Viewers inundate theatres for ‘Noah’

Darren Aronofosky’s Noah has proven itself an unqualified success. Having bowed to $44 million domestically, Noah has already grossed more than Aronofsky’s first four films combined. It marks the most successful debut ever for a film in which Russell Crowe plays the lead role.

Noah’s audience was evenly split along gender lines, and skewed older: About 74 percent was over the age of 25. Though they showed up in droves, viewers did not leave feeling overly impressed with what they saw, awarding the film a fairly weak C CinemaScore grade. However, recent success The Wolf of Wall Street also earned the middling C and yet managed to hold well. Noah, of course, doesn’t have the advantage of that movie’s Oscar buzz, but it still has a good chance of reaping $110 million in total.

Last weekend’s champ Divergent clocked in at No. 2. The YA actioner dipped 52 percent, which is an impressive hold, considering The Hunger Games suffered a downturn of 62 percent its second weekend in theatres. Divergent added another $26.5 million to its cume that now stands at over $95 million.

Third and fourth place went to current family offerings Muppets Most Wanted and Mr. Peabody & Sherman, respectively. The former may have failed to match the debut of its predecessor when it opened last weekend, but it made up for that disappointment (somewhat) by out-earning The Muppets its second weekend out of the gate. Most Wanted grossed $11.4 million, while The Muppets earned a weaker $11.1 million over its sophomore outing in 2011. For its part, Mr. Peabody & Sherman wasn’t too far behind Kermit and company with a $9.4 million haul. The animated flick now stands at $94.9 million and is on track to cross $100 million within the next several days.

Surprise hit God’s Not Dead continued to chart a successful box-office course. The faith-based film earned $9.1 million to land the weekend’s No. 5 slot. The movie can now boast $22 million after 10 days in theatres.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is officially the highest-grossing movie ever for director Wes Anderson.  The film finally expanded wide this past weekend and earned $8.8 million. Hotel’s cume stands at an impressive $24.4 million, with more on the way following this weekend’s continued expansion.

In dismal seventh place, Sabotage bombed with just $5.3 million. That is the worst haul for a film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in almost 30 years and is the actor’s third disappointment in a row. In other words, it might be time for Arnold to holster that gun.

Cesar Chavez raked in $3 million, which, although solid, yet fell short of expectation. The film will likely perform well on Monday, however, which is Cesar Chavez Day.

Finally, the weekend concluded on a considerable high note when Disney’s Frozen became the highest-grossing animated film of all time. The princess movie wrested the title from former record-holder Toy Story 3 when it opened strong in its final market, Japan. Where Toy Story 3 grossed $1.063 billion worldwide, Frozen has now earned $1.072 billion. Can it go on to beat The Dark Knight Rises ($1.084 billion)?

‘Divergent’ justifies franchise plans

Young-adult adaptation Divergent hit the mark this weekend with its $56 million bow. Although less than that which the first Twilight or either of the Hunger Games films earned over their opening weekends, Divergent’s debut is nonetheless strong enough to justify Summit Entertainment’s plans to move ahead with sequels Insurgent (booked for March 2015) and Allegiant (March 2016). And a good thing, too – shooting on Insurgent has already begun.

Muppets Most Wanted landed in second place but failed to measure up to its predecessor. The family film stumbled out of the gate, grossing $16.5 million. Although no one expected Most Wanted to perform as well as 2011’s The Muppets, which enjoyed a $29.2 million debut, most pundits were predicting returns in the low $20 millions. Audiences awarded the film a “B+” CinemaScore grade, which means generally positive word-of-mouth should help it reach a total of around $50 million by the end of its theatrical run.

The number three and four slots went to holdovers Mr. Peabody & Sherman ($11.7 million) and 300: Rise of an Empire ($8.7 million), respectively. The weekend’s great success story, however, belongs to No. 4, or God’s Not Dead. The film about a young Christian college student who challenges his atheist professor raked in a great $8.56 million, the best debut ever for a faith-based movie opening in fewer than 1,000 theatres. The surprise hit could earn as much as $30 million in total, further testament (no pun intended) to the fact the Christian faithful is a demographic to be reckoned with.

Need for Speed continued to sputter, dipping 56 percent to earn the weekend’s No. 5 spot with its $7.78 million tally.

In the specialty realm, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel keeps on chugging merrily along,  adding an additional $6.75 million to its cume that now stands at just under $13 million. After a successful platform release, it will finally expand wide, to 800+ theatres, next weekend.

‘Frozen’ ices weekend competition

Undeterred by the weekend’s frigid temperatures and, in many areas, first major snowstorm of the year, audiences showed they were all about that ice by lining up for Disney’s Frozen. The animated hit grossed $31.6 million, enough to bypass The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (which took in $27 million) for the weekend’s top slot. Frozen dropped just 53% to earn the best post-Thanksgiving haul ever. Previous record-holder, Toy Story 2, took in $27.8 million in 1999, while three years ago, Frozen’s Mouse-House sister Tangled grossed $21.6 million over this same weekend. In total, Disney’s latest success story will likely earn around $250 million domestically.

Frozen’s worthy competitor Catching Fire continues to do spectacular business, on track to leave with upwards of $400 million by the time its theatrical run has come to an end, although many pundits were surprised by the film’s steep downturn this weekend. The Hunger Games sequel dipped 64%, which is worse than both of the last two Twilight movies.  No need to cry for Katniss, though: The action flick has, so far, earned a total of $336.7 million domestically, with another few weeks of solid earning potential ahead of it.

The same can’t be said of the weekend’s No. 3 slot and only new major release. While no one was particularly surprised Out of the Furnace failed to prove itself a hit, the extent of its failure was greater than expected. With a dismal $5.3 million bow, the revenge thriller is an unqualified bomb. Those who had compared it to last year’s Killing Them Softly, which earned $6.8 million and was also a disappointment, were expecting Furnace to fare a little better and gross about $10 million or so. Audiences, however, may have felt there was enough bleakness to be viewed outside their windows, and decided to opt for something lighter.

