‘Need for Speed’ crashes at box office

Jesse Pinkman deserves better. Hollywood’s latest videogame adaptation undercut what were already modest expectations this weekend when Need for Speed failed to nab first (or second) place at the box office. Instead, the Aaron Paul-starrer earned a disappointing $17.8 million. Its debut haul secured the film third-place standing behind Mr. Peabody and Sherman ($21.2 million) and 300: Rise of an Empire ($19.1 million). The former enjoyed a solid hold from the previous weekend, dropping just 34 percent.  To compare, last year’s The Croods dropped 39 percent its second weekend in theatres, while How to Train Your Dragon also dipped 34 percent. Rise of an Empire took a fairly steep hit – suffering a downturn of 58 percent – but its overall cume remains respectable ($78.3 million to date).

With an “eh” CinemaScore rating of a B+, it looks as if Need for Speed will only continue to stall. Overall returns should tally out to south of $50 million. As for Tyler Perry’s Single Moms Club, it’s unlikely the film will even reach that benchmark. The prolific Perry suffered his worst opening yet with Club, which grossed $8.3 million. Prior to this weekend, Daddy’s Little Girls was Perry’s least-successful outing, having opened to $11.2 million in 2007.

Perry’s last few features (Tyler Perry Presents Peeples, A Madea Christmas) have also been disappointments. The films’ distributor, Lionsgate, has had a rough time of it recently: The company suffered losses on both The Legend of Hercules and I, Frankenstein as well. Let’s hope this weekend’s Divergent changes its luck for the better.

No such wishes are needed for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, which continues to do marvelous business. This past weekend saw the comedy rake in an additional $3.6 million from 66 locations. The film will enjoy its largest expansion yet this coming weekend, when it will screen in 275 theatres.

Despite some streaming troubles for those who opted to pay for a Web version of the film, Veronica Mars can be called a modest success. The movie earned $2 million from 291 locations. With the continued and concurrent availability of VOD, however, it will be interesting to see how the movie holds in the coming weeks.

Here’s hoping the weeks ahead are kinder to Jason Bateman’s Bad Words. The actor’s feature directorial debut hasn’t gotten off to a boffo start: The movie screened in six locations and grossed just $120,000. It will expand nationwide on Friday.

‘300: Rise of an Empire’ dominates weekend BO

300: Rise of an Empire debuted to strong numbers this weekend, even if it failed to match the boffo opening of 300. The sequel raked in $45.05 million from 3,470 locations (compared with the first film’s $70.9 million gross) and can largely thank 3D ticket sales for its high returns: 3D screenings accounted for 63 percent of earnings. Thirty-eight percent of the audience for Rise of an Empire was made up of women, an uptick from 300, which drew a crowd that was only 29 percent female. Viewers of both sexes awarded the movie a “B” CinemaScore grade, which isn’t great, and may portend a significant drop in sales over the coming weeks. However, it’s likely the film will continue to perform well abroad. Rise of an Empire may have fallen short of 300 here in the United States, but it out-performed its predecessor overseas. From 58 markets, Empire reaped $87.8 million. Russia led the international crowd with $9.2 million.

The weekend’s other wide release, Mr. Peabody & Sherman performed to 20^th Century Fox’s expectations, though it was still a disappointment for DreamWorks. The update on the classic cartoon grossed $32.5 million. That figure is an improvement over previous DreamWorks films Rise of the Guardians and Turbo, but it failed to match the highs of The Croods and How to Train Your Dragon, which both debuted to over $40 million. Those who did purchase tickets to the film, however, seemed to like what they saw: Audiences gave the movie an “A” CinemaScore rating. That’s a good sign so far as positive word-of-mouth goes, and could help propel the film to an eventual cume of $100 million.

The weekend’s third-place slot went to Non-Stop, which added another $15.4 million to a total that now stands at $52.1 million. The Lego Movie clocked in next with its $11 million gross, a downturn of 47 percent. That drop in sales is the hit movie’s steepest yet, and is probably thanks to competition from Mr. Peabody & Sherman. Lego’s total is currently $225 million.

