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'Superbad' Reigns Over Box Office for Second Week
28 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
As is customary at the end of August, the box office lost steam over the weekend, with the top film, Superbad, hanging on to first place for the second week in a row with only $18 million, about half of what it earned the previous weekend. The fourth week of The Bourne Ultimatum took second place with $12.5 million, followed by Rush Hour 3 with $11.7 million. Of five films making their debut, only one made a solid impression. The Rowan Atkinson comedy Mr. Bean's Holiday placed fourth with $9.9 million at just 1,714 theaters -- accumulating an average per-theater gross that was only slightly below Superbad's.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Superbad, Sony, $18,044,369, 2 Wks. ($68,616,643); 2. The Bourne Ultimatum, Universal, $12,472,215, 4 Wks. ($185,253,615); 3. Rush Hour 3, New Line, $11,706,643, 3 Wks. ($108,469,646); 4. Mr. Bean's Holiday, Universal, $9,889,780, (New); 5. War, Lionsgate, $9,820,089, (New); 6 . The Nanny Diaries, MGM, $7,480,927, (New); 7 . The Simpsons Movie, 20th Century Fox, $4,317,689, 5 Wks. ($173,354,858); 8. Stardust, Paramount, $3,872,560, 3 Wks. ($26,374,432); 9. Hairspray, New Line, $3,265,384, 6 Wks. ($107,271,846); 10 . The Invasion, Warner Bros., $3,093,428, 2 Wks. ($11,468,121).

Box Office: Not Super Bad But Not Super Good, Either
27 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The summer box office is believed to have inched past the $4-billion mark over the weekend, thereby surpassing the record of $3.95 billion set in 2004. (Last year's total was $3.63 billion.) It occurred over a late-August weekend, which studios still consider a time when young moviegoers are preparing to return to school and have had their fill of expensive Hollywood productions. (In fact, the new record was attributed to higher ticket prices; the number of tickets sold was well below 2004's.) As it turned out, the studios dumped five relatively low-budget films into the megaplexes and none could beat the better holdovers. The one that performed the best was the one that few analysts held out much hope for. Rowan Atkinson's G-rated Mr. Bean's Holiday raked in $10.1 million in just 1,714 theaters. That works out to about $5,900 per theater, slightly less than the per-theater average of $6,100 taken in by the No. 1 film, Superbad, which grossed $18 million in 2,948 theaters in its second week. (The film, which has already taken in $189 million overseas, is now poised to cross over the $200-million worldwide mark early this week.) The fourth week of Universal's The Bourne Ultimatum placed second with $12.3 million in 3,679 theaters (the movie was also tops overseas with $14.4 million), while New Line's Rush Hour 3 finished in third place with $11.5 million in 3,442 theaters.

'Superbad' the Superhero?
24 August 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Five films are opening wide this weekend but none is expected to unseat Superbad from the top of the box office. The Judd Apatow comedy is expected to gross about $18-22 million, according to analyst, while the Jet Li/Jason Stratham action movie War is likely to come in a close second with $16-20 million. The Nanny Diaries, starring Scarlett Johansson, is expected to vie for third place with Mr. Bean's Holiday, starring Rowan Atkinson. Each is expected to debut with about $7-10 million. Analysts say that the relatively low-budget Resurrecting the Champ, starring Josh Hartnett and Samuel L. Jackson, will not take in more than $5 million.

