To mark the release of the new Kinect Star Wars game Microsoft has given Filmonic the opportunity to give away some Star Wars related prizes.

Last week Microsoft released the Kinect Star Wars Mobile app (download on iOS | Android | Window Phone) which allows users to view their Facebook and Twitter feeds in the style of ‘the crawl’, the iconic STAR WARS™ opening title sequence.

Synching with users’ Facebook and Twitter accounts, the app also transforms smartphones into social media dashboards with a sci-fi twist, aggregating users’ social streams into one place and reskinning them in futuristic Star Wars style.

Looks pretty cool in my opinion.

Back to the competition, there are two gaming prizes to give away:

1st Prize – A copy of Kinect Star Wars as well as a Xbox Kinect Voucher worth £40
2nd Prize – A copy of Kinect Star Wars

To be in with a chance of winning you can pick one of two options:

- Type “Feel the force” in the comments section below, making sure to write your email address so we can notify you if you win.

- Tweet the following: “Feel the Force with @Filmonic! http://filmonic.com/?p=15731 #FeelTheForce”

The competition is open to UK RESIDENTS ONLY aged 18 OR OVER. The closing date for the competition is 5pm on Tuesday 1st May. The winners will be notified by email or Twitter direct message, depending on which method the winning entry uses.

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A week ago we looked at the highest 10-day grossers of all time, now I bring you sort of a sequel to that list, the top 10 fastest films to ever reach $300 million in North America. Now as is with most sequels, there might be more than a few similarities, after all, sequels come from a lack of original ideas, right? But you’ll notice a few changes like, for example, the complete absence of a certain web crawler that was featured twice last time around. And yes, The Hunger Games has a spot on this top 10.

10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) – This took 19 days to reach $302.8 million and ended up with $352.3 million. Interestingly, Dark of the Moon just barely missed the last top 10 with $223.3 million in 10 days ($225.1 million was the number for 10th place).

9. Toy Story 3 (2010) – The 3rd entry in the Pixar animated series needed 18 days to get to $301.8 million. That’s like 3 weekends and a day, very impressive and hopefully, when Toy Story 4 comes out (and as long as it’s just as good), it will get there faster. Toy Story 3 finished with $415 million.

8. Shrek 2 (2004) – Another film that wasn’t in my last top 10, Shrek 2 made it to $300 million in 18 days but unlike Toy Story 3, it got there with $302.6 million. Box office wise, this was the highpoint of the franchise with a total of $441.2 million.

7. Star Wars: Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith (2005) – 17 days to reach $300.3 million and it ended up with $380.2 million. While this is the fastest in the series to reach that mark, it’s only 3rd when taking into account the overall totals (if we don’t include re-releases, it’s 2nd after Phantom Menace).

6. The Hunger Games (2012) – The newest film on this list, it got here in 17 days with $302.4 million. Since every single film found here ended up with at least $350 million, it’s safe to say The Hunger Games should at the very least match that number at the end of its run.

5. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) – 16 days with $311.3 million and this one finished with $423.3 million. It remains by far the highest grossing film in the franchise.

4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) – The last Harry Potter adventure needed 15 days to hit $303 million and finished with $381 million. This was only the 3rd Potter film to pass $300 million and it got there much faster than The Philosopher’s Stone (52 days) and Half-Blood Prince (77 days).

3. Avatar (2009) – The current highest grossing film of all time got to $308.8 million in 15 days and didn’t stop before $749.7 million (during its initial run). What’s more surprising than the success of this film is the fact we doubted James Cameron again, just like we did when Titanic was on the verge of release. While I don’t think Avatar 2 will match the total of the original, it should reach $300 million much faster.

2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) – Here stands probably the most hated film on this top 10. Trashed by everyone, Revenge of the Fallen still managed to hit $305.5 million in just 14 days and was out of juice at $402.1 million, where it stopped.

