Box Office Report: "Boy", nothing can "Rock" "Madagascar"!

How come we still aren't able to see these things coming? After last weekend, when an animated kid-flick beat out a Rated-R sci-fi piece, we still weren't quite prepared for a teen rock musical and dumb boys comedy to not perform too well. Let us please shed a tear for "Rock of Ages", budgeted at $75 million and now rather unlikely to make that back domestically. We can still hope the film will have enough staying power and overseas strength to not be considered a failure. Less mourning will be had for "That's My Boy", Andy Sandler and Adam Samberg's comedy which stalled majorly at the box office this weekend. It looks like people know what to expect from Sandler these days, and they know well enough to avoid him. Or maybe it just lacked the kid-appeal "Jack and Jill" had.

Last week's large debuts haven't entirely tapered off, though one certainly is fading faster than the other. "Prometheus" isn't plummeting so much out of sight as one might have expected, though it's clear that this one has a tougher time ahead of it than the likes of "Snow White and the Huntsman". "Madagascar 3", in the meantime, continues to fare as well as Dreamworks films often do. The finishing of that respective trilogy is turning out to be quite a hit with the kids, at least at this frame of it's lifespan. We could very well see a substantial dip with "Brave" entering the market, stealing the target audience as well as people who are simply more enamored with Pixar.

Quick Takes: "Snow White", "Madagascar 3", "Return", "Romeo + Juliet"

"Snow White and the Huntsman" (*1/2)

Directed by Rupert Sanders

I took the effort to revisit Tarsem Singh's own take on the fable, "Mirror Mirror", before sitting in on "Snow White and the Huntsman", and though I don't wish to file comparison, it's pretty clear that the latter has much less enthusiasm in its cogs. I think it's pretty clear when a filmmaking crew is having fun, and when they're not. This film seems like rather drudging work. It takes real emotional effort to make something this cinematically dull. Lacking any color or levity, but not possessing any real emotional tether to proceedings, people die and battles wage, for no purpose. What's more, it feels like the actors are just too consumed by the ham of the dialogue and lacking intellect of the script to really put in any effort. This film just feels entirely effortless, and not in a positive manner.

"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (**)

Directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, and Conrad Vernon

Dreamworks has made a pretty good name for itself across the past few years for making wild and crazy films, filled with popping shenanigans, but not overtly kiddie as to not appeal to the adults. "Madagascar 3" shatters that a bit, throwing about the same shenanigans, but this time strictly playing to the children's crowd from which most of its box office is growing from. It feels like we're coming into a half completed story, and they don't feel the need to make us care about these characters any more. They don't put in nearly enough heart, which they quite oddly had plenty of in "Madagascar 2". It feels like a conclusion for the sake of concluding, and not for the sake of closure, or smart entertainment. The kids? They'll love it, and they already do. It's us who aren't gonna have a good time with it.

Weekend Forecast: Cruise Musical vs. Sandler-Samberg

It's a very odd feeling I have concerning this weekend, especially in comparison to last. Consider the general head-space regarding last weekend. "Prometheus", a film with through the roof anticipation, and "Madagascar 3", a film from a company who is known for entertaining at a hyperactive level, were both being released. Both of those films debuted over $50 million, and yet they both proved disappointing to me personally. Mind you, I'm never surprised when a bad film rakes in a surplus of cash, but I didn't truly believe these films would turn out so ill-forged. That said, both films will do very well this weekend, along with the mix of new releases.

What gives it a strange dynamic is that I am suddenly rather excited to see "Rock of Ages". I have no love for the jukebox musical sub-genre, but the cast of this film coupled with some fantastic musical numbers is enough to spark interest for me. It simply looks like more fun than has been in the theaters for a while, likely since "The Avengers" hit multiplex's. On the other side of this weekend, "That's My Boy" will do its share in the box office because it's Father's Day weekend, it's a comedy, and it stars crowd magnates Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg. College age boys will be doing some majorly hedonistic male bonding on this one.

Box Office Report: "Madagascar" steals "Prometheus" fire

I feel like box office analysts are kicking themselves in the heads for not seeing this coming a mile away. After all, animated films in general have been a mainstay in the summer landscape, most especially as they draw the child masses out to the theaters. It is for that reason we'll see "Brave" perform remarkably well in two weeks, and how "Madagascar 3" managed to out-muscle "Prometheus" at the box office this weekend. "Prometheus" merely operated within the expectations that were allotted it. It's an Rated-R sci-fi horror flick on a huge budget, with few name stars and the added bonus of 3D. By that factor, it performed decently.

Heading on from here, however, is a noticeably more dicey situation for Ridley Scott's slow-build thriller. Audience reaction hasn't been exactly through the roof, and that word of mouth could bite the film in the sack. It's still very likely to make bank, and even turn some kind of profit. We aren't prepping a failure on the scale of "John Carter" or "Battleship". It's just not quite as fortunate as we expected it would be. Turning back to "Madagascar", it absolutely has some strong credentials going forward. Dreamworks films generally tend to dip around or below 40% on their second weekends, and from there it's relatively easy sailing.

Box Office Report: "Huntsman" raises average summer weekend

I get a feeling, given the response to "Snow White and the Huntsman", I am going to end up hating it, and people will, for some reason, chastise me for it. It simply feels in the precise same vein as "X-Men: First Class", in more ways than that they share the same release date and the same opening gross. To be honest, I felt we were in for a much larger disappointment, but not so, and while I'm happy with a Charlize Theron vehicle garnering a significant audience, something just reeks foul and joyless about this enterprise. But learn to let people have their successes, especially if somebody is enjoying it. That's no bad thing.

On the brighter side, "Men in Black 3" is holding onto audience interest as well as I hoped it would, with just a 47% fall, which far outshines "Hangover 2"s 64% drop in the same frame last year. "The Avengers" too is holding on well to its audience, even as it falls slowly from view. As for where the other blockbusters of this summer lay, "Battleship" is coasting towards a $60 million final cume, with "Dark Shadows" likely for $75 million at the end, neither particularly fortunate. Overall, the weekend was 14.3% down from last year, understandable given the lack of fare last weekend, which is usually quite filled with blockbusters.

Weekend Forecast: Mild Chance of "Snow"

Summer box office season is underway, be it with less of a gallop than a weakened stride if you count it through box office terms. If you count it through quality cinema terms, too, there's a bit of a degeneration to be seen. Last year's "Thor" actually might just be better than "The Avengers", and few will dispute "Bridesmaids" having better, more winning, comedic performances to offer than "Men in Black 3". And in the grand scheme of the year, "Moonrise Kingdom" will likely never be as witty and fantastic as "Midnight in Paris", though it could come close. So where are we heading now in terms of year to year ratios of box office and critical standards alike?

Well, you might remember a certainly unhappy camper from last year when "X-Men: First Class", "Super 8", "Green Lantern", "Cars 2" all proved to be massively depressive disappointments. This month offers quite enough chances at redemption in that scheme of things. This weekend, however, not so much. In fact the only release worthy of mention, and maybe not even that, is "Snow White and the Huntsman". Heading to conquer the weekend only because there's no alternative choice in the matter, it hasn't been getting much critical favor, though that won't stop it from performing decently opening weekend, though not quite as decently as its star cast might provide otherwise.