Battleship

CHICAGO – The story goes that when deciding on the project, director Peter Berg read a copy of Marcus Luttrell’s book “Lone Survivor” in one sitting. Whether this tale includes a bathroom break, or even a few days in-between but with usage of the same chair, for a director like Berg this story will always ring possible.

CHICAGO – Critics like to complain that some Hollywood blockbusters skew the balance from character to special effects. With “Battleship,” it’s almost as if director Peter Berg decided, after a brief bit of character set-up, that he would just give up entirely on the human element of his movie. It’s CGI overload, an orgy of special effects designed to rattle your brain like a hyperactive video game.

CHICAGO – In our latest blockbuster edition of HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Blu-ray, we have 5 free Blu-rays up for grabs for the highly anticipated home entertainment release of “Battleship” starring Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna and Liam Neeson from “Hancock” director Peter Berg!

CHICAGO – Though the box office race initially appeared to be neck-and-neck, the final tally was no contest. “Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted” won the weekend with a grand haul of $60.4 million, beating its less family-friendly competitor, the sci-fi thriller, “Prometheus,” which still managed to garner one of the best second place debuts in history.

CHICAGO – Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron dominated at the box office this past weekend, as “Snow White and the Huntsman” made an estimated $56.3 million in three days, more than good enough for first place. The film is already close to crossing the $100 million mark internationally and is a definite hit, notching the second-highest three-day total of the season after “The Avengers.”

CHICAGO – Perhaps to avoid the scorching heat, a lot of people went to the movies this Memorial Day weekend and two films dominated the marketplace. “Men in Black 3” finally dethroned the champ with an impressive $55 million over the three days (and $70 million over the holiday four-day weekend) compared to the $36.8 million brought in by “Marvel’s The Avengers.” The Will Smith - Tommy Lee Jones flick is definitely a hit but it has a ways to go to approach the $1.3 billion worldwide already amassed by one of the biggest films of all time. (For the record, “Men in Black 3” has already made $203 million worldwide.)

CHICAGO – “Marvel’s The Avengers” continued to completely dominate at the box office this weekend, grossing another $55.1 million domestically for a total of $457.1 million, good enough for 6th place all time after only 17 days in release. The massive hit has already grossed $1.2 BILLION worldwide, ranking 4th place all time.

CHICAGO – “Battleship” certainly could simplistically be reduced to a 131-minute propaganda piece of why you might want to enlist in the U.S. Navy – that is, if Earth had to ward off lizard-like creatures from a deep-space solar system we can only reach by slingshotting a highly amplified “What’s up, aliens?” broadcast to them.

CHICAGO – “The Avengers” showed no sign of second weekend fatigue, beating the smash second frames of “The Dark Knight” and “Avatar” by collecting another $103.1 million. Dropping just over 50%, “The Avengers” has made $373 million domestically and over $1 billion internationally. This thing could challenge “Avatar” and “Titanic” for all-time grosses.

CHICAGO – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film with our unique social giveaway technology, we have 50 admit-two movie passes up for grabs to the advance screening of the highly anticipated blockbuster “Battleship” from “Hancock” director Peter Berg!