'Wimpy Kid' makes a mighty showing at the box office

By Sarah Sluis

In a bit of an upset, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules hurdled into first place this weekend after strong showings on Saturday and Sunday. Male-skewing Sucker Punch started out earning $8 million on Friday to Wimpy Kid's $7.3 million. The matinee family crowds on Saturday and Sunday, however, put Wimpy Kid firmly in first. On Saturday, the kid-oriented sequel earned $10.1 million to the visually packed action film's $6.7 million. Wimpy Kid ended up grossing $24.4 million to Sucker Punch's $19 million.

Adult-oriented fare did particularly well this weekend, essentially without new competition. Limitless dipped just 19.5% in its second week to $15.2 million. The Lincoln Lawyer fell 16.7% to $11 million. Lower down in the top ten, The Adjustment Bureau posted the third-lowest drop, slipping 26.5% to $4.2 million.

The big loser in the top ten was Mars Needs Moms, which plummeted 58% to $2.1 million due to competition from Wimpy Kid.

The Palestinian drama Miral premiered with a $17,000 per-screen average, followed by the more modest $12,000 average of French comedy Potiche. Jumping from 5 to 23 theatres, Win Win soared 213% and posted a $20,000 per-screen average, a strong achievement. Jane Eyre, expanding into 90 theatres from 26, averaged $10,900 per screen.

This Friday will be busy. Four weeks in advance of Easter, the holiday's mascot bunny gets its own live-action/animated venue with Hop. Horror fans can rejoice with Insidious, Source Code will satisfy action fans, and an F-word free version of The King's Speech (rated PG-13) hits theatres.

'Sucker Punch' dukes it out with 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' sequel

By Sarah Sluis

Leading the pack this weekend is writer/director Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch (3,033 theatres), which could top $20 million. The "visually stylized" film centers on a girl (Emily Browning) thrown into a mental hospital and scheduled for a lobotomy. Accompanied by a bevy of beautiful young women, she enters alternate realities in order to plan her escape. The setup allows for a lot of action sequences, but critic Ethan Alter found them tiring. For such a credibility-straining plotline, the movie "commits the fatal error of taking itself much too seriously." In a critique that brings to mind Snyder's other films (Watchmen, Legend of the Guardians), Alter complains that instead of drama, Snyder "settles for lots of sound and fury masquerading as drama." The eye candy look of the female stars has attracted the greatest interest among males under 25, followed by older males. Last in tracking projections are women, who seem to have honed in on the fact that this isn't really a "girl power" picture.

For pre-teen boys from 7-12 years old, a safe bet will be Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (3,167 theatres), the sequel to last year's surprise success. Critic David Noh, however, was unimpressed. He complains that the filmmakers try "too hard" to make the film "family entertainment," with moments that make sitcoms seem subtle. Director David Bowers, who did not direct the first film, gets too "fancy" by "littering the film with elaborate fantasy scenes." Still, this PG-rated outing could earn in the teen millions, especially since its release coincides with some school breaks. There's also not much else at the box office for families--only the critical flop Mars Needs Moms, which will likely exit the top ten this weekend.

Also entering the mix is Miral (4 theatres), a "plodding, earnest historical epic" about the Palestinian plight, as described by critic Jon Frosch. In an unusual casting decision, Indian actress Freida Pinto stars as a Palestinian woman. The lovely Catherine Deneuve plays a trophy wife who escapes her boring existence in the French comedy Potiche (7 theatres). Finally, a dysfunctional family gathers in Peep World (3 theatres). As the movie "degenerate[d] into flailing, repetitive obviousness and mean-spirited pointlessness," Noh pined for "Arrested Development," a superior comedic rendition of the messed-up family.

On Monday, we'll see if Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules outperforms expectations and beats Sucker Punch.

'Super 8' may actually live up to the hype

By Sarah Sluis

Since its teaser trailer first hit in May of last year, Super 8 has been high on the anticipation list for movie bloggers like myself. Last night, Paramount hosted a preview of twenty-odd minutes of Super 8 footage at the Walter Reade Theater in New York City. Paramount CEO Brad Grey gave an enthusiastic introduction for J.J. Abrams, the writer/director, identifying him as an important member of the talent stable the studio has assembled.

