'Resident Evil: Retribution' underwhelms at number one, 'The Master' breaks per-theatre records

The number one spot this weekend went to Resident Evil: Retribution, which came up with $21.1 million over the weekend. Even with that top ranking, this Resident Evil is the least
successful to date. Only the first movie opened lower than this installment, the fifth. Abroad, the sci-fi actioner is expected to do better, so perhaps Screen Gems can recover part of their $65 million budget there.

Finding Nemo 3D grabbed second place and $17.5 million. That's right on par with the re-release of Beauty and the Beast in 3D, but Disney had been hoping for something closer to The Lion King's 3D opening of over $30 million. Still, with minimal investment, and an upcoming sequel to start marketing for, this
release was a strategic win. Abroad, many 3D re-releases have been overperforming. It's unlikely this movie is going to have the success of, say, Titanic 3D in China, but in many emerging markets, consumers may not have even had a theatre near them to show the movie on the big screen a decade ago.

On the heels of its buzzworthy showings at the Toronto and Venice Film Festivals, The Master debuted to $730,000, a per-theatre average of $146,000. That beats indie competitor Moonrise Kingdom, which opened earlier this year to $130,000 per theatre. The Master also posted the highest average ever for a live-action movie. It's worth noting that the record is a per-theatre average, not the usual industry metric, per-screen average. A quick search reveals that at the ArcLight in Hollywood, CA, The Master is playing twenty-two times a day, while L.A.'s The Landmark is playing the Scientology-esque drama seventeen times a
day. With a 2 hour, 30 minute running time, that means director P.T. Anderson's movie is playing on three or four screens in each location.

Opening in twelfth place, the hedge fund thriller Arbitrage did well for its 197 locations, pulling in $2 million and a per-screen average of $10,500. In other words, it made what I hear is roughly the average compensation for a single hedge funder. Cheers!

The red state-leaning The Last Ounce of Courage picked up $1.7 million on a 1,407-screen release. The distributor, Rocky Mountain Pictures, may have opened the drama a bit on the wide side, but the low-budget movie won't need much to get in the black. Rocky Mountain's other release, 2016: Obama's America, added $2 million to its total by dropping just 38%.

This Friday, the box office picks up with four new wide releases. Clint Eastwood stars in the anti-Moneyball baseball movie Trouble with the Curve, and horror fans can check out Jennifer Lawrence in what will likely be her last low-rent role in the horror flick The House at the End of the Street. Rounding out the offerings is Dredd, a remake that is indeed related to Judge Dredd, and the crime drama End of Watch.

Toronto wrap: The rest of the best

It was, in all, an exciting TIFF 2012. As always the near-300 features plus documentaries and press events made it impossible for any single journalist to deliver a definitive evaluation; in effect, every critic attends his/her own TIFF. Congrats to the organizers for keeping all the moving parts of this sprawling sprocket opera in play. One caveat: that overloaded first weekend of buzzy films skedded at the same hour makes the critics gaga; why not spread the must-sees into the week? And this year, especially if you were attending public screenings, the venues seemed especially far-flung, requiring either the stamina of an Iron Man or deep pockets for outrageous cab fares.

 

At edition 2012 the drumbeat surrounding “The Master” all but drowned out the competition. Still, I discovered two superb, if relatively un-buzzed dramas. Also featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, “A Late Quartet” is a first feature from American-Israeli Yaron Zilberman that explores the upheaval in a world-class string quartet when one of its members falls victim to a degenerative
disease. Though the screenplay initially feels over-determined, the story-power is cumulative in this moving, immersive work about the passion to carry forward a musical heritage. It's rare to see a film about the dedication of artists explored with such insight. And after his lunatic turn in “Seven Psychopaths” by Martin McDonagh, it was fun to see Christopher Walken morphed into a cellist and the moral keystone of the quartet. Mark Ivanovir shines as a high-strung (sorry) first violinist in love with Hoffman's musician daughter (Imogene Poots) -- which undercuts the quartet's survival -- and the cast has been expertly coached in how to make like they're making music.

