Video: “Twinprov Deathly Hallows Rap (Dirty Harry Potter)”
Oklahoma City-based comedy duo Twinprov (AKA Clint and Buck Vrazel) has released new video of their “Twinprov Deathly Hallows Rap (Dirty Harry Potter),” which they prepared and performed especially for last month’s release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”
As they note in their rap, the film’s release marked the end of an era, since “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ is the eighth and final film based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series. (According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, the last Harry Potter movie has made almost $1.3 billion worldwide. That should buy a lot of chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts’ Every Flavour Beans.)
I’m a big fan of the Vrazel brothers’ brand of smart, off-kilter improvisational comedy, but I’m particularly fond of their movie parody raps since I first met the guys at a 2009 preview screening for J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek.”
The Vrazels also are artistic directors for the OKC Improv showcase, and they were named in this year’s “40 Under 40″ by OKC Biz.
Twinprov will be on the road for the majority of OKC Improv’s fall 2011 run as they have been invited to perform at improv festivals in Austin, Texas; Kansas City, Mo.; and Honolulu, Hawaii. But the Vrazels will return home to help close out the four-week run on Oct. 1 with performances by nationally-acclaimed troupes Twinprov and The Ones Your Mother Warned You About.
OKC Improv will feature performances at 8 to 10 p.m. every Saturday starting Sept. 10 at Ghostlight Theatre Club, 3110 N Walker. For more information, go to www.okcimprov.com.
- BAM
Box office report for Aug. 15, 2011: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” stays on top
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” maintained its No. 1 spot on the domestic box-office chart for the second straight week, according to the Associated Press.
The 20th Century Fox action thriller took in an addition $27.5 million, boosting its 10-day domestic total to $104.9 million.
The “Planet of the Apes” prequel came in just ahead of “The Help,” a drama about black Mississippi maids helping a young white writer with a tell-all during the civil rights movement, which debuted at No. 2 with $25.5 million. “The Help,” a DreamWorks release distributed by Disney, has taken in $35.4 million domestically since opening Wednesday. To read my movie review of “The Help,” click here.
The Warner Bros. horror sequel “Final Destination 5,” the latest in the franchise where death stalks victims who had been fated to die earlier, opened at No. 3 with $18.4 million.
Sony’s action comedy “30 Minutes or Less,” starring “The Social Network’s” Jesse Eisenberg as a pizza deliveryman forced to help rob a bank, opened at No. 5 with $13 million, behind Sony’s animated hit “The Smurfs,” which slipped to fourth-place with $13.5 million and lifted its three-week total to $101.5 million.
The singers from TV’s “Glee” failed to find a big-screen audience as 20th Century Fox’s “Glee: The 3D Concert Movie” opened outside the top 10, finishing at No. 11 with just $5.7 million. The concert film was shot during the cast’s recent North American tour.
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” and “The Help” have exceeded their studios’ early box-office expectations, reports the AP. Both received strong reviews, “Apes” for surprising drama amid dazzling visual effects to create the rebellious simians, and “The Help” for great performances from Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer and their co-stars in the adaptation of Kathryn Stockett’s best-seller about black maids who go public with stories about working for often racist white employers.
The “Apes” prequel added $40.5 million overseas, raising its international total to $75 million and worldwide haul to nearly $180 million.
Female crowds made up 74 percent of the audience for “The Help,” and 60 percent of viewers were older than 35. That’s a sign “The Help” could have a long shelf life at theaters, reports the AP, since women and older audiences tend to get drawn to films through word-of-mouth rather than rushing out over opening weekend the way young crowds do.
“The Help” already has far outpaced the $20 million Disney executives hoped for over the first five days, and the film is playing strongly in both urban and middle America markets, Dave Hollis, the studio’s head of distribution, told the AP.
“The book and the way it kind of rose to the best-seller list was very much this word-of-mouth, viral thing where people say, ‘you’ve got to read this thing I just read,’ and we’re hoping the movie can do the same kind of thing,” Hollis told the AP.
The live action/animation mash-up “The Smurfs” also has outstripped expectations. The family hit, based on the comic critters by Belgian artist Peyo and the ’80s Hanna-Barbera TV cartoon, added $60 million overseas to raise its worldwide total to $242 million, and Sony announced a sequel over the past week. To read my “The Smurfs” review, click here.
“We were ready to make the second one before we even released the first,” Rory Bruer, head of distribution for Sony, told the AP. “We felt confident it was going to work, but I don’t think anybody had any idea it was going to work to this level.”
Overall domestic business increased for the fifth-straight weekend. Revenues totaled $152 million, up 6 percent from the same weekend last year, when “The Expendables” led with $34.8 million, according to the AP.
