Walking Taco Box Office

Apologies for my recent absence over the past few weekends.  College and whatnot can get in the way of things.  Anyways, Easter weekend was huge–the biggest ever–actually as “Clash of the Titans’ led the box-office with $61 million, and other huge followers also fared very well.  Tyler Perry’s ‘Why Did I Get Married Too’ opened well to $29.2 million, and ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ was almost too close behind at $29.0 million.  Add in a little Miley Cyrus movie, as well as ‘Alice’ and friends still holding onto a top 5 spot, and last weekend was pretty darn massive for this time of the year.  Expect this weekend to pale in comparison.

Luckily that’s not all bad news as Fox Studios gets the weekend all to themselves as far as new releases go.  “Date Night” opens with bankable star Steve Carell pairing with hot commodity Tina Fey as a middle-aged couple taking another couple’s dinner reservation at a restaurant and finding themselves pulled into a case of mistaken-identity and a night of action and adventure.  The movie looks to please several crowds.  Carell has seen his share of box-office success (Evan Almighty-$100 million, Get Smart- $130 million, The 40-Year-Old Virgin- $109 million), while Tina Fey has ‘Baby Mama’ at decent $60 million and ‘Mean Girls’ at $86 million.  Both actors are more famous for their small-screen work on NBC.  Carell headlines ‘The Office,’ and Fey is the star of ‘30 Rock,’ probably the two most popular ’sitcoms’ on television.  Teaming them up is huge, and on that basis, this movie should deliver as such.  Serving as the perfect ‘date’ movie, providing both action, romance, and big laughs, and receiving unexpectedly good reviews, I predict a $36 million opening or more.

As for holdovers… look for major drops. “Clash of the Titans’ had a 3D boost that seems to be working against it at this point.  While those funky glasses may have added some bucks during its opening weekend, the 3D factor has been given about as much praise as the critics have given the movie, which is to say the feedback is not positive–at least for the 3D.  Sure, critics are hating the movie, but action fans seem to be liking it well enough.  I still want to get out and see it, but won’t waste the money on the supposedly poor 3D.  Add another $26 million this weekend, bringing its domestic total to an impressive $110 million after 2 weeks.

How to Train Your Dragon may have taken the back seat to Tyler Perry’s fun last weekend, but that’ll change this weekend.  ‘Dragon’ will hold well as the year’s best-reviewed movie, and Perry’s movie will drop hugely as his flicks always do.  Expect another $20 million for the flying animated beasts ($127 million total) and $14 million for ‘Married Too’ ($51 million total).

Rounding out the top 10, give Miley Cyrus/Nicholas Sparks $8.5 million for ‘The Last Song’ ($40 million total), ‘Hot Tub Time Machine’ $5 million ($36 million total), ‘Alice and Wonderland’ another $4.5 million ($318 million total), ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ $2.5 million ($51 million total), and ‘Shutter Island’ $1 million ($125 million total).

Alice and friends are back at number one for two straight weekends, as if anyone would be surprised.  It has now become the first film this year to cross $200 million, and $300 million may be showing up soon as well.  In fact the only real surprise this weekend has to be “Green Zone,” a Matt Damon action-thriller that looked a little more promising than the $14.5 million it took in over the weekend.  It could potentially have some legs as its only real competition in the action genre this coming weekend is “Repo Men” which is more of a gory sci-fi niche thriller and poses little threat to “Green Zone,” giving the Iraq thriller a few weekends to hold some traction until April 2nd, when Clash of the Titans 3D dominates theaters.  Check out the Estimates Chart below for more box-office numbers.