BOX OFFICE: Thor Hammers, Fast Five Slows Down, Women Go To Romcoms

News, Top Story

Last Friday saw the official start of the summer blockbuster season. And the first big release was the Marvel Studios’ Thor. With a $66 million opening, it slightly exceeded industry expectations. Comparatively, its three-day total outperformed the likes of Fantastic Four and its sequel, the two Incredible Hulk movies, and Superman Returns. Not bad for the God of Thunder. Granted, 3D showings – the most of any major release thus far – helped considerably. With some critics touting Chris Hemsworth’s screen presence as the mighty Thor, audiences will have to fall in love with the blonde Norse God if the movie has any shot of making $200 million domestically. Last year around this time, Iron Man 2 opened to $128 million. This release almost did half that. Overseas, the comic-book movie has already collected $176 million, due to its release in territories like Australia.

Thor has set the barometer when it comes to superhero movies being released this summer. We still have X-Men: First Class, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Green Lantern.

As it was expected, Fast Five took a drop in viewership as it lost a little more than 60% of its audience. But that first week opening, plus its performance in new markets overseas, has made it a beast. Already, the film has collected $324 million worldwide. The last installment in the series, Fast & Furious, made $360 million during its entire run.

While men may have dominated the viewership of the top two films of the weekend, women had more flexibility in what they wanted to watch. Rom-coms, like horror movies, are always in season. Both are made on the cheap, though I’d like to see an invoice of where all the money went for James L. Brooks’ How Do You Know. In a photo finish, spots three and four saw Jumping the Broom and Something Borrowed combine to earn $26 million. Kate Hudson is no Julia Roberts or even a Katherine Heigl when it comes to rom-coms and success. So a $13 million opening isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either. Now take a movie like Jumping the Broom. It played in on a thousand less screens but still registered impressive numbers. It may not have had a Tyler Perry-type opening, but the movie didn’t receive a critical drubbing which is usually the case with the Tyler Perry release. Paula Patton may have played the female lead opposite Denzel Washington in Deja Vu (and will appear opposite Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol this December), here she is a marquee attraction. Also included with that distinction is Loretta Devine, who always lives up to her name, and Angela Bassett who, I would argue, has the best-looking arms of any woman in Hollywood. How the hell hasn’t she gotten her own action vehicle? She could have been Foxy Brown Reborn. Or if we go the Kentucky Fried Movie route, Cleopatra Schwartz.

With no direct competition in the family film department, Rio‘s hold in the fifth position in the top ten isn’t shocking. The animated film should surpass the more impressive Rango by next weekend. It’ll also be the biggest CG-attraction of 2011 – until Cars 2 arrives in June.

Elsewhere in the top ten, Water for Elephants and Tyler Perry’s latest inch their way toward $50 million earnings. Insidious may have exited the top 10 this week, but FilmDistrict’s Soul Surfer continues to perform well, as it added another $2.1 million to its $37 million total.

The biggest new indie release this weekend was Jodie Foster’s The Beaver. Despite a twenty-two theater engagement the comedy-drama only mustered $104k. While I was impressed with Mel Gibson’s performance when I saw the film at SXSW, I knew it would be a difficult film to market. Audiences will be confused to if it’s a comedy or drama. And of course you have Mel Gibson as the albatross when it comes to promotion. Passion Play, even with Mickey Rourke, Megan Fox and Bill Murray, only opened on two screens and collected $2k. Werner Herzog’s Cave of Forgotten Dreams expanded from five to fifty screens and had a very impressive $7k per-theater average on its way to $350k. And unlike Thor, it’s a feature that deserves to be seen in three dimensions.

1. Thor – $66 million
2. Fast Five – $32.5 million ($140 million overall)
3. Jumping The Broom – $13.7 million
4. Something Borrowed – $13.2 million
5. Rio – $8.2 million ($115 million overall)
6. Water For Elephants – $5.6 million ($42 million overall)
7. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family – $3.9 million ($47 million overall)
8. Prom – $2.4 million ($7.8 million overall)
9. Soul Surfer – $2.1 million ($37 million overall)
10. Hoodwinked Too! Hood Vs. Evil – $1.8 million ($6.7 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!