Weekend box office – 28th of November to 4th of December 2013 – can Catching Fire melt Frozen and Saving Mr. Banks

This week’s box office results are varying in the accuracy of my predictions from last week. Catching Fire is dominating hugely and its success was unpredictable but the UK’s later box office is where most of the surprises are.

US

1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Director: Francis Lawrence – $110.2 million
2. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee – $82.4 million
3. Thor: The Dark World – Alan Taylor – $15.5 million
4. The Best Man Holiday – Malcom D. Lee – $11.1 million
5. Homefront – Gary Fleder – $9.8 million

UK

1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence – £5.5 million
2. Gravity – Alfonso Cauron – £1.7 million
3. Free Birds – Jimmy Hayward – £1.0 million
4. Saving Mr. Banks – John Lee Hancock – £0.8 million
5. Carrie – Kimberly Pierce – £0.6 million

So, The Hunger Games has still held in with huge figures despite all coming in Frozen, Carrie, Saving Mr. Banks, Free Birds and Homefront. Gravity is still doing brilliantly in the UK thanks to a great word of mouth, as oppose to a opening day advertising blitzkrieg that leads to a sharp fall afterwards. Free Birds opened very well in the UK but Saving Mr. Banks hasn’t done as well as I predicted leading to 1/5 in the UK but 4/5 in the US brings the total to 5/10 and a running total of 36/50.

US

1. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
2. American Hustle – David O’Russell
3. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence
4. Thor: The Dark World – Alan Taylor
5. Delivery Man – Ken Scott

UK

1. Frozen – Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
2. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Francis Lawrence
3. Gravity – Alfonso Cauron
4. Homefront – Gary Fleder
5. Saving Mr. Banks – John Lee Hancock

With Christmas spirit kicking in, Frozen should boost itself up to the top while Hunger Games may have burnt up with its huge opening release. American Hustle’s five huge stars, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper, and the popularity of O’Russell’s most recent work, Silver Linings Playbook, could launch it into great box office. In the UK, Gravity will continue to prove itself as a sleeper hit while Saving Mr. Banks will have more legs than Free Birds.

Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Elizabeth Banks in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

The Must Sees of November 2013

This one comes a few days late but we need a round up of November’s huge releases. First up, we’ve got the new film from Stephen Frears (two time Oscar nominated director famed for The Queen and High Fidelity). Philomena is the true story of a pregnant Irish teenager who’s child was stolen by nuns and put up for adoption in America. Decades on in the present day, the old woman’s (Judi Dench – Skyfall, Shakespeare in Love, Iris) story is found by political journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan – Alan Partridge, The Look of Love, Despicable Me 2) and they set out to America to find Philomena’s son. This bitter comedy is sweeping up recognition from everywhere, BAFTAs are certain and Oscars are a possibility, and opens November 1st.

Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall and Jim Broadbent star in Closed Circuit. John Crowley is the director of this mystery thriller which sees a regular court case uncovering a huge terrorist plot (Nov 1st). Zac Efron, Marcia Gay Harden, James Badge Dale and Paul Giamatti play characters in their response to the death of President John F Kennedy in 1963 for the new drama Parkland from director Peter Landesman (Nov 8th). Last Vegas is the new big billing comedy. The premise is four sixty something guys (played by four Oscar winners – Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Kevin Kline) hitting Vegas for the final bachelor party of their lives as the last on of them ties the knot. Jon Turteltaub (National Treasure) is the director (Nov 8th).

The biggest release of the month has got to be Gravity. It’s burst into IMDB’s Top 250 films of all time and sits at about 50th. Alfonso Cauron (Children of Men, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) is the director of what’s being praised as one of the most technically astonishing films of all time. Sandra Bullock plays Dr Ryan Stone, a medical engineer on her first trip to space. She’s on a spacestation with veteran Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) when debris crashes into them leaving them stranded and tumbling towards Earth (Nov 7th).

Kill Your Darlings is the new biography drama set in 1944. A murder draws in great Beat poets like Allen Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe), Jack Kerouac (Jack Huston) and William Burroughs (Ben Foster). Also with Dane DeHaan, Elizabeth Olsen, David Cross and director John Krokidas (Slo-Mo) (8th). Shia LaBeouf (Lawless, Transformers) is the titular character Charlie Countryman. Rupert Grint, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelson, Melissa Leo, James Buckley and John Hurt. Countryman is an American traveller who falls for a Romanian criminal. Frederick Bond is the director (Nov 8th).

The Counsellor is Ridley Scott’s new thriller. Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Javier Bardem star in this Oscar tipped feature about a lawyer getting too deep into drug trafficking (Nov 15th). Iain De Caestecker is currently starring on the small screen as one of the Agents of SHIELD. He’s also starring with Alice Englert for In Fear. Jeremy Lovering’s horror sees a young couple thrown into the tormenting of a dark forest after a night out (Nov 15th). Richard Shepard (The Matador) directs and writes his new crime filled comedy Dom Hemmingway where Jude Law has the role of the ex-con titular lead alongside Richard E. Grant and Emilia Clarke (Nov 15th) while Joseph Gordon Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises, Looper) directs, writes and stars in edgy rom-com Don Jon about a regular guy struggling to maintain a happy relationship. Also with Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore. Rounding off the stellar releases of November 15th is Blue is the Warmest Colour, winner of the Palme D’Or award earlier this year at the Canne Film Festival after being voted by an elite panel of judges including Steven Spielberg. This foreign language hit is from Tunisian director Abdellatif Kechiche and is tipped to be this year’s Amour.

