) - “The Lego Batman Movie” is dominating the North American boxoffice with an estimated $44 million this President’s Day weekend ― nearly matching the combined haul of “Fifty Shades Darker” and “The Great Wall.” Universal’s second weekend of “Fifty Shades” is heading for $24 million at 3,714 sites and its action-fantasy “The Great Wall” was projected to wind up with $21 million at 3,325 locations for the Friday-Monday period. Lionsgate’s second weekend of “John Wick: Chapter 2” is finishing in a solid fourth place with $19.5 million at 3,113 venues as holdovers propped up the holiday weekend business. New Line’s opening of high school comedy “Fist Fight” showed only a modest punch in fifth with around $14 million at 3,185 locations. And Fox’s horror-thriller “A Cure for Wellness” was scaring up a modest $4.9 million at 2,704 screens as it was projected to finish 11th. “Lego Batman,” Warner Bros.’ spinoff of 2014’s “The Lego Movie,” is playing at 4,088 sites and will wind up the weekend with more than $108 million in its first 11 days.
It opened with $53 million on the Feb. 10-12 weekend, so it’s declined by only 35 percent in the second Friday-Sunday period. Will Arnett returns as the voice of Batman, along with Zach Galifianakis, Michael Cera, Rosario Dawson, and Ralph Fiennes. “Lego Batman” scored strong critical support with a 91 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. “Fifty Shades Darker” declined about 55 percent from its opening weekend and should finish the weekend with an 11-day total of $93 million. Universal’s “The Great Wall” is performing above recent forecasts, which had pegged the film to finish in the $17 million range. Still, the number isn’t particularly impressive, given the $150 million budget for the Legendary production ― the most expensive movie ever shot in China. Matt Damon stars as a European mercenary joining the fight against monsters during China’s Song Dynasty. HuffPost Entertainment is your one-stop shop for celebrity news, hilarious late-night bits, industry and awards coverage and more — sent right to your inbox six days a week.
Find Exclusive Screenings & Events Near You! Enter your zip code to find out whats going on in the neighborhood. For a chance to attend exclusive special events and advance screenings of upcoming films, enter our sweepstakes! If you have a redemption code, click below to redeem today! Simply print out your pass and bring it with you to the event. For information on upcoming advance screenings, select a title or event below.It's the movie that has put the block into blockbuster. While the cast is undeniably stiff and plastic, the story features Batman, Superman, Han Solo, Gandalf, the Simpsons, a Ninja Turtle and, ah, William Shakespeare. Quietly shot over 28 months in Sydney, The Lego Movie has become a surprise hit in the US - setting up a series that is expected to bring more animated work to Australia.Directed by Americans Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, best known for Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street, it took $US69.1 million ($76.7 million) on its opening weekend.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Lego Movie is both one of the best-reviewed animated movies and an instant franchise for Warner Bros.Made with digitally created Lego pieces, it centres on an unassuming Lego character called Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt) who has to overthrow the tyrannical Lord Business (Will Ferrell) before he destroys the world. A crew of up to 300 created the movie at the animation studio and visual effects house Animal Logic, best known for Happy Feet and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, at Fox Studios. ''One of the key things for the directors was that it could look like a child had created it in their own basement at home,'' associate producer Amber Naismith said.While most animations primarily appeal to families, Ms Naismith said the movie was also attracting what is known as the AFOL community - adult fans of Lego.''Eighty per cent of the people on the first day were over 18,'' she said.Co-editor Dave Burrows said there was initial cynicism about making a toy movie.
