'Rio' narrowly swoops over 'Madea's Big Happy Family'

By Sarah Sluis

The round-the-world hit Rio enjoyed its second week at the top stateside. The 3D, CG-animated tale of a bird going back to his homeland dipped 32% to $26.8 million, landing just above Madea's Big Happy Family.

Tyler Perry's latest Madea comedy opened to $25.7 million. The Madea movies have opened anywhere from $20.1 million (Meet the Browns) to an out-of-the-park $41 million (Madea Goes to Jail), so this number falls near the average. Like most Perry movies, the audience was primarily black, female, and over 25�perhaps these viewers see shades of their own grandmothers in the comically exaggerated Madea?

Water for Elephants opened above expectations, debuting to $17.5 million. Despite the presence of Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson, the audience skewed more toward Reese Witherspoon fans: 70% of the audience was over 25, and the same percentage was female.

The Earth Day release African Cats opened to $6.4 million, slightly better than the $6 million open of last year's Disneynature release Oceans. These nature documentaries have played very well over the long haul, so Cats should total at least $20 million before it leaves theatres.

Another seasonal release, Hop, added 16% from last week thanks to its proximity to Easter Sunday, ending with $12.6 million. The CG/live-action hybrid earned its highest numbers the Friday and Saturday before Easter, dropping on the holiday itself, when kids were presumably occupied with Easter egg hunts and bunny visits of their own.

Despite all the product placements and tie-ins, Director Morgan Spurlock's documentary POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold had a solid, not stellar, $7,500 per-screen open. However, the 18-location release was a bit wide compared to most specialty releases, so perhaps it will hold well in coming weeks. In comparison, another Sony Pictures Classics release, Incendies, opened to $18,200 per screen, but only had three screens to fill with ticket-buyers.

The biggest mover-and-shaker among specialty releases was the ten-week-old doc I Am, which went up 572% as it added ten locations. I'm sure director Tom Shadyac's April 20^th appearance on "Oprah" had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Meek's Cutoff is also performing well, going up 180% as it tripled the number of theatres in its three-week-old release. The Oregon Trail drama earned a $6,500 per-screen average.

This Friday, car actioner Fast Five will lead the pack, followed by Disney's bid for teens, Prom, horror comedy Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, and animated sequel Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil.

Morgan Spurlock strikes again with 'POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold'

By Sarah Sluis

I was a little confused by the concept of Morgan Spurlock's latest film, POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold. But perhaps because of the "brand" Spurlock has created with his fun yet socially relevant documentary Super Size Me, I enthusiastically signed up for a screening. I wasn't disappointed.

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold is a documentary about product placement in movies that's funded entirely by product placement. The very pitch he gives to companies asking them to participate ends up in the movie as its "product placement," which led Jimmy Kimmel to compare the doc to Inception in one segment. So why would a company pay to be in a documentary that reveals they paid to be there? Transparency. Revealing a marketing plan shows respect for consumers, who don't want to feel duped by misleading ads. Then there's the opportunity to be associated with the "Morgan Spurlock brand." As he learns in a market research session conducted using psychoanalysis, Spurlock embraces fear and uncomfortable situations, and his brand is "mindful and playful." He ends up signing up Ban, POM, Merrell shoes, Mini Cooper, and, my personal favorite, Mane 'n Tail shampoo (an equine shampoo that crossed over to the human market), in a long and sometimes fruitless search. Spurlock takes particular delight in showing off his rejections, which are some of the movie's more amusing moments.

I've seen a lot of comedies at film screenings, but I've never seen an audience laugh as frequently and loudly as they did for this movie. It was often out of pure ridiculousness. After signing on POM as a sponsor, everyone ends up nonchalantly drinking the juice during interviews, and seeing the brand perched at a corner of the screen was so obvious it was hilarious. There's also a funny moment where Ralph Nader gets a little too excited about the Merrell shoes he's been gifted, which unwittingly turns him into a commercial pitchman.

Though the intent was to show the ins and outs of product placement, Spurlock covers so much that he often only skims the surface. There are also brands that signed on (like Seventh Generation, which sells eco-friendly cleaning products) that we don't see in the movie at all, except in advertisments. What happened there? The interviews with media heavyweights like Noam Chomsky, too, are often reduced only to soundbites. A comprehensive dissection of product placement and its implications may not have been possible, but Spurlock also strays off target, flying to Sao Paolo (perhaps taking advantage of a free JetBlue flight and stay at the Hyatt Regency?) to interview people about the city's ban on outdoor advertising. But these are quibbles. It's as much of a job of a documentary to raise questions as it is to answer them.

At the screening I saw last night in New York, we exited the theatre, only to be greeted by neat stacks of the products featured in the movie. As I helped myself to some POM juice and Mane 'n Tail shampoo, I couldn't help but feel that the sponsorship worked. I might have felt ridiculous using an equine shampoo before, but now I think I'll have a little chuckle as I lather up in the shower, marveling that I use a product that has instructions both for human and animal use. The in-movie commercial where Spurlock is washing up in a giant bathtub next to his son and a Shetland pony didn't hurt either.