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN (DIS, $44.99)
9	SONS OF ANARCHY: SEASON 1 (FOX, $59.99)
10	GRAN TORINO (WB, $35.99)

DVD Chart 22ndAugust

Top DVD Sales 22nd August 2009
**All previous top sales will be announce on every Thursday
Please visit http://astore.amazon.com/screamvideobl-20


Hannah Montana: The Movie (Two-Disc Edition + Digital Copy)

THIS WEEK			TITLE (LABEL/DISTRIBUTOR)			RATING	BOX OFFICE*
1			HANNAH MONTANA THE MOVIE (DIS)			G	79.6
2			THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (UNI)			R	32.8
3			17 AGAIN (WB)			PG-13	64.2
4			I LOVE YOU, MAN (PAR)			R	71.4
5			DEXTER: SEASON 3 (PAR)			NR	-
6			THE SIMPSONS: SEASON 12 (FOX)			NR	-
7			FAST & FURIOUS (UNI)			PG-13	155.2
8			RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN (DIS)			PG	67.2
9			PETE'S DRAGON HIGH-FLYING EDITION (DIS)			PG	-
10			CORALINE (UNI)			PG	75.3
11			SONS OF ANARCHY: SEASON 1 (FOX)			NR	-
12			OBSESSED (SONY)			PG-13	68.3
13			WATCHMEN (WB)			R	107.5
14			GOSSIP GIRL: SEASON 2 (WB)			NR	-
15			TRUE BLOOD: SEASON 1 (HBO/WB)			NR	-
16			GRAN TORINO (WB)			R	148.1
17			TWILIGHT (SUMMIT)			PG-13	191.4
18			THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT (LG)			PG-13	55.4
19			THE SOLOIST (PAR)			PG-13	31.7
20			KNOWING (SUMMIT)			PG-13	80.0

'Discovery Atlas: Complete Collection' Announced for Blu-ray

Image Entertainment has revealed plans to bring'Discovery Atlas: Complete Collection' to high-definition in November.

Releasing on November 10, the set will include every episode of the documentary series, including previously unreleased editions on home video. The episodes are South Africa, France, Japan, Mexico, China, Italy, Egypt, Russia, India, Australia and Brazil.

Video specs and supplements have yet to be revealed, but the 2-disc Blu-ray will come with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack.

Suggested list price for the Blu-ray has been set at $49.98.

Disney Announces 'Cars: Ultimate Cars Giftset' for Blu-ray

Disney/Buena Vista is planning a Blu-ray double dip for the hit Pixar animated feature 'Cars' in November.

'Cars: Ultimate Cars Giftset' will be available in stores on November 10.

The box set will give the Pixar film the Blu-ray BD/DVD Combo treatment and will include Lightning McQueen and Mater toy cars.

The transfer and supplements should be the same, the only difference will be a new DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack instead of the old PCM track.

Audiences Lift Basterds to #1

Last weekend, Quentin, Brad, and Harvey lit up their stogies following the exceptional opening of their new World War II film Inglourious Basterds which topped the charts and exceeded all industry expectations to lead a robust late-summer session at the box office. The frame's three other new releases got the cold shoulder from moviegoers but the overall top ten surged ahead of last year and 2007 by more than 25%. Holdovers contributed too as no film in the top ten declined by more than 50%.

Scoring his best opening ever in terms of both gross and admissions, Quentin Tarantino was once again on top of the movie world with his newest feature Inglourious Basterds which bowed to a stellar $37.6M, according to estimates. The much-needed hit for The Weinstein Co. averaged a sizzling $11,880 from 3,165 theaters and beat out the filmmaker's previous career best delivered by 2004's Kill Bill Vol 2 which the Weinstein brothers released when they were with Miramax. That bridal revenge saga bowed to $25.1M which would be about $30M at today's prices.

Basterds, an ensemble film that co-stars Brad Pitt as a leader of an American military group out to kill Nazis during the second World War, was the fifth R-rated film to top the charts this summer and along with last weekend's District 9 gave the marketplace back-to-back $37M+ R openers. Films in the second half of August rarely debut north of $30M.

Reviews were generally positive for Tarantino's newest venture which cost a reported $70M with Universal co-financing. Friday kicked off with $14.4M, Saturday dipped 10% to $12.9M which was not uncommon for this type of film from a popular director, and Sunday is estimated to dip 20% to $10.3M.

Tarantino also scored career best debuts around the world in several countries as the Europe-set drama launched in 22 territories through Universal grossing an estimated $27.5M for a glorious global opening of $65.1M. Helped by Pitt's worldwide appeal and a largely European cast, Basterds bowed at number one in several key markets such as Australia, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. A final global theatrical gross of three to four times the production budget could result.

Coming in behind the Nazis were the prawns of District 9. The alien drama enjoyed a solid second weekend, especially for a sci-fi film, by dropping 49% to an estimated $18.9M bumping the ten-day total to an impressive $73.5M to date. By comparison, last year's buzzworthy documentary-style monster movie Cloverfield tumbled 68% in its sophomore frame. With a relatively low $30M production cost, Sony's much-talked-about District 9 should find its way to a robust $120M or so from North America alone.

The much pricier popcorn flick G.I. Joe, still the widest film in release by far, declined by 44% and collected an estimated $12.5M in its third mission. Averaging $3,162 from an ultrawide 3,953 locations, the Paramount release has advanced its 17-day total to a solid $120.5M and still seems likely to break the $150M level.

A pair of female-skewing films with different trajectories followed. The romantic drama The Time Traveler's Wife fell a moderate 46% in its second weekend to an estimated $10M boosting the ten-day total to $37.4M. The cooking comedy Julie & Julia enjoyed better legs dipping only 25% in its third outing to an estimated $9M. Sony has banked an impressive $59.3M to date.

