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Disney and Pixar's The Incredibles 2 is tracking for a huge box-office debut of $140 million-plus in North America. If so, that would make the best domestic start ever for an animated movie, exceeding the $135 million launch of fellow Pixar film Finding Dory. The film opens in theaters on June 15, nearly 14 years after The Incredibles hit the big screen and turned into an instant classic. Incredibles 2 was directed by Brad Bird, who also wrote and helmed the first film. Along with Bird, Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Samuel L. Jackson and John Ratzenberger reprise...

The conventional Hollywood wisdom has long held that religious and family-friendly movies are not high earners. But this wisdom is beginning to wane in the face of recent theater trends. The five top-grossing movies so far this year are rated either PG or PG-13, and all of them have surpassed the $100 million mark. Two of last year’s top 5, Shrek 2 and The Incredibles, were PG-rated animated films. This kind of success is causing executives to rethink their standard fare. Family-friendly movies, especially animated ones, have brought people to the movies who haven’t gone in years. And they will...

Note: This commentary was delivered by Prison Fellowship President Mark Earley. In the Oscar-winning film The Incredibles, the bad guys finally find a way to defeat the superheroes—not with exotic weapons or incredible powers, but with lawyers, judges, and compliant government officials. After Mister Incredible saves a man falling from a building, he is sued for interfering with the man’s right to successfully commit suicide. The plaintiff’s success triggers a explosion of similar lawsuits against superheroes across the country. Eventually, the government has to step in to stop the chaos emanating from the courts: In exchange for an end to...

LOS ANGELES - The boxing saga "Million Dollar Baby" was the Academy Awards (news - web sites) heavyweight Sunday, claiming best picture and three other trophies, including honors for director Clint Eastwood (news), lead-actress Hilary Swank and supporting-actor Morgan Freeman (news). Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" came away with the most Oscars (news - web sites), its five awards including the supporting-actress prize for Cate Blanchett (news). Eastwood, who at 74 became the oldest directing winner ever, noted his mother was with him when his Western "Unforgiven" won the 1992 best-picture and directing Oscar. "She's here with me again tonight, so...

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25, 2005 – The winners for the prestigious $50,000 John Templeton Foundation Epiphany Prizes for Inspiring Movies & TV were announced last evening at the 13th Annual Movieguide® Faith & Values Awards Gala in Beverly Hills, with Dr. John Templeton, Jr., presenting THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST with the $50,000 Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspirational Movie of 2004. The $50,000 Epiphany Prize for the Most Inspirational Television Program of 2004 was awarded to the “Happy Trails” episode of DOC, broadcast by PAX-TV. “This is a very special night for us,” said Jim Caviezel, star of THE...

Every twenty years or so, we don the mask. The author on a uniquely American phenomenon.He's a fairly ordinary, middle-class fellow who doesn't act as though he wields near-godlike power. But he's nearly unstoppable, capable of besting any imaginable enemy, and yet he seems perfectly content with his lovely wife, three kids, and a nice house in the suburbs. Or…almost content, anyway. Despite the edicts of self-righteous lawyers, carping media twits, and nitpicking politicians, he patrols the bad alleys of his city, looking for the kind of trouble that only he can stop. Oh, he's been accused of being the...

I'm somewhat befuddled as to why objectivists seem so enthralled with The Incredibles. I suppose some of it has to do with some press coverage labelling the movie "Randian". It is understandable for objectivists to bask in the national spotlight that so rarely shines on them. Objectivists seem to be confused by The Incredibles. What underlies their confusion with this movie is their reflexive attempt to fit cultural events into the narrative of Atlas Shrugged. The proper dichotomy should be, they argue, between the strong and the weak, the able and the incompetent. So it is not surprising that they...

So, how are 'The Incredibles' like your family? By Barbara F. Meltz, Globe Staff | November 25, 2004 Walking to and from school after she saw the movie ''The Incredibles," 11-year-old Sarah Wanger of Newton decided to try walking fast. Really fast. Sometimes she even ran. ''I was surprised," she says. ''I can run faster than I think." Sarah wasn't pretending to be Dash, the son in the animated Pixar movie whose superpower enables him to run super fast, but he certainly was her inspiration. ''The movie made me think not to be down on yourself. Real kids don't have...

