'Thor' strikes down 'Fast Five'

By Sarah Sluis

The (pre-)summer box office continued to heat up with this weekend's release of Thor. The comic book-based action extravaganza easily soared to $66 million, beyond timid estimates that put the movie at $50 million or so. Compared to Fast Five last weekend, Thor attracted a younger audience, but a less ethnic one. The car-centered sequel has a diverse cast, while Thor's comic book and swords-and-sandals elements made it popular among younger viewers.

Fast Five ran low on gas its second week, dropping 63% to $32.5 million. These kinds of drops are the price movies pay for opening at $86 million, however. With over $300 million worldwide in two weeks, I'm sure no one at Universal is complaining.

Romantic comedies Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed both overperformed, coming in at $13.7 and $13.1 million, respectively. Jumping the Broom, centered on two African-American families, had an added boost from faith-based audiences. One of the executive producers, Bishop T.D. Jakes, heads a megachurch, and the leading lady reportedly finds love after embracing abstinence. Both films attracted audiences around 70% female.

This weekend was a bad one for specialty films, with no release posting over a $5,000 per-screen average. The moody "will-they-or-won't-they" cheating film, Last Night, opened to just a $3,200 per-screen average. Mel Gibson may unleash a tirade over the performance of The Beaver, which opened to a $4,700 per-screen average. There Be Dragons, a Spanish Civil War-themed thriller, did the best of the bunch, averaging $2,660 per screen but earning $689,000 by releasing on 259 screens.

This Friday, Bridesmaids leads in hype, promising a female version of The Hangover. Vampire horror flick Priest (3D) will feed horror fans and Will Ferrell will make a blip in the dark indie comedy Everything Must Go.

Can 'Thor' outrace 'Fast Five'?

By Sarah Sluis

Last week's record-breaking Fast Five debut jump-started the summer box-office season. Many are betting that the success of the Diesel-driven sequel brought hibernating moviegoers back, readying them to return for more fun summer films. If so, Thor (3,955 theatres) could easily attain the $50-60 million that industry experts predict for the comic-book adaptation. With over 70% of the screens showing the film in 3D, and over 200 IMAX locations, Thor will be able to take advantage of more box-office premiums than Fast Five. Thor's getting fairly positive ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned the endorsement of Frank Lovece, who dubbed it a "comic-book romance for grown-ups." Non-comic book lovers will enjoy the funny scenes of Thor, exiled to New Mexico, experiencing loss of power for the first time. It's a welcome relief after an opening with one of those tired video game-style slaughters, in which 100 against one simply provides 99 more opportunities to kick-punch/knife/flail someone to death.

If the preview screening I attended is any indication, Something Borrowed (2,904 theatres) will be filled with receptive female audiences. I think it's one of the best "traditional" romantic comedies out in a long time. I had almost forgotten how nice it is to leave the theatre filled with giddy warm fuzzies. Critics slammed the film with just a 12% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but I suspect that these critics must not have a receptor for giddy warm fuzzies. David Noh begrudgingly noted the film is "a bit more than passable," and singled out Kate Hudson's "amusing portrait of an egomaniacal frenemy." However, the TV commercials I saw for the film were just plain terrible, so I wouldn't be surprised if the romantic comedy doesn't break $10 million.

The other romantic comedy on the plate this week is Jumping the Broom (2,035 theatres), which centers on the wedding of a wealthy bride and a working-class groom. Their families, predictably, do not get along. The "talented, really gorgeous cast goes a long way toward making it a highly watchable, pretty damned good time," according to Noh. Like Something Borrowed, this coupling-centered comedy should land somewhere over or under the $10 million mark.