 

“At Any Price,” toplined by Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron, marks a striking departure for Rahmin Bahrani (“Man Push Cart”). The filmmaker sets his riveting drama of a father and son in the Iowa agri world, where in the interest of profits farmers do un-kosher things to the genetically engineered seeds that are probably already poisoning us all. Quaid is heartbreaking as an earnest seed salesman pushed to dubious choices by the need to expand his business in order to survive; while Efron – credible and charismatic in his new indie roles – unleashes a brooding intensity as
Quaid's hothead son. With its shocking ending – all the more disturbing for being muted -- “Price” belongs to a category of films that uses drama to reference issues in the larger culture.

 

Another film infused with matters of conscience and politics is “The Company You Keep” directed by and starring Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, and Shia LaBeouf. (And what's with this guy's name? For the record, the correct French spelling is boeuf, and the noun is masculine.) It's worth noting that both “Price” and “Company” are distributed by Sony Pictures Classics, also presenting “No,” a politically-themed film about the Pinochet era; and “The Gatekeepers,” the Israeli docu that unlocks the inner workings of the Shin Bet. I never cease to admire how the guys at SPC adroitly combine the entertainment imperative with films that extend their reach beyond navel-gazing or Kate Middleton going topless on the beach (not that that isn't a prime piece of gossip).

 

In “Company” Redford plays a small town lawyer whose life is up-ended when a long-ago member of the Weather Underground who has lived incognito (Susan Sarandon) is arrested and charged with murder during a long-ago anti-war protest in the 60's. To clear his own name, Redford must hunt down a radical friend from the past (Julie Christie, lookin' good) to confirm publicly that he himself was not involved in the shooting of a guard. The median age of these actors is roughly seventy and it's initially shocking to see how time has worked its dirty tricks on Redford (why do the female actors fare better)? But eclipsing such concerns is Redford's seasoned rendering of a man of conscience who has moved on in his life, while refusing to renounce his anti-war sentiments of the past.

 

Directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, the quietly lacerating “What Maisie Knew” credibly transplants the novel by Henry James to modern-day New York. It's the story of a six-year-old girl (a remarkable Onata Aprile) whip-sawed between two supremely unfit parents (Julianne Moore
and Steve Coogan) as they play musical chairs with new mates. After Coogan weds the babysittter, Moore marries on the quick an amiable bartender (Alexander Skarsgard) to give the impression of stability and ensure custody. But when it comes to school pick-ups and overnights, the child is shockingly shuttled about in a way that will make any parent cringe. Through it all, Maisie, preternaturally wise, keeps an even keel and gravitates toward what love she finds.

 

Set in 18^th century Denmark, “A Royal Affair” by Nikolaj Arcel recreates the real-life story of a German doctor (Mads Mikkelsen) who cuts a swathe through the Danish court when he becomes the caretaker of mad King Christian (a brilliant Mikel Boe Folsgaard), lover to the queen (Alicia Vikander), and de facto head of state intent on implementing the ideas of the Enlightenment. The film combines epic sweep, history, and fascinating court intrigue – and the revelation of Folsgaard, a rising star to watch.

 

And now for my list of Best, Worst, and Most Notable from TIFF 2012.

 

Best headline of the fest: from critic Alonso Duralde, “'The Master' … Is Just Running on Cruise Control.”

 

Most reprehensible comment of the fest: Nick Cassavetes on Incest: “Who Gives a Damn? Love Who You Want”

 

Most memorable sight on King Street: pregnant woman in a tight sheath looking like a python that had swallowed a warthog

 

Worst moment of the fest: Saturday A.M., a hike from my hotel in torrential downpour, and the six flight escalator at the Scotia Bank theater is broken

 

Most pissed-off moment: getting shut out of Harmony Korine's “Spring Breakers” and told we should have lined up an hour and l/2 before

 

Most outrageous moment: dude loudly talking on his cell during a press and industry screening

 

Oscar-bait turns: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in “The Master,” Dennis Quaid in “At Any Price” – though I'd vote for Danish Mikkel Boe Folsgaard in “A Royal Affair.”

 

Most delicious, against-type turn: Nicole Kidman, hilarious as a 70's trash queen in “The Paperboy”

 

Hottest actors: the trifecta of Ryan Gosling, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Mads Mikkelsen

 

Swankiest parties that were deprived of my presence because I wasn't invited: anything at Soho House

 

Priciest cab fare: rush-hour ride to the Hazelton Hotel in Yorkville -- and thank you, kind cabbie, for putting me on to trolleys!