Filmgoers Get a Peep of 'Disturbia'
16 April 2007 (StudioBriefing)
The Paramount/DreamWorks alliance paid off again over the weekend as Disturbia took over the top spot at the box office with an estimated $23 million in ticket sales, far ahead of expectations. It reportedly cost $20 million to make, and analysts had predicted that it would earn about $12 million. The film sent Blades of Glory, also from Paramount/DreamWorks, sliding to second place with $14.1 million after holding the No. 1 position for the previous two weeks. The success of the film also answers the question of whether 20-year-old Shia LaBeouf has enough vowel recognition to open a film on his own. On Friday, George Lucas and Steven Spielberg announced that LaBeouf had been selected to co-star in the next Indiana Jones movie. Meanwhile, things went from bad to worse for The Weinstein Co.'s Grindhouse, which plummeted 62 percent to tenth place with just $4.2 million. It was also a bad weekend for a slew of new releases, including Perfect Stranger, starring Bruce Willis and Halle Berry, which finished fourth with $11.5 million, while 20th Century Fox's Pathfinder debuted in sixth place with $.8 million. Redline, starring Eddie Griffin, didn't even make the top ten as it opened with $4 million. Opening on only 877 screens, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters took in a respectable $3.1 million. Sales for the top 12 films were down 9.4 percent to $99.4 million, according to Media by Numbers. Overseas, Mr. Bean's Holiday, starring Rowan Atkinson, which was knocked out of the top spot on the overseas box office last week by 300, returned to the top spot this weekend as it added another $18 million to its gross, bringing it to $127 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. Disturbia, $23 million; 2. Blades of Glory, $14.1 million; 3. Meet the Robinsons, $12.1 million; 4. Perfect Stranger, $11.5 million; 5. Are We Done Yet?, $9.2 million; 6. Pathfinder, $4.8 million; 7. Wild Hogs, $4.6 million; 8. The Reaping, $4.6 million; 9. 300, $4.3 million; 10. Grindhouse, $4.2 million.

Easter: Family Films vs. Horror Flicks
5 April 2007 (StudioBriefing)
It will be family films going head-to-head against horror flicks at the box office over the Easter weekend. Many analysts are predicting that the latter will slaughter the former, with the twofer movie Grindhouse coming out on top. The film (which opens with 10:00 p.m. showings in 13 cities tonight -- Thursday) wraps two stylized B movies, one by Quentin Tarantino, the other by Robert Rodriguez, into a literal double feature. Another heap of horror is being served by Warner Bros. with The Reaping, opening tonight, starring two-time Oscar winner Hilary Swank. They will be facing Wednesday's openers Are We Done Yet?, a remake of 1948's Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, starring Ice Cube in the role originally played by Cary Grant; Firehouse Dog, a dog-lovers' tale from Fox, and last weekend's winners Blades of Glory and Meet the Robinsons. Overseas, the Easter holiday is likely to see another win for Rowan Atkinson's comedy, Mr. Bean's Holiday.

Mr. Bean Sweeps Overseas Box Office
2 April 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Mr. Bean's Holiday, Rowan Atkinson's latest addition to the Mr. Bean franchise, trounced competition overseas to take in $33.3 million in 26 countries. The film earned $12.8 million in the U.K. alone in just 512 theaters -- or an average of $25,000 per theater.

'Star Wars' Character Voted Most Irritating Ever
20 June 2006 (WENN)
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace alien Jar Jar Binks has been voted the most annoying film character of all time. In a poll of 5,000 movie fans by UK website LoveFilm.com, the computer generated Binks beat out competition from Andie MacDowell's character, Carrie, in Four Weddings And A Funeral. Third most irritating is Rowan Atkinson's Bean, followed in fourth place by Jim Carrey's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective character. In fifth place is Ben Stiller's White Goodman in Dodgeball.

'Mr. Bean' Star in Serious Role
6 December 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Rowan Atkinson, best known in the U.S. for his starring role in the Mr. Bean sketch-comedy series, has spoken out against a proposed British law intended to punish persons who incite religious hatred. "Freedom of expression must be protected for artists and entertainers and we must not accept a bar on the lampooning of religion and religious leaders," he said. Atkinson observed that under the proposed law he could have been prosecuted for some of his past satirical sketches. Even Monty Python's The Life of Brian could have been banned under the law, he observed. The comedian called the proposed bill "ambiguous" and said that it "chills the enjoyment of the free speech."

Atkinson Accepts "Substantial" Damages
23 April 2004 (WENN)
Movie star Rowan Atkinson has accepted "substantial" five figure libel damages over newspaper allegations he was suffering from severe depression - which he will donate to a mental health charity. Britain's Associated Newspapers published accusations in their Daily Mail and Mail On Sunday titles in December and January that the Johnny English star was receiving treatment for depression in America, which had left him on the edge of a nervous breakdown. However, Associated Newspapers accepted the allegations were untrue, and offered its sincere apologies for getting the articles wrong. Atkinson, 49, said outside London's High Court Thursday, "Although these ludicrous, hurtful and irresponsible allegations... have been successfully refuted, their publication was indicative of continuing sensationalizing and stigmatizing of the issue of mental health and of the condition of depression in particular, which I am fortunate enough never to have suffered."

