‘Divergent’ to dive into first place

Young adult novel adaptation Divergent is tracking strong among advanced ticket sales and should easily win the weekend’s top spot. Right now, the film accounts for 80 percent of weekend sales, according to Fandango. Lionsgate/Summit is clearly hoping for another successful franchise in the vein of its Twilight and Hunger Games series. Author Veronica Roth’s trilogy does have a large and devoted fanbase, and Divergent the film apparently has the most Instagram followers ever for a movie. However, mega or even sustained success largely depends upon Divergent’s ability to lure viewers who are unfamiliar with the books. If that’s the case, the film might be in trouble. Roundly poor reviews (38 percent rotten on Rotten Tomatoes) will certainly deter some would-be audience members. Opening weekend should prove very strong, $60 million or so, propelled by the power of the literary faithful. How well Divergent holds from there on out, however, is anyone’s guess.

If Divergent is practically assured first-place standing this weekend, then Muppets Most Wanted will clock in at No. 2.  The follow-up to 2011’s reboot The Muppets opens in 3,194 theatres today. It’s received fairly positive reviews (77 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and, though it doesn’t include The Muppets stars Amy Adams and Jason Segel, it does have Tina Fey as well as Ricky Gervais and Ty Burrell to act as major draws. Whether that’s enough, and whether or not families are ready to move on from Mr. Peabody & Sherman, will largely determine whether this weekend’s second-place champion crosses $25 million.

Smaller releases bowing today include the faith-based film God’s Not Dead (780 theatres), Blood Ties (28 theatres) and Nymph()maniac Vol. 1 (24 theatres). Although Kirk Cameron’s Fireproof was something of a surprise hit in 2008, opening to $6.8 million, more recent Christian films, including The Grace Card, The Ultimate Gift and To Save a Life, opened much softer, earning between $1 and $2 million. In all likelihood, God’s Not Dead will also rake in a smaller pile of earnings, as will Blood Ties, which, for all its star-studded cast (Clive Owen, Billy Crudup, Mila Kunis, Zoe Saldana, Marion Cotillard) has been given little to no exposure and received mostly negative reviews. Nymph()maniac is a tougher one to call: Prurient interest in its subject could drive sales, but the movie has also been available on VOD for several weeks. Some pundits are speculating this is the type of film people are more comfortable watching in their homes, in which case, expect a fairly modest opening for this latest from Lars von Trier.

Finally, specialty juggernaut (funny, considering the director’s thing for miniatures) The Grand Budapest Hotel expands to 304 locations today, and Jason Bateman’s Bad Words screens in 87. The latter opens wide next weekend, on Friday, March 28.

Tribeca seeks romance with 'Your Sister's Sister' and 'Take This Waltz'

Boy loses brother. Girl offers boy summer home to recuperate. Boy meets girl's sister, sparks fly. Complications ensue. Tribeca selection Your Sister's Sister has some great moments of comedy and truth. It's also moves quickly to the "complications ensue" part. Some twists and turns you don't ever see coming, and will have your mouth hanging open.

Mark Duplass plays Jack, who is still grieving a year after the death of his brother. His friend (who was also his brother's ex), played by Emily Blunt, offers him a family home to stay in. When he gets there, her sister (Rosemarie DeWitt) is mourning after a breakup with her longtime partner. Though she's a lesbian, the two hook up, and are totally unprepared for the other sister's arrival the next day. Did I mention Duplass' character may have a bit of chemistry with Blunt's character, even though she dated his brother and he just had sex with her sister?

One of the things I loved most about Your Sister's Sister was the setting, a beach house in the San Juan Islands, a few hours and a long ferry ride from Seattle. It's a beautiful, remote, and austere location that perfectly fits the narrative. Having been there a few times myself, I felt both sentimental and grateful for the refreshing change of pace--no Martha's Vineyard or the Hamptons! Lynn Shelton, who received accolades for 2009 film Humpday, directs.

Your Sister's Sister does have some sections that lag. The (improvised) dialogue is real, but that also means it sometimes goes in circles or off in odd directions before moving forward. Still, this one is a "recommend" for indie film lovers because of one particularly satisfying twist and its interesting ending. It's already been picked up by IFC Films and will release June 15.