In fifth place, Son of God earned $10 million, off 61 percent from last weekend. So far, the re-appropriation of The History channel’s “The Bible” mini-series has earned $41.5 million.

Finally, the weekend’s most exciting box-office news comes in the form of The Grand Budapest Hotel. This latest outing for Wes Anderson broke the record previously set by Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master for highest-grossing limited live action debut ever (maybe it’s something in the directors’ shared name?). The Grand Budapest Hotel earned $800,000 in total, which works out to a per-screen average of a little more than $200,000 (the movie opened in four theatres, two in LA and two in New York, this weekend). Budapest will expand to 1,000+ locations over the coming five weeks.

 

‘Rise of an Empire’ to dwarf ‘Mr. Peabody & Sherman’

Seven years ago, CGI sword-and-sandals epic 300 took the box office by surprise when it opened to a wonderful $70 million. The Zach Snyder film, which set the March record for best opening weekend, would go on to earn over $456 million worldwide. 300: Rise of an Empire isn’t exactly a sequel, per se – interestingly, it covers the same span of time as the first movie – but, with a mostly new cast and a different angle on the Greek-Spartan conflict, it’s certainly a follow-up. The question is, will it match the debut of its predecessor? Unlikely. The novelty of Snyder’s signature style has worn off (although Snyder worked on the screenplay, commercials director Noam Murro helmed Rise of an Empire), as has 300’s mix of togas and action; thanks to the popularity of the first film, we’ve seen several copycut productions and spoofs since 2007. Nonetheless, 300: Rise of an Empire is still tracking strong. According to Fandango, the movie is out-selling G.I. Joe: Retaliation in pre-sales, which bodes well for a solid opening: G.I. Joe opened to $40.5 million last March. Also, let’s not forget, Rise of an Empire is screening in 58 markets overseas. Even if it fails to match 300 domestically, it could out-perform its predecessor internationally.

Gunning for second place, DreamWorks production Mr. Peabody & Sherman also opens wide this weekend. March has historically been kind to the animation studio: The Croods opened to $43.6 million in 2013 while How to Train Your Dragon bowed to $43.7 million in 2010. Many pundits are unsure, however, how Mr. Peabody & Sherman will perform. DreamWorks' last two productions, Rise of the Guardians and Turbo, failed to meet expectations and even lost money.  Sherman has so far garnered mixed reviews, and it faces stiff competition from the still-going-strong The Lego Movie. Fandango has the film tracking stronger than Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, which opened to $34 million this past September. 20^th Century Fox, however, is only expecting $25 to $30 million in opening-weekend business.

For specialty devotees, the weekend’s big release comes in the form of Wes Anderson’s latest, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Great reviews and a strong cast – Ralph Fiennes, Saoirse Ronan, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, and cameos by Anderson stalwarts Bill Murray and Owen Wilson – should propel the film to high returns. Think somewhere south of his roundly loved Moonrise Kingdom, which scored the third-best per-theatre average for a live action film when it opened in 2012, but possibly north of Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and The Life Aquatic of Steve Zissou (2004), both of which opened in the low $20 millions.

Overall, the weekend’s box-office breakdown should look something like this:

1. 300: Rise of an Empire


2. Mr. Peabody & Sherman


3. Non-Stop


4. Son of God


5. The Lego Movie

Top Ten Movies of 2010

By Sarah Sluis

This year has been an odd one at the box office. Last year it was all about Avatar, the big, Hollywood crowd-pleaser that everyone could get behind. It was the kind of film all blockbusters should aspire to. In 2010, commercial fare has been much more disappointing. Even films angling for Oscars often didn't meet my expectations. Unlike others, I wasn't wowed by The Fighter and The Social Network didn't live up to my (perhaps unfairly high) expectations. What follows, in no particular order, are the films that got me excited this year. These are the films that didn't just do something well, they did it differently, and often with an uncommon eye for realism.

