Who would have thought that the Fast and Furious film franchise, at this stage, would be pulling in these kind of numbers? Fast Five grossed an explosive $83.6 million and has Justin Lin to thank for one of the most successful entries of the Fast and Furious franchise. The fifth chapter of the Fast and Furious franchise had out grossed its predecessors in one weekend alone. Universal’s box office hit stall may have ended due to its decision to shift its gears for their high-octane car franchise, changing it from an underground street racing focus to an action heist film with cars.
Prom was second of the three new debuts to open in the top five with a rather forgetful $5 million. Rio, Madea, and Water for Elephants also earned top five slots at the box office this weekend and combined for approximate $34 million over the weekend.
Aren’t the holidays great? Family get togethers, food, and of course movies. Fox’s animated comedy Rio took the top spot for the second weekend in a row with $26.8 million. Not too far behind was Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family with $25.7 million. Water for Elephants, the adaptation of Sara Gruen’s bestselling novel, debuted at number three this weekend with an estimated $17.5 million. Hop and Scream 4 rounded out the top five. Overall, the box office numbers saw a 6.1 percent increase from last week.
Easter weekend proved to be friendly towards the birds rather than a big family. Rio took the number one spot for the second time in a row with $26.8 million, that’s a 32.6 percent drop from last week numbers. But despite the drop, the numbers are positive signs that the box office numbers will continue to increase. When compared to last year’s numbers, Kick-Ass debuted at the number one with a weak $19 million, followed closely by How to Train Your Dragon. In the following weekend, it was another slumping weekend with How to Train Your Dragon with an even weaker $15 million. So expect some nice numbers to appear on the box office board when Fast Five debuts in theaters this week.
It has been said that bigger is better. So why not apply that to the movie screen? Marvel has announced that they have finalized an agreement to release Thor in digital IMAX theaters worldwide on May 6, 2011. Given the size of the world of Asgard and the intense actions sequences that are to be expected in Thor, the film is sure to benefit from the bigger screens and enhanced sound.
The film, based on the well-known Marvel comic book, is directed by Kenneth Branagh, produced by Kevin Feige, and stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins, among others.
Jason Statham has signed on to play a thief in the film adaptation of Parker. In the Taylor Hackford film, Parker is a skilled thief, who is forced to kill given the circumstances. He stands by a code of never stealing money from people who need it. The film is based on a series of novels written by Donald Westlake
In what seems like a he says/she says battle, Sylvester Stallone and the directing job on The Expendables 2 has been the topic of much debate lately. One day we hear that he will be directing it, and the next day apparently he's not. Well now it looks like Stallone wants to make things clear once and for all. According to Movieweb, he has stated that he will not be directing The Expendables 2. Instead, he's compiling a list of directors who he would like to see helm the film.
It should come as no surprise that Rio is the number one movie this weekend while slasher thriller Scream 4 was forced to take a back seat. Hop fell into third, while Soul Surfer stayed in fourth for its second weekend in a row. Rounding out the top 5, Hanna fell into fifth, but only lost a modest amount of its business since its debut last week.
Overall the box office saw a 16.6 percent change in business since last week. It should be interesting to see if Water for Elephants, Madea’s Big Happy Family, and Morgan Spurlock’s The Greatest Movie Ever Sold can continue the box office streak when they make their theatrical debuts on April 22nd.
In tonight’s edition of casting news Hugh Laurie joins Mr. Pip, Russell Brand will rock along side Tom Cruise in Rock of Ages, Jeff Foxworthy gets cast in Crackerjack, and DeRay Davis moves to 21 Jump Street.
The movie industry has been erupting today with casting and project pick ups leading the charge. We've covered just about everything but today’s remaining casting news includes Kevin Durand joining the cast of Cosmopolis, and three new actors being added to the cast of The Dark Knight Rises.
Off to the planet Mars we go. According to THR, sources are saying that Paramount Pictures has picked up the movie rights to The Martian Chronicles, the 1940s classic collection of short stories written by Ray Bradbury.
According to the trade, John Davis will produce the adaptation of Bradbury’s short stories about humans trying to colonize Mars.
In three structures, the stories dealt with attempts to settle Mars and the Martians’ efforts to fight the humans off, the colonization of the red planet and a nuclear war that eventually forces most of the humans to return to Earth. In the aftermath of the war, humans become the new Martians.
When it was reported that the cast of both American Pie movies and American Wedding were reuniting for American Reunion, Alyson Hannigan’s name was not amongst the names reported in any of the articles. Well, consider the actress present and ready for more funny sexual innuendos as Deadline is reporting that Hannigan has indeed officially signed on to reprise her role as Michelle. As you may have guessed, the film’s plot will center on a ten-year high school reunion, but it also offers a twist with Jim and Michelle’s marriage being tested when their sexy neighbor develops a crush on Jim.
