Can the Captain break an April record?

Captain America: The Winter Soldier flies into 3,938 theatres today, by all indications readying itself for quite the stunt landing. This latest installment in the increasingly crowded Marvel cinematic universe has already broken the record for most advance tickets sold, according to Fandango. Overseas, the film has grossed more than $100 million.

Can Captain America break $100 million at the domestic box office this weekend? Between advance sales and positive reviews (87 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) it’s certainly possible, although most pundits are predicting slightly lower returns, in the still-magnificent $80-$90 million range. The Winter Soldier has a few things going for it: The return of Avengers crossover characters Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) as well as an association with the familiar S.H.I.E.L.D. organization (itself the subject of a TV series – media hybridity at its best), and the introduction of a new hero, Falcon (Anthony Mackie). The WWII period setting that dominated much of the first film has been swapped in favor of a contemporary Washington, D.C., backdrop. An ultra-modern conflict involving wiretapping, national security, and that thin line between necessary protection and unlawful invasion of privacy also lends the movie a topical boost. Critics certainly like it. All in all, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is poised to set a new April record. (Fast Five currently holds the title of Strongest April Debut, having opened to $86.2 million in 2011.)

The much delayed Halle Berry vehicle, Frankie and Alice, also opens this weekend in limited release. The movie has been ready and yet collecting dust on the shelves since 2010, even though Berry won an award for her portrayal of a woman suffering from multiple-personality disorder that year. From distributor Freestyle Releasing, Frankie and Alice changed hands to current distributor Code Black, which is a division of Lionsgate.  Even given the draw of Berry’s name, it’s unlikely Frankie and Alice will earn more than $500,000.

Holdovers Noah and Divergent should round out the weekend’s top three just behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

VIEW FROM THE TERRACE

By Sarah Sluis

Lakeview Terrace captured the top spot this weekend with a $15.6 million opening.  The neighbor-terror

picture, with some racial overtones thrown in, benefited from Samuel L. Jackson's performance.  While reviewers generally shrugged at the film, as least one critic noted that "Jackson hasn't had a role this good or this complex in many a moon."  With over one hundred films to his credit, Jackson has made something of a career from roles in moderately-budgeted, male-oriented genre films�including, as of late, the unusual snake duo Snakes on a Plane and Black Snake Moan.  While I haven't seen Lakeview Terrace, Jackson's villains are always compelling, and his supporting appearances always carry beyond the screen, making you wish he didn't have to die off so soon.

Two other newcomers, rom-com My Best Friend's Girl and animated tale Igor had disappointing opening weekends, coming in at #3 and #4, with $11.3 million and $8 million takes.  Neither was particularly well-reviewed�Film Journal pronounced Igor "decent" and My Best Friend's Girl "irredeemably ugly."  Audiences smelled a stinker and went for some of the better options in the multiplex.

Burn After Reading did surprisingly well in its second week, dropping only 41% and grabbing the #2 spot.  If I were a teen girl (as I once was), I would go for Brad Pitt in Burn After Reading over the iffy romantic comedy My Best Friend's Girl.

Other newcomer Ghost Town came in at #8 with a $5.2 opening.  The studio dropped 500 theatres from the run at the last minute, perhaps conceding that the film wouldn't be able to expand on its niche audience appeal.

Rounding out the top ten were last week's Righteous Kill, Tyler Perry's The Family that Preys, and The Women.  July's Dark Knight and August's House Bunny have also continued to bring solid returns, each coming in a bit under $3 million for the week.

Both Appaloosa and The Duchess had strong per-screen averages. The Duchess cheated a little bit, as its "per location" average (running on a couple screens in one location) of $29,000 beat out Appaloosa's per screen average of $18,429.  I saw The Duchess this weekend and many of its most dramatic moments played as absurd comedy, which definitely was not mentioned in any of the reviews or marketing of the film.  Ralph Fiennes' performance as the Duke was so bizarre it kept on drawing incredulous laughter from the audience.  One of the biggest laughs came from the wedding night scene, in which Fiennes aseptically inquires for scissors from a maid to undress Keira Knightley.  While not played as creepy, the moment is so bizarrely matter-of-fact the audience couldn't contain itself.  Inappropriate laugher aside, both of these films, with their strong per-screen numbers, should expand into more theatres.  Appaloosa already has a scheduled wide release in two weeks.  Assumedly, The Duchess will also expand, but no definite date has been set.

A SPIRITED WEEKEND?

By Sarah Sluis

While not as strong as last week's lineup, this week brings four wide releases and three limited releases to the box office.

Ghost Town (1,505 screens)
Ghost Town features Ricky Gervais, star of the British "Office," as a grumpy dentist.  In a premise simultaneously gallows-humor and gross-out, Gervais has a near-death experience during a colonoscopy.  Upon revival, he can see ghosts, who pester him to tie up their unfinished business.  Reluctantly, he agrees to help ghost Greg Kinnear prevent his wife from remarrying, and in the process falls for the wife.  Gervais is still a niche star stateside, beloved among those who like to claim they got in on hit show "The Office" back when it was an overseas import.  If this film can have a big enough presence opening weekend, I think it will stick around for awhile as word-of-mouth takes over.

Lakeview Terrace (2,464 screens)

Lakeview Terrace takes those neighbor-from-hell horror stories and packages them into a thriller.  A couple moves next door and draws the ire of Samuel L. Jackson, a seemingly upstanding citizen and LAPD Officer.  The conflict escalates from maliciously placed floodlights to slashed tires, and the badge of the officer next door makes calling the cops useless.  Implied in the trailer is the LAPD Officer's discomfort with his neighbors' interracial marriage.  This film looks like a strong shot at number one or number two.

My Best Friend's Girl (2,604 screens)
My Best Friend's Girl offers a permutation on the plot of another Kate Hudson vehicle, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days.  Dane Cook plays a guy recruited by ex-boyfriends to be an obnoxious date, sending them flying back into the arms of their exes.  He's hired by Jason Biggs to repel Kate Hudson, but the plan backfires as the two fall for each other.  While most romantic comedies seem clearly guy-centric (Saving Silverman) or girl-centric (27 Dresses), My Best Friend's Girl appears to fall in between.  Both Dane Cook and Kate Hudson have star personas that seem tailored to their own sex, so I imagine that pairing them together will draw in a wider audience than a pure Kate Hudson vehicle.  Nevertheless, this film will probably come in behind at least one holdover release, and certainly Lakeview Terrace.

Igor (2,339 screens)

Animated film Igor opens to a market devoid of children's movies�perhaps this will be a reward for kids who have successfully navigated their first couple weeks of school?  Starring John Cusack as the voice of humpback sidekick Igor, the film shows the sidekick breaking away from his unappreciative master and proving he can intelligently design a scientific experiment (a human-like creature!) on his own.

Appaloosa (14 screens), The Duchess (7 screens), and Hounddog (11 screens)
Other smaller releases include Ed Harris' Appaloosa, a traditional, finely rendered Western, and The Duchess, in which Keira Knightley dons yet another costume and tests her star power�this one's on my to-see list.  Lastly, Hounddog, a film about a poor, mistreated Southern girl, starring Dakota Fanning, also releases, with a general critical thumbs-down.  Fanning, however, has proved herself to be a talented actress with a talented agent, and this small film precedes two others that will release in 2008�The Secret Life of Bees, in which she will also play a maligned Southern girl, and Coraline, a 3D animated feature with an Academy run this December.