UP soars, Arnold Schwarzenegger back in next Terminator?

Of the 2009 releases, the three top worldwide winners are Monsters vs Aliens, Fast & Furious and Wolverine, all of which have exceeded $300 million so far. Could you guess which of the late-2008 releases have earned about $250 million? Gran Torino and Marley & Me.

News was not so good for Terminator Salvation, which lost a steep 62% from last weekend's gross. This fourth episode in the John Connor saga could trace the sorry trajectory of this March's action film, Watchmen, which earned more than half of its total domestic take in its first weekend. In plain English, that means the hardcore fans saw it immediately but didn't go back, or convince others to buy tickets. It also suggests that certain action franchises do need a star. Given the tarnished fiscal state of the Golden State, Arnold Schwarzenegger may wish he were a movie star again. Indeed, he's spoken of getting back into films after his term is up.

clipped from www.time.com To win a summer weekend, a movie usually needs a star name or an action-film punch, or to be a sequel to or the remake of a blockbuster. Except, that is, for any new Pixar release. Rising on the propulsion of a brand name known for quality entertainment, the studio's tenth animated feature, Up, surpassed most predictions by earning $68.2 million this weekend, according to official projections. Buoyed by higher ticket prices in theaters showing the 3-D version, and rhapsodic reviews that tallied a 98% positive rating on the Rotten Tomatoes web site, Up scored the strongest Pixar opening since The Incredibles in 2004. (Richard Corliss Names the top 10 Pixar Voiceover Artists of All Time) Pixar movies are not, however, the mammoth generators of box-office revenue that they used to be. The 2003 Finding Nemo earned $867 million worldwide — still tops for a Pixar feature — on a reported $94 million budget. WALL-E, which cost about twice as much to make, took in about 40% less.