The Awesomeness is for free my friends!
Great movie-
If I had a kung fu school with a kid's class- I'd be leaving flyers in the theatre or I'd get a commercial 'cuz if this movie doesn't spark a renewed interest in Kung Fu- nothing will.
The Awesomeness is for free my friends!
Great movie-
If I had a kung fu school with a kid's class- I'd be leaving flyers in the theatre or I'd get a commercial 'cuz if this movie doesn't spark a renewed interest in Kung Fu- nothing will.
KUNG FU PANDA: Big Bear Cat was "PO-fect" by Dr. Craig Reid. This was posted Friday when it opened, but I was at the Zhang San Feng Festival.
So as not to repeat myself a third time, I'll add KFP's box office, but of course, we all knew it was going to take this weekend beforehand, right?
Panda kicks Sandler at U.S. box office
By Dean Goodman Sun Jun 8, 3:55 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Moviegoers across North America were in a fighting mood during the weekend, cheering the family cartoon "Kung Fu Panda" to the top spot at a box office packed with hits.
DreamWorks Animation's Jack Black comedy about a panda who dreams of martial arts glory handily earned an estimated $60 million during its first three days, distributor Paramount Pictures said on Sunday. The firms had hoped for an opening in the high $40 million range.
But it was not a complete knockout. Columbia Pictures' Adam Sandler comedy "You Don't Mess with the Zohan," in which the comedian plays an Israeli commando-turned-New York hairdresser, opened at No. 2 with $40 million. It also beat forecasts of a debut in the mid- to high $30 million range.
But observers said top honors really could have gone either way. In one corner, "Kung Fu Panda" was powered by rave reviews and an underserved family audience; in the other, Sandler could count on young male fans unlikely to be swayed by negative notices from puzzled critics.
As it turned out, both played beyond their traditional audiences. DreamWorks Animation said 71 percent of the audience was older than 17, while Columbia said women accounted for 51 percent of the "Zohan" crowd.
'SEX' LOSES STEAM
Last weekend's champ, New Line Cinema's romantic comedy "Sex and the City," fell to No. 4 with $21.3 million, a massive 63 percent drop from its surprisingly strong opening weekend. Sales to date stand at $99.3 million for the big-screen adaptation of HBO's fashion-and-relationship series.
Just ahead of it was "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" with $22.8 million, down one place. The total for the Paramount-distributed adventure rose to $253 million after three weekends.
The strong lineup boosted overall sales, said tracking firm Media By Numbers. The top 12 films earned $172 million, up five percent from last weekend, and up 32 percent from the year-ago period, when "Ocean's Thirteen" opened at No. 1 with $36 million.
"Kung Fu Panda" ranks as DreamWorks Animation's third best opening, after 2007's "Shrek the Third" ($122 million) and 2004's "Shrek 2" ($108 million). The three-day tally was a considerable improvement over the studio's most recent film, "Bee Movie" ($38 million), which came out last November.
In addition to Black, whose character Po is a would-be Dragon Warrior, the voice cast includes Dustin Hoffman as a Yoda-type Svengali, and Ian McShane as a villainous kung fu master.
It cost about $130 million to make, and the studio estimated it would spend an additional $125 million to $150 million to market worldwide.
The movie "lends itself to additional chapters," said DreamWorks Animation marketing head Anne Globe, but she said the studio had not yet decided about a sequel.
For Sandler, "Zohan" vies with "Click" as his fourth best opening. That comedy also opened to $40 million, in 2006. Final data for this weekend will be issued on Monday. His record is "The Longest Yard," which opened to $47.6 million in 2005.
Sandler buffed up for his role as a fleet-footed commando who can twist his adversaries into pretzels, but really wants to style hair for old ladies and ravish them afterwards. The film cost about $90 million to make, Columbia said.
Viacom Inc-owned Paramount distributes DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc productions. Columbia Pictures is a unit of Sony Corp. New Line is a division of Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros. Pictures.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
I really enjoyed it. I really took a liking to Po, and esp. liked the masterful body language and facial expressions of the characters.
On a side note, the Tai Lang character sorta seems inspired by the villains portrayed by Hwang In-Sik (in The Young Master); Hwang Jang-Lee (in Lackey and the Lady Tiger); and Chang Shan (Shaolin vs. Lama).
Last edited by Jimbo; 06-12-2008 at 12:24 AM.
This movie seems to be a hit with people who are familiar with martial arts or who are just fans...especially the kids. One of the negatives I hear have to do with how Dreamworks' movies don't compare with Pixar but that has nothing to do with it.
I saw it with some younger students. All the adults (myself included) and the kids really liked the movie. I was afraid they were going to mess it up because it deals with a topic that has been portrayed (sometimes incorrectly) in the media for a long time now. But they stayed true to the feeling of Kung fu I think.
After learning about all the research and development that went into makig it (not just animating and the voice-acting, I'm talking about the hands on research), it makes me appreciate it even more. The animators took lessons (well it was Wushu) and there was an actual choreographer for the animated fights.
Jack Black was great. His timing and comedic flair added so much to the movie. Dustin Hoffman's Master was a good antagonist to Black's comedy. Angelina's sexy voice gave Tigress some more ammo to go with her moves. I was expecting some more funny lines from Jackie but it seems the writers couldn't find anything funny for him to say. What a shame.