1. The Dark Knight (2008) – Batman got to $313.7 million in only 10 days, absolutely trashing every gross speed record by a wide margin. The film went on to a $533.3 million total, making it (at the time) only the 2nd film to ever pass the $500 million mark. This summer The Dark Knight Rises has a lot to live up to and I’m hoping it can deliver.

A few last words are supposed to come here and since I’m all out of ideas, I’ll finish this in a very factual way while trying to maintain my serious face in the process. You see, only 37 films have made it past $300 million in North America and while The Dark Knight was the fastest (10 days, in case you skipped to the end, cheater), Forest Gump came in last place (193 days). Also for the Lord of the Rings fans out there (I’m one) that might be wondering why there’s no film from the trilogy on here, well, they were a few years ago. Now Return of the King is the highest of the franchise in 14th with 24 days to hit 300 million.

I promise I’ll do a fastest to $400 million top 10 as soon as we have a new film reach that mark. What film you think will be the next to make $400 million?

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The first 10 days of a film’s release usually cover the debut weekend and the following week up to the end of the 2nd weekend. The Hunger Games made $248.4 million in that time and while it’s a lot of money, other movies made more. I thought this would be an interesting chart to look at so today I give you the top 10 highest 10-day grossers of all time in North America, unadjusted for inflation. Interesting fact, The Hunger Games is the only non-sequel you’ll find in this top 10.

10. Spider-Man 2 (2004) $225.1 million ($373.5 million total) – Spider-Man films have always made a lot of money in a short amount of time, so obviously the 2nd one was no different. It should be noted this opened on a Wednesday, so it had a different gross pattern compared to other films found here.

9. Toy Story 3 (2010) $226.8 million ($415 million) – The 3rd and, at the time, supposedly last Toy Story, was a huge success. With its 10-day accounting for only 54.7% of the total gross, Toy Story 3 has no other equal on this chart when it comes to box office legs.

8. The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009) $230.9 ($296.6 million) – The fastest selling Twilight is not the biggest. New Moon was a very frontloaded flick that in fact made 77.9% of its total in the first 10 days of release. For reference, the first Twilight made $119.7 million in 10 days, or about 62.1% of its $192.7 million total.

7. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) $236.9 million ($380.2 million) – Can’t have a “top something of all time” without a Star Wars flick, now can we. Take The Phantom Menace, that was the biggest 10-day grosser of all time for a good 2 and a half years. Then Revenge of the Sith held that same title for about 1 year and 2 months.

6. Spider-Man 3 (2007) $240.2 million ($336.5 million) – Notice how this one was $15 million ahead of Spider-Man 2 after 10 days yet it finished $37 million lower, ouch. This year in July Sony is rebooting the series with The Amazing Spider-Man. Expectations are high and it won’t be an easy task for that film to match previous incarnations of the friendly neighborhood spider.

5. The Hunger Games (2012) $248.4 million ($248.4 million, still running) – Oh look, something that isn’t a sequel! Really impressive for Katniss Everdeen’s first adventure and I’m looking forward to seeing Catching Fire or the two part Mockingjay crack this top 10 in the future.

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) $258.3 million ($423.3 million) – Arghhh, there be pirates here matey, one is Jack Sparrow, nay, Captain Jack Sparrow! The 2003 origin was one of the most popular films of that year, both with audiences and critics, so a sequel was expected to perform well. Funny that On Stranger Tides made less in its entire run than Dead Man’s Chest made in just 10 days. Those Pirates aren’t as popular as they used to be.

3. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) $269 million ($402.1 million) – Like Pirates, this came after a very successful first entry. But, while Dead Man’s Chest isn’t exactly a favorite among Pirate fans, although still decent, Revenge of the Fallen is considered the black sheep of the Transformers series.

2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) $273.5 million ($381 million) – The final chapter in the most popular movie franchise of all time, Deathly Hallows Part 2, for the most part, did not disappoint. Interesting enough, at one point Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001) was the biggest 10-day grosser of all time, for about 6 months. That’s one thing the final Potter could not achieve.