Take This Waltz also employs a love triangle, but its moments of drama and romance outweigh those of comedy. Michelle Williams plays a woman who's unhappily married to Seth Rogen, and has started to feel an attraction to her neighbor (Luke Kirby). The drama had one of the oddest narrative structures I've seen in some time. I kept waiting for the movie to end, only to realize after some time that in fact I was waiting for the second act to end--we still had a third! With an incredibly lagging middle (see the "waiting for the movie to end" part), this was a film that provoked a lot of frustration but had such a sensational point to make in its ending I forgave the movie's shortcomings. Writer/director Sarah Polley (Away From Her) doesn't make it clear if Williams' character is going through the normal boredom of an established relationship or if she's truly unhappy and a bad match with her partner. Her character doesn't seem to know, and neither does the audience. But as her character pursues a new relationship, we get to see a relationship cycle repeat itself. By the end, I was in possession of a strong opinion about Williams' character.

Although it has big-name stars, Take This Waltz has huge continuity problems that drove me mad. Williams' hair changes colors and styles between scenes. I spoke to someone in the screening who didn't notice, but I was amazed that such a huge lapse could not be addressed and fixed somehow. Now I know why so many film productions make their characters wear wigs! Take This Waltz has also been picked up for a post-festival release through Magnolia on June 29.

Check back for more Tribeca updates, which will conclude early next week.

Is the romantic comedy transformation complete?

By Sarah Sluis

Just last year, I thought the problem of terrible romantic comedies would never be fixed. Jennifer Lopez's The Back-Up Plan sent me into this depression. Even with a modern "obstacle to romance" like the fact that she was incubating another man's baby, the movie was awful. It seemed like the formula that worked so well in the screwball era would never be updated for the modern audiences.

Now, it seems that every romantic comedy in the works has a different take on the genre (Celese and Jesse Forever, Seeking a Friend at the End of the World, etc). Instead of starting with the "meet cute," building the plot around mistaken identity or a misinterpreted gesture, and sealing everything with a kiss, screenwriters have been going for the messy and undefined. Breakups and existing relationships are frequently the starting points, not the "meet cute." And in an age where the average age of marriage is rising, divorce is common, and premarital sex is no longer frowned upon, these stories reflect the modern era.

The Five Year Engagement, whose trailer released today, follows this trend. Jason Segel and Emily Blunt star as a couple whose engagement is dragging on, and on, and on. Director Nicholas Stoller co-wrote the script with Segel, and if their Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which started with a breakup) is any indication, this romance-comedy hybrid will innovate on the genre norms.

The trailer has some funny spots but doesn't altogether hint at how the plot will play out--probably a good thing. It appears that Blunt's job makes the relationship long-distance and delays them setting a wedding date. Blunt's heartfelt speech at 1:55 kind of feels like a reconciliation after a breakup. This hints at a more familiar narrative. For a big studio rom-com, this movie still speaks to a big shift in conventions. The traditional romantic comedy may be dead--for now.

Segel joins Hill and Schwartzman in 'The Adventurer's Handbook'

By Sarah Sluis

Today's most exciting mash-up of comedy talent is The Adventurer's Handbook. Jason Segel will be joining Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman in the comedy, which "SNL" writer/director Akiva Schaffer will direct. The movie centers on four childhood friends who are disenchanted with their lives, and decide to embark on an adventure together. Their inspiration comes from tongue-in-cheek guide book The Adventurer's Handbook: Life Lessons from History's Great Explorers. Written by a BBC documentary filmmaker, the book combines practical information, like how to find water in a desert, with more eclectic advice, like the fact that many explorers assembling a team choose an annoying, disagreeable person to be on their expedition, so the other members of the team can bond over their mutual annoyance. Segel will play a musician turned alcoholic and backup piano player. Hill has already signed on to play an engineer and, I suspect, by virtue of his occupation, the leader of the expedition. Schwartzman's role will be a variation of the egomaniac he has done so well (Funny People, Marie Antoinette), this time as a three-time Grammy winner with a sense of entitlement to match. Since the movie centers on four friends, one role remains uncast.

This summer, adventure comedies set in other worlds have done poorly at the box office. Land of the Lost and Year One, despite their A-list casting, failed to ignite at the box office. However, it appears The Adventurer's Handbook will be set in the present day, so perhaps it will end up mimicking The Hangover, which took its mission (rescue the missing groom) to a jackpot $256 million (and counting) box office. Hill wrote the script along with Max Winkler and Matt Spicer, who both have a smattering of credits between them, including work on "Clark and Michael," a web series that starred Michael Cera. Combined with "SNL" veteran Schaffer, who has worked on the "SNL Digital Shorts" segments that have distinguished the show recently, this project could be a comedy collaboration to watch.