Box-office victory for 'Battle: Los Angeles'

By Sarah Sluis

Sometimes, you just can't go wrong with a mix of soldiers, explosions, and aliens. Though Battle: Los Angeles treads familiar ground, the sci-fi flick earned $36 million this weekend. The movie's television spots were particularly impressive, catching my usually impervious attention.

The animated lizard Western Rango held its ground, dipping 40% to $23 million, undoubtedly thanks to its positive reviews. Mars Needs Moms was not so lucky. The younger-skewing tale had a scathing reception. It finished with just $6.8 million. Considering the motion-capture film's $150 million budget, this is a huge loss, and I'm sure the big players involved want to hide under a rock on Mars just about now.

In a blow to supernatural romance projects everywhere, Red Riding Hood opened to a soft $14.1 million. Thought is performed better than last week's Beastly, which opened to $9.8 million, its haul was below expectations. I'm not too surprised. When Harry Potter hit, there were tons of fantasy books and movies that tried to capitalize on the series' success, but none of them measured up to the original. Supernatural romances do not seem to be the next blue-chip genre.

What is something of a blue-chip genre is the Bronte adaptation. Jane Eyre made a stunning debut with a $45,000 per-screen average in four theatres, helped along by Bronte fans and those looking for polished, awards-quality films. In anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, Kill the Irishman opened to a $31,000 per-screen average. The true-life mobster tale had positive reviews and a recognizable cast, including performances by Ray Stevenson, Val Kilmer, and Christopher Walken.

This Friday, three wide releases enter the mix: Sci-fi comedy Paul, action flick Limitless, and the law & order drama The Lincoln Lawyer.

'Mars Needs Moms,' 'Battle: Los Angeles' and 'Red Riding Hood' compete for moviegoers

By Sarah Sluis

This weekend's box-office leader will most likely be Battle: Los Angeles (3,417 theatres), which has the best chance of unseating last week's animated hit Rango. For some reason, this aliens-in-L.A. movie reminds me of Volcano, that late '90s film about a volcano in L.A. I take issue with these scary-thing-in-L.A. films, I feel like screenwriters write these movies for studio executives, not the 90% of America that doesn't live in Southern California. Maybe if aliens mow Los Angeles to the ground, they can rebuild with public transportation. Just saying. Critic Daniel Eagan gave the movie a shrug of approval. It's "not original," but it has "decent special effects and a satisfying story." That may help the sci-fi actioner earn $20 million plus.

If Rango skews old for animated movies, Mars Needs Moms (3,117 theatres) skews young. The "ill-conceived" adaptation of a cute children's book has such grave inconsistencies that it led critic Ethan Alter to wonder if the director was "making the movie up as he goes along." The company behind the film is being shut down after Mars Needs Moms releases, so this motion-capture movie is more of an example in "don'ts" than "dos."

Red Riding Hood (3,030 theatres) is being billed as the next best thing for those eagerly anticipating the next Twilight. Catherine Hardwicke, who helmed the original Twilight, directs the movie, which replaces the big bad wolf with a werewolf. Critic Maitland McDonagh praised the perfectly-cast Amanda Seyfried, but wished the movie explored "the discomfiting psychosexual subtexts that lurk beneath familiar childhood stories." The similar Beastly earned just shy of $10 million last week, but Red Riding Hood should pass that $10 million mark easily.

"Those hungry for a Bronte fix" will be sated by Jane Eyre (4 theatres), which includes many shots of the "undulating moors that make romantics of us all." Critic Erica Abeel was less keen on the casting of Mia Wasikowska, who just didn't have the "acting chops" needed for the role. I thought Wasikowska was fine, but I'm glad to know I wasn't the only one who found the "shuffled timeline" rather "confusing," even among those familiar with the novel.

On Monday, we'll see if Rango was able to top the trio of new releases and if audiences turned out for Jane Eyre, one of the most-filmed novels.

'Rango' lassoes a first-place finish

By Sarah Sluis

This weekend's big winner was Rango, which finished the weekend with $38 million, nearly twice the gross of the competition. Attendance was actually higher than last year's How to Train Your Dragon, which earned $43.7 million thanks to 3D surcharges. For an animated movie, a surprising amount of the audience was above 25: 54%, which is more than one would expect for a film that has the greatest appeal among kids.

In second place, The Adjustment Bureau garnered $20.9 million, carried along by reviews that praised the movie as an adult action-romance that didn't go for the lowest common denominator. It paid off: 73% of the audience was aged 30 or above. Those kinds of numbers spell another payoff for Bureau--a long shelf life, typical for movies skewing older.

The teen fantasy-romance Beastly had a respectable debut, finishing third with $10.1 million. Star power may have had something to do with it. The movie was delayed a year, and just so happened to release just weeks after star Alex Pettyfer made his action-hero debut in I Am Number Four. Enough time for him to get a small following among the teen beat? I think so.