1. The Dark Knight (2008) $313.7 million ($533.3 million) – If you didn’t see this one coming, then you are a terrible liar. With The Dark Knight Rises just 3 and a half months away, I can’t wait to see where that will fall into this top 10. My best bet is at the very least 4th with a chance of 1st.

With movies making more money and faster than ever before, these kinds of charts change all the time so over the years the title of highest 10-day grosser of all time went to films that aren’t here anymore. In order we’ve had Jurassic Park (1993) with 120.1 million ($357 million), then stolen by Independence Day (1996) with $124.2 million ($306.1 million) and after that The Lost World: Jurassic park (1997) with $138.9 million ($229 million).

If you have any favorites on this list, maybe even contributed to their gross by purchasing a ticket, which one was it?

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Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace has officially joined the very exclusive ranks of movies that passed the $1 billion mark. With $1,000,447,819 worldwide, Phantom Menace is the 11th film to reach this milestone and the first in the Star Wars series.

Before its current 3D re-release, The Phantom Menace had about $926.1 million worldwide but thanks to a strong $74.3 million gathered across the world in this year, the once mythical billion dollar threshold was finally reached. To think that back in 1999 we only had a single film over that mark, Titanic, while today we have 11 and the number is sure to grow fast in the future thanks to 3D and the constant rise of movie ticket prices.

Now The Phantom Menace might not be considered the most worthy of the six Star Wars flicks to reach such heights but realistically speaking, it was the only one with a chance. Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith is a far second with $848.7 million worldwide while the original Star Wars made $775.4 million in third for the series.

Following is the current ranking of the top 11 hits of all time worldwide while also bearing in mind that The Phantom Menace is still making money so it should eventually end up higher.

11. Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace (1999) $1,000.4 million

10. The Dark Knight (2008) $1,001.9 million

9. Alice in Wonderland (2010) $1,024.3 million

8. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) $1,043.9 million

7. Toy Story 3 (2010) $1,063.2 million

6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (2006) $1,066.2 million

5. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $1,119.9 million

4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011) $1,123.7 million

3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) $1,328.1 million

2. Titanic (1997) $1,843.2 million

1. Avatar (2009) $2,782.3 million

With the likes of The Dark Knight Rises and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey later this year, which film you think will be next to join the billion dollar club?

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Despite fans groaning about the addition of a CGI Yoda, among other things, the Star Wars: The Complete Saga Blu-ray broke global sales records by selling 1 million units worldwide, giving it a total of $84 million in first week sales. It sold 515,000 units in North America for $38 million, which is pretty good considering it costs around $80.

The Star Wars franchise will continue to be milked with the 3D version of The Phantom Menace hitting screens February 10, 2012. The other movies will likely follow depending on how well it does.

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Today Lucasfilm announced full details for Star Wars: The Complete Saga which will be released on Blu-ray on September 12 internationally and on September 16 in the US.

Here’s the full list of special features:

DISC ONE — STAR WARS: EPISODE I THE PHANTOM MENACE

- Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Dennis Muren and Scott Squires
- Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC TWO — STAR WARS: EPISODE II ATTACK OF THE CLONES

- Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Ben Burtt, Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll and Ben Snow
- Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC THREE — STAR WARS: EPISODE III REVENGE OF THE SITH

- Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Rob Coleman, John Knoll and Roger Guyett
- Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC FOUR — STAR WARS: EPISODE IV A NEW HOPE

- Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
- Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC FIVE — STAR WARS: EPISODE V THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK

- Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
- Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC SIX — STAR WARS: EPISODE VI RETURN OF THE JEDI

- Audio Commentary with George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt and Dennis Muren
- Audio Commentary from Archival Interviews with Cast and Crew

DISC SEVEN — NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES I-III

- Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; a flythrough of the Lucasfilm Archives and more

