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2 articles from 2004

6 July 2004 | Studio Briefing - Film News | See recent Studio Briefing - Film News news »

Moviegoers sat on millions of tuffets to see Spider-Man 2 in the nation's theaters over the Independence Day weekend, setting numerous records. The film took in an estimated $115.8 million over the four-day holiday period, setting a record for the holiday. It also set a record for its first six days -- $180 million -- and seemed certain to hit $200 million by Wednesday, which would make it the fastest film to pass that mark. The previous record for a six-day opening was set by last year's The Matrix Reloaded, which took in $146.9 million during that period. Meanwhile, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 remained a big draw as it took in another $21 million, just 12 percent less than last week, to bring its total to $60.1 million. In an interview with today's (Tuesday) New York Times, Tom Ortenberg, head of Lions Gate Entertainment, one of the film's distributors, remarked: "We absorbed the blow of Spidey quite well." Damned as unpatriotic by its opponents, the film was expected to take a steep dive over the patriotic holiday. By contrast, Disney's red-white-and-blue documentary America's Heart and Soul opened poorly with just $173,000 in 98 theaters over the four days, despite efforts by Fahrenheit foes to support it. In its seventh week, DreamWorks' Shrek 2, adding another $7.9 million to its gross, reached $410.2 million to become the fifth biggest domestic grosser of all time, replacing the original Spider-Man in that spot. Opening on just 16 screens, the Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely, starring Kevin Kline, earned a strong $384,000. The Robert Redford thriller The Clearing from Fox Searchlight debuted on 56 screens, earning $647,000. And Castle Rock's Before Sunset bowed on 20 screens with $303,000. Ticket sales for the top 12 films totaled $158.5 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period, up 25 percent from the comparable weekend last year, and the most ever recorded for a Fourth of July weekend.

The top ten films for the four-day holiday weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Spider-Man 2, $115.8 million; 2. Fahrenheit 9/11, $21 million; 3. White Chicks, $12 million; 4. DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, $10.45 million; 5. The Notebook, $10.3 million; 6. The Terminal, $10.2 million; 7. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, $8.1 million; 8. Shrek 2, $7.9 million; 9. (tie) Garfield: The Movie, $3.6 million; 9. (tie) Two Brothers, $3.6 million. »

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9 March 2004 | WENN | See recent WENN news »

News outlets reported today that actor Robert Pastorelli, best known for his role as Eldin the Housepainter on Murphy Brown, was found dead from a possible drug-related death; he was 49. Pastorelli was discovered at 3 p.m. on Monday in the bathroom of his Los Angeles home alongside drug paraphernalia, and an autopsy has been scheduled to determine the cause of death; initial police reports cited it as a "possible accidental death." Starting his career in the mid-80s, Pastorelli immediately found fame on the Candice Bergen sitcom Murphy Brown, where he played irasicble housepainter Eldin, whose neverending work on Bergen's home made him an integral part of the show. Staying with the show from 1988 through 1994, Pastorelli moved on to a number of small parts and TV guest appearances, appearing most notably in the films Sister Act 2, Eraser, Michael and Heist; he also appeared in the 2001 TV adaptation of South Pacific and played the lead in the short-lived but well-received Americanized version of Brit TV hit Cracker. Pastorelli had just completed work on the Get Shorty sequel Be Cool, scheduled for release later this year. He is survived by his daughter with Charemon Jonovich, who died in 1999 in what was determined an accidental shotgun death. --Prepared by IMDb staff »

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2 articles from 2004