Something like Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa, which inched past the $100 million mark to become the 6th R-rated comedy to reach the milestone this year. The Coen Bros. Inside Llewyn Davis also did banner specialty business, debuting to $401,000 from just four locations, two in New York and two in LA. Its per-theatre average of $100,250 is the 18th best ever, or 8th best for a live-action film. The movie will next expand on the 20th, although its wide release isn't slated until some time in January. 

Can ‘Frozen’ cool ‘Fire’s’ streak?

This year’s Thanksgiving weekend is serving up a battle of the elements, as Frozen goes head-to-head with reigning champion, Catching Fire. (Which reminds us of these classic antagonists.) The Disney animated musical and latest princess movie opens wide in 3,742 theatres today. The film’s tracking strong on Rotten Tomatoes at 88% fresh, and boasts a megawatt cast of Broadway stars, including Wicked’s Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, as well as Kristen Bell as spunky and motormouthed protagonist Anna. Already, Frozen is out-selling 2010’s Tangled in advance ticket sales. Expectations, as they generally are for Disney family fare, are high, with pundits seeing receipts in the $70 million range.

Odds are, however, Catching Fire will continue to light up the box office. The successful Hunger Games sequel and Lionsgate’s early Christmas present (to themselves) had earned $170 million domestically as of Monday. It’ll likely hold strong through the weekend. Where previous November blockbuster Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part II fell 69% over the holiday weekend, Catching Fire’s inevitable sophomore dip shouldn’t be more than 50, 55%.

Also hoping to wrangle a large slice of the holiday b.o. pie – or what’s left of it, anyway – Black Nativity, starring Jennifer Hudson, Forest Whitaker, and Angela Bassett; Homefront, with Jason Statham, James Franco, Winona Ryder, and Kate Bosworth; and Oldboy, Spike Lee’s Korean cult-movie remake starring Josh Brolin, are all bowing today. Nativity, targeted toward an African American audience and opening just as the Christmas season begins in earnest, should perform the best of the bunch with around $10 million. Neither Homefront nor Oldboy have garnered particularly favorable reviews, but they can both count on built-in audiences (Statham fans, original Oldboy fanboys) to show up, regardless of a grousing peanut gallery. With Homefront opening in 2,572 theatres, it’s expected to gross in the high single digits. At just 583 locations, Oldboy will likely reap around $3 million.

There aren’t any specialty releases opening today, but Philomena and The Book Thief will both expand. Judi Dench and Steve Coogan’s odd-couple drama will broaden its audience base as it goes from screening in four to 835 theatres. Thief will open in 1,234 locations across the country and, most likely, gross between $5 and $9 million.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

‘Catching Fire’ does just that

As predicted, records were shattered this past weekend, thanks to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’s fantastic bow. The sequel to 2012’s Hunger Games (and we thought that film was popular) earned $161.1 million domestically and $307.7 worldwide. Here’s how it stacks up against previous cinematic and pop culture phenoms:

• Catching Fire had the highest-grossing November opening of all time. The old record-holder, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, debuted to a paltry (it’s all relative) $148.2 million.


• Catching Fire had the fourth highest-grossing opening ever. Its cume ranks just behind The Avengers’ $207.4 million, Iron Man 3’s $174.1 million, and the last Harry Potter movie’s $169.2 million.


• Katniss & Co. just barely dethroned The Dark Knight Rises, which got bumped down a peg to the No. 5 slot on the list of most successful domestic opening weekends. Knight opened to $160.9 million back in 2012.

Catching Fire is also Lionsgate’s most successful release to date. It had the 12th most lucrative international opening ever.

Some other movies made some money this weekend, too, although their stories are less uplifting. Thor: The Dark World earned $14.1 million, the most money of any film that was not Catching Fire. As its total suggests, The Dark World suffered a freefall of a drop in sales, down 61% from last week. The Best Man Holiday, last weekend’s surprise success story, also staggered, falling 58% to gross $12.5 million. While reverberations from the revolution brewing in The Hunger Games' Panem have clearly hurt the cinema’s other offerings, neither The Dark World nor Holiday has been fatally wounded. The Thor sequel will likely finish out with a little over $200 million, while The Best Man Holiday will probably top out at $75 million.

Similar reassurances cannot be made on behalf of Vince Vaughn’s latest vehicle, Delivery Man. The comedian begat a bomb with his tale of a boy-man sperm donor whose contributions result in 500+ children. Delivery Man grossed $8.2 million, less than half of each of Vaughn’s last two films, The Internship and The Dilemma. At least Vaughn can take comfort in knowing other name stars, at least those who were not christened Jennifer Lawrence, have also seen their stock fall this season. Both Runner Runner, starring Ben Affleck and Justin Timberlake, and The Counselor, whose credits read like the guest list for Vanity Fair’s Oscar party (Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Michael Fassbender, and Brad Pitt) opened to less than $10 million. Times, they are a changin’.

One thing, however, remains constant: the undeniable appeal of Judi Dench. The grand dame’s Philomena opened in four locations and earned a respectable (how could it could have been anything other than?) $133,716, or $33,429 per theatre.

Neither has Tom Hanks lost his enduring appeal. The actor’s Oscar contender Captain Phillips sailed past the $100 million domestic mark this weekend, its seventh, with no sign of slowing pace.

‘Games’ to make child’s play of weekend b.o.

It’s a foregone conclusion the second installment in the Hunger Games franchise, opening today in 4,163 theatres, will prove victorious at the box office this weekend  – and the next weekend, and the one after that, and so on and so forth, until Catching Fire has not merely broken but incinerated most sales records set before it.

If our expectations sound a tad hyperbolic, consider the context. The first Hunger Games film opened to an awe-some $152 million. It continued to hold strong through the duration of its theatrical run, resisting any significant downturn in sales thanks to strong word-of-mouth and favorable reviews. By the time it finally closed, The Hunger Games had amassed $408 million. That makes it the 14th highest-grossing movie of all time. Surprisingly, it out-earned any of the Harry Potter or Twilight films, which had previously set the bar for frenzied-fan fare.