“We’re ending the summer on a high note,” Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian told the AP. “The usually unsung month of August can be the time when a lot of unexpected things happen that benefit the box office.”
Here are the weekend’s top 10 movies, from the AP:
1. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” $27.5 million ($40.5 million international).
2. “The Help,” $25.5 million.
3. “Final Destination 5,” $18.4 million.
4. “The Smurfs,” $13.5 million ($60 million international).
5. “30 Minutes or Less,” $13 million.
6. “Cowboys & Aliens,” $7.6 million ($7 million international).
7. “Captain America: The First Avenger,” $7.1 million ($12.2 million international).
8. “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” $6.93 million.
9. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” $6.9 million ($30 million international).
10. “The Change-Up,” $6.2 million.
-BAM
Box office report for Aug. 8, 2011: “Planet of the Apes” prequel rises to No. 1
The well-reviewed prequel “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” rose to the top of the box office over the weekend.
The 20th Century Fox action thriller took in $54 million to open as the No. 1 movie, according to the Associated Press.
The haul was about $15 million to $20 million more than analysts expected for the “Apes” prequel, but well below the $68.5 million opening of Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” remake 10 years ago.
But the prequel, starring James Franco, Freida Pinto and Andy Serkis, proved much stronger among critics, garnering 81 percent positive reviews at RottenTomatoes.com, compared to just 45 percent for Burton’s 2001 remake.
Sony’s cartoon-based live-action/animated mash-up “The Smurfs” remained at No. 2 for the second straight weekend with $21 million, lifting its domestic total to $76.2 million.
Universal’s sci-fi Western “Cowboys & Aliens,” which narrowly outran “The Smurfs” to a No. 1 opening the previous week, fell to third with $15.8 million, raising its total to $67.4 million.
Audiences showed little interest in watching another take on the old magical body-switching trope this weekend: Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman’s comedy “The Change-Up,” also from Universal, opened at No. 4 with a measly $13.5 million.
With $12.2 million domestically and $61.8 million overseas, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ finished in sixth place over the weekend. More importantly, the eighth and final film based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series raised its worldwide total to $1.13 billion. In the past week, it became this year’s top-grossing global release, passing the $1.04 billion haul of “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”
Here are the top 10 movies over the weekend, from the AP:
1. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” $54 million ($23.4 million international).
2. “The Smurfs,” $21 million ($45.2 million international).
3. “Cowboys & Aliens,” $15.8 million.
4. “The Change-Up,” $13.5 million.
5. “Captain America: The First Avenger,” $13 million ($27.5 million international).
6. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” $12.2 million ($61.8 million international).
7. “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” $12.1 million.
8. “Friends with Benefits,” $4.7 million.
9. “Horrible Bosses,” $4.6 million ($7.7 million international).
10. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” $3 million ($17.5 million international).
-BAM
Box office report for Aug. 1, 2011: “Cowboys & Aliens” rides into No. 1 in close race with “The Smurfs”
The mash-up adventure “Cowboys & Aliens” has ridden off the victor in a close race at the box office against a new big-screen iteration of “The Smurfs.”
According to final studio counts Monday, the sci-fi Western, based on Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s Platinum Studios comic book, took the No. 1 spot on the domestic charts with a $36.4 million debut, reports the Associated Press.
That puts Universal Pictures’ “Cowboys & Aliens” $800,000 ahead of Sony’s family adventure “The Smurfs,” which finished at No. 2 with $35.6 million over opening weekend. The live-action/animated movie “The Smurfs” is based on the comic strips by the Belgian cartoonist Peyo and the ’80s Hanna-Barbera cartoon series.
Sunday estimates had the two movies in a tie for the No. 1 spot at $36.2 million each, according to the AP.
Last week, box-office analysts had expected “Cowboys & Aliens” would be the clear winner over the weekend. But the Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford action tale opened weaker than anticipated, while “The Smurfs” had a stronger debut than forecast.
Last week’s No. 1 movie, “Captain America: The First Avenger,” dropped to third place, taking in another $25.6 million to boost its total to $117.4 million.
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ was No. 4 on the domestic box office charts. The eighth and final film based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide on Sunday, reports BoxOfficeMojo.com. “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ hit $1 billion on its 19th day in theaters, which tied “Avatar”‘s record for fastest to reach that milestone.
From the AP, here are the top 15 movies in the U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release:
1. “Cowboys & Aliens,” Universal, $36,431,290, 3,750 locations, $9,715 average, $36,431,290, one week.
2. “The Smurfs,” Sony, $35,611,637, 3,395 locations, $10,489 average, $35,611,637, one week.
3. “Captain America: The First Avenger,” Paramount, $25,554,303, 3,715 locations, $6,879 average, $117,421,571, two weeks.
4. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” Warner Bros., $21,977,093, 4,145 locations, $5,302 average, $318,511,602, three weeks.
5. “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” Warner Bros., $19,104,303, 3,020 locations, $6,326 average, $19,104,303, one week.
6. “Friends with Benefits,” Sony Screen Gems, $9,275,692, 2,926 locations, $3,170 average, $38,175,973, two weeks.
7. “Horrible Bosses,” Warner Bros., $7,189,365, 2,510 locations, $2,864 average, $96,290,917, four weeks.
8. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” Paramount, $6,086,311, 2,604 locations, $2,337 average, $338,007,725, five weeks.
9. “Zookeeper,” Sony, $4,301,893, 2,418 locations, $1,779 average, $68,832,733, four weeks.
10. “Cars 2,” Disney, $2,349,142, 1,763 locations, $1,332 average, $182,118,690, six weeks.
11. “Winnie the Pooh,” Disney, $1,777,625, 1,632 locations, $1,089 average, $22,435,490, three weeks.
12. “Midnight in Paris,” Sony Pictures Classics, $1,156,947, 471 locations, $2,456 average, $46,851,966, 11 weeks.
13. “Bridesmaids,” Universal, $859,095, 484 locations, $1,775 average, $165,457,080, 12 weeks.
14. “Bad Teacher,” Sony, $842,740, 765 locations, $1,102 average, $96,718,147, six weeks.
15. “Kung Fu Panda 2,” Paramount, $662,153, 319 locations, $2,076 average, $161,681,667, 10 weeks.
-BAM
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ makes $900 million worldwide in record time
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ crossed the $900 million worldwide mark on Wednesday, making it the fastest movie ever to reach that milestone, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com.
The eighth and final film based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series reached that milestone in just 15 days, breaking “Avatar’s” 18-day record.
On Wednesday, Deathly Hallows Part 2 brought in $24.7 million worldwide ($5.2 million from domestic and $19.5 million from foreign), lifting its total to $906.8 million, according to the box-office tracking site. The final film in the franchise climbed to 19th place on the all-time chart, whizzing past the series’ fourth installment, “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” which garnered $896.9 million.
The first film in the magical series, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” still ranks as the top-grossing with $974.8 million, but not for long. Box Office Mojo reports that “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ is on course to join the $1 billion club by early next week.
-BAM
Box office report for July 25, 2011: “Captain America” charges to No. 1
A patriotic superhero was able to overcome the Boy Who Lived at the box office over the weekend.
Paramount Pictures’ “Captain America: The First Avenger” opened at No. 1 with $65.8 million, according to the Associated Press. The Marvel Comics superhero adventure sets up next summer’s all-star Marvel blockbuster “The Avengers.”
Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” the eighth and final installment in blockbuster franchise based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved books, dropped to the second spot. It made just more than $48 million in its second weekend for a magical domestic total of $274.1 million.
Don Harris, head of distribution for Paramount, told the AP that “Captain America” exceeded expectations. He figured it would do the same sort of business as “X-Men: First Class,” another Marvel Comics-based film that opened with $55.1 million in June.
“It looked to me, when I saw the marketing on the movie and then saw ‘Captain America,’ like a throwback movie. It reminded me a little bit of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ It had a little bit of a ‘Raiders’ feel to it, which is one of the best movies of all time,” Harris told the AP. “People embrace the look of the character. The character is a little bit like Iron Man — he didn’t have a lot of special weapons to himself, he just was a pretty interesting character.
“For it to be the fifth of five superhero movies for the summer, it looks like we got to save the best for last,” he said.
Internationally, “Captain America: The First Avenger” opened only in Italy with $2.8 million. It will begin playing in 23 international markets next weekend, including the United Kingdom, Russia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Australia and Korea.
“Captain America” got generally favorable reviews, scoring 74 percent fresh on RottenTomatoes.com, another good sign for Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers,” which will launch next summer’s blockbuster season on May 4.
“Harry Potter” dropped 72 percent from its record-setting opening of $169.2 million last weekend. But the drop-off was expected, considering how anticipated the series finale was in the days leading up to its opening. The final “Potter” picture made $43 million in its first midnight showings alone.
As much as some industry watchers have knocked this year’s summer of the superhero for its less than muscular box-office results, box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com pointed out to the AP that every superhero movie that’s come out this year has opened at No. 1. Yes, even the beleaguered “Green Lantern.”
The week’s other big release, “Friends With Benefits” from Sony Screen Gems, opened at No. 3 with $18.5 million. The romantic comedy stars Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis as friends who try to maintain a strictly physical relationship. Despite favorable reviews (71 percent fresh on RottenTomatoes.com), “Friends With Benefits” probably suffered from following up on the similarly themed “No Strings Attached,” starring Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman, which debuted in January with $19.7 million.
