It’s Bombs Away at the Box Office with John Carter getting creamed by The Lorax

While box office revenues continue on an up note this year (compared, at least to last years sad numbers), the new films released this weekend all saw poor to disastrous results. First the good news, Universal’s The Lorax held on to the top spot with a strong $39 million for giant two-week take of $121 million. That gives the beleaguered studio a pair of $100 million hits so far this year (along with Safe House) making for the best beginning of a year the studio has had in, like, a decade…. And now, to the bad news… It’s sad when I say that a film opening in second place with $30 million is a bomb. However, when the film is John Carter, Disney’s sci-fi epic that cost at least $250 million to produce, it’s an apt description. With marketing costs likely costing upwards of $100 million, this one is a huge money pit for Disney. There is really no good news here for the film or its very attractive star Taylor Kitsch (who may have another big budget disaster on his hands with Battleship in May. We will see.)… Also bombing out of the gate was Eddie Murphy‘s latest “comedy” A Thousand Words with only $6.3 million. It was outdone by the low-budget horror film Silent House which only took in $7 million…. At least the other new film opening this weekend in limited release, the Jennifer Westfeldt/Adam Scott romantic comedy Friends With Kids (which I gave a “B-” grade too) had a decent per screen average helping it land in 13th place despite only being in 374 theaters…. For more on all these numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here and check out the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 1 Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax Uni. $39,100,000 -44.3% 3,746 +17 $10,438 $121,950,000 $70 2
2 N John Carter BV $30,603,000 – 3,749 – $8,163 $30,603,000 $250 1
3 2 Project X WB $11,550,000 -45.1% 3,055 – $3,781 $40,125,000 – 2
4 N Silent House ORF $7,010,000 – 2,124 – $3,300 $7,010,000 – 1
5 3 Act of Valor Rela. $7,000,000 -48.4% 2,951 -102 $2,372 $56,100,597 $12 3
6 N A Thousand Words P/DW $6,350,000 – 1,890 – $3,360 $6,350,000 $40 1
7 4 Safe House Uni. $5,000,000 -32.3% 2,144 -409 $2,332 $115,800,000 $85 5
8 7 The Vow SGem $4,000,000 -33.5% 2,478 -348 $1,614 $117,614,000 $30 5
9 8 This Means War Fox $3,750,000 -32.6% 1,949 -393 $1,924 $46,889,000 $65 4
10 6 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island WB $3,685,000 -43.7% 2,525 -535 $1,459 $90,716,000 $79 5

The Kitty Scratches Comedy at the Box Office

Don’t make a pretty kitty angry or he will claw you… That’s the message Puss In Boots sent to the new comedy competition at the box office as the animated hit dropped a scant 3% to hold at #1 for the second week in a row. Boots easily won the frame pulling in $ 33 million for a two-week take of $ 75.5 million. Opening in second with a somewhat disappointing $25 million was the star-studded action caper Tower Heist starring Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller far below expectations for the expensive film. (I’m not too surprised since the movie is pretty lackluster itself. I gave it a “C” grade). It fared better than the stoner comedy sequel A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas which nabbed just $ 13 million down a bit from the second film in the series. We’ll see if either film can hold up in the weeks ahead~ I’m betting not too likely… With more new films floundering, it was another overall down weekend at the turnstiles. Maybe this week’s release of Immortals or Jack & Jill (ugh) can turn things around. Stay tuned. For more on the numbers, head to Box Office Mojo here: www.boxofficemojo.com  and take a look at the new top ten below.

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count / Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 1 Puss in Boots P/DW $33,035,000 -3.1% 3,963 +11 $8,336 $75,508,000 $130 2
2 N Tower Heist Uni. $25,100,000 – 3,367 – $7,455 $25,100,000 $75 1
3 N A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas WB (NL) $13,065,000 – 2,875 – $4,544 $13,065,000 $19 1
4 2 Paranormal Activity 3 Par. $8,525,000 -53.0% 3,286 -43 $2,594 $95,308,000 $5 3
5 3 In Time Fox $7,700,000 -36.1% 3,127 +5 $2,462 $24,209,000 $40 2
6 4 Footloose (2011) Par. $4,550,000 -17.3% 2,811 -413 $1,619 $44,800,000 $24 4
7 6 Real Steel BV $3,407,000 -28.8% 2,438 -476 $1,397 $78,750,000 – 5
8 5 The Rum Diary FD $2,988,000 -41.8% 2,292 +19 $1,304 $10,423,000 $45 2
9 8 The Ides of March Sony $2,000,000 -28.7% 1,391 -181 $1,438 $36,800,000 – 5
10 9 Moneyball Sony $1,900,000 -20.4% 1,278 -353 $1,487 $70,327,000 $50 7

