'Avengers' dominates the box office, with a second nine-digit weekend

Dropping exactly by half, The Avengers led the pack for the second weekend in a row with an astounding $103.1 million. The super-superhero picture beat The Dark Knight for the second-week hold record for films that opened about $120 million. Returns from overseas brought The Avengers' worldwide total above $1 billion. As if there wasn't enough champagne popping already, this marks Disney's fifth billion-dollar movie. No other studio has cracked the billion-dollar mark more than twice. Disney's $4 billion purchase of Marvel in 2009 isn't looking so outlandish now, is it? Plus, new Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man films are already on Disney's schedule, and I have a feeling a decade from now audiences will be watching The Avengers 3.

In second place, Dark Shadows underperformed to finish with $28.8 million. Most expected the gothic comedy would earn in the $30 million range, so it's possible the Tim Burton-directed film was hurt by the overwhelming success of The Avengers. Also, the adaptation of a '60s soap opera, a cult hit, may have resonated most with niche audiences--more like Burton's Sweeney Todd (which opened to just $9 million) than his crowd-pleasing, family-oriented Alice in Wonderland (one of Disney's $1 billion+ films). The second week in May is also considered a less-than-ideal time to open a film, yet another reason for Dark Shadows' lackluster weekend.

Think Like a Man, The Hunger Games and The Lucky One, which comprised the rest of the top five, all dropped under 25% while earning between $4-6 million, picking up the rest of the non-Avengers crowd.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel cracked the top ten with $2.6 million while playing in just 178 locations, enough to dub the film an indie success.

Lionsgate/Pantelion's Hispanic and Mother's Day-targeted Girl in Progress landed in tenth place with $1.6 million. With just over 300 locations, the coming-of-age picture had a strong per-screen average of $4,000. This is the kind of middle-of-the-road movie that could die out next week or have strong hold through word-of-mouth--but with a B+ CinemaScore, it doesn't sound like audiences are giving it a strong endorsement.

The Weinstein Co. decided to give its Oscar-winner, The Artist, one final push timed to Mother's Day. Moving from 41 to 751 theatres, it earned $161,000, its best weekend in a month. The per-screen average of $214, however, was the worst of all movies reported at Boxofficemojo.com.

On Wednesday, Sacha Baron Cohen plays a ridiculously awful leader in The Dictator. Friday brings aliens 'n big boats picture Battleship, which will go against the comedy What to Expect When You're Expecting.

'The Avengers' on track to dominate 'Dark Shadows'

Dark Shadows overshadowed? That's exactly what this weekend is looking like. Even if The Avengers were to drop by more than half, it would still end up somewhere not too far short of $100 million--not shabby for a second weekend. The Marvel superhero picture has been doing particularly strong business during the weekdays, with daily returns in the teen millions. The giant crowds outside a Times Square theatre in NYC yesterday, uncharacteristic for a weekday, are one such sign that The Avengers is a must-see.. The popularity of the film will probably encourage more people to make it a priority on their "to-do" list.

Johnny Depp and director Tim Burton team up again for Dark Shadows (3,755 theatres), which will share IMAX screens with The Avengers. Based on a popular, low-budget '60s soap opera, this version has plenty of humor. Critic Daniel Eagan predicts Burton's fans will enjoy the gothic picture most, but he also notes there isn't much fresh material: "After 25 years, [Burton's] exquisite visual sense, jaundiced take on characters and relentless pursuit of the macabre have become rote, lifeless, devoid of surprise." However, thanks to Depp's star power and Burton's ability to successfully reinterpret projects (as in Alice in Wonderland), industry estimates have the film performing in the high $30 million range, with a chance of breaking $40 million.

"A scruffily likeable coming-of-age tale," according to FJI critic David Noh, Girl in Progress (322 theatres) stars Cierra Ramirez as a teen girl being a teenager, and Eva Mendes as her mom. Groupon offered a discount to the movie yesterday (two tickets for $12), which may encourage people to see a more low-key movie while the high-octane Avengers is also in the multiplex.

Those in search on an "original" foreign film may want to seek out Where Do We Go Now?, a "fable" about a group of female villagers in Lebanon who vow to keep their men from fighting. For those that enjoyed director Nadine Labaki's first film, Caramel, critic Maria Garcia points out many continuities between the two works that may appeal to those charmed by the Lebanese director's first outing.

On Monday, we'll see how much of its audience The Avengers was able to hold onto, and if the absurdly successful film, which has earned $775 million worldwide to date, is able to cross the $1 billion mark.

Shedding light on 'Dark Shadows'

By Sarah Sluis

Like cancelled single-season shows "Freaks and Geeks" and "Undeclared," the 1960s soap opera "Dark Shadows" was on air for just six years, but achieved a cult following that still endures. The first I heard of the show was during an episode of radio program "This American Life," which followed someone attending a convention for fans of the series--a sure sign of its niche popularity. Now Tim Burton, the go-to guy for dark movies, is helming a feature version that's currently in casting.

The appeal of "Dark Shadows," as I understand, is two-fold. One, it is about vampires and the supernatural, a more unusual choice for daytime soap operas. Two, it was very, very low-budget, leading to rather extraordinary gaffes, like people walking on camera when they shouldn't, and actors continuing their lines even after pieces of the set fell down around them. Burton will surely seize upon the supernatural element of the show, but will he also dare to introduce camp into the movie? A hint might come from the screenwriter, Seth Grahame-Smith, author of the book (and screenplay) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. From a glance at the opening pages, it appears the book takes a tone of mock sincerity. "What follows, at last, is the truth," Grahame-Smith says in the introduction, purporting to have discovered lost documents revealing Lincoln was a revered vampire hunter. He's asking the readers to traverse the limits of believability to enjoy a story, the purview of comic book and talking animal movies--in other words, something not entirely unusual.

Johnny Depp will star as the vampire Barnabas, and Eva Green (The Dreamers) and Jackie Earle Haley (Watchman) have also been named to the cast. The latest (still rumored) addition is Michelle Pfeiffer, who would play a widowed recluse. Burton's longtime partner, Helena Bonham Carter, is also being considered for the role of Dr. Julia Hoffman. Between Dark Shadows and other gothic tales such as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Frankenweenie, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, it seems dark, quirky works are all the rage in Hollywood right now. But will any of them hit with audiences?