1. How to Train Your Dragon. Pixar may be the king of CG animation, but this DreamWorks Animation movie had the entire package: striking cinematography, a lovable male hero, and a unique world for audiences to explore. The dark, shadowy look of the film was very adult, but the movie's appeal was universal.

2. Tabloid. I saw this movie at the Doc NYC Fest, and it's yet to find a distributor. I may be jumping the gun, but I predict this documentary will be showing up on "Best Of" lists in 2011. Errol Morris' comedic turn tops even his early work on Gates of Heaven. The story of a beauty queen and her kidnapping of her Mormon ex-lover is so crazy, it could only be true. The third act twist that will leave your mouth agape.

3. The King's Speech. This feel-good awards movie is one I really can get behind. Directed by Tom Hooper ("John Adams"), this fact-based tale actually breathes, with quiet moments that delicately lead us through the lightly comedic story. At the end, I was rooting for King George's speech like it was a sports match (I hope I don't denigrate the film by comparing it to the stirring end of The Mighty Ducks). This may be a "traditional" Oscar film, but it's done so impeccably, it's hard not to like. Added bonus: It's gentle and inoffensive enough to bring the whole family to without embarrassment.

4. Tiny Furniture. Actress/director/writer Lena Dunham is one to watch. I may be biased: She's a just-out-of-college Oberlin grad, I'm a few-years-out-of-college Wesleyan grad, making us of the same ilk. In this semi-autobiographical film, the whole post-graduate experience becomes an opportunity to make fun of her character in an extremely naturalistic, painfully funny way. She has no fear, and not only makes herself look unflattering in front of the camera, she stages some truly cringe-worthy scenes--and did I mention she cast her mother and sister as her mother and sister?

5. Winter's Bone. In television, there's that "sitcom" living room and kitchen, which never seem to change no matter who the family is supposed to be. Film has the same problem, with the same glossed-over settings used again and again, and production designers that just can't help themselves from designing adorable spaces for supposedly average families. Winter's Bone changes all of that, filming in the Ozarks and using local actors to show outsiders what it's like to live in a rural, meth-infested world. I saw a part of America I'd never seen before.

6. Cyrus. Most romantic comedies are terrible, which is too bad, because I really like hearing funny stories about relationships. Cyrus was filled with moments that registered as funny because they were so close to real life, and didn't overplay its hand when it came to the battle between a woman's boyfriend and her son. Last year's (500) Days of Summer had the "rom-com" spot on my list, and this year it goes to Cyrus.

7. Somewhere. Sofia Coppola has the ability to slip you into this moody state of mind, and it's a pleasure to spend an hour and a half following a movie star with a mildly tragic case of ennui. His daughter (Elle Fanning) is charming, and even an "is-this-it?" ending didn't scratch this one off my top ten list.

8. Restrepo. This was a tough one, as Alex Gibney's Casino Jack and the United States of Money was also one of my favorites. But keeping to my theme, originality and reality won out. Like Winter's Bone, Restrepo presents a world that I never knew existed. The stakes of war feel so different here than on the evening news or in a war drama. I sensed that the filmmakers, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, really cared for the soldiers I sensed that the movie's creators, Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, really cared for the soldiers they filmed in Afghanistan, but they aren't afraid to show moments that raise questions about their actions. The film offers a nuanced look at the impact of these Americans who are both making things worse and making things better. One thing's clear: it's time to bring our troops home.

9. Mother and Child. Weeks after leaving this movie, what I most wanted was to see more of Kerry Washington (she's currently in Night Catches Us), who plays a super-eager type-A wife who desperately wants to adopt a child. But she's just one part of the whole picture, with the cruelly cold Naomi Watts and sad Annette Bening offering three perspectives on mother-child relationships. A kind of modern melodrama, director Rodrigo Garca's sadly overlooked tale left a deep impression.

