Box office report: 'Real Steel' is the champion with $27.3 mil

Real Steel showed what it was made of, as the robot-boxing action drama won the weekend with an estimated $27.3 million. That’s the strongest opening ever for a boxing-themed picture, beating Rocky IV‘s $20 million debut in 1985 (when not adjusting for inflation).

DreamWorks’ $110 million film, which was released by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, scored a superb “A” rating from CinemaScore graders. That bodes well for the movie’s box-office stamina, especially since there are no other major family films hitting theaters until Puss in Boots pounces on Oct. 28.

Unsurprisingly for a movie about mechanical fighters beating up one another, Real Steel skewed male — 66 percent of the audience according to Disney. It also attracted a younger crowd, with 44 percent under the age of 25. The PG-13 movie’s respectable opening must also come as a relief to star Hugh Jackman, who hasn’t had a non-X-Men film open to more than $20 million since 2004′s Van Helsing.

In second with $10.4 million was the political thriller The Ides of March. The R-rated film — which George Clooney directed, co-wrote, and co-stars in along with Ryan Gosling, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, and Marisa Tomei — particularly appealed to older women. According to Sony, 58 percent of the audience was female and 60 percent was over the age of 35. The $12.5 million movie earned a “B” grade from CinemaScore participants, which is a bit lower than expected considering its awards buzz and positive reviews. The Ides of March will need to hold up well the next few weeks if it wants to keep its Oscar hopes alive.

The rest of the top five consisted of prior releases that all dropped around (a very commendable) 35 percent from last week. In third place, the family film Dolphin Tale slipped 34 percent for $9.2 million, pushing the film’s cumulative tally to $49.1 million. The Brad Pitt baseball drama Moneyball, a critical darling, grossed $7.5 million for a 38 percent decline. And the well-reviewed cancer comedy 50/50, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen, fell 36 percent for $5.5 million.

In limited release, the why-does-this-movie-exist horror sequel The Human Centipede 2: Full Sequence stitched together a decent $54,000 from 18 theaters, with most locations only offering late-night showings.

1. Real Steel — $27.3 mil

2. The Ides of March — $10.4 mil

3. Dolphin Tale — $9.2 mil

4. Moneyball — $7.5 mil

5. 50/50 — $5.5 mil

Source: Entertainment Weekly | John Young

RYAN GOSLING | An ‘outsider’ no more, says ‘he’s weird-looking’

He used to be a character actor. Now, he’s a Clooney.

Ryan Gosling is known as much as a heartthrob as is his co-star in the new film “The Ides of March.”

That’s news to Gosling, despite his lighter blonde hair and well-publicized six-pack.

“I’m not that good looking. I think I’m a pretty weird-looking guy,” he says. “Every role I got up until ‘The Notebook’ [in 2004] was the weirdo, freak, psychopath, nerd, outsider character guy.

“I think things have changed,” says the actor, who flashed abs this summer in “Crazy, Stupid, Love” and controlled the wheel like Steve McQueen in the recent hit “Drive.”

The 30-year-old is even gossip column fodder and has been linked with Eva Mendes, from his upcoming film “The Gangster Squad.”

Ask Gosling about a soul mate, and all he’ll admit to is an 11-year relationship with his dog George.

In “The Ides of March,” he plays a conflicted communications director working for a presidential candidate (Clooney, who also directed the film).

“It’s a big dilemma for him to figure out what to do when he finds out some interesting facts about his candidate,” Gosling reveals. “I can’t really say more except it’s a morality tale.”

Clooney says that Gosling was his first choice for the role.

“The part requires intelligence in an actor, which Ryan brings to every role,” Clooney says. “I found working with Ryan was a delight. He just gives a tremendous performance.”

“I think he knocks it out of the park. He’s at the center of a hurricane in this film, and he carries everyone and every point of view on his shoulders.”

The famous director worked hard to get the film he wanted.

“He would talk you through the scenes and even hum what he thought the music would be like in the final cut,” Gosling says. “It was like talking through the movie in real time."

“Then when the cameras rolled, he would give you this incredible direction. He would walk away from you when you were ready to do the scene.”

Clooney did provide some of his trademark pranks.

“When George would walk away, you’d realize he sprayed an Evian bottle on your crotch,” says Gosling. “He would expect you to do the scene with wet pants.”

In “Drive,” Gosling steps on the gas as a loner named Driver who does film stunts as well as small heists for petty criminals. He falls hard for his married neighbor (Carey Mulligan) whose ex-con husband is suddenly sprung and lures Driver into a mission that goes awry.

“I wanted you to see what motivates this guy to make what are some really bad choices,” he says. “I also wanted the film to be dreamlike, but with a dream that turns into a nightmare.”

Gosling isn’t exactly a gearhead. “Cars weren’t something I knew much about in real life,” he admits. “But it was fun. I was given the choice of any car I wanted for the film, so I picked an old 1973 Chevy Malibu. They rebuilt it for speed.”

Gosling is taking this surge of fame with a grain of salt.

“It’s great that people are liking what I’m doing,” he says. “There is the praise, which is wonderful. But I think it’s risky to believe what other people are saying about you.

“What I believe in is the people who had a belief in me when I was starting out. I’ve never changed, and neither have they. And I’ll never forget who believed in me when nobody else did.”

Source: Sun Times | Cindy Pearlman | Big Picture News Inc.