Then there’s that small, shiny pated statue perched somewhere in Jennifer Lawrence’s house. The actress who plays Katniss Everdeen has seen her star rise and rise since 2012’s Games. She won an Oscar for her turn as a stubborn yet compassionate (we spy a theme) dancer in David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook last year, and stood out within an ensemble cast of pretty mutants in Marble’s lucrative tentpole X Men: First Class. Add to the mix all those viral videos of her acting lovely, like the one in which she comforted a crying fan, and Jennifer Lawrence is capable of calling upon quite a large group of faithful for support.

However, there are those pundits who believe it would be difficult for any film, even this one, to surpass a $152 million weekend opening. There’s little doubt Catching Fire will match its predecessor – beyond that, it may eke out another $8 million or so for a staggering $160 haul. Odds are favorable.

Less so for the latest Vince Vaughn comedy, Delivery Man. Once a bankable draw, Vaughn has taken his lumps of late. Neither The Internship nor The Dilemma (no, can’t remember them either) was very successful, with the one opening to $17.3 million and the other $17.8 million. Man is tracking for an even poorer debut.

Specialty release Philomena also opens in four locations today. The film has seen a small boost in publicity in recent weeks, thanks to Harvey Weinstein’s successful campaign to change the movie’s R rating to PG-13. Weinstein’s hoping the softened label will reap dividends when Philomena opens wide and becomes accessible to family and church-going audiences, but for now, its largely positive reviews should appeal to the weekend’s arthouse viewers.

In all, between Catching Fire and the still popular Thor: The Dark World and The Best Man Holiday, this coming weekend could be one of the cinema’s best ever.

Casting 'Brave New World'

With her spirited refusal to conform to her society’s dictates, espousing a rebelliousness born of an intuitive and empathetic rather than a philosophical or intellectual hatred of totalitarianism, Katniss Everdeen is the latest, and one of the most broadly appealing, heroes in a long line of dystopian dissenters. That she’s an athletic, stubborn and outspoken girl helps her stand out from the pack of men and one very troubled little boy who’ve dared question the repressive societies that came before hers, societies of which The Hunger Games’ Panem is a clear inheritor. One could picture President Snow enforcing an INGSOC-like (the dominant “thoughtcontrol” political ideology of George Orwell’s novel 1984) set of rules in order to safeguard against further challenges to his authority, to ensure a Katniss can never again inspire mass discontent. Maybe he should have read a little more before relying on dubious masters of games.

Orwell’s 1984, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, and another young adult novel, Lois Lowry’s The Giver, are three major dystopian precursors to the Hunger Games franchise. There have been two film adaptions of 1984, most recently a 1984 (tricky of them) movie starring John Hurt and Richard Burton. There’s also a star-studded The Giver feature currently in development: Alexander Skarsgard, as protagonist Jonas’ father; Meryl Streep, as The Chief Elder; and Jeff Bridges, as the titular Giver, are all attached. (Taylor Swift is also on board as the pitiable Rosemary. We’ve  decided to tactfully withhold judgment on that point.)

But the grandfather of them all, Huxley’s Brave New World, has only ever been adapted in the less prestigious format of a TV movie. A 1998 version saw Peter Gallagher playing Bernard Marx, the naysayer with a Napoleon complex, and Leonard Nimoy, in a piece of spot-on casting, as the powerful and intelligent Mustapha Mond. According to IMDB, another Brave New World adaptation  is in development. However, no credits have been added yet. We take this omission as license to cast our own dream Brave New World feature. Petty Bernard and tragic John are unlikely to draw the kind of fervent following that’s lined up behind the compassionate and hotheaded  Katniss Everdeen, but their story, if only as a kind of historical tract to show how we’ve arrived at telling the stories we recount today, is nonetheless worth the cinematic retelling.

Here’s how we would populate a modern film version of Brave New World:

Bernard Marx: Casey Affleck
The story begins with Bernard Marx, a shorter-than-average “Alpha Plus,” or member of one of London’s upper castes. Bernard is a vocal critic of his government, a powerful body with a contingency plan for every emotion or circumstance that could make a human feel, well, human. But Bernard’s dissatisfaction with his surroundings is less a function of any moral qualms he may harbor, than of the physical insecurities he most certainly nurtures. Bernard is short, like those in the lesser Delta, Gamma or Epsilon castes who have been born and bred to be ignorant, obedient workers. He’s often petty because he feels inferior, and easily loses his head when public approbation comes his way. But the actor who plays Bernard has to be likable enough for an audience to follow him in the film’s early scenes, to be a kind of hapless Virgil through whom we come to understand his world. It’s handy that, at 5’9”, Affleck is on the shorter side, but, more importantly, he has the ability to endear himself while also inflecting that voice of his with the necessary whining tones (the bickering scenes in the Ocean's movies come to mind. Inevitable byproduct of growing up a younger brother?).

John: Tom Hiddleston
When Bernard travels outside the city to holiday at one of several surrounding “savage” outposts, modeled after Native American reservations, he meets a woman who used to live in London, but who chose to go native rather than return to her home society when she realized she was pregnant. (In this world, all babies are test-tube babies, and sex is only ever a recreational, never procreative, act.) John is her son, the literal and literate noble savage whose desire to see Bernard’s “brave new world” leads to his tragic demise. Though Hiddleston is best known for playing trickster Loki in the Thor movies, his recent turn as the morose vampire outsider in Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive saw him convincingly flash tortured variations on intelligence, pain, lust, and bewilderment, often in the same look. He’s a good decade older than the book’s 18-year-old character, but when has maintaining generational verisimilitude ever stopped Hollywood? Plus, hearing him spout Shakespeare, John’s favorite author, would be a treat.

Helmholtz Watson: Michael Fassbender
Watson is Bernard’s best friend, another self-imposed societal outsider. The two bond over their mutual dislike of their government, but Watson’s motivations are very different from his friend’s: Watson is the physical embodiment of an alpha male, the macho paradigm, who also happens to be a sensitive soul. He longs to be a poet in a world where there is no such thing as self-expression. Like Affleck, Fassbender’s got the bearing for the part, here equal parts manly heft and feeling grace – that is, when he’s not playing a sadist.

