Burgundy falls in the battle of the sequels

In hindsight, all those commercial spots may have been (a tad) overkill. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues earned a solid, though not stellar, $40 million its first five days in theatres, this past Wednesday-Sunday. It grossed $26.8 million from the weekend alone, a figure that falls just shy of the first Anchorman’s $28.4 million bow. These numbers are more or less on par with what Paramount had predicted, though given the trumpeting fanfare building up to the movie’s release, many pundits are still calling it an underwhelming debut.

Their sense of disappointment may have something to do with the fact that Anchorman 2 failed to win the weekend. Instead, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug once again took home the treasure, or title of the weekend’s top earner. Like its predecessor, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, Smaug fell 57% its second weekend in theatres. The fantasy flick took in $31.4 million to bump its overall cume to $127.5 million. Look for second-place Anchorman to gain a little more steam this coming weekend, however. As noted on Friday, the weekend before Christmas is a notoriously slow period, while business tends to pick up considerably over the holiday. Anchorman shouldn’t slip too much over its sophomore outing, and could even tally out with as much as $120 million by the time it closes.

Frozen and American Hustle jockeyed neck-and-neck for the third-place slot for much of the weekend. The latest numbers, however, have Frozen barely eking out the lead. Disney’s bid for a return to the glories of its princess-movie heyday earned $19.5 million to Hustle’s $19.1 million. The latter is a great haul for a specialty release, and trumps David O. Russell’s The Fighter, which grossed $12.1 million when it expanded over this same weekend in 2010. If Oscar predictions prove true, Hustle will also likely benefit from an upcoming awards-season boost. The film is on track to earn roughly $100 million in total.

Saving Mr. Banks rounds out the weekend’s top 5 with $9.3 million. While the true story of how beloved children’s story Mary Poppins came to the big screen has been underperforming (Stateside, that is; author P.L. Travers’ fellow Brits have been loving the film), Banks isn’t the domestic bomb that kids’ movie Walking with Dinosaurs proved to be. The CG feature grossed just $7.3 million. As with Anchorman, business will probably pick up over the holiday, though it’s unlikely Dinosaurs will drum up more than $50 million by the end of its run.

Finally, Bollywood offering Dhoom 3 set a new record with its $3.3 million North American debut. That’s the highest opening gross ever for a Bollywood release in the United States.

Happy holidays!

 

'The Fighter' has a knockout performance in a big week for little films

By Sarah Sluis

The holiday season usually brings a mix of delightful popcorn fare and heavy-hitting awards films. This week, at least, was a good week for tiny releases and a thoroughly mediocre one for wide releases.

Paramount's The Fighter debuted to $80,000 per screen in four theatres, the highest per-screen average of the week. With a starry cast list that includes Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo, this movie could do extremely well as it moves into wide release next week--the blue-collar subject could expand the audience beyond the rarefied world of Oscar films, and Adams should appeal to female audiences less excited about the boxing subject.

Black Swan has also proved itself to be a film with significant commercial potential. With only 90 theatres showing the ballet drama, the movie managed a sixth-place finish thanks to its $37,000 per-screen average. The Natalie Portman starrer has been called a horror film and drawn comparisons to Showgirls, and its arty melodrama has been a winning formula so far.

The King's Speech, which released a week before Black Swan, has been expanding more deliberately. Its per-screen average of $31,000 was close to Swan's, but only 19 theatres (up from 6) screened the historical, lightly comedic tale of King George's attempt to cure his stutter.

The Tempest had a stormy debut, earning $9,000 per screen on five screens. With Disney selling Miramax, this film appears to have been just as disconnected from marketing and publicity efforts as Prospera's island.

Both the wide releases this week underperformed. The bombastic Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader came in below expectations, with $24.5 million when a $30 million+ figure was expected. The family action film's broad strokes make it more comprehensible to foreign audiences, however, and the film earned three times more abroad than it did at home.

Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp's beautiful, empty romantic thriller The Tourist racked up $17 million its opening weekend, a number that was also on the low side. International prospects for this film, set in Venice, are also considered to be rosier than its domestic outlook.

This Friday, Disney revives a cult sci-fi film with Tron: Legacy, CG/live-action mix Yogi Bear will entice family audiences, and James L. Brooks' rom-com How Do You Know will make its debut. Oscar-seeking Rabbit Hole will join the list of specialty releases, and The Fighter plans to fast expand its rollout, moving into a 2,000+ theatre release.

