November 10, 2008

MTN Project Fame: Eviction continues


Sopriye Opusunju finally proved that he was not a cat with nine lives as he was eventually kicked out of the ongoing MTN Project Fame talent hunt, after becoming a probation ‘veteran’.
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Benedicta

Even the presence of his mother at the show, last Saturday, could not help him as nobody saved him from being evicted.

The viewers at home voted for Nii from Ghana to remain in the house while the teachers chose to save Caroline from Nigeria. Fellow contestants favoured Dorcas from Ghana as such, Sopriye was left on his own.

Although he did not make it to the top, his widowed mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Opusunju, believes her son is a star.

“I feel very elated with my son’s performance. I am proud of him. Now that he is out, his career would go up and I am going to support him in every way,” she said.

Meanwhile, Dorcas, Kojo, Benedicta and Praise are on probation. One of them will be out of the show before the end of today.

Madagascar, Role Models: Box Office Animals


Better late than never for Hollywood.

At the weekend box office, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa was the animated blockbuster Jerry Seinfeld's Bee Movie never quite became last year, while Role Models was the R-rated comedy hit Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno didn't quite qualify as last week.

The Madagascar sequel ruled with $63.5 million, per studio estimates compiled today by Exhibitor Relations. The raunchy Role Models was a distant but unexpectedly big second with $19.3 million.

In short, it was a good weekend for animals, CGI and otherwise. Some other findings from the first leg of the holiday box office season:

* Madagascar scored the biggest weekend gross since Dark Knight's $75.2 million in late July. It scored the biggest debut since Dark Knight's crazy $158.4 million bow in mid-July. And it scored the biggest debut for a CGI toon since 2007's The Simpsons Movie.
* In the sequel tradition, the new Madagascar outgrossed the first weekend of the "old" Madagascar (released in 2005) by 35 percent.
* The new Madagascar outdid the debut of Bee Movie, last holiday season's lead-off CGI family comedy, by a whopping 67 percent.
* In addition to Zack and Miri, Seann William Scott and Paul Rudd's Role Models opened bigger than fellow recent R-rated flicks Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the Harold & Kumar sequel and Sex Drive.
* In its third weekend, High School Musical 3 ($9.3 million) fell to third, but otherwise held up okay (thanks, sing-along version), and pushed its overall gross past $75 million.
* In its second weekend, Zack and Miri ($6.5 million) held up okay, too, even without the benefit of a, um, er, intimacy-along version.
* The late Bernie Mac's Soul Men ($5.6 million), co-starring Samuel L. Jackson, opened soft.
* Beverly Hills Chihuahua ($2.5 million) is mortal, after all. It's also out of the Top 10 after shedding nearly 700 screens.
* Max Payne ($1.8 million) departed the Top 10 after three weekends. With $38.7 million already in the bank, it should soon wind up in the Top 10 of all-time videogame-movie grossers.
* Anne Hathaway's Rachel Getting Married ($1.7 million) has grossed $5.6 million overall, without ever playing at as many as 400 theaters.
* With Barack Obama's election, George W. Bush is officially a lame-duck president, and W. ($1.1 million, per Box Office Mojo) is officially a lame-duck movie. It's stalling at about $25 million overall.
* JCVD, the Jean-Claude Van Damme art-house flick—seriously—did serious business at two theaters: $23,346.
* The Auschwitz-set The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas ($255,000 from 17 theaters) was a star—and tearjerker—in limited release.
* Alexa Vega's slasher/rock musical hybrid, Repo! The Genetic Opera ($51,578), was strong but not stellar at eight theaters.

Here's a recap of the top-grossing weekend films based on Friday-Sunday estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations:

1. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, $63.5 million
2. Role Models, $19.3 million
3. High School Musical 3: Senior Year, $9.3 million
4. Changeling, $7.3 million
5. Zack and Miri Make a Porno, $6.5 million
6. Soul Men, $5.6 million
7. Saw V, $4.2 million
8. The Haunting of Molly Hartley, $3.5 million
9. The Secret Life of Bees, $3.1 million
10. Eagle Eye, $2.6 million