Lenina Crowne: Romola Garai
Above and beyond the fact that Garai (“The Hour”) simply needs more starring roles, with her approachable wide-eyed beauty, it’s easy to believe her as the kind of good society girl who attracts the various men (Bernard, John) around her. Although she’s a dedicated adherent to the regime’s status-quo way of life, Lenina needs a lot of the dulling drug soma to get through her days. If she were to go off the stuff, it’s likely there’d be a lot more stuff to her.

Mustapha Mond: Gary Oldman
Mond is the “Resident World Controller of Western Europe,” or the story’s head honcho. He’s cultured, smart, and not as one-note evil as President Snow. A former dissenter himself, as a young man he chose to give up his pursuit of science in favor of working toward the greater good, which, in his mind, meant minimizing the amount of pain and maximizing the amount of happiness experienced by the masses. If he has to suppress art and literature as well as his formerly beloved science, so be it. There’s something very warm about Gary Oldman, for all the villains he’s played, but not saccharine – you can see him nodding his head along in sympatico understanding while watching some poor subversive being hauled off to exile on his orders.

Director: Alfonso Cuaron
The director’s Children of Men may rank among the top modern-day dystopian tales, but it was Cuaron’s pitch-perfect helming of another literary adaptation, 1995’s A Little Princess, which has us believe he’d be perfect for the part. It’s all too easy to turn the source material for Brave New World into a depressing slog through didactic set-pieces that amount to little more than a gnarled finger-wagging, “Beware!” But Cuaron has demonstrated his ability to remain faithful to the content of a work while adding levity or an inventive touch that does precisely what he’s been hired to do: adapt the story to the visual and above all entertaining medium of the movies - as he does in this scene here:

 

Screenplay: Vince Gilligan
Because who better than our resident tragedian to tell the story of John’s fall from grace? Forget the other names on our list. “Vince Gilligan Pens Brave New World” is all the marketing this film would need.

'Think Like a Man' sails to first place

Scoring a number of bests for its distributor, Screen Gems, Think Like a Man exceeded expectations with a $33 million opening, made all the more impressive by the romantic comedy's limited, 2,015-screen count. This is Screen Gems' best opening for a release targeted to black audiences. It also bested the opening of all but one of Lionsgate's Tyler Perry movies. The ensemble comedy, based on a book by Steve Harvey, earned raves from its audiences, too, who marked off the "A" rating in CinemaScore exit polls.

In second place, The Lucky One opened to $22.8 million, in line with previous Nicholas Sparks adaptations. This romantic drama will restore Zac Efron's star power, which had come into question after he followed up "High School Musical" and 17 Again with the disappointing $12 million opening of Charlie St. Cloud.  Three-quarters of the audience was female, and half were under 25.

The Hunger Games finally fell from its top spot to third with $10.2 million. Playing in just over 1,000 locations, the hit dipped just 31%, an impressive hold that brought the box-office success past the $350 million mark.

The loveable apes in Chimpanzee scored the Disneynature release its best three-day opening yet. With $10.2 million, the family- targeted nature documentary did well over its Earth Day release. Even with strong marks from moviegoers, which gave it an "A" CinemaScore rating, the doc's novelty may wear off, especially with plenty of nature-themed material readily available on television.

The Bob Marley documentary Marley earned $260,000. That gave the release, which opened on the stoner holiday of 4/20, a per-screen average of $6,000. The movie was simultaneously available on Facebook and on-demand, though figures for those outlets are kept under wraps.

Darling Companion, which targeted older independent moviegoers with its canine-centered tale, earned $11,000 per screen in four locations. The drama, which stars Diane Keaton and Kevin Kline, did so-so for a specialty film, especially given the stature of its two stars and the woof factor, which is usually a sure-fire way to bring in animal lovers.

This Friday, the romantic comedy The Five-Year Engagement will go up against the action-filled Safe, the thriller The Raven, and the stop-motion animated family film The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

 

'The Hunger Games' tops the box office for the fourth week in a row

The Hunger Games is the first movie to top the box office four weeks in a row since Avatar. Posting its strongest hold yet, the futuristic action movie dipped just 35% for a total of $21.5 million. The megahit has earned $337 million to date. That figure has already topped the lifetime domestic gross of 2010's Alice in Wonderland, another March release that showed the power of the pre-Spring Break box office placement.

Debuting in second place, The Three Stooges earned $17.1 million. Audiences under the 18 were the biggest fans of the trio's antics, giving the comedy an "A" CinemaScore. Despite a marketing campaign that urged women to send their men to see the movie, 42% of the audience was female, indicating that the marketing team may have missed the mark in viewing the humor as male-centric.

The Cabin in the Woods ended up on the high side of expectations with a $14.8 million finish. Even though the movie received a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, and an 81% positive rating from the site's viewers, it fell flat in exit polls, receiving just a "C" rating. Marketing that didn't clarify this was a "different" horror movie is taking the blame. Audiences expecting a normal scarefest apparently didn't like being thrown for a loop.

Titanic 3D sunk just 32% from last week for a total of $11.6 million. Abroad, it's doing even better, particularly in China. There, the film has earned an astonishing $58 million--a further sign that the nation is becoming one of the top foreign markets.

Audiences got straightforward action with Lockout, but there weren't many takers, and the Luc Besson-produced picture earned a middling $6.2 million in a ninth-place finish.

The documentary Bully averaged $3,380 per screen as it expanded into 158 theatres, for a total just over half a million dollars. That average is higher than many films in the top ten, making it a successful doc, but not a blockbuster--at least not yet.

The Raid: Redemption tried to parlay its rave reviews into a wider release. Although it earned $1 million, the action movie's per-screen average of $1,100 was extremely weak.

This Friday, the soldier-civilian romance The Lucky One will attempt to woo Zac Efron fans, Disney celebrates Earth Day with Chimpanzee, and Think Like a Man will mix romance with comedy.