Did you think this year's multiplex controversies ended with Election Day and the relegation of "Fahrenheit 9/11" to the back bins of the video store? If so, think again. Now people are buzzing about several new family films. One is "The Incredibles," where some see a "social Darwinist" agenda. Another is "The Polar Express," starring a computer-generated clone of Tom Hanks and, some allege, the message that "believing is beautiful," regardless of whether it's attached to anything real. I doubt if "The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie" will rouse partisan anger. But in today's polarized climate, who knows? At first blush, it's...

Lights! Camera! Agita! Despite monster hits like "The Incredibles" and "Shark Tale," Hollywood is hurting this season, with overall box-office earnings down well below the take in the same period for the previous two years. In the 10 weeks from Labor Day to just before Thanksgiving, the film industry grossed $1.39 billion, down 14 percent from last year's record of $1.63 billion and off 12 percent from $1.59 billion in 2002. Fall ticket sales were a bust as well, dropping 18 percent from last year's figure, from 268.3 million ducats to 219.9 million. This year's sales also were below...

I just took one of my daughters to see The Incredibles, and I cannot say enough good things about it. This is a conservative movie in so many ways, I can't begin to catalogue them. It is very entertaining, very well written, visually engaging. It is (1) pro-family, (2) pro-exceptionalism, (3) pro-tort reform, (4) pro-masculinity, (5) pro-use of force against criminals, and almost completely devoid of p.c. bromides. The bad guys are bad guys, the good guys are good guys, and to be able to take your kids to something so sane is like a breath of fresh air. My...

For decades, kids have enjoyed following the out-of-this-world exploits of comic-book heroes, learning along the way about courage and heroism, and the need for the forces of good to triumph over the nefarious plots of those possessed by evil. Every generation needs to learn their own duty to sacrifice and fight for the good. But lately, ever since the first "Spiderman" live-action movie roared at the box office, fans of the long-lasting Marvel Comics stable of superheroes have been inundated with big, noisy, expensive blockbusters bringing these two-dimensional pen-and-ink heroes to life. Unfortunately, in attempting to dramatize Marvel honcho Stan...

This week, a little bit of everything has been responsible for the outcome of last Tuesday’s election: gay marriage, America’s voting youth, America’s non-voting youth, "moral values," Christian fundamentalists, the vast middle, Karl Rove, Teresa Heinz Kerry, the Red Sox, the Redskins, the touch-screen voting machine, Osama, Ohio and, of course, New York and Hollywood. In turn, the election has also been responsible for everything that’s happened since—marital spats, low productivity at work, a bicoastal crash in self-esteem amongst liberal power brokers, P. Diddy’s newfound modesty and, if you listen to the executives at Paramount Pictures, the bad box office...

OS ANGELES, Nov. 7 - The computer-animated family movie "The Incredibles" struck a resounding chord this weekend, taking in an estimated $70.7 million nationwide. (snip) Paramount's "Alfie," a remake of a romantic comedy about a roguish womanizer starring Jude Law, opened to a dismal $6.5 million in more than 2,000 theaters, far below expectations. The tepid response was the latest blow to Sherry Lansing, the chairwoman of Paramount who last week announced her plans to leave the job when her contract expires in 2005, and whose movies have performed poorly this summer and fall. Wayne Llewellyn, the president of distribution...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Tales of a family of superheroes and a green ogre are expected to dominate U.S. entertainment this week with the Friday releases of "Shrek 2" on DVD and video and "The Incredibles" in theaters. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. said there was no battle between Shrek and Pixar Animation Studio Inc's, and investors recently have boosted shares in both companies on anticipation they would be blockbusters. DreamWorks set its "Shrek 2" DVD release for a Friday rather than a customary Tuesday to avoid being overshadowed by another national drama -- the presidential election, a spokeswoman for the...