Atkinson Slams 'Potter' Reports
9 January 2004 (WENN)
Latest: British comic Rowan Atkinson has slammed reports that he will take the role of Lord Voldemort in Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire as lies. The Mr. Bean star - who has recently received treatment for depression - was named by a number of credible sources as the frontrunner to play the evil character, who is the schoolboy wizard's arch enemy. But his agent Janette Linden says, "There's no truth whatsoever that Rowan will be in the next Harry Potter movie."

Atkinson Becomes 'Potter' Baddie
7 January 2004 (WENN)
Rowan Atkinson is trying to overcome the depression caused by the critical mauling of his last film by becoming a villain - he's playing Lord Voldemort in the new Harry Potter film. The British 48-year-old star had to check into a rehabilitation clinic in America after last year's Johnny English was slammed by critics - even though it did relatively good business at the box office. However, the rubber-faced funnyman has decided to expand his repertoire by signing up for the part of evil Voldemort in the upcoming The Goblet Of Fire, which is due for release in 2005. A source comments, "Its a very major career change for Rowan. He has been looking to spread his wings and branch out into other roles. "He doesn't want to be the nice guy or the rubber-faced chap forever." Atkinson's character has previously appeared only as a spirit, but is brought by to life by "death eaters" in the Goblet Of Fire, which will follow this year's third Potter installment, The Prisoner Of Azkaban.

Rowan Atkinson Checks Into Clinic
30 December 2003 (WENN)
Blackadder comedian Rowan Atkinson is being treated for depression following the critical failure of his latest film Johnny English. The 48-year-old Mr Bean star was reportedly upset following bad reviews for the spy caper, and decided to check himself into the $6,000 per week Cottonwood De Tucson clinic in Arizona, America. Rowan - who told wife Sunetra he needed to "find himself" - spent five weeks recuperating at the celebrity clinic. Despite the critical mauling, Johnny English was the fifth highest grossing film of the year in his native Britain.

Movie Reviews: 'Johnny English'
18 July 2003 (StudioBriefing)
Critics who may have adored Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean are clearly less enthused with his performance as Mr. Bean as James Bond in Johnny English. Most seem to agree that the spy spoof has been overworked. Sheila Norman-Culp in the Associated Press puts her finger directly on a problem with the film that many of the other critics only indirectly allude to: "Atkinson's comedic style -- a long slow setup to the inevitable punch line -- lets the audience see what's going to happen a mile away. That can make 87 minutes seem a whole lot longer than it should be." Robert K. Elder in the Chicago Tribune expresses disappointment "given Atkinson's broad range of talents, that Johnny English doesn't give the comedian more room to breathe and shine." "Rowan Atkinson is a gifted comedian," writes Claudia Puig in USA Today. "Too bad Johnny English isn't more befitting his significant talents." Still, Atkinson receives high praise from most writers. Kenneth Turan, in his review in the Los Angeles Times, calls him "a comic actor of genius who raises silliness to an art form." And A.O. Scott, in the New York Times comments that while he has never been much of an Atkinson fan, Johnny English, "perhaps because it combines Mr. Atkinson's verbal dexterity with his physical clowning, won me over."

Atkinson in Car Crash Drama
6 May 2003 (WENN)
Johnny English star Rowan Atkinson crashed his car at high speed Sunday - at a Aston Martin owners track race. The funnyman's V8 Zagato hurtled off the track at Mallory Park in Leicestershire, England at 161 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour) - but managed to escape the high speed incident unscathed. An onlooker says, "He had been doing really well. But he spun off and was trying to rejoin the race when he was hit by another car."

Spy Spoof Dominates Overseas Box Office
29 April 2003 (StudioBriefing)
The 007 spoof Johnny English, starring Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) continued to amaze analysts as it topped the international box office for the third consecutive week with a gross of $13.3 million, to bring its overseas total to $77.1 million, according to figures from Screen International. The film performed best in the U.K., where it earned $3.6 million from 447 screens, or $8,054 per screen, dropping only 10 percent from the previous week.