'Three Stooges' and 'Cabin in the Woods' will try to top 'Hunger Games'

By releasing in relatively quiet March, which usually has room for one big blockbuster, The Hunger Games has been able to plow over the competition and keep the number one spot for three weeks in a row. Now the futuristic kids-fighting-to-the-death picture has a chance at winning for the fourth week in a row--as long as it isn't topped by The Three Stooges. The Hunger Games is on track to earn around $18 million, which is just above the estimates for the two wide releases this weekend.

Larry, Curly, and Moe bring their classic shtick to the modern age in The Three Stooges (3,477 theatres). It's hard to top the original, iconic comedic trio, and critic Maitland McDonagh feels the gags "come off as awkward imitations rather than organic reinterpretations." The Farrelly Brothers, who directed, clearly adore the comedians (Have you noticed that Jim Carrey sports Moe's haircut in the directors' hit Dumb and Dumber?) but this is a "misbegotten attempt to revive the anarchic slapstick antics of the trio," McDonagh declares. Still, if any film will beat Hunger Games, it's The Three Stooges.

The Cabin in the Woods (2,811 theatres) is one of the rare films that was shelved for three years and is actually really good, not really bad. Horror films rarely collect raves from critics, but this Joss Whedon-produced picture is currently tracking 92% positive on Rotten Tomatoes. However, genre-bending films like Kick-Ass have a record of delighting fanboys while alienating the masses. Some predict the horror flick will top out at $8-9 million, while other prognosticators think it will earn twice as much. A "wider audience deserves to find The Cabin in the Woods," McDonagh declares. But will they come?

A "so-so action outing from the Luc Besson factory," Lockout (2,308 theatres) "will have trouble attracting anyone besides die-hard action fans," according to critic Daniel Eagan. That may explain why the movie's weekend estimate is hovering somewhere around $7 million. Although it melds together a couple of cool concepts--A prison in space! A kidnapped President's daughter!--"concept tops execution."

The Weinstein Co. finally capitulated and made a few edits to their documentary Bully, though they buried that information deep into their press release. The PG-13-rated film will expand to 55 locations this week. If this documentary can pick up on even a fraction of the publicity devoted to the topic, it will do quite well. Much-lauded Indonesian action flick The Raid: Redemption continues its expansion, moving into over 650 theatres.

On Monday we'll return to see if comedy, horror, or The Hunger Games ruled over the box office.

 

'Hunger Games' outshines 'American Reunion,' 'Titanic 3D'

The Hunger Games reigned at the box office for the third week. Over Passover/Easter weekend, the young-adult adaptation dipped just 43% for a total of $33.5 million. That was enough to push its domestic total past the $300 million mark, an impressive tally for the budding franchise. Director Gary Ross is currently in negotiations to work on the sequel, which has the added wrinkle of needing to work around star Jennifer Lawrence's commitment to the next X-Men film and make the sequel's release date. Catching Fire is currently planned for a Thanksgiving release next year.

Jim, Stifler, Finch, and Jim's Dad were back for American Reunion, which earned $21.5 million. Given the comedy's so-so reviews, its contrived (thirteen-year high school reunion?) nature, and the series' dilution through straight-to-DVD spin-offs, the debut was impressive. People still like these characters and the series' raunchy style of comedy. Maybe there will be a 20-year reunion film in the works.

Unlike many other 3D re-releases, Titanic 3D was not marketed as a limited engagement with a two or three-week run. Given that, its $17.3 million weekend total (and five-day total of $25 million) is pretty good, even if it came in on the low side of expectations. The figure was enough to push the movie past its reported $18 million conversion budget. Paramount is probably looking at the long game, too, since 3D televisions have created a home entertainment market for films that require glasses to watch.

Writer/director Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress made a respectable debut with a $16,000 per-screen average in four locations. Italian import We Have a Pope, nicely timed to Sunday's religious holiday, came up with $10,000 per screen in three locations.

The specialty category had a number of movers and shakers. The Raid: Redemption jumped by 100% more last week as it expanded from 46 to 176 locations. The Indonesian action flick averaged $3,200 per screen for a total of $565,000. Jiro Dreams of Sushi expanded from 26 to 70 locations in its fifth week of release. The sushi-making documentary averaged $3,400 per screen, a 24% increase.

This Friday will see the release of the comedy The Three Stooges, the sci-fi actioner Lockout, and the horror flick Cabin in the Woods.

'American Reunion' and 'Titanic 3D' bring audiences back to the '90s

This weekend is full of throwbacks. American Reunion, the fourth film in the '90s franchise to have a theatrical release, will open in 3,191 theatres. The comedy's "main sentiment is that it’s tough to recapture your youthful abandon when you’re thirty-something, no matter how immature you might be," critic Kevin Lally reports, unimpressed with the movie as a whole. Because this weekend has Easter, Passover, and the beginning or end of Spring Break for many of those in school, an opening of $20-30 million is expected.

Fifteen years ago, Titanic was a megahit. Director James Cameron's movie returns in 3D with a 2,717-screen release, including at least some theatres showing the epic in its original 2D. The critical response to the 3D version has been generally positive. New York magazine film critic David Edelstein offers detailed analysis of the use of 3D, noting that "Cameron’s foregrounds are strong, his compositions multi-tiered, Russell Carpenter’s camerawork limpid." Certain scenes are transformed by the use of 3D. The movie released on Wednesday, and has earned $4.7 million to date. Over the weekend, it could pocket another $20 million or so as nostalgia-seekers and young audiences seek out the classic historical romance, which is something like the Gone with the Wind of our era.

If The Hunger Games drops by half, it will still end up with just under $30 million, so there is a chance the futuristic picture will top the box office, depending on the performance of Titanic 3D and American Reunion. PG-rated Mirror Mirror should hold strong given its family-friendly subject matter.

We the Party, a high school comedy with a "welter of clichés," according to FJI critic David Noh, and a predominantly black cast, will release in 59 theatres. Whit Stillman's latest, Damsels in Distress, a "droll, sophisticated take on the dopey college-comedy genre," according to our Doris Toumarkine, will also hit theatres.

