'Think Like a Man' and 'Lucky One' Surprise

     Last weekend was an unexpected one at the box office as Think Like a Man, Lucky One, and Chimpanzee all opened higher than expected.  

     Think Like a Man, the new comedy starring Kevin Hart, Michael Ealy, Taraji Henson, and others opened to $33.6 million, higher than the big budget, $350 million John Carter; Think Man a Man only cost $12 million to produce. That's just awful for John Carter, beyond embarrassing, but marvelous for Think Like a Man. That opening is even higher than all of Tyler Perry's 50,000 movies, except for Madea Goes to Jail, and Think Like a Man will make in around 5 days what Jumping the Broom made it its 56 days of release, among comparable movies. Think Like a Man's per-theater average was also the third best for the year so far as it was only released in 2,015 theaters, which is on the low end for a wide release. Audience reviews have been positive, with great tweets and an "A" cinemascore, so this movie should have a nice life in the theater, and what was the majorities favorite part of the movie? Kevin Hart of course.

     The Lucky One also attracted females into theaters with $22.5 million, which is the second highest for a Nicholas Sparks movie and #5 for romantic dramas when unadjusted. Zac Efron doesn't have the draw power that Channing Tatum has now- yes ladies he has a stripper movie coming out, but The Lucky One's opening was still very good for a romance themed movie and for April.

     Chimpanzee also opened strongly with $10.6 million and The Hunger Games held well with only a 30.5% drop with $14.6 million. Hunger Games is now ranked #19 all time and it should finish between #12-#15 all time, which is amazing these days for a non-sequel.

     The top 12 this weekend made $126.1 million, which is a slight increase over last year, but 2012 is ahead of 2011 by $509 million and 69.3 million tickets. 2012 is even ahead of 2008 and 2009, and would be ahead of 2010 if it wasnt for that little movie, Avatar.

     Next weekend is romantic comedy The Five Year Engagement, The Raven, Safe, and The Pirates! Band of Misfits, and two weeks later, Marvel's The Avengers! Yes, yes I am excited.