DISC EIGHT — NEW! STAR WARS ARCHIVES: EPISODES IV-VI

- Including: deleted, extended and alternate scenes; prop, maquette and costume turnarounds; matte paintings and concept art; supplementary interviews with cast and crew; and more

DISC NINE — THE STAR WARS DOCUMENTARIES

- NEW! Star Warriors (2007, Color, Apx. 84 Minutes) – Some Star Wars fans want to collect action figures…these fans want to be action figures! A tribute to the 501st Legion, a global organization of Star Wars costume enthusiasts, this insightful documentary shows how the super-fan club promotes interest in the films through charity and volunteer work at fundraisers and high-profile special events around the world.
- NEW! A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later (2010, Color, Apx. 25 Minutes) – George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams look back on the making of The Empire Strikes Back in this in-depth retrospective from Lucasfilm created to help commemorate the 30th anniversary of the movie. The masters discuss and reminisce about one of the most beloved films of all time.
- NEW! Star Wars Spoofs (2011, Color, Apx. 91 Minutes) — The farce is strong with this one! Enjoy a hilarious collection of Star Wars spoofs and parodies that have been created over the years, including outrageous clips from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and more — and don’t miss “Weird Al” Yankovic’s one-of-a-kind music video tribute to The Phantom Menace!
- The Making of Star Wars (1977, Color, Apx. 49 Minutes) — Learn the incredible behind-the-scenes story of how the original Star Wars movie was brought to the big screen in this fascinating documentary hosted by C-3PO and R2-D2. Includes interviews with George Lucas and appearances by Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher.
- The Empire Strikes Back: SPFX (1980, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Learn the secrets of making movies in a galaxy far, far away. Hosted by Mark Hamill, this revealing documentary offers behind-the-scenes glimpses into the amazing special effects that transformed George Lucas’ vision for Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back into reality!
- Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi (1983, Color, Apx. 48 Minutes) – Go behind the scenes — and into the costumes — as production footage from Return of the Jedi is interspersed with vintage monster movie clips in this in-depth exploration of the painstaking techniques utilized by George Lucas to create the classic creatures and characters seen in the film. Hosted and narrated by Carrie Fisher and Billie Dee Williams.
- Anatomy of a Dewback (1997, Color, Apx. 26 Minutes) – See how some of the special effects in Star Wars became even more special two decades later! George Lucas explains and demonstrates how his team transformed the original dewback creatures from immovable rubber puppets (in the original 1977 release) to seemingly living, breathing creatures for the Star Wars 1997 Special Edition update.
- Star Wars Tech (2007, Color, Apx. 46 Minutes) — Exploring the technical aspects of Star Wars vehicles, weapons and gadgetry, Star Wars Tech consults leading scientists in the fields of physics, prosthetics, lasers, engineering and astronomy to examine the plausibility of Star Wars technology based on science as we know it today.

Feel The Force of the Star Wars Infinite Saga Site!

This September, the Star Wars Saga comes to Blu-ray for the very first time. Now you can be part of this groundbreaking release, through the magic of “infinite zoom” technology. When you share this site with your friends, exclusive imagery from the release will be revealed. And the more the site is shared around the world, the more the world will see. So spread the word today and “zoom” into the the ultimate insider’s view of Star Wars on Blu-ray!

You can pre-order Star Wars: The Complete Saga from Amazon by clicking the cover below:

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Last September Lucasfilm Ltd announced plans to convert and release the Star Wars saga in 3D, starting with Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace sometime in 2012.

Now Lucasfilm Ltd and 20th Century Fox have announced that the 3D version of The Phantom Menace will hit screens February 10, 2012.

Here’s a snippet from the press release:

Set against the thrilling and exotic backdrop of a “galaxy far, far away,” Star Wars is perfectly suited to the immersive 3D theatrical experience, and Episode I delivers some of the Saga’s most stunning and spectacular sequences – from the Naboo invasion to the Tatooine Podraces to the climactic lightsaber battle between Darth Maul and the Jedi. Supervised by Industrial Light & Magic, the meticulous conversion is being done with utmost respect for the source material, and with a keen eye for both technological considerations and artistic intentions.