On Monday, we'll see if audiences went back to Titanic and caught the 3D version, if American Reunion did as well as similar reunion comedy Grown Ups and captured a nostalgic, raunch-seeking audience, and if The Hunger Games continues to reign at the top of the box office.

'Hunger Games' outpaces 'Wrath,' 'Mirror Mirror'

Given that so many people were intent on seeing The Hunger Games the moment it came out, it's impressive that the popular literary adaptation only dropped 60% in its second weekend. $61.1 million is more than most movies can hope for their opening weekend, yet Hunger Games was able to follow up its impressive debut weekend with an uptick in attendance among one of the movie's more reluctant demographics--older males. This is a sure sign that the movie has broad appeal beyond its loyal fanbase. With $250 million already in the bank, this is Lionsgate's biggest hit yet. Combined with its merger/buyout of Summit, the two studios have the opportunity to grow from a mini-major to a major. This could be a moment people point to in the industry history books.

In second place, Wrath of the Titans debuted with $34.2 million, roughly in line with expectations. This action epic is all visual, with Greek gods and intricate battle sequences. So it's no wonder that the movie ruled the box office in non-English-speaking territories, while in English-speaking territories The Hunger Games reigned supreme. As the global box office grows, there can only be more room for films like Wrath of the Titans.

Coming in right behind Wrath, Mirror Mirror opened with $19 million. Although the comedic fairy tale got mixed reviews, its PG rating should bring in families with kids on spring break. Wrath is also hoping to take advantage of the school holiday, with both films hoping to build momentum for strong weekday grosses.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and indie dramedy Jeff Who Lives at Home both expanded into around 500 theatres this weekend, but Salmon Fishing was the clear winner. It earned $1.2 million to the second film's $675,000, with double the per-screen average. The first film had strong appeal among older viewers, which may have given the romance-drama a word-of-mouth boost.

The Weinstein Co.'s outrage over Bully's R rating didn't drum up quite as much business as I would have expected. Playing in five theatres, the anti-bullying doc averaged $23,000 per screen. That's a healthy number, but still far shy of the $60,000+ per-screens posted by some films during awards season.

The Island President was also a hot-topic documentary, earning $15,600 per screen on two screens. Given that documentaries can sometimes be tough sells and this isn't peak season, both Bully and Island President may end up playing quite well over a longer run.

This Friday, a re-release of Titanic in 3D will target nostalgia-seekers and younger viewers, and American Reunion will revive the American Pie franchise.

 

Wildly successful 'Hunger Games' earns $155 million

Attracting both fans of the book and the average moviegoer, The Hunger Games earned $155 million this weekend, topping even the highest predictions. There are few franchises that I can really get behind, so I'm pleased that the adaptation did so well--the third-highest opening ever (unadjusted). With so many theatres available for opening weekend, this movie should have a steep drop next week. Looking at the charts featuring the highest opening ever, it's impressive how much variation there is in the "opening weekend percent of total" column. The two Twilight movies just below Hunger Games' spots earned 48-49% of their total from their first weekend. The Dark Knight earned just 29% of its total from the first weekend. Hunger Games should fall closer to Twilight than The Dark Knight, but that still would put the movie at over $300 million domestically.

Although plenty of critics have savaged The Hunger Games, many have also come out on the positive side. In exit polls, moviegoers gave the futuristic movie an "A" rating. This would bode well for weeks to come, but pretty much everyone I know that was interested in the franchise has seen it already. Coming weeks should see repeat viewers, laggers, as well as people curious about the fuss.

Even with The Hunger Games to contend with, 21 Jump Street racked up $21.3 million in its second week. The comedy dropped 41%, in line with most of the other movies in the top ten. The exception? John Carter, just three weeks after the $250+ million film debuted, dove 63% to $5 million. Disney's epic is officially a flop.

In eighth place, October Baby rallied up $1.7 million. The anti-abortion drama may have gotten additional momentum from the Republican political arena, where women's health issues have been in the forefront. Since it released on just 390 screens, it had a healthy $4,400 per-screen average.

The ultra-violent The Raid: Redemption earned $15,700 per screen at fourteen locations. Foreign movies with lots of combat tend to do well at home, and this one had great reviews to boot.

This Friday, Snow White redo Mirror Mirror will release opposite the epic sequel Wrath of the Titans.

 

'The Hunger Games' bets on a $100+ million opening weekend

This weekend's box-office total for The Hunger Games will be somewhere in the low nine digits. The first film installment of the young-adult franchise already earned $25 million last night during midnight and 3 am screenings, including some on IMAX screens. Thanks to the flexibility of digital, adding screenings, showing a film on multiple screens or in bigger auditoriums is easier than ever, so exhibitors should be able to meet demand. In fact, the movie will be in 4,137 theatres but on over 10,000 screens, something that just wasn't possible before the rise of digital. With 35mm, showing a movie on more than one screen was done through interlocking prints, a labor-intensive process that also requires that all the theatres have the same showtime.

Critics have been kinder to The Hunger Games than they have to Twilight, giving it an 86% positive rating. Given that critics are often older than the typical fanboy or fangirl, this speaks to the fact that the movie is tracking well across all four quadrants. Even though The Hunger Games was a young-adult novel, many adults picked the books up, so it makes sense that these demographics would also express interest in the film version. As a fan, I can report that my expectations were met--and exceeded. This movie left me more satisfied than 90% of the literary adaptations I see. Not everyone sparked to how the adaptation handled the whole kids-fight-to-the-death in a futuristic world premise. FJI critic Daniel Eagan acknowledged that fans won't be disappointed, but found the adaptation "both digressive and hurried," without providing answers about what the Games really symbolize. I predict fans will go ga-ga and this futuristic adventure will do big business opening weekend and beyond.

No other big movies opted to release this weekend, but the small and spunky The Raid: Redemption (13 theatres) should satisfy those disappointed with The Hunger Games' PG-13 rating. "Full of dynamic physical stunts and imaginative death blows," the super-violent Indonesian actioner "balances moments of intense quiet with fresh crescendos of visceral violence," according to THR's David Rooney.

