'Oz,' 'The Call' and 'Spring Breakers' stand out in mixed weekend

In a surprise reversal, underdog The Call outperformed The Incredible Burt Wonderstone this weekend. The Call was expected to finish in the low teens, but instead placed second with $17.1 million. The Halle Berry/Abigail Breslin thriller played a bit like a female Taken. 61% of attendees
were female, and more than half were over 30. It probably won't come anywhere near the Liam Neeson-led kidnapping film's total, but in a market that has been dominated by R-rated thrillers with male leads, a female-led suspenser was a breath of fresh air.

Despite the presence of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone fell flat, opening to $10.3 million. It's hard to tell exactly why this comedy didn't resonate with audiences, but it's worth noting that Carell appeared to play
against type. His over-the-top blond bouffant hairdo made him seem like a cocky magician, when Carell normally plays shy, nervous hangdog types. Could that explain the tepid reception?

Above the new releases, Oz the Great and Powerful enjoyed a second week at the top. A dip of just 46% made for a total of $42.2 million. The CG-heavy fantasy could earn $250 million domestically at this pace.

Former Disney stars in bikinis + James Franco with cornrows and a grille turned out to be a magic formula for Spring Breakers. While debuting in just 3 locations, it racked up a $90,000 per-screen average. These stunning figures are usually reserved for the first week of arthouse-to-mainstream successes like Lincoln ($85,000
per-screen debut weekend) or Zero Dark Thirty ($83,000 per screen opening weekend).  Next week, Spring Breakers will expand to over 1,000 locations, and theatres should be ready for young crowds that may mimic those showing up to MTV's spring break.

A24, the distributor behind Spring Breakers, debuted another release the same weekend. Ginger & Rosa, a coming-of-age tale starring Alice Englert and Elle Fanning, averaged $15,000 per screen in 3 locations. Though considerably less than Spring Breakers, the per-screen average is in the "healthy shot of success" range.

This Friday, Tina Fey plays an uptight admissions officer in Admission, The Croods adds family entertainment to the mix, and the fate of the President is in the balance in Olympus Has Fallen.