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Post by icy1979 on Jul 10, 2008 17:16:59 GMT -5
That's a great one ... thanks, Ace!
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Post by Ace on Jul 11, 2008 14:56:38 GMT -5
Variety: European summer in full swing - 'Mamma Mia,' 'Kung Fu' kick off seasonLONDON — Summer is in full swing at the European box office as this weekend sees “Mamma Mia” dance into Blighty, “Kung Fu Panda” high-kick into France and Spain, and powerful Will Smith vehicle “Hancock” hold and expand across the continent. Overall Euro biz should be strong, other than in Italy, where locals are making a beeline for the beaches not the multiplexes. In the U.K., Abba musical “Mamma Mia” goes into the weekend on a high, having already played successfully at the Odeon, Leicester Square, for a week. Pic pulled $233,519 up to Wednesday from just three daily screenings. Demonstrating its nationwide appeal, the film pulled $2.4 million on Thursday, its first day on general release. Universal release “Mamma Mia” has had lots of press, largely thanks to the star-studded June 30 world premiere in London, attended by Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth. Reviews have been largely positive. “A guilty pleasure powerful enough to turn the stoniest heads,” declared the London Times. Impressive Odeon and day one biz has bookers steadily upgrading their already upbeat projections. Current conventional wisdom is a four-day bow of $12 million and a final cume between $50 million and $60 million.
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Post by Ace on Jul 11, 2008 21:07:08 GMT -5
Variety 'Mamma Mia' has global appeal
Universal upbeat about adaptation's release
By ALI JAAFAR
My, my, how can they resist you?
Most musicals don't do well overseas, but Universal Pictures is ready to debunk that track record with "Mamma Mia!," the bigscreen adaptation of the stage phenom.
For one thing, the title is presold: The stage version has grossed nearly $2 billion, having been seen by some 30 million since its debut on London's West End nearly a decade ago.
Second, the studio carefully crafted an international lineup of thesps. When casting a musical, Stellan Skarsgard may not be the first name that pops into your head, but, like composers ABBA, he is Swedish, while the rest of the actors are American (Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski), Irish (Pierce Brosnan) and Brits (Colin Firth, Julie Walters) -- and the U.K. creative team filmed it in Greece.
Greece also hosted the studio's splashy international press junket last month, with the premieres continuing the international tone: Pic had its world bow in London June 30, followed by cast-attended events in Sweden, Australia and Greece, in advance of the July 16 New York preem. So this is clearly not a "Hollywood musical."
"Even though we think it will do very domestically, we expect it to outperform that with international," says Universal president of production Donna Langley, who has Abba's disco ditty "Gimme Gimme Gimme" playing on her call-waiting service. "The show was a global phenomenon, which was one of the elements we looked at when greenlighting it."
Even before its July 18 U.S. bow, the pic has posted strong numbers internationally, breaking the previous single-screen record in the U.K. (set by "Chicago") with $240,000 at the Odeon Leicester Square and tying with "Asterix and Obelisk" for best opening of the year in Greece with $1.6 million.
"It's projected to be in the top five grossing films of all time in Greece already," says Universal Pictures Intl. prexy David Kosse. "The stage show has played just about everywhere, even where musicals aren't traditionally strong. That element, along with the combination of the Abba and universal themes, make us hope it can transcend the musical genre. It's good to have something this feel-good when the economic news has been so dire."
The team of helmer Phyllida Lloyd, writer Catharine Johnson and producer Judy Craymer, all from the U.K., created the 1999 London stage show and are reprising these chores on the film.
"It's not a traditional musical in the Rodgers and Hammerstein sense," adds producer Judy Craymer. "We ended up with the best of both worlds, with the studio keeping their distance and bringing the stage show's main creators on board to reprise their roles. It could have gone the other way, of course."
The Abba tunes, which have already been used in such pics as "Muriel's Wedding" and "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," are well known around the world, which gives the film a leg up over tuners with less-known scores.
The most successful tuner overseas in recent years was Miramax's "Chicago," with a $170.9 million U.S. gross and a boffo $136 million international haul.
