BOX OFFICE: Teenagers Skip Prom, Help Make Fast Five A Quick $83 Million

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All right, boys and girls, it’s time revisit the 1937 movie musical Hollywood Hotel, if only to listen to Doris Day belt out “Hooray for Hollywood.” And the reason is simple. For this is the first true blockbuster weekend of the year. It may have taken eighteen weeks but (finally) Hollywood has literally been slapped across the face and awoken from its box office coma. Fast Five had a spectacular weekend for studio Universal. So spectacular that its three-day gross of $83 million is the studio’s biggest weekend release ever. It surpasses The Lost World: Jurassic Park‘s $72.1 million opening from 1997. Now the fifth installment is poised to make upwards of $400-$500 million globally, which would top Fast and Furious, the previous entry in the series, which grossed $353 million.

Not only did fans of the series come out in enthusiastic numbers, but critics have also hopped on the Fast and Furious bandwagon. (Fast Five currently has a 79% fresh rating on RT, and a 69 Metacritic score.) And with a conclusion that indicates that a Fast Six is on the horizon – you did stay through the closing credit sequence, right? – we can expect another one of these by April 2013. The success of Fast Five indicates that neither Vin Diesel nor Paul will “go hungry,” if I may steal one of Tyrese’s 2 Fast 2 Furious catchphrases. It also proves that both actors need each other and the franchise if they are to have any kind of success. Nobody will pay to see either actor if they are the only headlining star. For every xXx or Pacifier, Diesel has a Babylon, A.D. or A Man Apart on his resume. The same holds true for Walker. His best films outside of the F&F franchise is Joy Ride (which is not about boosting cars) and Eight Below.

Fast Five marks the beginning of the summer movie season, so this upcoming weekend should be pretty interesting with the release of Marvel Studios’ Thor. The film, already released in foreign territories like Australia, is tracking extremely well. And is even outperforming 2008’s Iron Man release starring Robert Downey, Jr. Working in Fast Five‘s favor is the Rio setting, which will help its total box office overseas. Typically, a new release will lose 60% of its audience in the second weekend, unless it is a animated or children’s film release. Those tend to retain a majority of their audience in successive weekends. If Fast Five does drop 60%, it will be looking at a weekend haul of $33.2 million, which is a nice sum since it will be losing its core audience to Thor. It’s critical approval may play a role in attracting those who wouldn’t normally bother with the franchise, but the question remains if the heist angle will be enough for the unfamiliar.

Rio is still flying high for family audiences, and it’s passed the $100 million mark. But it lost some 3D screens due to the release of Hoodwinked Too. May looks relatively soft for family releases – Rio‘s got between now and the May 26th release of Kung Fu Panda 2: Electric Boogaloo to make its money. It’ll be lucky to finish its domestic run with $150 million. International grosses will be much stronger for this bird-out-of-the-tree comedy.

Though Tyler Perry may be the most divisive filmmaker on the planet right now, you’re not likely to find a studio that wouldn’t covet his services. The man is a cash cow at getting people to see his films in week one. Granted, his audience may be niche, but they are supportive of what he does no matter the subject. Madea’s Big Happy Family may have lost almost 60% of its viewers this weekend and finished with $10 million, but the film has already made both its production and P&A costs back. The Madea character is a one-note character that has been used way past its expiration date. He’s failed to make a film that brings in a four-quadrant audience, which includes kids, adults, blacks and whites, but he may have three quadrants when he branches out from writer-directing-producing to star in I, Alex Cross for Summit Entertainment. If not, there’s always his series on TBS. Which should just be rebranded to TPS, the Tyler Perry Station. Sorry fans of Office Space and TPS reports.

As the only major release for adults at the moment, Water for Elephants is holding steady. There’s no indication on if that’s because of Robert Pattinson’s Twi-hard following, which must have missed the text that he was in Remember Me last year, or if Reese Witherspoon is trying to find her groove again as an actress. Or maybe, and it’s a long shot, people are expecting Christoph Waltz to go all Hans Landa on somebody. Whatever the reason, director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend, Constantine) is no doubt thanking his wife for telling him about the book. Even with the release of Thor this weekend, it wouldn’t shock me if Elephants got a boost, with it being Mother’s Day weekend and all.

Poor Disney. First it was Mars Needs Moms that bombed. Now it’s Prom. Considering the demographic it covets was chasing after Fast Five, it’s easy to see why the audience wasn’t there. Young kids would have been too busy with watching animated birds. Prom-age kids would have looked beyond PG ratings to spend their entertainment dollars. Having watched it, the movie means well but can only do so much with its PG rating. It also begs the question what would John Hughes have done, because those familiar with the Hughes canon of films – and ’80s movies, in general – will no doubt be cross referencing characters to determine if they would spend time in The Breakfast Club or Say Anything… to get a date for the prom.

As for the other 3D animated film in release, the Weinstein Company’s Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil finally saw the light of day. The first came out in 2006, and managed a $50 million haul versus a $17.5 million budget. It was a sleeper hit in the month of January. The sequel, coming out of the vault and falling right as the spring movie season turns to summer, has registered the worst-ever wide opening for a 3D release.

FilmDistrict has two proven sleepers in the top ten at the moment. The small distributor’s first release, Insidious is still in the top ten after five weeks in release. It will most likely fall out of the top ten next week, but it should finish its run with a domestic gross of $50 million. Consider that the production budget was $1.5 million and combine that with international presales already, this little spookfest is on target to be one of the most profitable in terms of costs and overall gross. District’s other release, Soul Surfer is retaining family viewers and again registers the lowest audience drop in the top ten. While I don’t think Surfer‘s success will cause other studios to take pitch meetings what begin with “It’s like Soul Surfer, but with a Sea World employee and a killer whale…,” a $40 million haul isn’t a bad way to start.

Finishing up the top ten this week are Duncan Jones’ Source Code, which should hit north of $100 million worldwide when its box office run is over, and Hop. Poor, Hop, Easter was sooo last week.

Taking a look at the films that probably aren’t playing anywhere near you, but you should still make a point to seek out arthouse entertainment anyway, was Dylan Dog: Dead of Night. Opening on 875 screens resulted in a $885k weekend. Though, the film should play to good numbers in foreign markets, especially Italy. I hear they welcome Superman (Brandon Routh) with open arms, especially now after Supes denounced his U.S. citizenship. Werner Herzog‘s Cave Of Forgotten Dreams also debuted, grabbing $127k on only five screens.

1. Fast Five – $83.6 million
2. Rio – $14.4 million ($104 million overall)
3. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family – $10 million ($41 million overall)
4. Water For Elephants – $9.1 million ($32 million overall)
5. Prom – $5 million
6. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil – $4.1 million
7. Soul Surfer – $3.3 million ($34 million overall)
8. Insidious – $2.7 million ($48 million overall)
9. Hop – $2.6 million ($105 million overall)
10. Source Code – $2.5 million ($49 million overall)

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!