'The Tourist' sets out against 'Dawn Treader'

By Sarah Sluis

Just two weeks after Disney's Tangled hit theatres, another family-friendly film joins the slate of end-of-the-year films. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will open in 3,555 theatres. 56% of them (1,989 theatres) will screen the picture in 3D, a fairly low percentage that reflects the crowded 3D marketplace right now (Tangled and Megamind are still commanding a sizeable percentage of 3D screens). Given the price of 3D tickets, however, it's expected that many families will be happy saving money and catching the 2D version. The third film in the Narnia series is the first to be produced by Fox. Disney abandoned the series after the second film underperformed, but not flopped, at the box office. But don't get your hopes up. "The magic is over, folks," critic Ethan Alter proclaims. The unimaginative sequel "feels like the last gasp of a franchise rather than a creative rebirth" and the movie's reduced budget gives the generic feeling of a "Renaissance fair" rather than Narnia.

Can a movie succeed solely based on the charged pairing of Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp? Signs point to no. Just 16% of Rotten Tomato critics gave The Tourist (2,756 theatres) their stamp of approval. "Angelina Jolie glides serenely through her scenes, confident in her ability to ignore obstacles like dialogue and plotting," critic Daniel Eagan snipes. The talented director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others) devotes his attention in the film to such "material details" as clothing and makeup, as he revealed in a New York Times article. "We spent a few days just doing camera tests on different types of lipstick and white silk to be sure we could find the right combination and see how it would translate onto film," he said. "Even filmgoers expecting a bit more plot and action can't help but be seduced by so polished an entertainment," Eagan concedes.

Boston accents and dated, teased hairstyles are just comedic accessories in The Fighter (4 theatres), which stars Mark Wahlberg as an up-and-coming boxers and Christian Bale as his older brother and trainer, a former boxer and crack addict. Both Amy Adams (Wahlberg's girlfriend) and Melissa Leo (the mother) turn in dynamo performances, but "it's not a total knockout," according to Alter. Still, it's a "loud, rowdy and often very funny movie," and one that has critics talking about Oscar nominations.

Director Julie Taymor has been in the news in recent weeks mostly for the accidents and other travails of her Spider-Man Broadway musical, but she has a film coming out too--her adaptation of the Shakespeare play The Tempest (5 theatres). Critic David Noh called it a "singular disappointment," and given her colorful work on other projects, "surprisingly uninteresting visually." This movie is a bit of an orphan, a Miramax project now being released by "Disney-Touchstone-Miramax," and I doubt it will receive a concerted marketing effort or awards campaign.

On Monday, we'll see if Chronicles of the Dawn Treader earned its expected $30 million, and if The Tourist was able to open above $20 million. Last week's per-screen average winner, Black Swan, expands to 80 theatres, and many eyes will be watching the opening weekend of The Fighter.

'The Fighter,' 'Don't Be Afraid of the Dark' round out casts for summer shoots

By Sarah Sluis

When someone's career starts to take off, you often expect them to move away from supporting parts and take on only leading roles. Not Amy Adams. She followed up her Oscar-nominated supporting role in Junebug with a mainstream Disney comedy, Enchanted, but returned for another supporting role in Doubt (Oscar nomination #2). With a romantic comedy, Leap Year, under wraps, she's signed up for another supporting role, as Mark Wahlberg's love interest in The Fighter. The biopic has been circulating for some time before it finally nailed down its two leads earlier this year. Christian Bale and Wahlberg will star as two brothers. The eldest (Bale), who has drugs and prison time on his resume, trains his younger brother to a boxing title. Melissa Leo, who was nominated last year for Lead Actress, will play Bale and Wahlberg's mother. David O. Russell is directing, and the film will start shooting in Lowell, MA, in July. With its talented cast of actors, biographical subject, and a talented director, this looks like a project angling to be one of the ten Best Picture nominees at the 2010 Oscars.

Here's an interesting combination: A 1973 teleplay as source material + the mysterious wife of Tom Cruise as star + a Guillermo Del Toro protege as director. Put it together, and you've got Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, which will begin shooting next month in New Zealand. I was disappointed that Katie Holmes didn't reprise her role as Rachel in The Dark Knight, and took it as a sign that she was swearing off the movie business, so I'm excited to see her turn up headlining another project. Never underestimate the lasting audience loyalty that can result from starring in a teen nighttime soap like "Dawson's Creek." Del Toro mentored Juan Antonia Bayona on the Spanish-language horror film The Orphanage (2007), to spectacular results, and he'll be taking on a similar role with Troy Nixey. The first-time feature director will be working from a screenplay co-written by Del Toro, and the New Zealand location was chosen for its proximity to Australia, where Del Toro is working on The Hobbit. Del Toro is also producing, ensuring he'll be able to keep a watchful eye on the film's progress. The film's plot seems fairly typical, so it will be up to Nixey and Del Toro to create that tingly atmosphere of foreboding. The plot follows a girl (Bailee Madison) who moves in with her father (Guy Pearce) and his girlfriend (Holmes), only to discover demonic creatures that first enchant, and then horrify her. The girlfriend also becomes aware of their presence, but the father holds out, refusing to believe. Horror that tries to be more than just a screamer is one of my great pleasures, so I'm always happy to see projects like this in the pipeline.