'The Hunger Games' tops the box office for the fourth week in a row

The Hunger Games is the first movie to top the box office four weeks in a row since Avatar. Posting its strongest hold yet, the futuristic action movie dipped just 35% for a total of $21.5 million. The megahit has earned $337 million to date. That figure has already topped the lifetime domestic gross of 2010's Alice in Wonderland, another March release that showed the power of the pre-Spring Break box office placement.

Debuting in second place, The Three Stooges earned $17.1 million. Audiences under the 18 were the biggest fans of the trio's antics, giving the comedy an "A" CinemaScore. Despite a marketing campaign that urged women to send their men to see the movie, 42% of the audience was female, indicating that the marketing team may have missed the mark in viewing the humor as male-centric.

The Cabin in the Woods ended up on the high side of expectations with a $14.8 million finish. Even though the movie received a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, and an 81% positive rating from the site's viewers, it fell flat in exit polls, receiving just a "C" rating. Marketing that didn't clarify this was a "different" horror movie is taking the blame. Audiences expecting a normal scarefest apparently didn't like being thrown for a loop.

Titanic 3D sunk just 32% from last week for a total of $11.6 million. Abroad, it's doing even better, particularly in China. There, the film has earned an astonishing $58 million--a further sign that the nation is becoming one of the top foreign markets.

Audiences got straightforward action with Lockout, but there weren't many takers, and the Luc Besson-produced picture earned a middling $6.2 million in a ninth-place finish.

The documentary Bully averaged $3,380 per screen as it expanded into 158 theatres, for a total just over half a million dollars. That average is higher than many films in the top ten, making it a successful doc, but not a blockbuster--at least not yet.

The Raid: Redemption tried to parlay its rave reviews into a wider release. Although it earned $1 million, the action movie's per-screen average of $1,100 was extremely weak.

This Friday, the soldier-civilian romance The Lucky One will attempt to woo Zac Efron fans, Disney celebrates Earth Day with Chimpanzee, and Think Like a Man will mix romance with comedy.

'Wrath of the Titans' goes up against 'The Hunger Games'

2010's Clash of the Titans became synonymous with bad 3D. The war-fantasy's sequel, Wrath of the Titans (3,545 theatres), will also release in 3D and IMAX, but this time around, "Strong 3D effects help make this worth seeing," according to FJI critic Daniel Eagan. He has generally positive things to say about the sequel, noting that "streamlined screenplay, tight editing and focused directing" help make the movie a good ride. However, even through Clash of the Titans earned half a billion dollars, Americans didn't like the movie: It has a 5/10 rating on IMDB and a 48% viewer approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, both lower than what one would expect. Everyone's expecting Wrath to be an international hit, but audiences at home may be less forgiving. A number shy of $40 million is expected for the action fantasy epic. The Hunger Games would have to drop more than 70% in order to come under $40 million, so it will likely retain its spot at the top of the box office.

One of two Snow White movies releasing this year, Mirror Mirror (3,603 theatres) is a family-friendly, PG-rated comedy. Unfortunately, the filmmakers' ideas are "so devoid of wit, fantasy and cinematic magic, [they] don’t even rise to a perfunctory sitcom level of entertainment," according to our David Noh, who detested the "sloppiness" of the direction. Former Pretty Woman Julia Roberts plays the evil, less-fair queen, but she lacks the "high style or comic technique to be truly fun." Despite these problems, family audiences could give this movie around $20 million this weekend--though its future may be more tepid.

After churning up outrage over Bully's R-rating, the Weinstein Co. will release the anti-bullying doc in five theatres as "unrated." AMC has announced it will let under-17s see the movie with a permission slip, which led the Parents Television Council to warn that this will undermine the whole rating system. It's true that this decision circumvents the MPAA, but I also feel there are so few films that fall in the category of Bully, it's unlikely this type of decision will happen more than once every several years. The doc "triumphs in driving home the problem and the attendant suffering," according to FJI critic Doris Toumarkine. Given how bullying has become such a hot topic, it's a worthy watch for parents, educators, and school-age kids.

Yet another hot-topic doc, The Island President, opened on Wednesday. The film profiles Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed's attempts to influence international policy on global warming. Nasheed has since been deposed, a threat to the country's democracy.

Two indies will expand this week. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen will move into 483 theatres. Mumblecore spawn Jeff Who Lives at Home will expand into 513 theatres. Both films are expected to earn in the $1 million range.

On Monday, we'll see how The Hunger Games fared, if audiences gave the Titans sequel a second chance, and if Mirror Mirror brought in Julia Roberts-loving mothers and their children.

 

Should 'Bully' receive a PG-13 rating?

Just a few F-words stand between the documentary Bully and its desired PG-13 rating. The Weinstein Company has been actively fighting to overturn the MPAA's R rating of the movie. It has already lost an appeal, and now the company is threatening to withdraw from the MPAA altogether.

I saw Bully last year at the Tribeca Film Festival, which was attended by the director and some of the people featured in the documentary. It was a moving experience. I left chock-full of empathy and outrage, especially after seeing the school administrators, teachers, and bus drivers who failed to recognize the severity of the situation. Verbal abuse (including those F-words) is more prevalent than physical abuse. I can't say I counted how many F-bombs were dropped. What I was more bothered by was seeing this language and abuse directed at a student.

I think most middle school and high school students have the maturity to handle the language in the film. But I also think that parents and teachers are the ones who will err on the side of caution. Parents will probably think they're showing children something they've never seen before. Administrators and teachers will be afraid of offending parents or getting in trouble with higher-ups. It's mainly about saving face, not the actual content. If this movie were PG-13, everyone would have the excuse "but it's PG-13" to use in order to signal the movie's appropriateness. If it's hit with an R rating, parents and teachers will have to evaluate the movie's appropriateness on a case-by-case basis and risk ire from those who look at the movie's rating, not its content.

If I correctly recall from my own experience in high school, we could see R-rated movies in class with a permission slip. Of course, this high school was in a comparatively liberal area compared to the rest of the nation. Bully follows students from Oklahoma, Mississippi, and Iowa. The Oklahoma student is the target of unbelievably hateful bullying solely because she is a lesbian. Her tormentors try to run her over with their car. Ha-ha.

Bully should be shown to students, parents, teachers, and administrators. If that means bleeping out a few F-words, I honestly feel that The Weinstein Company should capitulate. How else will students in conservative, Bible Belt districts see the movie? However, The Weinstein Company is right to challenge the MPAA for its stance on the "F" word. Currently, the MPAA allows one F-word in a PG-13-rated film, as long as it's not in a sexual context. Last year Weinstein Co. release The King's Speech was rated R because a character swearing was a freeing act that helped with his stuttering. Here it's used to illustrate hate speech. Shouldn't context matter? There are far more racy things in PG-13 movies than a few F-words. Exhibiting the movie with an R rating will exclude the audiences who need to see the movie most. I hope the MPAA caves. Failing that, I hope Weinstein Co. adds the few bleeps that will make this movie acceptable to wide audiences.