Bean Counters Kept Busy
22 April 2003 (StudioBriefing)
The Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) 007 spoof Johnny English continued to pack theaters overseas for the second week in a row, earning $18.5 million in 38 countries to bring its two-week total to $50 million. U.K. ticket buyers contributed $4 million of that figure, 35 percent of the entire overseas take. (The film enjoyed a per-theater average of $9,050 in the U.K.) Screen Daily, the British trade publication, also reported that the film even drew well in Asian territories, where the box office has been hit hard in recent weeks by fear of the SARS disease. In Hong Kong, it averaged $18,680 per theater in 31 locations, while in Malaysia, it set a record of $8,350 per theater in 40 locations.

Get Out the Bean Counters
15 April 2003 (StudioBriefing)
Underscoring the formidable international popularity of Rowan Atkinson ("Mr. Bean"), his 007 spy spoof Johnny English ("He knows no fear. He knows no danger. He knows nothing.") opened in 22 overseas countries over the weekend with an astounding $20-million gross. The film took in $5.4 million in the U.K. and $4.5 million in Germany. Produced by Working Title, English, which co-stars John Malkovich and singer Natalie Imbruglia (making her film debut), is due to open domestically on July 18.

Pam Anderson's Scooby-Doo Cameo
10 June 2002 (WENN)
Pamela Anderson has been shocking pre-release Scooby-Doo audiences with an unbilled blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. The busty former Baywatch babe plays the owner of Wow-O Toys, who enlists the help of crime-fighting dog Scooby-Doo and is pals to track down a spooky ghost haunting her factory. The film also features Rowan Atkinson and Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath alongside stars Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Lillard and Linda Cardellini.

Atkinson Warns New Law Could Make Him A Criminal
17 October 2001 (StudioBriefing)
British comedian Rowan Atkinson, in a letter to the London Times, has castigated Home Secretary (comparable to the U.S. attorney general) David Blunkett for proposed new laws aimed at curbing racism and religious bigotry. The measures are contained in a new anti-terrorist bill. In his letter, Atkinson said that he is "aghast" at the proposals, which, he said, would make it a crime to ridicule religions. "For telling a good and incisive religious joke, you should be praised," Atkinson wrote. "For telling a bad one, you should be ridiculed and reviled. The idea that you could be prosecuted for the telling of either is quite fantastic." He suggested that a film like Monty Python's The Life of Brian, denounced as blasphemous when it was released, would have landed the producers in prison. "It is the reaction of the audience that should decide the appropriateness of a joke, not the law of the land," said Atkinson.

Rowan Atkinson Unharmed After Crash
10 July 2001 (WENN)
Actor Rowan Atkinson walked away unhurt from a crash at a race this past weekend after his car left the track and collided with a barrier. Car enthusiast Atkinson, best known as television's Blackadder, crashed an Aston Martin V8 Zagato at Croft Racing Circuit on the County Durham/North Yorkshire border, England. A spokesman for Atkinson's agents says, "He races quite a lot and he is absolutely fine." The race - the seventh of the meeting - had to be restarted after Atkinson was checked by a doctor and his battered red sports car was recovered from the track. He then left the circuit, where he last raced two years ago. Steve Cooper, financial director of Croft, adds, "It was a racing incident and he was shaken up but was not injured. I believe his brakes had failed or did not work and he went off the track and hit a barrier."

Blackadder Pair to Make Spy Comedy
4 June 2001 (WENN)
Two of the team behind the hugely successful Blackadder series are set to team up for a British spoof spy movie. Comedian and writer Ben Elton is joining forces with Rowan Atkinson to make a movie based on a character created for a credit card commercial. The $39 million movie Johnny English: A Touch Of Weevil will feature James Bond-style action sequences, but one of the film's producers insists, "It won't be a Bond spoof. Johnny is very much his own man. It will be a parody of the spy movie genre in the Austin Powers tradition, but with a British spin." A spokesman for Barclaycard in whose ads the character began life says, "We never dreamt the adverts would inspire a film."

First Scooby-Doo Cast Picture Released
7 March 2001 (WENN)
The cast of the eagerly awaited Scooby-Doo have been exposed to the world in the first publicity picture to be released. The snap is of Freddie Prinze JR. as heart-throb Fred, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Daphne, Scream star Matthew Lillard as Shaggy and Linda Cardellini as Velma. Scooby is to be addded digitally later. The film is being directed by Raja Gosnell and began production in Australia last month. Mr Bean star Rowan Atkinson is playing the film's villain Mondavarious, the mysterious owner of Spooky Island. [Editors' Note: Due to technical difficulties IMDb's photo gallery containing the photo and title art for the film has been delayed until Thursday.]