10. Blue Valentine. This Ryan Gosling/Michelle Williams tale of an imploding romance made it to the list because of its intense realism. Screenwriters Derek Cianfrance, Joey Curtis and Kami Delavigne have this incredible ear for toxic conversations, and it's awe-inducing to hear this couple break each other down without even raising their voices (though there are plenty of screaming matches), through seemingly innocent requests and comments. The sad story has a scientific level of precision, able to capture in detail the seismic activity that precedes a volcanic eruption. For that, it's one of my favorite films this year, and one that I hope will be rewarded at the Oscars.

Audiences stay awake for 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'

By Sarah Sluis

Platinum Dunes, which has produced several remakes of well-known horror films, struck oil once again with its remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. The revival of dream-stalker Freddy Krueger film took in an

impressive, higher-than-predicted $32 million over the weekend, which will no doubt keep those remakes flowing.

The other wide release of the weekend, Furry Vengeance, opened in sixth place with $6.5 million, below expectations. Financed by Participant Media, which makes socially conscious films, this family comedy with animal hijinks must have seemed like a good way to match a crowd-pleasing formula with an environmentally friendly message. But maybe Participant should aim a little higher, both in its subject matter and choosing a more marquee-friendly cast (Brendan Fraser and Keri Russell starred).

Wall Street may have downgraded DreamWorks' stock after the debut of How to Train Your Dragon, but the movie is having the last laugh as it finished another weekend at number two with $10.8 million and a 29% drop from last week. With a $192 million gross, this movie should pass $200 million in about a week. If this were a conventional release with a 50% drop every week, the movie would have topped out at about $80-90 million, so this movie is proof that keeping week-to-week decreases sub-30% really adds up.

Please Give, an Upper East Side slice-of-life comedy from director Nicole Holofcener (Friends with Money) opened to a strong $25,000 per-screen average, for a total of $128,000. With such a strong debut, this movie will be ripe for expansion. Michael Caine toting a gun in Harry Brown drew audiences to the tune of $9,000 per screen at 19 locations.

This Friday, tentpole season resumes with the release of Iron Man 2. No other film dares to go against it, but there will be a smattering of specialty options for those seeking alternative fare.

'Dragon' rises above 'The Back-up Plan' and 'Losers'

By Sarah Sluis

In an impressive fifth-week feat, How to Train Your Dragon ascended to number one over the weekend with a $15 million gross and a $10,000 per-screen average. There's two lines of reasoning to explain the rise. One is word-of-mouth. Anyone who's seen the movie (judging from my own reaction and Facebook status updates) has been blown away by the impressive visuals, cute characters and great story. Second is the overcrowded slate during Dragon's release. The movie released as 3D Alice in Wonderland was winding down, and a week later 3D Clash of the Titans opened, crowding the 3D market. Because this movie is so quality, I'm glad to see audiences rewarding the film by voting for it with ticket sales.

The Back-Up Plan was at first place on Friday before settling in at second place with $12.2 million. The romantic comedy finished roughly in line with expectations. This kind of lackluster performance is the reason people think women don't go to movies--when really, they're saving their movie dates for Sex and the City and Twilight.

The Losers had a disappointing #4 debut. The movie was expected to open above $10 million but came away just shy with $9.6 million. Given its

withering reviews, this movie got what was coming to it.

Oceans, the Earth Day release from Disneynature, brought in $6 million over the weekend for a four-day cumulative gross of $8.4 million. The nature film opened below last year's Earth, which earned over $8 million its opening weekend and $14 million from Wednesday to Sunday. However, this type of film tends to play well over several

weeks. Last year's Earth may have benefited from a Wednesday Earth Day, which gave the movie more time to build through the weekend.

Last week's limited releases Exit Through the Gift Shop and The Secret in their Eyes held extremely well. Exit Through the Gift Shop dropped 12% while adding three locations. Each of the eleven locations earned $13,500, the highest per-screen average of the week, for a total of $149,000. The Secret in their Eyes went up 120% from last week going from 10 to 33 locations. Its per-screen average of $11,000 was the second-highest of the week.

