‘The Winter Soldier’ ices the competition

The Avengers effect was on full display this weekend as Captain America: The Winter Soldier blew its predecessor out of the water, not to mention the other films currently playing in theatres, with a $96.2 million debut. That tallies out to a 48 percent improvement over the first Captain America’s opening weekend haul, and falls just shy of the wildly successful Iron Man’s $98.6 million bow in 2008. Since The Avengers premiered in summer of 2012, subsequent films featuring Avengers characters have enjoyed great success, prompting pundits to coin the term “The Avengers effect.” To wit: Iron Man 3’s debut was up 63 percent over pre-Avengers Iron Man 2, while Thor: The Dark World enjoyed a 30 percent bump over its predecessor. If Captain America: The Winter Soldier roughly follows the same theatrical trajectory as The Dark World, it should end up banking around $230 million in total. With audiences (64 percent male) awarding the movie an A CinemaScore grade, The Winter Soldier’s hold should prove strong in the weeks ahead.

Coming in way, way, practically subterranean (subaquatic?) below Captain America, Noah landed the weekend’s No. 2 spot with a $17 million gross. Down a whopping 61 percent from last weekend, Noah has so far earned $72.3 million.

For its part, the weekend’s No. 3 earner, Divergent, has raked in $114 million to date. It earned $13 million of that total this weekend.

God’s Not Dead continues to testify to the power of the faithful: The film added an additional $7.7 million to its cume that now stands at $32.5 million.  Clocking in at No. 5, The Grand Budapest Hotel continues to testify to the appeal of Wes Anderson: The film raked in $6.3 million. Its cume thus far tallies out to $33.4 million.

Halle Berry’s maltreated Frankie & Alice, which has been ready and waiting for theatrical release since 2010, finally debuted this weekend. Unfortunately, interest in the flick, for which Berry earned a Golden Globe nomination in ’10, was wanting. The movie earned just $350,000 from 171 locations.

On the positive end of the specialty spectrum, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin starring Scarlett Johansson raked in $140,000 from four theatres (two in LA and two in New York City), which tallies out to a nice per-theatre average of $35,000.

'Thor' poised to overtake weekend box-office

As Freddie Mercury might say, this weekend’s box-office contenders are waiting for the hammer to fall. Thor: The Dark World will likely assert its dominance over the domestic market when it bows in 3,841 locations tonight. Many are predicting the sequel to 2011’s Thor will gross approximately $95 million, earning slightly less than fellow superhero flicks Batman, Spider-Man, Iron Man and Superman, which all debuted to upwards of $100 million. Last weekend, The Dark World made headlines when it opened to a tuneful $111 million overseas. Basically, everyone knows who the winner of this weekend’s sales race will be, the question is, by just how much will Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Natalie Portman and team outstrip the competition?

The Avengers effect, the box-office theory that posits solo vehicles for those characters that appeared in 2012’s The Avengers will experience a boost in sales thanks to that film's popularity, proved true for Iron Man 3 and will probably factor into The Dark World’s success.  That Thor’s mighty earning potential is already being treated as a foregone conclusion is great news for the ever-expanding cinematic Marvel universe, though less so for everyone else, like last weekend’s No. 1, Ender’s Game. It’s looking as if the young adult adaptation will slip a couple of spots this Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Bad Grandpa is holding strong, and so is the critically denigrated if fan darling Last Vegas – they’ll likely land at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively. That leaves Ender’s Game to keep warm the oft-overlooked No. 4 slot. The film may have been groomed to spawn a franchise, but such a large dip in popular interest its second weekend out of the gate doesn’t bode well for executive interest in Ender’s Game 2.

Another movie about the forces of good matching against the embodiment of evil, The Book Thief, will also open, in four locations in New York and LA, tonight. The Nazi-era adaptation of Markus Zusak’s young adult novel of the same name recounts the childhood of Liesel Meminger, the titular literary robber whose love for books sees her through trying social, political and personal conditions. The film is tracking a solid 67% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and with its light though not particularly inventive treatment of the source material will also likely do solid business.

Continuing with their rollout strategies, About Time, 12 Years A Slave and Dallas Buyers Club will all expand to more theatres this weekend. The Richard Curtis rom-com About Time had a disappointing opening last week, earning less than $1.1 million from 175 locations. Universal isn’t expecting much from its sophomore outing: the film is tracking at about $5 million.