Set in 1979, Super 8 has a pleasant, nostalgic feel. Hallmarks of Steven Spielberg (who teamed with Abrams as a producer and collaborator) abound, but when I spoke to Abrams afterwards he said he wasn't trying to create a homage or imitation, but a "recreation" of how he felt as a kid and the movies that were important to him. In fact, Abrams was thirteen in 1979, right around the age of the group of kids in his film. What I liked most about the preview footage was how Abrams creates a world that feels very familiar, from a cinematic perspective, without being derivative. His characters feel real and sweet, and Elle Fanning (who I took a liking to in Somewhere) is a standout.

The footage fills in some of the gaps created by the trailer. (Spoiler alert). The first scene we saw, about twelve minutes into the movie, sets up the night of the film's momentous train crash. Fanning steals her Dad's car and agrees to star in the kids' amateur monster movie. First-time actor Joel Courtney is the son of the sheriff whose mother just died in a mill accident. He's the group's makeup artist and harbors a huge crush on Fanning. As they're filming a scene at the train station, Joel witnesses a pickup truck drive into an oncoming freight train, derailing it and unleashing the unseen monster. The kids escape with nothing more than sooty faces and scratches. White Rubik's cube-like things spill out from the wreckage, and Joel leaves with one. The crashing part of the scene went on a little too long, and Abrams confirmed that the scene will be cut shorter.

The second scene, later on in the movie, confirms Abrams as a master movie-maker. When it comes to monster encounters, this man knows what he's doing. The concealment and suspense come not from cutting away (though there's some of that), but some really satisfying auditory wizardry. A sheriff drives into a gas station to fill up, but has trouble getting the attention of the zit-faced gas station attendant, who has the volume up on his new-fangled Walkman. When he goes back outside, his lights and radio turn on and start flashing. The gas meter, which has been steadily clicking out the dollars and cents, goes progressively faster and faster, turning into one long tone by the climax. The Walkman boy can't hear any of it, so his eventual realization has a satisfying punch to it. Without the use of the Walkman and the gas station meter, this scene would be completely run-of-the-mill. This kind of sleight-of-hand suspense replaces the usual: gory play-by-plays or exhausting flagellation of a character by a monster. We even get a peek at the monster in a reflection from pooling gas, but I won't say what I see.

I'll make a reckless, premature guess: Super 8 will be the Inception of summer 2011. The June 10th release will probably have a PG-13 rating, making it a teen and family-friendly outing. There are also (gasp) characters. This monster feels like a means for a small town to band together and a group of friends to grow closer and grow up. There's also a strong undercurrent of innocence. The trailer shows more cars flashing their headlights, and one of the first signs that something is amiss are the town's missing pets. Missing pets! You can't get more small town than that. The tinkling, chiming score brings to mind vintage John Williams scores for Spielberg. There's also an interesting theme running through the movie that will feel familiar to fans of Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.: That of a small town and its authority being overrun by outsiders (be they media or military) after something terrible is unleashed there. Super 8 may be the nostalgic, just-scary-enough monster movie that takes place in the small town we all wish we lived in and could protect.

Doug Liman's 'Moon': 'Ocean's Eleven' in outer space?

By Sarah Sluis

Doug Liman's latest project, Moon, may be set out of this world, but its plot reminds me of those jetsetting heist/spy movies. After all, it would just be plain old boring if Jason Bourne or James Bond or the Ocean's Eleven crew did all their fighting stateside. The script for Moon centers on a group of ex-space agency employees, led by a woman (Another switch-up from routine, but maybe it's easier to go the Sigourney Weaver route in space). Their "mission" involves stealing space equipment and eventually capturing a NASA employee in their quest to go to the Moon, where they can mine the celestial body's energy source.