Escape Plan sees the 1980s’ two greatest action stars,  Arnold Schwarzenegger (The Terminator, Predator) and Sylvester Stallone (Rocky, Rambo), teaming up for the first proper time, The Expendables wasn’t really about them. They play two prison experts locked away in the most secure cell on the Earth and devise a route out in this mystery thriller from director Mikael Hafstrom. Also with 50 Cent, Sam Neill and Vinnie Jones (Nov 22nd).

We now have a trio of award contenders. Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Tommy Lee Jones star in The Family. Luc Besson (The Fifth Element) is the director and the story is the one of the Manzoni family, a notorious Mafia clan now hiding out in Normandy, France, but are soon noticed (Nov 22nd). A Most Wanted Man is the story of a Muslim immigrant in Hamburg caught  in the crossfire of the international war on terror. Rachel McAdams, Daniel Bruhl, Willem Dafoe, Robin Wright and Phillip Seymour Hoffman all star for director Anton Corbjin, famed for The American, (Nov 22nd). Nicole Kidman is the current Oscar favourite for Grace of Monaco. It’s the true story of legendary actress Grace Kelly who, at the age of 25, has just one her first Oscar and is the rising star of the moment, that moment being 1955. But she gives up her career just as it was taking off she marries the Monacan Prince Ranier III (Tim Roth). Director Oliver Dahan explains frequently that it’s not a biography but an exploration of the reasons behind a seemingly bizarre decision (Nov 29th).

Three other films will finish our November preview. Their all likely to make great box-office hits but two of them are in contention for Oscar noms. Carrie is one of them and I reckon stars Chloe Grace Moretz and Julianne Moore are in the running for an Academy Award shortlist. The story, based on the Stephen king novel and Brian De Palma film, is of the titular teenage girl Carrie who finds herself with strange abilities as she enters puberty. She decides to use them to gruesome effect against her tormentors. Kimberly Pierce (Boys Don’t Cry which won Hilary Swank an Oscar) is the director (Nov 29th).

Homefront boasts an impressive cast in the form of Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, Kate Bosworth and Frank Grillo as well as screenwriter Sylvester Stallone and director Gary Fleder (The Express, Runaway Jury). A former DEA officer hopes to start a new life when he moves to a new quiet town with his young daughter but he gets on the wrong side of local meth dealer Gator and violence soon follows. We like to call it: Breaking Dad! (Nov 29th)

Destined for greatness is The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the sequel to last year’s surprise sci-fi success and adaptation of the Suzanne Collins young adult novel. Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) is the director this time as Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) realises that her Hunger Games victory with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) may have sparked the ideals of revolution within the starving people of Panem. Confronted by President Coriolanus Snow (Donald Sutherland), she must dampen the rebellious fire before it causes a head on collision with the Capitol. Also with Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Jeffery Wright, Liam Hemsworth, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Sam Clafin, Jena Malone, Willow Shields and Phillips Seymour Hoffman (Nov 21st).

Thanks for reading the whole of this one through. It means that you now have November 2013’s releases laid out in front of you for you to pick and that you have a much longer attention span than I d

Sunday’s Blockbusters – 20th to 27th of October 2013 – will Gravity come down and can Captain Phillips see through Cloudy 2?

This is a brand new feature on Tuorhoth Movies which’ll tell you the box-office status from both sides of the Atlantic. It’s the top 5 for the UK and the US according to the BBC News reports. Remember that not all of these films were released at the same time so while Gravity is sitting near the top in America it’s absence in the UK is because it’s yet to be released, not because of it failing in Britain.

UK:

1. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 – £3.65 million – Director(s): Kody Cameron, Kris Pearn
2. Captain Phillips – £2.44 million – Paul Greengrass
3. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – £1.94 million – Jeff Tremaine
4. Turbo – £1.32 million – David Soren
5. Ender’s Game – £1.15 million – Gavin Hood

US:

1. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – $32 million – Jeff Tremaine
2. Gravity – $20 million – Alfonso Cauron
3. Captain Phillips – $11.8 million – Paul Greengrass
4. The Counsellor – $8 million – Ridley Scott
5. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 – $6.1 million – Kody Cameron, Kris Pearn

I must say that it’s a shock to see Ender’s Game at the bottom of the pile in the UK but it’s likely to have a better reception in the US next month. Cloudy 2 was received coldly by critics compared to the original but despite this it’s soared to a staggering $150 million worldwide gross. Gravity has only just been brought to Earth by Bad Grandpa as it’s been on top of the chart for the three weeks prior. It’s disappointing to see how quickly Carrie and Escape Plan have fallen out of the US’ top 5.

