Box office analysts everywhere are freaking out because of how this summer's tentpoles have been underperforming. I've gotta say I'm not sure how they didn't see it coming. What movie has come out in the last month that actually incited any summer worthy excitement amongst audiences? IRON MAN 2 roared but it is hardly doing any better than the first. SHREK FOREVER AFTER has managed three straight weeks at number one, the only Shrek film to accomplish that feat, but it is still not going to match the grosses of its green giant predecessors. Last week's disappointments continued to do just that, as PRINCE OF PERSIA and SEX AND THE CITY 2 both dropped off steeply, certainly due to poor word of mouth for both. I actually saw them both last weekend and have been spreading most of that bad word of mouth myself.
And this week's batch of wide releases, no less than four, did absolutely nothing to inspire anyone. GET HIM TO THE GREEK was the biggest "success" of the bunch, coming in second place with a total of $17 million. It opened slightly lower than director, Nicolas Stoller's first film, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, but that one came out in April. Still, it managed to narrowly beat the first major Katherine Heigl flop. KILLERS, also starring Ashton Kutcher, in which a woman unknowingly marries a spy, opened to approximately $16 million and abysmal reviews should make sure it does not linger. Speaking of lingering, that smell in sixth place is the CGI extravaganza, MARMADUKE. I'm glad at least to see that people are not just buying every piece of dog poop being forced on them this summer. Audiences also did not buy the Adrien Brody-Sarah Polley thriller, SPLICE. Bombing in eighth place means that even great reviews could not get people to see this one. It just looked too scary for little old me.
NEXT WEEK: The summer continues with another two massive releases. On the art house side of things, which, contrary to popular belief, does not just shut down during the summer months, handfuls of theatres will begin screening the Sundance favourite, WINTER'S BONE, as well as the documentary, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK, and the stylish COCO CHANEL AND IGOR STRAVINSKY. Opening on an arguably much larger handful of screens, 3000+ as it turns out, is the remake of THE KARATE KID. I will be taking my chances on THE A-TEAM. If it sucks, at least I will get to see those gratuitous shots of Bradley Cooper's chest.
Source: Box Office Mojo