Liman's most famous for directing the first Bourne movie, which had the action sequences, intrigue, and travelogue feel of the Bond movies with a little less swagger. He also directed the stylish Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but misfired in his first foray into the sci-fi genre, Jumper. That film, which centers on a young man with the ability to teleport across time and place, garnered a mixed review from our critic Frank Lovece, who praised aspects of Liman's work. With these kinds of credentials, Liman seems exceptionally qualified to direct. He also has a historical drama in the works, Attica, but perhaps he's shelved it after the tepid box-office reception to Fair Game, another based-on-a-true-story script.

Moon (which will likely be renamed to avoid confusion with the 2009 movie with the same title) managed to keep the same star, Jake Gyllenhaal, even as it cycled from DreamWorks to Paramount. But no more. Up for the male roles are Andrew Garfield, Emile Hirsch, and Chris Pine. The list of possible leading ladies is more extensive. THR reports that Rosario Dawson, Megan Fox, Rachel McAdams, Eva Mendes, Zoe Saldana and Olivia Wilde are being considered for the part.

If Liman can assemble a cast with the proper chemistry, Paramount will greenlight the project for a shoot later this summer. I love space movies, but the genre has been in need of some punching up. Moon seems to be it. With NASA funding being cut and cut, the future of space travel is commercial. What better way to comment on that than by creating a film about anti-heroes pilfering space equipment so they can steal the Moon's energy source? Sign me up.

'Limitless' goes up against 'Lincoln Lawyer,' 'Paul'

By Sarah Sluis

A severe case of writer's block leads a desperate man (Bradley Cooper) to start taking a wonder drug in Limitless (2,756 theatres). The "rollicking contemporary action yarn on steroids with a sci-fi edge," as described by critic Doris Toumarkine, should lead the pack this weekend, though it could be beaten by the second weekend of Battle: Los Angeles. While it offers a cool what-if experience, it ends up becoming an "addled yarn about how awesome drugs can be if only you're badass enough to quit anytime you want," Slate critic Dana Stevens wryly notes. "In other words, it's the perfect movie for our Charlie Sheen moment: Do the drugs, get the girls, keep the money. Bitchin'."

The legal thriller The Lincoln Lawyer (2,707 theatres) may inspire a bit of "dj vu," but it accomplishes its job in a smooth, cool manner with showy performances." Critic Kirk Honeycutt pegged the film as "the kind of bad-guys-vs.-even-worse-guys film [viewers] can check out anytime," which is perhaps why Lionsgate rolled out a Groupon promotion that offered discount tickets. According to an article in THR, "Lionsgate is subsidizing the discounted sales, so box office revenue will reflect full price." So even if they're earning half the money (or less), it will count as a full-price ticket? Well, Hollywood accounting has never been known for accurately representing profits, so I guess this accounting wizardry makes sense.

Rounding out the group of new releases, sci-fi comedy Paul (2,801 theatres) is the third "genre riff" featuring writers/actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, but fans of their films Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead may find the movie less "cohesive," according to critic Ethan Alter, perhaps due to the absence of directer/co-writer Edgar Wright. Still, Alter found "the film's general good humor and obvious affection for its geeky heritage make it an altogether pleasant ride." Paul may be the least strong of this week's bunch, but all three should finish closely together, in the teen millions.

Win Win (5 theatres) is the kind of film made for the Sundance crowd. Fox Searchlight wisely premiered the movie at the festival in January, and critic Kevin Lally speculates that it may be director Tom McCarthy's "most commercially potent slice- of-life to date." Adopting his "beleaguered Everyman" persona, Paul Giamatti plays a struggling lawyer and wrestling coach who finds himself taking in a boy who proves to be a star wrestler. The "well-written, deftly performed movie is truly a win-win for audiences," Lally concludes. Focus' specialty pic Jane Eyre posted the highest per-screen average of the year last week, so the market is hot for quality specialty fare.

Also in the mix this week is the nomad-turned-top model biopic Desert Flower (3 theatres), as well as the girls' boarding school movie Cracks (6 theatres), with sexual tension manifested as "passion thwarted." Winter in Wartime (3 theatres) is another entry in that time-worn setup, the WWII child confronting the Nazis, but this time it's set in the Netherlands, with a more "Hardy Boys-like adventure quality to it."