The same cannot be said for Take Me Home Tonight, which wrapped production way, way, back in 2007. Though critic Ethan Alter concluded "there's no glaring reason why [the movie] was benched for so long," in terms of quality, the marketing team may have run into trouble finding a way to generate excitement about this 80s throwback comedy. The comedy finished in a sober eleventh place with $3.5 million. All the Aqua Net in the world couldn't give this movie a lift.

After its Best Picture win and major-category sweep at the Oscars, The King's Speech actually dipped a bit, 11%, to $6.5 million. However, Monday through Thursday the movie overperformed compared to the week before, so perhaps audiences were out catching newer adult fare, like The Adjustment Bureau, instead. The historical drama stands at $123 million, and weeks more of 10% drops could bring it closer to the $150 million mark. The only Oscar nominee/winner to improve from last week was Inside Job, the recipient of the Best Documentary Oscar. The indictment of the financial industry went up 94% to $65,200, adding to its theatrical total of $4.1 million.

In its fourth week, Cedar Rapids added 99 theatres for a total of 235, adding another $815,000 to its $3 million plus total. Happythankyoumoreplease premiered slightly soft, with a per-screen average a light but respectable $15,000.

This Friday, Rango will face competition from the animated Mars Needs Moms. Likewise, Beastly will have to contend with another teen-oriented fantasy romance, Red Riding Hood. Finally, Battle: Los Angeles will offer up some fresh sci-fi action.

'Rango' leads quartet of new releases

By Sarah Sluis

Two weeks ago, the so-so reviewed Gnomeo & Juliet opened high, thanks to a dearth of animated films. Now Rango (3,917 theatres) enters the mix, hoping to capture an even larger portion of the family audience. Our critic Frank Lovece praised the Western throwback, which centers on a "chameleon hero [who] uses bravado, exaggeration and improv to survive in a miniature desert frontier town populated by horned toads and hornswogglers, rattlesnakes and rustlers, and some figurative skunks and polecats." Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) directs the tale, resplendent with Western movie homages. Last year, How to Train Your Dragon opened in this timeslot at $43 million, and a similar showing is expected this weekend.

The "kinder, gentler Matrix," according to critic Maitland McDonagh, a.k.a. The Adjustment Bureau (2,840 theatres) should open behind Rango. Matt Damon stars as a politician who meets a woman (Emily Blunt) he wasn't supposed to encounter, throwing mysterious "adjusters" on his tail. Manohla Dargis of the New York Times praised George Nolfi's competent directing, ending with the pronouncement that "romance for grown-ups isn't dead in Hollywood � it's just been on extended leave."

Teens may turn out for an "adequate updating" of Beauty and the Beast, according to critic Doris Toumarkine. Starring Hollywood bad-boy-in-training Alex Pettyfer opposite "High School Musical's" Vanessa Hudgens, Beastly (1,952 theatres) offers a time-honored lesson: beauty is skin-deep. Mary-Kate Olsen also appears as the witch who curses Pettyfer.

'80s throwback comedy Take Me Home Tonight (2,003 theatres) is hit or miss, according to our critic Ethan Alter, who pegged it as a "modest diversion made significantly more appealing by the presence of skilled comic actors like [Topher] Grace, Anna Faris and Chris Pratt." Common sources of comedy? "The era's questionable fashion and hairstyling choices."

On the specialty release front, the "irritatingly self-satisfied film with lonely romantics," happythankyoumoreplease will bow in 2 theatres. The Palme d'Or-winning Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (3 theatres) is a "very personal, if quirky, journey" with a Thai man who is approaching the end of his life. Finally, I Saw the Devil, an entry in "torture porn," will "polarize" audiences in 2 theatres.

On Monday, we'll see if the West was won with Rango, and if adult audiences turned out for the mind-bending Adjustment Bureau.

Casting 'The Hunger Games': Please pick Jennifer Lawrence!

By Sarah Sluis

Jennifer Lawrence knocked it out of the park in Winter's Bone, my favorite kind of film: the little indie that could. The unknown actress landed an Academy Award nomination for her breakout performance. Like her fellow nominee Hailee Steinfeld, who was nominated for True Grit in the Supporting Actress category, she looks almost unrecognizable on the red carpet, given that they both appeared onscreen in fairly plain-Jane getups.

At the Oscars Lawrence showed up in a bombshell red dress, and her hair color has gone from dirty blonde to really blonde, almost as if she wants to create a physical separation from her character in Winter's Bone. Her next marquee role will be Mystique in X-Men: First Class, a big, action, summer popcorn movie. But there's also a chance for her to combine action with sci-fi in the adaptation of the bestselling young adult book The Hunger Games.

