The Grey tops the u . s . states box office

Liam Neeson's rock-hard thriller The Grey has slogged its method to the peak US box office, following a dent weekend of $20 million knocked Underworld: Awakening off its perch.The vampires of the underworld from the underworld and werewolves saga wound up to second getting a $12.5 million weekend, narrowly edging out Katherine Heigl's latest misfire, One For The Investment.Red-colored-colored Tails wound up several places to fourth with $10.4 million, while Mike Worthington's Guy Around The Ledge opened up up disappointingly with only $8.25 million inside the coffers.The Oscar-nominated Very Noisy And Very Close ongoing to underwhelm within the box office, adding roughly $7 million towards the overall haul. The Academy Award announcement also made an appearance to produce a minimal relation to The Descendants which needed around $6.5 million.Mark Wahlberg's Contraband reaches eigth perfect $6.5 million, with another action thriller propping within the table exactly the same shape as Haywire, on $4 million. Sandwiched between people two might be the 3 dimensional refit of Beauty As Well As The Animal, which needed £5.3 million.Inside a couple of days sees Daniel Radcliffe reach US screens while using Lady In Black. Can he scare some existence right into a normally turgid box office? We'll have to wait and discover...

Maya takes int'l rights to 'Mosquita y Mari'

'Mosquita y Mari'Maya Intl., the sales and distribution arm of L.A.-based indie Maya Entertainment founded by executive co-chair Moctesuma Esparza, is at Sundance handling worldwide rights to Next Film selection "Mosquita y Mari," Aurora Guerrero's helming debut. The coming-of-age tale is about two 15-year-old Latinas coming to grips with the sexual undercurrent in their friendship. Pic is a co-production between Chad Burris' Indion Entertainment and Maya Intl., which will manage foreign sales. The Film Collaborative handles domestic sales of the pic at Sundance. Pic has also been accepted for the Sundance Selects selection at Berlin's European Film Market, which Maya Intl. prexy Elias Axume will attend."Mosquita y Mari" was recently awarded the 2011 SFFS/KRF Filmmaking Grant and an LG Cinema 3D Fellowship. Guerrero is a former Sundance Institute/Ford Foundation Film Fellow and was recently named a Time Warner Fellow. Maya Intl. is selling rights to pics including Indion Entertainment's "Ass Backwards," starring Alicia Silverstone; "It's a Disaster," toplined by Julia Stiles and America Ferrara; "Cafe," starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jamie Kennedy; and "Without Men," led by Eva Longoria Parker, Christian Slater and Oscar Nunez. Axume will also be looking out to acquire international rights to new titles at Sundance. Parent company Maya Entertainment Group, Inc. is a multi-platform content and distribution company that has built a library of more than 100 titles aimed at American Latino as well as global auds. Led by Esparza, whose credits include "Selena" and HBO's "Walkout," and prexy Jeff Valdez (founder of SiTV, now nuvoTV), Maya has been expanding its reach via evolving distribution technologies. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

The Existence & Dying of Colonel Blimp Poster

Great promo for your re-launched classicIt's an excellent day for cinema, because we have the UKquad for your relieve the restored The Existence And Deathof Colonel Blimp, the Powell and Pressburger classic of 1943. In the event you haven't seen it, you have to rectify this might on its re-release, as it is really rather great even by Powell and Pressburger's august standards.Existence Dying of Colonel Blimp PosterIt's all the story of Major General Clive Wynne-Chocolate - or otherwise the youthful, brash officer who becomes that old duffer.Carried out throughout his existence by RogerLivesey, the film essentially traces the evolution in the British military through the help of one guy, within the Boer War to World War Ii with the trenches. In route, numerous associations with women carried out by Deborah Kerr, as well as the friendship from the German named Theo (Anton Walbrook) shapeClive's existence.The film is positioned revisit the large screen inside the UKon May 18, facing The Dictator and What You Should Expect When you're Expecting using what feels as if decent counter-programming. Consider this, also keep in mind: the war starts during the night time.