On Monday, the results of The Lincoln Lawyer's Groupon experiment will be in full view, and we'll see if Limitless achieved the heights that those under the influence of its wonder drug attain so easily.

'The Lincoln Lawyer' joins the Groupon bandwagon

By Sarah Sluis

The Lincoln Lawyer seems like a fun genre movie, a nice throwback to the John Grisham adaptations starring Tom Cruise and Matt Damon. But it also registers as a movie that a lot of people will wait to watch at home. Enter: Groupon, which Lionsgate is using to incentivize people to see it at the theatre. Today in NYC, for example, one can get a voucher to see the movie for just $6, redeemable on Fandango. Considering movie tickets in NYC go for twice that, it's a pretty good deal.

Before I go any further, let me say this: I love Groupon, Living Social, BuyWithMe, BloomSpot, and all those other "daily deal" sites, so much so that I had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of all of my purchases and their expiration dates. They usually offer 50% discounts and have somehow managed to remove that feeling of indignity you can get when redeeming a coupon. So I'm naturally in favor of movie theatres jumping on the bandwagon. In fact, they already have. I've seen deals for cheap Fandango tickets on competitor Living Social. I'm also pretty sure I've seen some independent cinemas offer discounted tickets (though I can't confirm this because expired deals have a tricky way of disappearing).

But will it pay off for Lionsgate? According to most insiders, Groupon tends to charge a 50% commission, meaning that Lionsgate would get just $3 for each ticket, which would be split further with Fandango. But there are always the people who forget to redeem, or forget to buy but then decide they want to go anyway. As of this posting, 11,000 people in the NYC area bought tickets to The Lincoln Lawyer, totaling $66,000 in sales. It's unclear how this will be reflected in the weekend box office, but I'll be keeping my eye on this movie's performance. After all, Groupon's subscribers total 60 million, an awful lot of people to be messaged about one movie.

Animated pic 'Rio' loads up on promotional tie-ins

By Sarah Sluis

Lately, the animated box office has reminded me of a nursery rhyme (by Longfellow!) I used to hear as a girl:

And when she was good
She was very very good
But when she was bad she was horrid

The horrid? Mars Needs Moms, the motion-capture film that resulted in Disney shutting down its production company, ImageMovers, not just after the movie flopped, but a few months before it even released. Disney must have known it had a stinker on its hands, and its $150+ million investment was rewarded with just $7 million its opening weekend.

The very very good? By all indicators, Rio is going to do very well. First there were the SuperBowl ads featuring a tie-in to the smartphone game of the moment, Angry Birds. Then there were plans for a videogame. Today, at the top of Variety, is an article detailing the 82 brands Fox signed on as promotional partners for Rio, the most that have ever been attached to a single film. With all this side revenue, the box office for Rio just becomes another part of the picture. The tie-ins include not only the typical McDonald's Happy Meal toys, but custom paint colors (Benjamin Moore), blue-filled Oreos, Chiquita ads, car manufacturers, Gap, and more.

I'm not knocking tie-ins, but it's worth noting that the amount of money they can bring in has affected movie studios' production strategies. Disney, for example, has explicitly stated it's focusing on fewer, better films that can be leveraged across all its areas of business--from tie-ins to direct-to-video sequels to videogames to stuffed animals. It's caused some unusual side effects, too. AMC and Regal, frustrated with the declining amount of movies made by the biggies (as well as studios putting films on DVD closer and closer to their theatrical release dates), have gotten into the movie distribution business themselves. That's a new one. Good companies will create great product and then find a way to promote it, not the other way around. From what I've seen of Rio, the movie is sure to entertain both kids and adults, and is comparable in quality to the best animated films.

There's another golden egg of optimism hidden within the Variety piece, which opens with an expression of disbelief: Rio "isn't an obvious magnet for marketers" because it "isn't based on a popular property." If original ideas can generate this kind of advance excitement, maybe Hollywood can feel more confident developing new ideas, especially since the summer of 2011 looks like it's shaping up to be the summer of sequels and comic book heroes.