Rowan Atkinson To Play Scooby Doo Baddie
31 January 2001 (WENN)
British comedian Rowan Atkinson is in negotiations to play the villain in Scooby-Doo (2001). Atkinson is seen as the perfect character to portray the 'bad guy' Mondavarious in the much-anticipated live-action film. Sexy TV star Sarah Michelle Gellar heads the cast as Daphne, alongside real-life boyfriend Freddie Prinze Jr. as Fred.

Mr. Bean To Become A Cartoon
9 October 2000 (StudioBriefing)
The cartoonish British comedy show Mr. Bean, starring Rowan Atkinson, will be transformed into an animated series, with Atkinson providing the character's voice, the London Daily Express reported today (Monday). The newspaper said that the show's original production company, Tiger Aspect, will oversee the $15-million project, and that Robin Driscoll, its original writer, will script the cartoons, which presumably will be targeted at adults. Peter Bennett-Jones, chairman of Tiger Aspect, said in an interview with the Express that "there's still a huge worldwide appetite for Bean."

Atkinson To Play Britain's "Greatest Spy"
2 March 2000 (StudioBriefing)
Rowan Atkinson is set to star in Touch of Weevel, his first starring role in a feature since 1997's Bean. In the film, Atkinson will portray a Bean-like idiot who works for the British foreign service and comes to be regarded by British Intelligence as the country's greatest spy. The film is being produced by Britain's Working Title, which has signed a distribution deal with Universal.

Rowan Atkinson To Become Latest Dr. Who
2 March 1999 (StudioBriefing)
The BBC's classic Dr. Who character, who faded from the airwaves in 1989, will return on March 12 in the person of Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean), for a comedy special. Atkinson will be the tenth actor to portray the time-traveling doctor on television. News of his casting was welcomed by Dr. Who cultists. Andrew Eaton, a spokesman for the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, told the BBC Monday, "I think Rowan Atkinson will make a great Doctor, and anything that keeps the program in the public eye is good news."

Top Stars May Star In Chaucer Classic
29 December 1998 (StudioBriefing)
Many of Britain's top actors are being courted to appear in a $10 million production of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, the London Daily Mirror reported today (Tuesday). They include: Helen Mirren, Michael Caine, Rowan Atkinson, Sean Connery, Ralph Fiennes, Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Judi Dench, Martin Clunes and Stephen Fry. "The idea is to get the cream of British acting, " one TV exec told the newspaper. It is expected that the drama will air first in the U.S., then in Britain on the BBC.

He's Worth A Whole Hill Of Beans
19 January 1998 (StudioBriefing)
Rowan Atkinson, the star of Bean (1997), has become Britain's highest-paid actor, earning $19 million last year, according to a study by two British researchers. Richard Attenborough was second highest with $16 million. Sir Alec Guinness, in third place, earned $7.6 million, largely from the re-release of the Star Wars (1977) movies.

Bean Stock Rates High With Nbc
15 December 1997 (StudioBriefing)
NBC has paid "north of $8 million, " for broadcast rights to the Rowan Atkinson film Bean. Daily Variety reported today (Monday). The Polygram/Gramercy film is expected to air in 2000 after pay-per-view and Showtime runs, the trade paper said.

Gramercy Says Bean Draws Adults
20 November 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Gramercy Pictures has credited a larger-than-expected turnout of mature adults for the success of the Rowan Atkinson comedy Bean (1997). Gramercy president Russell Schwartz told today's (Thursday) Philadelphia Inquirer, "The odd thing about the demographics is that more than 50 percent of the audience is over 25. We started out targeting the 7- to 17-year-olds." Schwartz complimented Atkinson for creating a character who "can be appreciated at different levels by kids and adults." He added: "I think there's also a guilty pleasure in just enjoying a silly picture."

