'Expendables 2' powers down with $28 million opening

The original Expendables was something of a sequel itself, trading on the star power of aging action heroes thrust into a situation that demanded their expertise with knives/guns/martial arts. The appeal of seeing these stars again, however, appears to have waned. The Expendables 2 opened to $28.7 million, down from the 2010 film's $34.8 million debut. Overall, audiences liked the second movie better than the first, giving the second an "A-" rating to the first one's "B+." But is it possible that the sequel only drew the most die-hard genre lovers, who were already eager to give the movie a satisfactory rating? As the summer draws to a close, it's unlikely the sequel will top $100 million, something the first film achieved, but just barely.

Stop-motion animation offering ParaNorman opened to $14 million. That's lower than animation studio LAIKA's previous film, Coraline, which posted an $18 million opening. However, the 3D picture performed better than British import Pirates!, which debuted to $11 million earlier this summer. Unless you're Disney/DreamWorks Animation/Illumination, it appears that the animated field is tough. Focus continued its role as a distributor with this movie, which at over three thousand screens is its widest release to date.

The Odd Life of Timothy Green had a middling weekend of $10.9 million. Those that attended gave the sentimental story an "A-" rating, and its Wednesday debut gave it a five-day total of $15.1 million--not so bad. There are plenty of sentimental stories that catch fire at the box office (think: Marley & Me, The Pursuit of Happyness) but those ones had bigger stars attached. Given that Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton led this picture, the results aren't so bad, although the $25 million budget will certainly take some time to be recouped.

Starring Jordin Sparks and the late Whitney Houston, Sparkle sang for $12 million. Audiences were pleased with the musical remake, giving it an "A" rating. Unlike Timothy Green, this movie only cost $14 million to make, so it will earn back its budget in no time.

Hope Springs, which earned $9.1 million and eighth place this week, needs to drop minimally in order to be deemed a success. Its 37.9% fall from opening weekend was the lowest of any movie in the top ten, and slightly better than the dip in star Meryl Streep's 2009 film Julie & Julia. That movie leveled its fall to the 20% range by the third week, something Hope Springs will need to do if it wants a "sleeper semi-hit" status.

Perhaps it was the Twilight fans, but Cosmopolis averaged $24,000 per screen at three locations. Will more Twihards turn out to see Robert Pattinson in coming weeks, even if he's not a vampire? My guess is no, though a strong performance in this movie should help Pattinson's career once the vampire franchise is finished.

On Wednesday, real-life couple Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell star in Hit & Run. On Friday, bikes replace cars in the high-speed action movie Premium Rush, which opens opposite the spooky offering The Apparition.

 

'Expendables 2' sends its troupe of action stars up against 'Bourne Legacy'

Featuring the classic but "underemployed action heroes" of the past few decades, The Expendables 2 (3,316 theatres) creates a whole that's greater than the sum of its parts. Each star gets a chance to show off, and "ten minutes of Chuck Norris mocking his old screen persona is a lot more fun than actually sitting through an entire Norris vehicle," opines critic Daniel Eagan. The first action outing opened to $34 million two years ago, and the sequel should meet or top that. The "mindless, state-of-the art nonsense" should please nostalgia-seeking fans of the Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme and their ilk.

Coraline studio LAIKA follows up that spooky picture with another creepy story using stop-motion animation, ParaNorman (3,429 theatres). Centering on a young boy whose ability to see ghosts makes him the only one able to save his town from a curse, the feature includes a topical anti-bullying message. But driving that message home means the movie is a "rollicking good time until its jarringly somber and earnest final act." Coraline opened to $18 million, so a similar figure would be a success for this 3D follow-up.

Whitney Houston makes her final film appearance in Sparkle (2,244 theatres), a remake of the 1976 musical about a trio of sisters trying to make it big as singers and performers. Jordin Sparks (a winner of "American Idol") stars as the most promising singer. Houston's dialogue can have a "bizarre, eerily predictive quality," notes critic Marsha McCreadie, who thought the film lacked soul. The movie is "like watching a 'highlights of' music special strung together by an afterthought-like storyline," she laments. An opening number in the mid-teens is expected for this Motown era feature.

The sentimental The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2,598 theatres) "mistakes cheesiness for charm," according to critic David Guzman. The story of an infertile couple whose dream child magically appears in their garden is "as goofy as it is soulless." Guzman predicts it will appeal to neither children nor their parents. Disney reports the movie is tracking best among women and families. It earned $2.3 million when it opened on Wednesday, so it should end up close to $20 million over the five-day period.

Twilight fans may get something a little different than they expect with Cosmopolis (2 theatres), which stars sometimes-vampire Robert Pattinson. The "serenely crazed view of the present," courtesy of director David Cronenberg, earns the accolades of critic Chris Barsanti. The Iranian filmmakers behind animated Persepolis turn to live action in Chicken with Plums (3 theatres), a "beautifully scored and well-acted" historically-based feature, according to critic Maria Garcia.

On Monday, we'll see if The Expendables 2 crashes through The Bourne Legacy's opening figure last weekend, and which movies broke away from the pack in this crowded, late-summer weekend.

Studio behind 'Coraline' animates zombie pic 'ParaNorman'

By Sarah Sluis

The Portland, Oregon, studio Laika suffered a big blow last year, when Coraline director Henry Selick defected to Pixar. Not that I blame him--Pixar is just about the coolest place to work, and it helps to be part of a team that's producing hit after hit. But that doesn't mean Laika's over and out. The studio has a couple of projects in the works, including ParaNorman, a dark stop-motion animated picture that's sure to entice adults and scare lots of kids.

ParaNorman centers on a boy (voiced by Kodi Smit-Phee of horror pic Let Me In) who can speak with the dead, which in this movie includes zombies and ghosts. He must use his powers in order to save his town from a hundred-year curse. In a kid movie nod, he must deal not only with the undead but clueless grown-ups. Chris Butler, who has been working as a storyboard artist, character designer, and sequence director, will make his directing debut with the movie. Apparently Butler is big on the lecture circuit. A good communicator = good director in my book. The voice cast includes such well-known names as Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

Like Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and other spooky kids' movies, Laika's latest feature will definitely not be an all-ages hit like Pixar movies or the current worldwide success, Rio. But that's okay. Focus, which is the indie arm of Universal, will distribute the film as part of a two-picture deal with the budding animation studio.

Stop-motion movies take a notoriously long time to make, but fans of dark animated tales can rejoice: ParaNorman has set a release date of August 17, 2012--in 3D, no less.