Joining the parade of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies, 4:44 Last Day on Earth (3 theatres) comes from the well-regarded director Abel Ferrara. Frank Lovece praises the work as "stunningly believable," with natural dialogue and "a fly-on-the-wall verisimilitude that is both bracingly raw and real and occasionally uncomfortable."

On Monday, we'll see just how high The Hunger Games soared, while learning what movies managed to thrive during a weekend so dominated by one offering.

 

'The Hunger Games' promises big, but it also delivers

Over 2,000 screenings of The Hunger Games have sold out on Fandango. Estimates that the movie could earn $80 million have now been upped to $130-140 million, according to THR. This week, fans lined up at a NYC Barnes & Noble fourteen hours in advance in order to meet the cast. The Regal Union Square had five or six screenings scheduled on Saturday when I checked a few weeks ago. Now it has twenty-five.

I'm happy to report that enthusiastic fans will not be disappointed with that adaptation of Suzanne Collins' franchise. Less excited family and friends who are dragged along to the show may also be pleasantly surprised. At the all-media screening at AMC's Lincoln Square Cinema in New York City this Monday, the crowd was incredibly responsive to the movie--plenty of collective "awwws" and chuckles. The movie itself exceeded my expectations. I had been a bit worried about the CG elements based on the trailer, but they looked much better on the big screen. The games themselves weren't shown in any of the advance material, so the second hour was pure, no-idea-what-it's-going-to-be-like enjoyment. Here are some of the things about the adaptation that I liked best--or least.

The movie trusts its audience. In the book, the heroine is a mother figure to her younger sister, Prim, while her mom suffers from severe depression. In an early scene, Prim looks to her mother for approval but it's Katniss who responds. In a gesture, the actors convey what's going on. No dialogue necessary.

CG that overwhelmed and underwhelmed. Katniss' neighbor and fellow competitor Peeta has a talent for camouflage, and the movie uses CG to great effect to make him look like he's covered in bark, a rock, etc. On the flip side, the tracker-jackers look like regular bees, and the muttations' faces resemble killer animals, not the dead Tributes (participants in the games). However, even I was wondering how they would pull off the muttations. Instead, Katniss and Peeta hear the voices of the fallen. The auditory cues are just as unsettling, and certainly a lot easier (and cheaper) to pull off.

It's more to the spirit of the book than the letter. There are a number of small changes from the page to the screen. The mockingjay pin has a different origin. Katniss' dress during the interviews doesn't burn into a mockingjay pattern (but how would they do that, anyway?). None of the changes bothered me. I would rather the filmmakers move things along rather than contort the screenplay in order to maintain some artifact that just can't be explained properly in a movie. This was a lesson learned from the early Harry Potters, in my opinion.

The action sequences are great. What I loved about the novels is that the action isn't one of brute force, but cunning. Instead of people chasing after each other and having a fight, it's more of a cat-and-mouse game. It's very reminiscent of Drive's opening car chase scene, which involved parking the car as a means of evasion--a scene beloved by myself and many other women I've talked to. The emphasis on strategy partially explains why women in particular are drawn to the series. Strategic bombing of supplies. Letting loose a nest of insects. Hiding and waiting. These are the kind of weapons and tactics I find most engaging.

This weekend, theatres will be flooded with happy fans. I'm already thinking about the next adaptations in the trilogy. Catching Fire, the next film in the series, should easily be a success. Thinking oh-so-far ahead, the series might run into trouble during Mockingjay, as Slate writer Erik Sofje points out. Perhaps Lionsgate's plans to turn the book into two movies may end up helping, not hurting, the action-filled finale. But that will be years away, and this weekend is all about welcoming one of the most satisfying literary adaptations I've seen in a long time.

 

'Hunger Games' may have a bigger weekend than 'Twilight: Breaking Dawn'

It's hard to imagine a female-driven, book-based franchise bigger than Twilight. Yet The Hunger Games should open far above the first Twilight's opening. In fact, it's on track to beat The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, the fourth film in the vampire romance series. What accounts for The Hunger Games' astounding tracking numbers?

One, a wider variety of people are embracing the movie. Breaking Dawn had 36% interest among younger women, Hunger Games has 45%. Among women over 25, 29% expressed interested versus 27% for Twilight. The trend is even more pronounced among males. 28% of males under 25 are interested in Hunger Games, versus just 10% for Breaking Dawn. Only 8% of older males wanted to see Breaking Dawn, but 20% are interested in Hunger Games. The additional interest from males and younger women could push the movie to a $100 million opening. Within a week, Lionsgate could have its highest-grossing film ever.

There's also a more varied plotline. Unlike Twilight, The Hunger Games has action and romance. Its love triangle (a la Twilight) is sandwiched within between an original, futuristic action plotline. These aren't young kids having car chases. They're young kids who have been compelled to fight to the death. For people who are sensitive to realistic motivations, a demographic that may include more females and males, The Hunger Games delivers.

Finally, people are expecting to be wowed. Like the Harry Potter series, the Hunger Games series is filled with action sequences and fantasy elements that just beg to be created on-screen. A big reason fans wanted to see the Harry Potter series was in order to see how the movie interpreted and re-created its magical creatures and buildings. Hunger Games is inspiring the same anticipation.

The Hunger Games comes out on Friday, March 23. American viewers can relish the fact that the PG-13 film didn't require any digital removal of blood, like the U.K. rating board demanded for it to receive a "12A."

 

Two,

The full rundown on the 'Hunger Games' trailer

By Sarah Sluis

Last month I was on an airplane, when I recognized the Hunger Games font in my seatmate's book. "She's reading The Hunger Games!" I thought. Conversation ensued. We were both in our mid-twenties. She was reading the second book on the recommendation of her sister. These are what Hunger Games fans look like. We're not as swoony and crazy as the Twi-hards, but we also don't include the younger fans of the Harry Potter series. Quite a lot of the readers have long aged out of the young adult category but still find themselves turning to the series, which has an immensely satisfying dystopian vision. Twelve districts, used only for their natural resources or manufacturing capabilities, must sacrifice a male and female teen to play in the Games as a Tribute. Armed with weapons and survivalist gear (if they're lucky), they fight to the death in the Arena, a natural environment that's been tweaked by the Gamemakers to make it more dangerous.

