'Savages' debuts as 'Amazing Spider-Man' pulls in the money

The Amazing Spider-Man (4,318 theatres) opened on July 3 and quickly earned $58 million here and another $50 million abroad. Through the weekend, the superhero picture should end up with a six-day total of $140-150 million. No wonder Sony wanted to reboot the franchise. The studio's bet has paid off with this film, which has earned positive reviews from critics and thumbs up from fans. FJI critic Frank Lovece declares the Andrew Garfield-Emma Stone pic an "action-packed ride with top-notch acting, great effects and stunt work, and a plot with more holes than a spider web."

The latest 3D concert doc, Katy Perry: Part of Me (2,730 theatres) will provide Perry's signature song-and-costume confections to fans who may not have seen the performer in concert. As critic David Noh reports, the doc also includes Perry's reaction to her floundering marriage and interviews with her evangelist parents. Noh "came away from it with a newfound admiration and respect for this fiercely determined, highly individual, smart and funny young woman." Paramount has modest, teen-million expectations for the project, which was produced on a relatively low budget.

A summer noir with plenty of sizzle, Savages (2,627 theatres) "remains true to the book's hallucinatory mix of stoner navel-gazing and casual brutality," deems Maitland McDonagh, referring to author and co-screenwriter Don Winslow's source material. The story of two drug dealers and their mutual lover, O (Blake Lively) gets a lot of tonal help from the "slacker-savant wordplay" of O's voiceover, which may have viewers reaching for Winslow's novels. I thought the (violent) flick offered plenty of fun, but Universal has set a low bar for the Oliver Stone-directed film, which is expected to earn just over $10 million for the weekend. Though Savages couldn't be more different from Ted (or Magic Mike), there are a lot of R-rated features competing for adult audiences.

On Monday, we'll see if Spider-Man ended up with its nine-figure payday, if audiences turned out for Katy Perry and if Savages sops up more of the R-rated segment of the audience during these hot summer days and nights.

'Ice Age 3' almost even with 'Transformers 2'

By Sarah Sluis

Both Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen posted estimated $42.5 million grosses for the Fourth of July Weekend on Sunday, but as final data trickles in, it appears that Transformers 2 came in at about $42.4 million, and Ice Age 3 slightly under $42 million. Even though Transformers fell 61% from its opening weekend, its twelve-day gross puts it behind only The Dark Knight for that time frame. When you start that high, even steep declines don't dent the gross. Audiences love CGI spectacles, even if there isn't much of a story to go along with them. Ice Age 3's five-day total of $65 million is a promising debut against the tough competition from Transformers 2. Because it's animated and released during the kid audience-friendly summer break, it should have strong weekends, and weekdays, to come.

Johnny Depp as John Dillinger drew in a healthy audience this holiday weekend. Public Enemies earned $26.1 million, and $41 million over five days. The number is consistent with director Michael Mann's previous film, Miami Vice, but the strategic decision to release it over the holiday brought its five-day total to $41 million, the same level as Vice's two-week total.

Among specialty releases, second-week release The Hurt Locker and fourth-week release Moon have picked up the most speed. The Hurt Locker posted the highest per-screen average this weekend, $14,000, even beating Transformers 2 and Ice Age 3. It went from four theatres to nine, bringing its cumulative gross to $365,000. Lower down on the list, sci-fi entry Moon increased 140% from last week, doubling the theatres in its release to 47. With a four-week total of $963,000, it should cross $1 million this week.

This weekend, it's back to the comedies. The Hangover is still in the top ten, and over the Fourth of July weekend it dropped just 38%, crossing the $200 million mark, but its fortunes could change. The highly anticipated Sacha Baron Cohen movie Bruno opens, along with Chris Columbus-directed high school romantic comedy I Love You Beth Cooper.

'Ice Age 3' and 'Public Enemies' battle with 'Transformers'

By Sarah Sluis

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Public Enemies will be opening in some rough waters. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has made the biggest splash of the year, earning some $200 million in its first five days. Young teens turned out in force for the CGI action, but critics panned the movie, making it unlikely to have the legs of a film like The Dark Knight. This weekend, everyone's wondering how much Transformers will drop off. A 50% plus drop for Transformers could be enough for Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs to come in at number one.

The first two Ice Age films opened at $46 and $68 million, though in the less lucrative--and competitive--spring break time slots. It seems reasonable that Ice Age 3 should come in around its second film total, especially given the added holiday weekend boost. Also adding to the film's potential profitability are over 1,000 3D screens. However, it's still won't be playing on as many screens as Transformers 2. Ice Age 3 will open on 3,993 screens today, and add another 100 on Friday, but that's still less than Transformers' current 4,224 screens.

Public Enemies is my pick for the #3 spot. Michael Mann's last film, Miami Vice, opened in the heat of the summertime at $25 million (and #1). The film's R rating and violence will subtract some viewers during this family-friendly weekend, making me believe it will play third. Plus, Mann is not known as a big "opener" of films, but as someone who can create a film that will play for multiple weekends.

Like most critics who saw Transformers, I can't recommend it. Not even a jumbo bag of buttery popcorn can redeem its awfulness. Both Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs and Public Enemies are receiving a warmer reception than Transformers 2. For Ice Age 3, the compliments are rather tepid. Our Michael Rechtshaffen points out that "IA3 will draw families looking to fill the gap between Up and the July 24 arrival of Disney's G-Force, " but can't really recommend anything else about it. Likewise, The New York Times' A.O. Scott predicts that "families who have recovered from the trauma of the Transformers sequel are unlikely to avoid this tired, loud little sequel over the coming holiday weekend," but complains at length about the premise, which involves dinosaurs living underground, below the ice.

As for Public Enemies, critics have praised its lush costuming, use of HD cameras, and the performances of Johnny Depp and Marion Cotillard. There's a sense that some soul is missing, that Mann might hold you at a distance, from comments like "Public Enemies re-creates clothes, but doesn't fully fashion the man who wore them" from Entertainment Weekly, and NY Times' Manohla Dargis' multiple mentions of "ambivalence" and closing pronouncement that "If [Mann] doesn't fully succeed, it's because he knows that the gangster's rakish smile is at once a fiction of cinema and one of its great, irresistible lies."

On Monday, we'll see how the five days of Ice Age 3 and Public Enemies fared against the box-office behemoth Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.