While Quentin was enjoying his best debut ever, his good buddy Robert Rodriguez suffered his worst opening ever for a wide release as family audiences ignored his new film Shorts which debuted to an estimated $6.6M. Ranking sixth, the Warner Bros. release averaged a weak $2,126 from a very wide 3,105 theaters. The performance did not come close to the openings of previous kidpics from the director including Spy Kids ($26.5M in March 2001) and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3D ($12.6M in June 2005). Shorts tells a handful of stories about a group of boys that finds a magical rock that grants wishes.

Disney's G-Force held up well slipping just 39% to an estimated $4.2M boosting the total to $107.3M. Dropping 32% in its sixth round was Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with an estimated $290.3M. Following in ninth was the romantic comedy The Ugly Truth with an estimated $2.9M, off 36%, giving Sony $82.9M to date.

Opening poorly in tenth was Fox's Post Grad with an estimated $2.8M from 1,959 locations for a dismal $1,429 average. The PG-13 pic stars Alexis Bledel of Gilmore Girls fame as a young jobless woman who recently finished college. Faring even worse was the extreme sports doc X Games 3D: The Movie which bowed to an estimated $800,000 from a very wide 1,399 theaters for an atrocious $572 average. Both new releases targeted teens and young adults in their final days of summer vacation but failed to offer anything worth paying top dollar for.

#	Title	Aug 21 - 23			Theaters			Cumulative	Distributor
1	Inglourious Basterds	$ 37,600,000			3,165			$ 37,600,000	Weinstein Co.
2	District 9	18,900,000			3,050			73,491,000	Sony
3	G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra	12,500,000			3,953			120,531,000	Paramount
4	The Time Traveler's Wife	10,025,000			2,988			37,448,000	Warner Bros.
5	Julie & Julia	9,000,000			2,463			59,288,000	Sony
6	Shorts	6,600,000			3,105			6,600,000	Warner Bros.
7	G-Force	4,205,000			2,561			107,315,000	Buena Vista
8	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	3,515,000			1,936			290,275,000	Warner Bros.
9	The Ugly Truth	2,850,000			1,971			82,887,000	Sony
10	Post Grad	2,800,000			1,959			2,800,000	Fox

In Theaters This Week 21st August 2009

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Inglorious Basterds
Copyright © 2009 Universal Pictures

Quentin Tarantino's war epic "Inglorious Basterds" - Tim Roth has been rumored to have a role in the film alongside Michael Madsen for a long time.

In "Inglorious Bastards," a band of U.S. soldiers facing death by firing squad for their misdeeds are given a chance to redeem themselves by heading into the perilous no-man's lands of Nazi-occupied France on a suicide mission for the Allies.

	August 21st, 2009
	Quentin Tarantino
	Quentin Tarantino
	Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Melanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Bruhl, Eli Roth, Samm Levine, B.J. Novak, Til Schweiger, Gedeon Burkhard, Paul Rust, Michael Bacall, Omar Doom, Sylvester Groth, Julie Dreyfus, Jacky Ido, August Diehl, Martin Wuttke, Richard Sammel, Christian Berkel, Sonke Mohring, Michael Fassbender, Mike Myers, Rod Taylor, Denis Menochet, Cloris Leachman, Maggie Cheung, Samuel L. Jackson
	Universal Pictures
	Action, Drama, War
	inglouriousbasterds-movie.com
	R strong graphic violence, language and brief sexuality
	2 hours 32 minutes

Shorts
Copyright © 2009 Warner Bros Pictures

"Shorts" is set in the suburb of Black Falls, where all the houses look the same and everyone works for BLACK BOX Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, whose Mr. Black's BLACK BOX is the ultimate communication and do-it-all gadget that's sweeping the nation. Other than keeping his parents employed, however, Mr. Black's BLACK BOX has done nothing for 11-year-old Toe Thompson, who just wants to make a few friends...until a mysterious rainbow-colored rock falls from the sky, hits him in the head and changes everything. The Rainbow Rock does Mr. Black's BLACK BOX one better: it grants wishes to anyone who holds it. Before long, wishes-gone-wrong have left the neighborhood swarming with tiny spaceships, crocodile armies, giant boogers...and outrageous magical mayhem around every corner. But it's not until the grown-ups get their hands on the Rock that the trouble really starts. Now Toe and his newfound friends must join forces to save their town from itself, discovering along the way that what you wish for is not always what you want.

	August 21st, 2009
	Robert Rodriguez
	Robert Rodriguez
	Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader, Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Leo Howard, Devon Gearhart, Rebel Rodriguez, Jake Short, Jolie Vanier
	Warner Bros. Pictures
	Adventure, Animation, Family, Fantasy
	shortsmovie.warnerbros.com
	PG mild action and some rude humor
	1 hour 29 minutes

Post Grad
Copyright © 2009 Fox Atomic

Eternal optimist Ryden Malby (Alexis Bledel) has the most brutal of wake-up calls when she graduates from college and can't find a job, forcing her back home to live with her oddball family. Frustrated and confused about how her life is supposed to turn out, she soon realizes that her longtime platonic best friend is the only one who makes everything in her crazy life make sense.

	August 21st, 2009
	Vicky Jenson
	Kelley Fremon
	Alexis Bledel, Zach Gilford, Michael Keaton, Carol Burnett, Rodrigo Santoro, Angel Oquendo
	Fox Atomic
	Comedy
	foxsearchlight.com/postgrad
	PG-13 sexual situations and brief strong language
	1 hour 29 minutes