Box Office Update: Always a "Bridesmaids"

This weekend looked to be another substantial drop-off from the success we've been having for the past two weeks, as there weren't any major blockbusters opening. In some ways, that played to the advantage of this particular weekend, with Thor holding on to the top spot impressively with only a 47.5% decrease from last weekend. That's less of a drop than Fast Five had after its massive opening. It also proves to be the smallest drop of any film in Marvel's Avengers lineup thus far. The film looks to be headed past the $200 million mark sometime within the next three weeks.

Meanwhile, in the land of the new releases, Bridesmaids proved to play a lot better than expectations believed it would. Coming in at just $10 less than Thor, the film could turn out to be a big player in the coming weeks, assuming it maintains its audience well enough. Priest didn't even break $15 million this weekend, but still earned more than it deserved. Fast Five landed in third, leveling out at a steady decrease of 39.8%. Rio rounded out the top five, dropping a minuscule 6% from last weekend. The film should do fine for the next two weeks until Kung Fu Panda 2 takes up its target audience. The weekend was still  4.6% lower than the same last year, but that's still impressive given last year's debut of Robin Hood and the holdover of Iron Man 2.

1. Thor (Second Weekend; $34.5 million)

2. Bridesmaids (First Weekend; $24.4 million)

3. Fast Five (Third Weekend; $19.5 million)

4. Priest (First Weekend; $14.5 million)

5. Rio (Fifth Weekend; $8 million)

6. Jumping the Broom (Second Weekend; $7.3 million)

7. Something Borrowed (Second Weekend; $7 million)

8. Water for Elephants (Fourth Weekend; $4.1 million)

9. Madea's Big Happy Family (Fourth Weekend; $2.2 million)

10. Soul Surfer (Sixth Weekend; $1.8 million)

Box Office Update: Mostly Refreshing

After last weekend gave us the lightning charge we needed after a long period of box office disappointment, this weekend continued the upward trend as best it could given the circumstances. This same weekend last year gave us the gigantic opening of Iron Man 2 which, despite being something of a disappointment, managed to be the highest opening of the year. Heading into this weekend, I was sure that the top ten this weekend wouldn't be able to surpass that. That being said, things were still pretty positive this weekend. Thor opened up to an impressive $66 million, confronting the public cynicism that has been surrounding it for months. Needless to say, it was the big winner this weekend.

It obviously didn't beat out Fast Five, which had franchise power going for it, along with the action crowd that's usually drawn in by Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. However, I'd say Thor has a better chance at maintaining its crowds in the coming weeks, seeing as Fast Five dropped 62.3% from its opening. I'm not exactly surprised by this, but it was surprising after so many were clearly fans of the film. As for the other new releases, do I really have to comment on them? Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed both landed around the same $13 million territory. Rounding out the top five was Rio, which fell a considerable 44.5% seeing as it had some 3D screens taken from it. That's not as major a factor as it was two years ago, as there are more 3D screens now than there were before. This weekend was only 10% down from the same weekend last year, which is still something of a victory.

1. Thor (First Weekend; $66 million)
2. Fast Five (Second Weekend; $32.5 million)
3. Jumping the Broom (First Weekend; $13.7 million)
4. Something Borrowed (First Weekend; $13.1 million)
5. Rio (Fourth Weekend; $8.2 million)
6. Water for Elephants (Third Weekend; $5.6 million)
7. Madea's Big Happy Family (Third Weekend; $3.9 million)
8. Prom (Second Weekend; $2.4 million)
9. Soul Surfer (Fifth Weekend; $2.1 million)
10. Hoodwinked Too! (Second Weekend; $1.9 million)

Box Office Update: "Fast" Times in "Rio"

There were some pretty massive failures at the box office this weekend. Disney's new aim at the young demographic, Prom, proved largely unsuccessful, landing in fifth place with only $5 million. Even more pathetically was Hoodwinked Too, which holds the absolute lowest debut for a 3D film opening in wide release. We would have good reason to be greatly depressed by this weekend if it weren't for the gargantuan opening tally of Fast Five. Expectations were set pretty high already, with many estimating a take of around $70 million, much like the previous film in the series. I was preparing for an upset, but Fast Five ended up posting a new record for the franchise and for the month of May.

With a tally that high, all other films this weekend seem very much irrelevant, but there were some other achievements worth talking about. Rio took a controlled fall of 45.3%, which is understandable considering the competition. Water for Elephants fell a similar amount and landed up in fourth place. Between the two was Madea's Big Happy Family, which fell an estimated 60% from last week's moderate debut. The biggest drop came from Hop, which hit it big on Easter weekend, only to fall again this weekend by 79%. The film is currently standing at $105.3 million, and isn't looking to go much higher than that. Overall, it should come as no surprise that this weekend demolished the same weekend last year, which played host to the $32.9 million debut of the Nightmare on Elm Street remake.

1. Fast Five (First Weekend; $83.6 million)

2. Rio (Third Weekend; $14.4 million)

3. Madea's Big Happy Family (Second Weekend; $10.1 million)

4. Water For Elephants (Second Weekend; $9.1 million)

5. Prom (First Weekend; $5 million)

6. Hoodwinked Too (First Weekend; $4.1 million)

7. Soul Surfer (Fourth Weekend; $3.3 million)

8. Insidious (Fifth Weekend; $2.7 million)

9. Hop (Fifth Weekend; $2.6 million)

10. Source Code (Fifth Weekend; $2.5 million)

Box Office Update: Birds, Bunnies, & Black

The box office continued its wonderful turnaround period this weekend with some admirable holdovers and blissfully undeserved debuts. Two films ended up fighting for the top spot, and last week's 3D animated film, Rio, ended up conquering. The bird flick held onto audiences well, dropping 31.7% and putting it en route to become the highest grossing film of the year thus far. The other film in the battle, Madea's Big Happy Family, fared less well than some had predicted. I'm glad that Tyler Perry's box office strength has begun to ware off, but he's still able to pull in a respectable gross from his lesser trifles.