 

Worst tech glitches: the roaming on my Android that didn't work – thanks for the memories, Verizon! The laptop that froze mid-post

 

Biggest regret: all the doggone films I didn't get to see 

'Resident Evil: Retribution' and 'Finding Nemo 3D' should boost theatre traffic

After a dismal weekend, the box office is ready for a rebound with wide releases Resident Evil: Retribution and Finding Nemo 3D hitting screens.

Finding Nemo 3D (2,904 theatres) has a lot in its favor. The original was the most attended Pixar movie ever, and it's considered a modern animated classic. However, the animated feature released just nine years ago. Many families likely already own a DVD copy, making it difficult for
parents to justify the price of tickets, popcorn, and soda to see a movie all over again. The Lion King 3D did exceptionally well last September, opening to $30.2 million, but that film originally released in 1994, not 2003. Those two decades make a big difference. The 3D re-release should end up somewhere between The Lion King 3D and February's Beauty and the Beast 3D, which opened to $17.8 million.

The fifth installment in the sci-fi action franchise, Resident Evil: Retribution (3,012 theatres)
should easily top $20 million. The last installment in the franchise
was a global hit, largely because it released in 3D,
which has had more
success abroad than at home.

Targeting heartland audiences, Last Ounce of Courage (1,407 theatres) mixes patriotism and Christianity in a dose designed for social conservatives. I can't quite figure out what the plot is about, but from the trailer there appears to be something about a small-town man who tries to un-separate church and state and bring God back into his town? It also includes some great shots of a dude with a giant American flag on the back of his motorcycle, but that's about as high-budget as this movie gets. Rocky Mountain Pictures, the distributor, has skillfully released such pictures in years past, so a $1-2 million weekend wouldn't be unusual.

Leading the specialty releases is director Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master (5 theatres). FJI critic Chris Barsanti praises Anderson's "psychologically astute scripting" and "ability to coax nakedly revelatory performances from actors." Joaquin Phoenix plays a drifter who ends up a
sidekick of an L. Ron Hubbard-like character, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman. At film festivals, this highly anticipated movie left some people feeling like it didn't quite live up to the hype, but Barsanti is not among them, though he notes the movie "lacks some of the director’s characteristically thunderous panache."

Also in the mix is Liberal Arts (4 theatres) a romance between a 30-something man (writer/director/producer Josh Radnor) and a student (Elizabeth Olsen) he meets while back on campus for an event. Critic Shirley Sealy enjoyed the "wonderful and gently entertaining" movie, whose theme, "acting like a grown-up," she really got behind.

Finally, the "juicy, smart, engrossing financial thriller" Arbitrage (197 theatres), starring Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon, will release in theatres and on cable VOD. With the economy still big in the news, this hedge fund-centered movie will be more than topical.

On Monday, we'll see if Resident Evil and Nemo revived the box office, if Last Ounce of Courage was embraced by the Heartland, and if The Master has the record-level per-screen average many are predicting.

Malick and Anderson, masters both

As in last year's Toronto Fest, which showcased the talent of Michael Fassbender, edition 2012 also features standout performances by male actors. Playing a beleaguered Iowan farmer, Dennis Quaid delivers what many are calling the performance of a lifetime in
Rahmin Bahrani's At Any Price.  As Quaid's son, Zac Efron,
distancing himself from his teen idol image, makes his own mark in a meaty indie role. Mads Mikkelsen and his cheekbones lay on the charisma in the Danish A Royal Affair by Nikolaj Arcel. 

Standing in a league all their own, though, at this year's TIFF are Philip Seymour Hoffman
and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master by Paul Thomas Anderson. Many critics at the fest are divided on the merits of this film, inspired by L. Ron Hubbard and the swathe cut through American culture by Scientology. But few would not applaud the barn-burning turns from the two male leads. At moments,  watching these hugely interesting thesps play off each other is pure joy.

The film opens with a blast of jagged dissonance (familiar from the score of Anderson's previous There Will be Blood) composed by musical wizard Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead fame. Meet Freddie Quell (Phoenix), newly liberated from the U.S. Navy post WWII, a mass of dissonance in and of himself, a man with sexual issues, an explosive temper, and a talent for concocting moonshine from paint stripper. This walking time bomb loosed on America is adopted almost as a mascot by Hoffman's character Lancaster Dodd, founder of a movement that uses time-travel hypnosis to enable people to take control of their lives; his system can even, so he claims, cure cancer and bring world peace.