Paramount's "Dreamgirls," grossed $51.7 million internationally, compared to $103.4 million in the U.S. And New Line's "Hairspray" brought in $118.9 million Stateside, compared to $81.7 million overseas.
The last U musical was the 2005 version of Mel Brooks' "The Producers," which grossed a disappointing $19 million in the U.S. and $18 million internationally.
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Post by Ace on Jul 12, 2008 10:20:02 GMT -5
UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS THE AMERICAN PREMIERE OF 'MAMMA MIA!' THE MOVIE
AT ZIEGFELD THEATRE, NEW YORK CITY, NY, WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, AT 7:30 P.M.
WHAT: The American premiere of the musical romantic comedy 'MAMMA MIA!'
WHO: 'MAMMA MIA!' director Phyllida Lloyd; executive producers/ABBA
founding members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus; cast members
Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard,
Dominic Cooper, Amanda Seyfried, Christine Baranski, Rachel
McDowall and Ashley Lilley; producers Judy Craymer and Gary
Goetzman; screenwriter Catherine Johnson; and executive producers
Rita Wilson and Mark Huffam
Plus celebrity guests including Lauren Bacall, Nora Ephron, Kathie
Lee Gifford, James Lipton, Jane Seymour, Sting, Trudie Styler,
Sigourney Weaver and many more.
WHERE: Ziegfeld Theatre
141 West 54th Street
New York City, NY
WHEN: Wednesday, July 16, 2008
5:30 PM Press Call Time
6:30 PM Celebrity Arrivals
7:30 PM Screening Begins
SOURCE Universal Pictures
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Post by Ace on Jul 13, 2008 13:57:41 GMT -5
Hollywood ReporterUniversal's "Mamma Mia!" finished at No. 3 overseas with an estimated $24 million from 1,368 sites in a dozen markets in its second weekend overseas for a sizable per-screen average of $17,554. The feature version of the stage musical, starring Meryl Streep, opened at No. 1 in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia and the U.K., where it furnished the biggest market opening for a musical, grabbing a huge $13.2 million from 495 situations, representing a 34% market share. Universal Pictures International president David Kosse said that "Mamma Mia!" had become "a massive, massive global brand" with the stage musical playing worldwide and "selling 30 million tickets." The film edition's Sweden opening ($1.6 million from 126 screens) is Universal's "biggest of all time" in the market, he said. "Mamma Mia!'s" early overseas grosses "attests to its universal appeal," Kosse added. "It's really not just a female demographic. It's really a family demographic as well. We've gotten reports of people age 7-70 going to see this movie of both sexes." Nonetheless, Kosse noted that anticipation is high regarding future openings in Asia -- Korea in September and Japan in February -- where the female component of the filmgoing audience is strong. Variety: 'Mamma' is queen overseasForeign box office in tune with Universal By DAVE MCNARY Universal's "Mamma Mia!" came out singing overseas ahead of its domestic launch, dominating in English-speaking markets with $24 million on just 1,368 screens in a dozen territories for a stunning $17,536 per-location average. The tuner, along with Sony's "Hancock," "Kung Fu Panda" and the Asian-territories debut of John Woo's "Red Cliff," set a torrid pace for a sizzling international box office frame. The four films combined for nearly $160 million, underscoring the resurgence of offshore biz after the Euro Cup soccer tourney held down moviegoing in June. Given the competition from the top four pics, distribs and exhibs opted for modest day-and-date launches of the three domestic openers, with "Hellboy II" grossing a decent $5.3 million at 533, "Journey to the Center of the Earth" digging up $4.2 million in five markets and "Meet Dave" bagging a quiet $3.6 million at 918. "Mamma Mia!" debuted smartly in the U.K. with $13.2 million and 34% share in the top Brit launch for a musical and U's fourth-best opening in that market. Australia greeted "Mamma" warmly with $5.2 million and a 28% share for U's second-best launch. Scandinavia -- home to Abba, composers of the musical's songs -- saw stellar returns with $1.6 million in Sweden, $1.3 million in Denmark and $635,000 in Norway. Though musicals generally have a soft track record overseas, "Mamma Mia!" looks likely to run counter to that trend thanks to the massive success of the 9-year-old stage version, the international cast and the feel-good themes. Universal Intl. prexy David Kosse said the opening came in far above internal forecasts. In addition to its Stateside launch, "Mamma Mia!" expands next weekend into Austria, Germany and Holland.