My American Idol 2011 Top 5 Power Rankings

Last night, Fozzy Bear left the building on American Idol… Oh, I’m sorry, I mean Crazy Abrams… oops I did it again, I mean Casey Abrams…. Now, now, don’t get mad at me for the nicknames because he fit them to a tee. However, I do have to admit, despite my gripes about his growling annoying performances, Casey was a great musician and has some seriously talented chops… as a musician. Sure, he can sing well and when he’s in a jazzy bluesy place, he’s often golden. Unfortunately, that doesn’t play well on the Idol stage and neither did his strange forays into scatting rock (“Hi-De-Ho”) or deranged grunge (“Smells Like Teen Spirit”). So, I bid Casey a fond farewell and I wouldn’t worry about his future. He has a great career ahead in the jazz world and luckily we have avoided another Taylor Hicks disaster on Idol… So, who else was in danger last night? We actually don’t know because sneaky Ryan with the new hairdo and snarky attitude (back from season 9 after a welcome respite) only mentioned the result for each contestant, not a bottom 2 or 3 singers. So, I can only guess that it was Jacob and… Haley? Lauren? Scotty? Yeah, I’m not too sure… So, I’m gonna go ahead and play another guessing game right now and give you my latest completely unscientific and possibly wonky American Idol Power Rankings going into the top Five.

My Top 5 American Idol 2011 Top 5 Power Rankings:
1. James: giving what I consider the best male vocal of the entire season this week, James continues to roll over the competition. He’s shown versatility (whether I liked it or not~ ahem “Heavy Metal”), showmanship, and great pipes. He also seems to be the Idol who’s enjoying the experience the most and the one who could be ready to go out on his own tour right out of the gate. This week he holds tight to the top spot and now seems like a very good lock for the finals. (last week~ 1)
2. Lauren: she’s never been in the bottom 3 and I doubt she was this week. She has an incredible voice and gained a little confidence this week. She also literally crushed Scotty in their duet demolishing his vocals and overpowering his usually strong charisma. She still needs to have a breakout performance to push her into the stratosphere and with only a few weeks left, this week is the time to do it. (lw~ 3)
3. Haley: I gotta say I’m very proud of Haley. The girl with Mariah Carey hair circa 1990 and a powerful set of pipes has grown on me for the past few weeks and I’m kind of rooting for her like a little schoolgirl. She’s clearly the one singer continuing to build a fan base and the dark horse to land in the finals. It would also be a nice slap in the face to the judges for constantly giving her negative or conflicting advice when they just praise the crap out of most everybody else. And, week to week, I’m now excited to see what she might do next. (lw~ 4)
4. Scotty: oh how the golden boy has fallen. Now, I wouldn’t say he’s in jeopardy of leaving next week, but he’s certainly on shaky ground compared to the previous months of the competition. I doubt he’s winning over any new fans with his blah and rote performances. He does have the South and the tweens firmly in his pocket on the other hand. I just want him to do something new and emote in a song. I’m sorry this week was a forced insincere and snoozy performance followed by his first bad vocal in the duet. I’m sure this likable lad can come back blazing. He just better do it asap as James has stolen his thunder as the man to beat lately. (lw~ 2)
5. Jacob: dressed like the Eddie Murphy’s Nutty Professor headin’ to church, Jacob was super entertaining on Wed night and clearly he did enough to stick around another week. The question is, just how much longer can he hang on. He’s the most polarizing person left in the competition and his vocal antics are an acquired taste. He does seem to have been humbled a bit and the attitude has dissipated. So, he’s on the right path, but is it a short one? (lw~ 6)

And then there were five… Can you believe I have Haley above Scotty? Am I smoking whatever Steven Tyler has for breakfast? Are you on board with these rankings? And how do you think they’ll do next week when they tackle the theme “Songs from Then and Now” (which is translated as songs from the 60′s and today)… Let me know your thoughts below.

And before you go, please enjoy the lady who should’ve won it all last year~ Crystal Bowersox~ as she performed “Ridin’ with the Radio” live on the results show last night.

Crystal Bowersox ”Ridin’ with the Radio”(live on American Idol)
http://player.radio.com/player/AOLPlayer.php?version=1.2.11257&station=757