On the other hand, 12 Years and Club have proven themselves fierce competitors in both the awards-season race and arthouse market. Steve McQueen’s incredibly well-received slavery drama will open wide in 1,144 theatres, while Matthew McConaughey’s Oscar hopeful will expand to 35 locations.

Yes, 'The Avengers' spiked shawarma sales

Towards the end of The Avengers (no real spoilers here), Iron Man announces he has a powerful need for some shawarma. As the end credits roll, the Avengers gather together in a shawarma joint to dig into the spiced-meat-in-pita specialty. Los Angeles-based TMZ took it upon themselves to poll shawarma sellers to see if sales spiked in the wake of The Avengers. According to their informal poll, they have.

Yesterday I covered how drive-in double features helped earn John Carter an extra $1 million, so The Avengers effect is nothing new. If even a fraction of the popcorn buyers went out for shawarma afterwards, the world would have a shortage of spit-roasted meat. But there's more going on here. Can I say the choice of shawarma was daring, even political?

Shawarma is a Middle Eastern food. It's also not available across the country, though Iron Man mitigates this by saying he hasn't tried it before, but he's curious. Arabs and Muslims eat shawarma, and it's generally only available and well-known in urban areas or places with ethnic enclaves.

Pizza, on the other hand, is a classic American food, beloved among children and people in need of a late-night snack. It's also a bit worn-out as a food choice. Maybe because reptilian superheroes the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were so obsessed with pizza? Still, to replace an item that's available in every American town (and increasingly around the world) with shawarma? That's different. That's funny. It works.

Writer Joss Whedon went outside the box, introducing audiences in America to a delicious cuisine that also happens to come from an area that's traditionally hostile to the U.S., and vice versa. In a small way, isn't Whedon hoping that some of the viewers will seek out a shawarma sandwich, try something new, and maybe challenge their own prejudices--at least about deliciousness? Maybe, as they finish a particularly tasty bite, they may think to themselves, "Can't we all get along?"

'Avengers' shatters opening weekend record

The Avengers not only broke the record for highest opening weekend, the superhero picture did so by over $30 million, becoming the first film to cross $200 million in its first weekend, for an estimated total of $207 million. First and fastest--that's what superhero movies are all about, and this one received high marks from audiences (A+ CinemaScore) and critics (93% positive on Rotten Tomatoes). People are already estimating that the U.S. opening weekend could mean a $400-500 million domestic total, but the real action will be abroad. Overseas, where it opened a week before the U.S., The Avengers has earned $441 million to date. With a reported production budget of $220 million, and hefty marketing costs on top of that, Disney sank a lot of money into the film. But in this case, even doubling or tripling the investment will yield hundreds of millions.

Whoever in Marvel Comics cooked up the idea of bringing together many of their comic books' biggest superheroes deserves to have their pockets stuffed full of cash. Writer/director Joss Whedon gets points too, for making the superheroes interact with each other in such an authentic way. What a way to kick off summer 2012!

Fox Searchlight astutely offered counterprogramming targeted at indie-loving, older audiences. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel earned $27,000 per screen in 27 locations, for a total of $750,000. The tale of English retirees who end up in a less-than-ideal retirement complex in India was a hit overseas, and it appears American audiences like it too. The talented ensemble THe Acast includes Maggie Smith, who has been a hit among viewers of all ages for her sharp-tongued lines in "Downton Abbey."

The dark comedy Bernie, starring Jack Black and Shirley MacLaine, averaged $17,000 per screen in its second week. At the indie box office, older stars currently seem to be the ticket to higher returns.

The ballet competition documentary First Position was en pointe this weekend, debuting to a $10,000 per-screen average at five locations. For many American girls, ballet lessons are a rite of passage, and good reviews assured that ballet dancers past and present, as well as spectators, would enjoy this Spellbound-like doc.

Kate Hudson probably wishes the returns for her romantic melodrama A Little Bit of Heaven were kept under wraps. With an average of $891 per screen at eleven locations, this is a big box-office disappointment.

This Friday, Johnny Depp plays a vampire in Tim Burton-directed Dark Shadows.

 

'The Avengers' aims for a record opening weekend

There's no question The Avengers (4,349 theatres) will do well this weekend. The super-superhero movie brings together the all-stars of comic books: Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk, Black Widow, Thor, and Hawkeye. Most importantly, the tentpole has already earned $281 million overseas, where it released last week. The U.S. is no longer the first market when it comes to mega-budget movies, but stateside it hasn't done much to lessen the anticipation or make audiences feel cheated. In fact, the atmosphere online indicates people are more excited to see the Joss Whedon-directed film.