Will you be seeing The Phantom Menace (and Jar Jar Binks) in 3D?

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Some people aren’t fond of trailer mash-ups, but some well crafted creations can be quite entertaining for us movie buffs. Today we have one from ChangeTheYTTVChannel (via blastr) who mashed the audio from the recently released X-Men: First Class trailer with footage from the Star Wars series.

Watch below:

Here’s the X-Men: First Class trailer for comparison:

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We heard rumblings about this last year, and now 20th Century Fox has confirmed that three Star Wars Blu-ray sets will be available in September 2011. They include:

- Star Wars: The Complete Saga (9-disc set includes all six films)
- Star Wars: The Prequel Trilogy (3-disc set includes Episodes I-III)
- Star Wars: The Original Trilogy (3-disc set includes Episodes IV-VI)

Here’s the press release:

The most anticipated Blu-ray release ever – the Star Wars™ Saga – emerges from light speed this September 2011. For the first time, all six of George Lucas’ epic films (Episodes I-VI) are united in one complete set. Fans worldwide are able to pre-order now with online retailers.

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release Star Wars in three distinct sets to meet the needs of every Star Wars fan:

Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray (9-disc Set includes all six films)
Star Wars: Prequel Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set includes Episodes I-III)
Star Wars: Original Blu-ray Trilogy (3-disc set includes Episodes IV-VI)

STAR WARS: THE COMPLETE SAGA ON BLU-RAY will feature all six live-action Star Wars feature films utilizing the highest possible picture and audio presentation, along with three additional discs and more than 30 hours of extensive special features including never-before-seen deleted and alternate scenes, an exploration of the exclusive Star Wars archives, and much more.

Star Wars: The Complete Saga on Blu-ray will be available for $139.99 US/$179.99 CAN and the Star Wars: Trilogy Sets for $69.99 US/89.99 CAN. Pricing for each set will vary by international territory.

Flanked by a legion of his finest Imperial Stormtroopers, Darth Vader himself joined Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment President Mike Dunn at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to announce the release, vowing “The forces of the Empire will be at your disposal to assure the success of this endeavor.”

“The Star Wars Saga is the most anticipated Blu-ray collection since the launch of the high-def format,” Dunn said. “The epic franchise pioneered sound and visual presentation in theaters and is perfectly suited to do it again in the home, with a viewing experience only possible with Blu-ray.”

“With all six episodes available for the first time in one collection, this is a great way for families and home audiences to experience the complete Saga from start to finish,” said Doug Yates, Vice President of Marketing, Online, Distribution, Lucasfilm Ltd. “And with the quality of high-definition, Blu-ray provides the most immersive home experience possible.”

“The Star Wars franchise has been one of the most anticipated Blu-ray releases by Amazon’s customers,” said Bill Carr, Vice President of Music and Video at Amazon. “We think that Star Wars will be incredibly popular with our customers, and we expect pre-orders to be very strong.”

You can pre-order by clicking the covers below:

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I suppose it was only a matter of time. Lucasfilm Ltd. announced today that the Star Wars saga will be converted into 3D. Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace is expected to be the first 3D release sometime in 2012.

According to Deadline Industrial Light & Magic. will be supervising the conversion, with Visual Effects Supervisor John Knoll saying “it is not something that you can rush if you want to expect good results. For Star Wars we will take our time, applying everything we know both aesthetically and technically to bring audiences a fantastic new Star Wars experience.”

THR say that “each conversion takes at least a year to complete” and George Lucas will be “overseeing the process to make sure each is as perfect as possible.”

If Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace makes enough money they will continue with the Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith conversions, followed by the original trilogy.

Lucas will also be releasing the Star Wars films on Blu-ray late 2011.

Will you be seeing the Star Wars films in 3D?

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