The Master traces the trajectory of the bond between master and acolyte, from analytic sessions that Dodd calls "processing" to Quell's rise as Dodd's right-hand man as his empire expands with the publication of his new opus The Split Saber. Also on hand --and perhaps secretly pulling the strings --is Dodd's wife (Amy Adams, putting new perk in perkiness). Into the dance between the two men, Anderson fluidly weaves the backstory of Quell's thwarted love for a 16-year-old girl from his hometown.

The filmmaking, buttressed by Greenwood's score, is stunning from the start, when seaman Quell makes love on the beach to a lady he's built from sand. As Lancaster, Hoffman rocks the screen with the bravado and self-assurance of a power-mad man who--so his his son claims--is "making it up as he goes along." And Phoenix, his whole body twisted and warped as his mind, is almost painfully mesmerizing.

More problematic is the film itself, which doesn't resolve the story so much as cut it loose at the end. Worse, you get the suspicion midpoint that you're witnessing a lot of sound and fury over, well, very little. There's no there there. No back-vision on the part of Anderson regarding what his story is really about. Some deep intelligence from the filmmaker has gone missing.

Also dividing the critics at this year's festival is Terrence Malick's To the Wonder. While few would
deny its surpassing visual beauty, some are put
off by the film's vaunting religiosity, paucity of story, virtual
absence of dialogue. Over dinner last night, one critic friend called it
"self-parody."

Me, I find Wonder a thing of wonder. The ravishing images
married to a glorious score- think Wagner's Parsifal--keep you in a
suspended swoon. And the film manages the paradoxical feat of naked
intimacy, as if you were lolling about in Malick's pysche, while
revealing scant details about the notoriously private filmmaker.

Such story as there is basically involves a memory/meditation about a
man (Ben Affleck) who falls in love with a Parisian (Olga Kurylenko)
and brings her back to the States to his home somewhere in Malick-land--i.e. windswept plains always viewed at dusk or early dawn, dotted
with sterile suburban houses and peopled with folks wandering about in a
trance. The man reconnects with a childhood friend (gorgeous Rachel
McAdams), his transplanted wife starts an affair, the marriage unravels.
Throughout, a priest (Javier Bardem) who has lost his calling weaves
his own prayerful musings among Kurylenko's voiceovers. The closing
images offer little closure, only fodder for speculation.

The film opens with Kurylenko's murmured French for "I'd never hoped to
love like this again," set against the couple wandering the vast flats
of a literal world wonder, the monastery Mont St. Michel in Brittany.
Shot in midwinter and of course at some mystical violet hour, the place
resembles Malick's depiction of heaven at the end of The Tree of Life.
It's as if this astonishing filmmaker had a direct pipeline to divinity
and feels as comfy in apocalyptic milieu as in someone's living room
(a trait that maddens some viewers). "I want only to go a little of our
way together," Kurylenko says. And, "If you love me, I need nothing
else."

In Wonder, Malick unabashedly sets the limits of time-bound
human love against God's eternal love, a theme underscored by Bardem's
longing to reconnect with his faith. Not unlike Malick, the priest is
also dialoguing with God: "How long will you hide Yourself?"

Granted, maybe Affleck and especially Kurylenko go overboard with the
frolicking and gamboling in Malick's idiosyncratic take on lovers. But
you don't need religion to savor this hymn about profane and sacred love--and about light, maybe the film's central subject. The wind-bending
grasses, a woman's hair, sun through trees, bison--even a humble
insect on a windowpane--are all conveyed by Malick's genius
cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki as spirit made manifest. (Intriguing
factoid: Lubezki is Jewish.) Malick offers a unique way of seeing the
world, a world filtered through the lens of a cinematic visionary.

Cloud-based media service M-Go signs on most Hollywood majors

Problem: DVD/Blu-ray sales are dropping. People aren't making up for the lost sales via Apple or Amazon rentals. Solution: M-Go. The joint venture between Technicolor and DreamWorks Animation will let people buy movies (and eventually other content) that will be stored in the "cloud." So just like you can access your Gmail from any computer, people would be able to watch
movies on any of their devices. For families and individuals with multiple TVs, computers, tablets, and cell phones, this sounds like a perfect solution. However, there are still a few hills for M-Go to climb.