This Friday, the environmental comedy Furry Vengeance will open wide opposite the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street.

'Kick-Ass' and 'How to Train Your Dragon' both finish around $20 million

By Sarah Sluis

Kick-Ass and How to Train Your Dragon finished neck-and-neck this weekend, each earning around an estimated $20 million, so until the actuals come in we're calling them even. It's pretty unusual for a movie to return to first place in its fourth week (though Dragon opened in first place), but the release trajectory for Dragon was changed by the last-minute release of Clash of the Titans in 3D, which took 3D screens and the number one spot away from Dragon in its second week. With week-to-week drops ranging from 14-33% so far, the movie is in good shape. This week Dragon crossed the $150 million mark, the reported budget of the animated film.

Kick-Ass was expected to open a bit higher than the $20 million it brought in. However, the movie garnered much better reviews than say, Clash of the Titans, so it should play strongly in coming weeks as word gets out about its fairly unique perspective on the superhero genre. However, its underperformance (at least in its opening week) reflects some of the concerns that led director Matthew Vaughn to seek financing for the project outside studios. All of the studios reportedly balked at the foul language and R-rated script, so Vaughn

found his $50 million in financing elsewhere, then Lionsgate picked it

up at Comic-Con for a number in the teen millions. Half of the audience members were under 25 (so, half the audience was from 17-25 since it's R-rated, unless they were there with a parent), so its R rating probably did take a toll on the box office.

Death at a Funeral opened to a respectable $17 million, a more than break-even point for a comedy reported to cost $21 million. However, the black-skewing movie could not compare to the latest work by the king of that demographic, Tyler Perry, whose dramedy Why Did I Get Married Too? opened to $29 million three weeks ago.

Three specialty releases opened to per-screen averages in the high teens and above. Leading the pack was The City of Your Final Destination, which earned $22,000 on one screen. Banksy documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop posted an impressive $20,000 per location in eight theatres. The Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film, The Secret in Their Eyes, earned $17,600 per screen at ten locations. Because the latter two films were able to open on multiple screens with such high screen averages, they are exceptionally well-positioned for further expansion.

This Friday, romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan will go up against the CIA action movie The Losers.

'Clash of the Titans' reaches box-office summit

By Sarah Sluis

Clash of the Titans had a smashing debut with $61.4 million, bolstered by 3D ticket sales. The Greek God-inspired action tale brought in the highest Easter weekend opening ever. Still, it's disappointing that a movie that was converted to 3D at the last minute can reap the same spoils of a movie like How to Train Your Dragon, which went through the more time-consuming (but better-looking) process by being authored in 3D from start to finish.

Despite a less-than-stellar opening weekend that caused DreamWorks shareholders to take notice and push the stock price down, How to Train Your Dragon had a strong second weekend, dropping just 33% to $29.2 million. The charming children's film should continue to do well as more school-age kids go on Spring Break.

Finishing second, the sequel Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? opened to a strong $30.1 million, $9 million more than the 2007 original. The dramedy drew an audience that was heavily black, female, and over twenty-five. Perry should be happy too: it's the second-highest debut for the prolific filmmaker. Madea Goes to Jail, the first of the two films he released in 2009, holds the honor of his highest open, $41 million.

Disney's The Last Song, which opened on Wednesday to take advantage of the first wave of Spring Break crowds, added $16.2 million over the weekend to come up with a five-day total of $25.5 million. I'm already checking star Miley Cyrus' IMDB profile to see what she'll do next as she tries to develop her career and mature her image while keeping her status as tween idol.

Alice in Wonderland had its first drop over 50% this weekend, earning $8.2 million in its fifth week--a far cry from its $116 million opening weekend. The lack of 3D screens steepened its fall. Before the movie's release, many exhibitors were against Disney's plan to release the movie on DVD just twelve weeks after its theatrical release, but its diminishing grosses make the benefits of a prolonged theatrical release negligible.