Critics are often tougher to satisfy than audiences, so FJI's Frank Lovece's proclamation that "The Avengers is everything you could want in a superhero movie" indicates the picture really delivers. He praises the "larger-than-life feats" that are "believably and meaningfully executed," as well as the emotional explorations, like "the loneliness of being different," that add depth to the story. Releasing in well-done 3D, along with IMAX, the action picture could earn at least $150 million this weekend.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (27 theatres) has also released overseas already, where it has earned over $70 million. The British film centers on U.K. retirees who end up in not-quite- what-expected retirement lodgings in India. FJI critic Shirley Sealy praised the talented cast who give the film its "charm and considerable zest for life."

Also on the menu in selected theatres this week is First Position (5 theatres), a "truly exhilarating" documentary about a ballet competition for young dancers, according to Doris Toumarkine. Kate Hudson does her free-spirited leading lady bit in A Little Bit of Heaven (11 theatres), a "tone-deaf dramedy" about her character's search to find love after a grim cancer diagnosis, as described by THR's Frank Scheck. Finally, the exact opposite of a Catholic's vision of The Perfect Family (5 theatres) is on display in the Kathleen Turner starrer. The comedy features her character trying to win "Catholic Woman of the Year"  in spite of her lesbian daughter, philandering son, and alcoholic husband.

On Monday, we'll see if The Avengers breaks the opening weekend record of $169.2 million, set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II.

'Wolverine' packs theatres

By Sarah Sluis

I was a little worried about X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which releases today in 4,099 theatres, when most of the reviews involved plot descriptions that spanned multiple paragraphs, and involved references to the Civil War, mercenaries, globe-trotting to Africa and Canada, and that dreaded third act device, amnesia. The biggest impediment to Wolverine's success may not be the fact that untold numbers of people watched an illegally downloaded copy of the movie, but whether people can buy the convoluted plot. For our reviewer Frank Lovece, Wolverine has "that indefinable something that keeps what's magical from looking silly or self-conscious," but apparently that feeling has not extended to all those who have seen the film--on RottenTomatoes, it's currently tracking at a middling 37%. Over at the New York Times, A.O. Scott called Wolverine "shorter and less pretentious than Watchmen, but almost

programmatically unmemorable, a hodge-podge of loose ends, wild

inconsistencies and stale genre conventions." Ouch. Some expect Wolverine to match Iron Man's $98 million open from last year, but Fox is countering that with a lowball $70 million estimate that they will likely exceed.

For those not interested in a mutant's trek across time and continents, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (3,175 theatres) will take you back through the history of a cad with a winning smile, Matthew McConaughey. What sounds great on paper--"A Christmas Carol, but with love!" fails in execution, as critic Kirk Honeycutt called it "the lamest and easily the worst revisionist take on this classic story. Last year, another re-tread romantic comedy, Made of Honor, made $15 million in this spot against Iron Man, so Ghosts of Girlfriends Past should be able to count on as much.

On the animated 3D front, Battle for Terra opens in 1,159 theatres, and will likely experience slightly boosted grosses due to the higher ticket prices of the format. However, the animation isn't pretty, and its overly rounded CGI faces brings to mind low budgets and another animated flop that released earlier this year, Delgo. However, if you can get past the animation, the environmentally aware message earns the film major points, as does its willingness to break with tradition and make humans look bad. In the film, humans who have ravaged their planet try to take over Terra, which is inhabited by a peaceful, faultless species. As Honeycutt put it, "the story...generates a shock of chagrined recognition along with divided loyalties. Do we root against the warlike humans and for the peace-loving Terrians?"

From Seattle, documentary and festival favorite A Wink and a Smile releases. While our reviewer Daniel Eagan called it "skin-deep," its regular-women-do-burlesque premise has one thing going for it: sex sells. Moving from hot to cold, The Limits of Control, directed by Jim Jarmusch and starring Tilda Swinton, is an "anti-thriller" that's so cold "the soul shivers." Finally, mild haunted house thriller The Skeptic releases at IFC, which might be a good choice if you prefer your scares in small doses.

Monday I'll circle back with the box-office grosses, and answer that looming question: how much money will X-Men Origins: Wolverine take in?