Although the summer is waning fast, Universal Pictures is hoping that there’s room for one more comic book-based blockbuster, with “Cowboys & Aliens,” starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, opening Friday.
Here are the top 10 movies from the weekend, according to the AP:
1. “Captain America: The First Avenger,” $65.8 million ($2.8 million international).
2. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” $48 million ($121.3 million international).
3. “Friends With Benefits,” $18.5 million.
4. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” $12 million ($62 million international).
5. “Horrible Bosses,” $11.7 million.
6. “Zookeeper,” $8.7 million.
7. “Cars 2,” $5.7 million ($17.7 million international).
8. “Winnie the Pooh,” $5.1 million.
9. “Bad Teacher,” $2.6 million.
10. “Midnight in Paris,” $1.9 million.
-BAM
Video: “The Dark Knight Rises” trailer
As if you needed another reason to see “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” you also get to see this on the big screen. Just wow.
-BAM
Box office report for July 18, 2011: Harry Potter breaks the Dark Knight’s record
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” the eighth and final film based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved book series, took in $168.6 million domestically from Friday to Sunday. That beats the previous best opening weekend of $158.4 million, also held by Warner Bros. for 2008′s Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” according to the Associated Press.
Overseas, the Harry Potter finale added $307 million in 59 countries since it began rolling out Wednesday, topping the previous best international debut of $260.4 million set in May by Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”
Worldwide, “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ topped $475 million in a matter of days, putting it on course to become the franchise’s first billion-dollar worldwide hit, according to the AP.
As anticipated, the last adventure for The Boy Who Lived is shaping up to become the biggest at the box office. The current franchise high is $974.8 million worldwide for the first film, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” 10 years ago, reports the AP.
The “Harry Potter” finale also set a record for best opening day domestically Friday with $92.1 million, nearly $20 million ahead of the previous high for “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” two years ago.
Other records “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ has broken: best domestic gross for debut midnight shows at $43.5 million, topping the $30 million for last year’s “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”; best domestic opening in huge-screen IMAX theaters with $15.5 million, surpassing the $12.2 million for last year’s “Alice in Wonderland”; and best worldwide IMAX debut with $23.5 million, beating the $20.4 million for “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” two weeks ago.
“Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ also helped Hollywood conjure up a new best: Overall domestic revenue for the weekend totaled $263 million, a record for a non-holiday weekend, according to the AP.
Unfortunately, Harry Potter’s magic sucked the life out of an excellent new outing into the Hundred Acre Wood. The weekend’s other new wide release, Disney’s animated family flick “Winnie the Pooh,” got swamped by Harry Potter mania, which just proves what a wrongheaded decision it was for the Mouse House to send a bear of very little brain, no matter how beloved, up against an adored wizard in his final battle.
A return to the hand-drawn animation style of earlier adaptations of A.A. Milne’s beloved storybook characters, “Winnie the Pooh” pulled in just $8 million domestically, finishing at No. 6.
Here is the list of the weekend’s top 10 films, from the AP:
1. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” $168.6 million ($307 million international).
2. “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” $21.3 million ($39 million international).
3. “Horrible Bosses,” $17.6 million.
4. “Zookeeper,” $12.3 million.
5. “Cars 2,” $8.3 million ($12.4 million international).
6. “Winnie the Pooh,” $8 million.
7. “Bad Teacher,” $5.2 million.
8. “Larry Crowne,” $2.6 million.
9. “Super 8,” $1.92 million.
10. “Midnight in Paris,” $1.9 million.
-BAM
Monday Catchy Quote No. 174
A catchy quote from a movie, TV show or other source to brighten the beginning of your week:
Flitwick: You do realize we can’t keep out You-Know-Who indefinitely.
McGonagall: That doesn’t mean we can’t delay him. And his name is Voldemort, so you might as well use it; he’s going to try and kill you either way.
- Click here to learn the source.
-BAM
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ makes record-setting $43.5 million at midnight screenings
With 3,800 locations screening “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ at midnight Thursday, the eighth and last movie based on J.K. Rowling’s beloved books netted $43.5 million in its first three hours of release.
The midnight haul for “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ crushed the previous record held by “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” which recorded $30 million in midnight earnings in 2010, reports my intrepid colleague Adam Kemp.
With the movie’s opening-weekend projections are aimed at $150 million. But it will be interesting to see if “Deathly Hallows: Part 2” can challenge for the record for all-time best opening weekend. “The Dark Knight,” starring Christian Bale, the late Heath Ledger and “Harry Potter” actor Gary Oldman, rocketed to $158 million the weekend of July 18, 2008.
Read more of Adam’s story on the huge buzz surrounding “Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ by clicking here.
-BAM
