'Prometheus' Vs. 'Madagascar': A Weekend Box-Office Preview

'We're giving the slight edge to 'Prometheus,' BoxOffice.com expert says of this weekend's competition.
By Ryan J. Downey


Michael Fassbender in "Prometheus"
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox

"Prometheus" predecessor "Alien vs. Predator" was something dreamed up in comic books that eventually made its way to theaters. This weekend, the big-screen baddies who originated in the 1979 classic "Alien" will battle perhaps their most fearsome foe yet: animals. Furry, brightly colored, cartoon animals. With celebrity voices.

Whether the actual Xenomorphs seen in the movies that preceded Ridley Scott's new (sort-of) prequel show up onscreen won't be spoiled here. But one thing is for certain: "Prometheus" will face off against "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" this weekend in a box-office race observers say will be extremely close.

"Our predictions are a $51 million opening for 'Prometheus' and a $49 million opening for 'Madagascar,' which is our way of saying it's a coin flip," Boxoffice.com editor Phil Contrino told MTV News. "We're giving the slight edge to 'Prometheus.' "

As of late Thursday, movie-ticket service Fandango reported that "Prometheus" led the weekend's new releases with 51 percent of the day's ticket sales, which lends support to Boxoffice.com's prediction. However, Jeff Bock, box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations, put the slight advantage with the kid flick instead.

" 'Madagascar' may have the edge as it's already June and we're seeing the first real family film to hit multiplexes. It's opening in 1,000 more theaters than 'Prometheus.' It should be a close race though, with 'Prometheus' winning Friday and 'Madagascar 3' easily taking Saturday."

DreamWorks Animation's "Madagascar 3" reunites the voice cast of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer and Jada Pinkett Smith as Central Park Zoo animals looking to get back home. "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" opened at #1 with $63.1 million in 2008, eventually collecting $180 million domestically. The first film grossed $193 million. "Franchises aimed at children tend to lose steam in the third installment, at least domestically," said Contrino, who pointed to the latest "Alvin and the Chipmunks" movie as an example. The first made $217 million, the second $219 million, while "Chipwrecked" collected just $133 million late last year.

Originally conceived as a straight prequel to Scott's original "Alien" film, "Prometheus" evolved into something that takes place in the same universe but will explore its own story threads apart from the "Alien" franchise. Like the other films, however, it's a blend of dark themes, horror and action. It features strong female characters in prominent roles, alien baddies and a sinister futuristic corporation with less-than-altruistic motives. Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender and Guy Pearce co-star, along with Charlize Theron, who was in last weekend's #1 film, "Snow White and the Huntsman."

"Prometheus" carries an R rating, whereas "Madagascar" is PG. "If 'Prometheus' was rated PG-13, it would have a much better chance of taking the top spot," Bock said. "But both films should be able to open big on the same weekend [despite the ratings] as they are geared for very different demos."

Contrino said that the perceived commercial disadvantage of an R-rating is largely overblown. "The R-rating is not to be feared as much as it is. Whenever something comes along that's rated R, people panic. I really don't get it. Teens and children are not the only ones who buy tickets. In fact, adults are a more reliable target to go after because they are the decision makers. If an adult really doesn't want to see 'Madagascar 3,' then they'll find a way to wriggle out of it."

Both box-office experts agree that Fox's promotion of "Prometheus" has been respectably effective.

"I think 20th Century Fox has done an excellent job marketing 'Prometheus,' " Contrino said. "I expect that even people who aren't die-hard fans of the original films are going to show up. We track Facebook and Twitter and we saw big surges in activity for 'Prometheus' every time a trailer was released."

As much as the concept evolved away from films like "Alien: Resurrection" and the "AVP" movies, Bock said keeping some connection with the franchise has helped.

"Hits in the horror/sci-fi genre are far and few between. In fact, the 'Alien' franchise is really the only success story in this arena, so linking 'Prometheus' to 'Alien' with 'DNA' was exactly the right play by the studio," Bock said. "The marketing has been spine-tingling from a fan standpoint with all the moody imagery, ghostly glimpses of the mayhem and behind-the-scene trailers. It has many people making this film the centerpiece of their weekend. That's an event film, and that's what Fox has succeeded in creating. It remains to be seen if it connected to mainstream audiences, though. We'll find out the answer to that this weekend."

Recent weekend warriors "Snow White and the Huntsman" and "Men in Black 3" will, of course, have to settle for lower spots behind these two films. As for 2012's biggest box-office story thus far? "Marvel's The Avengers" may have to settle for fifth, Bock said, "but with $560 million and counting already, it has already earned its place as one of the biggest box-office hits of all time."

"It's going to have to scratch and claw its way to $600 million domestically, but I believe it still has a shot," Contrino said of the mighty superhero team-up film, which has made more than $1 billion worldwide. "The emergence of 'Prometheus' is going to kill any repeat viewings that might have happened this weekend."