Breaking Upwards, a tiny indie movie that received positive reviews, earned $15,000 on one screen in New York City, boding well for its expansion next week to L.A. The movie cost just $15,000 to make, and already made it back in first-week ticket sales.

This Friday, Steve Carell and Tina Fey will have a wide-open box office to debut their comedy-adventure Date Night, the only major release of the week.

'How to Train Your Dragon' soars to the top of box office

By Sarah Sluis

How to Train Your Dragon easily landed in first place its opening weekend with a $43.3 million gross, two-and-a-half times the take of the first runner-up, Alice in Wonderland ($17.3 million). Despite strong reviews, the family-skewing animated movie earned far less than Alice's opening weekend. Like Alice, it should have strong grosses week-to-week, but will have to overcome one significant challenge. Clash of the Titans opens in 3D this Friday, taking away screens from Dragon. This could push the per-screen gross up higher, but it also means there will be fewer time slots and more crowding for Dragon.

Hot Tub Time Machine debuted third with $13.6 million. The retro-themed plot drew in males aged twenty-five and up, many of whom lived through the '80s and enjoyed the comedic rehash of the era. Though not a flop, the movie just barely edged out the second-week performance of The Bounty Hunter ($12.4 million), a romantic comedy with broader appeal.

Greenberg added 178 playdates to its run to end the weekend with $1.05 million, ending with a strong $5,000 per-theatre average. The steamy art film Chloe opened to $1 million, but its per-theatre average was a bit lower, $2,000 per screen. The Runaways hasn't been as catchy as Apparition may have hoped, dropping in its second week even as it added screens. The teen rock biopic made $445,000 and fell 44% from last week.

In just five locations, Disney documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty debuted to $33,000, with a respectable $6,600 per screen.

This Friday, 3D Clash of the Titans will open alongside Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too? Disney's The Last Song will jump the gun with a debut this Wednesday, certain to draw in hordes of Miley Cyrus fans.

'How to Train Your Dragon' to set theatres on fire

By Sarah Sluis

With 4,055 theatres, over half of them 3D, and a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, How To Train Your Dragon is poised for a fantastic opening weekend. The animated fantasy's overwhelmingly positive critical reception puts it among the ranks of Pixar, the perennial winner for Best Animated Film at the Oscars. Our critic Frank Lovece called the DreamWorks Animation film "a masterpiece of art direction and design, with some of the most beautiful landscapes ever animated and state-of-the-art rendering of things like strands of Hiccup's [the hero] hair during flight." Releasing in 3D and IMAX, the movie will enchant young audiences and the adults going along for the ride. Because it's based on a novel, the movie will have added anticipation and awareness and should open extremely strong. However, unlike Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, this movie's appeal will be more family-based, and is unlikely to draw in as many viewers coming without a child in tow.

The stupid comedy du jour, Hot Tub Time Machine (2,754 theatres), is supposedly a little better than average. Like its summer cousin The Hangover, an older cast but more juvenile jokes should expand the potential audience. Our critic Ethan Alter enjoyed the comedy's "welcomingly weirder sense of humor" but predicted it won't have the same cultural staying power as '80s classics like Caddyshack.

On the specialty front, director Atom Egoyan's "sexually charged melodrama" Chloe opens in 306 theatres. The subject matter should draw audiences, as will star Amanda Seyfried, whose performance "makes a major impression, adeptly navigating the twists and turns of her character's not-so-apparent motivations."

Disney geeks (Mousejunkies?) will drool for documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty (5 theatres), which chronicles Disney's rebirth after a period of bad films.

The Eclipse, an "intriguing mix of engaging drama and wonderful dialogue, all infused with stirring hints of the supernatural," will debut in six theatres. Award-winning playwright Conor McPherson (The Seafarer) writes and directs.

On Monday, Alice will pass the 3D crown to How to Train Your Dragon, and Hot Tub Time Machine will try its hardest to come in second.

