'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' shines brightly and briefly

By Sarah Sluis

This week's wide releases, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and The Last Airbender, were full of the box-office vagaries that result from pre-weekend opening and four-day holiday weekends.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse burned through its audience quickly. Attracted by the fun of going to midnight and opening day screenings, audiences turned out to the tune of $68 million on Wednesday. The number quickly fell to $24 million the next day. On Friday, the movie's take rose to $28 million, before dipping down again to $23 million on Saturday. It dropped 40% on Sunday, the Fourth of July, to $16 million, and fell another 18% on Monday to $13.5 million. All told, the vampire romance has grossed $175 million in six days. The Twilight Saga: New Moon actually earned a similar amount, $178 million, in the first six days of its release (Friday through Wednesday). The movie's precipitous fall through the long weekend shows the intense anticipation among its fanbase, but also the tentpole's limited appeal. Whether Eclipse will exceed New Moon's $296 million cumulative gross remains to be seen.

The Last Airbender had dismal reviews and minimal audience turnout for midnight screenings on the eve of

its Thursday release, but it played consistently throughout the weekend to end up with $70 million over five days, an impressive total for a movie with such negative responses. Its placement in the "family movie" category proved to be a boon. Both Airbender and Toy Story 3, both movies boasted revenues 34% higher on Monday than Sunday, which may have been "family movie time."

Another anomaly of the weekend was the 70% rise (104% over the four-day weekend) in Letters to Juliet, which has been out for eight weeks. The PG-rated flick, along with a cast that spans generations, filled a gap in family fare. After opening to just $13 million, the movie has grossed $50 million, including $830,000 over the holiday weekend.

Fox Searchlight's Cyrus broke into the top ten three weeks into its release, bringing in $1 million over the long weekend. Going from 17 to 77 theatres, revenue rose 156%, while per-screen averages remained above $10,000.

Among returning releases, Toy Story 3 played strongest, earning $42.2 million, enough to cross the movie over the $300 million mark in a Buzz Lightyear-paced three weeks. Including just Friday to Sunday grosses, however, the movie dropped 49%, consistent with most other movies in the top ten.

This Friday, another animated movie enters the mix. Illumination Entertainment will debut their first release, Despicable Me. To please the horror/sci-fi crowds, Predators will offer up some summer movie scares.

'Twilight' wows fans, 'Last Airbender' disappoints

By Sarah Sluis

Going into the Fourth of July weekend, the two wide releases have already made their debut. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse earned $68.5 million on Wednesday, including $30 million from midnight screenings. In its

second day, it earned $24.2 million, playing on a an astonishing 4,468 screens. With legions of dedicated fans packing in to see the movie in its first few days, this movie may start to fall during the weekend, and will probably drop even more heavily next weekend. But the Wednesday release was smart: it caught its dedicated fans before they were dragged to family obligations or other get-togethers. Though the Twilight series counts not just young women, but also many moms among its fans, its fanbase is just that: a subset of women, with a few stray male fans. As critic Maitland McDonagh put it, "You either surrender to Stephenie Meyer's swoony tale of forbidden love, squeaky-clean teen style, or you just don't get it." Those that don't get it are unlikely to change their mind--but hey, the movie's already earned over $100 million worldwide.

The Last Airbender rolled out Thursday in 3,169 locations, earning $3 million in midnight screenings for a total of $16.9 million its opening day. But fans are not happy. The Twitter-sphere includes many slams

regarding the changes that were made from the popular Nickelodeon series, and there was even a protest because the Asian roles were cast with white actors. Critics gave the movie a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and for once critics and fans agree. Daniel Eagan speculated that "fans of the cartoon series may overlook The Last Airbender's flaw," but in fact they couldn't. His statement that the "slow and ponderous" movie is just a "watered-down Narnia with Lord of the Rings pretensions." hit the mark. It's frustrating for fans of director M. Night Shyamalan, too. Will he ever be able to give us another Sixth Sense? The movie could earn in the $50 million range over the long weekend, or it could drop even farther through the weekend due to negative word-of-mouth.

Film-buff audiences will delight in Great Directors (NYC), which "makes for a satisfying cinematic buffet," according to critic Doris Toumarkine. The documentary features interviews with some of cinema's greats, with everyone from David Lynch to Bernardo Bertolucci.

On the other end of the spectrum, the much-delayed Love Ranch (11 theatres), which dealt with Capitol Films' bankruptcy and other legal issues, turns out to have not been rescued for a reason. Starring Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci, "It's all a confused mess, flopping from faux-hard-boiled attitude to botched sentimentality in the blink of an eye," lamented critic Chris Barsanti. The movie also got a head start, opening on Wednesday, though figures have not yet been released.

After the long weekend, Screener will be back on Tuesday, ready to dissect the results of one of the bigger box office weekends of the year.