Box Office Report: "Expendables" rules boys' weekend

Cleanly sliding in place as August-sized blockbuster of the week, "The Expendables 2" had little trouble landing top placement at the box office this weekend. The action extravaganza had more going against it than its predecessor, which had at least the spark of the (relatively) new, and took in nearly $6 million less in its first three days. That may not be such a negative sign for the second installment in the Stallone-led franchise, since audiences heading into the film knew very well what they were in for this time around. Considering the sequel got more positive opinions from critics, or at least more understanding, expect this film to hold well as the summer soldiers on.

The other three debuts fared less significantly, with the strongest of the batch being stop-motion children's horror "ParaNorman". Scoring nearly $3 million less than Laika's last stop-motion adventure, "Coraline", it did manage an impact greater than "The Pirates! Band of Misfits". I suspect "Frankenweenie" will end up the strongest of this year's three stop-motion projects at the box office, but "ParaNorman" could make a decent earnings if it holds up as well as "Coraline" did. I have certain doubts, given critics have more reservations against this one than they did with Henry Selick's 2009 film.

Box Office Report: "Bourne" starts a short legacy

The Summer box office season may be finding a kind of resurgence in itself, even if it comes at the cost of quality cinema. I'm speaking of course of the latest installment in the Jason Bourne franchise, which almost entirely disassociates itself from what made the first three films so thrilling. Tony Gilroy simply doesn't have Paul Greengrass' style, and the box office shows audiences aren't quite buying the franchise turnaround. Sure, "The Bourne Legacy" had a stronger-than-usual opening, but didn't bring at all the same numbers as its predecessors had. I imagine things only going more mildly from here on, much to my dismay.

Will Ferrell comedy "The Campaign", in the meantime, has been playing up the market elsewhere to similar effect. By that I mean the allure is more enticing than what people end up seeing, with many disappointed in how uninspired and not particularly entertaining it was. Once again, sight unseen, but the trailers paint a reliable enough picture of how dismissible this film is. "Hope Springs" is the only film this weekend that's even slightly rewarding viewers what they came to see, that being a light comedy with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones. It's simple, unambitious, and maybe even a viable option. It's performing adequately as usual. Overall, this weekend didn't bring the box office back to where it was a year ago, with "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and "The Help" giving the market an optimistic boost.

Films to see in 2012: August

July brought the excitement of this summer to an odd climax with "The Dark Knight Rises", a film hampered by horrible publicity very close to its release. And so common knowledge tells us that the summer is now in for a drawn out and stalled conclusion, but there is something radically compelling about the films that make up the last month of the season. Obviously there are some hairs out of place here and there, but there are a lot of interesting films teeming not below the surface, but right out there for people to see. The month starts out silly and ridiculous with kiddie threequel "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days" and much debated sci-fi action remake "Total Recall".

The following week continues that trend of lighthearted filmmaking (or not) via broad political comedy "The Campaign", honestly unregistered rom-com "Hope Springs", and Julie Delpy's comedic indie flick "2 Days in New York". Dead in the middle of the following week is "The Odd Life of Timothy Green", bringing further career work to Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton, who by the way deserve way more work than they've been getting. "The Expendables 2" lights up the broader end of box office for masculine crowds, and the late Whitney Houston's last film, "Sparkle", is likely to do the same for the female crowd.