Record-breaking 'Fast Five' has high-octane finish

By Sarah Sluis

Universal celebrated its highest opening gross, ever, with a release that didn't even occur during the "peak" summer and holiday weekends. Fast Five sped to first with $83.6 million, the highest opening weekend of the year. Theatre owners have been suffering through a terrible slump in recent months, so this influx of ticket buyers should help assuage concerns. The action sequel played well across all audiences, and its positive reviews should give the Vin Diesel/Paul Walker vehicle mileage in coming weeks.

Prom opened below expectations, finishing with just $5 million. Disney invested just $9 million in the movie's production, however, and it's sure to be a successful staple of Disney Channel programming in coming years. The audience was young and over 80% female, so it's possible some families opted for the more universally appealing Rio.

Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil also disappointed in the blockbuster-dominated weekend, earning just $4.1 million. With two better-known CG toons in the top ten, Rio and Hop, it's no wonder this movie failed to spark to audiences. Rio enjoyed its perch at number two with a sub-50% drop and another $14.4 million. In its first post-Easter weekend, Hop fell precipitously, losing 79% of its audience to finish with $2.5 million.

Director Werner Herzog's latest documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams, had an impressive $25,000 per-screen average on five screens. As one of the first in the indie/documentary genre to be filmed in 3D, the film should inspire curiosity and drive viewers to see the movie in theatres, not on Netflix.

Horror comedy Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, which had a fairly aggressive 875-screen release, failed to attract viewers. It averaged just $1,000 per screen for a total of $885,000.

This Friday, rich-poor wedding comedy Jumping the Broom will hit theatres, along with rom-com Something Borrowed. The real behemoth will be Thor, the Greek god/comic book action extravaganza. It may be spring, but summer movie season has begun.

'Fast Five' revving up for a blockbuster weekend

By Sarah Sluis

It's not even May yet, but this weekend should bring the first summer-size blockbuster hit, Fast Five, which will saturate the market with 3,643 theatres. Pundits are predicting the film could haul in up to $70 million, tens of millions more than anything that's hit the box office this year. What's more, despite being both the fourth sequel and a car chase action movie, critics are singing their praises, giving it an overall 78% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. FJI critic Daniel Eagan singled out the movie's "delirious action sequences" and concluded that it "condenses everything good about the series into a state-of-the-art thrill ride."

Many high schoolers are just weeks away from their own proms, so what better way to prepare than to catch Disney's Prom (2,730 theatres)? In fairness, the scrubbed-clean Disney version of Prom (no lose-your-virginity pacts la American Pie) will probably attract an audience more tween than teen. According to critic Kirk Honeycutt, the movie has "a cheerful good nature and a solid cast of youngsters," and will probably please the intended audience, but not adults. Disney estimates the movie will open just under $10 million.

Five years after Hoodwinked, the Red Riding Hood redux film Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil will hit 2,505 theatres, 72% of them 3D. Hayden Panettiere voices the lead role, taking over for Anne Hathaway. Critic Frank Lovece acknowledges that the first film was a hit according to independent animation standards, but he's not so kind to the sequel, faulting the "primordial" CG animation and "hackneyed pop-culture references," which date back to the last couple of decades. Like Prom, this animated sequel should debut under $10 million, a relic of when the Weinstein Co. lost its momentum.

Finally, the horror-comedy spoof Dylan Dog: Dead of Night (862 theatres) will target itself toward horror buffs. Based on a comic book, the movie centers on a detective that specializes in the undead (zombies, vampires, etc.). His business card reads "No pulse? No problem."

Those that like a splash more blood can check out director Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins (3 theatres). Technically a samurai pic (jidaigeki), Miike's latest effort "bathe[s the genre] in a steady downpour of blood, mud and filth," according to critic Maitland McDonagh.

After receiving a warm reception on the festival circuit, Werner Herzog's documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams will start its release with 5 theatres. Shot in "terrific" 3D, critic Doris Toumarkine enjoyed his footage of the Chauvet Caves, and found Herzog's "enthusiasm and awe...contagious."

On Monday, we'll see if Fast Five can get up to that 70 MPH box-office figure, if tweens show an iota of their High School Musical devotion for Prom, and if Hoodwinked Too! is able to steal some thunder from Rio.

Disney's got a date for 'Prom'

By Sarah Sluis

Yesterday, the blogosphere was circulating with the news that Disney had passed on The Proposal 2, despite the fact that the original movie made over $300 million worldwide while costing just $40 million. The supposed reason? Not enough merchandising.

Today, Disney announced that a project developed under previous production head Oren Aviv has been put back on track. Entitled Prom, the movie would follow around nine teenagers as they prepare for the big event. The ensemble focus makes it seem like a teen version of Valentine's Day, but the studio is hoping the young, high school focus will replicate the success of High School Musical. The financial hook for the movie includes a low, low budget, in the neighborhood of $5-10 million, and a cast of unknowns. As in High School Musical, the studio hopes to launch some new stars. Disney, along with Nickelodeon, is a clearinghouse for young stars that it likes to shepherd into fame. If Disney writes a clause in a contract that calls for a sequel or an option to appear in a subsequent film, it could lock in an actor that becomes a star through his/her appearance in Prom, most likely at a lower rate.

Although a teen romance may not seem like the biggest opportunity for merchandising, Google proved me wrong. The High School Musical franchise has fleece blankets, Barbie knock-offs, life-size photos/standees, logo wristbands, pens, hair products, Christmas stockings, hair ties, calendars, toothbrushes, a "four-piece study kit" (a.k.a. pencil pouch, sharpener, eraser and ruler), umbrellas, board games--a child could have an entire room full of High School Musical merchandise.

The one snag to this film in my mind is a theatrical release. The High School Musical movies were able to build a huge following because they were constantly played on the Disney Channel. Because it was a musical (which this movie will not be), it encouraged repeat viewings as kids interacted with the movie, trying to learn the songs and dances that went along with it. While Disney has incredible access and experience with the teen market, launching a movie without any stars will be challenging--but one that Disney is the most equipped to handle. And with a $5-10 million investment, there's not much to lose.