'2 Guns' on top as animation fatigue continues with 'Smurfs 2'

Too much competition in the animated market has been hurting the kid-friendly selections unlucky enough to choose a late summer release. The Smurfs 2 opened to just $18.2 million over the weekend, which is half of the original's three-day total. Even with its Wednesday start, the five-day total of $27 million is $8 million less than the original's three-day total. Not good news for the blue creatures, or Sony either. And just two weeks ago, DreamWorks Animation's Turbo opened to a scant $21 million. What's going on?

Last year, just two animated movies opened during the summer: Brave and Madagascar 3. This year, there are six movies coming out in the May-August period. It's fair to say there were going to be some casualties. May's Epic did okay, topping out just over the $100 million mark, while Despicable Me 2 ($326 million) and Monsters University ($258 million) are in the top four movies this year, period, losing out only to Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel, respectively. The success of these two features is the reason so many studios want to get in the animation game, but it appears family audiences may have seen one or both of these better-regarded features, then taken a pass on Turbo and The Smurfs 2. Disney is likely nervous, because animated Cars spin-off Planes is coming out this Friday. Originally planned as a direct-to-video release, the upside is that the studio doesn't have too much riding on this feature financially compared to expensive Pixar originals. A theatrical release was likely designed to boost the ancillary revenue Disney wrings from its animated properties, especially for an action figure and ride-friendly concept like Planes, but an extremely low opening may defeat the point of releasing it theatrically in the first place.

While adult audiences have also suffered from tentpole fatigue, 2 Guns, billed more as a buddy cop comedy than a movie with fantastic explosions, didn't crash and burn. The $27 million opening, while enough to earn first place, is particularly low for a movie with Denzel Washington on the top bill. After all, he brought Safe House to a $40 million opening. That movie, however, had a more defined, marketable plot, while 2 Guns has confusing double-crossing going on that isn't as easy to explain in quick TV spots.

Coming-of-age tale The Spectacular Now had a spectacular debut, averaging $50,000 per screen in four locations, a promising sign for the well-reviewed feature. Meanwhile, fellow Sundance darlings The Way, Way Back and Fruitvale Station were neck and neck this weekend, earning $2.8 and $2.7 million, respectively. Both had comparable per-screen averages, so it will be interesting to watch which one plays longer with audiences.

On Wednesday, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and drug-running comedy We're the Millers will jump-start the weekend, followed by original sci-fi movie Elysium, which is written and directed by District 9's Neill Blomkamp.

 

'2 Guns' joins 'Smurfs 2,' but both want to be number one

This year has been exceptionally crowded when it comes to animated features, which doesn't bode well for the U.S. release of The Smurfs 2 (3,866 theatres). The original Smurf outing opened over $30 million in 2011, and a similar result for the sequel would be good, especially because the
biggest grosses are expected abroad. But what's to prevent families from choosing Turbo, Despicable Me 2, Epic, or Monsters University instead? There's only so many times parents can take their kids to the movies. THR's Justin Lowe thinks that parents will just give in, predicting that the animated feature "should have little trouble scaling stratospheric heights
similar to its predecessor with undiscriminating young audiences
and their chaperones, weary from near-unrelenting summertime
caregiving." Perhaps for some, The Smurfs 2 will provide that respite, as the blueberry-tinged creatures use their "curious blend of wide-eyed optimism and
goofy enthusiasm" to solve problems.

Denzel Washington is a sure thing at the box office, and that's what Universal will be counting on
for 2 Guns (3,025 theatres), which teams up the action star with Mark Wahlberg. The buddy cop feature with bits of comedy thrown in is "fun to watch but almost instantly forgettable," according to FJI critic Daniel Eagan, who compares it to "the B-movies of an earlier generation," meaning "it's
fast, tough and smarter than it has to be." Like The Smurfs 2, 2 Guns is aiming for an opening north of $30 million. The Smurfs 2 released starting Wednesday, when it earned $5.2 million, so it's unclear whether that early opening will help it gain steam or if it may slow down more quickly over the weekend.

There's also plenty going on at the indie box office. The writers of (500) Days of Summer adapted the script for The Spectacular Now (4 theatres), which earned raves at the Sundance Film Festival and is another excellent showcase for rising star Shailene Woodley, who appeared as George Clooney's daughter in The Descendants. The high-school set coming-of-age story "deserves to
reach a wide demographic," says critic Kevin Lally, "Its most appreciative audience may very
well be an older art-house crowd; the crossover to watch is the
teen segment." A24, which released teen pics The Bling Ring and Spring Breakers, will try to repeat its formula of attracting cinephiles and young viewers with the picture.

The found-footage genre goes into deep space in Europa Report (3 theatres), which critic Nick Schager praises for being a "well-executed, thematically intriguing tale of outer space
exploration and the responsibilities and risks such an enterprise
entails." Then there's Lindsay Lohan and James Deen pairing up for The Canyons (1 theatre), which our critic Doris Toumarkine predicts will be "catnip for Gawker/TMZ-loving loyalists but also won’t disappoint more demanding viewers."

On Monday, we'll see if audiences chose The Smurfs 2 or 2 Guns, and which of the specialty releases is on track to have a strong expansion through the rest of August.