Though I haven't yet read The Hunger Games, the books have an amazing premise, combining the omniscience of a futuristic state with gladiator sports. The story centers on a girl selected to participate in fight-to-the-death games broadcast on national television in a post-U.S. country. It's like a reality-television inspired 1984, with action scenes to boot. Steinfeld is also up for the role, and according to THR, casting will depend on whether they want to skew the role older or younger. Since the star would most likely be locked into a trilogy, provided the movie performs well, I can see the logic for going younger. But I really see Lawrence, not Steinfeld, in this role. I may be biased based on the kind of heroines they played in last year's films, but the feeling sticks. Lawrence played a character that had a loose, natural feel, and was quiet and determined. In Coen Brothers' style, Steinfeld was stiff, fast-talking, and slightly unlikable. Lionsgate plans to release the movie in March 2012, so a casting decision will have to be made fast during a time when both of these Oscar nominees are weighing a flood of offers.

Today in zombie movies: 'Warm Bodies,' 'Kitchen Sink'

By Sarah Sluis

Since the success of Twilight, supernatural romances have been all the rage. Into this mix comes Warm Bodies, which replaces Edward Cullen the Vampire with R the Zombie. Nicholas Hoult, who I adored as the kid in About a Boy and who put in a memorable performance in A Single Man, will star. The concept, however, is not for the squeamish. After perusing Amazon reviews of the book, I came across this gem of a meet-cute. "R meets Julie when he eats the brain of her longtime boyfriend Perry, and appropriates his memories of this wonderful girl," Amazon reviewer xBE states."In the middle of the feed, R sees her in the room, and manages to keep himself and the other zombies from attacking her and then brings her back to the airport where they live." The reviewer compares the zombie to Edward Scissorhands, a notable comparison given that Tim Burton and Johnny Depp really made that concept work. On a story level, though, Scissorhands is closer to Beauty and the Beast than the I-want-to-eat-you-but-I-love-you Twilight. The Summit project has also found a director, Jonathan Levine (The Wackness), who also led the screenplay adaptation. One test for Twilight-inspired projects will come up in just a couple weeks. Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) directed Red Riding Hood, which pairs a feral, bloodthirsty werewolf with Amanda Seyfried in a red caplet.

While supernatural romances have seen a huge spike in popularity, horror comedies have been coming at a pretty regular pace the past several years. The latest may mark the directorial debut of multi-hyphenate star Jonah Hill, who also has writing and producing credits to his name. Kitchen Sink will center on teen zombies and vampires who must band together and avoid eating each other in order to fight off an alien invasion. I guess the title is the reference to that saying, "Everything but the kitchen sink..?" Sony will finance, but given Hill's busy schedule (he's also starring in The Sitter, appears in Moneyball and is writing/starring/exec producing 21 Jump Street), it may be a while before this project hits theatres.

50+ filmgoers fill the multiplex

By Sarah Sluis

This week, The New York Times pointed out that older moviegoers, who have long underrepresented themselves at the box office, are returning. During the last fifteen years, there's been a 67% increase in the number of 50+ moviegoers who report attending a movie in the past six months. Of all the reasons cited for this shift, the most important is content. Summer is seen as the season for "kid" movies, and many older viewers have more conservative standards and resent the "filth" they see on screen. The production code may not be coming back to keep sex, drugs, and violence in check, but this year's Oscar nominees and winners, in particular, highlight the kind of content that has strong appeal to older viewers.

The King's Speech, recently crowned Best Picture, was a film I knew immediately would appeal to those turned off by racy content in the theatres (in fact, it's being recut to a PG-13 by bleeping out its uses of the F-word). The movie has already crossed the $100 million mark, in large part thanks to those "once a year" moviegoers who will turn out doubly in light of the movie's Oscar win. The other nine movies nominated for an Academy Award all have appeal in the over-fifty range, even among the outliers: Inception was remarkably cerebral (unless that's code for confusing?) for a blockbuster, and Toy Story 3 drew plenty of adult audiences who know about Pixar's reputation for quality. Movies like True Grit and The Fighter, however, were the core, commercially successful and well-reviewed movies that drew in 50+ filmgoers.

The Times also draws attention to the atmosphere of a theatre--dirty cinemas with hordes of unruly teens can turn away older customers in a heartbeat. For an upcoming feature, I spoke with Skip Huston, owner of the Avon Theatre in Decatur, Illinois. His small theatre showed many of this year's Oscar films, including True Grit and Black Swan, to an older-skewing, more discerning audience. He has a staff that keeps the theatre spotless, popcorn that draws raves, and a historic "destination" cinema. Places like these show that older people will come to the theatre, if it has the right environment and a well-curated selection of films. If older filmgoers mean more adult movies and fewer dumb action films and comedies, please, fire away, but I suspect this means we're also going to be in for many more iterations of The Bucket List.