AFTRA dancers rally for contract deal

Dancers for music videos repped by the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists have held rallies in Beverly Hills, Miami and NY to press record labels for an updated contract deal.More than 150 dancers and supporters attended a mid-day rally Friday outside Sony Music offices in Beverly Hills. Members also leafleted outside Sony offices in Miami and NY. AFTRA and the labels -- inlcuding UMG, Warner, EMI and Disney -- will sit down Wednesday for their first negotiating session in seven months, scheduled in the wake of repeated union complaints that the industry was stalling.The Beverly Hills event included a "flash mob" performance by the dancers plus speeches by AFTRA board member Jason George, AFTRA local president Gabrielle Carteris, dancers Dana Wilson, Teresa Espinosa, Sabrina Bryan ("Cheetah Girls," "Dancing with the Stars") and Maria Elena Durazo, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.Brian Garrity, a spokesman for Sony Music, said the label had no comment on the rallies or the negotiations."It's so exciting to see so much unity in the dance community," said Wilson, who's performed with Justin Timberlake and Joe Jonas. "We dance because it's our passion, but we also expect to be taken seriously as professional performers in the entertainment industry."AFTRA's current deal on its sound recording contract includes an agreement by the labels to bargain for a music-video agreement to replace an agreement negotiated in 1986. The union's contended that the 1986 agreement is outdated, especially with ad-supported streaming services, music videos generating growing revenues."AFTRA members remain focused on achieving a fair contract that will cover their work on music videos," said Randall Himes, AFTRA National Director of Sound Recordings. "Continued delays by the labels have only served to strengthen their resolve to get back to the bargaining table. It's time that these performers receive contractual protections and health and pension benefits for their work, particularly when music videos have become a new source of revenue for the labels. We look forward to having successful negotiations and moving forward with production," he added. Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com

Silverman decides Pollak for key publish

Ben Silverman gets his old team together again.The founding father of Electus has hired John Pollak as leader from the studio's worldwide division. He labored because the worldwide chief at Silverman's previous company, Reveille, as did the lately named Boss of Electus, Chris Grant."Like the beginning at Reveille, we're applying an approach to provide the finest possible revenue to the creative partners," stated Grant.Pollak will oversee distribution of Electus' programming in addition to programs and formats from third-party companies.The Electus stable includes unscripted series for example "MasterChef" and "The Greatest Loser" and scripted game titles like "The Listener" and "Archer."The hire determines a brand new division, Electus Worldwide, that grows on the partnership the organization had with Engine Entertainment to deal with overseas sales and purchases. Engine Boss Chris Phillip will remain on to guide a brand new global scripted production initiative.Pollak comes over from Shine Worldwide, which formerly absorbed Reveille. Contact Andrew Wallenstein at andrew.wallenstein@variety.com

'Bridesmaids' Follow-up: Kristen Wiig Not Interested?

Because all things in Hollywood takes a follow-up, it will reason Universal is hot to create another chapter of 'Bridesmaids.' Ultimately, the summer season comedy smash not only made $288 million worldwide, but has furthermore existed the receiving finish a vast amount of Oscar buzz throughout honours season. Sadly for your studio, star Kristen Wiig doesn't appear as considering ongoing the story. "Nobody is concentrating on that," Wiig told The Hollywood Reporter. "Annie [Mumolo, Wiig's co-author] which i aren't arranging a follow-up. We are writing another factor.Inch That reticence on Wiig's part has introduced some at Universal to consider ongoing to proceed with another 'Bridemaids' without its Golden Globe-nominated star. "We are inside the moon using the wealth of Bridesmaids, so when we execute a follow-up you need to comprehend it correctly,Inch a Universal source told THR. "We are talking with filmmakers now about concepts, so when the most appropriate one emerges, we'll proceed.In . One idea sailed apparently concentrates on Melissa McCarthy's scene-stealing character within the first film. Clearly whether producer Judd Apatow would actually produce a follow-up without Wiig remains to look. Apatow was reported as saying he'd only desire to produce a 'Bridesmaids 2' whether or not this was pretty much as good or a lot better than the initial director Paul Feig made similar comments when asked for of a follow-up in August. "I'd be very open to it," he told Movieline. "It may need to be pretty much as good or a lot better than that certain. That which you will not wish to accomplish is one which ruins the memory from the first.Inch A Wiig-less 'Bridesmaids' might become qualified as ruination. Hopefully, this potential follow-up goes the obvious method of 'Anchorman 2,' 'Wedding Crashers 2' and one another hit comedy that was without an ill-advised part two: it'll get left within the altar. [via THR] [Photo: Universal] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Vital tops domestic and int'l share of the market