Critics Can't Kill Jackal
17 November 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Call it "The Weekend of The Jackal, " as the Universal film -- "suggested" by the 1993 Fred Zinnemann classic Day of the Jackal, The (1973) -- topped the box office with $15.6 million, according to estimates by Exhibitor Relations. The movie, which was generally drubbed by critics, bested last weekend's top-ranked Starship Troopers (1997), which dropped 54 percent from last weekend to tie a reissue of Disney's Little Mermaid, The (1989) with about $10.2 million. In fourth place was Gramercy's Rowan Atkinson comedy Bean (1997), which took in about $8 million. But Bill Murray's new comedy for Warner's, Man Who Knew Too Little, The (1997), realized too little as well, earning only $4.7 million. Estimated results for the top-ten films:1. Jackal, The (1997), Universal, $15.6 million; 2 (tie). Starship Troopers (1997), TriStar, $10.2 million; Little Mermaid, The (1989), Disney, $10.2 million; 4. Bean (1997), Gramercy, $8 million; 5. Man Who Knew Too Little, The (1997), Warner Bros. $4.7 million; 6. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), Columbia, $4.1 million; 7. Devil's Advocate, The (1997), Warner Bros. $3.6 million; 8. Red Corner (1997), MGM, $2.6 million; 9. Eve's Bayou (1997), Trimark, $2.55 million; 9. Boogie Nights (1997), New Line, $2.55 million.

Box Office Goes Bugs Over Troopers
10 November 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Despite the fact that Starship Troopers (1997) produced an estimated $21 million at the box office over the weekend and represented TriStar's third-biggest opening ever behind 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and 1990's Total Recall (1990), the result was regarded by many analysts as somewhat disappointing. (They noted, for example, that it was well behind the $35 million produced during the same week last year by Disney's Ransom (1996), starring Mel Gibson and directed by Ron Howard.) The Rowan Atkinson starrer Bean (1997) was in second place with about $13 million, representing the biggest opening ever for distributor Gramercy Films and surpassing the company's $10 million forecast. Biggest disappointment was the performance of Mad City (1997), which, despite the marquee value of John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman, produced only $4.7 million to debut in sixth place. Another opener, the critically acclaimed Eve's Bayou (1997) opened with $3.3 million, but, with only 659 screens, it produced the third-highest per-screen average, $5, 008, behind Troopers ($7, 405) and Bean ($6, 652). The weekend top ten according to studio estimates: 1. Starship Troopers (1997), $22 million; 2. Bean (1997), $13 million; 3. I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997), $6.6 million (brining its 4-week total to $54.3 million); 4. Devil's Advocate, The (1997), $5.02 million; 5. Red Corner (1997), $5 million; 6. Mad City (1997), $4.7 million; 7. Boogie Nights (1997), $4.1 million; 8. Eve's Bayou (1997), $3.3 million; 9. Kiss the Girls (1997), $2.5 million; 10. Seven Years in Tibet (1997), $2.1 million.

Bean Stalks The Giants
7 November 1997 (StudioBriefing)
The British-produced Bean (1997), it would seem, is not every critic's cup of tea. Arriving finally in the U.S. today (Friday) after already accumulating $100 million at the overseas box office, the Rowan Atkinson comedy, the wild card in a strong slate of new releases, is receiving reviews ranging from the ecstatic ("When it comes to laughs, Bean delivers, " says Lawrence Van Gelder in today's New York Times) to the so-so ("Bean made me laugh. At least three times, " writes Carrie Ricket in the Philadelphia Inquirer. "That doesn't sound like a lot, but understand that it was the helpless belly laugh of total surrender.") to the reproving ("Bean causes so many fiascoes that it's almost poetic justice of sorts that his film is one, " writes the AP's Matt Wolf) to the excoriating (There hasn't been a British import so undesirable since potted meat, " huffs USA Today.)

Beanselling Beans -- And Vice Versa
4 November 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Polygram's efforts to market Bean (1997) in advance of the film's opening next weekend may be worthy of a Mr. Bean comedy sketch itself. Today's (Tuesday) London Financial Times observes that PolyGram has succeeded in lining up only a small supermarket chain in Los Angeles, Whole Foods, for a promotional tie-in. A poster of Rowan Atkinson as Bean is being displayed in the store's organic vegetable department (where presumably beans are sold). Last weekend, Polygram hired a sky-writing firm to write "BEAN NOV 7" in the skies above L.A. but high winds aloft made the display illegible by the time the sky-writer got to the first "N."

