Weekend Box-Office: May 28-30, 2010

WEEKEND BOX-OFFICE

Sex
and Persia both disappoint…

Looks like women can smell a "cash-grab"
as much as men, as SEX AND THE CITY 2, the quickie sequel to the
extremely popular original film from 2008 (that movie ended up
with $153M domestically), could only muster $32M in its first
weekend of release this time around (compared to a $57M opening
last time) and a 2nd place finish behind last week’s #1 movie,
SHREK FOREVER AFTER. The film did manage $46M since its opening on
Thursday, but that’s still way behind the $57M from the original
(and that was in 3 days, not 4 days).

Despite 90% of the audience seeing the film being
ladies (and their whipped boyfriends?), the quality of the movie
was questioned by many, including fans themselves who gave the
film a (B-) average, compared to an (A-) average for the first
movie. The many critics who make up the Rotten
Tomatoes average score weren’t as kind, with only 15%
recommending the movie to their readers. Some of my favorite
quotes include: "The last gasp of a
franchise that has definitively lost touch with its roots.",
"Shopping, sex, and stereotypes
merge in trite sequel." and maybe one that
predicts the future: "These
characters had a great run, but based on this sorry sequel,
there’s nothing interesting left to do with them."

PRINCE OF PERSIA didn’t fare much better, with
only $30M generated in its first weekend of release, and a 3rd
place finish. You might think those numbers are "ayight",
but for the first film in a possible franchise by uber-producer
Jerry Bruckheimer, that’s mighty disappointing. Not to mention
that the movie cost about $200M to make, compared to $100M for
SATC2. As per the latter film, the critics trashed this movie as
well, although at least it managed a 40% rating on Rotten
Tomatoes. A couple of my favorite quotes from those reviews
include: "A soul-deadening exercise
in blockbuster bloat." and "Yessir,
it’s like watching Pirates of the Caribbean with all the Jack
Sparrow parts taken out. Are you salivating yet?"

As for the rest of the top 10, no major changes
although MACGRUBER dropped 64% of its meager audience from last
weekend, confirming that — at the very least — the film isn’t
going to pick up at the box-office (maybe a home video classic?).
The two films to get knocked out of the top 10 this week include
KITES ($1M) and A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET ($62M).

Next week sees the release of 4 new movies
including 2 that I’m looking forward to seeing myself in GET
HIM TO THE GREEK, a "spin-off" from FORGETTING SARAH
MARSHALL starring Russell Brand and Jonah Hill, as well as SPLICE,
a kooky-looking science-fiction horror movie. The 2 films that I
will surely avoid next week include the big-screen interpretation
of the comic strip MARMADUKE
(pas pour moi) and the Ashton Kutcher/Katherine Heigl starring KILLERS
(which apparently isn’t being screened for critics — a sure sign
that the studio realizes that it stinks!). This week’s poll
question wonders whether IRON MAN 2, now in 2nd place on the
"2010
top grossers list", will be able to surpass ALICE IN
WONDERLAND by the time all is said and done. What think you? VOTE
HERE!!!

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