One is that all the studios need to make their content available via M-Go. The service just announced a big win in that department. Almost all the major studios have signed on: NBCUniversal, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution. I don't see any indies in there, but M-Go probably wants to roll out the service with majors first. One noticeable absence is Disney, but that's not a huge surprise. The studio is notoriously protective of its content and rarely follows suit when it comes to new formats or modes of distribution. In fact, it pursued its own service, Keychest, though the status of that project is uncertain. However, if customers really like the M-Go service, I expect Disney to sign on or actively pursue Keychest.

The other big problem is device compatibility. M-Go will also be compatible with UltraViolet, another cloud-based service. However, Apple's iPads and iPhones will not be able to play movies purchased with M-Go. Only Samsung (which has a bit of a beef with Apple right now), Intel, and Vizio devices will be able to play movies with M-Go. That's the disappointing part. People don't like to buy content that can only be played on specific devices or in certain ways. They want freedom. That being said, this is an improvement over earlier DRM (digital rights management) that controlled how much people shared their content. Apple songs used to be only playable on a certain amount of devices. My Windows Media Player used to go berserk whenever I tried to play a DVD on my computer. One time it broke my whole computer. "Yeah, that DRM stuff, it messes everything up," said the techie assigned to fix my laptop. I switched to another media player on his advice.

The third problem is that these projects aren't necessarily great innovations for consumers, but another way for studios to monitor their content and extract fees. If M-Go is anything like UltraViolet, there will be some fine print attached. This editorial is quite scathing, but it points out at least two red flags for consumers. One, under certain circumstances an UltraViolet $15 movie purchase will be subject to upcharges if you play it on, say, more than three devices. The other huge red flag is that digital downloads are only valid for one year. I can't even believe that would be true.  The other part of UltraViolet is WalMart's Vudu service, which allows people to bring in old DVDs and get a digital copy for $2-$5. Which apparently has a built-in self-destruct device. Why would people go through the trouble of converting to a digital copy only to discover they don't really own their movie after all? It's worth pointing out, as author Molly Wood does, that tech-savvy people can easily rip a DVD themselves and enjoy it without restrictions on devices, expiration dates, or fees. But that's illegal, mainly because those ripped DVDs can easily turn up on torrent sites. If people feel like they don't really own their content, they could pay one-fifteenth as much and rent it on Redbox.

It's nice that Hollywood is acknowledging the reality that people want to watch content on more than just their TV, but studios should be aware that heavy-handed DRM will turn off tech-savvy people who can circumvent regulations while burdening people who simply want convenience and the ability to easily share content in a household.

At the Toronto Fest: 'Seven Psychopaths'...plus one

September 10 was Psychopath Day at the Toronto International Film Festival—or at least that’s the way this fest-goer’s viewing selections coalesced. The day began at 8:30 a.m. with a screening of Paul Thomas Anderson’s eagerly anticipated The Master, in which Joaquin Phoenix’s ex-World War II sailor character has major anger issues, to say the least. Erica Abeel will be writing in more detail about this film which just won the Best Director prize in Venice, but I can safely predict that the volatile Phoenix and especially the masterful Philip Seymour Hoffman as a messianic L. Ron Hubbard type will be strong contenders for end-of-the-year acting prizes. I haven’t fully embraced an Anderson film since Boogie Nights (and found Magnolia especially bloated), but The Master’s portrait of a religious cult with uncanny echoes of Scientology is pretty mesmerizing, despite its many self-indulgent passages.

The undisputed psychopaths appeared in Ariel Vromen’s The Iceman, the true story of a notorious
New Jersey contract killer, and (naturally) Martin McDonagh’s new black comedy, Seven Psychopaths. In the former, Michael Shannon of “Boardwalk Empire” and Take Shelter is dynamic and dangerous as Richard Kuklinski, a Polish hit man for the mob who tallied at least 100 killings during his three-decade crime career. What sets this story apart from similar tales is the cold-blooded assassin’s devotion to his wife (played by Winona Ryder) and two young daughters, who know nothing of his lethal lifestyle. Kuklinski is a terrible, terrible man, yet the audience is compelled to root against his exposure because his family is so innocent and vulnerable. A jarring personal aside: This infamous psycho lived for years in suburban Dumont, New Jersey—the very town where yours truly grew up.