Will the 3D Popeye preserve its cartoon-like look?

By Sarah Sluis

Variety brought news today that Popeye, the upcoming animated adaptation from Sony, will release in 3D. What struck me was the accompanying image, which showed a black-outlined, cartoon Popeye. Would it be possible to preserve that kind of look and pop it out in 3D? Most likely--but would the filmmakers choose that visual look?

The 3D movies I've seen over the past year have had astounding visuals. Up had a wonderful, softly rendered look with a unifying color palette. Avatar created luminous CG forests and floating mountains that looked more real in 3D than they did in the 2D images or clips that often accompanied news pieces about the story. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, while having a more traditional look, had Muppets-inspired characters and visuals that tried to include power lines and machinery and the other things most animated towns leave out of their cities. The best of them all, How to Train Your Dragon (coming out this Friday), has a stunning chiaroscuro look. Fire-lit viking dwellings and caves give the movie a medieval feel.

3D and CG animation are a natural fit. Together, they've elevated animation and even allowed it to become more stylized. Famed live-action cinematographer Roger Deakins helped create the cinematography in How to Train Your Dragon, even warranting a profile at the New York Times. As I wrote a couple of months ago, lighting and animation departments typically don't talk to each other, something Deakins changed when he came in as a supervisor, to considerable effect. Dragon is setting a high standard for animated films that others will surely follow.

I hope Popeye preserves its cartoon look while bumping it out into three dimensions--giving it the feel of a pop-up book, perhaps. While it may be tempting to give the character smooth corners and a CG look, I would welcome the opportunity to see something more retro, much in the same way Disney's Lilo & Stitch brought back the watercolor backgrounds of Disney films fifty years before. (It's worth mentioning that Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon share the same directing team--Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois are animation directors to watch)

Right now Popeye has a producer (Avi Arad of Spider-Man) and a screenwriter (Mike Jones, a former trade reporter and self-proclaimed Popeye fan). It's far too soon to tell how Popeye will look, but hopefully it will join my list of animated films with an unusual, non-CG look--like Pixar's The Bear and the Bow , the next animated film I have my eye on.

Clash of the Tentpoles: 'Avatar,' �Alice,' �Titans' and �Dragon' compete for 3D screens

By Sarah Sluis

Three Oscar-nominated movies this year released in 3D: Best Picture nominees Avatar and Up, and Best Animated Feature nominee Coraline (Up also received a nomination in that category). 3D has arrived not only at the multiplex but the most prestigious awards ceremony in film.

Too bad there aren't enough screens to show these movies in 3D.

Just when distributors and exhibitors finally ironed out an agreement that would allow them to share the cost of digital upgrades, the recession hit. Though the film industry remains in good shape, in part because of the conversions to the higher-priced screens that did happen, production of 3D films exceeds theatrical capacity. Wide releases need thousands of screens, and right now there's only room for one film at a time.

Last year, Coraline had to compete with My Bloody Valentine 3D for early 2009 spots in 3D screens. This year, behemoth Avatar will have to cede to Tim Burton's 3D fantasy Alice in Wonderland. With Avatar still selling out 3D theatres, especially in IMAX, there's talk of extending Avatar's run. According to a New York Times article on the subject, there have been talks to allow Avatar to continue playing for midnight screenings (which presumably would be less popular for the PG-rated Alice) as a compromise.

The crowding doesn't end there. Just this week, Warner Bros. announced it has converted Clash of the Titans, a Greek mythology-inspired action movie, to 3D. That means the movie will step on the toes of How to Train Your Dragon, a (charming!) DreamWorks animation tale. Though the studio changed Clash of the Titans' release date from March 26th to April 2nd, Titatns will now grab some screens from Dragon just a week after the movie releases.