In "a role that seems to summon his private demons," according to critic Rex Roberts, Mel Gibson talks through a toy puppet in The Beaver (22 theatres). Gibson's "earnest" performance, along with "Jodie Foster's able direction," make for a "genuine original" film. Grindhouse tribute Hobo with a Shotgun (2 theatres) offers a "pitch-perfect recreation of the brutal, low-budget crime films of the '70s," according to critic Maitland McDonagh. The link between diet and chronic disease is explored in Forks over Knives (6 theatres), which I found "scattered" but thought-provoking and good for after-movie discussions.

On Monday, we'll see if Thor struck down Fast Five, and which romantic comedy beckoned more audiences.

John Krasinski grabs a two-film part in 'Something Borrowed'

By Sarah Sluis

Perhaps you remember Taylor Lautner's tiny role in Twilight. Without much thought to how big the movie would be, Summit cast a relative unknown with questionable leading man looks. In the sequel, Lautner had a much bigger role, which led Summit to fret about recasting the part for the sequel. Lautner got a trainer, a six-pack, and maybe a nose job (I haven't been able to confirm, and neither has the Internet), and appears to have grown well into his role as Jacob Black.

To avoid that kind of situation, John Krasinski ("The Office," Away We Go) has been cast in a supporting role for Something Borrowed, with the idea that he'll take on a larger role in the sequel, Something Blue. Authored by Emily Giffin, both of the books have been pretty big hits in the chick lit realm. In the first, a well-behaved lawyer Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) stands by while her more attractive, selfish publicist friend, Darcy, plans a marriage to Dex, a friend of hers. Dex and Rachel end up sleeping with each other, leading to a web of lies and cheating. What's unusual is that the cheating tale is sympathetic to the cheaters, but that's what's made the book more successful, in my opinion--everyone loves a tale of sweet revenge.

What's even more different, from a casting perspective, is that the sequel centers on the enemy, Darcy, who everyone reading the story has grown to hate. She's pregnant (having cheated on her fianc while they were engaged) and goes to London to stay with her friend Ethan (could this be Krasinski?). He sets her straight and helps her have an epiphany of sorts about her bad behavior (i.e., no drinking during pregnancy). Hilary Swank is producing, so it seems like she would be a candidate to play Darcy, but that information has never been released. Filming will start this summer, however, making casting decisions imminent. Luke Greenfield (The Girl Next Door) is directing.

Today's Film News: Chanel Biopic and Chicklit Acquisition

By Sarah Sluis

A couple of promising female-oriented titles have moved ahead in production, hopefully a sign that producers have responded to the box-office votes made by the droves of women who turned out for Sex and the City.

Tautou in Chanel
Chanel biopic Coco Avant Chanel, planned with French darling Audrey Tautou in the starring role, now has Warner Brothers on board to produce and distribute in the United States.  Taking a cue from the prominent role of couture in SATC, the production's second move was to sign on famed Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld to consult on the costuming.  While I have always been drawn to Tautou's pixie-like face onscreen, not her clothing or figure, a Chanel suit can only add to her film presence.

Swank Buys, not Borrows
Emily Giffin's best-selling chick-lit novels Something Borrowed and Something Blue have been acquired by Hilary Swank's production company.  The books themselves were mashed potatoes�comforting and predictable pleasures.  With the right cast and scripting, I think this project could be become more than the instant Kate Hudson-Matthew McConaughey vehicle.

The first book has the best friend/maid-of-honor "borrowing" the groom, justified by the sympathetic portrayal of the best friend and the downright narcissistic behavior of the bridezilla.  The second book puts us in the shoes of the now knocked-up, cuckolded and humbled bridezilla as she learns to care for someone beside herself�barely.  Because the bridezilla character is so detestable in the first book, and only becomes endearing at the turning point of the second book, I hope they do not plan on combining the books together, as the same production company did when adapting the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.  Even with the novels separated into two films, the plot will pose a challenge for casting, as they will have to find an actor able to play the bitch and then carry the second film as the heroine.  Plus, the heroine is pregnant and falls in love�but given the recent spate of films on that subject, I would no longer red-flag this element of the plot.  As for the male lead?  Well, they could always choose Colin Firth.