''Transformers was a success, Battleship was maybe not such a success,'' he said.''But Phil and Chris took the toy very seriously.''They really investigated what it is about the Lego toy that gives so much enjoyment and creative expression to people, and focused on that.''The movie, which reputedly cost Warner Bros $US60 million, was made with federal and state government filmmaking incentives. Animal Logic managing director Zareh Nalbandian hopes to land the sequel.''I hope it helps to demonstrate to the movie business the level of talent there is in Australia,'' he said from Los Angeles. ''The best way to make that statement is to have a big commercial success but we've got both a commercial success and a critical success.''The Lego Movie opens in Australia on April 3.WHEN Will Arnett was on the cusp of adulthood, he liked to play with Lego. This fact did not overly endear him to the ladies.“I went through two stages — building Lego in my own childhood, and then ‘helping’ my younger brother build stuff when it was no longer ‘cool’ to be building Lego,” smiles Arnett.“
I mean, there’s nothing cooler than an 18-year-old dude who’s building Lego. You can imagine how well my love life was going.”Right now, he has more cachet than ever to keep building blocks. Aside from the fact that his two sons have inherited his love of the toy, Arnett is currently giving voice to Batman in the utterly brilliant The Lego Movie.As such, our interview takes place within the vast confines of Legoland, a behemoth of a theme park that sits in the middle of nowhere a couple of hours south of Los Angeles.“No, no, no … this is not my first visit to Legoland,” winces Arnett.“I would say I have been here four or five times. My kids love it.”Somewhere, Archie and Abel, Arnett’s two sons with ex-wife Amy Poehler, are “making someone’s life miserable”.“You see the kids that come in here and there is this rumbling din — this freak out, and my kids will no doubt be adding to that.” In person, Arnett defies the rule that all comics must be slightly er, “interesting” looking;
he’s a handsome man but, in perhaps one nod to Hollywood vanity, he’s also incredibly well tanned.In the US, The Lego Movie has been the highest grossing film of the year to date, and it’s little wonder. It’s a whip-smart film that your kids will love, but you’ll probably love even more.As Arnett says, “there was really no negative at all in saying yes to this role”.Giving voice to “one of the most iconic superheroes of all time” presented its own challenges for the actor.“When we were thinking about how to voice him, we thought the more serious Batman took himself, the funnier he was,” says Arnett, who gave Batman a spot-on Christian Bale-ish growl.“It made me laugh if you had him doing really boring everyday things. Even the way he talks to his girlfriend, just saying, ‘How’s it going, babe?’ And he still sounds like he’s disassembling a bomb.” (There’s a particularly hilarious scene which involves Batman partying with Han Solo and Chewbacca on board the Millennium Falcon.)
For a man who wanted to be a “serious” actor, the native Canadian has shown off some serious comedic chops throughout his career.There’s been his suitably creepy figure skater in 2007’s hilarious Blades of Glory (opposite ex-wife, Poehler), his brilliantly smarmy Devon Banks in 30 Rock and, most famously, his failed magician Gob Bluth in the cult television show Arrested Development. (He’s also lent those dulcet tones to animated flicks Horton Hears a Who, Ratatouille, and Monsters v Aliens.)He’ll tell you he “backed in” to comedy purely because he couldn’t get cast in a serious role. “When I was in my early 20s, I suffered from that thing that a lot of people suffer from in that you want to be taken seriously,” he says.“So I thought, yeah, I’m going to be this really deep, methods actor and I’m going to do lots of stuff that people think is really cool, and deep, and people are going to take me seriously. But it turns out, nobody took me seriously and I needed to make a living.”
Initially, he made money doing commercial voiceovers (“it’s a very lucrative business”), before moving into sitcoms.Most never made it past pilot season, and Arnett says he got so depressed at one point that instead of spending his time working on his craft, he spent more time propping up a dodgy New York bar.“Five nights a week, you’d find me there drowning my sorrows,” he says.“Perhaps if I’d put as much energy into auditions as I did into drinking, I may have gotten a decent role sooner.” (These days, Arnett says he rarely drinks, putting much of his energy into exercise. “I can’t get into trouble that way.”)Indeed, Arnett says if he hadn’t been cast in Arrested Development, chances are, he’d be back in Canada “doing something completely different”.The show, which focused on the dysfunctional Bluth family, changed his professional life.“For some reason, it speaks to a certain group of people who appreciate it, and the people who do appreciate it, really appreciate it,” he says.“
But the great thing about fans of the show is that they have been very vocal about their enthusiasm for the show. If nothing else, it’s the fans who have kept the show alive.”The show, which never enjoyed huge ratings, was axed after just three seasons, until fan devotion got it revived for another series last year.“We always hoped that the show would appeal to a broader audience, but it attracted a particular kind of audience,” he says, adding there’ll be another season.“You never go into something thinking, ‘Oh, let’s make this a cult hit!’ We wanted to make it funny, and hopefully everybody will think it’s funny. It really hit a very kind of specific mark.”The set of Arrested Development was also the place he met best mate and business partner Jason Bateman.The two run a “brand-inspired digital content” company called DumbDumb (“named after him, clearly”), and Arnett says he has no qualms about using his celebrity for business purposes. “People worry about being too cool for such things,” he says.“