‘Need for Speed’ crashes at box office

Jesse Pinkman deserves better. Hollywood’s latest videogame adaptation undercut what were already modest expectations this weekend when Need for Speed failed to nab first (or second) place at the box office. Instead, the Aaron Paul-starrer earned a disappointing $17.8 million. Its debut haul secured the film third-place standing behind Mr. Peabody and Sherman ($21.2 million) and 300: Rise of an Empire ($19.1 million). The former enjoyed a solid hold from the previous weekend, dropping just 34 percent.  To compare, last year’s The Croods dropped 39 percent its second weekend in theatres, while How to Train Your Dragon also dipped 34 percent. Rise of an Empire took a fairly steep hit – suffering a downturn of 58 percent – but its overall cume remains respectable ($78.3 million to date).

With an “eh” CinemaScore rating of a B+, it looks as if Need for Speed will only continue to stall. Overall returns should tally out to south of $50 million. As for Tyler Perry’s Single Moms Club, it’s unlikely the film will even reach that benchmark. The prolific Perry suffered his worst opening yet with Club, which grossed $8.3 million. Prior to this weekend, Daddy’s Little Girls was Perry’s least-successful outing, having opened to $11.2 million in 2007.

Perry’s last few features (Tyler Perry Presents Peeples, A Madea Christmas) have also been disappointments. The films’ distributor, Lionsgate, has had a rough time of it recently: The company suffered losses on both The Legend of Hercules and I, Frankenstein as well. Let’s hope this weekend’s Divergent changes its luck for the better.

No such wishes are needed for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, which continues to do marvelous business. This past weekend saw the comedy rake in an additional $3.6 million from 66 locations. The film will enjoy its largest expansion yet this coming weekend, when it will screen in 275 theatres.

Despite some streaming troubles for those who opted to pay for a Web version of the film, Veronica Mars can be called a modest success. The movie earned $2 million from 291 locations. With the continued and concurrent availability of VOD, however, it will be interesting to see how the movie holds in the coming weeks.

Here’s hoping the weeks ahead are kinder to Jason Bateman’s Bad Words. The actor’s feature directorial debut hasn’t gotten off to a boffo start: The movie screened in six locations and grossed just $120,000. It will expand nationwide on Friday.

‘Need for Speed’ to cruise into 1st place

Disney is expecting modest returns in the low-to-mid $20 millions for videogame adaptation Need for Speed this weekend, but those earnings should still be enough to propel the Aaron Paul star vehicle (pun not intended, we promise) to first place. The film has received terrible reviews (23 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), not to mention, movies based on or inspired by videogames do not have a great track record of success (see: Max Payne, Doom). Nonetheless, the fanboy fan-base is a faithful one, and Aaron Paul, fresh off the final season of "Breaking Bad," will no doubt draw many fans in his own right.

Tyler Perry’s Single Moms Club also opens wide this weekend. However, it will probably not take second place, or even third place. Those slots should go to holdovers Mr. Peabody & Sherman and 300: Rise of an Empire. Both films are expected to gross in the high-teens, while Club is tracking a little softer, in the mid-teens. Incredibly, Single Moms Club will mark director Tyler Perry’s 15^th movie since 2006. Nine of those films debuted to $20 million or more, although most featured Perry’s Madea character or opened over Easter weekend. Club fits neither criterion.

TV cult favorite Veronica Mars finally hits the big screen today. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, in which fans raised over $5 million, Mars will screen in 291 locations and via VOD. If everyone who contributed to the Kickstarter fund opts to see the movie in theatres, Veronica Mars could earn upwards of $2 million.

Ahead of its wide release next weekend, Jason Bateman’s feature directorial debut Bad Words opens in six locations in NY and LA. It will probably not beat or even meet the record-breaking per-screen average Wes Anderson’s Grand Budapest Hotel achieved last weekend, although it may still enjoy a solid opening. As for Hotel, the feature expands to 66 locations and will likely take in $2 million or so.

The ‘Hobbit’ to tower over ‘Madea’

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas will go head-to-head at the box office this weekend, although the matchup is not exactly a nail-biter. As the second prequel in the incredibly popular and successful Lord of the Rings franchise, Hobbit is pretty much guaranteed a stronger bow. Last year, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Smaug’s predecessor, earned $300 million domestically and an unearthly $1 billion worldwide. Critics, however, didn’t love it, and even fan reactions were mixed, certainly in comparison with the kind of accolades heaped upon director Peter Jackson’s Rings trilogy. Journey’s success was largely due to its ability to leverage the popularity of these films, while Smaug has a more difficult road ahead of it as it works to prove it’s better (more fun, less dragging) than its predecessor. Luckily, critics seem to think it is. The Desolation of Smaug will probably earn $15 million less than Journey and open to around $70 million or so. The fact that such a staggering gross would still be considered a qualified success speaks to the ridiculous earning potential of – and ridiculous expectations surrounding – these movies.

Though it isn’t expected to trump The Hobbit, Madea’s box-office odds are still looking pretty merry. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas is the director’s 14th movie in the past eight years. Eight of Perry’s 13 movies have opened to $20 million or more. A more fun fact: The only other directors to have had as many $20 million openings are Robert Zemeckis, who has had nine, and Steven Spielberg, who can boast 11. In total, Perry’s oeuvre has earned $674 million domestically, with his top three films all featuring his Madea character, or Perry dressed up as a smart-mouthed granny. Odds are Madea will chuckle up a little less than $30 million.