The trailer for the movie, which opens on March 23, 2012, released yesterday, unleashing a furor of comments and posts from the blogosphere. I list the trailer's biggest disappointments and successes.

1. District 12. The poor coal town looked exactly as I had envisioned it. The (un-)electric fence looked old and rusty, the citizens downbeat and drained of hope. The platform Effie (played by Elizabeth Banks in makeup that appears to channel Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland) uses to announce the Tributes is bigger and grander than I imagined, with lots of extra screens to amplify the action.

2. The city shot of the Capitol looked bland and boring, like a modern Star Wars ripoff. No budget was spent on this. The interiors were much more promising. Hollywood knows how to create futuristic, modern interiors without a problem. It's the special effects that are lacking here.

3. The makeover. For me, the biggest Jennifer Lawrence transformation was seeing her first as a poor Ozarks girl in Winter's Bone, then as a glamorous blonde at the Oscars. The Hunger Games can't replicate that kind of transformation. She does look prettier and more done up after receiving her makeover at the Capitol, but don't expect The Princess Diaries.

4. The Games. This is really the most important part of the story, and so far there's nothing to disappoint. The trailer stops after all the Tributes enter the arena, and Katniss (Lawrence) grabs the same, single bag that she does in the book. The initial bloodshed occurs just moments later.

Some of the book's biggest assets can't be intuited from a trailer. Suzanne Collins' novel reads like a screenplay at times. There aren't a lot of superfluous details to edit out, and the action is brisk, satisfying, and extremely page-turning. If the actors and director can transfer that energy to the screen, The Hunger Games will have no trouble being a huge success.

First look at 'The Hunger Games' a whole lotta nothing

By Sarah Sluis

When it was announced that MTV's Video Music Awards would feature a clip of The Hunger Games, I expected to see something meaty. Instead, we got a minute-long clip of the film's heroine Katniss running through the forest. There's some fire. She runs. She shoots something with her bow and arrow. That's it. Entertainment Weekly's photo preview of The Hunger Games was better, because at least it revealed some set design along with boring costuming. I'm not surprised that Lionsgate chose to save the best, most sci-fi elements for later on, but I am disappointed. Here are the top five things about The Hunger Games I'm most excited to see translated on film.

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music

1. The Capitol. This is where the sci-fi set design will really get to be shown off. Everything will be gleaming, modern, and totally foreign to Katniss. I hope they don't cut the scene of her being totally flummoxed by the Capitol's weird, elaborate showers. Anyone who's traveled can relate to being unable to figure out how to work odd showers.

2. The Avox. These are rebels who were captured and punished by the Capitol. Their tongues are cut out and they must must work as slaves. Although they don't look that different from regular people, they're one of the many things in the Capitol that takes Katniss by surprise.

3. Katniss' makeover. Everyone loves a good makeover film. Katniss' makeover once she reaches the Capitol promises to be The Princess Diaries on steroids. Not only does she receive a complete bodily transformation, she's also done out to the nines by her dressmaker, which leads me to...

4. The makeover team, Cinna and his dresses. All the people in the Capitol are incredibly superficial and go through extreme body modification as a form of fashion. We're talking crazy hair colors and the plastic surgery of the future. Katniss' makeover team includes Cinna, her stylist and dress designer. He looks a little out there himself, but he's also secretly rooting for Katniss. After dubbing her the "girl on fire," he outfits her in a dress that makes the people in the Capitol finally take note of those in the twelfth district, a grubby, poor area known for its coal.

5. The creatures. In the film's extreme survival games, the Gamemakers don't just throw twenty-four kids into a fake environment and let them fight to the death. They help them along, using frightening creatures to attack and kill unlucky tributes. They also use them to tweak the odds, helping out some and hurting others. In the first film, the creatures include killer wasps called "tracker jackers," mutant wolves that have the faces of the killed tributes, and the benevolent mockingjay, which can imitate human tunes.

I'm sure part of the reason Lionsgate hasn't shown these clips is because they require extensive CG work, but that didn't stop Super 8 from releasing an effects-laden teaser trailer last year. Hunger Games fans will have to be patient until next March, when they get to see the whole film beginning to end.

First look at 'Hunger Games' set, as Lenny Kratitz joins the cast

By Sarah Sluis

I'm two-thirds of the way through the Hunger Games series, and I can't wait for the movie. Unlike the Harry Potter books, which have so many unique subplots and details that the movie must pick and choose what to include, The Hunger Games is incredibly lean. It even reads like a novelization of a screenplay. While I've never liked the Harry Potter movies as much as I liked the books, The Hunger Games will make a great movie. Even while reading the books, I wanted to see the action sequences and environments off the page and on the screen.

Today, some blogs have posted two pictures of District 12. The book takes place in a futuristic America that is ruled by a capitol, with twelve districts that provide agriculture, fish, textiles, etc., to the district. Our heroine Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) lives in District 12, the coal mining district.

The first photo is probably of the Hob, an old warehouse where people go to sell black market goods like bootleg liquor and game from the surrounding, forbidden forest.

The second is a more generic picture of a coal railway car--it's not of any significance to the story, but it helps you get a feel for the Appalachia location.

Lionsgate also announced the casting of Lenny Kravitz, who is going to be absolutely perfect for the role of Cinna. People in the Capitol dress kind of like Lady Gaga, and as a musician Kravitz knows how to rock some weird looks (the photo below proves this point). Cinna becomes the confidant of Katniss, and he also uses his role as dressmaker to subvert the Capitol's intentions.

As The Hunger Games begins filming in order to make its March 23 release next year, there should be more set photos and some final casting announcements. One last reason I'm excited about this movie is director Gary Ross. A big part of The Hunger Games is the transition from the parched, dismal environment in District 12 to the modern, wealthy Capitol region, and then again to the Games. Ross pulled off a similar transition in Pleasantville (you know, the one where they go inside the TV and then turn from black-and-white to color), and I'm confident he will imbue The Hunger Games with that same satisfying sense of transformation.