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.

Box Office Report: "Men in Black" cart "The Avengers" off

As far as Mays go, I can't truly say that 2012 had it that bad for movies. Of the box office giants that came out this month, the top two are actually quite deserving of the numbers they've brought in. "The Avengers", as many have already attested, is quite a fantastic ride of a character-mash, and "Men in Black 3" honestly had quite a few factors that not only saved it, but made its brand of humor genuinely fun. The two weeks that came between, we'll forget about for good measure. May was a good month for blockbuster movies, though time may still herald "Men in Black 3" as a box office disappointment.

Let's get our facts straight first. $55 million is a fantastic 3-day opening for Barry Sonnenfeld's film, though probably dwarfed by its predecessors if you factor inflation. Even then, it's a damn good figure for the film that they delivered. Now's the bad news. The film is rumored to be budgeted at $215 million, which certainly puts a few odds against this sci-fi comedy. Mind you, it's not nearly as big as the gulf that faced "John Carter", which is forever doomed to be scale against which all megabudget films are held. This won't be a failure, though possibilities on them getting a sequel really do depend on word-of-mouth impact.

Box Office Report: "Avengers" sinks "Battleship"

I suppose that Hasbro and Universal are digging a tough lesson into their heads right about now, that if you're going to adapt a boardgame you might want to stick to what was great about the game. OR, just don't adapt boardgames. That's a generally good rule of thumb. Their "adaptation", "Battleship", floundered at the box office, middling in the 20s where it was projected above the 40s. In its place at #1 was "The Avengers", continuing to hold up spectacularly, and the more weeks go on, the less you can expect the film to fall upon consecutive weekends. At this point I can very much see it reaching $650 million by the end of its run, but not much higher.

As for the other new releases, they too felt unusually stunted in comparison to "The Avengers". "The Dictator", which sadly enough may have been the most eligible film to court this weekend, wasn't even able to reach $20 million. "What to Expect When You're Expecting", which you'd think would get the chick flick crowd in easy, realized that it was clearly in the wrong landscape. Film really need to bring their A-game when going up against the higher class blockbusters of the summer. The weekend was an expected dip from last year, when "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides" climbed to $90 million.

Films to see in 2012: May

Despite the "getting back into the swing of things" vibe that May always seems to give off, isn't it just great to be heading back into the big season? With a large budget offering being thrown our way nearly every week this summer, odds are in favor of some of them hitting their mark. In some cases that mark is far below the standards of others, and mindfully so. The first two weeks are taken up chiefly by highly anticipated offerings, but also a couple of indie films with buzz of their own. I must say, part of me is rather interested to see "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" for the fun of it. Clearly not a serious offering, but when was the last good comedy about old people?

The following week, Toronto's audience favorite "Where Do We Go From Here?" hits, but I'm still confounded by that one. I don't really know what to make of it, and it's only on the radar from the faint possibility that people will swoon to it. I doubt that'll happen, seeing as it didn't even make the Foreign Language branch this past year. As far as larger offerings with less chance of hitting the mark, boy there are plenty. "Battleship" has already gotten the below-average reviews we've expected it would, though I may still see it for Rihanna. That's right! I stick by my girls! "Obsession" 4 evar!!

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" Trailer

In case the trailer doesn't manage to blow that news, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" is no awards play. It's a collection of four of the best British performers (and Dev Patel) taking a bit of a breather in less dicey waters. This isn't something I'll be waiting for in heated anticipation. It's nothing to get excited about. It's not supposed to be. This is the film they release in March to alleviate the dour post-festival season, much like "Win Win" did this year. This looks kinda humorous. Not ecstatically so in any way. It looks, simply, fine.