Weekend Movies 2014: Why 'Fury' Won Box Office; 'The Book of Life', 'Birdman' Surprise

Source by Francisco Salazar

Latin Americans excelled at the box office this weekend, with "Fury" winning the overall marketplace and "The Book of Life" over performing.

"Fury," the Brad Pitt release, made an estimated $23.5 million in 3,173 theaters. The Sony film, also starring Michael Pena, Logan Lerman and Shia LeBeouf, obtained good reviews and received a strong marketing campaign.

The film was budgeted at $68 million and became the fourth R-rated release to top the box office. It also became Pitt's 11th-highest opener and director David Ayer's best opening ever. Serious dramas continue to excel at the box office and, with strong word-of-mouth and awards buzz, "Fury" is likely to end its run north of $100 million.

In second place, Ben Affleck's "Gone Girl" continued to soar making another $17.8 million. To this date, the feature has grossed $107 million and is on track to become director David Fincher's highest grosser ever. Great reviews and awards buzz will definitely allow the thriller to continue its strong run and the movie could potentially end with up to $150 million.

In third place, "The Book of Life" debuted to $17 million, which was on par with "The Boxtrolls." The animated feature was targeted at a Latin American audience and also had many Mexican themes, as well as Latin American actors. The film also appealed to children and was a released a month after "The Boxtrolls."

With no noticeable new animated films in the market, this helped obtain buzz. It also helped that the movie has to do with Halloween, which only two weeks away, and that reviews were strong. With no new animated films coming out in the next few weeks, this film could possibly end its run with up to $75 million. Read MORE.

Michael Pena Hopes To Shine A Light On Latino Heroes In Fury

Source by by WENN 

Movie star Michael Pena is hoping his new movieFury will help film fans better understand the Latino effort in World War Two because he is shocked and appalled by the fact that Mexican and Puerto Rican soldiers have become the forgotten heroes of the conflict.

The American Hustle star attempted to research the role Latinos played in World War Two after landing the role of Trini 'Gordo' Garcia in the Brad Pitt film - and was stunned to realise there's so little written about the Hispanic heroes.

He tells Wenn, "It was harder than I thought it would be. There were not a lot of newspaper clippings or anything in Wikipedia, which was shocking because there were, like, half a million Latinos that actually fought in World War Two."

Writer/director David Ayer adds, "It's a little bit sad that Latinos made a huge contribution to the war effort in World War Two - and not just in uniform; between half a million served and there's no records but on the homefront as the white boys went to fight they had to fill these jobs in the factories.

"As I looked at the period photographs of these tank crews you'd start to see more and more Latinos. Unfortunately in these prior films they haven't shown that aspect or that diversity."