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YESTERDAY'S POLL
Who is the GREATEST ACTION HERO of All-Time?
Bruce Willis, Die Hard - 45% Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones - 19% Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon - 10% Matt Damon, The Bourne Identity - 9% Arnold Schwarzenegger, Terminator - 5% Keanu Reeves, The Matrix - 4% Russell Crowe, Gladiator - 3% Mel Gibson, Lethal Weapon - 2% Sigourney Weaver, Alien - 2% TOP Write in BALLOT: Doug Fairbanks, Sr., The Mark of Zorro
Twentieth Century Fox's Jennifer Aniston-Owen Wilson starrer "Marley and Me" led the crowded pack of Christmas Day openers, grossing an estimated $14.8 million from 3,480 playdates to become the best opening ever for Dec. 25.
Not only does "Marley" feature an adorable dog, it is rated PG, meaning it is appropriate for families.(Bring your hankies, however.)
Paramount's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"--toplining Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett--also overperformed, grossing an estimated $11.8 millio from 2,988 runs to score the second best Christmas Day opener of all time. Directed by David Fincher, "Button" has already picked up a number of key award noms.
"Marley" and "Button" did 40% to %50% more business than box office insiders expected.
A record five films opened nationwide on Thursday. Disney family title "Bedtime Stories"--toplining Adam Sandler--grossed roughly $10.5 million from 3,651 theaters to place No. 3 for the day. Film should pick up the pace today as kids are freed up.
The big question is whether "Bedtime" can beat "Button" and come in No. 2 for the long Christmas weekend.
Tom Cruise starrer "Valkyrie," from United Artists/MGM, also found more holiday cheer that forecasted. Nazi thriller, directed by Bryan Singer, came in No. 4 in its debut, grossing an estimated $8.5 million from 2,711 runs.
The only title underperforming among the five Christmas Day openers was Lionsgate's "The Spirit," from Frank Miller. Title, placing No. 7 for the day, debuted to an estimated $4 million from 2,509 theaters.
PLAYWRIGHT DALE WASSERMAN DEAD AT 94
The multi-faceted playwright Dale Wasserman, best known for "Man of La Mancha" and the stage version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has died of heart failure in Arizona. He was 94.
Wasserman, the highly reclusive recipient of many awards and honorary degrees including Tony, New York Drama Critics Circle and Emmy recognition, wrote nearly 80 plays, all of which fill nine boxes in the Billy Rose Collection at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. He also penned magazine articles and a book, "The Impossible Musical."
Wasserman's most sympathetic characters were usually outcasts in one way or another, women as well as men. The scribe felt himself to be "not a member of the club" and was empathetic with those outside the mainstream.
Several of Wasserman's teleplays were rewritten for the stage including "I, Don Quixote," which became "Man of La Mancha" and "The Stranger," which became "Boy on Blacktop Road."
CLASSIC FILMS
BY GENRE
The Reader
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Valkyrie
Bedtime Stories
Marley and Me
Milk
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Nothing Like the Holidays
Yes man
Slumdog Millionaire
Frost/Nixon
The Day the Earth Stood Still