'Transformers: Dark from the Moon' was Par's first worldwide billion-dollar pic.'Kung Fu Panda' 2, from Vital/DreamWorks Animation, made $665 million.The most recent versions of 'Transformers,' 'Pirates from the Carribean' and 'Harry Potter' buoyed their particular galleries to top share of the market list.Vital was top gun this year share of the market, declaring the domestic crown with $1.96 billion, and winning the planet having a global tally of $5.17 billion. That's increased with a colossal overseas total of $3.21 billion, marking the very first time any studio has entered $3 billion worldwide in one year.Locally, the studio breaks a 3-year domestic winning streak by Warner Bros., which gained runner-up honors by having an believed $1.83 billion this year.General, domestic box office for 2011 is $10.23 billion, lower 2.2% from 2010's $10.46 billion. Par's top grossers incorporated its first worldwide billion-dollar pic "Transformers: Dark from the Moon," in addition to DreamWorks Animation characters "Kung Fu Panda 2" ($665 million) and "Puss in Boots" ($420 million) and Marvel pair "Thor" ($449 million) and "Captain America: The Very First Avenger" ($369 million).Warners and Disney -- the 2nd- and third-ranking galleries globally -- also had $1 billion worldwide photos, together with "Transformers." Warner's "Harry Potter" finale arrived at that milestone, as did the Mouse's 4th "Pirates from the Caribbean" installment, "On Stranger Tides."Warner's $1.83 billion total lands the studio within the top two locally for that eighth time previously 11 years. Disney, meanwhile, saw its second-greatest year ever around the worldwide side, with $2.17 billion.Another top title for Warners was "The Hangover Part II," which made almost $575 million globally Disney's second-best pic after "Pirates," "Cars 2" collected an overall total $559 million.Componen topper Kaira Gray told Variety, "It is a wonderful method to celebrate the 100th anniversary from the studio. I am proud and humble to become leading the studio at this time. But it's actually a proof of all of our people all over the world.InchWhilst getting a large slice from the share of the market cake is really a tasty win, it hardly informs the entire story -- profitability may be the ultimate goal.Componen handled to attain both: The studio had among 2011's most lucrative game titles in "Paranormal Activity 3," which cost you a reported $5 million (excluding marketing costs) and continued to create a lot more than $200 million worldwide.But because of overseas grosses and relatively affordable pricetags, a few of the other galleries also had lucrative hits. Fox, that was the only real major studio to not mix $1 billion locally, did well with several photos, brought with a $487 million global gross for first-quarter toon "Rio."Fox also effectively relaunched two franchises: Worldwide, "Rise from the Planet from the Apes" obtained $482 million, while "X-Males: Top ClassInch made $354 million.Around the The new sony lot, executives were happy with its global success of "The Smurfs," grossing a lot more than $500 million, while blue-nick artist Adam Sandler obtained another hit for that studio, "Go By Using It,Inch which totalled north of $200 million worldwide. (The new sony was the only real studio with no major franchise installment this year studio will launch both "Males in Black 3" and "The Astonishing Spider-Guy" this summer time.) Universal had major talents throughout the summer time, with "Fast Five" grossing nearly $630 million globally and "Bridesmaids," $288 million. Marketshare key events(In $ billions)StudioDomestic Intl.WorldwideParamount1.96 3.20 5.16Warner Bros.1.83 2.86* 4.69Disney1.20 2.173.37Fox0.982.153.13Sony 1.27 1.833.10Universal1.021.302.32Studio sources. * Warner Intl. estimations were not available Monday figure supplied by alternate source Contact Andrew Stewart at andrew.stewart@variety.com