My predictions for next week are as follows:

US

1. Ender’s Game – Gavin Hood
2. Last Vegas – Jon Turteltaub
3. Gravity – Alfonso Cauron
4. Free Birds – Jimmy Hayward
5. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – Jeff Tremaine

UK

1. Thor: The Dark World – Alan Taylor
2. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 – Kody Cameron, Chris Pern
3. Captain Phillips – Paul Greengrass
4. Philomena – Steven Frears
5. Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa – Jeff Tremaine

That brings us to the end of our first box-office recap. Tell us what you thought of it in the comments. Was it too long, too short or is the information not relevant to you? We want to have a better website and your feedback is the most efficient way of doing that so please help us to shape our future. Thank you and, in case I don’t see you, good afternoon, good evening and goodnight*.

*First person to correctly comment the film reference will be awarded a very minor sense of satisfaction.

UK’s number one Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2

US’ number one Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa

Tuorhoth’s first predictions for the 2014 Academy Awards

October and November are seeing the releases of some of the huge contenders for the Oscars next year well before award season has begun. We’ve no idea how well any of these films are going to do critically seeing as none of them have actually been released to mainstream audiences. This isn’t an award by award breakdown but we’re giving you a brief guide as to what could be nominated in “the big six” awards at world’s biggest annual movie event. I’m also ranking the potential nominees by their likelihood of winning by colour: red means most likely to win, blue means second most likely and green means I’ve ranked them third.

Best Supporting Actress

Cate Blanchett – The Monuments Men

Cameron Diaz – The Counsellor

Julianne Moore – Carrie

Michelle Pfeiffer – The Family

Kristen Wiig – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best Supporting Actor

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Benedict Cumberbatch – 12 Years A Slave

Jean Dujardin – The Monuments Men

Jonah Hill – The Wolf of Wall Street

Tommy Lee Jones – The Family

Best Leading Actress

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Nicole Kidman – Grace of Monaco

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Chloe Grace Moretz – Carrie

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

Best Leading Actor

George Clooney – Gravity

Steve Coogan – Philomena

Leonardo di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips or Saving Mr. Banks (undecided)

Ben Stiller – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best Director

Alfonso Cauron – Gravity

George Clooney – The Monuments Men

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Ben Stiller – The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Best Picture

12 Years A Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

The Counsellor

Gravity

The Monuments Men

Out of the Furnace

Saving Mr. Banks

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Wolf of Wall Street

So, these are my beginning of season suggestions for who will be nominated at this prestigious event. We’re now going to talk through those films and actors that I haven’t included but could be major contenders. There’s a huge cast for The Monuments Men which I haven’t fully gone over. I’ve put George Clooney, who I’ve already selected for Best Director for this film, in for Best Leading Actor for Gravity not The MM but he could easily win for both. Stars of The Monuments Men like Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban could squeeze into the supporting actor position that I placed Dujardin in. Dujardin is already popular with the academy after his Lead Actor win in 2012 for The Artist and as likely could get a nomination for The Wolf of Wall Street instead of The Monuments Men.

Wolf of Wall Street could do very well. Jonah Hill may seem like a surprise nominee but remember that he got similar recognition at the 2012 Oscars for Moneyball. I’ve only put Nicole Kidman forward for this film but Grace of Monaco is a noteworthy contender for a Best Pic nomination. American Hustle is only in one award on my list but the stellar cast of Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence (whose already in for Hunger Games 2), Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale. I think it will win Best Original Screenplay however.

Other potential nominees are the aforementioned Bale for Out of the Furnace, for which Casey Affleck and Zoe Saldana could also be in contention. Dame Judi Dench could get into the actress categories for Philomena. Robert De Niro stars in both American Hustle and The Family and could crack into the shortlists. Colin Farrel and Paul Giamatti came close to my lists for Saving Mr. Banks. 12 Years A Slave could through in Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano and Quvenzhane Wallis back into the award scene while The Counsellor could do the same for Fassbender, Pitt, Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem as well as it’s director Sir Ridley Scott. We can’t rule out other entries like All is Lost with Robert Redford, The Book Thief with Geoffrey Rush and Emily Watson or Inside Llewyn Davis (the Coen brothers’ folk tale with Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan). Spike Lee’s mysterious action remake Oldboy could creep in with it’s stars Josh Brolin, Samuel L Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen, Hannah Simone and Sharlto Copley.

It’s not too late to remove this year’s earlier hits like The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann directing Leonardo di Caprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Joel Edgerton), Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen directing Cate Blanchett and Alec Baldwin), Prisoners (Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard and Jake Gyllenhaal in the directing of Denis Villeneuve) and Rush (Ron Howard’s biopic with Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl). Blockbuster action films like the upcoming The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Ender’s Game or 47 Ronin have been known to do well as the Oscars (see The Dark Knight, Inception and a few others) and there’s usually a surprise foreign language film in the mix (like Amour). There’s a whole variety of films that could be next year’s nominees but I think the leaders are: Gravity, Captain Phillips, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Monuments Men and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

Find out more about these films at our Future Films pages for 2013 and 2014.

The 86th Academy Awards will be hosted by Ellen De Generes and will be on ABC on March 2nd 2014

Tell us in the comments who YOU think will win big at the 2014 Oscars.