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Post by icy1979 on Jul 14, 2008 9:55:26 GMT -5
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Post by icy1979 on Jul 14, 2008 16:46:24 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jul 14, 2008 17:10:44 GMT -5
In this photo provided by Starpix, actors Pierce Brosnan, left, and Christine Baranski attend a screening of "Mama Mia" hosted by the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in Southampton, N.Y., Sunday, July 13, 2008. (AP Photo/Dave Allocca, Starpix)   |
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Post by monique on Jul 14, 2008 23:37:46 GMT -5
Is that Keeley? I didn't know she was pregnant again!
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Post by sexypierce on Jul 15, 2008 4:47:16 GMT -5
As far as I know she isn't pregnant........
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Post by icy1979 on Jul 15, 2008 7:12:08 GMT -5
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Post by Johanna on Jul 15, 2008 9:23:55 GMT -5
Oh thank you very much icy!!!  |
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Post by Ace on Jul 15, 2008 12:14:18 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jul 15, 2008 12:50:38 GMT -5
Independent: Money Money Money - Mamma Mia tops the Box OfficeTuesday, 15 July 2008  Pierce Brosnan and Meryl Streep star in the hit film Mamma Mia! The Movie has enjoyed the biggest film opening for a musical in the UK, a picture company said today. Universal Pictures International UK said its Abba-themed movie, released last week, has generated Money, Money, Money - already taking more than £7.6 million here. The film is also the biggest movie opening that its star Meryl Streep has ever had in the UK, beating The Devil Wears Prada, Universal said. And Polydor Records said Mamma Mia! The Soundtrack Featuring the Songs of Abba is on track to be the biggest-selling album of the week. Early figures from the Official Charts Company showed the album not only at the top of the compilation chart but also outselling all releases on the artist albums chart. Mixed, mastered and produced by Abba's Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, the album, out on Polydor Records, features songs sung by the cast of the film. This week also sees Gold - Abba's Greatest Hits poised to shoot back into the top 10 of the artist album chart, with another 11 Abba-related recordings in the albums charts and 22 in the singles charts, Polydor said. HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo said: "Abba are one of HMV's consistent best-selling artists, up there with the likes of the Beatles and Elvis, and it doesn't take much to spark a bit of an Abba revival - let's face it, most of us would pick them as our 'guilty pleasure'. "Right now, their sales are rocketing again thanks to the huge exposure being given to their music by the success of the Mamma Mia film. "Amazingly, Abba Gold is back in our top 10, while the cast recording soundtrack to Mamma Mia itself could easily end up as our biggest-selling album this week. "Further evidence of the band's enduring appeal comes in the form of the singles charts, which show the likes of Dancing Queen, The Winner Takes It All, Gimme, Gimme, Gimme and Mamma Mia all threatening to re-enter the official UK top 100 on the strength of downloads alone."
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Post by icy1979 on Jul 15, 2008 13:05:27 GMT -5
no regrets! thanks for recording & uploading! This is way better than watching it on youtube ... and for those of us who don't have a chance to watch and record these US talkshows it's good to know that we don't have to rely on youtube! Thx |
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Post by Ace on Jul 15, 2008 14:16:19 GMT -5
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Post by Ace on Jul 15, 2008 14:26:56 GMT -5
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Post by icy1979 on Jul 15, 2008 16:30:59 GMT -5
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Post by icyvice on Jul 15, 2008 17:56:40 GMT -5
Thanks Ace!  |
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Post by Johanna on Jul 15, 2008 18:09:15 GMT -5
Thanks Ace, for the pics and the Letterman video. |
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