On a perversely lighter note, Seven Psychopaths is an alternately hilarious and horrifying comedy
from the poison pen of Martin McDonagh, his second feature after the irresistible In Bruges. (McDonagh is also the prize-winning author of darkly funny stage hits like The Lieutenant of Inishmore and A Behanding in Spokane.) His new film is set in Los Angeles and centers on a struggling screenwriter named Marty played by Colin Farrell, which gives McDonagh free rein to go all meta and comment on the tropes of violent movies and our expectations about the very movie we’re watching. The graphic content, witty dialogue digressions and playful structure are reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino, with the added bonus that McDonagh is not just movie-literate.

Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken, who co-starred on Broadway in Behanding in Spokane, have juicy roles here as conspirators in a dognapping scheme: Marty’s impulsive, out-of-control pal Billy and his elderly partner Hans. Big trouble erupts when Billy abducts the beloved Shi Tzu of a ruthless gangster played by Woody Harrelson.

Those unaccustomed to McDonagh’s shock tactics may be deeply offended by the politically incorrect language, the over-the-top violence, and the movie’s treatment of women (which is noted numerous times in debates between pacifist-leaning Farrell and pure-id Billy). But go with the satiric intent, and you’ll be laughing out loud at the movie’s notions of a vengeful Quaker, an interracial couple that gets medieval on serial killers, deconstructions of pop-movie clichés, and a hapless screenwriter who sets out to make a meaningful social statement out of a project titled Seven Psychopaths. This CBS Films release won’t be for everyone, but a certain kind of avid moviegoer will eat it up.

Moviegoers stay away from multiplexes in worst weekend in more than a decade

The top twelve movies totaled just over $50 million this weekend, a sum so glum it necessitates a sad comparison. The last time this box office sank this low was in the two weeks after the attacks of September 11, eleven years go. What happened? The start of the football season and families busy with back-to-school hubbub help explain part of the slump. There were also no new good films. Gangster Squad was supposed to open this weekend, but was bumped for reshoots because of movie theatre shootout was judged too close for comfort to the Aurora shooting.

Of the two new releases, only The Words made it into the top ten with a paltry $5 million.
Lackluster reviews may sink this movie further, as word spreads this isn't a picture worth the ticket price. Above The Words, horror movie The Possession continued on top with $9.5 million, its 47% fall better than average for the horror genre. In second, Weinstein Co. showed its ability to do well even with a movie with mixed reviews. Lawless earned $6 million in second place, not so bad for the Prohibition-set tale of rural bootleggers.

Opening in 13th place was The Cold Light of Day with $1.8 million. Even with only a couple dozen critics weighing in on the movie, which didn't screen in advance, it only has 8% positive reviews. Audience members were a bit kinder, with
28% of Rotten Tomatoes voters giving it a "fresh" rating.

The Raiders of the Lost Ark re-release in IMAX grabbed $1.7 million. That's paltry compared to Titanic 3D, but in this case the re-release was more about promoting an Indiana Jones box set that will go on sale next week.

Specialty releases fared a bit better. Buoyed by "This American Life" fans, Sleepwalk with Me went up 6% as the comedy expanded from 29 to 73 locations, averaging $4,700 per screen.

Bachelorette was the big test for pre-theatrical VOD release, which after a month supposedly
earned over $4 million. But the comedy came up with just $191,000 at 47 theatres this weekend, a per-screen average of $4,000. People understand the higher rental price for VOD releases, since they "haven't hit theatres" yet, but that same mindset makes people think they are paying too much for a movie ticket when it's available at home.

Also featuring 20 to 30-something female friendships, For a Good Time, Call... gathered steam in its second week, going up 50% as it added 33 locations. Its total of $215,000 beat the debut of Bachelorette, though its per-screen average was slightly lower.

This Friday, the beloved Pixar film Finding Nemo will re-release in 3D. Resident Evil: Retribution will go for the adult portion of the audience with the next installment of the sci-fi action franchise.