Other films opening this weekend include Robert Pattinson's poorly reviewed "Bel Ami," which carried a 31 percent critical average on Rotten Tomatoes at press time; "Safety Not Guaranteed," from the producers of "Little Miss Sunshine"; Greta Gerwig's "Lola Versus"; and filmmaker Todd Solondz's "Dark Horse."

Check out everything we've got on "Prometheus" and "Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted."

For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.

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Snooki: Personal Photos Leaked!

Nicole Polizzi, aka Snooki, was spotted out with her gal pal Jenni Farley on Saturday (June 9) in New Jersey. The pair were getting some hair and nail touch ups done.

The expectant mama helped the injured JWoww carry her purse as they made their way back to the vehicle.

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Source: http://celebritybabyscoop.com/2012/06/10/snooki-personal-photos-leaked

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Lady Gaga To Reveal Album Title In September

'I've played my new record for my label and will be announcing my new Album Title in September!' Gaga tweets.
By Jocelyn Vena

<P>Wondering what Lady Gaga plans to call her next album? Well, you're going to have to wait through the summer to find out. The singer, currently on her controversial Born This Way Tour, tweeted that she will make the announcement this fall. "Exciting news little monsters! I've played my new record for my label and will be announcing my new Album Title in September! X," she wrote.</P><P></p><div class="player-placeholder right" title="Lady Gaga Has The Title And Concept For Her Next Album" id="vid:717202" width="415" height="255"></div><p></P><P>Gaga has, in fact, been playing the record for her bosses and inner circle. She also revealed on Twitter that she spun the new music, her follow-up to 2011's <i>Born This Way,</i> for her longtime pal Lady Starlight. And her co-manager Vincent Herbert had some of his own teases for Little Monsters in an interview he gave late last month.</P><P>"[It's] just [an] insane, great record. She's on tour right now, but it's just going to be a great record. Look out for the unexpected when it comes to her," he said. "We're doing it on the road right now, so it's a little hard, but it's going to be great."</P><P>Though it's unclear how far along in the recording process she is for the release, in an interview with MTV News in December, she already had the highly anticipated album title in mind. "I've started writing it and I have the name for it and all the concepts are beginning to flourish and take place," she said. "I'm excited to put it out, but it's not done yet. So I'll put it out when it's done."</P><P>Her producer, Fernando Garibay, confirmed in a separate interview last year that Mother Monster would be working on the album while on tour. "I get a little bit of anxiety thinking about that right now. I wanna just always try to outdo ourselves, our songs. They're already incredible songs. But I feel like she's so young," he said, adding that at the time, the record was in its early stages and that "there's a lot of room to grow."</P><P>"The last record we made in bus stops and hotel rooms," he said. "Wherever she's at, we'll make it."</p>

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Britney Spears & Co. Bring ?The X Factor? To Missouri

Yesterday we got to see photos of Britney Spears making her arrival on Day 1 of the X Factor auditions in Kansas City, MO and today we get to see a couple more behind the scenes photos from yesterday’s taping. As you may recall, Simon Cowell was not in attendance yesterday due to illness but [...]

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Jennifer Lopez Not Engaged To Casper Smart

The rumor mill is buzzing that Jennifer Lopez is engaged to her back up dancer/boyfriend Casper Smart. Jennifer has been quick to shoot down rumors that she will be walking down the asile for the fourth time. Yep the not yet even divorced Lopez has spoken and she is denying that she and boy toy Smart are getting hitched. Although the singer has been sporting wearing some pretty freaking sweet bling lately it is not an engagement ring. In order to quickly put a stop to this never ending rumor Jennifer wrote this message on her personal website. ?Rumors!!! Don?t be fooled by the rocks that I got. No engagement!? There you have it at this time Lopez and Smart have no intentions of tying the knot. Here is what I am wondering do you think her denying these accusations is for real or just a ploy to throw off the media? I not calling the American Idol judge a liar or anything but it could all be a publicity stunt. All that being said though as I mentioned above Jennifer is still married to her third hubby Marc Anthony, so she isn?t exactly free to take on a new [...]

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Justin Bieber Waiting On Basketball Film Script, Mark Wahlberg Says

'I want to send it to them once it's perfect,' Wahlberg tells MTV News about long-in-the-works project.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Justin Bieber
Photo: Frazer Harrison/ Getty Images

Justin Bieber might be ready to start "hooping" for his long-in-the-works basketball film with Mark Wahlberg, but the movie star explains that no one will get on set until the script is just right.

"The Bieber movie? I saw 115 pages," Wahlberg explained to MTV News last weekend. "Just waiting — I want to send it to them once it's perfect."

It seems that Bieber's team is also waiting for the script to be finalized. "I sent [Bieber's manager] Scooter [Braun] a text ... The last time I talked to him, I said, 'Hey, I need Justin to do me a favor.' He goes, 'Not without the script.' So, it's a process. Cutting those albums and doing those videos is easy, building a movie career is a difficult thing."

