Marvel’s The Avengers is a global box-office sensation, but among studio executives, it’s being hailed as much as a triumph of smart dealmaking. After all, the famously frugal Marvel managed to corral six hot stars into one film without breaking the bank. But Robert Downey Jr., 47, seems to be the lone exception to Marvel’s strict cost controls. Read More...

Pick a box-office record and "The Avengers" has probably broken it. Biggest opening weekend of all time? Check. Biggest Saturday gross of all time? Check. Most popular movie released this year featuring intense archery scenes? (Sorry, "Hunger Games.") Highest-grossing superhero movie ever? Not yet, but consider this a warning: "Dark Knight," your days are numbered. Read More...

It's been 15 years since Darius and Nina fell in love after that pivotal poetry reading in Chicago, but fans of "Love Jones" are still talking about the pair's epic romance. A highbrow, dramatic love story between two young African-Americans, "Love Jones" grossed a mere $12 million at the domestic box office in 1997, but it has an enduring cult following that can certainly be attributed to the film's authenticity. One month after "Love Jones' " 15th anniversary, however, "Think Like A Man" earned more than $39 million domestically in its first week. Featuring a predominantly African-American ensemble cast, the film adaptation of Steve Harvey's best-selling nonfiction book, raises a frequent question: Is Hollywood finally ready to support more movies featuring African-American love? Read More...

Think Like a Man thought like a spoiler this weekend, dethroning The Hunger Games after a month at the No. 1 perch. Think Like A Man, an adaptation of Steve Harvey's self-help book, scored $33 million, according to studio estimates from Hollywood.com. The debut was more than twice what analysts expected. According to Rottentomatoes.com, 49% of critics liked it, though 86% of audiences gave it a thumbs up. Read More...

On Tuesday, February 28th, a twenty-nine-year-old Canadian male fan of Suzanne Collins’s dystopian young adult trilogy, “The Hunger Games,” logged onto the popular blogging platform Tumblr for the first time and created a site he called Hunger Games Tweets. The young man, whom I’ll call Adam, had been tracking a disturbing trend among Hunger Games enthusiasts: readers who could not believe—or accept—that Rue and Thresh, two of the most prominent and beloved characters in the book, were black, had been posting vulgar racial remarks. Read More...

You can't please everyone when adapting a book for the big screen, especially one as beloved as "The Hunger Games," but director Gary Ross and the casting team likely weren't anticipating this. Read More...

Hollywood didn't screw up the film version of Suzanne Collins' young-adult bestseller about a survival-of-the-fittest reality show that sends home all its teen contestants, save the victor, in body bags. The screen "Hunger Games" radiates a hot, jumpy energy that's irresistible. It has epic spectacle, yearning romance, suspense that won't quit and a shining star in Jennifer Lawrence, who gives us a female warrior worth cheering. Read More...

After last weekend's record-breaking pre-Valentine's Day frame, Hollywood is feeling hopeful about box office prospects during the upcoming holiday weekend, which will include four days of box office receipts. We're likely headed another frame of four $20+ million grosses -- possibly even five! Three new movies are hitting theaters -- action sequel "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance," romantic comedy "This Means War," and animated import "The Secret World of Arrietty" -- but "The Vow" won't relinquish the top spot so easily. Here are my predictions for the four day holiday weekend: Read More...