Polygram's Profits Soar
23 October 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Netherlands-based PolyGram Wednesday announced that profits for the third-quarter leaped 21.4 percent to $42.2 million, versus $34.8 million during the same quarter a year ago. The company attributed the huge rise to record-breaking sales of records by Elton John and Boyz II Men and to robust box office for the Michael Douglas movie, Game, The (1997), in the U.S. and to the enormous turn-out for the Rowan Atkinson comedy Bean (1997) in the overseas markets. Nevertheless, the film division posted a loss due primarily to costs connected with launching a U.S. distribution division.

A Lot Of Beans Counted
25 September 1997 (StudioBriefing)
The Rowan Atkinson comedy Bean (1997), based on Atkinson's popular TV persona, crossed the $100 million mark at the overseas box office on Monday, the first film ever to reach that mark without first opening in North America, according to today's (Thursday) Hollywood Reporter. The film opens in the U.S. on Nov. 7.

Mr. Bean Nabs Video Record In Japan
18 September 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Videos of Rowan Atkinson's British TV series Mr. Bean have become a surprising hit in Japan, becoming the first to remain on the country's best-seller list for more than a year, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported today (Thursday). An executive with a leading Tokyo music/video retailer told the newspaper that it quickly sold out all 250 copies of an eight-volume Mr. Bean set, distributed by PolyGram K.K.. "This is an awesome figure for video sales and, what's more, customers are constantly waiting for them, " a spokesman for the store said. Many of the country's critics have been lavishing praise on the videos with several describing Atkinson, who performs mostly in pantomime, as a modern Chaplin. Japanese comedian Tsutomu Sekine told the newspaper, "I am beyond jealousy and find his talent totally overwhelming."

British Beancounters Ecstatic
12 August 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Polygram's Bean (1997), starring Rowan Atkinson, easily set a new box office record for a British film by taking in $4.35 million in the U.K. over the weekend, the London Financial Times reported today (Monday). Bean, however, took second place behind Sony's Men in Black (1997), which garnered $5.7 million in its second week. The previous record for a British film debut was held by Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) which opened with $2.4 million in 1994. The $25 million Bean had already recouped most of its costs in record-breaking debuts in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands, the first countries in which it had opened. the newspaper said.

Polygram To Report Slow First Half
18 July 1997 (StudioBriefing)
Amsterdam-based PolyGram is expected to show lower-to-flat earnings for the first half, reflecting primarily high production costs for recent films and few new releases. "It's the resulting losses in the film division that are eating into their earnings, " Oskar Thijs, analyst at Bank Bangert Pontier in Amsterdam, told the Dow Jones news service today. The company plans to release Game, The (1997), with Michael Douglas and Sean Penn, and Bean (1997), starring Rowan Atkinson, in the fall.

Bean Counters Rejoice Down Under
14 July 1997 (StudioBriefing)
U.K. comic Rowan Atkinson's first Mr. Bean film has had a huge debut in Australia, beating Batman & Robin in the two films' opening week, according to its distributor, Polygram. The company said that only the two Jurassic Park movies and Independence Day have ever grossed more at the Australian box office. The film earned $5.8 million versus $4.5 million for the Batman sequel. The success came in the face of some criticism that the character, familiar to HBO viewers in the U.S., had been compromised, since he had been given a voice. (He is played in mime in the TV series). But, reviewing the film in the News Corp-owned The Australian, critic David Stratton wrote: "So how does the character transfer to the big screen? The answer is, pretty well." Stratton adds: "The makers of this ... Bean obviously have their sights set on the American market, where Mr. Bean isn't as well known."

BBC Settles Libel Suit
23 May 1997 (StudioBriefing)
The BBC said Thursday that it had agreed to pay libel damages to The Outward Bound Trust, following a radio documentary that claimed that the group employed known child abusers at its educational adventure centers and a subsequent sitcom sketch that portrayed an Outward Bound instructor as a "deranged sexual pervert." The sitcom, The Thin Blue Line, stars comedian Rowan Atkinson. In its statement, which did not disclose details of the settlement, the BBC acknowledged "its grave error and recognizes the considerable damage it has caused to the Trust."