But, wait, there's more! Because of the low cost of converting a 2D film to 3D ($5 million or so), tons of big-budget films have jumped on the bandwagon. The last two Harry Potter movies will definitely be in 3D, as will Cats and Dogs 2. Despite Transformers 3's looming deadline, there are talks of converting the movie to 3D in post-production. What started out with animation studios like Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, who committed to produce all their upcoming films in 3D, has turned into a format almost every genre is rushing to embrace. Get ready to make 3D glasses standard eyewear at the movies.

An early look at 'How to Train Your Dragon,' 'Shrek Forever After' and 'Megamind'

By Sarah Sluis

In the world of animation, Pixar may be getting most of the press and awards, but DreamWorks Animation is sneaking up on them. While Pixar is releasing an average of one film a year, DreamWorks Animation has three movies lined up for 2010, all in 3D.

At a presentation in New York yesterday, I saw 10 minutes of Megamind (releasing November 5th), 30 minutes of Shrek Forever After (releasing May 21st) and a feature-length version of How to Train Your Dragon (releasing March 26th).

How to Train Your Dragon is the most Pixar-esque of the bunch, eschewing pop culture references and humor in favor of a universal story and an intricately conceived world. The cinematography is stunning, and represents a huge step forward in CG animation. As directors Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders explained to us, the animation and lighting teams are typically separate departments that do their work without even talking to each other. They brought in frequent Coen Brothers cinematographer Roger Deakins (who is also listed as a visual consultant for Pixar's Wall-E) to give a talk on linking the lighting and animation steps--he ended up staying to supervise the whole project.

The end product has a dynamic use of light that reflects the dim, candlelit world of the Vikings in the story. While CG animation started out with very flat lighting (think: Toy Story), How to Train Your Dragon at times looks like an animated version of Barry Lyndon. Because of the cinematography and story (and perhaps the fact I got to see the whole thing), this movie impressed me the most. Even in an unfinished version, with the score and certain scenes only roughly animated, it had the most epic, timeless feel. Later, we found out that Steven Spielberg was responsible for one cluster of scenes at the end that were only barely sketched out in animation. The ending had recently been tweaked based on Spielberg's comment after a viewing--a change the directors quickly incorporated.

Beyond the cinematography, little details like hair were rendered with incredible detail. The odd thing with animation is that the closer it approaches

reality, the more hyperreal it looks. Getting the kind of definition

you'd see on natural hair makes it stand out instead of blend in.

Storywise, producer Bonnie Arnold called Hiccup, the film's protagonist, a "teaching hero," an "Obama-type" character because of his emphasis on change--a rather timely comparison. Because the movie is based on a series of children's books by Cressida

Cowell, the team had a J.K. Rowling level of detail to work with. At the press lunch, everyone from Jay Baruchel (voice of the lead, Hiccup) to producer Bonnie Arnold showed an

expansive knowledge of the film's world beyond what appears in

the movie. If How to Train Your Dragon is a success--and it should be--expect a sequel or two in the works.

Shrek Forever After continues to do what the franchise does best: pleasing both children and the parents sitting with them in the theatre. The fourth installment takes its inspiration from It's a Wonderful Life. The filmmakers

even have gambling, corrupt townspeople and partying witches (the PG

allusion to the prostitutes populating Pottersville). But instead of intervention-by-angel, it's all motivated by an evil creator of magical contracts in fairy tales: Rumpelstiltskin. For those that have watched the first three Shrek movies, the "what if" scenario will be a huge payoff, rewarding viewers for their investment in Shrek's world.

Megamind takes the trio of superhero, villain, and damsel in distress and turns it on its head. In this version, the villain is the center of the story, and it was hinted that he, not the superhero, ends up with the damsel in distress. With its snappy dialogue and voice performances from Will Ferrell, Tina Fey, and Brad Pitt, this movie appears to be the next step forward after last year's superhero tale Monsters vs. Aliens, which also played with the genre.

With so many movies in the works, DreamWorks Animation is poised to take advantage of the rising sucess of 3D movies at the box office. With a final sequel and two original titles releasing this year, one with definite franchise potential, the studio will be one to watch.