Water for Elephants managed to be a moderate hit, likely due to female audiences hankering for some Robert Pattinson. I still haven't come around to whether or not I'll end up seeing it, but it looks to be skewing too far on the corny aspects. This being Easter weekend, you could expect Hop to have a sizable increase on last weekend. It managed to be enough to boost the film's total gross just slightly above the $100 million mark. That should be great, but I take the lack of films breaking the $2oo million mark so far this year to be a terrible loss. The most depressing fall came from Scre4m, which fell over 60% from last weekend. It's terrible to see such an enjoyable film fall. The only other opening worthy of note is African Cats, which opened above last year's Oceans, but below the previous year's Earth. Overall, this weekend was a great 28.2% increase over last year. We're finally on the rebound!

1. Rio (Second Weekend; $26.8 million)
2. Madea's Big Happy Family (First Weekend; $25.8 million)
3. Water for Elephants (First Weekend; $17.5 million)
4. Hop (Fourth Weekend; $12.5 million)
5. Scre4m (Second weekend; $7.2 million)
6. African Cats (First Weekend; $6.4 million)
7. Soul Surfer (Third Weekend; $5.6 million)
8. Insidious (Fourth Weekend; $5.4 million)
9. Hanna (Third Weekend; $5.3 million)
10. Source Code (Fourth Weekend; $5 million)

The Weekend Report: Another Unhappy Reunion

The good news to deliver, especially after last weekend proved to be the first weekend of this year that was greater than last year, is that the box office isn't likely to disappoint this weekend. We are being delivered our annual Disneynature documentary for the kiddies, a romantic drama starring Robert Pattinson, and yet another film from the equally famous and infamous Tyler Perry. The bad news is saved for those expecting any sort of quality film entertainment, of which we are given nothing new. So if you are looking for quality, head out to see Scre4m or Hanna or Source Code. Those films already have my stamp of unyielding approval. And, in case you wanted an update, I've decided not to see Rio any time soon. It just looks like a pain at this point.

The top item of this weekend is obviously Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family, an unnecessarily long title for another unnecessary film. My respect for Tyler Perry doesn't go anywhere beyond his cameo appearance in the Star Trek franchise. I heard disconcerting rumors last month that his latest film would exceed two and a half hours, an endurance test that rivals that of Enter the Void. Those tales have been thankfully exaggerated, but it doesn't make the experience of watching it any more daunting. I hope to put off the experience until next weekend, but I may just get it over with sooner rather than later.

The highest suggestion for this weekend would be African Cats, but that is assuming you have any interest in a low momentum nature documentary. If so, take that business to the Discovery Channel or Animal Planet. You'll find some sort of equivalent, and for less money than you would be spending. You may be opting for the other "animal offering" and that would be Water for Elephants, the circus drama that I had, up until this point, been looking forward to. The half-hearted reviews and reminder that the film stars Robert Pattinson have made me reconsider. Christoph Waltz is the only draw, but I'll wait for DVD in this particular case. I learned a valuable enough lesson from The Green Hornet.

For Your Anticipation: The Right Prescripture

I don't take pleasure in seeing such awful films as these, even if I do find such while writing my critical defaming of the piece. I profess that I did not look at the clip provided below, because if I'm going to suffer through this film, I don't want to suffer any more than necessary. I don't watch African-American comedies, because for some reason they don't decide to consign to reality. It's not anything to do with racism, but it's a common critical analysis. I don't expect Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family to be any different, and I know I won't be proven wrong.

Dread Locks: April 2011

As always, it's proving a tad bit more difficult to see these awful films than I anticipated. Apparently it's hard to find a time when I actually want to see Red Riding Hood, but it's something that still has to be done. The drive to see this film is much like the drive for me to see each film in The Twilight Saga. I never enjoy the experience, but it's an experience nonetheless. That and the fact that I love writing reviews for films that I hate. In any case, we're approaching April just as rapidly as always, and that of course brings up a whole crop of films for me to potentially review. It's a bit duller than usual, but I think that's a good thing. Now people know just how dull these films are before they see them.

I had a lot of films that I could have put in this poll, such as Hop, Insidious, Mother's Day, Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, Hoodwinked Too, and Prom. I was close to putting Water for Elephants up here, but then we got a slew of trailers that embellished the more favorable aspects of the film. So the assortment I have for you starts out with Soul Surfer, the true story of Bethany Hamilton, otherwise known as the girl who got her arm bitten off by a shark. I know that it sounds like it could be a truly inspirational story, but Anna Sophia-Robb has not grown into a sexy charismatic teen, and I can't believe in the acting capabilities of Dennis Quaid or Carrie Underwood. This looks hilariously idiotic.

Through directing nine features, Tyler Perry has tried to break out of the name he's been given in the comedy industry, but ultimately failed. I can't believe that we could expect anything but a failure this time around, but people are still going to see his films. He has an eager crowd that likes his brand of filmmaking, but I'm just not part of that crowd. His next film is Madea's Big Happy Family, and it looks like he's headed back into comedic territory again, sadly. Coming just a week later is Fast Five, which I have on here for obvious reasons. Oddly enough, I'm kind of hoping this one wins out. The last film grossed nearly $70 million opening weekend. This year could really use that sort of a face lift. Those are your choices, you can follow the links provided to see trailers, and you can place your vote in the sidebar.