Frozen and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire are still going strong and will probably land at nos. three and four, respectively. Specialty enthusiasts and Academy Awards speculators, though, are more concerned with Disney and Jennifer Lawrence’s other movies opening in limited release this weekend: Saving Mr. Banks and American Hustle. Viewers are expected to be drawn in like moths to the Oscar-gold flame surrounding these two. Awards buzz is thick around Lawrence, who plays a broadly cockamamie housewife in Hustle, and Emma Thompson as the persnickety Mary Poppins author, P.L. Travers, in Banks. The latter film is opening in 15 locations ahead of its wide release next weekend, while Hustle will screen in six theatres.

'Precious' this year's 'Slumdog,' minus the 'Millionaire'

By Sarah Sluis

After seeing Precious some weeks ago, I had pushed it to the back of my mind, but today I saw this letter posted on Tyler Perry's website (via Movieline), and the movie was just as fresh as it was a month ago. In the letter, Perry details his rough childhood and the abuses he suffered, all of which made him want to support Precious. Oprah Winfrey, who has also signed on as an executive producer, has revealed before on her show that she was sexually abused as a child. For Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, this movie recalls real experiences. Even the movie's website URL, weareallprecious.com, emphasizes identification with Precious. But is having a terrible childhood a prerequisite for seeing this movie and having an emotionally wrought experience? I say no.

Precious, which stars Gabourey Sidibe, follows a young, poor, black teenager living in Harlem in the 1980s. She has been sexually abused by her father. She is pregnant with his second child. Her first child has Down syndrome and lives with her grandma. Her mother emotionally and physically abuses her. She can't read. She's obese. What does she even have to live for? Under Lee Daniels' direction, the experience is pathos overdrive, which I think explains the movie's success to date.

Viewers have overwhelmingly approved of the film, giving it audience awards at Toronto and Sundance, much as Slumdog Millionaire won the Toronto award as well as four other audience festival awards. Both movies leave you with such an wealth of emotion that you want to do something--like choose it for the audience award. They also have some distance from their subject that makes it easier to bear. In Slumdog, it's geographical, in Precious, it's because the movie is set in the past.

I took particular note of how the film's style encourages identification with Precious. We see her dream sequences, one of which is segued into as her eyes are fixated on the ceiling as her father rapes her. In another scene, as Precious cooks for her mother and is forced to eat even though she isn't hungry, the food she cooks is surreally disgusting and unappetizing. I liked that Precious' point-of-view was conveyed with fantasy sequences and with subtle alterations of her real life.

The oddest, and riskiest part of the movie is a monologue near the end where the movie's villain makes a plea for us to understand her. It's like hearing a defense from a skilled serial killer--she's convincing and you get to understand where she's coming from, but at the same time you're fighting not to believe her. For me this was the biggest payoff of the film. It can seem "easy" to side with Precious the whole way through, but being challenged to understand the victim's enemy and refusing to side with her is like fighting for Precious yourself.

Lionsgate will platform the release of Precious, opening it in some cities November 6th and expanding over the next two weekends. When reception of the film goes beyond its critics and film festivals, I'm curious to see if reactions will start to expand and diversify. Wisely, the studio has already brought in Perry and Winfrey, two public figures whose personal experiences remind them of Precious, to lead the discussion. Will American audiences find the movie to be as Precious as the early viewers did?

PAIR-UP SPECIAL: COEN BROTHERS, DE NIRO AND PACINO, AND A-LIST WOMEN

By Sarah Sluis

After two weeks of nothing, Hollywood has several options this week to bring viewers back to the theatres.

Righteous Kill
The much-hyped pairing of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro arrives onscreen with Righteous Kill, written by Russell Gewirtz of 2006's Inside Man.  Early reports rank the script as a lesser effort by the writer, exacerbated by director Jon Avnet's poor control over the picture.  Unfortunate, given that Inside Man had well-developed twists and was a bit of surprise coming from director Spike Lee.  Given the draw of the star power, however, this film has a strong chance of coming in at number one.

Burn After Reading
The Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading, featuring Brad Pitt and Frances McDormand as personal trainers-turned-blackmailers, has received "not as good as No Country for Old Men" reviews from virtually every critic, but Focus Features' marketing campaign has heavily emphasized the Coens' No Country for Old Men laurels in their ads.  With George Clooney added to the headline, this film will do brisk business.
Towelhead
Towelhead, mired in controversy I covered earlier, releases to New York and Los Angeles this week, and will undoubtedly be buoyed by the buzz surrounding the film, as well as the sizeable marketing budget.
Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys
Not being terribly familiar with Tyler Perry beyond his "Madea" character, I was surprised to learn that The Family that Preys does not feature a man in drag but instead takes a dramatic-comedic tone to depict a story about two families connected by friendship, affairs, and hidden paternities.  Of note, this film features a mix of white and black actors, including the always entertaining Kathy Bates.  Whether this was included in the original script or a studio attempt to have Perry's films reach a wider audience, eyes will be watching to see if this movie will expand Perry's viewership beyond his loyal black audiences.
The Women
Promising a Sex and the City experience, ensemble film The Women releases today to mediocre reviews. The original film was based on a play by suffragette Clare Boothe Luce, and the 1939 George Cukor film in turn honored the feminist roots and preserved the satire.  What I loved about the original, besides the neat visual trick that never brings any men onscreen, was how the primary conflict, a woman being cheated on, becomes an opportunity for complex iterations of power�not disenfranchisement and weeping.  The women are in complete control over their domains, and their power spots are not golf courses and smoky mahogany clubs, but beauty salons, spas, and fashion shows.  Judging by the reviews, this message has softened in the remake.  Nevertheless, those seeking an echo of the original The Women or this summer's Sex and the City will probably come out sated.