'Resident Evil: Retribution' and 'Finding Nemo 3D' should boost theatre traffic

After a dismal weekend, the box office is ready for a rebound with wide releases Resident Evil: Retribution and Finding Nemo 3D hitting screens.

Finding Nemo 3D (2,904 theatres) has a lot in its favor. The original was the most attended Pixar movie ever, and it's considered a modern animated classic. However, the animated feature released just nine years ago. Many families likely already own a DVD copy, making it difficult for
parents to justify the price of tickets, popcorn, and soda to see a movie all over again. The Lion King 3D did exceptionally well last September, opening to $30.2 million, but that film originally released in 1994, not 2003. Those two decades make a big difference. The 3D re-release should end up somewhere between The Lion King 3D and February's Beauty and the Beast 3D, which opened to $17.8 million.

The fifth installment in the sci-fi action franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution (3,012 theatres)
should easily top $20 million. The last installment in the franchise
was a global hit, largely because it released in 3D,
which has had more
success abroad than at home.

Targeting heartland audiences, Last Ounce of Courage (1,407 theatres) mixes patriotism and Christianity in a dose designed for social conservatives. I can't quite figure out what the plot is about, but from the trailer there appears to be something about a small-town man who tries to un-separate church and state and bring God back into his town? It also includes some great shots of a dude with a giant American flag on the back of his motorcycle, but that's about as high-budget as this movie gets. Rocky Mountain Pictures, the distributor, has skillfully released such pictures in years past, so a $1-2 million weekend wouldn't be unusual.

Leading the specialty releases is director Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (5 theatres). FJI critic Chris Barsanti praises Anderson's "psychologically astute scripting" and "ability to coax nakedly revelatory performances from actors." Joaquin Phoenix plays a drifter who ends up a
sidekick of an L. Ron Hubbard-like character, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. At film festivals, this highly anticipated movie left some people feeling like it didn't quite live up to the hype, but Barsanti is not among them, though he notes the movie "lacks some of the director’s characteristically thunderous panache."

Also in the mix is Liberal Arts (4 theatres) a romance between a 30-something man (writer/director/producer Josh Radnor) and a student (Elizabeth Olsen) he meets while back on campus for an event. Critic Shirley Sealy enjoyed the "wonderful and gently entertaining" movie, whose theme, "acting like a grown-up," she really got behind.

Finally, the "juicy, smart, engrossing financial thriller" Arbitrage (197 theatres), starring Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, will release in theatres and on cable VOD. With the economy still big in the news, this hedge fund-centered movie will be more than topical.

On Monday, we'll see if Resident Evil and Nemo revived the box office, if Last Ounce of Courage was embraced by the Heartland, and if The Master has the record-level per-screen average many are predicting.