The fights were fun to watch and Tai Lung made for a kick-a** bad guy. I just hope that people will explain to the little ones that Mantis is not one of the original Five Animals of Shaolin.
**I could've done without the rendition of the song "Kung Fu Fghting" though.
I would totally recommend this movie.
Cordially yours,
冠木侍 (KS)
_____________________________________________
"Jiu mo gwai gwaai faai dei zau" (妖魔鬼怪快哋走) -- The venerable Uncle Chan
"A fool with a sword is more dangerous than any weapon..."
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”--John Quincy Adams
"If you have an unconquerable calmness, you can overcome the enemy without force" -Bushi Matsumura
Saw it last night.
My one complaint is that Jackie Chan's character was all but mute. I think the only character with fewer lines was the snake.
Simon McNeil
___________________________________________
Be on the lookout for the Black Trillium, a post-apocalyptic wuxia novel released by Brain Lag Publishing available in all major online booksellers now.
Visit me at Simon McNeil - the Blog for thoughts on books and stuff.
Cordially yours,
冠木侍 (KS)
_____________________________________________
"Jiu mo gwai gwaai faai dei zau" (妖魔鬼怪快哋走) -- The venerable Uncle Chan
"A fool with a sword is more dangerous than any weapon..."
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”--John Quincy Adams
"If you have an unconquerable calmness, you can overcome the enemy without force" -Bushi Matsumura
Took my son to see it in IMAX this weekend. Pretty sweet. True about Jackie. I didn't even know he was monkey until the credits.
IMAX...is it really the worth the $15 (?) to see it in that format? How did your son receive the movie? I think it was successful in hitting it's target demographic and then some.
Cordially yours,
冠木侍 (KS)
_____________________________________________
"Jiu mo gwai gwaai faai dei zau" (妖魔鬼怪快哋走) -- The venerable Uncle Chan
"A fool with a sword is more dangerous than any weapon..."
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”--John Quincy Adams
"If you have an unconquerable calmness, you can overcome the enemy without force" -Bushi Matsumura
Fair questions. My son loved it, though he probably would have loved it just as much in the regular format. He's four now and just old enough to hear hype about something before he sees it and to be excited about it. So he's been asking to see it for a bit and would have been happy either way. The IMAX was really more for me. I thought it was pretty sweet.
Sichuan is the home of pandas. We had a huge Kung Fu Panda standee at our Martial Arts Benefit for Quake Victims. Twenty kids ain't much, given the magnitude of the situation (and that they have to make it all the way to Beijing) but the gesture is nice.
Funny Panda Helps Ease Quake Stress
2008-06-23 19:57:51
A Beijing cinema on Sunday invited 20 schoolchildren from quake-hit Sichuan Province to see "Kung Fu Panda."
The students, aged 16 to 19, were transferred to a Beijing school earlier this month. They all come from Mianzhu, one of the hardest-hit cities during the May 12 earthquake.
At the Capital Cinema, the young audience constantly burst out into bouts of laughter as the adorable panda Po strived to become a kung-fu fighter in the film.
Comedy films are a wellspring for happiness, and that is especially true for young earthquake survivors, who are vulnerable to psychological problems, Beijing Youth Daily quoted an unnamed psychologist as saying.
In light of that, the Capital Cinema has announced that it would offer free entry to the Sichuan students throughout their summer vacation.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
i heard that some panda artist was protesting this movie in sichuan, saying it wasn't what people needed now. but was but it back fired on him as the majority of the people there said this is exactly what they needed. i'm paraphrasing ofcourse.
I guess all those boycotts in China were unfounded.
Kung Fu Panda" Breaks Box Office Record of Animation
2008-07-08 18:32:57
Dreamworks' animated film "Kung Fu Panda" has raked in 135 million yuan in three weeks and become the first animation to surpass box office revenues of 100 million yuan in the Chinese mainland.
The Beijing Morning Post quoted Huaxia Films, Chinese distribution agency of "Kung Fu Panda", as saying the film made 38 million yuan in the first week in China and 58 million yuan in the second week.
No other animation has ever done so well in the first two weeks in this country, the report said.
The next question is whether this giant panda's box office revenue can exceed the 200 million yuan mark.
Gene Ching
Publisher www.KungFuMagazine.com
Author of Shaolin Trips
Support our forum by getting your gear at MartialArtSmart
This movie is still going strong in the domestic box office but it seems to be over-shadowed by the recently released Wall-E.
One of the most under-rated movies of the summer. I think people thought it was going to be some bad attempt by DreamWorks. Shows how much the average person knows.
Interesting numbers Gene. Usually I don't hear about domestic movies doing well in China (well, maybe that's just me) but I'm glad to hear it is going strong.
Cordially yours,
冠木侍 (KS)
_____________________________________________
"Jiu mo gwai gwaai faai dei zau" (妖魔鬼怪快哋走) -- The venerable Uncle Chan
"A fool with a sword is more dangerous than any weapon..."
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”--John Quincy Adams
"If you have an unconquerable calmness, you can overcome the enemy without force" -Bushi Matsumura