Wahlberg previously told us the film would be in the vein of the Martin Scorsese-directed "The Color of Money," starring Tom Cruise and Paul Newman, with Bieber playing the rookie to Wahlberg's mentor character. And pool, in this case, has been replaced with basketball. Little else is known about the plot.

"I'm still working on this movie with Mark Wahlberg," Bieber told us in May. "I don't know what the deal is. Turns out they're rewriting the script or something, trying to make it fit better and stuff.

"It's really cool," he added. "Hopefully, I'll be able to do that as well soon. So, I'll be hooping, I got to get back in the gym. I haven't played basketball in a while. I did a little charity basketball game at Shaq's house for Pencils of Promise. We did a little charity basketball game, and I won."

Before Bieber begins his acting career, he has lots of music-related business to handle. He will release his highly anticipated new album, Believe, on June 19 and will embark on a sold-out tour this fall.

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'Snow White And The Huntsman' Sequel Moves Forward

'I think the corruption of power would be the second one,' director Rupert Sanders told MTV News of his sequel plans.
By Fallon Prinzivalli


Charlize Theron in "Snow White and the Huntsman"
Photo: Universal Studios

It's time to re-saddle those horses and take up your armor again, fantasy fans. "Snow White and the Huntsman" is returning once more.

Universal is moving forward with their plans to make a sequel to Rupert Sanders' edgy adaptation of the classic fairy tale, following the film's box-office debut with $56.3 million last weekend. Deadline New York reports that David Koepp is already working on the script, and now the studio is in talks with Sanders about returning to direct.

In "Snow White and the Huntsman," the princess (Kristen Stewart) is helplessly locked in a tower by Queen Ravenna until an opportune moment helps her escape. She journeys into the Dark Forest, where she meets the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), and together they fight the evil witch to win back their kingdom.

When MTV News sat down with Sanders last month to discuss the film, he revealed his initial ideas for the sequel, saying Snow White's newfound supremacy may lead to her downfall.

"I think the corruption of power would be the second one. I think we've created this very chaste girl who's got to this position and now she's in this position of supreme power," he said. "We wanted to be contemporary with the theme here and I think in the next film we'll do the same. There's so many examples of people corrupted by power. When we were talking about it, myself and [producer] Joe Roth, there were so many things happening in the newspapers of these very powerful men abusing that power in hotels and sports locker rooms. People who get powerful sometimes lose their bearings and abuse that power and that's kind of an intoxicating theme."

While the story line certainly sounds interesting, when we spoke to Stewart at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards, she seemed skeptical.

"Well, I'm not saying anything. Nothing at all," she laughed. "Let's undermine our entire lead character in the very second [film]. It's like, 'No, that's my whole [thing].' It would be so weird to [make her darker]. It would break me, which would probably be interesting to watch."

"But then we have to rebuild you, which is exciting," co-star Hemsworth added.

The actress, however, has nothing to fear yet. While Sanders is attracted to this character arc for the fairy-tale princess, he's not positive that we'll see her go rogue in the sequel.

"I'm not sure whether that's what the second film will be," he said. "But I like that idea at the moment. You['ve] got to play with it a bit."

Check out everything we've got on "Snow White and the Huntsman."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

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Truck Driver Claims Lindsay Lohan Is 100% Fault of Crash

After getting into a car accident yesterday (June 8), Lindsay Lohan has left the hospital and is doing "fine," but now the other party involved in the crash is speaking out to tell his side of the story.

According to a report from TMZ on Saturday (June 9), James - the driver of the semi-truck - is opening up about the Pacific Coast Highway accident, saying it was all Lindsay's fault by claiming that Miss Lohan was "flying" down the road while dismissing the "Herbie: Fully Loaded" actress' claims that he cut her off.

The driver of the 18 wheeler says that it was impossible for him to be the cause of the accident because he was in the right lane before the wreck occurred, adding that he has multiple witnesses to prove his claims.

As previously reported by GossipCenter, the troubled young actress was on her way to work on the PCH on Friday when her Porsche slammed into the tail end of the 18 wheeler. After the accident, LiLo's rep released a statement explaining that Lohan was "on her way to the set [of Liz & Dick]. She was brought to Santa Monica UCLA hospital as a precaution. She is fine and was released less than two hours later and is already headed back to the set to resume work.?

To hear everything the semi truck driver had to say, check out the video below:

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/lindsay-lohan/truck-driver-claims-lindsay-lohan-100-fault-crash-660178

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Katherine Heigl: Having Two Kids Is "More Chaotic Than I Anticipated"

Katherine Heigl was prepared for things to change when she and her husband Josh Kelley adopted their second daughter Adalaide earlier this year, but the One for the Money star admits that life with two kids can be a bit overwhelming!

?I think it?s far more chaotic than I anticipated,? she tells People. ?And I think every parent probably says that and every parent tries to warn new parents about it. And we all go, ?Pish posh, it?s going to be fine. What?s one more???

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Source: http://celebritybabyscoop.com/2012/06/09/katherine-heigl-two-kids-is-more-chaotic-than-i-anticipated

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