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)

The Weekend Report: Controlled Demolition

As optimistic as I often attempt to be, I just don't have much faith in such franchises that keep blowing up the balloon to no end. In many ways, that's an overarching theme for this particular Summer, with the release of the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film, the fifth X-Men film, and the eighth Harry Potter film. On the one hand, I don't like to think of Fast Five as the official start of this Summer. The series has gone on longer than it deserves to without offering us anything of value. The fact that this latest film is getting moderately positive reviews proves about as encouraging as the positive reviews for Unstoppable. Both are mindless action films that are heralded as embracing the insanity of it. It just never really worked for me. Then again, I submit that this will rake in a ton of cash at the box office this weekend, so in that sense many will assume that it's the start of the season.

The rest of the new releases are irrelevant, yet they'll probably draw in their undeserved winnings in ignorant viewers. Hoodwinked Too: Hood vs. Evil might do well from the younger demographic, but I'd sooner expect Rio to hold on to that audience. Prom also seems to be drilling from that well, as much as it is from the teen audiences. I'm not talking about people in high school as much as I'm talking about people headed for high school. In other words, people who don't have any sense of what the experience will actually be like. That's the optimist in me talking, but realistically both of these films will die on arrival. So my suggestion for you this weekend, if you are to head out to the theaters, is that you go out and see Scre4m. It has been taking an undeserved bashing at the box office, and it's an amazingly fun time. Plus, I'd like to see Wes Craven go on to make 5cream and Wes Craven's Final Scream.

For Your Anticipation: I Had a Talk with Myself

It looks like Disney is once again attempting to wax the emotional tomb of childhood in hopes of snagging a younger audience. I mean, Toy Story 3 played so well with the late high school audience, so why not Prom? Apparently every single person who made this film was home schooled, because nobody thought of prom as importantly as the characters in this film. I'm not sure if it was done the same everywhere else, but my prom would have never even been knocked down to a PG-13 rating. The fact that they managed a PG out of this compromises what high school was. It's not so much insulting as it is annoying. I'm not more upset because I honestly just don't care.